We fast joyfully: self-discipline is not self-punishment, it is liberation and renewal – the fast is a celebration of our freedom.
“… if our Father Adam had fasted, we should not have suffered banishment from Eden. The fruit that brought death upon me was pleasing to the eye and good to eat ….”
From Vespers, Friday of the First Week of Lent
Fasting returns us to an awareness of our needs, and helps us discern the difference between what we truly need and the vast, unlimited range of what we want.
Fasting is not a discipline we take up for its own sake: we fast in order to discipline ourselves so that we can find ourselves in God. The fast is a period of intense waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom.
St Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church 