Anorexia and Orthodox fasting rules

Recently I received an e-mail from an Orthodox nun which said in part:

I have also discovered, through speaking with people with eating disorders, that priests tend to know very little in that area as well. It is difficult for someone with a tendency to anorexia to fast in a moderate way.

In yesterday’s post, I wrote on the Orthodox fasting rules. But, mother is correct. Many do not know about the eating disorders well at all. But, this lets me bring up another thought. Recently, an Orthodox priest friend of mine was teaching a catechism class. One of the converts started asking questions about the fasting rule. For instance, is not eating soy cheese or soy patties somehow a violating the spirit of the fasting rules? When it says olive oil, should it not include all oils? Should I check the labels on every food I eat to make sure that it does not have milk solids as a filler? All of these are questions that I have heard as a priest.

But this priest, who comes from a multi-generation Orthodox family, answered the convert simply by saying to abide by the rules as written and to not try to over-interpret them. The Orthodox fasting rules only say to avoid certain foods. They never address the subject of avoiding foods that are like the foods that we avoid because there is a rather large danger of falling into a type of legalism and a type of scrupulosity. It is already a sacrifice of obedience to avoid the foods which you are asked to avoid. That is all that the Church asks of you and she asks it of you because she is trying to teach you how to control your body and thereby how to control your passions. We are not trying to teach you better ways to punish your body.

I quite appreciate how that priest explained it. One of the dangers of the new convert is that of quickly falling into a type of legalism. If they convert in an Antiochian parish, they may have troubles attending an OCA parish because of some of the differences in how the canons are applied. If they see their bishop grant a dispensation, they may begin to argue the canons, as though the Orthodox lived under a set of unbreakable rules rather than under a set of divinely guided overseers who watch over our spiritual health. This does not mean that each individual overseer is “perfect,” but that as a synod, as a jurisdiction, as a Patriarchate, we are trusting that God is guiding them in the overall life of the Church.

But, for the anorexic, who is looking to “fit in” and who may have body image problems, the fasting rules can quickly become an excuse for more anorexic behavior. Given the already-existing dangers in the overinterpretation of the fasting rules, it is no surprise that the anorexic will use the most severe monastic disciplines that she can find (most anorexics are female) to justify her going above and beyond what is required. And, because we Orthodox highly honor the ascetics, it is all too easy for the anorexic to win praise for their behavior, even though it comes not out of faith but out of internal disorder.

Oddly enough, correctly applied, the fasting rules can become a help to the anorexic. Already, one of the aids for anorexics is to force them to keep a food diary in which they are to aim for a certain minimum number of calories. For both the regular convert and for the anorexic, what my priest friend said is correct. You need to observe what the Church asks you to observe and not go beyond that. For the anorexic, in particular, the refusal of their spiritual confessor to approve more rigorous disciplines can fit quite well into a plan to bring healing to that person. We need to remind both our converts and the anorexic that the parish schema is not the same as the monastic schema. If we are called to be in the parish schema then we need to be at peace with that rather than trying to become faux monastics in the way in which we talk, behave, and live.

For those who are called to the monastic schema, their discipline will be different and will be more rigorous in some areas. But, even they are overseen by an abbott/abbess who is supposed to ensure that the novice does not fall into the mistake of believing that by their many acts they earn salvation. We live out our salvation. We work out our salvation in fear and trembling. But, we most certainly do not earn our salvation. It is the free gift of God, won for us. That is what the convert, the anorexic, and the novice need to be reminded of, over and over and over.