Catechetical Teaching 2. ON THE 9TH HOUR
Last time, we talked about fasting and how according to the Church Canons, we are supposed to fast until the 9th Hour on certain days. Why until the 9th Hour? And why is it 3 o’clock in the afternoon for us?
We recently discussed holiness and how holiness in the New Testament Church is about being separated from the world. That is why we call our Church “Holy” because it is not part of this world but part of the heavenly world, as one of the troparia says: “Standing in the temple of Thy glory, we seem to stand in heaven”. Even in seemingly earthly matters such as the calendar and the time of day, the Church lives differently from the world. We all know that the Church follows the old Julian calendar, but it’s not just that. It turns out that the Church also has a different concept of time. So, why is it 3 o’clock in the afternoon according to the worldly time, but already 9 o’clock in the evening according to the Church? The reason is that, just like with the calendar, the Church follows the time that was customary during the earthly life of Christ. Back then, the hours were counted from sunrise, which is approximately 6 o’clock in the morning by our calculation: the 1st Hour is one hour after sunrise; the 3rd Hour is three hours after sunrise, and so on. Thus, when we encounter the mention of hours in the Gospel, we need to take into consideration that it refers not to our present time but to the time of Jerusalem, which has been preserved in the Church until our days.
So why do we fast until the 9th Hour? It is because that is the approximate time of Christ’s death: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45-46). And immediately after, “Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost” (Matthew 27:50). He was seized in the Garden of Gethsemane at night, brought before Caiaphas in the morning, and the trial and mockery of Christ lasted about three hours. So, at 9 o’clock in the morning according to our time, He was crucified: “And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25). Then Jesus hung on the Cross for six hours until 3 o’clock according to our time. That is why we fast until the 9th Hour on Wednesdays and Fridays. On Great Friday, our Lord endured beatings, insults, and death for our sins. From the morning until His death, He did not consume anything, except vinegar instead of water right before His passing. How can I, remembering this, indulge in food on Friday while Christ is being crucified for my sins? Or how can I drink water when He was not even given water and instead, they offered Him vinegar, continuing to mock Him? Let the sick if they must eat, at least be contrite in their hearts, remembering this. Let the weak, if they cannot fast until 3 o’clock, at least fast until lunch time, or as much as they are able.” But if I am healthy and do not fast on Wednesday and Friday at all, it means one of two things: either I am still ignorant or indifferent. That is, either I do not know my Faith, or I don’t care about the Sacrifice that the Son of God made for me. That’s how it is my dear ones. It is a shame that we are being so indifferent to such matters!
Let’s remember well: on Fridays, we fast until the 9th Hour, commemorating the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ; on Wednesdays also until the 9th Hour, remembering the betrayal of Judas. And on Mondays, only during the four fasts of the year, we honor and invoke the Holy Archangels and Angels who assist us in our spiritual warfare. Monks fast on Mondays throughout all the year because they bear the angelic image, but this is not prescribed for those living in the world.
My dear ones, if anyone who is healthy still does not fast, now you all have learned about the Church’s fasting practices, why and when Christians are obliged to observe fasting. Now, no one will have an excuse for ignorance. Help us, O Lord, to avoid indifference and forgetfulness as well!
God bless you all!