What is fasting and why fast. What is Christian fasting? How and why to fast? What is more important: physical fasting or spiritual fasting?
Inga Mayakovskaya
Reading time: 6 minutes
A A
Lately, fasting has become very fashionable. Often from young people modern girls and women we hear the proud declaration “I am fasting.” But what do lovely ladies mean by this concept, and why do they deceive others?
As a rule, girls do not always intentionally lie about fasting. Often they simply do not know and do not want to carefully study the essence and essence of fasting, and in general they poorly understand the purpose of a Christian’s life, and do not know the basis of the religion they profess. With their statements “I am fasting,” women not only show disdain for the canons of Christianity, but also continue to live, not allowing God into their soul, heart, leaving the cult of their body and worldly pleasures as their true value.
Let's talk about how to identify girls who are lying about fasting.
There are several types of liars:
1. "Fashionista"
Such girls want to always keep up with modern trends. They by nature strive to conform to the most fashionable “templates” of the era. They consider what is stylish today in Cosmopolitan magazine and other popular women's magazines. They take care of themselves, live an active modern life: study, work, run a household. They enjoy interacting with people and are flattered by being the center of attention. They are not black sheep. Many of them strive for “glamor”, know famous brands by heart, and can easily determine where you bought your handbag. These are inquisitive natures who, often having average hobbies, love to get carried away and study new trends and trends in fashion, sports, and knowledge. They enjoy buying new items, dedicating scandalous exhibitions, and have an understanding of contemporary art. These girls believe in God, but really know little about their religion. For them, fasting is a fashionable hobby, a proud statement - akin to showing up to the office wearing expensive shoes from a famous designer. These ladies have not even fully studied the diet of what cannot be eaten during fasting and what is allowed, although restriction in food for them is the only meaning of fasting. For them, fasting is much more affordable than buying branded shoes for $1,000.
2. “Individualist”
By observing fasting, I stand out from the gray mass. 
This person often lacks the sociability, activity and enthusiasm for life to correspond to the first type of “Fashionista”. As a rule, they often find themselves in hobbies that are non-standard for any girl (ardent football fan, rocker, girl programmer, flash mobber, etc.). They like to huddle in small groups social groups according to hobbies. They often dress in a casual, sporty style or, on the contrary, too extravagantly. Inner world These girls are full of contradictions, they often have many complexes, they feel lonely, perhaps they were “disliked” in childhood. For one reason or another, they do not have time to keep up with the times, they may not have an attractive appearance, or they do not know how to communicate and please people.
The main goal is for society to love them, or at least “respect” them for their “non-standard” in everything. Fasting is another way to attract attention and stand out from the crowd, to force “fashionistas” and other people to respect themselves.
It is worth noting that this type of girl not only makes loud statements about fasting, but can actually be interested in this issue from a religious perspective. Perhaps they even actually go to church, pray, and give up sexual pleasures. It’s difficult to say that these girls are lying to others; rather, they are lying to themselves, or are looking for themselves. God grant that they find their own, “right path.”
3. "Problematic figure"
Fasting will help you lose weight and not reveal your desire to be slim to others.
Recently, the percentage of girls who are embarrassed by the shortcomings of their figure and do not want to let others know about their desire to lose weight has increased significantly. At the same time, the best excuse for refusing food (sweet cakes and pastries, fatty steaks, a joint business lunch) is to fast. It sounds like a really compelling argument. As a rule, these girls, when you call their fasting diet a diet. I react very sharply, they literally flare up and start making excuses that THIS IS NOT A DIET.
You just have to sympathize with such women. Do not under any circumstances advise them of other ways to “lose weight” - they will be offended. The only thing that can be done is to advise them to fast not only in food, but also to delve into real “cleansing of the soul.”
4. “Mixed type”
There are several reasons to fast.
Perhaps you will see a mixed type in your girlfriend, colleague or acquaintance, because often all several reasons for fasting successfully coexist in one person.
In this article, we wanted to talk not only about how to distinguish between true Christians who observe fasting and deceivers who neglect the basic rules of fasting, but also to help lovely girls understand the true meaning of fasting, we will talk about the essence of observing fasting, the basic rules.
What is fasting?
The very concept of the word “fast” is deeply religious in nature. For Christians, fasting is a form of spiritual path to insight, by limiting the body and spirit in worldly pleasures, entertainment, and food.
To fast means to strive to limit your desires, the lust of the body in favor of enlightening the soul and freeing the body from the burden of sins.
Fasting is characterized not only by deprivation, but also by regular prayers and sacraments. sincere repentance for adultery committed.
What is the essence and meaning of the post? Why do people fast?
The essence of any fast is repentance before God, the desire to correct your life, make it cleaner, and draw closer to God.
Fasting must be accompanied by prayers and sacraments.
You can refuse food altogether, or eat only black bread, but if you have never prayed, have not repented of your sins before icons and have not tried in any way to change your life, then you are observing fasting formally, deceiving yourself or misleading others.
About what it means to truly fast. Rules for observing fasting.
Dear girls, remember that fasting in which a person does not focus on spiritual priorities and internal development can be harmful if, by abstaining from consuming certain foods, you enjoy the feeling of your own righteousness and significance.
If you catch yourself thinking, “What a great fellow I am for observing fasting,” then we advise you to contact a priest and find out how to observe fasting correctly, because you are sinning and not truly observing fasting.
All your high beliefs of the people around you, proud statements, refusal to eat food to order - all this is absolutely meaningless if you do not partake of the holy mysteries of Christ.
Fasting is not a goal, but only a means, an opportunity to think about your soul by giving up food, sex, massage and relaxing SPA treatments, regularly praying and cleansing yourself.
“True fasting is removal from evil, bridling the tongue, putting aside anger, taming lusts, stopping slander, lies and perjury,” teaches St. John Chrysostom.
What is fasting? Why is it needed and how to observe it correctly? You will learn about this by reading this article.
The purpose of Orthodox fasting
What is fasting? What is it for? The goal for a Christian is to destroy harmful mental manifestations and introduce virtue into his life. Believers achieve this through sincere and attentive prayer, and also more often pay a visit to the temple to participate in divine services.
How to fast? What should you give up? During Lent, Orthodox Christians voluntarily abstain from eating meat, dairy dishes, and desserts. They also try to avoid all kinds of pleasures and entertainment. But Orthodox Christian First of all, you should take care not of your stomach, but of your state of mind. Fasting is wrong to perceive as a diet.
Often, many people, while fasting, become irritable, waiting for it to end as soon as possible, forgetting about the soul. If a person really began to think about his soul, he would certainly begin to rejoice in fasting. After all, his entire essence is aimed at healing the soul.
Thus, for a true Christian, the time of fasting is the best, at this time he becomes closer to God.
What is more important: physical fasting or spiritual fasting?
What is fasting? What is it for? Is physical or spiritual fasting more important? It is very important for a Christian to understand that just abstaining from food means nothing without spiritual fasting. Rather, on the contrary, as stated above, it can be harmful. In this case, the harm can consist not only in irritability, but also in the fact that the fasting person can be imbued with a sense of his superiority and excessive piety. But the meaning of fasting lies precisely in the destruction of sins.
What is fasting? What is it for? Fasting is medicine. Not always sweet, but effective. It helps you break away from pleasures, collect your thoughts and think about your spiritual health.
If a fasting person, using only instead of repentance and prayer, helping one’s neighbor, and doing good deeds, constantly experiences sinful feelings, then the fast will not be genuine, it will not be spiritual.
You need to understand that when a person fasts, he is not starving. Not a single service of Great Lent mentions it in the usual understanding for people, that is, in not eating meat and tasty food. The Church calls for fasting physically and fasting spiritually.
So, fasting will only have true meaning when it is combined with spiritual work on oneself. An ordinary person living in rhythm modern world, will not be available to the influence of a Higher Power. Fasting softens a person’s callousness, and then he becomes more accessible to the influence of the Upper World.
What does the post make you think about, how to behave correctly?
How to fast correctly? Many people, while fasting, believe that it will be a great sin if they eat, even out of helplessness, something non-fasting, but they are not at all embarrassed by the fact that they neglect and blame their neighbors, for example, they deprive their friends, insult them, or lie to them. This is real hypocrisy towards God. This is a lack of awareness of faith and humility!
It is absolutely obvious that repentance and prayer during fasting should always be accompanied by reflection on one’s own sinful life and, of course, should go along with abstinence from various fun and entertainment: going to dances, to theaters, to see friends. You should try to avoid reading frivolous books, listening to joyful music, and watching television programs for entertainment. If all these activities attract a Christian, then he will have to make an effort on himself in order to rid his soul of all this, at least during Lent. This is exactly the point of this post.
Thus, you need to fast with both soul and body, with joy. It is necessary to learn to combine external fasting with internal fasting. You need to examine your soul and correct your vices. When people cleanse their body through abstinence, they must cleanse their soul through repentance and prayer, and then they can gain virtue and humility, love and respect for their neighbors. This is precisely what will be a genuine fast, pleasing to God, and therefore saving a person’s soul.
When can you eat fish during Lent?
When do you eat fish during Lent? By general rules This product is allowed on major holidays that fall during Lent.
IN Lent, dedicated to the resurrection of the Lord, you can eat fish on the holidays of the Annunciation, Palm Sunday (the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem), and on Lazarus Saturday.
When else do they eat fish during Lent? This product can also be eaten on those Orthodox holidays that fall during the period of fasting. After all, for example, Lent falls at a different time every year.
During the Dormition Fast, dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary, fish is allowed on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
The Nativity Fast is dedicated to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is not as strict as Lent; fish can be eaten every Saturday and Sunday.
During Peter's Fast, dedicated to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, fish can be eaten on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
However, as stated above, fasting is not a diet. If a person, a Christian, due to his weakness needs to eat fish, then with the blessing of the priest to relax the fast, he can eat fish on any day. After all, the main thing is healing the soul, and not what’s in the stomach. Fasting in food also helps to maintain spiritual fasting, because after eating fatty, tasty food, a person so needs to lie down, sleep, spend time in idleness, he does not want to read prayers, much less go to church. And the food can be prepared in such a way that it will be lean and tasty.
How to fast as an Orthodox Christian?
In fact, this question has absolutely no clear answer. Each person should fast to the best of his ability and ability. Someone can, roughly speaking, last the entire fast on bread and water, being in constant prayer, often visiting church, attending the Sacraments weekly, but for some, refusing to watch TV is already fasting. You don’t need to immediately take on the impossible; you need to approach fasting gradually, wisely.
The general rules involve abstaining from meat, sweets, fish (with the exception of a few days); in each fast there are days of dry eating, when you cannot eat cooked and hot food.
But this is the so-called nutritional aspect and is not at all the main one, as mentioned above. The main thing is spiritual fasting.
During fasting, a person cleanses himself of sinful dirt, he tries to get closer to Christ. At this time, you need to read more prayers, read spiritual literature, visit church more often, and during Lent there are always special services, each of which can be observed only once a year, during this church fast. This is a miracle of miracles, everyone should experience it for themselves.
About the Sacraments during Lent
During Lent, it is imperative to partake of the Church Sacraments: Confession and Communion.
Confession is repentance for one's sins, where the priest acts as a mediator between God and the Christian. The believer leaves the entire burden of his sins there. And only after this can he begin the Great Sacrament of Communion - eating the flesh and blood of Christ. God Himself enters the human soul through these Sacraments, cleansing and healing it.
And based on the essence and meaning of Orthodox fasting, it is clear why the Sacraments are so useful at this time.
Thus, fasting is not only limiting oneself in food, it is a huge spiritual work, and it is different for each person.
Separately about Lent
Before Easter, Christians observe the longest period, Lent. This is an integral part of the great Christian holiday. You need to fast in order to cleanse your body and soul for the great holiday, the Resurrection of the Lord.
Lent lasts six weeks, the seventh being Holy Week, during which even stricter abstinence is required. This period is the most strict and solemn at the same time. Preparation for it begins three weeks before it starts.
The main goal of Lent, like any other, is repentance, renunciation of habitual, mortal, vain activities and affairs.
During fasting, it is worth remembering that it is not necessary for God, but for man himself. A Christian is not doing God a favor by fasting; he is healing his soul. As mentioned above, Lent consists of 2 parts: Lent is a period of repentance, and Holy Week is a period of cleansing.
After all, it is not without reason that the Orthodox Church twice during Pentecost invites parishioners to read the farewell prayer. It is not for nothing that every week on Saturdays during all-night vigil in churches they sing: “Open the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life.”
The time of Lent is given to Christians precisely for repentance. If a person does not have a goal of repentance, he should not start fasting - it is a waste of time.
Separately about Holy Semiditsa
Holy Week is popularly called differently Holy Week y. This is the week leading up to Easter, this is a special time for the Orthodox.
“Passion” translated from Church Slavonic means “trials and suffering.” This week got its name because it remembers last days that Jesus Christ spent on earth, his suffering, betrayal, the pain of crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
During the Holy Week of Lent, Christians observe the strictest abstinence, especially in spiritual terms. The number of services in churches is increasing, each of which carries its own special, deep meaning.
Every day Holy Week At services in churches there is a special one, the clergy read individual chapters from the Gospel, which tell Christians about the events that happened in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Every day during Holy Week, Christians remember what happened then.
The most special days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Maundy Thursday
On Thursday, Orthodox Christians remember the Last Supper, when the Savior last time gathered his disciples, gave them communion, and gave instructions. He had already said that one of his disciples would betray him, and each of them denied it, including Judas.
Good Friday
On Friday the betrayal took place, and on the same day Christ was crucified. In all Orthodox churches the shroud (coffin) is taken out. The removal takes place after two o'clock in the afternoon, at the hour of the death of the Savior crucified on the cross.
On this day, the service carries a special, tragic meaning; it tells about the torment and suffering that Christ endured on the cross.
Holy Saturday
On Holy Saturday, the Orthodox Church remembers the burial of the Savior and his descent into hell for the salvation of the human race and the resurrection of the dead.
On the night from Saturday to Sunday, Christians rejoice and celebrate the Great Holiday - the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here it comes Happy Easter. The post is over. You can also taste non-lenten food.
About prayers during Lent
During Lent, prayer should be given a little more attention and time than it turns out in normal times.
It is also advisable to devote as much time as possible to the services that will be attended during Lent. If it is difficult to keep track of the words that the priest reads, you can take a book with the texts of prayers to the temple.
It is worth carrying out with special care and diligence prayer rules, both morning and evening.
In the morning you can wake up early, and in the evening you can finish your work early in order to start reading prayers, adding some more, at your discretion.
During Lent, it is worth reading the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian every day. On the way to work, school or on errands, you can listen to the Psalter using headphones or read it in transport, if it is convenient.
Prayers read during Lent help to completely cleanse the soul and body, earn forgiveness and receive blessings.
It is also useful to resist the innumerable temptations that befall a person during Lent with prayer: one must respond to anger, rage, sadness, envy, laziness, and sinful thoughts with a short answer to oneself.
Man was created by God as a harmonious being. Among the first people, our ancestors Adam and Eve, who first lived in Paradise, all their constituent natures - spirit, soul and body - were in strict subordination. This state can be likened to a correctly placed pyramid: the top is the spirit, directed toward God, the middle part is the soul, which is subordinate to the spirit, and the base is the body, which served as an obedient instrument of the soul. At the same time, the entire material world was subordinate to its ruler, the crown of creation - man. But Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying the Creator by eating fruit from the forbidden tree. As a result of this sin, the original hierarchy of human essence was radically violated. Since then, human nature has been like a pyramid, turned upside down: the spirit, having severed its connection with God, became dependent on the soul; the soul submitted to the body, which, in turn, became dependent on the external world and enslaved to the material principle. Now there is a discord between the components of human nature: “For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; they oppose each other.”(Gal. 5:17). Fasting is an ascetic means that helps restore the original hierarchy of the psychophysical organization of a person - to subjugate the body to the soul, and subordinate the soul to the spirit.
It has been known since ancient times that each type of drink and food has its own effect on the body. Food can not only support our activity, but also hinder it. You can name the dishes that delight and heat up, relax and weigh down the body. Food can increasingly attract attention to itself, enslave the stomach, and therefore incline the soul to the earthly and perishable. When the stomach is full, the mind becomes lazy, and the heart becomes coarse, is a person in such a state able to pray to God purely and sincerely?
The path of spiritual life involves victory over one’s passions through overcoming our sensual dependence. Here the Church offers a long-proven remedy - fasting.
“When the king is about to take an enemy city,- said the Monk John Kolov, - he first of all prevents the supply of food supplies to it. Then the citizens, oppressed by hunger, submit to the king. The same thing happens with carnal lusts: if a person spends his life in fasting and hunger, then disordered desires will become exhausted.”.
Remember counterexample Cossacks from Gogol's Taras Bulba. Although the Sich prayed in church and was ready to defend it to the last drop of blood, it did not want to hear about fasting and abstinence. Is it not because of this that their inner spirit was weakened, which was expressed in the example of betrayal and in the final defeat of the Cossacks?
Imagine that on one side of you there is a musician playing the violin, and on the other, a worker is working with a jackhammer. Can you understand the melody of the violin? Or will you only see the movement of the bow along the strings? It’s the same in human life: all external impressions and earthly pleasures prevent us from hearing the voice of the Heavenly Father. Whoever manages to stop the jackhammer of passions will hear the word of God and enter into communication with Him. This is what this post is aimed at. He extinguishes attachment to sensual pleasures so that one can enjoy spiritual truths.
Fasting is a judicious attitude towards food. It is based on centuries-old knowledge of its effect on our nature. Thus, food of animal origin tends to fatten the flesh and awaken passions (especially meat). Therefore, during Lent, a Christian limits himself to the consumption of animal food, and also keeps the measure in the amount of food itself. The gifts of the plant world, accepted by the body, have a lighter effect and do not provoke the movement of low, coarse passions in nature.
Thus, fasting extinguishes attachment to bestial pleasures and helps the spirit to subdue the flesh. Without fasting, it is impossible to restore in our nature that heavenly harmony, in which all the feelings and desires of the body were in complete obedience to the soul.
Fasting also has pedagogical (educational) significance for a person. If we do not learn to limit ourselves to the needs of the stomach, then how will our will be able to conquer stronger passions?
It must be remembered that fasting consists not only of bodily abstinence. “Do not limit the benefits of fasting to abstinence in food, because true fasting is elimination of evil deeds.”- said Saint Basil the Great. Fasting is limiting oneself in everything that brings down a person’s spiritual and moral aspirations. During Lent one is supposed to abstain from marital relations, frivolous entertainment and vain, unnecessary worries. It is at this time that you should abandon such bad habits, like smoking, swearing and alcohol abuse.
Fasting is the abstinence of external and internal feelings from illicit impressions. “Let not only the mouth fast, but also sight and hearing, and feet, and hands, and all the members of our body,– writes Saint John Chrysostom. – Let your hands fast, remaining clean from theft and covetousness. Let your feet fast and stop doing illegal things. Let your eyes fast - sight is the food of the eyes. The most absurd thing would be to abstain from food and devour with your eyes what is forbidden. Don't you eat meat? Do not devour voluptuousness with your eyes. Let the ear fast; and the fast of hearing is not to listen to slander and slander. Let the tongue also fast from foul language and swearing, for what good is it if we abstain from birds and fish, but bite and eat our brothers. He who slanderes devours the body of his brother, gnaws at the flesh of his neighbor.”.
However, many may have a question: is it possible to repent of sins, fight passions, do good deeds, live peacefully with neighbors, control the tongue, etc. should we only fast on days? Isn't all this the constant work of a Christian?
Yes, it is necessary to live piously, act according to God’s commandments, and fight against impurity within oneself all day long. But most of us are bad at it. And now, during the days of Lent, we are all offered another opportunity learn restrain your tongue, suppress anger, avoid vanity and gossip, give alms, etc. Thus we are given the opportunity to get used to virtue and turn it into skill. Everyone needs this skill so that later, after the end of fasting, they can habitually lead a pious life. I lost the habit of smoking while fasting and continued my abstinence after Easter. If you quit using foul language, don’t start again. What has become a habit is done without difficulty. So, our exercises, our mental and physical labor are not only for the time of fasting. They serve to acquire a skill, and the skill itself must last throughout life.
Fasting is an analogue of a long journey for the sake of acquiring the skill of renouncing sins and passions and acquiring (acquiring, cultivating in the soul) virtues.
Fasting is a school of repentance in which a person must learn to deepen his faith, reconsider his life and, as far as possible, change it for the better.
_______________
Literature:
- Dukhanin V. Acquaintance with Orthodoxy, or the Beginning of Knowledge of the Spiritual World. – M., 2011.
- Archpriest Andrey Tkachev. Always or only during fasting? http://www.pravoslavie.ru/77530.html
The rules for observing Orthodox fasting are intended to ensure that believers undergo the necessary preparation for entering the Heavenly Kingdom. This tradition of abstaining from fast food and limiting sexual life is a special form of asceticism that exercises the spirit and leads to the salvation of individual consciousness. Directions for fasting vary depending on the age and health of people.
The meaning of fasting in Orthodoxy
Today, disdain for this tradition is common. Some people think that fasting is only an unpleasant monastic activity that can cause harm to the body. This consideration of the issue is completely wrong, since an Orthodox follower should think about his own soul, and not about his earthly shell.
The meaning of fasting in Orthodoxy
He who raises his consciousness and faith in God rejoices in abstinence and easily endures conventional physical difficulties. The prudent parishioner should make the best use of this time. It is with this that it is customary for true Christians to congratulate on the onset of a period of cleansing from the material and vain.
Important! A simple change in the composition of food is not fasting if the desire to abstain and repent of inevitable sins through sincere prayer does not arise in the mind.
Spiritual limitation stands next to the physical, but rises above it. If a person surrenders completely to the first, the Lord instills the necessary strength to overcome the secondary difficulties of the physical shell. John Chrysostom authoritatively confirms: “Let all parts of your body be involved in fasting through reliance on a strong and persistent mind.”
Lenten cuisine recipes:
Today's life sometimes incorrectly considers the essence of tradition - many people see here only the deprivation of material reinforcement through punishment. Orthodox (and any) fasting - greatest way achieve the desired result in serving God. By exhausting his own body, the believer removes the dark veil from the soul and opens a mystical path that makes it easier to approach the Heavenly Kingdom.
Abstinence cannot be called hunger, to which all beings are subjected for certain offenses. This tradition acquires religious value only when combined with exercises for the soul (repentance, destruction of vices through prayer).
Fasting is a refinement of the physical flesh, which allows one to get closer to the influence of higher powers and become filled with grace. The Church speaks of abstinence to remind us of the necessary healing of a seriously ill soul, mired in the bustle of everyday life. Certain days in the religious calendar are intended for such cleansing procedures. They are pure abstinence and balance between the shells, which should restore the primacy of the mind (soul) over the body.
Christ fasted for forty days in the desert
The apostles said that before the advent of fasting, man lost to passions and the devil. Christ set an example of 40 days of abstinence and received the power of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is obligated to follow the example of the Sinless Son and attack his own weaknesses. One who is in fasting has an unshakable mind and is capable of any accomplishment.
Note! The rules for observing Orthodox fasting are described in the Typikon (book of the Divine Rule), Nomocanon (Byzantine collection of church instructions), Menaion and other similar works.
The practice of abstinence is incredibly developed in Christendom- the number of fasting days sometimes reaches 200. The severity of the fast described in these books differs for monks and lay people.
Features of godly abstinence
The feat of repentance and prayerful petition must be accompanied by thoughts about individual sinfulness. The believer must also abstain from pleasure trips, watching inappropriate programs, and reading “ light literature"etc. If these categories do not let go of the mind, a person is obliged to make a mental effort and break the bonds of meaninglessness.
Depending on the preparedness of the body and health, abstinence differs into five degrees:
- For the sick, elderly or beginners, the first type is suitable, avoiding only meat foods.
- Next comes giving up dairy products.
- Denial of fish.
- In the penultimate position is a complete refusal of oil.
- Fasting without consuming any food at all certain period- a step accessible to believers with unshakable faith and titanic health.
There is no fasting when the believer leaves the place of the meal with a burdened stomach and a feeling of satisfied satiety. There are practically no sacrifices or hardships, which alone give abstinence great value.
Some Orthodox Christians exchange physical abstinence for “spiritual”, which is understood as restraining irritability, criticism of other people and all sorts of quarrels. However, such an attitude does not advance the believer towards true righteousness, since goodwill is inherently implied at all times. Therefore, relaxation in food intake is only self-deception, devoid of benefit.
Lenten food
If a person is unable, for health reasons or financial insufficiency, to comply with the traditional rules of fasting, he must give up entertainment, sweets, and abstain at least on Wednesday and Friday. Communion begins with a small thing - the denial of meat.
Interesting! Previously, in Russian families, fasting was extremely revered and performed with a pure heart. Some princes observed the rules of abstinence better than many monks. The monks of Egypt echoed the 40th post of Moses and Christ. Monks of Optina Hermitage in Kaluga region They ate only grass and were famous for their longevity.
Individual periods of abstinence
In Orthodoxy, there are one-day and multi-day fasts. Believers fast before church holidays or significant days for Orthodoxy.
One-day posts
Weekly fast days include Wednesday and Friday. Fast days have their own symbolic essence, which the Christian soul does not dare to pass by indifferently.
Relaxations exist during the following periods:
- week after Trinity;
- Christmastide period (from Christmas to Epiphany);
- on Maslenitsa (meat food is prohibited, dairy products are allowed)
There are also special one-day posts:
- Day of the beheading of John the Baptist (September 11).
- Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 27).
Multi-day posts
- Church opinion
Religion says there is fasting effective method transforming the Wrath of God into His mercy. Life in asceticism and asceticism is pleasing to the Lord; it is like a pure crystal that has thrown off the shackles of dirty sin and slavery to materiality.
- Abstinence is practice for a great undertaking. Any action is easier to perform if you pacify your own flesh.
- By reducing costs for himself, an Orthodox person has the opportunity to put more on the altar of mercy. The food will be more useful to the orphan, widow or homeless person who will pray for salvation.
- Abstinence allows you to remain with the Church, to commune with the apostles, Christ and the Father. It opens best qualities and brings you closer to the deepest mysteries.
- However, excessive abstinence is similar to satiety of the belly: there were examples when fanaticism acquired negative qualities and became gluttony. The believer must know own strength and be reasonable.
- A person should eat as much food as is necessary to maintain bodily functioning. By starting from scratch and falling into fanaticism, the neophyte will harm himself excessively, and for a long time will not be able to realize the right direction.
- The main condition is not to violate the rules of spiritual fasting if you have to give up the rules of consumption. There were examples when future saints ate modest foods, but their minds did not move away from the contemplation of the greatness of the Lord.
- If a believer notices exhaustion in the body, an inability to offer prayer, this indicates an incorrect method. The guidance of experienced confessors who have experience in conducting Lent helps here.
Watch a video about the meaning of fasting in Orthodoxy
Instructions for a Christian to fast can vary greatly depending on the health of the Christian's body. It may be in full health young man, not entirely healthy in an elderly person or with a serious illness. Hence, the instructions of the church on fasting (on Wednesdays and Fridays) or during periods of multi-day fasts (Rozhdestven, Great, Petrov and Assumption) can vary greatly depending on the age and physical state of a person’s health. All instructions fully apply only to a physically healthy person. In case of physical illness or for the elderly, the instructions should be taken carefully and judiciously.
Just as often among those who consider themselves Christians, one can find disdain for fasting and a misunderstanding of its meaning and essence.
Fasting is viewed by them as something obligatory only for monks, dangerous or harmful to health, as a relic from the old ritual - a dead letter of the rule, which it is time to do away with, or, in any case, as something unpleasant and burdensome.
It should be noted to all who think this way that they do not understand either the purpose of fasting or the purpose of the Christian life. Perhaps it is in vain that they call themselves Christians, since they live with their hearts together with the godless world, which has a cult of its body and self-indulgence.
A Christian, first of all, should think not about the body, but about his soul and worry about its health. And if he really began to think about her, then he would rejoice at the fast, in which the entire environment is aimed at healing the soul, as in a sanatorium - at healing the body.
The time of fasting is a time that is especially important for spiritual life, this is “an auspicious time, this is the day of salvation” ().
If the soul of a Christian yearns for purity and seeks mental health, then it should try to make the best possible use of this time that is beneficial for the soul.
That is why among true lovers of God mutual congratulations on the onset of fasting are common.
But what exactly is fasting? And isn’t there self-deception among those who consider it necessary to fulfill this only to the letter, but do not love it and are burdened by it in their hearts? And is it possible to call fasting only the observance of the rules about not eating meat on fast days?
Will fasting be fasting if, apart from some changes in the composition of food, we think neither about repentance, nor about abstinence, nor about cleansing the heart through intense prayer?
One must assume that this will not be fasting, although all the rules and customs of fasting will be observed. St. Barsanuphius the Great says: “Physical fasting means nothing without the spiritual fasting of the inner man, which consists of protecting oneself from passions.
This fast of the inner man is pleasing to God and will compensate for your lack of bodily fasting” (if you cannot observe the latter as you would like).
As St. says Isaac the Syrian: “Fasting is a weapon prepared by God... If the Lawmaker Himself fasted, then how could anyone who was obligated to keep the law not fast?..
Before fasting, the human race did not know victory and the devil never experienced defeat... Our Lord was the leader and firstborn of this victory...
And as soon as the devil sees this weapon on one of the people, this enemy and tormentor immediately comes into fear, thinking and remembering his defeat in the desert by the Savior, and his strength is crushed... He who remains in fasting has an unshakable mind” (Word 30).
It is quite obvious that the feat of repentance and prayer during fasting should be accompanied by thoughts about one’s sinfulness and, of course, abstinence from all entertainment - going to theaters, cinema and guests, easy reading, fun music, watching TV for entertainment, etc. If all this still attracts the heart of a Christian, then let him make an effort to tear his heart away from it, at least during the days of fasting.
Here we need to remember that on Fridays, St. Seraphim not only fasted, but also remained in strict silence on this day. As Fr. writes. : “Lent is a period of spiritual effort. If we cannot give our whole lives to God, then let us devote ourselves undividedly to at least periods of fasting - we will strengthen our prayers, increase our mercy, tame our passions, and make peace with our enemies.”
The words of the wise Solomon apply here: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. …a time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance... a time to be silent and a time to speak,” etc., ().
In some cases, sick Christians replace (on their own or on the advice of their confessors) abstinence in food with “spiritual fasting.” The latter is often understood as stricter attention to oneself: keeping oneself from irritability, condemnation, and quarrels. All this, of course, is good, but in ordinary times can a Christian allow himself to sin, or get irritated, or condemn? It is quite obvious that a Christian must always “be sober” and be attentive, protecting himself from sin and everything that can offend the Holy Spirit. If he is unable to control himself, then this will probably happen equally both on ordinary days and during fasting. Hence, replacing a food fast with a similar “spiritual” fast is most often self-deception.
Therefore, in those cases when, due to illness or a large shortage of food, a Christian cannot observe the usual norms of fasting, then let him do everything he can in this regard, for example: give up all entertainment, sweets and delicacies, fast at least on Wednesday and Friday, will try to ensure that the most delicious food is served only on holidays. If a Christian, due to old age or ill health, cannot refuse fasting food, then he should at least limit it somewhat on fasting days, for example, not eat meat - in a word, to one degree or another, still join the fast.
Some refuse to fast for fear of weakening their health, showing morbid suspiciousness and lack of faith, and always strive to feed themselves abundantly with fast food in order to achieve good health and to maintain the “fatness” of the body. And how often do they suffer from all sorts of diseases of the stomach, intestines, kidneys, teeth...
In addition to showing your feelings of repentance and hatred of sin, fasting has other sides. Fasting times are not random days.
Wednesday is the tradition of the Savior - the highest of the moments of the fall and shame of the human soul, going in the person of Judas to betray the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver.
Friday is the endurance of mockery, painful suffering and death on the cross of the Redeemer of mankind. Remembering them, how can a Christian not limit himself through abstinence?
Great Lent is the path of the God-man to the Calvary sacrifice.
The human soul has no right, does not dare, unless it is a Christian, to pass indifferently past these majestic days - significant milestones in time.
How dare she later - at the Last Judgment, stand at the right hand of the Lord, if she is indifferent to His sorrow, blood and suffering in those days when the Universe - Earthly and Heavenly - remembers them.
What should the post consist of? It is impossible to give a general measure here. It will depend on your state of health, age and living conditions. But here you must certainly touch a nerve with your carnality and voluptuousness.
At the present time - a time of weakening and decline of faith - those regulations on fasting, which in the old days were strictly observed by pious Russian families, seem unattainable to us.
Here, for example, is what Lent consists of according to the church charter, the obligatory nature of which applied equally to both the monk and the layman.
According to this charter, during Great Lent it is necessary to: complete abstinence for the whole day, Monday and Tuesday of the first week and Friday of Holy Week.
Only the weaker can eat food on Tuesday evening of the first week. On all other days of Lent, except Saturdays and Sundays, only dry food is allowed and only once a day - bread, vegetables, peas - without oil and water.
Boiled food with vegetable oil Only valid on Saturdays and Sundays. Wine is allowed only on days of church remembrance and during long services (for example, on Thursday in the fifth week). Fish - only on Annunciation Holy Mother of God and Palm Sunday.
Although such a measure seems excessively harsh to us, it is, however, achievable for a healthy body.
In the life of an old Russian Orthodox family one can see the strict implementation of fasting days and fasts. Even princes and kings fasted in a way that, perhaps, many of the monks do not fast now.
Thus, during Lent, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich dined only three times a week - on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and on the other days he ate only a piece of black bread with salt, a pickled mushroom or cucumber, washed down with kvass.
Some Egyptian monks in ancient times practiced complete forty-day abstinence from food during Lent, following in this regard the example of Moses and the Lord Himself.
Forty-day fasts were carried out twice by one of the brothers of the Optina Hermitage, Schemamonk Vassian, who lived there in the middle of the 19th century. This schema-monk, by the way, is the same as St. Seraphim, to a large extent, ate grass “sniff”. He lived to be 90 years old.
For 37 days, nun Lyubov of the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery did not eat or drink (except for one communion). It should be noted that during this fast she did not feel any weakening of strength and, as they said about her, “her voice thundered in the choir as if even stronger than before.”
She made this fast before Christmas; it ended at the end of the Christmas liturgy, when she suddenly felt an irresistible desire to eat. Unable to control herself any longer, she immediately went to the kitchen to eat.
It should be noted, however, that the norm described above and recommended by the church for Lent is no longer considered by everyone to be so strictly obligatory for everyone. The Church recommends, as a known minimum, only the transition to fasting food in accordance with its instructions for each of the fasts and fasting days.
Compliance with this norm is considered mandatory for completely healthy people. Yet she leaves more to the zeal and zeal of every Christian: “I want mercy, not sacrifice,” says the Lord (). At the same time, we must remember that fasting is necessary not for the Lord, but for ourselves for the salvation of our soul. “When you fasted... were you fasting for Me?” says the Lord through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah (7:5).
Therefore, fasting is practiced in the church as a means of preparing oneself for any undertaking. Having a need for something, individual Christians, monks, monasteries or churches imposed fasting on themselves with intense prayer.
In addition, the post has one more positive side, to which the Angel drew attention in a vision of Hermas (see the book “Shepherd Hermas”).
By replacing fast food with simpler and cheaper food, or reducing its quantity, a Christian can reduce his own costs. And this will give him the opportunity to devote more funds to works of mercy.
The angel gave the following instruction to Hermas: “On the day on which you fast, eat nothing except bread and water, and having calculated the expenses that you would have made on this day for food, following the example of previous days, set aside the remainder from this day and give it to the widow. , orphan or poor; in this way you will humble your soul, and the one who receives from you will be satisfied and will pray to God for you.”
The angel also pointed out to Hermas that fasting is not an end in itself, but only an auxiliary means to cleansing the heart. And the fast of one who strives for this goal and does not fulfill the commandments of God cannot be pleasing to God and is fruitless.
Essentially, the attitude towards fasting is a touchstone for the soul of a Christian in his relationship to the Church of Christ, and through the latter - to Christ.
As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov: “...In fasting, a person reveals himself: some manifest the highest abilities of the spirit, while others only become irritable and angry - fasting reveals the true essence of a person.”
A soul living by living faith in Christ cannot neglect fasting. Otherwise, she will unite herself with those who are indifferent to Christ and religion, with those who, according to Archpriest. :
“Everyone eats - and on Maundy Thursday, when it is celebrated Last Supper and the Son of Man is betrayed; and on Good Friday, when we hear the cry of the Mother of God at the tomb of the Crucified Son on the day of His burial.
For such people there is neither Christ, nor the Mother of God, nor the Last Supper, nor Golgotha. What kind of post can they have?”
Addressing Christians, Fr. Valentin writes: “Keep and observe fasting as a great church shrine. Every time you abstain from what is prohibited during the days of fasting, you are with the whole Church. You are doing in complete unanimity and unity of feeling what the entire Church and all the holy saints of God have been doing since the very first days of the Church’s existence. And this will give you strength and firmness in your spiritual life.”
The meaning and purpose of fasting in the life of a Christian can be summarized by the following words of St. Isaac the Syrian:
“Fasting is the guardianship of all virtue, the beginning of struggle, the crown of the abstinent, the beauty of virginity, the source of chastity and prudence, the teacher of silence, the predecessor of all good deeds...
From fasting and abstinence a fruit is born in the soul - knowledge of the mysteries of God.”
Discretion in fasting
I want mercy, not sacrifice.
()
Show... in virtue prudence.
()
Everything good in us has a certain trait,
crossing which unnoticed turns into evil.
(Prot.)
All of the above about fasting applies, however, we repeat, only to healthy people. As with any virtue, fasting also requires prudence.
As Rev. writes. Cassian the Roman: “Extremes, as the holy fathers say, on both sides are equally harmful - both excess of fasting and satiety of the belly. We know some who, not being overcome by gluttony, were overthrown by immeasurable fasting, and fell into the same passion of gluttony, due to weakness resulting from excessive fasting.
Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, you can move on to correct action, but from the former you cannot.
The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, ate as much food as was necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety required.
A monk should conduct the matter of fasting as wisely as if he had been in the body for a hundred years; and thus curb the movements of the soul - forget grievances, cut off sadness, put sorrows at nothing - as one who can die every day.”
It is worth remembering how ap. Paul warned those who unreasonably (willfully and arbitrarily) fasted - “this has only the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility and exhaustion of the body, in some neglect of the saturation of the flesh” ().
At the same time, fasting is not a ritual, but a secret of the human soul, which the Lord orders to be hidden from others.
The Lord says: “When you fast, do not be sad, like the hypocrites, for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people as fasting. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward.
And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may appear fasting not before men, but before your Father, who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” ().
And therefore, a Christian must hide both his repentance - prayer and inner tears, as well as his fasting and his abstinence in food.
Here you must be afraid of any revelation of your difference from others and be able to hide your feat and your deprivations from them.
Here are a few examples from the lives of saints and ascetics.
Fasting will also be unreasonable when it interferes with the hospitality of those who treat you; By this we will reproach those around us for neglecting fasting.
The following story is told about the Moscow Metropolitan Philaret: one day he came to his spiritual children just in time for dinner. Out of duty of hospitality, he had to be invited to dinner. Meat was served at the table, and it was a fast day.
The metropolitan showed no sign and, without embarrassing the hosts, partook of the humble meal. Thus, he placed condescension towards the weaknesses of his spiritual neighbors and love higher than observing fasting.
Church institutions generally cannot be treated formally, and, while ensuring the exact execution of the rules, no exceptions should be made from the latter. We must also remember the words of the Lord that “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath” ().
As Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow writes: “There were examples that even monks, such as the saint, ate all kinds of food and even meat at all times.
But how much? So much so that I could only live, and this did not prevent him from worthily communing the Holy Mysteries and, finally, did not prevent him from becoming a saint...
Of course, it is not prudent to break the fast unnecessarily by eating fast food. Anyone who can observe fasting by sorting food, do so; but, most importantly, observe and do not break your spiritual fast, and then your fast will be pleasing to God.
But whoever does not have the opportunity to sort out food, eat everything that God gives, but without excess; but be sure to fast strictly with your soul, mind and thoughts, and then your fast will be as pleasing to God as the fast of the strictest hermit.
The purpose of fasting is to lighten and pacify the body, curb desires and disarm passions.
Therefore, when the church asks you about food, it does not so much ask about what food do you eat? – how much about what you use it for?
The Lord Himself approved of the act of King David when, out of necessity, he had to break the rule and eat “the shewbread that neither he nor those with him should have eaten” ().
Therefore, taking into account the need, it is possible, even with a sick and weak body and old age, to make concessions and exceptions during fasting.
St. ap. Paul writes to his disciple Timothy: “From now on, drink more than just water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” ().
St. Barsanuphius the Great and John say: “What is fasting if not punishment of the body in order to pacify a healthy body and make it weak for passions, according to the word of the Apostle: “When I am weak, then I am strong” ().
And illness is more than this punishment and is charged instead of fasting - it is valued even more than it. Whoever endures it with patience, thanking God, through patience receives the fruit of his salvation.
Instead of weakening the strength of the body by fasting, it is already weakened by illness.
Thank God that you have been freed from the labor of fasting. Even if you eat ten times a day, do not be sad: you will not be condemned for that, since you are not doing this to please yourself.”
On the correctness of the norm of fasting, St. Barsanuphius and John also give the following instruction: “Concerning fasting, I will say: examine your heart, whether it has been stolen by vanity, and if it has not been stolen, examine again, whether this fasting does not make you weak in doing things, for this weakness should not exist, and if this does not harm you, your fast is correct.”
As the hermit Nicephorus said in V. Sventsitsky’s book “Citizens of Heaven”: “The Lord requires not hunger, but heroism. Feat is what a person can do the greatest within his own strength, and the rest is by grace. Our strength is now weak, and the Lord does not require great feats from us.
I tried to fast hard, and I see that I can’t. I’m exhausted - I don’t have the strength to pray as I should. One day I was so weak from fasting that I couldn’t read the rules to get up.”
Here is an example of an incorrect post.
Ep. Herman writes: “Exhaustion is a sign of incorrect fasting; it is as harmful as satiety. And the great elders ate soup with butter during the first week of Lent. There is no point in crucifying sick flesh, but must be supported.”
So, any weakening of health and ability to work during fasting already indicates its incorrectness and excess of its norm.
“I would rather be exhausted from work than from fasting,” one shepherd said to his spiritual children.
It is best when fasting people are guided by the instructions of experienced spiritual leaders. It should be remembered next case from the life of St. . In one of his monasteries, a monk was lying in the hospital, exhausted by illness. He asked the servants to give him some meat. They refused his request, based on the rules of the monastery charter. The patient asked to be referred to as St. Pachomius. The monk was struck by the extreme exhaustion of the monk, began to cry, looking at the sick man, and began to reproach the hospital brethren for their hardness of heart. He ordered that the patient’s request be immediately fulfilled in order to strengthen his weakened body and encourage his sad soul.
The wise ascetic of piety, Abbess Arsenia, wrote to the bishop’s elderly and sick brother during Lent: “I am afraid that you are burdening yourself with heavy fasting food and I ask you to forget that it is now fasting, and to eat fast food, nutritious and light. The difference of days was given to us by the church, like a bridle to healthy flesh, but to you the sickness and infirmity of old age was given.”
However, those who break fast due to illness or other infirmity should still remember that there may also be a certain amount of lack of faith and intemperance.
Therefore, when the spiritual children of the elder Fr. Alexei Zosimovsky had to break the fast according to the doctor’s orders, then the elder ordered in these cases to curse himself and pray like this: “Lord, forgive me that, according to the doctor’s orders, due to my weakness, I broke the holy fast,” and not to think that it was like that and necessary.
This is already stated with exhaustive clarity in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Jews cry out to God: “Why do we fast, but You don’t see? We humble our souls, but You don’t know?” The Lord, through the mouth of the prophet, answers them: “On the day of your fast, you do your will and demand hard work from others. Here you are fasting for quarrels and strife and in order to beat others with a bold hand: you do not fast at this time so that your voice is heard on high. Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man languishes his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads rags and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord? This is the fast that I have chosen: loose the chains of unrighteousness, untie the bonds of the yoke, set the oppressed free and break every yoke; divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your home; When you see a naked person, dress him and do not hide from your half-blood. Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; you will cry out and He will say: “Here am I”” ().
This wonderful passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah denounces many - both ordinary Christians and shepherds of the flock of Christ. He denounces those who think to be saved only by observing the letter of fasting and forgetting about the commandments of mercy, love for one’s neighbor and service to them. He denounces those shepherds who “bind heavy and unbearable burdens and place them on the shoulders of people” (). These are the shepherds who demand from their spiritual children strict adherence to the “rules” of fasting, without taking into account their advanced age or their sick condition. After all, the Lord said: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” ().
Saint Petersburg
2005
