Additionally, during Great Lent, the size and number of meals, as well as the selection, are also smaller. On many other [[feast day|feast]] or fast days, particular foods are avoided or permitted, in lesser degrees of fasting.

The Christians inherited the tradition of fasting from the [[Judaism|Jews]]. Jesus, too, gave examples of fasting to his [[disciple]]s, most notably preceding his forty days in the desert when he was tempted by the [[devil]] ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matt]] 4:1-11).