Lent in 2019 year passes from March 11 to April 27, marking a dramatic change in the diet of all believers. Lent is one of the strictest fasts in the church calendar, beginning seven weeks before Easter and lasting 48 days. It consists of Pentecost, symbolizing Christ's fasting in the desert for 40 days, and Holy Week, reminiscent of the last days of Christ's life, his crucifixion and resurrection.
During Lent, it is prohibited to consume animal products, including meat, eggs and milk, as well as products made with eggs and milk. For example, cakes, pastries, cookies, pastries - all this is prohibited. The consumption of fish and vegetable oil is allowed only on certain days, while the inclusion of seafood such as squid, shrimp or mussels in the diet is not prohibited. Allowed products include vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes, mushrooms, nuts, dried fruits, honey, sugar, halva, dark chocolate and sauces, including lean mayonnaise. You can also include egg-free pasta and bread made without milk or eggs in your diet. Don’t forget about homemade preserves, which will allow you to diversify the Lenten menu on certain days, and about greens, which can make the taste of Lenten dishes more pronounced. If you can’t imagine your life without milk, soy or coconut milk can be a real lifesaver for you.
It is worth noting that fasting does not at all mean starving, and if you think through your diet rationally, you will definitely not remain hungry. It is also necessary to remember that the fasting table represents only a part of fasting, while the primary point is concentration on prayers, visiting temple, good deeds, abandonment of bad thoughts and entertainment, forgiveness of offenses and a benevolent attitude towards others. If you follow all these rules, dietary restrictions will benefit both body and soul.
So let's consider more details food by day during Lent in 2019. The first and last weeks of fasting are the strictest- these days especially strict restrictions are imposed on the diet. On Clean Monday - the first day of Lent- it is customary to completely abstain from eating food, while on Tuesday only bread and water are allowed. On the remaining days of the first week, you should stick to dry eating and eat foods exclusively in raw form once a day - these can be fruits, vegetables, nuts or herbs. On Saturday and Sunday first week you can eat hot food with oil, for example, porridge, lean soups, stewed vegetables or fried mushrooms. On these days, two meals a day are acceptable. On Sunday you can afford a small amount of red wine - it must be natural and free of alcohol and sugar. It is advisable to dilute it hot water, or better yet, abstain from wine altogether.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday For each subsequent week of Lent, except the last, dry eating is prescribed, while eating is allowed only once a day during the daytime. Tuesday and Thursday During the same five weeks, hot food is allowed once in the evening, but it must be cooked without adding oil. For example, it could be boiled or baked vegetables. So, oven-cooked carrots or pumpkin, supplemented with honey, nuts and dried fruits, can be a pleasant addition to your diet. On weekends those fasting are again expected to relax - you can increase the number of meals to two times a day and eat hot food with the addition of vegetable oil. So, braised cabbage, potato cutlets, vegetable soup, bean lobio, vegetable stew or potatoes fried with mushrooms and onions, excellent lean main courses. Eating fish is allowed on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which this time falls on March 25, and in Palm Sunday, which falls on 21 April. 20 April, on Lazarus Saturday, consumption of up to 100 g of fish caviar is allowed.
Holy Week - the last week of Lent- is no less strict than the first. In the first three days, only raw foods without oil are allowed once a day. On Thursday you can indulge in hot, cooked food without adding oil. For example, it could be boiled cauliflower or baked potatoes. It is not customary to eat anything on Friday. On Saturday Holy Week many believers continue to refuse food until Easter. However, raw foods and bread are allowed in the afternoon.
For some people, these instructions may be too strict and unacceptable, for example, for health reasons or due to age - in this case, it is recommended to give up animal products and eat hot food cooked in oil throughout Lent. In any case, remember that Lent is not just about food restrictions, but about approaching spiritual purity, fighting sins and finding harmony with your soul through abstaining from food, and delicious Lenten recipes will help you with this.
Every Orthodox man sooner or later he thinks about how to organize his meals during fasting by day. He asks his friends, studies literature and is often frightened by the strict rules of eating and a monotonous diet. It's actually not that scary.
Refusal from certain types of food for a while is a spiritual feat
Among our compatriots there are many who not so long ago decided to make their bloodless sacrifice to the Creator. These people have discovered many products that were previously worldly life the menu consists largely of protein foods of animal origin. Fasting prohibits meat and dairy products, as well as eggs.
How to properly prepare for fasting?
What time and what to eat during fasting is not an idle question. The church allows seafood, vegetables, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and cereals. They can be eaten throughout the entire period of abstinence, with the exception of a few special days on which you cannot eat at all, in particular on Good Friday, and on Christmas Eve - Christmas and Epiphany. Meals during fasting are scheduled by day in each Orthodox calendar. The degree of severity is regulated by the canons. However, regulations sometimes change. In every church, priests make sure to explain to parishioners what they can do during fasting and what they should abstain from. The most correct thing is to ask a priest for a blessing before fasting. He will clarify what is possible and when, and what will have to be refused. Some Christians quite rightly believe that the inhabitants of monasteries know and follow the most precise rules. Whether to copy their routine or not, each layman has the right to decide independently, having previously talked with his confessor of clergy.
Do lay people need to follow the monastic rules?
The diet of lay people and monks differs significantly. The monks fast according to all the rules - they eat only once a day, strictly observe dry eating on the prescribed days, and do not eat meat even outside of fasting. The main guideline for all Christians is the forty-day fast of Jesus Christ. Before accepting the mission entrusted by God the Father, the Lord retired to the desert, where he prayed and fought temptations, and supported his physical body with wild honey and locusts. Christ commanded us that we can save our souls only by fasting and prayer. Any fast should be aimed primarily at the desire to comprehend and accept into your soul the commandment “Love one another.”
What foods are allowed during fasting?
Meals during fasting by day for the laity usually look like this. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, dry eating is accepted, that is, food cannot be cooked. These days, cereals soaked in water and soaked until soft, as well as dried fruits and water soaked in the same way are allowed.
On Tuesday and Thursday you can cook hot food. It can be porridge with water or vegetable broth, jelly, seafood, pasta. Do you often make jelly for yourself outside of fasting? But they are very good for health. Kissels can be made from fruits, berries, and cereal flakes.
What can be prepared from lean products?
You can cook very tasty soups from mushrooms, vegetables and sea creatures. Eating during fasting does not prohibit the use of seasonings and spices. And they are almost always not of animal origin. Lent is the time to master oriental cuisine. Soy sauces, Indian spices, domestic herbs, nuts, honey - these are all things that you can experiment with four days a week, and on Saturday and Sunday vegetable oil is also allowed. Eating daily while fasting will add variety to your life. At the end of the week you can bake strudels. These are a kind of rolls made from very thinly rolled stretch dough. To prepare it, only flour, water and a little salt are used. The filling for them can be sweet, for example, apple and apricot. Take fresh apples, dried apricots or apricot jam, flavor with cinnamon or vanilla, and so that the filling does not flow out, secure it with potato starch.
You can use fresh cabbage as a filling for a savory lean roll. To prevent it from becoming bitter, boil water and put chopped cabbage leaves in it for 3-5 minutes, then drain in a colander. After the water has drained, use the cabbage in any dish. To fill the strudel, fry the onions in vegetable oil and mix with cabbage; to improve the taste, add one cardamom grain, salt and pepper.
Meals during Lent can be varied with jelly and jellied dishes on agar-agar. They can be made for future use, but whether they are allowed to be eaten on Monday, Wednesday and Friday will have to be checked with the priest of your church.
Benefits of fasting for physical health
Eating during fasting every day will not allow you to gain excess weight, but will allow you to eat those foods that you forbade yourself in everyday life. For example, potato pies fried in vegetable oil. Will you say: “Death to the figure”? Nothing happened! You can only afford this pleasure on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the days the weight will return to normal. In general, eating during fasting by day of the week is quite an exciting thing. You will not only greatly expand your culinary horizons by adding new dishes to your diet, but also get rid of dysbacteriosis and improve your work gastrointestinal tract, cleanse your body of waste and toxins. The nutrition calendar during Lent sets quite strict boundaries for believers, but it does not make their life dull and monotonous.
Fasts vary in length and severity. During the Apostolic, or Peter's, Fast, as well as during the Filippov Fast, that is, the Nativity Fast, fish is quite often allowed. Accordingly, the filling for baked goods, soups and main courses become even more interesting. Even during Lent you can treat yourself to fish on Annunciation and Palm Sunday and fish caviar on Lazarus Saturday.
The joy of successfully overcoming carnal temptations
Only those who have endured a multi-day fast have the opportunity to feel the real joy of eating. Usually the first week after a multi-day fast is continuous. Foods that have been banned for several weeks are perceived in a new way. Fresh cottage cheese with rich sour cream and condensed milk tastes like the most delicate ambrosia. And if you spread it on a butter cake, the flesh of which is not white, but bright yellow from the eggs generously added to the dough?! Who can afford such luxury if not those who for a long time have deprived themselves of the joys of gluttony, abstinence from food and prayer?
The joy of the Incarnation of the Lord in the Only Begotten Son and His victory over death are celebrated very widely; no prohibitions overshadow these two holidays for those who properly prepare for them. At this time, believers completely freely indulge in the joys of life, without worrying about a slim figure, calories, eating hours, etc. A liberated and cleansed body works perfectly. All beneficial substances are used to improve health and build tissue cells of all organs, and harmful ones are removed without delay.
You no longer have to wonder when and what to eat. During fasting, these issues had to be resolved every day, because it is no secret that, no matter how hard you try, fasts generally last a long time, and it is not always possible to cook food. Snacks on Snickers and cappuccino are not allowed. So Orthodox Christians most often eat water, nuts and dried fruits. Honestly, it's not easy.
What if you couldn’t cope with the prohibitions and regulations?
Attending worship services and reading prayers greatly help strengthen the will and spirit. And if you still couldn’t pass the test of fasting, don’t despair. It didn’t work out now, it will work out another time. The most important thing is that the Lord sees your efforts.
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Fasting, by its definition, is a strict prohibition or restrictions on the consumption of food or only certain products, for example, meat or dairy products.
Great Lent is the way to Happy holiday Great Easter, through which a believer must go through, keeping himself in strictness. The ban is imposed not only on eating food, but it is also prohibited to spend this time in fun and pleasure. Great Lent is one of the strictest fasts in the church calendar; it begins seven weeks before Easter and consists of forty days (Quentary Day) and a week before Easter (Holy Week). Pentecost is celebrated in honor of the fact that Jesus Christ fasted in the desert for forty days, and Holy Week commemorates the life of Christ in last days His life, His crucifixion and resurrection.
Lent in 2018- from February 19 to April 7
During Lent, it is not recommended to eat food of animal origin - meat, eggs, milk. However, it is allowed to eat fish, but only on the holidays of Palm Resurrection and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Eating seafood such as squid, shrimp, and mussels is not prohibited during Lent.
But we should not forget that Great Lent is not an Orthodox diet, and the purpose of fasting is not so much to cleanse the stomach as to cleanse the human soul.
According to church regulations, Lent is a tribute to the memory of the Lenten feat of the son of God - Christ. After his baptism, Jesus wandered through the desert in thought for 40 days without water or food. This act marked the beginning of his great saving deeds in the name of all mankind. And in order to thank the Savior and honor him, the church introduced the strictest restrictions on the entire Lent, preceding Easter.
However, there is another version of the origin of the ritual of long pre-Easter fasting. At the dawn of Christianity, before the baptismal rite, future “children of the church” were ordered to pray fervently for 40 days and strictly limit food and water. The christenings themselves took place only 1-2 times a year on major holidays, most often on Easter. Everyone who wanted to join the religion was called catechumens. And being in solidarity with them, the rest of the Christians adhered to 40 days of abstinence in the period before the ritual (that is, before Easter). As a result, the post known to us today was established not all at once, but rather gradually. True, over hundreds of years, the conditions of fasting have undergone changes more than once.
The main rules of modern Lent:
- Rejoice in everything and thank the Lord;
- Visit the temple during Lent 2018;
- Repent at Pentecost and you can be cleansed during Holy Week;
- Take care of your health. In case of illness, soften the conditions of fasting;
- Don't think about food;
- Look at your plate;
- Hasten to do good;
- Remember why you entered into fasting;
- Give up temptations and imaginary pleasures in favor of tireless prayers to the Lord;
As for the meal, according to the Church Charter, there are some rules:
- During the first and last weeks of Great Lent, a particularly strict fast is observed.
- Meat and dairy products (butter, cheese, cottage cheese, milk), eggs, are excluded. That is, all products of animal origin.
- You can eat only once a day, in the evening, however, on Saturdays and Sundays you are allowed to eat twice a day, at lunch and in the evening.
- On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, eat cold food, without vegetable oil. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, hot food without oil is allowed.
- On Saturdays and Sundays it is allowed to add vegetable oil to food, and it is also allowed to drink grape wine (except for Saturday of Holy Week).
- IN good friday(this is the last Friday of Lent) you should abstain from food altogether.
- On Saturday, many who observe fasting also abstain from food until the onset of Great Easter.
How to fast correctly for Orthodox laypeople and what to eat on different days
The annual pre-Easter Lent is flexible in the calendar and in 2018 it falls from February 18 to April 7. The ritual of fasting lasts 49 days, of which 40 are the days of the Fourth Day, two twelfth holidays (the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem) and the ascetic 6-day cycle of Holy Week. According to the church charter, Lent 2018 is as follows:
- first week - February 18-24, 2018;
- second week - February 25 - March 3, 2018;
- third week - March 4-10, 2018;
- fourth week - March 11-17, 2018;
- fifth week - March 18-24, 2018;
- sixth week - March 25-31, 2018;
- Seventh “Holy” Week – April 1-7, 2018.
In addition to the church charter, it is important to know how to fast correctly and what Orthodox laity can eat by day in the 2018 Lent calendar. According to strict conditions, there can be no more than two meals per day. The first traditionally occurs around lunchtime (after church liturgy), and the second in the evening (i.e. after Vespers). If there is only one meal, its time is 15.00 Moscow time. In terms of nutrition, the first and last “passion” weeks are the strictest. They include days of dry eating and complete fasting. On certain days in other weeks, hot dishes with or without butter are allowed, sometimes fish caviar, and on the twelve holidays - wine and fish. It will help you understand each week and its meaning in more detail. orthodox calendar Lent for 2018: what the laity can eat according to the days, read further in our article. 
What foods are allowed to be consumed during fasting?
If you approach your diet wisely during Lent, then, firstly, you will not have to go hungry, and secondly, even during the period of strict fasting, nutrition can be quite varied and balanced.
So, the main products allowed during fasting:
- Black bread, cereal crispbread.
- Cereals (oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, corn, wheat, barley)
- Salted and pickled vegetables, berry and fruit jam.
- Mushrooms of various preparations.
- Legumes (beans, lentils, peas)
- Dried fruits, nuts, honey.
- Seasonal vegetables (potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, cabbage, radishes, etc.)
- Fruits in season (apples, bananas, grant, oranges, etc.)
- Fish is allowed to be consumed twice during the entire fast. On the feast of the Annunciation (in 2016 it falls on April 7) and Palm Sunday (April 24, 2016)
Nutrition calendar by day (menu)
The first week of fasting (the most strict). It is important to enter the fast correctly on the eve of the start. It is also important to know the personal contraindications, who should not fast.
1 Week |
||
| Monday | It is customary to abstain from food. | |
| Tuesday | black bread, water, kvass are allowed | |
| Wednesday | dry eating, that is, food that is eaten raw, this can be various vegetables and fruits, as well as nuts and herbs. Bread is allowed. | |
| Thursday | continuation of dry eating | |
| Friday | You can eat vegetables, fruits, nuts; vegetable oil is prohibited on this day. Cooking is not recommended; everything should be consumed raw. | |
| Saturday | The food is the same as on Friday, you are allowed to drink grape juice. | |
| Sunday | on this day you are allowed to eat boiled food with vegetable oil. You can also drink a small amount of red wine, which should be natural, without adding alcohol. | |
Above we described one week, how, according to all the rules and canons, fasting should be observed; this is more acceptable for monks, or for people who strictly observe all the regulations of the church. If you decide to fast for the first time, then you should not take on excessive loads! It is quite possible, for example, to eat oil.
Here sample menu, which you can take as a basis by adding or replacing certain dishes:
2 week |
||
| Monday | Breakfast | Oatmeal porridge with water. Tea. |
| Dinner | Vermicelli soup. Potato cutlets. Apples. Coffee or tea. | |
| Dinner | Tea | |
| Tuesday | Breakfast | Rice porridge. Cucumber and tomato salad. Tea. |
| Dinner | Vegetable soup. Vermicelli with mushroom sauce. Tea with jam. | |
| Dinner | Tea | |
| Wednesday | Breakfast | |
| Dinner | Vegetable solyanka. Cabbage salad. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Tea. | |
| Thursday | Breakfast | Corn porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | ||
| Dinner | ||
| Friday | Breakfast | Barley porridge, cucumbers, tomatoes. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | ||
| Dinner | Buckwheat porridge. Tea. | |
| Saturday | Breakfast | The vinaigrette. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Millet porridge. Vegetables. Compote. | |
| Dinner | ||
| This is the first parent's Saturday during Lent. Whenever possible, people go to the cemetery to visit their deceased relatives. | ||
| Sunday | Breakfast | |
| Dinner | ||
| Dinner | ||
3rd week of fasting |
||
| Monday | Breakfast | wheat porridge. Nuts. Tea. |
| Dinner | Potato soup with buckwheat. Potato zrazy. Fruits. Coffee or tea. | |
| Dinner | Tea | |
| Tuesday | Breakfast | Buckwheat porridge. Tea |
| Dinner | bean soup. Vermicelli with mushroom sauce. Tea with jam. | |
| Dinner | Tea | |
| Wednesday | Breakfast | rice porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Vegetable solyanka. Cabbage salad. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Tea. | |
| Thursday | Breakfast | oatmeal porridge. Fruits. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Cabbage soup made from fresh cabbage. Vegetable Salad. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Mashed potatoes with eggplant caviar. Tea. | |
| Friday | Breakfast | barley porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Pea soup. Salad with vegetables. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Buckwheat porridge. Tea. | |
| Saturday | Breakfast | Millet porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Rassolnik. The vinaigrette. Vegetables. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Boiled vermicelli with lecho. Tea. | |
| Note: This is already the second Parent's Saturday during Lent. It is also necessary to go to the cemetery to pay tribute to your deceased relatives. | ||
| Sunday | Breakfast | wheat porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Russian-Ukrainian borscht. Fried potato. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Rice porridge with onions and carrots. Tea. | |
4th week of fasting |
||
| Monday | Breakfast | oatmeal porridge. Nuts. Tea. |
| Dinner | Vegetable soup. Pea porridge. Nuts. Coffee or tea. | |
| Dinner | Tea | |
| Tuesday | Breakfast | barley porridge. Tea. |
| Dinner | Lentil soup. salted mushrooms. Tea with jam. | |
| Dinner | Tea | |
| Wednesday | Breakfast | rice porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Lenten borscht. Cucumber and tomato salad. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Tea. | |
| Thursday | Breakfast | rice porridge. Nuts. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | potato soup with beans. Vegetable Salad. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Mashed potatoes with eggplant caviar. Tea. | |
| Friday | Breakfast | oatmeal porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Potato soup with green peas. Salad with vegetables. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Corn porridge. Tea. | |
| Saturday | Breakfast | Buckwheat porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Rassolnik. The vinaigrette. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Boiled vermicelli with mushroom sauce. Tea. | |
| Note: This Saturday will be the third one for parents. | ||
| Sunday | Breakfast | oatmeal porridge. Tea or coffee. |
| Dinner | Russian-Ukrainian borscht. Vegetable Salad. Compote. | |
| Dinner | Buckwheat porridge. with onions and carrots. Tea. | |
In the subsequent fifth and sixth weeks After fasting, you can repeat your menu as in the second and third weeks.
The seventh (Holy Week) week of Great Lent is as strict as the first.
The sixth Sunday of Great Lent falls on the celebration of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, or it is also called Palm Sunday. On this day you can eat fish, food with butter, and consume a little Cahors.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - dry eating. Thursday you can eat warm food, but cooked without oil, and only once a day. On Friday only bread and water. Eating is prohibited on Saturday.
And finally, Sunday, the end of the strictest fast falls on the celebration of Easter.
It is important to watch this video for your safety!
It is worth noting that if you decide to fast for the first time, it is recommended to talk with a priest and decide for yourself the severity of fasting, because you need to understand the very important truth that the main purpose of fasting is not food restriction, but humility and repentance, prayer!
Great Lent 2018, nutrition calendar by day
Unlike the Assumption and Nativity Lents, Lent is not in specific numbers, but mobile. In 2018, it starts on February 19 and ends on Saturday, April 7. And on April 8, 2018, the main holiday of Orthodox Christians begins - the Holy Resurrection of Christ - Easter.
Lent is the longest - it lasts 48 days. The Lord Jesus Christ himself was tempted by the devil for 40 days in the desert and did not eat anything during these days. Thus He began the work of our salvation. Therefore, Great Lent in Orthodoxy is established in honor of the Lord Himself, and the last week of Lent - Holy Week - in honor of the remembrance of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, His suffering and death.
The most important goal of fasting is spiritual improvement. Therefore, those people who reduce fasting only to observing certain nutritional rules are very mistaken. Restrictions on food are needed in order to learn to control and restrain our desires, to understand our true needs (in fact, we can do without much that we are very accustomed to). In many cases, we are like little children - we are used to being guided only by our “I want”. Fasting develops willpower. After all, if we cannot organize ourselves and our lives in small things, then even more so we will not be able to achieve results in something larger and more important. Therefore, food fasting is the first step to spiritual growth.
How strictly should you fast?
Lent is the strictest of all four multi-day fasts. Many printed calendars and the daily nutrition calendar that we present below contain data based on the church charter. With the exception of a few days, the routine is as follows: from Monday to Friday inclusive - dry eating, on Saturday and Sunday - fast food with vegetable oil.
Dry eating is one of the strict degrees of fasting (after all, there is also complete abstinence from food). The following products are allowed by the church charter: water, bread, salt, honey, herbs, as well as raw, dried, soaked or pickled vegetables. Further, depending on the severity of the regulations, permission is given only for soaking food of plant origin or for heat treatment by boiling/baking, but without flavoring additives. All of the above - without the use of vegetable oil. Currently, dry eating most often refers to herbal infusions, cold drinks, juices, bread, raw and soaked fruits, raw and baked vegetables (of course, without vegetable oil).
This monastic charter has such a name because it fully relates to the monastic practice of Palestine. The laity are not obliged to adhere to it. Typically, people in the world choose one of two options:
- More strict:
- Monday of the first week (February 19, 2018) and Great Friday, i.e. Friday of Holy Week (April 6, 2018) - complete abstinence from food
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday - dry eating
- Tuesday, Thursday - hot food without oil
- Saturday, Sunday - hot food with butter
- Less strict:
- Monday of the first week and Great Friday (Friday of Holy Week) - dry eating or food without oil
- all other days of fasting - any food of plant origin with vegetable oil
Each layman can choose the measure of fasting for himself individually, but it is better to consult with a priest. Great Lent 2018, nutrition calendar by day.
The monastic charter is recommended (and then optionally) to be observed by those people who already have experience of fasting for many days. If you want to try fasting for the first time or have never held Lent in its entirety, then simply start by eliminating all meat products. If you feel strong, then exclude all products of animal origin (milk, kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, etc.), but leave all types of cooked food and vegetable oil. You should not immediately, without preparing, take on the feat of dry eating.
As for the two most strict days of Great Lent - Monday of the first week (February 19, 2018) and Friday of Holy Week (April 6, 2018) - where the monastic charter prescribes complete abstinence from food, then you should be even more careful here. People with chronic diseases(not only the gastrointestinal tract, but any other) daily fasting is contraindicated. And putting your health (and, as a result, your life) in danger is not blessed by the Church. Remember that everything needs to be approached with reason.
Since Lent is strict, people do not eat fish during it, with the exception of two holidays- Palm Sunday (April 1, 2018) and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (April 7). But since this year the Feast of the Annunciation falls on Holy Saturday before Easter, fish is not allowed by the monastery charter. However, in honor of the holiday, you are allowed to drink very little wine. Thus, the only day on which you can eat fish during Lent is Palm Sunday, April 1, 2018. And on Lazarev Saturday (March 31, 2018) fish caviar is allowed.
So, Lent 2018 begins on February 19, see the daily nutrition calendar below. But once again we emphasize that laymen do not have to adhere to strict monastic rules. It is better to determine the measure of fasting by consulting with a priest from the parish church.
Menu for fasting before Easter 2018 by day
It is recommended to completely abstain from eating any food. However, this is a requirement of the monastic charter. The laity can adhere to fasting according to their own abilities. For example, on the first day of fasting, maintain a dry diet - consume products of plant origin (vegetables, fruits) without seasoning with vegetable oil. And, of course, in limited quantities.
On Monday of the first week of Lent in the evening in church they read the first part of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, so it is advisable to be in church at this time. If this is not possible, you can read the same part of the canon at home. The Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is often published separately as a small booklet. It can be purchased at any church shop, store with spiritual literature, or you can find the text of the canon on the Internet (it is advisable to use a trusted source) and print it out.
According to the monastery charter, dry eating is prescribed on this day. That is, you can eat all fruits (as well as dried fruits, nuts) and vegetables, raw, pickled, baked, heat-treated, but without flavorings. Salt is allowed in this case. You can also eat lean baked goods without vegetable oil.
Despite the fact that now is not the season for vegetables grown in our region, you can buy products from greenhouses or brought from other countries in stores. You can eat raw not only the familiar tomatoes, cucumbers, white cabbage, radishes, carrots, garlic, onions. But also zucchini bell pepper, beets, broccoli, cauliflower. In addition to the fact that many raw vegetables contain more vitamins, they also taste more interesting, although not very familiar to us.
At Great Compline in church on Tuesday of the first week of Great Lent, the second part of the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read. As on Monday, it is better to go to church at this time for conciliar prayer. And if this is not possible, then pray at home.
On Wednesday, the monastic charter again prescribes dry eating - that is, bread products, raw or soaked fruits, as well as raw, pickled or baked vegetables (with salt, but without seasonings, vegetable oil).
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served, and the third part of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is also read.
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread).
On this day, at Great Compline in the church, the fourth part of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read.
On Friday of the first week of Great Lent, dry eating is also prescribed by the monastery charter.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served, and at the prayer behind the pulpit the prayer canon of St. Theodore Tiron and is blessed kolivo (sochivo).
For the first time on the first week, on Saturday, food with vegetable oil is allowed by the monastery charter. And, of course, here the menu becomes much wider. A hearty solution would be fried potatoes, any vegetable salad with oil dressing, mushroom or vegetable soup with fried carrots and onions.
On this day the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
On this day, the fast is also weaker than in the first five days of the first week - food with vegetable oil is allowed. You can prepare a variety of side dishes, main and first courses from vegetables, mushrooms, and legumes. There are also many more options for baking with vegetable oil than without it. We have selected several recipes for you, which are located after the given daily nutrition calendar for Lent 2018.
In church tradition, Sunday is often called a week. So, February 25 is the first week of Lent, which is called the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating. Let us remember that this means eating plant foods without oil.
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread). To make the vegetables more juicy, or to avoid the urgent need to dress the salad, you can use the juice of the vegetables themselves. For example, add salt to shredded cabbage or grated carrots and mash well with your hands for at least three minutes. Then just leave it to stand for 10 minutes.
Eating lean foods without oil (vegetables, fruits, bread). During fasting, including on days of dry eating, do not ignore honey - it is allowed by church regulations and serves as a good support for the immune system.
On this day the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served in the church.
The monastic charter is dry eating (vegetables, fruits, baked goods). You can prepare bean or pea puree without using vegetable oil. To do this, soak (if required) the peas/beans for several hours, then boil. Drain the water into a separate bowl, and grind the prepared beans or peas in a blender. Add drained water if desired. This puree can be eaten cold.
Bread, fruits, and vegetables without vegetable oil are allowed at meals. Let's look at several options for the bases for lean dishes on dry eating days: pumpkin with honey; pumpkin with apple; baked potatoes and beets; beans with potatoes; cabbage with prunes; radish with garlic; prunes with walnuts; potatoes with pickles, etc.
This Friday
On Saturday, the monastic charter allows the consumption of food with vegetable oil. You can saute and fry vegetables, and use them to prepare a lot of dishes - vegetable stew, mashed potatoes, lean soup or cabbage soup, filling for pies or dumplings.
On this day the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. And one more important point- This is the first parental Saturday of Great Lent. To commemorate the dead on this day, it is good not only to pray at home for all deceased relatives and loved ones, but also to order a memorial service in the church, preferably being present at it. If possible, you can visit the cemetery.
Food containing vegetable oil is allowed. As an option, you can make lean cabbage rolls, any porridge with vegetable or mushroom frying, vegetable cutlets, potato balls, potato and carrot pancakes, bake pancakes or wrap any vegetable/mushroom filling in thin pita bread. From the first courses you can prepare beetroot soup, potato cabbage soup, soup with noodles or dumplings.
This Sunday the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
Dry eating - bread, vegetables, fruits - all without the use of vegetable oil. You can eat vegetables separately or make a salad, but season them not with oil, but with something else - lemon juice, soy sauce, some juicy fruit with a not very strong taste.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating. As an option, you can make some kind of pate without adding oil. It is convenient to prepare it in a chopper - a blender bowl. You can use pitted olives or any raw or baked vegetables without oil as a basis.
It is allowed to eat bread, fruits and vegetables without using oil. An example of an excellent vitamin salad is to grate green radish, sprinkle with lemon juice, add cranberries, and stir.
On Wednesday the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
8 March 2018, Thursday
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread products). With this measure of fasting, canned peas and corn come in handy. I added them to the same boiled potatoes and fresh onions - it’s already a salad! Or you can simply serve it with baked potatoes.
The monastic charter provides for dry eating. An option for a healthy and satisfying snack is to combine grated raw carrots with crushed nuts, sprinkle with a little apple cider vinegar.
On this day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated in churches.
On this day, any lean food with vegetable oil is allowed.
March 10, 2018 is the second parental Saturday of Lent. On this day, if possible, it is better to attend a church service, order a memorial service for deceased relatives, and also pray at home. You can visit the cemetery.
This Saturday the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
The monastic charter on this day prescribes food with vegetable oil.
This week (Sunday) of Lent is the Worship of the Cross. Everywhere in churches the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, at Matins, after the great doxology, the Cross is taken out and venerated.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating. Of course, this winter-spring period In the absence of fresh berries (however, some supermarkets now sell greenhouse strawberries all year round), you can use frozen berries for eating and cooking.
In the church on this day at the 1st hour the veneration of the Cross is performed.
Dry eating (vegetables, fruits, bread). On such days, you can experiment with different fruits. For example, make quite exotic caviar from mango and avocado, punching them in a blender and seasoning with salt and lemon juice. This dish can be eaten without anything or spread on bread, a roll, a loaf of bread or cookies.
Once again, the monastery charter suggests dry eating. Another dish that is not quite familiar to us is a salad made from sauerkraut, finely chopped (or grated) apple, grapes cut in half and celery sprigs.
On this Wednesday, at the 1st hour, the veneration of the Cross is performed. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated.
Eating baked goods, fruits and vegetables without using vegetable oil. A hearty and affordable version of the salad that will help out in any conditions - cut baked or boiled potatoes and pickled cucumbers into small cubes, chop onions (if desired, you can first pour boiling water over them), any greens, mix everything and season with lemon juice.
In the event that a polyeleos is celebrated in honor of the “Sovereign” Icon of the Mother of God, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Dry eating (bread, vegetables, fruits). Fast days without eating vegetable oil are a good reason to eat more greens - lettuce, dill, parsley, cilantro, arugula, sorrel, celery, green onions.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served and the Cross is venerated.
The monastic charter allows food with vegetable oil.
March 17, 2018 is the third parental Saturday of Lent. You can bake Lenten buns or pies and distribute them to neighbors, friends or parishioners of the nearest church as a memorial service for your deceased relatives. It is also good to give alms with a request to pray for your deceased relatives.
Food containing vegetable oil is allowed. Many people underestimate the importance of mushrooms during fasting. They are rich in plant protein, which to some extent replaces animal protein during fasting. Mushrooms can be used to make caviar, stews, dumplings, soups, salad, and mushroom goulash. Even just frying it with potatoes and onions will turn out simple, satisfying and tasty.
On this day the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
The monastic charter prescribes dry eating on this day - vegetables, fruits, bread. On such days, you can prepare a delicious vitamin compote. To save the maximum beneficial properties, you need to thoroughly rinse the dried fruits (any that are available and that you like) a little warm water. Then fill them with cleaned cold water and leave overnight. In the morning, put everything together on low heat and bring to a boil, covering with a lid. When it boils, add sugar (or you can do without it if you don’t really like sweets or are strictly fasting) and turn it off immediately. Leave alone for several hours. The compote will infuse and be very tasty.
Dry eating - fruits, vegetables, bread without vegetable oil.
This year, the service in honor of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, which usually takes place on March 22, has been moved to this day. However, in 2018, the 22nd falls on Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent, when the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated.
On this Wednesday, according to the monastic charter, eating food with butter is allowed, which means that you can safely fry vegetables and mushrooms to prepare stews, salads, soups or fillings for pies, Lenten chebureks (kutabs).
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated.
This week on Thursday it is allowed to eat food using vegetable oil.
Thursday of the Great Canon - everywhere at matins in churches the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the life of St. Mary of Egypt are read. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated. Let us remind you that the service in honor of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste this year has been postponed to Tuesday, March 20.
The monastic charter provides for dry eating on this day - all fruits, vegetables, baked goods, but without the use of vegetable oil. On such days, you can experiment with various healthy desserts. For example, combine finely grated raw pumpkin with coarsely grated apple (or chopped orange pulp). Season with honey and, if desired, spices (cinnamon, cardamom, etc.)
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated in the church on this day. Either at the evening service on this day, or at the morning service on Saturday, an akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos is sung.
On Saturday, food with vegetable oil is allowed. Why not make some kind of lean sauce like mayonnaise? Many of these recipes require sunflower oil, and due to the lack of preservatives in them, they have a short shelf life. It will be great to prepare this sauce for yourself and your family just for Saturday-Sunday.
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. If the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos was not sung the day before, then it is sung at Matins.
Sunday meal involves eating food with vegetable oil. If you have a blender, for variety you can make a puree or cream soup based on pumpkin, potatoes, broccoli, beans, etc.
On this day the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
The monastic charter provides for dry eating on this day. For variety, you can make lean chips, such as beet chips. To do this, peel the beets and cut them into thin slices. Place them on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. If desired, add salt on top. If you are not fasting so strictly, you can sprinkle the baked slices with any vegetable oil.
Dry eating (bread, vegetables, fruits). As an option, a simple and very healthy salad that does not require any dressing (however, you can lightly sprinkle it with lemon juice). Combine washed and dried arugula leaves, pomegranate seeds and pine nuts.
Fruits, vegetables, baked goods without oil. An option for lunch is a very simple salad without dressing, but still juicy. It only requires two ingredients - sauerkraut and baked beets (1.5 hours at 200 degrees), grated on a coarse grater. Even without oil it turns out not dry at all.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated.
Dry eating - bread, vegetables, fruits without consuming vegetable oil. Perhaps the simplest and most satisfying thing you can cook is to bake potatoes in the oven without using oil. Either whole (if the tubers are small) and “in uniform”, or cut in half. Let us remind you that according to the monastery charter, salt is allowed.
Dry eating again - eating bread, fruits and vegetables. Try a very simple and unusual salad with just two ingredients - pomegranate seeds and onion rings. Onion rings (if the head is small; if larger, then cut the onion into halves or quarters of rings) just thinly slice and that’s it! If desired, you can scald with boiling water and then sprinkle with lemon juice.
On this day the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
This day is a holiday - Lazarus Saturday. It is allowed to eat fish roe. For those who accept this product, there is usually no difficulty in consuming it. Caviar is good simply on fresh bread or, on the contrary, on toast.
But we suggest diversifying your diet on this holiday. For example, bake lean pancakes according to any recipe, let them cool, put caviar on them, roll them up and cut each of them in half diagonally. The dish will look very elegant!
You can make sandwiches - apply to bread thin layer mayonnaise, place a circle of fresh cucumber on top, and place a spoonful of caviar on it, garnishing with herbs.
On Lazarus Saturday the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. At the all-night vigil (on Saturday evening) the consecration of the tree takes place.
This week (Sunday) is called flowering week. Among the people, the holiday of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem, always celebrated exactly a week before Easter, is called Palm Sunday. In honor of the holiday, eating fish is allowed. Here there is room for imagination to unfold not only in terms of choosing the type of fish, but also the method of preparing it - fried, smoked, baked, salted, canned, etc. There are a lot of variations when hot - you can simply fry it with onions and spices or fry it breaded with flour and seasonings. Bake on a bed of vegetables or with herbs and lemon/orange slices. Can be stuffed with rice and vegetables.
On this day, the Liturgy of St. is served in churches. John Chrysostom.
According to the monastic charter - dry eating (bread, vegetables, fruits). You can make fruit puree for breakfast or a light dinner. The main thing is to have a blender on hand. All that remains is to thoroughly wash all available fruits, peel them from skins and seeds (if necessary), cut them into arbitrary pieces and put them in a blender. Carrots go well with any fruit. Keep this in mind, because it contains a lot of vitamins that are so needed in the spring and even more so during Lent!
On Holy Monday the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
On Holy Tuesday, the monastery charter also prescribes dry eating (baked goods, vegetables, fruits). One of the very satisfying and healthy dishes is beetroot caviar. Bake the beets in the oven without anything (no oil, spices) for 1.5 hours at a temperature of 180-200 degrees, using foil or a baking sleeve. Then scroll through a meat grinder or grind with a blender. Next, add, if desired, either crushed walnuts with garlic, or also prunes minced through a meat grinder.
On this day the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Again fruits, vegetables, bread without the use of vegetable oil. As we know, on days of dry eating, cold boiled vegetables without oil are allowed. An excellent option for such a case is broccoli. You need to put it in boiling salted water and boil it for 7-10 minutes from the moment it boils again. Drain in a colander. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
On Great Wednesday the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
Dry eating (fruits, vegetables, bread). The monastic charter allows cold drinks on days of dry eating. Therefore, you can make delicious homemade lemonade. To do this, you need to thoroughly wash two lemons with warm water and squeeze the juice out of them. And finely chop the zest (without the white bitter layer). In the cold boiled water stir sugar. Then pour in lemon juice and zest. Cover tightly with a lid and place in the refrigerator until completely cooled. Strain before serving.
April 5 - Maundy Thursday. Memories of the Last Supper. In the evening, Matins of Great Friday is celebrated with the reading of the 12 Gospels of the Holy Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
Good Friday is called Great Friday - this is the strictest day because of the Remembrance of the Holy Saving Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the monastic charter prescribes complete abstinence from food.
Liturgy is not served on this day. Vespers is celebrated, at the end of which the Holy Shroud is taken out of the altar.
April 7 is the twelfth (one of the 12 most important holidays in Orthodoxy after Easter) holiday in numbers - the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Usually on this day you can eat fish. However, in 2018, this holiday falls on Holy Saturday, and therefore fish and oil (vegetable oil) are not allowed according to the monastery charter. However, you are allowed to sip a little wine.
On this day the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great.
Bright Resurrection of Christ - Easter. Of course, there is no fasting on this day; you are allowed to eat everything. But if you are fasting, be careful with fatty foods. Also limit yourself in the amount of food you eat.
Recipes for Lent or menus for the fast before Easter 2018
Bean salad on dry eating days
Ingredients:
- canned beans (red or white) - 1 can
- canned corn - 1 can
- croutons (dried black bread with garlic) - to taste
- avocado - 1 piece
Preparation:
Combine canned beans and corn together. Grate the avocado - it will act as a salad dressing. Add crackers just before serving. To stir thoroughly.
Cabbage and cranberry salad on dry eating days
Ingredients:
- white cabbage - ¼ of a small head of cabbage
- soaked cranberries or lingonberries - 2 tbsp.
- vinegar 6% - 1 tbsp.
- salt, sugar - to taste
Preparation:
Since the dry-eating salad does not require seasoning with vegetable oil, it is better to choose juicier cabbage with fleshy leaves. Finely chop it. Season with salt and add a little sugar if desired. Mash the cabbage well with your hands. Sprinkle with vinegar (apple, raspberry or table vinegar). Add soaked berries.
Vegetable salad with prunes on dry eating days
Ingredients:
- white cabbage - 150 g
- carrots - 1-2 pieces
- prunes - 100 g
- salt, sugar - to taste
- lemon juice - to taste
Preparation:
Chop the cabbage, grate the carrots, combine together, sprinkle with salt and sugar, mash with your hands for a couple of minutes, leave for 10 minutes. Cut the prunes into long strips (if they are dry, soak them first). Add to vegetables. Season with lemon juice and stir.
Granola for dry eating days
Ingredients (you can use any proportions to suit your taste):
- cereals
- nuts (several types possible)
- dried fruits (any)
- flax seeds
- sesame
Preparation:
Chop the nuts with a knife. Dry the nuts and oatmeal in a dry frying pan. Cut dried apricots and prunes with a knife. Combine everything together, add sesame seeds, flaxseeds, liquid honey (if candied, then dissolve it in a water bath or low heat). Mix the mass thoroughly. Cover the pan with foil. Pour out the mixture and compact it well. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Then cut into arbitrary pieces.
Healthy dessert in a pumpkin pot
Ingredients:
- pumpkin - 1 piece (diameter and height about 15 cm)
- apples - 3-4 pieces
- raisins - 50 g
- prunes - 100g
- semolina - 3 tbsp.
- corn flour - 3 tbsp.
- sugar - 3 tbsp.
- vanilla - to taste
- water for cooking
Preparation:
Rinse raisins and prunes well. Cut the apples into slices. Combine apples, dried fruits, semolina, corn flour, sugar and vanilla. Mix. Cut off the top of the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Stuff the pumpkin with the prepared filling. Place the pumpkin in a cauldron of water to create a steam bath effect. Cover with foil and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about two hours.
Ingredients:
- beets - 500 g
- walnuts - 1.5 cups
- vinegar - 1 tbsp.
- pomegranate juice - 30 ml
- onion - 1-2 heads
- garlic - 2-3 cloves
- cilantro - 0.5 bunch
- dill - 0.5 bunch
- parsley - 0.5 bunch
- ground red pepper - 0.5-1 tsp.
- khmeli-suneli - 1 tsp.
- coriander - 0.5 tsp.
- pomegranate seeds for decoration
Preparation:
Bake the beets in the oven (1.5 hours at 200 degrees) or boil until tender. Scroll through a meat grinder with a large grid. To season the onion, garlic and nuts (pre-calcined in a frying pan or in the oven), scroll through the fine attachment of a meat grinder. Combine with finely chopped herbs and spices. Season with vinegar (rice, balsamic, raspberry, apple), salt, mix thoroughly. Combine the beets with the dressing, form into balls (you can give them an oval shape). Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Champignons stuffed with onions
Ingredients:
- medium size champignons - 5 pieces
- red onion (ordinary one is also possible) - 1 small head
- salt, black pepper - to taste
- olive oil - 1 tbsp.
- parsley for serving
Preparation:
Separate the stems from the caps of the mushrooms. Place the caps in a baking dish or on a baking sheet. Cut the onion into small cubes and fry in olive oil until transparent. Finely chop the champignon legs with a knife and add to the onion. Add salt and pepper and fry together for 2-3 minutes. Stuff the caps with this mixture and bake in the oven until golden brown at 180 degrees. When serving, sprinkle with herbs.
Ingredients:
- buckwheat noodles - 0.5 packs (2 bunches)
- onion - 1 head
- carrots - 1 piece
- bell pepper - 1 piece
- olive oil - 2 tbsp.
- soy sauce- 2 tbsp.
- sesame - 2 tsp.
- salt - to taste
Preparation:
Chop bell peppers, carrots and onions as desired. Fry in olive oil for 7-8 minutes. Add soy sauce and sesame seeds, simmer for about 10 minutes. Boil at the same time buckwheat noodles in salted water for about 12 minutes. Combine noodles and vegetables together.
Creamy chickpea and curry soup
Ingredients:
- canned chickpeas - 1 can
- potatoes - 2 medium tubers
- carrots - 2 pieces
- onion - 1 head
- garlic - 2 cloves
- curry - 1 tsp.
- turmeric - 0.5 tsp.
- pepper - 0.3 tsp.
- water - 2 liters
- olive oil - 1 tbsp.
- lemon juice - 1 tsp.
- salt - to taste
- greenery
Preparation:
Cut the potatoes into cubes and place in boiling water. Cook for 7 minutes. Sauté onions and carrots, cut into small cubes, in olive oil. Add chickpeas, prepared vegetables to the potatoes, add turmeric, curry, pepper, salt. Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked. Puree immersion blender, then add chopped or pressed garlic and lemon juice. Stir, put on fire, bring to a boil. Serve with greens.
Ingredients:
- flour - 200 g
- boiling water - 80 ml
- vegetable oil - 80 ml
- baking powder - 1 tsp.
- salt - a pinch
- starch - 1 tbsp.
- any fruit or berries for filling
Preparation:
Combine flour with baking powder and salt. Pour boiling water and vegetable oil into this mixture. Knead elastic dough. Roll into a circle, sprinkle with starch (since the filling is juicy). Cut any fruit (here apples, pears and plums) and place on the dough. Fold the edges and bake for 35 minutes at 180 degrees.
Ingredients:
- pumpkin puree - 0.5 cups
- sparkling mineral water - 0.5 cups
- vegetable oil - 0.5 cups
- sugar - 0.5-1 cup (to taste)
- baking powder - 1 tbsp.
- flour - 3.5-4 cups
- coconut flakes - to taste
- poppy seed - to taste
Preparation:
To obtain pumpkin puree, puree the pumpkin prepared in any way using a blender. Add sugar to the puree and stir. Pour in mineral water and vegetable oil. Then add flour mixed with baking powder. Knead a not very stiff dough, roll out into a layer about 0.7 cm thick. Sprinkle with coconut flakes and poppy seeds, roll out a little with a rolling pin (up to 0.5 cm). Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter. Bake at 180 degrees, depending on the oven settings, from 12 to 25 minutes.
Fish steaks in the oven
Ingredients:
- steaks of any red fish (here trout) - 500 g
- lemon (juice) - 2 pieces
- vegetable oil - 50 ml
- garlic - 2 cloves
- dill - 0.5 bunch
- spices - to taste
- salt - to taste
Preparation:
Wash the lemons with very warm water and squeeze the juice out of them. Add chopped garlic, vegetable oil, spices, salt, chopped herbs to it. To stir thoroughly. Pour the prepared sauce over the steaks and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Ingredients:
- pike perch - 1500 g
- champignons - 300 g
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen!How to fast correctly? What rules are important to follow? What can you eat during Lent? Sputnik Georgia tried to find answers to these questions, which you can find below.
How to fast correctly
Of the four multi-day fasts established Orthodox Church Lent is the most basic, long and strict. It consists of two parts and lasts a total of seven weeks.
The first part is the Holy Pentecost, established by the Orthodox in memory of the forty-day fast of Jesus Christ in the desert and lasts six weeks. The second is Holy Week, the last week before Easter, during which the last days of the Savior’s earthly life and death on the cross are remembered.
According to church regulations, in order for the laity to fast, they must receive the blessing of their confessor. Because before entering into fasting, Christians must prepare spiritually and undergo the sacrament of confession.
The clergy constantly remind us that fasting is a time of prayer and repentance, and not a diet that limits the consumption of certain foods. Therefore, during Lent, Orthodox Christians must first of all take care of the purification of their souls and thoughts in order to meet the Resurrection of Christ with a pure heart. And for this it is necessary to pray daily and, if possible, attend church services throughout the seven weeks of Lent.
Believers who observe fasting are categorically not recommended to take part in all kinds of entertainment events these days. Throughout Lent, you cannot get married, much less get married. Other celebrations should also be celebrated after the fast is completed. During this period, it is advisable to refrain from bad habits, for example, from smoking and drinking alcohol.
Church ministers believe that a person, by observing fasting and devoting more time to prayer, pushing everything unnecessary into the background, will be able to get closer to God. The first and last weeks of fasting are the strictest, and the prayers are longer. Some believers, if desired, take only water and bread on these days.
According to church canons, on Clean Monday, the first day of Lent, and Good Friday (the last Friday before Easter), it is customary to completely abstain from food.
What is possible, what is not
Refusal of certain foods and physical cleansing is one of the important components of Lent. People who do not have health problems should first of all give up any food of animal origin during the fasting period. It includes all varieties of meat and poultry, eggs, animal fats, and dairy products.
On these days it is also forbidden to eat fish, except for a couple of days. And also everything that contains elements of these products. The main foods that can be taken during fasting are grains, fruits, and vegetables.
According to church canons, a Lenten cuisine menu should be drawn up according to the following principles:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday - dry eating, that is, you are allowed to eat bread, fruits, vegetables;
Tuesday, Thursday - you can eat hot food of plant origin without oil;
Saturday, Sunday (except for the final week of fasting) - food of plant origin with vegetable oil is allowed.
© photo: Sputnik / Sergey Nikonets
Fish is allowed only on the holidays of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (April 7) and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem - Palm Sunday, which in 2019 falls on April 21.
On Good (Red) Friday, which falls on April 26 in 2019, you cannot eat food until the shroud is taken out during a church service.
Previously, fasting was observed very strictly, especially in the first week and during Holy Week. People even abstained from drinking water until nine o'clock in the morning. Kings and nobles also fasted, like the common people, eating only mushrooms and vegetables on these days.
Seriously ill people, pregnant women, nursing mothers, military personnel, workers engaged in heavy physical labor, as well as travelers and children under seven years of age are exempt from fasting. From seven to 14 years of age, children can fast only on Wednesdays and Fridays. And after 14 years of age, a teenager must choose whether to fast or not.
If you have health problems, before deciding to fast, you should definitely consult with your doctor about whether you can fast without harming your health.
During fasting, you need to abstain not only from savory food, but also from envy, anger, squabbles and scandals. Also on these days you need to do as many good deeds as possible, because without this, fasting loses its meaning.
The priests believe that if a person becomes nervous and irritable due to a ban on certain foods, it is better to stop fasting. Because this is not a diet, but a period of spiritual cleansing, which cannot be achieved while constantly being in an irritated state.
Rules and traditions
During the seven weeks during which Lent continues, believers must observe certain traditions and remember the most significant deeds of the holy saints.
In the first week, which is called Fedorov's week, the defenders of the Christian faith are commemorated. On Saturday, believers honor the memory of the martyr Theodore of Amasea, who, despite torture, refused to make sacrifices to the pagan gods.
The second week of Lent is spent in commemoration of Gregory Palamas - the crowned aristocrat at the age of twenty abandoned brilliant prospects and left the royal court of the rulers of Constantinople to spend his life as a hermit on Mount Athos in the confinement of monasteries and work his way up to the rank of Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Orthodox theologian, polemicist and philosopher .
The third week of Lent is called the Worship of the Cross. At this time, believers worship the Life-Giving Cross. The Church displays the Cross in order to strengthen those who fast to continue the feat of fasting by reminding them of the suffering and death of the Lord.
The fourth week of Lent is dedicated to the life of John Climacus, who at the age of sixteen went to the mountains of Sinai to become a monk. Subsequently, he lived in the desert as a hermit for another forty years, and then became abbot of the monastery in Sinai. It was John who became the author of the Ladders - spiritual ascetic tablets that are designed to help believers achieve spiritual perfection.
During the first part of Lent, there are three parental Saturdays at once - the second, third and fourth weeks of Lent are established for the remembrance of the dead.
The fifth week of Lent is spent commemorating the life and deeds of the patroness of all repentant sinners - Mary of Egypt. The life of Saint Mary - a great sinner who was able to sincerely repent of her sins and long years spent in the desert in repentance, must convince everyone of God’s great mercy.
© Sputnik / Alexander Imedashvili
On the sixth week (Sunday), Orthodox Christians celebrate the great twelfth holiday - the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. This holiday is also called Palm Sunday - the day when they remember the events when Jesus entered Jerusalem. At the All-Night Vigil, the blossoming branches of willow (vaya) or other plants are blessed by sprinkling holy water, which are then distributed to the believers. The day before, at Matins and Liturgy, the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ is remembered.
Palm Sunday ends Lent and Holy Week begins. Every day of this week is Great, as it was accompanied by the most important biblical events - the Last Supper, betrayal, judgment, Golgotha and the miraculous Resurrection.
Therefore, fasting becomes stricter during the last week, especially on Red Friday, the day of Jesus’ execution. Holy Saturday- the only Saturday throughout the year when you can observe strict fasting. Those people who are preparing for communion should not drink or eat anything after eight o'clock in the evening. In the event that someone breaks the fast, he must repent and continue it, but not stop under any circumstances.
In the last week of Lent, you need to repent of voluntary or involuntary sins, take communion and cleanse yourself of everything sinful, since during this week Jesus endured cruel torment for the sake of people.
This week, believers should protect themselves as much as possible from the bustle of the world - do not watch television programs, do not listen to music and stay at home as much as possible.
Benefit
According to research, fasting is primarily beneficial for health. When eating lean foods, the body is cleansed of cholesterol, which reduces the amount cardiovascular diseases. Fasting also has a beneficial effect on other vital important systems body, but only if you do it correctly. But if you violate the nutritional rules of fasting, you can harm your body.
© Sputnik / Alexander Imedashvili
In any case, your diet should be balanced and contain everything necessary elements. Therefore, doctors advise thinking about proper product replacement.
For example, replace meat, poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs with legumes, nuts, seeds, various cereals and cereals, and wholemeal products. With this you can compensate for the protein deficiency in your diet.
Pasta and potatoes should be included in the Lenten menu - they are excellent sources of energy, will give you strength and vigor, and will return good mood and joy of life.
Vegetables and fruits in quantities of at least 500 grams daily.
Try to drink more liquid during this period - jelly, compotes, water, tea, and so on. It is advisable to eat small portions several times a day.
But still, the main meaning of fasting remains spiritual cleansing. The fasting person, refusing delicacies, mentally prepares himself for a meeting with God. This is it the main point and the value of the post.
The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.
