Holy Dormition Fast is one of the four multi-day fasts prescribed for keeping by the church charter. Fasting is considered strict, but not long.
The Dormition Fast is dedicated to the preparation of a Christian for the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Unlike Great Lent and Peter's Lent, the Dormition Fast is strictly fixed on certain dates. That is, it is non-transient. This is the only multi-day abstinence dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Dormition Fast begins in mid-August. On the 14th, according to the new style, the Orthodox Church celebrates the holiday of the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. This day is the beginning of the Holy Dormition Fast. On August 14, honey is consecrated in Orthodox churches, which believers can use as a lean product. It turns out that about a month after Petrov Lent, believers will have another bodily and spiritual abstinence.
The Dormition fast lasts only two times. It ends with the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. This event is remembered by the Orthodox Church on August 28 in a new style.
Back in the 5th century, church archpastors, in their sermons, addressed parishioners with words about the need to preserve the Dormition Fast. Therefore, from that time on, we can say that the Dormition Fast was already mandatory for the Orthodox inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire by default. That is, there was no specific resolution of the church council on fasting. Only in 1166, at the Council of Constantinople, the Dormition Fast was officially approved. The Council confirmed the correctness of the ancient church practice to keep abstinence in honor of the Virgin from August 14 to 28 (August 1 to 15 according to the old calendar).
