Sticking to posts is a tradition so ancient that there is no single answer when and why it appeared. Someone speaks about the peculiarities of seasonal biorhythms, someone claims that banal lack of food led to restrictions. Over time, the post took on the character of a rite, and then religious meaning appeared in it. One way or another, but in the modern civilized world, where there is plenty of food, fasting is a useful thing. Moreover, in the Christian tradition of beef there is also a spiritual side: a person must not only give up food, but also renounce passions and vices.
Every year after the end of the Happy 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 talk about this in our article.
What is fasting for the laity?
Restrictions on food during Christian Lent are regulated by the Church Code, which the clergy strictly adheres to. All other people living in the world as a whole must follow the same rules. But the Orthodox Lent is less severe for the laity. Priests and monks are instructed to restrict themselves more in food and pleasures, to pray more often and indulge in spiritual thoughts.
Strict observance of fasting provides for dry eating, eating once a day on weekdays (evening) and twice - on Saturday and Sunday. It is forbidden to sweet and fatty (even vegetable oil), and boiled food should be cold. Food for the laity in fasting is not so severely limited: on certain days you can eat hotter, eat fish. It is allowed to drink some wine on holidays and Sundays. You can take food several times a day, but it is still advisable to start in the afternoon.
Four multi-day posts
Every year, Lent begins and ends at different times, because it precedes the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, and it does not have a fixed date. This is the longest, seven week fast.
The duration and time of the beginning of Peter's beef depends on what day the feast of the Resurrection falls: the earlier Easter, the longer the fast. It begins a week after the Trinity and ends on July 12, the day of the apostles Peter and Paul.
The next time you will have to give up the fast from August 14 to August 28. This is the Assumption Post, it is dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin. In common people he is called Spassky.
Forty days continues the Christmas fast for the laity - from November 28 to January 6.
Fasting 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 wilderness before the sermon.
Lent is not only the longest for the laity, but also the most stringent. On the first day you can’t eat at all. Similarly, abstain should be on Good Friday (on the eve of Easter). On this day, the Savior was crucified, and believers recall his suffering and recite special prayers.
The laity can eat cold boiled food in the 1st and 4th week of fasting, eat hot in other weeks, except Passionate: strict observance of all restrictions is prescribed in the last week before the holiday.
What can not be eaten?
It is forbidden to eat meat, milk (even dried milk), eggs (and egg powder), and animal fats during fasting. It is forbidden to eat dishes that contain these products. The store will have to linger for a long time at each shelf to carefully read the composition of what is supposed to buy. Today, many manufacturers offer special lean foods and even fast-food restaurants make up separate menus without fast food.
Fasting for the laity prohibits the use of chocolate - even one in which there is no milk or other ingredients of animal origin. The reason for this taboo lies in the fact that during this period you should limit yourself to pleasures.
What can I eat?
Food that can be consumed in fasting, depends 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-eating. In the second, third, fifth, sixth week, food is allowed to cook.
In the post you can eat everything that is of vegetable origin - a variety of cereals, vegetables, fruits, pickles, lean bread. Be sure to include legumes and greens in the diet. Mushrooms are also considered lean food . Preservation is useful: preserves, apples, apricots and pears in syrup.
The restrictions imposed by Lent on the days of the week are quite strict. So, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are the most stringent days. They can not eat hotter even in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th weeks. Lenten butter is acceptable on Saturday and Sunday, on big church holidays - Annunciation (April 7) and Palm Sunday (a week before Easter) - you can eat fish. On Lazarev Saturday (before Palm Sunday) fish caviar is allowed.
Alcohol, from which fasting for laymen generally says to abstain, is permitted only in the form of grape wine on Sundays. Its quantity should be very moderate.
Controversial Products
The clergy still have not come to a consensus on seafood. Some believe that their use is possible, since shrimp and shellfish in the church tradition are not considered living things. Others are inclined to the fact 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 departs from the Old Testament principles, and the charters of a number of Orthodox monasteries make it possible to eat cuttlefish even during Lent. Eat them or not - this is largely the personal choice of the fast.
Body and spirit
It should be remembered that Great 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. The purification of 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 refuse not only delicious food, but also other pleasures: do not attend entertainment events, do not arrange noisy holidays.
They don’t get married at the time of fasting - religious people will have to endure a wedding. Strict beef instructs to refrain from conjugal 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 necessarily confess to a spiritual mentor, attend church services and receive communion.
Fasting is primarily a time for doing good deeds, strict observance of Christ's commandments, and abstinence from vain cares. It is necessary to help one's neighbor, to give alms to the needy.
Fasting and Health
Doctors consider fasting useful: unloading the body from food of animal origin has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, the gastrointestinal tract, and metabolic processes. It is important during this period to maintain a balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Vegetable food provides this opportunity: a large amount of protein contains legumes and mushrooms, a lot of carbohydrates in every vegetable and fruit, and essential fats provide oils, especially unrefined ones, fish and seafood. The fasting diet should be balanced, especially for people whose health conditions are not perfect.
Fasting for the laity allows indulgence for the elderly, children, pregnant and lactating women. If any disease is present, consultation with a doctor is necessary. It should be remembered that the church does not recommend lifting restrictions on its own: in each case, you must receive the blessing of your spiritual mentor.
How to leave the post without harm to health?
It is important to know that fasting for the laity produces certain changes in the body. It produces more enzymes designed to digest plant foods, and the body weaned from the animal. Therefore, you need to exit the post correctly. On Easter Day, you should not pounce on fast food: one or two pieces of a blessed Easter cake and an egg are more than enough to talk. Not every organism will survive if, after a long diet, it immediately gets 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 laity unreasonably leave the post.