Daniel Fast

Vegetables in a supermarket in the United States

The Daniel Fast, in Christianity, is a partial fast, in which meat, dairy, alcohol, and other rich foods are avoided in favor of vegetables and water in order to be more sensitive to God.[1][2][3] The fast is based on the lifelong kosher diet of the Jewish prophet Daniel in the biblical Book of Daniel and the three-week mourning fast in which Daniel abstained from all meat and wine. Among Catholic and Mainline Protestant Christians, the Daniel Fast has been practiced by some during the 40-day season of Lent,[1][2][4] though the Daniel Fast can variously be set at three weeks,[1] or even ten days. As such, evangelical Christian churches such as those of the Baptist tradition, have partaken in the fast at various times of the year.[2][5] The passage in Chapter 1 refers to a 10-day test wherein Daniel and others with him were permitted to eat vegetables and water to avoid the Babylonian king's food and wine. After remaining healthy at the end of the 10-day period, they continued the vegetable diet for the three years of their education. The passage in Chapter 10 refers to a three-week fast of no meat, wine, or rich food.[6] In addition to the practices of fasting and abstinence undertaken during the Daniel Fast, Christians may also add spiritual disciplines such as daily church attendance, increased prayer, as well as the reading of Sacred Scripture and a daily devotional.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d "Daniel Fast – Lent 2021". St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church. 2021. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Lent: Daniel Fast Gains Popularity". HuffPost. Religion News Service. February 7, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2018. In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in. ... Though churches in the South started doing the Daniel Fast more than a decade ago, the trend gained international momentum more recently with help from Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gallop2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Hinton, Carla (20 February 2016). "The Fast and the Faithful: Catholic parish in Oklahoma takes up Lenten discipline based on biblical Daniel's diet". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Khazan2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Bloomer, Richard J; Mohammad M Kabir; Robert E Canale; John F Trepanowski; Kate E Marshall; Tyler M Farney; Kelley G Hammond (2010). "Effect of a 21 day Daniel Fast on metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk in men and women" (PDF). Lipids in Health and Disease. 9: 94. doi:10.1186/1476-511X-9-94. PMC 2941756. PMID 20815907.