There is a version that the roots of the concept of Great Lent lie at the origins of the birth of the Christian faith. Her preachers proved to the pagans that only true faith in the Savior Jesus Christ can help overcome any trials, even such serious ones as fasting.
The spiritual meaning of Great Lent
Despite the fact that Great Lent is strict and difficult, for a true believer it does not at all mean the burden of trials, but carries the joy of the opportunity of communion, as well as the happiness of liberating the soul from everything bad, black and sinful that has accumulated in a person for all year.
There is such a thing in the Bible as church tithe - part of the income that a person receives, he must give to the church. If you calculate exactly, then Great Lent in its strict version, excluding weekends, when a slight deviation is allowed, lasts approximately 36.5 days. This is one tenth of the 365 days of the whole year. So, according to the biblical canons, a true Christian should give these 36.5 days to the church, to God, remember the torment of the Savior and acceptparticipation in them by abstinence and prayer.
On what is a strict fast based? What can a Christian eat these days? As a rule, Lent involves the intake of plant foods. A fasting person should not eat meat, cottage cheese, yogurt. It is important to understand not what exactly a person does, but why he does it, what is the meaning of it. Fasting is a purely individual matter of each, his personal secret. The duration of the Sacrament is 40 days, after which Easter comes - the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ.
Unfortunately, people are influenced by new trends, according to which today it is very fashionable to be a believer. The time of forgetfulness of Christianity has passed, although true believers prayed and bowed before the Lord even during the years of Soviet power. During the Great Patriotic War, soldiers prayed to the icon, deeply hidden under their overcoat, and no one could shake their faith. This is what true belief consists of - this is what lives in a person from the very beginning of his existence, and is not brought in by the wind of public opinion.
Strict Orthodox Lent: Rules and Laws
A person who has consciously come to faith and regularly observes fasts is unlikely to go astray if he has traveled this path sincerely and consciously, without lying to himself.
If a person is still at the very beginning of his path to faith, he should know the basic postulates, without which fasting loses its meaning.
Firstly, Lent is not part of a weight loss program for women, it is not a measure of anti-cellulite control, which even sounds likeblasphemously. Priests believe that a pure soul will never allow such a thought.
Secondly, no one should or is required to know that a person is fasting. This is not empty bravado, not an object of boasting, but a purely individual Sacrament of each person.
Thirdly, when you decide to start fasting, you don’t have to give yourself some kind of food guidelines, say that from tomorrow I don’t eat meat, and I won’t eat at all on Wednesdays and Fridays. The beginning of any lenten abstinence is marked by reconciliation with loved ones, relatives and with oneself, the elimination of all omissions, misunderstandings and conflict situations. During fasting, it is unacceptable to engage in “eating” loved ones and oneself, and one should also remember about abstinence in food.
Fourthly, the most strict fast is not the renunciation of marital duties, but acts of adultery on the side are prohibited, since the church condemns any relationship other than those that happen between husband and wife. On the contrary, one should not bring oneself to such a degree of abstinence that then literally rush at the first comer.
Fifth, alcohol can only be consumed on weekends, preferably wine diluted with water, and no more than one glass.
Sixth, repeating the above, we must not forget that Great Lent is not a diet, and its meaning is not to throw off a couple of kilograms, but in spiritual purification, in gaining the ability to control oneself, restrain impulses body.
There isa lot of food additives, flavoring toppings to help endure a strict fast. What can you eat so that it does not seem so heavy, especially for a beginner?
How to turn limitations into opportunities?
It should be remembered throughout the whole time that Great Lent is strict, and for this time it is necessary to forget about any animal food. Meat products, milk, eggs and foods containing animal fats should be completely excluded. But you can pamper yourself with all kinds of fruits and vegetables in raw, boiled, baked and dried form, as well as cereals, herbs, honey and jam. Vegetable oil can be added to meals on weekends and holidays. On strict fasting days, it is recommended to drink more clean water and switch from thinking about food to prayers and church attendance.
Strict fasting means limiting TV viewing and entertainment activities. A television program sometimes carries so much negativity that one can involuntarily regret turning on the TV.
In Russia, weddings were not played during Lent, but this did not mean that life was over. It is better to use the time allotted for fasting for the purpose of spiritual development - you can pick up a book that you have long wanted to read, go to church once again, talk with your loved ones, show attention to them. The main thing is to think positively, to refrain from anger and bad deeds. Lent is strict not only to the physical body, but also to the moral character of a person.
It must be remembered that a strict fast is notrecommended for patients, pregnant women, children and those who work hard physically. In each case, you need to consult a doctor and a spiritual mentor. For these categories of citizens, individual proposals for fasting are possible.
How to enter a strict fast
The beginning of a strict fast is the most difficult stage, especially for those who are fasting for the first time. The first day and Friday of the last week should be completely fast, that is, one should refrain from eating at all. In strict weeks of fasting, namely the first and last weeks, fruits, vegetables, bread, water are allowed.
Throughout the fasting period, any cereals, nuts, fruits and vegetables, legumes are allowed. You can eat honey, marmalade, cocoa without milk content, jelly. On major holidays such as the Annunciation, Palm Sunday and Lazarus Saturday, fish and seafood are allowed, and vegetable oil is allowed on weekends.
In order not to harm he alth, the fasting person must periodically deny himself the use of meat and meat products in advance. Thus, you can accustom your body to the absence of animal protein. On such "preparatory" days, it is recommended to drink more water, it will normalize the body's metabolic processes.
How to leave a post
When Great Lent ends, the strict regime to which a person is accustomed cannot be immediately violated. The body will not absorb meat in large quantities after long days of abstinence. Eating large amounts of food of animal originlead to disruption of the stomach, and possibly to poisoning. You need to start with food that is easy to digest, and it is desirable that a smooth transition from fasting lasts as long as fasting lasted.
Menu lean, s alty and spicy
Recipes for strict fasting may differ in the presence of a large number of spices, additives, spices. You can use parsley, dill, sugar, s alt, cinnamon, and then no one can say that salads and snacks, first and second courses, which are made from vegetables and cereals, cannot be eaten because of their insipid taste. And some recipes can become a favorite dish for all occasions. It is necessary to ensure that spices and seasonings do not contain traces of animal origin.
The hostess of the lenten table, especially the one who works and comes home only in the evening, knows firsthand that it is much easier to puzzle over the upcoming dinner than to cook this dinner. We must manage to do something lean, non-caloric, but so that everyone is full. At the same time, the number of ingredients is very limited.
Vegetable broth will serve as a real lifesaver for a practical housewife during Lent. It can become the basis of any dish - both the first and the second. The broth is wonderful and fragrant when fresh, and if you store it in the freezer in portions, it will definitely come in handy for the urgent preparation of a delicious soup, vegetable stew or Eintopf. Vegetables for cooking it are taken any that are available and that the household loves.
For a special taste invegetable broth you can add mushrooms, thyme, rosemary and other favorite spices and herbs. First, chopped vegetables with mushrooms are sautéed in oil, and then poured with water, brought to a boil, herbs and peppers are added and simmered for about an hour over low heat.
For lean dishes, more than for any other, appearance is important. Bright colors cause appetite and distract from the composition of the dish itself, in which you often frantically want to find meat. Feeling full is usually warm, so lean meals are best served warm, and chili or ginger can help create a hot meal effect.
Colorful vegetables and fruits in the post - eggplant, bell peppers, apples, plums are simply indispensable when compiling a lenten menu, because bright colors are very uplifting.
Finally, do not forget about the various ways of s alting, urinating, fermenting and marinating vegetables and fruits! Sauerkraut with boiled potatoes - you can't imagine tastier!
Great post. A strict diet as an occasion for a flight of fancy
Fasting people should not feel deprived of delicious and beautiful food. There are so many wonderful, fragrant and satisfying Lenten dishes that any fast will be a gastronomic joy for everyone!
If lentils are available, the hostess can prepare a very he althy, tasty and beautiful soup with olives, lemon and herbs.
The crowning dish of the lenten menu is fried potatoes with mushrooms, you can add any vegetables to it, and to create a variety of color pictures, the optimalbell pepper would be an option.
Another spicy recipe is baked potatoes in foil with garlic sauce. Eggplant can be generously seasoned with garlic if no meetings and personal contacts are planned. And if you really want meat, then lean chickpea balls called falafel can serve as an imitation of meatballs.
Many complain about the strict post that you can not treat yourself to cottage cheese. That's not true! If you mix semolina with sugar and bake it in an apple, then the resulting filling will taste very much like cottage cheese. A useful property of semolina is that it absorbs fruit juices, swells and becomes like a cream. Housewives need to know this and use this property of cereals in lean cuisine.
Great dish for dinner - couscous with herbs. Cooking it is a pleasure. Two tablespoons of cereal should be mixed with olive oil, s alt. Make a hole in the couscous, pour boiling water into it, mix, add chopped herbs, beat. Fifteen minutes on the fire is enough to enjoy a simple and satisfying meal.
If there are vegetables from yesterday's dinner, you can cook rice noodles with vegetables in 10 minutes. To do this, vermicelli should be poured with boiling water and let it brew a little. Sliced vegetables should be fried for 7 minutes in oil, in which a clove of garlic was previously sautéed, then add rice paste to the vegetables and season a little with soy sauce, and sprinkle with sesame seeds on top to taste.
Bean paste looks like a liver pate. Serving heron the table, you can play in contrast with the brown color of the beans, if you put corn grains or any greens on top. To prepare a paste, canned beans are mashed with a fork and a mixture of 30 g of walnuts, 2 dessert spoons of olive oil, a few black peppercorns, as well as coriander and mustard seeds is added to it. The resulting pate is s alted to taste, and then smeared on bread, tomato or eaten as an independent dish.
Fried tofu is perfect with any vegetable. It must be cut into thick slices and fried in garlic oil. Crushed garlic is pre-sautéed. Soy sauce must be mixed with starch and chili peppers and boiled until thickened. Then you should pour this sauce over fried tofu, sprinkle with sesame seeds and herbs.
For dessert, treat yourself to a greens and banana smoothie. It looks like an alien fantasy about a he althy lifestyle. And it's easy to cook - just mix three handfuls of spinach, a few sprigs of tarragon, leaves of any green salad and one banana in a blender.
You can also bake an apple with nuts. To do this, two green apples must be stuffed with "minced meat" of five walnuts, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar or honey and raisins. Fruits will be ready in 20 minutes, the temperature of their baking in the oven should be at least 200 degrees.
Finally, connoisseurs of oriental sweets will easily make gozinaki from sunflower seeds, and the butter that is present in the recipe should simply be replaced with vegetable oil.
