Staying fast is a tradition so ancient that there is no definite answer as to when and why it appeared. Someone talks about the peculiarities of seasonal biorhythms, someone claims that a banal lack of food led to restrictions. Over time, fasting took on the character of a rite, and then a religious meaning appeared in it. One way or another, but in the modern civilized world, where food is in abundance, fasting is a useful thing. Moreover, in the Christian tradition of fasting there is also a spiritual side: a person must not only refuse fast food, but also renounce passions and vices.
Every year after the end of the merry Maslenitsa, Great Lent begins for the laity. What can be eaten and what cannot be eaten during this period is of interest to many believers. We will cover this in our article.
What is fasting for the laity?
Eating restrictions during Christian Lent are regulated by the Church Charter, which the clergy strictly adhere to. All other people living in the world should generally follow the same rules. But the Orthodox fast for the laity is less severe. Priests and monks are instructed to limit themselves more in food and pleasures, to pray more often and indulge in spiritual meditations.
Strict adherence to fasting involves dry eating, eating once a day on weekdays (in the evening) and twice on Saturday and Sunday. It is forbidden sweet and fatty (even vegetable oil), and boiled food should be cold. Food for the laity during fasting is not so severely limited: on certain days you can eat hot, eat fish. It is allowed to drink some wine on holidays and Sundays. You can eat several times a day, but it is still advisable to start after noon.
Four multi-day fasts
Lent begins and ends at different times every year, as it precedes the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, and it does not have a fixed date. This is the longest, seven-week post.
The duration and time of the beginning of Peter's fast depends on what day the Resurrection feast falls on: the earlier Easter, the longer the fast. It starts a week after Trinity and ends on July 12, the day of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Next time you will have to give up fast food from August 14th to 28th. This is the Assumption Fast, it is dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. The common people call him Spassky.
Forty days of Advent fast for the laity - from November 28 to January 6.
Lent before the Resurrection of Christ
Lent appeared in the church in apostolic times. It is dedicated to Jesus Christ, who prayed and fasted for forty days in the desert before preaching.
Lent for the laity is notonly the longest, but also the strictest. On the first day, you can not eat at all. In the same way, one should abstain on Good Friday (on the eve of Easter). On this day, the Savior was crucified, and believers remember his sufferings and read special prayers.
Laity can eat cold boiled food on the 1st and 4th week of fasting, eat hot on other weeks except Holy Week: in the last week before the holiday, strict observance of all restrictions is prescribed.
What not to eat?
In fasting, you can not eat meat, milk (even dry), eggs (and egg powder), animal fats. It is forbidden to eat dishes that contain these products. In the store, you will have to linger for a long time at each shelf in order to carefully read the composition of what you are supposed to buy. Today, many manufacturers offer special lean products and even fast food restaurants have separate menus without quick meals.
The lay fast forbids the consumption of chocolate - even one that does not contain milk or other ingredients of animal origin. The reason for this taboo lies in the fact that during this period one should also limit oneself in pleasures.
What can I eat?
Food that can be eaten in fasting depends, among other things, on the week. In the first, fourth and seventh weeks, strict fasting is prescribed to eat raw food and bread on weekdays - the so-called dry diet. In the second, third, fifth, sixth week, food is allowed to be boiled.
In fasting, you can eat anything that has vegetableorigin - a variety of cereals, vegetables, fruits, pickles, lean bread. Be sure to include legumes and greens in your diet. Mushrooms are also considered lean food. Preservation will come in handy: jams, apples, apricots and pears in syrup.
The restrictions that Great Lent sets for the laity on the days of the week are quite strict. So, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are the most strict days. You can’t eat hot food in them even in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th weeks. Vegetable oil is allowed on Saturday and Sunday, on major church holidays - the Annunciation (April 7) and Palm Sunday (a week before Easter) - you can eat fish. On Lazarus Saturday (before Palm Sunday), fish caviar is allowed.
Alcohol, from which the fast for the laity generally says to abstain, is allowed only in the form of grape wine on Sundays. The amount should be very moderate.
Controversial Products
The clergy still have not come to a consensus about seafood. Some believe that their use is possible, since shrimp and shellfish are not considered living creatures in church tradition. Others tend to think that you can eat seafood at the same time as vegetable oil - on weekends and holidays. The Old Testament generally calls this food "unclean", it is forbidden to eat it - Orthodox Jews do not eat seafood. The Christian religion in many respects deviates from the Old Testament principles, and the charters of a number of Orthodox monasteries allow eating skull-skinned ones even during Great Lent. Eat them orno - this is largely a personal choice of the fasting person.
Body and spirit
It should be remembered that Lent for the laity is not just a diet, but an occasion to cleanse the soul and thoughts from sinful and vain thoughts and feelings. Cleansing only the body without the participation of the soul contradicts the meaning of fasting, which is designed to bring a person closer to God. At this time, you should give up not only delicious food, but also other pleasures: do not attend entertainment events, do not arrange noisy holidays.
During Lent they don’t get married in the church - religious people will have to endure the wedding. Strict fasting prescribes to refrain from marital duties, as well as bad habits and other destructive passions. Fasting cannot be an easy walk, it is a feat in the name of the Lord. Believers must confess to a spiritual mentor, attend church services and receive communion.
Lent is primarily a time for doing good deeds, strict observance of Christ's commandments, and abstaining from vain worries. Be sure to help your neighbor, give alms to those in need.
Fasting and he alth
Doctors consider fasting useful: unloading the body from food of animal origin has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, and metabolic processes. It is important during this period to maintain a balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Plant foods make it possible: legumes and mushrooms contain a large amount of proteins, there are a lot of carbohydrates in every vegetable and fruit, and essential fatsprovide oils, especially unrefined, fish and seafood. The fasting diet should be balanced, especially for people whose he alth is not perfect.
Fasting for the laity allows relief for the elderly, children, pregnant and lactating women. If any diseases are present, consultation with a doctor is necessary. It should be remembered that the church does not recommend lifting restrictions on your own: in each case, you need to get the blessing of your spiritual mentor.
How to get out of the fast without harm to he alth?
It is important to know that fasting for the laity produces certain changes in the body. More enzymes are produced that are designed to digest plant foods, and the body weans from the animal. Therefore, you need to get out of the post correctly. On the day of Holy Easter, you should not pounce on fast food: one or two pieces of consecrated Easter cake and an egg are more than enough to break the fast. Not every body can withstand if, after a long diet, it immediately receives a lot of fatty meat, a dozen eggs and two kilograms of sweet muffin. The number of acute pancreatitis and cholecystitis on Easter days increases sharply precisely because some lay people unwisely break their fast.
