Fasting During Lent According to Saint Benedict
Based on RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English (Liturgical Press, 1980)
There is a quiet asceticism buried in the pages of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Written around 540 AD and compiled in its modern scholarly edition as RB 1980, the Rule does not treat Lent as a burden reluctantly endured — it treats it as a gift gratefully received. For Benedict, fasting is not punishment. It is formation. And Lent is not a grim season of deprivation but an invitation to become more fully alive.
“The Life of a Monk Ought to Be a Continuous Lent”
The opening line of Chapter 49 (The Observance of Lent) sets the tone with striking directness: “The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent. Since few, however, have the strength for this, we urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure.” (RB 1980, 49.1–2)
This is not pessimism — it is realism shot through with mercy. Benedict acknowledges that living at full Lenten intensity year-round is beyond most people. Rather than demanding the impossible, he channels this aspiration into the forty days before Easter, carving out a concentrated season of spiritual renewal for the whole community together.
What makes Benedict’s approach so enduring is its integration of the interior and the exterior. Fasting is never merely about the stomach; it is about the soul. Chapter 49 continues: “During these days, therefore, we will add to the usual measure of our service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from food or drink, so that each of us will have something above the assigned measure to offer God of his own will.” (RB 1980, 49.5–6)
The Practical Shape of Lenten Fasting
Benedict was no romantic about asceticism. He was deeply practical, and Chapter 41 (The Times for the Brothers’ Meals) makes the physical structure of Lenten fasting concrete. During most of the year, the meal schedule rotates with the seasons — monks eat at noon in summer and at midafternoon in autumn. But in Lent, the rhythm shifts: “From the beginning of Lent to Easter, they eat towards evening.” (RB 1980, 41.7)
This single meal in the evening — after Vespers, the late-afternoon prayer — is the heart of Benedictine Lenten fasting. The monk waits through the entire working day before eating. This is not starvation; it is disciplined delay, a physical act of longing that mirrors the spiritual longing of the season itself. Benedict even adds a practical note of care: the evening meal should be timed “so that there is no need for a lamp while eating, and that everything can be finished by daylight.” (RB 1980, 41.8) Even in austerity, there is tenderness.
Fasting as Joy, Not Grimness
Perhaps the most countercultural aspect of Benedict’s teaching on Lenten fasting is its tone. He explicitly warns against performing Lenten practices in a spirit of gloom or self-promotion. Chapter 49 continues: the monks should practice their Lenten disciplines “with joy and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” (RB 1980, 49.6) The goal is not suffering for its own sake but arriving at Easter with “the joy of spiritual longing.” (RB 1980, 49.7)
This joy is also why Benedict insists that extra Lenten fasting be done with the abbot’s approval. A monk who decides to fast dramatically on his own — more than the community, making a show of personal piety — risks the sin of pride. “Anything undertaken without the permission of the spiritual father will be reckoned as presumption and vainglory, not deserving a reward.” (RB 1980, 49.8–9) True fasting is humble, communal, and accountable.
The Whole Person, the Whole Season
From the very beginning of the Rule, fasting appears in a broader list of spiritual tools. Chapter 4 (The Tools for Good Works) lists among the essential instruments of the Christian life: “discipline your body; do not pamper yourself, but love fasting.” (RB 1980, 4.11–13) Fasting is not extraordinary; it is simply one of the ordinary tools that shape a person toward God.
During Lent, those tools are sharpened. More prayer. More scripture reading. Fewer words, less food, and greater attentiveness to the grace that makes all of it possible. Benedict’s Lent is not a self-improvement project — it is a communal preparation for the greatest celebration of the year. Easter does not arrive; it is received. And fasting, practiced with joy and humility, is how we open our hands to receive it.
All quotations are drawn from RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English, edited by Timothy Fry, O.S.B. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1980).
