According to the Orthodox tradition, the Assumption Lent is designed to prepare believers for a great holiday - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The beginning of the Assumption Lent is a joyous day for Christians. According to the promise, the Mother of Jesus Christ is the Intercessor of all who resort to Her help, and believers visit the temples for fifteen days of fasting, offer glory to the Queen of Heaven and do works of mercy.
What is the point of observing posts?
Abstinence from food and other carnal pleasures is the sacrifice of Christians to the Lord and His Most Holy Mother. Traditions vary slightly in different parishes, so baptized people come to church and learn from the priests specifically what to eat in fasting. Ouspensky is very strict, but lasts only two weeks. Throughout the second half of August, temples are full of believers who bring honey, apples and bread to the consecration. Three Savior give Christians three shields - from disease, hunger and poverty and from evil people.
Honey Spas
The Honey Spas, celebrated on August 14, marks the beginning of the Assumption Lent. He is considered the Savior on the water, the wet Savior. On this day, a large wooden cross is made from the altar in the temples. The Orthodox come to bow to him and congratulate each other on the occasion of the Depreciation, or Origin, Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord. Another holiday name is Poppy Spas in memory of nine Maccabee martyrs. On this day, it is customary to bake fresh cakes and eat them with poppy milk and honey. After the wet Savior bathing in open waters is prohibited.
Apple Spas
On August 19, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Second Savior — the apple-tree or Savior on the mountain, and celebrate the Great Twelfth Celebration - the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. This day is strictly forbidden to work. All Orthodox must take part in the procession.
Starting from this day, you can eat apples, cook apple compotes, jams, make jam, pastille and pies.
Bread Spas
This is the day when the Assumption Fast ends. Bread Spas, or walnut, is considered to be the Savior on the canvas. It is celebrated on August 29, the day after the Assumption. At this time, the Transfiguration of the Miraculous Image of Jesus Christ is celebrated.
Having paid tribute to the Creator and His Mother, by offering a bloodless sacrifice in the form of austerities and offering sincere prayers to God and the Blessed Virgin, Orthodox receive help and protection from Them on earth, on water and in heaven. On the Day of the Assumption of the Virgin, when the Assumption of Lent ends, a festive table is being prepared. If the Assumption falls on Wednesday or Friday, then it consists of fish dishes and plant foods, and a fast feast with meat dishes is carried over to the next day.
Valid Products
Food in the Assumption post corresponds to the most strict abstinence. The prohibitions on eating one or another food are the same as during Lent. Plant foods and acrid foods are what you can eat in fasting. Assumption imposes a ban on meat, dairy and fish. Vegetable oil is available only on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday - dry eating, that is, not boiled vegetables and fruits. On Tuesday and Thursday - hot food without oil. These days you can eat seafood - squid, octopus, shrimp, etc., but not fish. It can only be eaten on the feast of the Transfiguration. This is how the diet looks like in the Assumption Post by day. Some parishes allow fish on Saturday and Sunday.
Popular dishes in Assumption Post
The menu seems monotonous and does not welcome the indulgence of gluttony. However, a hunger strike is also not required. During strict fasting, you can bake bread and tortillas from different types of flour, sprinkling them with seeds and nuts. Seafood is boiled in salted boiling water for about one minute and eat, pouring lemon juice. Sour and soaked fruits can be eaten with boiled pasta, potatoes and cereals. Fresh vegetables and spicy greens are cut into pieces, salted and poured with natural fruit vinegar. Prepare fruit salads with honey and hazelnut milk. They are not only very pleasant to taste, but also useful. And this is not a complete list of what you can eat in the Assumption Post. In stores you can find oatmeal, which can be planted with boiling water, nut milk, carrot juice, pumpkin, etc. Fresh tomatoes sprinkled with pepper and salt and dried in an oven are very tasty. On Saturdays and Sundays, pies and strudel with lean fillings and vegetable oil are baked. If you cook mayonnaise without eggs, but in good butter and mustard with the addition of apple cider vinegar, then in the Assumption post the menu does not seem scarce at all.
Walnut milk
Lean nut milk is suitable for filling a huge number of dishes. It is done quite simply. Moreover, you can use not only any nuts, but also poppy seeds, hemp, sesame seeds, pumpkins, etc. Pour boiled water over boiled nuts and remove the top film. She slides very easily. If a little remains - it does not matter. Nuts must be crushed with a pestle or crushed with a blender, which is much faster. Add water a little during the process. It should be gruel. It can be squeezed through cheesecloth, hanging over a sauceboat, then you get real milk, but you can use it with thickening. Add a few grams of honey or sugar water.
It’s even easier to make such milk from ready-made nut flour, which happens in health food stores. It is enough to mix it with sweetened boiled water. Use on the same day.
Pumpkin and Shrimp Salad
To prepare this dish you will need the following products:
- fresh pumpkin;
- peeled boiled shrimp;
- canned green peas or corn;
- nut milk;
- boiled rice;
- avocado;
- onion turnip;
- oily;
- salt, pepper, nutmeg and natural fruit vinegar.
Peel, cut and stew the pumpkin with nut milk. When it becomes soft enough, take out and put to cool.
Make dressing sauce. To do this, mix thoroughly with the liquid in which the pumpkin was stewed, add grated nutmeg, salt, pepper and vinegar. Bring to a boil and immediately turn off. Cool.
Free the avocado from the skin and bones and cut into cubes.
Peel the onion, chop finely and pour over boiling water so that excess bitterness comes out.
In a deep bowl, put rice, peas, pumpkin, avocado, onion and shrimp. Pour the sauce and mix gently. After half an hour you can taste it. During this time, he will infuse and soak.
Strudel dough
Pour a glass of warm water into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Stir in small portions, through a sieve, pour in flour. Stir first in a bowl, then shift to a table and knead, adding refined vegetable oil, about three tablespoons. Flour is needed as much as the dough takes - from 0.5 to one kilogram, taking into account the rolling. Beat the dough on a table, wrap in a film and leave to rest for 40-50 minutes. Sprinkle flour on the table and roll the dough as thin as possible. Transfer it to a cloth sprinkled with flour, and continue to roll until transparent. From time to time, the dough should be removed from the canvas and turned on the other side. Sprinkle the finished layer with breadcrumbs and put the filling on one half, retreating from the edges by 5-7 cm. Roll the roll using the fabric on which it lies. Pinch the edges and wrap on a roll. Gently transfer to a baking sheet with teflon paper. Lubricate with a solution of strong, slightly sweet tea. Oven at a maximum temperature of about fifteen minutes, no longer.
The filling can be, practically, everything that can be eaten in the Assumption Post . This is buckwheat porridge with onions, stewed cabbage, and mashed potatoes with mushrooms, and apples with dried apricots, and poppy seeds, and pumpkin with rice, spinach with soy cheese, and even seafood with fried onions and oatmeal.