Thursday, August 09, 2012
WE'VE MOVED! CHECK OUT THE FAST OF ST. MARY ON OUR NEW SITE: CopticDadandMom.com
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Tuesday marked the start of the Fast of St. Mary. This is a two-week fast (fish permitted) that helps prepare us for the Feast of the Assumption on August 22.
For Egyptians, St. Mary is a big deal. Many people begin this fast a full week early, just to honor her.
Many people choose her as their patron saint, and that's never been my cup of tea. It's not that she isn't awesome. It's that she's always faithful, holy, patient and longsuffering and I'm... not. From birth, I've been obstinate and rebellious and, frankly, a little bit spoiled. St. Mary is held up as the ideal we should all work towards, and the road seems so very far from here to there.
The only time I really took her as patron saint was when I was carrying my firstborn and giving birth. Even then my cushy hospital room--with about a bajillion doctors and nurses--seemed to separate me from the young girl in the manger.
We have many beautiful glorifications (tamgeed) for St. Mary and hymns that mention her. My absolute favorite hymn mentioning St. Mary is "Ifrahi ya Mariam"(Rejoice, O Mary) which starts like this...
Rejoice, O Mary,
the maiden and the mother
for the One in your lap
the angels praise
and the cherubim
rightly bow before Him
and the seraphim, too,
without ceasing.
We have no boldness
before our Lord Jesus Christ
except with your prayers and intercessions,
O our Lady, the lady of us all,
the Theotokos.
I'm currently reading a book about St. Mary, and I hope to share some of the meditations. I also came across this post on Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy explaining more about why we Orthodox Christians like to praise the Virgin for those who might not be familiar.
Step by step, bird by bird, or petit à petit (as Abouna puts it)... I'll be more patient, more thoughtful, more holy, oui?
Maybe you'd share a little more about fasting in the Coptic tradition? When you say "fish allowed", I presume that this is not then a complete fast- what is allowed, and what isn't?
ReplyDeleteBeing Jewish, my base-line for fasting is short-term but intense: we do either daylight or 25 hour fasts, all of them without food or water, some of them also without anointing, non-necessary washing, or sexual relations. There are 2 major (long) and 4 minor (daylight only) fasts in standard Jewish practice, although some people fast more days that that (ranging from the Monday, Thursday and Monday following certain holidays all the way to fasting every Monday and Thursday, although this practice is very, very rare.)
Thanks for sharing the Jewish fasting tradition. I'm forgetting I have a variety of readers now :). Next entry will be a Coptic fasting rundown!
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