Northern summer resident - news, catalogue, consultations. Lenten products. List of lean foods

Most people either stop a post halfway through or misinterpret its meaning. All this makes those who want to fast, find as much information about it as possible. The purpose of a religious fast is spiritual purification and abstinence from worldly pleasures. For 40 days, a person disciplines the mind and body in order to grow spiritually and free himself from earthly habits. Nutrition in fasting is the first necessity. It can seem quite strict, especially for beginners. If you do not understand how to observe Great Lent, this material will tell you how to observe it correctly.

Starvation and physical exhaustion are not the purpose of fasting. If you correctly schedule meals for days and weeks, you will be very surprised how lean food can be varied and healthy.

List of allowed products

Fruit:


Grape


Pomegranate


Apples


Cranberry


Citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits)

All these fruits are eaten raw in fasting, and desserts, various snacks, fresh salads and other dishes are prepared with them.

• Dried fruits:
• pineapples
• Bananas
• Cherry
• Pears
• Dried apricots
• Dates
• Prunes
• Apples

Dried fruits can not only be eaten in fasting, but also necessary. During a limited diet, they will enrich the diet with valuable vitamins and strengthen the immune system. They can be combined with other lenten dishes, cook compotes and jelly from them.

Vegetables:


Carrot


Potato


Beet


Celery


Bell pepper


Cabbage (white, cauliflower, Beijing, broccoli, Brussels sprouts)


• Sauerkraut and pickles are also welcome on the Lenten table.
  

  Greens
  

  Parsley
  

  Vasilik
  

• Leaf salad
  

  Spinach
  

• Sorrel
  

Champignons, oyster mushrooms and other types of mushrooms are rich in protein, which is very lacking during the fasting period. Mushrooms are a great alternative to meat. From them you can cook delicious and healthy casseroles with vegetables, soups, pies, roasts and snacks. They are also convenient to combine with cereals and pancakes. Do not neglect mushrooms in your diet.

• Legumes

Popular legumes: beans and peas will also become indispensable sources of protein in Lent. They are ideal for weight loss, athletes and anyone involved in heavy physical labor. From legumes, excellent mashed potatoes and dishes with vegetables are prepared. The menu of these products will turn out to be hearty, healthy and at the same time - simple. Sports nutrition in fasting is necessarily accompanied by vegetable protein.

• cereals

Cereals such as rice, buckwheat, oatmeal and other cereals should be the basis of lean nutrition. With the exception of days where complete abstinence from food is recommended, cereals can be eaten during Lent every day. They should be cooked only on water, without oil. If desired, different types of cereals can be combined with each other and vegetables, mushrooms, nuts and dried fruits can be added to them. This diversifies the diet menu.

• Fish

Eating fish is allowed only according to the strict canon. During religious fasting, it is consumed on the day of the Annunciation and Palm Sunday.

Beverages:


Compote


• Kissel
  

Milk of animal origin is prohibited during fasting. However, almond, coke and soy milks are great substitutes.

The spring season is not rich in fresh vegetables, fruits and berries. You have to buy them in stores, or stock them up in advance for the post. Some blanks will be a great addition to the main menu:

Beans (can be in a tomato)


Green pea


Corn


Lentils

Frozen vegetables, but especially berries and fruits, will come in handy on fasting days. They make wonderful treats for tea.

Sweets:


Marmalade


Lean marshmallow


Oatmeal cookies


• Kazinaki
  

  Dark chocolate (only bitter)
  

• lollipops
  

  Turkish Delight

In addition to these products, you can include the following in your post:

Nuts and seeds;


Pasta (without eggs);


Lean sauces and dressings (soy, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, etc.);


Lenten bread (Borodinsky, grain, capital);


Unleavened bread and pita bread;


Flour (rice, corn, oatmeal, buckwheat and whole wheat);


Seaweed.

In Lent, seafood (squid, shrimp) remains controversial. Some people think that such food should not be eaten during fasting. However, less conservative fasting fans disagree with this opinion and believe that seafood is acceptable on non-strict days.

What not to eat in fasting

Meat (sausages, sausages, balyks, lard, etc.);


Fish (except non-strict days);


Milk, cheese and any dairy products;


• Alcohol (except non-strict days);
  

  Sweets and pastries containing butter, eggs and milk;
  

  Pork fat and meat broths;
  

  Fast food.

In addition, it is necessary to exclude spices, too spicy, salty, sour and heavy foods that stimulate an unhealthy appetite. This is all that you can not eat in the post.

Lent is considered the longest and most demanding of the year. The first and last weeks before Easter are considered the toughest. For some lay people, the rules for eating are observed in a strict order.

Clean Monday (the first day of Lent) and Great Friday (the penultimate one) should preferably be spent without food.

On other days, the use of permitted products operates according to the schedule:

Contraindications to fasting

The Orthodox Church does not force all Christians to observe strict fasting. It is important to consult with your doctor before starting a diet. Pregnant and breastfeeding women can eat certain forbidden foods during fasting.

The main contraindications to fasting are:

small and sick children;


Elderly people burdened with physical ailments;


People who have undergone surgery;


People suffering from serious illnesses.

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Exercise "Insert word"

Insert a word that would mean the same as the word to the left and right of the dots.

The battle... swearing.

Animal… tenderness.

Bench ... shop.

A card game... a threaded rod.

Chemical element ... forest.

Rotating rod ... mound.

Marriage ... flaw.

Metal... leather.

Fish ... weapons.

Big sieve... noise.

Spring ... master key.

Fish ... a tool.

Bay ... part of the land.

Young thread...

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self-care.

Finger bone ... arachnid.

Fish…incline.

An excuse... a bridle strap.

Dog ... price list.

Prank ... disease.

Position ... abstaining from food.

Answers: abuse, caress, bench, screw, boron, shaft, marriage, chrome, sword, roar, key, saw, lip, escape, phalanx, slope, occasion, dachshund, leprosy, post.

Part of the weapon ... a trading establishment.

A means of communication ... part of the oral cavity.

Whipped protruding tuft ... cook.

Part of speech ... local dialect.

A writing desk with a sliding lid and drawers… an institution, an office.

A cartridge case with a primer, a charge of gunpowder and a bullet or shot ... a master in relation to his subordinates.

A place of open pit mining… horse running.

A pointed stick... an ancient measure of arable land.

A tube with a valve to release a liquid or gas... a lifting mechanism.

Conventional sign of musical sound ... official, written appeal

government.

Appearance…icon.

Broad street... program, plan.

Substance… a mystery.

Reward ... an organization with a specific charter.

An old riverboat... a tool.

A chemical element ... a large boiler.

Feeling... an outdated term.

Horse running... animal.

A group of people… a basin.

The product... secret agent.

Dance... horse running.

Brownie ... a bird.

Answers: shop, language, cook, adverb, bureau, cartridge, quarry, stake, crane, mail, image, prospectus, secret, order, string, titanium, passion, lynx, gang, fat, gallop, squint.

see also

Exercises for the development of intellectual abilities RSS [email protected]

Why You Shouldn't Eat Animal Food

Why dairy products are not allowed in fasting, and other questions about fasting | Mercy.ru

Photo from pravmir.ru

Archpriest Alexander Borisov:

It is right to spend less money on food during fasting than usual, freeing up funds for charity. This is an old church tradition, and the gradation of Lenten dishes is associated with it. In places of early Christianity, fish and seafood were much cheaper than dairy products, and therefore were considered more lean. Nowadays, on the contrary, they are much more expensive and high in calories - for me, as a biologist, this is obvious. There is more protein in fish than in any dairy product.

Perhaps it is worth reconsidering the tradition, born in different climatic and economic conditions, and swapping fish with dairy products - that is, considering dairy products to be leaner. But this can only be decided collectively, by the whole Church.

Is it necessary to strive to ensure that the food was tasteless?

Archpriest Alexander Borisov:

The essence of fasting is not just the rejection of animal food, but the restriction of pleasures. Consciously depriving ourselves of the consolation that we receive from delicious food and wine, we, at least for a short time and not much, give ourselves a chance to muffle the animal nature in ourselves, hold it back and give room to the spirit.

But artificially making food tasteless is not only unnecessary, but also sinful - we eat for the glory of God! We are not only from food, we enjoy everything in life - from every flower, from the sun, good weather, birdsong. Yes, and from the fact that we just breathe. Why not live? It just takes discretion.

Of course, there were and are ascetics, ancient and new saints, who no longer care what they eat: for example, St. John of Shanghai, a saint of our days, mixed the soup with the second course - in order to minimize the significance of food as a pleasure. But this is not our measure.

Lean food should be simple, healthy and quick to prepare. And do not forget about moderation - if you eat to satiety with simple potatoes, there will also be no time for prayer.

Fasting ends - the holiday comes, and we rejoice, set the festive table, invite guests, treat them with delicious food, thank God for the meal, because this is also a gift from God. And taking care of food during fasting should take a minimum of time.

How to behave while fasting at a party if the acquaintances who invited you to visit do not fast?

Photo from bg.ru

Archpriest Konstantin Ostrovsky:

Here are two typical situations. We came to visit people who know that we observe fasts, but the hosts, despising church charters, persuade us: “Come on, you’re visiting, it’s okay if you break the fast once.”

And we, partly out of voluptuousness, and partly out of cowardice, do not get tired of temptation.

And here is the second example. People who are completely non-church treat us from the heart, not having the intention of seducing, but simply not knowing about our rules. But we puff out our cheeks from arrogance or draw them in from false humility and refuse to eat, embarrassing our hosts.

Or maybe if they saw sincere love and humility in us, then they themselves would want to become Christians and observe fasting? But, seeing our pride and not wanting to become like us, will they involuntarily scold the Church, which is not really to blame for the fact that we are such tactless Christians?

If, when visiting non-church people, we retreat from fasting so as not to embarrass them, this is a matter of humility, and if, when we come home, we continue to eat non-fasting (since such a day has already set), this is already passion and craftiness.

Does meat depend on relationship with God?

Archpriest Alexei Potokin:

Man before the fall was pure, and ate only vegetable food in Paradise. For us, this condition is rare. We are cunning, selfish, irritable. Any doctor will tell you that when a person is irritated, angry at someone, he spends much more energy. So meat and other animal food were blessed by God to support the strength of a fallen person, spiritually weak, passionate. But it is the bodily strength that strengthens this food, and in order to restore connection with God, it is necessary to humble our flesh at least for a while so that it does not excite us so much.

If I want to communicate more with God, I need to at least a little distract from the public fuss, pay a little less attention to it. And the rejection of animal food helps this. The gospel teaches us not to fight against excesses, but encourages us to seek treasure: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be." If it is a treasure in fellowship with another person, we naturally think less about satiation. Because it saturates the joy of communication, and not a herring under a fur coat. Remember: if you are sitting with friends and there is something to talk about, is it so or so important, how will you have a bite to eat at the same time?

Especially if our treasure is in communion with God. And after you have been alone with God (fasted in body and soul), it’s great to sit down for a common festive meal.

Why can't you eat meat during fasting? Because of its nutritional value? Then what about the practice of replenishing nutritional value with various vegetable substitutes (eg mushrooms)?

Fasting excludes not only meat, but all food of animal origin. The period of fasting is a time of purely spiritual labors. Therefore, it is necessary that the soul controls the body, and not vice versa. This is facilitated by the restriction of the amount of daily food and the exclusion from the use of animal products, which undoubtedly fatten the body and deprive it of lightness. Even the most high-calorie plant foods (chocolate fruit, sunflower oil, walnuts, etc.) do not cause a feeling of heaviness. The holy saints of God, who have acquired high spiritual gifts, attached great importance to fasting: “A Christian needs to fast in order to clarify the mind and arouse and develop feelings, and move the will to good activity. We overshadow and suppress these three abilities of a person most of all by overeating, drunkenness and worldly cares (Luke 21:34), and through this we fall away from the source of life - God and fall into corruption and vanity, perverting and defiling the image of God in ourselves. Lust and voluptuousness nail us to the ground and cut off, so to speak, the wings of the soul. And look how high the flight of all fasters and abstinences was!” (St. Right. John of Kronstadt. My Life in Christ, M., 2002, p. 504).

Since a person consists of a soul and a body, he must fast not only for the body, but also for the soul: have a high prayerful disposition, a deep sense of repentance, avoid entertainment and vain activities that dispel the mind and feelings.

Fasting is not an end in itself, but a means. The goal of the Christian life is purity of heart and spiritual fruits (love, peace of mind, joy, mercy). If a person fasted moderately, but during the entire fast he did not reproach anyone and never got annoyed with anyone, he achieved more than the one who spent it in a dry diet.

What not to eat in the post: an important list

Food restrictions imposed by the church during fasting have deep spiritual roots and contribute to the healing of the body as a whole.

The fasts were approved by the church in order to elevate spiritual and moral aspirations in people over sensual physical ones. Therefore, a number of food products of animal origin are banned during fasting.

What not to eat in fasting and why

First of all, during Lent it is recommended to abstain from meat products (meat, offal, sausages, canned meat) and poultry. Meat is a high-calorie food, and its assimilation requires a lot of energy, a splash of emotions. The meaning of fasting is to restrain your carnal nature. In addition, the church imposes a ban on meat because it conveys the passions and negative emotions that animals felt at the time of their slaughter.

For the same reason, dairy products (including buttermilk, whey, ice cream, milk powder) and fish are banned, which are allowed to be eaten only twice during the entire fast - on the day of the twelfth feast - the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and on Palm Sunday (Entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem).

Eggs are also considered food of animal origin. And it, unlike plant foods, causes irritability, aggression and other passions in us. If you take food not for satiety, but for taste delights, then this will also be a passion for gluttony.

While fasting, you should reduce the consumption of vegetable oil and alcohol. Fasting is a spiritual exercise that aims to improve the health of all human nature. Due to the restriction of the calorie content of food, the soul is freed from the oppression and claims of a well-fed (and often satiated) flesh and is capable of greater freedom of spiritual movements and deeds.

The church charter allows the use of wine on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays of Great Lent, but its reception should be extremely moderate - no more than two glasses of a weak drink.

You can’t also eat animal fats, margarines, mayonnaise, sugary confectionery products (marshmallow, toffee), chocolate (with the exception of natural bitter), sweet pastries and fast food.

Lenten menu benefits

Fasting is good not only for the soul, but also for the body. Dietitians have proved that at the beginning of spring the body is in dire need of vegetable proteins. Our ancestors intuitively guessed this and it was at this time of the year that they switched to plant foods.

Thanks to the vegetarian menu, toxins and toxins are removed from the body, a long-term diet helps to get rid of excess fat accumulations, rejuvenates the body, activating metabolic processes. This is a good prevention of atherosclerosis, diseases of the liver and joints.

In addition, fasting has a positive effect on the state of mind of a person, increasing mood, working capacity and vitality.

The best lean salad recipes

Nutrition in fasting: questions and answers - Consultation of a nutritionist online

Galia | 02/24/2014 | From practice |

1. What is fasting?

Fasting is primarily a spiritual practice.

Not only the mouth should fast, but let the eye, and the ear, and the hands, and our whole body fast.

(St. John Chrysostom)

True fasting is the removal from evil deeds. Forgive your neighbor an insult, forgive him his debts. “Do not fast in courts and quarrels.” You do not eat meat, but you eat your brother. You abstain from wine, but you do not keep yourself from resentment. You wait for the evening to taste your food, but you spend the day in court places.

(St. Basil the Great)

2. Why can't you eat a whole range of foods during fasting? Food restrictions are an integral part of fasting. They are designed to help self-improvement and the triumph of the spirit, so exciting and festive food and drinks are excluded.

We live in a consumer society ruled by advertising. In the subway and on the streets, in the store and on TV, in magazines and mailboxes - advertisements for food, restaurants. And we somehow forgot that gluttony is a sin. And fasting is designed to regulate our excessive requests for food, drinks, entertainment and other desires. Fasting involves moderation in eating and discipline, and helps to turn to spiritual values.

3. Are there any general rules? There are no uniform rules for fasting in the Russian Orthodox Church. Each monastery has its own charter, intended for monks, and not for secular people. For most people, the way of life is very different from life in a monastery. Therefore, the laity are guided by the instructions of their priest, and he is responsible for the outcome of the fast.

During fasting, as a rule, meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, pastries and pastries with eggs, and alcohol are excluded. The priest may allow eating foods recommended by the doctor (dairy products and even meat as medicine) if a person is sick. And my clients told about such cases.

4. I have a hard physical job. How can I fast? Fasting should be feasible for a person, and not destroy the body. For people of hard work, it is permissible, with the permission of the priest, to eat food that will allow them to work normally.

5. I have a sick stomach. How can I fast? As a rule, with digestive diseases, people eat few raw vegetables, cabbage and legumes are excluded. Sometimes "mashed" diets, where a lot of heavily chopped, well-cooked foods are stored for a long time, even when there is no exacerbation. At the same time, the secretion of digestive juices and enzymes decreases - after all, all food is already boiled or mashed. Therefore, an increase in the number of vegetables during the fasting period or legumes can, out of habit, become a burden on digestion, especially if there was a therapeutic diet before. In the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, fasting was preceded by 2 weeks: “meat-fat”, and then “cheese-fat” - as a preparation for fasting, so that there was no abrupt change in diet.

I advise people with digestive diseases to follow simple rules. 1) at the time of eating, leave the rush, chew food thoroughly. Do not combine food with other activities (watching TV, working at a computer). 2) Do not make a sudden change in nutrition. Introduce 1 new dish per day. If you have not eaten some foods for a long time, then start eating them in small quantities. 3) For protein balance, start including red lentil soup puree. Legumes (well-cooked lentils, beans) 1-2 tablespoons can be added to salads, soups or cereal side dishes. If you tolerate them well, then after 2 weeks, when the body gets used to it, the amount of legumes can be gradually increased.

6. What can replace meat? The main thing that leaves the diet during fasting is protein products of animal origin (meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs). Fish are limited. Therefore, during the fasting period, many begin to experience protein deficiency and there is a desire to eat meat. Where do you get protein then? There are wonderful sources of vegetable protein - these are peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, seeds. They should take their rightful place in the diet. In addition to protein, legumes contain slow carbohydrates and healthy fiber, which are absorbed gradually and create a feeling of satiety. Add beans to potatoes for a hearty and nutritious meal. But legume dishes are rarely found on the table during fasting. This is due exclusively to the traditions of Russian cuisine. We know only pea soup or porridge, and canned beans. I looked at the lenten menu that restaurants and cafes offered last year, and made sure that legumes are cooked little even there. But in European cuisine there are many recipes for soups, side dishes and salads, which include legumes. We know chickpeas as "Turkish peas" and they think that they eat it only in the East. Although it is well known in European cuisine.

If you haven't cooked beans before, it's best to start with lentils. Unlike beans, they do not require soaking and are cooked for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the variety.

Red lentils are boiled after 10-12 minutes, and you can make puree or puree soup from it. A good replacement for the usual potatoes. Green lentils are cooked for 20-30 minutes, they can be put in soup, eaten as a side dish or added to salads. Beans (like peas) require soaking for 10-12 hours, and boiled for 1 hour. When cooking borscht, do not forget to add beans. Beans can be used to make lobio. Legumes go well with vegetables and potatoes, so they are added to salads, and tasty and hearty main dishes are prepared. As for nuts and seeds - in addition to protein, they have a lot of fat, they cannot replace lunch.

Include legumes in your diet daily, add nuts and seeds to salads or porridge. As a source of protein, you can eat tofu (bean curd) and soy dishes.

7. How often can you eat fish? There are no single rules for fasting. With the consumption of fish, the situation is the same as with legumes. A lot has been said about the benefits of fish and there is fish cuisine, but most Russians eat it once a month or less. Therefore, in the lenten menu, fish often appears in the form of canned food.

In fact, canned food is camping food. Leave them to tourists and soldiers. For other cases, you need to find the fish department in a store or market. In some stores, fish can be cleaned and butchered. Fish, unlike mushrooms, has a high nutritional value, is easily digested, and during fasting it can and should be included in the diet.

8. Are all lean foods healthy? There are often a lot of canned food on the lean table: homemade marinade pickles, sauerkraut, mushrooms, lecho and squash caviar. And if lecho was usually used as a sauce, then during fasting someone can eat a whole jar - after all, you need to eat vegetables! We have a strengthened opinion that if the product is “lean”, it is definitely useful. I want to say that this is not so. Canned food contains a lot of salt, preservatives, which causes swelling. They should not be eaten by people with diseases of the stomach and pancreas, as well as with diseases of the heart and kidneys. Mushrooms are a heavy food, they are slowly digested, for 4-6 hours and are very poorly absorbed by the body. Only healthy adults can eat mushrooms; sick and elderly people should refrain from mushrooms. Of course, it is best to include fresh vegetables in your diet. But at this time of the year, finding vegetables of acceptable quality becomes a daunting task! The price of a kilogram of fresh vegetables or salad approaches the price of meat. And the prices for salads in restaurants - bite.

Investigate the local vegetable market carefully and choose the best quality vegetables. Depending on where you live, the markets will be available: cucumbers and tomatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, Beijing cabbage, salads and greens, celery stalks, celery root. For sauerkraut and pickles, there is also a place on the table, but you can’t build the entire diet from canned food.

9. Why do some lose weight during fasting, while others notice that they have gained a couple of kilograms? Not so long ago, a couple of centuries ago, abundant food was only on holidays - I note, quite rare. Only the rich could afford to eat meat regularly, and it was considered a pleasure that had to be abandoned during the fasting period. Muffins and sweets were also attributes of the holiday, and not everyday food. And drinking alcohol was condemned by the church. But everything is changing. And today, festive food for some is becoming the norm, extra pounds appear, and with them pressure, shortness of breath and snoring at night ... Heaviness in the stomach after a late, heavy dinner makes it difficult to fall asleep. And so a person decides to fast. At the same time, he begins to monitor nutrition and think about what he eats. Nutrition is changing significantly: the usual fatty and plentiful dishes, alcohol are leaving. And at the same time, moderation in food comes, because you won’t overeat with porridge or cabbage. Eat exactly as much as you need. The body comes to its senses from a constant holiday and the weight begins to decline. Let's look at another situation. You rarely ate meat before, cottage cheese and cheese - also not every day, and there was already a protein deficiency in the body. Fasting begins and carbohydrates and canned food remain in your diet. You don't eat fish and beans. And protein deficiency turns into protein starvation. Under conditions of starvation, the body begins to store fat. I want to note that only muffins and pastries with eggs are excluded in the post, while there are a lot of carbohydrates: potatoes and pasta, cereals, bread. From sweets there are marmalade and marshmallow, fresh fruits and dried fruits, sorbet, tea with sugar, juices. Quick cereals are not only quick to prepare, but also quickly digested.

Why can't you eat meat during fasting?

And if they are eaten with honey, nuts and dried fruits, then this is a real dessert. Of course it's delicious. But if you have breakfast with quick porridge, lunch with potatoes, and dinner with pasta, then you can gain weight on such a diet.

Fasting implies moderation in food, so eating a lot of sweets, even permitted, is not worth it. Eat sweets with breakfast or as a dessert for lunch. Choose traditional cereals that need to be cooked for more than 10 minutes, as mothers and grandmothers did. In addition to potatoes and pasta, include brown rice, bulgur (wheat), and of course legumes and vegetables.

HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND ESTABLISHMENT OF LENT

The history of fasting dates back to the time of the creation of man. The Lord gave the commandment about fasting to people even in paradise: And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: from every tree in the garden you will eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not eat from it, for on the day you eat from it you will die by death (Gen. 2:16-17). And throughout the history of the Old Testament, one can find many examples in which pious people preceded important moments of their lives with fasting. So, for example, the prophet Moses, having ascended Mount Sinai and stood before the Lord and received commandments from Him, then for forty days and forty nights he did not eat bread and did not drink oxen (Ex. 34, 28). The prophet Elijah, going to Mount Horeb of God, also fasted for forty days, offering prayers to the Lord (see: 3 Chr. 19, 8).

Like the Church of the Old Testament, the Christian Church sanctified fasting from the very beginning. In the New Testament, the Lord repeatedly spoke to the disciples about temperance, revealing to them much about the mystery of fasting. By their example and teaching, the Savior and His holy disciples showed us that fasting as bodily and spiritual abstinence, along with other means of salvation, is laid at the foundation of the building of the Church of God.

Christ Himself fasted for forty days and during His salvific preaching of the Gospel commanded: When you fast, do not be despondent like hypocrites, for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people fasting. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may appear to those who are fasting, not before people, but before your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly (Matthew 6:17). Following the example and teaching of Jesus Christ, the apostles also fasted. They commanded the faithful to fast, and the Church continuously preserves them.

WHY DO WE FAST?

First, fasting serves as a necessary means to our union with God, since it inspires our soul and makes it capable of concentrated prayer and repentance.

Secondly, fasting is a saving tool for overcoming temptations from the devil, who is driven out only by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21). He helps us fight against the destructive disease of our time - self-will, passions, lusts, sinful desires. Fasting extinguishes the flame of envy, irritability and anger, destroys majestic arrogance, destroys dreamy conceited thoughts.

Thirdly, fasting is a certain service to God, because through our abstinence we give the Lord due honor. After all, it is abstinence that serves God as that small tribute that we can bring to Him for the sins we have committed.

And fourthly, fasting makes us partners in suffering, death on the cross and the glory of the God-man. St. Ambrose of Milan says: “Wishing to be a Christian, do the same as Christ did. He, having no sin, fasted for 40 days, but you, a sinner, do not want to fast ... you are satiated at a time when Christ was hungry for you.

FASTING BODY AND SPIRITUAL

A bodily fast certainly requires a spiritual fast. This union consists of complete, true fasting, which elevates those who fast to communion with the Lord, cleansing and sanctifying the body by strict abstinence from food and drink, and the soul by prayer, soul-beneficial reading and other virtues. One bodily fast without a spiritual fast does nothing for the salvation of the soul.

Without prayer and repentance, without refraining from passions and vices, eradicating evil deeds, forgiving all offenses, refraining from married life, excluding entertainment events and watching entertainment TV programs, without thinking about the paths of one's spiritual development, fasting becomes just a diet.

Refraining from writing is necessary in order to weaken the strength of the flesh and make it obedient to man. In fasting, you need to try to curb your anger, learn to meekness, condescension, find a contrite heart, test your conscience.

But remember that fasting is not fasting. And diabetics, and yogis, and prisoners in prison, and simply beggars are starving. Nowhere is it said about fasting in isolation, as about non-eating of meat and other things. It is well said about this in the Lenten Triodion: "We fast, brethren, bodily, we fast also spiritually."

“Eat meat, but do not eat a person”, or a little bit about Lent

Consequently, fasting only then has a religious meaning when it is connected with: spiritual work and has charitable goals.

REASONABILITY IN FASTING

What should a bodily fast consist of specifically for each? It is impossible to give a definite answer here. The main thing is that we need to fast prudently, judiciously, proceeding from our bodily strength and remembering the wise saying of St. Ambrose of Optina that we are “not body-killers, but passion-killers.”

Everyone should determine for himself the measure of fasting, consulting with his spiritual mentor, taking into account his bodily strength and state of health. So, for example, the elderly, sick people, children, and pregnant women are allowed to weaken the fast. There are also cases when, due to hard physical labor or a large lack of food, or while traveling, a Christian cannot observe the usual norms of fasting in nutrition. But he can intensify his prayer and his contrition for sins, refuse all entertainment, sweets and dainty dishes, or will fast at least on Wednesday and Friday. In a word, let him join the fast to one degree or another.

It should be noted that specific relief measures should be consulted with the priest and asked for his blessing. And if, due to weakness, one has to weaken the norm of fasting established by the Church, one must constantly in prayer ask the Lord for this petition: “Lord, forgive me that, due to my weakness, I broke (or violated) the holy fast.”

On the other hand, we must remember that it is indecent for a person who repents and mourns for his sins to eat a lot and tasty during fasting, even if they are fasting dishes. It can be said that there will be no fasting if the fasting person gets up from a plentiful table with a feeling of a full stomach. The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, should eat as much food as is necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire to be satisfied requires.

Therefore, for fasting, as for any virtue, prudence is needed. Extremes, as the holy fathers say, are equally harmful on both sides—whether it is an excess of fasting or satiety of the womb. Moreover, immoderate abstinence is often more harmful than satiety, as it can inspire a person with a sense of pride and completely pervert the meaning of fasting. At the same time, fasting is not a ritual, but a secret of the human soul, which the Lord commands to hide from others. Therefore, one must be afraid of any revelation of one's difference from others and be able to prudently hide from them one's exploits and one's hardships.

- Our body is not killed by restrictions on food and other pleasures, but by excess in them. And besides, even if we do not harm others and do not violate the commandment to love our neighbor, we still need to love God. This is where certain restrictions on pleasure come from, because love, when it exists, is manifested in action, in our actions.

For example, it's easy to say, "I don't love myself," but our deeds show that we love ourselves exactly as we should love God. And you can say with the same ease: “I love God”, but only there is nothing easier than words - love is known from deeds. And if we want to love God, then we will limit ourselves to that which removes us from Him. There is no such goal - neither in worldly life, nor in spiritual life - for the sake of which we would not sacrifice something else. Those who do not want to sacrifice anything are left with nothing. They do not acquire anything worthwhile, and at the same time they lose what they had.

Priest Mikhail Nemnonov
priest Alexy Chumakov answers (Los Angeles)
How is it different from normal time? I already try to lead a strict spiritual life ... how and what to change during fasting? Kseniya

Hello, Xenia!

God bless you to create a strong and happy family!

Sincerely, Priest Alexander Ilyashenko

HOW TO FAST FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN?

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, Rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior in Moscow,father of 12 children, chairman of the editorial board of the portal "Orthodoxy and the world

– Father Alexander, one of the questions that our readers asked us is this: it is often said that a mother’s fast can have a beneficial effect on the spiritual life of a child. Will a child get better from an uneaten piece of meat?

The point is that fasting is a sacrifice to God. If mommy fasts, wanting her feasible to make a fast as a sacrifice to God, then it is pleasing to Him and the baby will feel the grace of God, as well as when visiting a temple, as when praying parents.

“Mother made a vow to God: if I remain alive, then she will go with me to a pilgrimage to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. And, thank God, he recovered… …By the way, she “monday” for the children (she kept the fast on Monday), but she always hid it from us. Actually, she raised and trained all six children (three in higher educational institutions, and three in secondary schools). God save her!" Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov. God's work in my life

– Were they fasting strictly in the old days?

Of course, but then there was a different environment and different food. In one work of the tsarist era, an unbelieving nephew said to his aunt: “What difference does it make whether I eat ham or sturgeon balyk during fasting?” Or another case is known when a foreigner was advised to come to Russia during Lent, when the table was the most exquisite. After all, lean food can be both tasty and nutritious and healthy.

But we are very different from our ancestors in both physical and spiritual health, we have a different ecology, pace of life, overload. We are different. Therefore, one cannot literally adopt those traditions that were natural even not so long ago, even at the beginning of the twentieth century. There was a migration from the village to the cities, the peasantry was destroyed in our country, in our modern language there is no word that can be called a farmer. Life has changed dramatically. Therefore, now the question of the forms of physical fasting is so acute: earlier people had a greater margin of safety. People ate differently: milk was not from a bag, but from under a cow, bread from the oven, spring water, clean air. The peasant actively owned 10,000 operations. Imagine - we will be offered to harness a horse. Repair the plow, fold the hut. How amazingly they wielded an ax!

– And if fasting is perceived even by a believer not as a sacrifice to God, but simply as a restriction established by the Church, November 28 has come and that’s it, now the month is neither meat nor milk.

– Of course, even if a person relates to fasting without due depth, but fasts out of obedience to the Mother Church, then he renders obedience, and obedience is virtue itself. And if you fast unconsciously, then the Lord fills and grants a deep understanding of fasting.

- Father, is it right for pregnant women to limit themselves to their favorite food, and eat less tasty, albeit fast food? In particular, readers remember the 8th canon of St. Timothy of Alexandria: “The woman who gave birth on Easter fortecost orders not to observe the legal fast, but to strengthen herself as much as possible with the use of wine and moderate food, for fasting was invented to curb the body, and when it is weak, it does not need curbing, but in help to recover and collect the former strength.

In this rule, everything is said in accordance with the high Greek learning: reinforce yourself in food limited. If food should be eaten as a medicine - eat it, or maybe fasting and there is no need to be treated? Moreover, this rule does not cancel fasting, the reason why we fast is also indicated here: we fast in order to be able to limit our desires. But disease itself is a limitation.

Of course, with toxicosis - a painful condition, with poor health, you need to eat what the body requires. But I would like to rely on an authority that is quite far from pregnancy: Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov: “That soldier who does not want to be a general is bad. Every soldier must understand his maneuver."

What are you fasting for? If you are a mom, your task is to give birth to a healthy baby: you need to eat right, and your state should be peaceful, joyful, and it should be transmitted to your child. If you feel bad, then eat what the body requires. And we begin to grind - otherwise it’s possible, but this? So, either you set yourself the task of giving birth to a baby and more than one, or you turn fasting into Pharisaic literalism. If your heart is peaceful, joyful, then the feat is right, but if you treat God like a bookkeeper who counts for you what you ate, then you are mistaken. But at the same time, it is very easy for a person to relax and give himself unnecessary indulgences. This requires both self-control, and church life, and reliance on the advice of a confessor and people who already have experience in this area.

- That is, a fasting person needs to go between Scylla and Charybdis in order not to lose strength and to offer sacrifice to God?

- Fasting is not a referral to the hospital! We must fast as strictly as we can.

Often believers begin to fast excessively: jealousy not according to reason, in my opinion, is associated with the loss of traditions. After all, the issues of fasting, in fact, should be decided not so much by the priest as by the traditions of the family. In a large patriarchal family, where grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts fasted, a child from childhood saw before him all kinds of fasting, how adults fasted, how the pregnant wives of older brothers fasted, whether the sick fasted.

Limit yourself, especially pregnant women, should be reasonable. For example, to limit from negative external impressions, the main source of which is the TV, from the habit of judging, washing each other's bones. The apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). If your condition is like this, your fast is pleasing to God. If you are unable to keep such joy, then you are not fulfilling the main task of fasting. But even if you somehow limit yourself, the Lord will reward it, He kisses the intention.

Fast not for your own glory, but for the glory of God

Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev , clergyman of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

It seems to me that fasting depends on the spiritual and physical strength of the woman herself. For a woman who is churched, carrying, perhaps not her first child, living in an Orthodox family during a normal pregnancy, it is probably possible to fast according to the charter (but with the prudence that is expected from a normally churched person).

People with little church, who do not have sufficient experience of Christian life, should probably have a different measure of fasting. To begin with, we should think about the basics - about faith in Christ and about knowing the gospel. Otherwise, many people want to fast (or not to fast) for their own glory, and not for the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul says, “I eat, I eat for the glory of God, I don’t eat, I don’t eat for the glory of God.” Do not indulge your desires in general, but also do not sew up your mouth - feel like a baby.

There is no need to ask for a blessing as a sanction for fasting or for its resolution. Before fasting, ask for blessings from the confessor or parish priest. Just a blessing. It is not necessary for the confessor to approve a list of what is and what is not (and in what quantity) - this is simply unworthy of our church life.

From the questions asked, we see that often the problem of fasting is, first of all, a problem of nutrition, but (as you know) fasting is not only abstinence from food. The mind fasts, the human heart fasts, the tongue fasts. The patristic teaching calls for fasting to do deeds of mercy and kindness, learn from the Holy Scriptures, repent of sins, pray harder than usual, attend divine services (if possible), partake of the Holy Mysteries. And vice versa - to move away from unnecessary entertainment, vanity of the mind, idle talk and other evil. All this is more important than gastronomy and much more important in general for the mother and her unborn baby.

Always rejoice!

Matushka Inna Viktorovna Asmus , mother of 9 children, wife of Archpriest Valentin Asmus

As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, eat what you want, just don’t eat each other. This is our main problem. I think that pregnant women should eat according to science and there is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman being drawn to a certain product and she eats it. Fasting is a purely personal matter for each person. One should not only forget about the words of the holy Apostle Paul: “Always rejoice, give thanks to God for everything”, there is no need to try to turn Christianity into something mournful.

The measure of fasting is individual

Olga Dmitrievna Getmanova, raised 9 children. In 2006, she was awarded the Patriarchal Badge of Motherhood by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy. The wife of Roman Nikolaevich Getmanov, a well-known obstetrician-gynecologist.

Fasting during pregnancy is undoubtedly individual: if you want, eat meat, if you don’t want, don’t eat. If you do not eat meat for a month and a half, nothing will happen to you or your child. You won't be fasting all year. I myself love potatoes - I feel good with them in fasting. If you can't live without kebabs, then eat them. And if you need dairy, eat it. Just don't eat.

I don’t ask the confessor how specifically I should fast during pregnancy, but I know that he allows his parishioners to fast during dairy fasting during pregnancy.

In fact, protein consumption is no longer during pregnancy, but during feeding - that's when it's tight without milk. You fast for a week and you feel that the milk has become noticeably less.

Another well-known fact: during the blockade of Leningrad, completely emaciated women gave birth to full-weight children. This means that everything they need, they themselves take from the mother's body. It’s the mother’s teeth that can then break and hair fall out ... (Smiles)“

Refrain from what you are addicted to

Mother Elena Karpenko , mother of three children, wife of priest Dmitry Karpenko.

For a woman, pregnancy is her feat, that small sacrifice to God that she can make. You need to fast according to your strength, because, unfortunately, modern women are not so strong physically, and spiritually, I think, too. If there was a short break between pregnancies, fasting is very difficult, I know from my own experience.

You need to eat whatever you want and limit yourself only to what is not particularly necessary. Each woman must determine her diet for herself, find the "golden mean". For me, for example, abstinence from sweets has become such a limitation - to admit, this is my weakness. I know cases when women fasted throughout their pregnancy, strictly observed fasting and gave birth to strong men. That is, if you feel strength in yourself and your health allows, then you can fast.

Fasting is a purely personal matter for everyone ... The most important thing is not to get angry at others. It is necessary to abstain during pregnancy not from meat and yogurt, but from what you have an addiction to. You can limit yourself from watching TV, idle talk. After all, try not to judge, which is much harder than not eating a piece of meat.

Questions about nutrition during pregnancy are more appropriate to ask the doctor you are seeing. Still, it is worth going to confession not with questions about food, but with spiritual problems and experiences.

Wonderful - in a good way, in the sense of strange. Looked on the web. It turns out that I’m not the only one interested in why you can’t eat meat and animals in general on fasting days. But sometimes you can fish and seemingly seafood. There are many answers and they are all different. Let's try ... I won't say to figure it out, but rather to orient in the points of view. By the way, the points of view are taken mainly from Orthodox resources - in particular, Pravmir. And the priests seem to answer.

Okay, to business!

One of the first answers I came across concerned the question of a chocolate bar: can you afford it if you break loose?

I apologize for generalizing or drawing conclusions at times. Let it all be subjective, judge for yourself. That's what the heads are for, sorry! And sorry for the skepticism. Here the question is not entirely in theology, which I try not to get into. It's about the logic of the answers and those responsible. It's just that sometimes people are categorical. And it turns out, from their own words, that this is exactly how things are and not otherwise.

Here is the conclusion, as it were, from the priest's answer: that chocolate, if it is without milk (the question was asked about this), is a lean product, made from cocoa beans.

At the same time, in the same place, we read:

“Lent is a special time of knowing one’s own weakness and overcoming one’s own “I”. Why does the Church single out special periods of fasting? In order for a person to be able to consolidate what has been achieved at this special time in everyday realities: the situation of fasting mobilizes us, we are aware of something, we embark on the path of struggle with certain inclinations - we bring this awareness and struggle from fasting into everyday life.

Another source says that the goal is the fight against passions and we need to move away from what excites and entertains us.

And then we open a culinary section on one of the Orthodox sites and read that fasting can be both varied and useful. And then, here, we see a bunch of delicious dishes. Tastier and sweeter. For example, for two glasses of flour - a glass of sugar.

And honey, according to the priest, you can. And a chocolate bar, if without milk. And I remember, I once bought Turkish delight. So the seller said that this is a lean product and fasting people buy in the post.

By the way, on the same Pravmir we read the following explanation of the priest: “The pious exercises of fasting are given to us easily due to natural inclinations - there are, for example, people who do not like meat or entertainment. But each of us has something that can become the subject of special care during the days of fasting - imperfection is not outside, it is inside us, and fasting helps to see it.

And this seems logical to me (sorry again for a personal judgment) if “the purpose of fasting is to fight against passions.” But why do so many believers not know about it? That is, do the priests not report this?

On the site Pravoslavie.ru I read the priest's explanation. Even a real monk and a whole candidate of theology, and in the past a secular scientist (and also a candidate).

“It is necessary that the soul govern the body ... This is facilitated by the restriction of the amount of daily food and the exclusion from the use of animal products, which undoubtedly fatten the body and deprive it of lightness. Even the most high-calorie plant foods (chocolate tree fruits, sunflower oil, walnuts, etc.) do not cause a feeling of heaviness.

Just a little lower, he also quotes a list of what overshadows the mind, feelings and will "to good activity": "drunk, drunkenness and worldly cares."

That's interesting! I don't know what they teach at the Theological Academy. But is it possible that a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy, a candidate of science (and together with a theological diploma - twice!) Is not able to at least look into the literature on healthy eating? Well, at least to the blogs of athletes and other people who seriously limit their diet? Seriously, no nonsense! There, medical calculations are also given, with squeezes and specifics. It's easy to get to know. Yes, and elementary logic ... I do not believe that it is missing.

What to say about the actual "lean diet". The feeling of heaviness is caused not by the quality, but by the quantity of food. Meat, cottage cheese, eggs, and fish fill up much faster and in smaller portions than porridge or potatoes. And it’s ridiculous to talk about gluttony and indulgence of weakness for “delicious” among the majority of fasting people. That is such a demand for all sorts of flavor imitations - lean sausage, sweets and more!

And interest in lean cuisine, the most varied and delicious. That is, maybe its original purpose was variety for the sake of usefulness, but now it is diverse for the sake of taste ... At least that's the impression. By the way, where they talk about food in terms of usefulness, it is customary to indicate its composition, that is, nutritional value and calorie content - per 100 g, serving and the whole dish. This is how people look at food, who really care about it, food, quality. Even though the pleasure of eating is not forbidden to them. And in itself, sweet and tasty can be when non-caloric. And trying to diversify the table, to make it tastier, they first of all look at the nutritional value and composition.

Excuse me, but if someone who is used to a normal meat diet goes on a lean diet, he is usually hungry. Banal does not eat. What remains? Well, the truth is, few will endure and refrain. Still, they'd rather just eat what they can. Porridge. Potatoes. Well, if boiled or baked, but if fried? And more oil! Though vegetable, even olive. Although frying is more likely to be on sunflower. More to taste better. Not this way?

Very often so. And the same with other products. For "tastier". Where is the most self-restraint somewhere? In my opinion, gluttony is the same.

And further. I’ll tell you from experience: how, due to restrictions, you begin to feel that you are starving - all thoughts are about food. It's hard not to overeat what you can. At the same time, the body still does not receive the useful and required. And if it does, it is accompanied by a clear excess of everything else. Well, do not lose weight on lean! More precisely, it is possible - but if you seriously limit the quantity.

Are many ready? And it affects the nerves. Directly and strongly. What, excuse me, post, if you throw yourself at people? And you start with hunger. Checked, and not only by me. Is this a post? Is it spiritual concern?

Forgive me if I was harsh and picky. It's what's on the surface. And there are many versions of where the post came from and why it is exactly that. Not no why we fast, in memory of what, etc., but why Are these food restrictions? Where and how was it originally?

I personally found one of the versions to be the most convincing. At least, she seems to be referring to the origins, to the very beginning.

At the very beginning of the book of Genesis:

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is in all the earth, and every tree bearing fruit of a tree yielding seed; - this will be food for you;

But to all the beasts of the earth, and to all the birds of the air, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I have given all the green grass."

Actually, here, it seems, is both the source and the source of information.

All! I think if this is the root and cause, then is it worth further digging and searching for some other essence? Looking for other meanings? That's how it is, that's how it was set from the very beginning.

If I'm wrong, please correct me. But with reason.

I was looking for the exact source. Perhaps this is him. In my opinion, this is enough.

Fasting excludes not only meat, but all food of animal origin. The period of fasting is a time of purely spiritual labors. Therefore, it is necessary that the soul controls the body, and not vice versa. This is facilitated by the restriction of the amount of daily food and the exclusion from the use of animal products, which undoubtedly fatten the body and deprive it of lightness. Even the most high-calorie plant foods (chocolate fruit, sunflower oil, walnuts, etc.) do not cause a feeling of heaviness. The holy saints of God, who have acquired high spiritual gifts, attached great importance to fasting: “A Christian needs to fast in order to clarify the mind and arouse and develop feelings, and move the will to good activity. We overshadow and suppress these three abilities of a person most of all by overeating, drunkenness and worldly cares (Luke 21:34), and through this we fall away from the source of life - God and fall into decay and vanity, perverting and defiling the image of God in ourselves. Lust and voluptuousness nail us to the ground and cut off, so to speak, the wings of the soul. And look how high the flight of all fasters and abstinences was!” (St. Right. John of Kronstadt. My Life in Christ, M., 2002, p. 504).
Since a person consists of a soul and a body, he must fast not only for the body, but also for the soul: have a high prayerful disposition, a deep sense of repentance, avoid entertainment and vain activities that dispel the mind and feelings.
Fasting is not an end in itself, but a means. The goal of the Christian life is purity of heart and spiritual fruits (love, peace of mind, joy, mercy). If a person fasted moderately, but during the entire fast he did not reproach anyone and never got annoyed with anyone, he achieved more than the one who spent it in a dry diet.
???What is the attitude of the Church towards tombstones?
A cross (wooden, stone, metal) should stand at the burial place of a Christian. If there is already a cross on your father's grave, then there is no need to erect a monument. One can only take care of the magnificence of the cross.
???Why is the pentagram (five-pointed star) considered a satanic symbol?
Because some occult societies, both in ancient times and in our time, chose the pentagram as a magical sign. At the same time, it must be remembered that the form of this symbol is taken from nature and is not significant outside of certain false teachings and actions.
???What does the word deaconess mean?
Deaconesses (Greek diakonissa - a servant) in the first centuries of Christianity were called women who devoted themselves to serving the Church. They prepared women for baptism and were present at this sacrament, visiting the sick and the poor. They carried other obediences of the bishop.
???How to give parental blessing to children for marriage?
Since biblical times, parental blessing has been considered a condition for a lasting and happy marriage. During the sacrament of the wedding, the priest prays: “God remember the parents who raised them: beyond the prayers of the parents, the foundations of the houses are established.” God has given parents special authority over their children. They must use it with love and wisdom.
According to tradition, the groom and his parents come to the house of the bride's parents and ask them for the hand of their daughter. If they agree to the marriage, they, together with the groom's parents, bless the young for a family union: the groom with the icon of Christ the Savior, the girl with the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Young people overshadow themselves with the banner of the cross and kiss the holy images. Handing over the icons, parents express the lofty thought that now that the time for raising children is over for them, they entrust them with faith and hope to the all-powerful intercession of the Lord and Mother of God. These icons are placed in the red corner. Often several generations were blessed by them. They become family and tribal shrines.
If one of the parents is no longer there, then the surviving one blesses.
In the old days, godparents also participated in the blessing. Unfortunately, in our time, godparents rarely participate in the spiritual education of their godchildren. They do not participate in the arrangement of their marriage either.