Praktykowanie postu w świetle historiografii kościelnej IV-V wieku

• Authors: Sławomir Bralewski

Title variants

EN

The practice of fasting in the light of the ecclesiastical historiography of the IV-V centuries

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The ecclesiastical histories of the fourth and the fifth centuries confirm the fasting as a practice popularly observed by the Christians of that time. From the account of the historians one can conclude that fasting combined with prayer was a distinctive feature of Christian piety. From the fourth century the principal prac­tice of abstention from food included the concept of a forty-day fasting period before Easter, i.e. Lent, and additionally the fast practiced two days every week throughout the year, namely each Wednesday and Friday, while the scheme is con­sidered to have its roots in the regulations promoted by the Church authorities of the period. Nonetheless, by the middle of the fifth century the individual churches of the West and the East had not arrived at an unanimous agreement on the length of Lent neither on its form. Moreover, the practice of fasting was also introduced as obligatory for the catechumens before baptism and for the local church com­munities they represented. Additionally, fasting was a must for those repenting their sins. First and foremost, however, a very strict practice of food abstention was observed by the monks of the period.

Keywords

PL

Post; Wielki Post; historiografia kościelna; kanony kościelne; monastycyzm; historia Kościoła IV-V wiek

EN

fasting; Lent; ecclesiastical historiography; canons of the Church; monasticism; history of the Church of the IV-V centuries

• Publisher: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
• Journal: Vox Patrum
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 59
• Pages: 359-378

Dates

published

2013-01-25

Contributors

author

Sławomir Bralewski

Identifiers

DOI

10.31743/vp.4048