Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 15 April 2024
fast, pre-nativity
Arsany Paul Keywords: Advent, Christmas, Nativity, Epiphany, Hātūr (Hatur), Kiyahk, Fast, Feast, Asceticism, Late Antique Liturgy, Medieval Liturgy, Medieval Literature, Canons, Nomocanon, Calendar, Liturgical Year, Church History.
The establishment of an independent liturgical celebration for Christ’s birth, separate from the Feast of Epiphany (see feasts, major), did not occur in Egypt until the early fifth century. saint john cassian (d. 435) in the late fourth century attests that, unlike in the Christian West, the commemoration of the Lord’s incarnation and baptism were still observed as a single feast in Egypt (John Cassian 1985: Conferences 10.2). However, shortly after the turn of the fifth century, Paul of Emesa (d. 444) delivered a sermon on 29 Kiyahk, AM 149 (25 December 432), marking what is believed to be the first known celebration of an independent feast for the Nativity (Christmas) in Egypt (Talley 1986: 137–138). Subsequently, multiple references to a Feast of Nativity with liturgical observances continued to be documented, demonstrating the feast’s establishment among the Copts by the early sixth century. The fifteenth-century historian al-maqrīzī confirms that an independent feast of Nativity was known during the papacy of timothy iii (d. 535) (al-Maqrīzī 1873: 63). Despite the time gap between Timothy’s life and al-Maqrīzī’s authorship, other examples support his claim for the feast’s observance in antiquity. The vita of abraham of farshuṯ, a sixth-century abbot in Upper Egypt, provides evidence to the feast’s observance in monastic communities and jurisdictions far from the ecclesiastical center of Alexandria (Goehring 2012: 86 Coptic/87 English).
Witnesses for its celebration in Alexandria are documented in the life of benjamin I (d. 662) (Evetts 1904: II, 504). By the late twelfth century, a church dedicated to the Nativity of Our Lord Christ existed in al-Fusṭāṭ (Abū Ṣāliḥ 1895: 94), reflecting the extent to which the feast permeated ecclesial life by this time. With the establishment of a Christmas feast came a preceding fast, at times referred to as advent. The earliest known pre-Christmas fast in Egypt is the paramone, a one-day, strict abstinence preparatory fast observed on the eve of Christmas. Allusions to this custom are already attested in Canon 30 of the ecclesial laws that are falsely attributed to saint basil (d. 379), which date to the sixth or seventh century. Therein, the author advises to commune of the Eucharist at night in observance of the Feast of Nativity (Riedel 1900: 247), which suggests a preceding fast. Aside from the paramone fast, a curious seventh-century reference to a 40-day pre-Christmas fast in the life of anastasius I (d. 616) (Evetts 1904: II, 483), and a fast of an unspecified length (al-Maqārī 2012: 39–40), definitive information regarding a pre-Christmas fast among the Copts before the eleventh century is vague. Shortly after the turn of the second millennium, however, detailed information was documented by patriarchs and liturgical authors on fasting before the Feast of Nativity (Johnson 2024: 56–63; al-Maqārī 2012: 38–44).
Canon 15 of the regulations promulgated by christodoulus (d. 1077) provides the earliest mandate for a pre-Christmas fast lasting 43 days, beginning the day after the Feast of saint menas on 16 Hātūr and extending until 29 Kiyahk (Burmester 1932: 76 Arabic/81 English). This canon likely aimed to standardize the fast across the entire Coptic Church, signifying the existence of pre-Christmas fasting customs predating Christodoulus’ canon, as already attested above. By the thirteenth century, Christodoulus’ canon had gained prominence in the nomocanon known as al-Majmū‘ © Claremont Graduate University 1 A. Paul: Fast, Pre-Nativity 15 April 2024 al-Ṣafawī, authored by al-safi ibn al-‘assal (Ibn al-‘Assāl 1908: 1, 172). Yet, despite this canon, differing practices for pre-Christmas fasting continued throughout Egypt, as is witnessed in later sources.
By the early fourteenth century, ibn kabar mentions, in his misbaẖ al-ẕulmah wa-idaẖ al-khidmah the paramone as the pre-Christmas fast and then iterates Christodoulus’ mandate of a 43-day observance. Furthermore, Ibn Kabar notes that the people of Upper Egypt ( ﻟﺼﻌﯿﺪ ا ﻞ) اھ began their fast not on 16 Hātūr, but on the first day of that month, resulting in a fast of roughly 60 days (mss Paris BnF Ar. 203, AD 1363–69, fol. 213r; and Uppsala O. Vet 12, AD 1547, fol. 191v). While Ibn Kabar’s reference may initially appear to be a scribal error intended as 1 Kiyahk and forming a 28-day fast (as attested below in other literature), this is unlikely since both manuscript redactions clearly state 1 Hātūr ( ر ﺎﺗﻮ ھ أول ) as the starting day for the fast. Rather, it is possible that Ibn Kabar’s reference indicates an eight-week pre-Christmas fast, excluding Saturdays and Sundays which are common non-abstinence days. This formulation creates a 42-day fast, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, in addition to the one-day paramone, akin to the 43-day fast issued by Christodoulus and known from at least the late eleventh century. Ibn Kabar’s reference attests to competing practices throughout Egypt, and points to Christodoulus’ eleventh-century attempt at standardization still a work in progress, with local communities endeavoring to preserve native traditions.
Observances for a one-day, a 28-day, and even a 43-day fast still circulated in the fourteenth century. In his al-Jawharah al-nafīsah fī ‘ulūm al-kanīsah, yuhanna ibn abi zakariyya ibn siba‘ rationalizes the importance of the one-day paramone as the culmination of the Feast of Nativity’s preparatory fast (Ibn Sibā‘ 1966: 312 Arabic/555 Latin). Referencing Christodoulus’ pre-Christmas fast, Ibn Sibā‘ then aims primarily at explaining the fast as a 43-day period. He suggests that when the Virgin Mary’s pregnancy became known, she suffered insults from the community and subsequently, she fasted for one and a half months (approximately 43 days) until she gave birth to Christ. (Ibn Sibā‘ 1966: 89 Arabic/439 Latin). He then, however, encourages the Christian community to fast the month of Kiyahk (a 28-day fast) in the likeness of the Virgin Mary (Ibn Sibā‘ 1966: 89–90 Arabic/439 Latin). Based on Ibn Sibā‘’s various references to different fasting customs, it appears that he was aware of diverse pre-Christmas fasting practices throughout Egypt during his time, and he provides reasoning for each observance without regulating a single tradition.
Notwithstanding Ibn Sibā‘’s interpretations, other explanations persist, although none of them are exclusive (al-Maqārī 2012: 44–46). Two alternative explanations for the 43-day pre-Christmas fast relate to historical events. The prevalent explanation stems from a 40-day fast augmented by three days commemorating the miraculous event of moving the Muqaṭṭam mountain during the tenth-century patriarchate of Abraham ibn Zur‘ah (see abraham, saint; 975–978) in response to a challenge by the Fāṭimīd caliph as noted in the synaxarion for 16 Hātūr (Synaxarion 2012: 209; Ramzy 2019, 161–172). However, a more historically accurate explanation is a 42-day fast plus an additional day for the paramone (al-Maqārī 2011: 26), totaling approximately six weeks and mirroring early Advent fasting customs in the West before the reforms of Gregory the Great (d. 604) (Bradshaw and Johnson 2011: 165–166).
Despite mixed explanations and canons attempting to standardize the length of the pre-Christmas fasting period, variations in its length persisted well into the modern era. By the early sixteenth century, it seems that the most common duration for the pre-Christmas fast was 43 days. However, during the Rome–Alexandria ecumenical dialogue in the late sixteenth century, gabriel viii (d. 1603) issued various reforms to the fasting customs of the Copts (Guirguis and Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 2 A. Paul: Fast, Pre-Nativity 15 April 2024 van Doorn-Harder 2012: 3, 24–25). One of Gabriel’s reforms was to reduce the pre-Christmas fast to 28 days, so that it would be observed exclusively during the month of Kiyahk (Nakhlah 2001: 4, 59–60). Despite Gabriel’s efforts to shorten the pre-Christmas fast, various observances of differing lengths persisted. Missionaries to Egypt in the late eighteenth century documented differences in pre-Christmas fasting days between Copts in Cairo and those in Upper Egypt (Armanios 2011: 127–128). In this instance, and contrary to Ibn Kabar’s account, Coptic Christians in Cairo observed a 28-day fast during the month of Kiyahk, while the faithful of Upper Egypt adhered to a 43-day fast. Such an observance could indicate the acceptance of Gabriel’s mandate of a 28-day fast by the people of Cairo, contrasted with its rejection by the more conservative Copts of Upper Egypt, who adhered to a stricter fasting regimen.
At present, in non-leap years, Copts universally observe a 43-day pre-Christmas fast from 16 Hātūr to 28 Kiyahk, culminating with the Feast of Nativity on 29 Kiyahk (January 7). In a leap year, for pragmatic reasons, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the feast a day early on 28 Kiyahk (January 7), with fasting from 16 Hātūr to 27 Kiyahk (42-day fast).