Best Christian Podcasts About Fasting and Lent

Every year, around the start of Great Lent, my inbox fills up with the same question from newer parishioners: “wait, no meat, no dairy, no oil, for forty days?” It sounds impossible until you actually live through your first full Lenten cycle and realize how much the fast itself teaches you, almost independent of any explanation. Start with Orthodox Christian Podcast — Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music — which covers fasting practically and theologically throughout the whole liturgical year, not just during Lent itself.

Fasting as More Than Dietary Restriction

The Orthodox fasting rule — abstaining from meat, dairy, eggs, fish (with exceptions), wine, and oil during the strictest fasting periods — can sound purely mechanical from the outside. But the actual purpose runs much deeper: fasting is meant to loosen the body’s grip on the soul, cultivate humility and self-control, and free up resources (both time and money) for prayer and almsgiving. It’s paired traditionally with increased prayer and giving to the poor — fasting alone, disconnected from those companions, misses the point entirely.

What to Look For

• Practical guidance on the actual fasting rule, including realistic modifications for health conditions, pregnancy, age, and other circumstances that call for pastoral flexibility.
• Theological grounding, explaining why the Church fasts rather than treating it as arbitrary rule-following.
• Content spanning the whole calendar — Great Lent is the best known, but the Nativity Fast, Apostles’ Fast, and Dormition Fast each carry their own character.
• Honest acknowledgment of struggle and failure, since almost everyone breaks the fast at some point, and shame isn’t the goal here.

The List

1. Orthodox Christian Podcast

Regularly times content to the actual fasting calendar, offering practical encouragement right when listeners need it most — the third week of Lent, when the initial enthusiasm has worn off, tends to be a particularly well-timed focus. Spotify · Apple Podcasts · Amazon Music.

2. Parenting content

Introducing children to fasting practices is a frequently asked question. See best Christian parenting podcasts.

3. Prayer-focused content

Fasting and prayer are traditionally paired disciplines. See best Christian podcasts about prayer.

4. Stewardship and finance content

Almsgiving is the third traditional companion to fasting and prayer. See best Christian finance and stewardship podcasts.

5. Divine Liturgy content

The rhythm of Lenten services — Presanctified Liturgy, the Akathist to the Theotokos, the Canon of St. Andrew — differs from ordinary Sundays and is worth understanding. See best podcasts explaining the Divine Liturgy.

The Fasting Calendar, Briefly

Beyond Great Lent (the seven weeks before Pascha, plus Holy Week), the Church observes the Nativity Fast (roughly forty days before Christmas), the Apostles’ Fast (variable length, tied to the date of Pascha, before the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul), and the Dormition Fast (two weeks before the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos in mid-August). Wednesdays and Fridays are also traditionally fasting days throughout most of the year, outside of specific festal periods. It sounds like a lot at first, and honestly, it is — but the rhythm becomes second nature over time, the way any regular practice eventually does.

A Pastoral Note on Fasting and Health

Fasting rules are meant to be applied with real pastoral discernment, not rigid legalism. Pregnant and nursing mothers, people with certain medical conditions, the very young and very old, and anyone facing genuine health complications should discuss modified fasting with their priest rather than pushing through a strict fast that could cause real harm. The goal is spiritual benefit, never physical damage — the fast serves you, not the reverse.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly can and can’t I eat during Great Lent? The strictest traditional rule excludes meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine, and oil, with specific relaxations on certain feast days (like fish on the Annunciation and Palm Sunday) — but exact practice varies by jurisdiction and parish, so check with your priest for specifics.

What if I break the fast accidentally or intentionally? Simply return to it and bring it to confession if it weighs on your conscience — the fast isn’t a legal contract to be perfectly maintained or entirely failed; it’s a discipline you return to again and again, the way you return to prayer after distraction.

Is fasting required for children? Generally no, or only in modified, age-appropriate ways, determined pastorally by family and priest together rather than a fixed universal rule for young children.

Start with Orthodox Christian Podcast — Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music — and let it walk with you through whatever fasting season you’re heading into next.