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Liturgy & Rites

Wednesday and Friday Fasts

The Coptic Church observes Wednesday and Friday as weekly fast days, with specified festal exceptions; the supplied sources describe their commemorative meaning, discipline, and canonical basis.[^1][^2]

Also known as: Wednesday and Friday fasting · Fast of Wednesday and Friday

Published 10/2/2026Updated 2 revisionsPage history

Meaning and observance

The Coptic Church ordains Wednesday and Friday as weekly fast days. Wednesday is associated with Christ’s condemnation to crucifixion and Friday with his crucifixion.12

A different explanation associates Wednesday with Job’s suffering, while connecting Friday with the Passion of Jesus. Abstinence is also distinguished from fasting governed by ecclesiastical rules; there are therefore different commemorative explanations for Wednesday.3

Fasting discipline

According to the fasting article, the fast is kept until three o’clock in the afternoon, the ninth canonical hour. For the remainder of the day, foods containing animal fats are excluded.2 The same article’s general description of Coptic fasting specifies avoidance of meat and animal-derived foods, including eggs, milk, butter, and cheese.4

Exceptions

The fasting article states that the Wednesday and Friday fasts apply throughout the year, except:

  • During the fifty days following Easter.2
  • When the Nativity, celebrated on 29 Kiyahk, falls on either day.2
  • When the Epiphany, celebrated on 11 Tubah, falls on either day.2

A different historical formulation permits breaking the fast when the Nativity falls on Wednesday or Friday, but otherwise describes these weekly fasts as obligatory throughout the year. A separate provision permits breaking the fast on the feast of the Apostles if it falls on Wednesday, but not Friday. This formulation differs from the other list of fasting exceptions.52

Canonical and patristic references

The fasting article identifies references to the Wednesday and Friday fasts in the Didascalia, the Didache, Apostolic Canon 69, Ibn al-‘Assal’s Al-Majmu‘ al-Safawi, and Ibn al-Muqaffa‘’s History of the Patriarchs. It also names Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Peter of Alexandria the Martyr as writers who stressed their importance.6

Fasting is required on the fourth day of the week and the day of Preparation, alongside Lent. Deprivation of office is prescribed for clergy and excommunication for laypeople who fail to observe the requirement, while an exception is expressly allowed for bodily weakness.7

References

Sources

  1. 1.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 222)
    The Coptic church ordains that Wednesday and Friday be observed as fast days, the former being the day on which Jesus Christ was condemned to be crucified, and the latter being the day
  2. 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 223)
    on which His crucifixion took place. This fast applies throughout the year, with the following exceptions: during the fifty days following Easter; or should the feast of the Nativity (29 Kiyahk) or of the Epiphany (11 Tubah) fall on either day. The fast, which is kept until three o'clock in the afternoon, that is, the ninth canonical hour, entails abstention from foodstuffs containing animal fats, for the rest of the day.
  3. 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 51)
    Abstinence differs from orthodox fasting in that abstinence is not subject to the rules governing fasting. ... Friday abstinence commemorates the Passion of Jesus, and Wednesday abstinence commemorates Job's suffering.
  4. 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 216)
    In their fasts, the Copts avoid meat and all animal extracts including eggs, milk, butter, and cheese.
  5. 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 554)
    13. The fast of the Apostles, which is after Pentecost, should be required of the faithful, lasting until the fifth of Abib, which is the feast day. If it falls on a Wednesday, they should break the fast, but not on a Friday. 14. If a Feast of the Illustrious Nativity falls on a Wednesday or Friday, the faithful should break the fast on those days; otherwise the fast on Wednesday and Friday is obligatory throughout the whole year. ... In his ordinance, Christodoulus made clear to the bishops his firm determination to rule within his ecclesiastical prerogative
  6. 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 223)
    Reference to Wednesday and Friday fasts occurs in various sources such as the Didascalia (1929, chap. 18), the Didache (1958, chap. 8), Canon 69 of the Apostolic Canons, in Ibn al-‘Assal's Al-Majmu‘al-Safawi (chap. 15, iii), and in Ibn al-Muqaffa‘'s History of the Patriarchs (1949, Vol. 2, pt. 3, pp. 161, 168). Its importance was also stressed by Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) in Stromata, vii, 12 (1956, p. 544); Tertullian (c. 160-c. 220) in On Fasting, xiv (1951, Vol. 4, p. 112); and Peter of Alexandria the Martyr (d. 311) in his fifteenth Canon (1956, xiv, p. 601).
  7. 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 220)
    If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or reader, or singer does not fast the fast of the forty days of holy Lent, or the fourth day of the week, and the day of the Preparation, let him be deprived, except he be hindered by weakness of body. But if he be one of the laity, let him be excommunicated

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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.