Products that are prohibited from being eaten during fasting are all products for the production of which raw materials of animal origin were used. First of all, the ban applies to meat and any meat products, as well as poultry and eggs. Milk and everything connected with it are prohibited: butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, fermented milk products and drinks, cheeses. During fasting, it is prohibited to eat pasta, white and rich bread, cakes, cookies, waffles and any pastries that contain butter, eggs and milk. Don’t forget, there is also mayonnaise, because eggs are also used to prepare it.
Some foods, such as fish and vegetable oil, can only be eaten on those days of fasting that are considered non-strict, although vegetable oil does not have animal origin. The ban also applies to chocolate and fast food, which are high in fat. During fasting, you should not drink alcoholic beverages, including beer.
Post by day of the week
On some days of the week, fasting may be more strict, and on some days, including those falling on Sunday, some relaxations can be allowed. So, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are days of strict fasting and dry eating. On these days, you can only eat foods that have not been subjected to heat treatment; adding vegetable oil is also excluded. On days of strict fasting, you can only eat black bread, vegetables and fruits, washing them down with water or unsweetened compote. If you make salads these days, you can only use lemon juice mixed with a little honey for dressing.You should not go hungry while fasting, especially if you have not denied yourself food before. This is fraught with problems with bile secretion and erosive processes in the gastrointestinal tract.
Hot dishes can be eaten on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on these days it is prohibited to add oil to them. But Saturday and Sunday are days of relaxation, when you can finally fry fish or vegetables in vegetable oil and add it to salads.
Proper nutrition during fasting
And during fasting, your diet can be healthy. Replace any animal protein missing in your diet with products that contain plant-based proteins. First of all, these are mushrooms and legumes: lentils, beans, peas, chickpeas. The missing fats are found in nuts, and iron in apples, buckwheat, and bananas.Remember that while observing religious fasts, you should not immediately fall into the sin of gluttony upon completion; this is harmful not only to the soul, but also to health.
Nursing mothers and sick people are allowed to eat milk and products made from it during fasting. The church allows those who suffer from diabetes, kidney failure, anemia and weakened immunity to eat meat, without considering it a sin.
Fasts can be one-day or multi-day. Wednesday and Friday are considered one-day fasts, as well as three fasts “in number” - on the Exaltation, on the day of the Beheading of St. John, and on Epiphany. There are four multi-day fasts: Great Lent, Petrovsky Lent, Nativity Lent and Assumption Lent. There is an opinion that fasting only involves abstaining from food. But that's not true. Let's look at what you can't do during fasting in order to spend it correctly.
During Lent you cannot indulge in fun, go to entertainment events, sing, have fun, dance, attend concerts, film screenings, shows. It is also not recommended to organize holidays yourself; this applies to feasts for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, housewarmings, celebrating passing exams or receiving diplomas, seeing off the army, etc. It is forbidden to use foul language or gossip.
Alcohol
In accordance with the diet, alcohol is not prohibited during fasting; it is not of animal origin. But drinking is always associated with fun, so...
To understand what you can’t do during Lent 2016, you need to understand carefully what this period is and how it differs from other days during the year. From a spiritual point of view, fasting before Easter is a time of long prayer and restrictions in all areas of life.
You shouldn’t start your post feeling depressed about how you can live without “normal” food and entertainment. The fact is that fasting is not a time of despondency, but a time of a person’s philosophical reflection on eternity, faith and his attitude towards this. So, during Lent you cannot have fun, have intimate relationships, think badly and do bad deeds. On Forgiveness Sunday you need to cleanse your soul.
The restrictions on what is prohibited to do during Lent are quite large. They are listed briefly above, but it is necessary to take into account not only these components, but also everything that concerns them. For example, giving up entertainment, even abstaining from watching entertainment programs and films. All in all,…
Home » About M and F, Comfort » What you can and cannot do during Lent
Just as the prophets, apostles and Jesus himself fasted, the Orthodox Church recommends fasting to all its parishioners. Today begins Lent - the longest and most strict of all four fasts of the year. For 48 days we are not recommended to eat animal food or indulge in passions.
What does this mean for a Christian? Read about nutrition during fasting here. And in this article we will look at what you can and cannot do during fasting.
Fast days are every Wednesday and Friday, as well as four fasts throughout the year, which last a different number of days. Lent is the longest and most strict of them.
What can a Christian do during Lent? First of all, read spiritual literature, try not to get angry, not to be offended, not to experience negative emotions towards anyone. We must understand that we ourselves are human (initially...
Easter is a great Christian holiday that unites all historical churches and a significant part of Protestant denominations. In order for believers to prepare for it, they observe a fast called the Great Fast. This process of spiritual cleansing, among other things, involves refusing and limiting the consumption of certain types of food. Even during the years of atheism in our country there were people who religiously observed the rules prescribed to believers by the Orthodox Church, and today millions of believers observe Lent. What you can eat, what you cannot eat, and what the menu should be like in preparation for Easter will be discussed below.
A little history
An example of the renunciation of all earthly joys, including eating food, was shown to his flock by Jesus Christ himself, who, after his baptism by John the Baptist, withdrew into the desert for 40 days. The first Christians turned this into a tradition and observed only one fast during the year, leading up to Easter. During this period...
When preparing for the first time, together with other believers, to take part in the observance of Great Lent, a novice Orthodox Christian first of all looks for information about what one should not eat during Great Lent and what one should not do during Lent. Most of our compatriots have a vague idea of church prohibitions. We know that during fasting we cannot eat meat, eggs and dairy products, and this is where our knowledge about foods that should be avoided during the period of abstinence, as a rule, ends. In fact, the list of restrictions is much wider; moreover, the strict Orthodox Lent is designed in such a way that on some days the bans on certain foods are lifted for the sake of consoling the believers. Conventionally, the days of fasting before Easter can be divided into more and less strict and holiday ones, and, based on this, you can control your Lenten diet. With the second point - what not to do during Lent - everything is much worse: having learned that in addition to food restrictions,...
The body of the fasting person, without being burdened with food, becomes light and strengthens to receive gifts of grace. Fasting tames the desires of the flesh, softens the temper, suppresses anger, restrains the impulses of the heart, invigorates the mind, brings peace to the soul, and eliminates intemperance. By fasting, as St. Basil the Great says, by fasting favorably, by moving away from every sin committed by all the senses, we fulfill the pious duty of an Orthodox Christian.
In ancient times, fasting was very strict. It was allowed to eat only bread, dried fruits and vegetables, and this could be done only once a day - in the evening. Joy, fun, holidays - everything was excluded during Lent. In Rus', during the days of Lent, all kinds of entertainment events were also prohibited, various shows were canceled, butcher shops were closed, and even judicial proceedings were suspended. Main…
Text: Evgenia Bagma
Fasting is always a limitation. Moreover, not only in food, but also in habits and even entertainment. However, there is nothing extra in such abstinence - people have been observing Lent for centuries and the fact that something cannot be eaten or something cannot be done does not frighten them.
It is more important to know what is not allowed during fasting than what is allowed. After all, one single flaw will undo all the good deeds, and additional abstinence has never brought harm to anyone.
What food is not allowed during fasting?
Lent consists of many prohibitions, many different “don’ts,” which is quite logical. What should you not eat during fasting? You should deny yourself the following products:
animal products (meat, fish, chicken, milk, eggs);
white bread, buns;
candies;
mayonnaise.
Also, you will not be able to cook for most of Lent and...
1. all products that contain meat and meat products
2. all products containing milk and dairy ingredients, incl. powdered milk
3. all products containing eggs
3. fish
4. vegetable oil and alcohol
Banned: chocolate, baked goods and mostly “fast food”.
What you can eat and what you cannot eat during the weeks (weeks) of Lent (in blue is what can be eaten according to the rules, in green - what can be eaten by the laity as a relaxation of the rules)
1st, 4th, 7th weeks of Lent from Monday to Friday inclusive - dry food, food even without vegetable oil.
Laymen are allowed to eat boiled food; as an exception, vegetable oil is allowed.
2, 3, 5, 6 weeks from Monday to Friday: according to the rules - boiled food.
Laymen are allowed to eat food with vegetable oil. As an exception, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, the laity can eat...
We have all wondered more than once about what we can eat during Lent and how to diversify the table so as not to harm the body. After all, it is known that Lent will help you cleanse yourself only if you follow the rules of eating and provide yourself with adequate nutrition.
If you decide to adhere to the rules of strict fasting, this does not mean that you will have to starve. Be prudent and try not to harm your body by devoutly “mortifying” the flesh. Even during fasting, you can provide yourself with nutritious, healthier nutrition.
Lent: permitted foods
In order for you to feel the joy and holiness of eating in your soul and body, your food should be varied, but simple.
Vegetables and fruits: boiled, stewed, baked - should become the basis of your diet. Let there be carrots, potatoes, beets, sauerkraut and cucumbers on your table. Don't forget about corn, peas, lettuce, apples,...
If you decide to endure Lent 2015, our tips will help you spend this time according to the rules.
During the Great Fast you cannot eat meat, fish, eggs, milk, smoke or drink alcoholic beverages; eat more than once a day.
Only plant foods (fruits, vegetables, dried fruits), pickles (sauerkraut, pickled and pickled cucumbers), crackers, dried fruits, tea, mushrooms, nuts, black and gray bread, jelly, water porridge are allowed.
On Saturdays and Sundays during Lent you can eat vegetable oil, wine, and two meals a day. On holidays that coincide with fasting, fasting becomes less strict: on Lazarus Saturday you can eat caviar, and on Annunciation and Palm Sunday you can eat fish.
The first four days of Great Lent, as well as the entire Holy Week, are the strictest days of fasting. On Good Friday you cannot eat anything. On Clean Monday, complete abstinence from food is accepted. On Friday of the first week you can only eat (boiled wheat, sweetened with honey or...
Products that are excluded during fasting
The list of products that the church prohibits from eating during fasting includes everything for the production of which raw materials of animal origin were used. First of all, the ban applies to meat and any meat products, as well as poultry and eggs. Milk and everything connected with it are prohibited: butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, fermented milk products and drinks, cheeses. During fasting, it is prohibited to eat pasta, white and rich bread, cakes, cookies, waffles and any pastries that contain butter, eggs and milk. Don't forget that you can't eat mayonnaise, because eggs are also used to make it.
Some foods, such as fish and vegetable oil, can only be eaten on those days of fasting that are considered non-strict, although vegetable oil does not have animal origin. The ban also applies to chocolate and fast food, which are high in fat. During fasting, you should not drink alcoholic beverages, including beer.
Lent is the main (or only) long fast in many Christian denominations (Orthodoxy, Catholicism and others), the purpose of which is preparation for the celebration of Easter; also the corresponding period of the liturgical year, marked in the service by motives of repentance and remembrance of the death on the cross and resurrection of Christ. Established in imitation of Jesus Christ, who fasted in the desert for forty days. The duration of Lent is in one way or another connected with the number 40, but its actual duration depends on the calculation rules adopted in a given denomination.
Meals during Lent
Regarding meals, the Church Charter prescribes the following rules:
in the first and last (Holy Week) weeks - especially strict fasting;
“meat” products are completely prohibited;
You can eat once a day, in the evening; but on Saturdays and Sundays - twice, at lunchtime and in the evening;
on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - cold food without oil;
on Tuesdays and...
MEANING OF THE POST
WHAT CAN AND CAN'T EAT DURING LENT?
FASTING AND SPORT
FASTING AND UNBELIEVING RELATIVES
WEDDING AND LENT
HOW TO FAST FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN?
MEANING OF THE POST
– Why are there so many restrictions on pleasures, food, and sexual relations in Orthodoxy? It seems that no harm is caused to others, the commandment of love for one’s neighbor is not violated. Why is it necessary to “kill your body”, your desires? Why such lack of freedom?
– Our body is killed not 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 some restrictions in pleasures come from, since love, when it exists, manifests itself in action, in our actions.
For example, it is easy to say: “I don’t love myself,” but at the same time our actions indicate that we love ourselves exactly as we should love God. And you can just as easily say: “I...
Priest Pavel Gumerov, cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas at the Rogozhskoye cemetery in Moscow:
– I remember when Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” came out, it made a huge impression on many people, especially non-church people. One of my friends went to watch this picture in the cinema, and afterward he said that the young people, who, as always before the screening, had prepared popcorn and various drinks to have a good time, were not able to eat a single crumb until the very end of the film. Everyone sat in silence for the entire session. There are known cases of people coming to faith and being baptized after watching this film. There have been cases abroad when people who committed crimes many years ago and escaped punishment repented and came to surrender to the hands of justice.
The events of Holy Week described in the film made such an impression on them. They realized what a terrible sacrifice was made for us, and how great the suffering of Christ was. But Gibson, as a Catholic, of course, made the main emphasis...
What is not allowed during Lent?
Lent is the ideal time to indulge in asceticism, give up fun and idleness, and devote your time to simple work for body and soul. Now many people do not fast at all, and some do it only formally - for example, by refusing meat dishes. It is important to understand what is prohibited during fasting, not only in terms of food, but also in terms of actions.
What should you not do during Lent?
The basis of fasting is not dietary restrictions at all, but spiritual restrictions. It is during the period of fasting that the ascetic lifestyle, repentance, and observance of the commandments are considered most favorable. Let's look at the prohibitions in fasting in more detail:
it is forbidden to lead an active social life, have fun, indulge in idleness and laziness; you should not attend any entertainment events, be it a cinema, theater or hobby club; It is important to carefully observe all the commandments and repent if such emotions as anger, envy, aggression,...
Lent is considered the main fast in the Orthodox calendar, which is preparation for the onset of the main church holiday - Easter. Lent 2019 begins on Monday, March 11, and lasts 40 days, so it will end on Saturday, April 27. Since religious holidays are always restrictions, and not only in food, but also in the most ordinary habits, we tell you what you cannot do during fasting.
What not to eat during Lent
For all 40 days it is forbidden to eat:
- animal products (meat, fish, chicken, milk, eggs);
- alcohol;
- white bread, rolls, cakes;
- sweets;
- bakery;
- fast food;
- mayonnaise.
Also, during most of the 40-day fast, you should not cook with butter, and also limit your consumption of fried foods. However, not everything is so sad. During Lent there are relaxations. For example, on the twelve holidays (Annunciation and Palm Sunday) you can eat fish, and on Lazarus Saturday (before Palm Sunday). In general, you can observe both strict and non-strict fasting. In the second case, you can eat fish or cook food in oil. However, other products are still prohibited.
What not to do during Lent
In addition to the dietary part of Lent, there is also its spiritual component. The meaning of this religious fast is repentance, so you will have to limit yourself in some habits and lifestyle. Thus, during Lent it is forbidden to: get married; celebrate any holidays, since during Lent it is forbidden to have fun, visit entertainment venues, drink alcohol, etc.; being lazy and ignoring work obligations; spend a lot of time watching entertainment programs; commit adultery; give in to negative feelings: aggression, anger and envy; quarrel with people; eat food of animal origin: meat, eggs, milk; smoke and drink alcoholic beverages (except wine on certain days and in moderation, preferably diluted with water). In addition, during Lent it is recommended to limit social communication and visits to any “idle” events. So, if you are observing strict fasting, you should not go to the cinema, attend festivals, concerts and parties.
– Why are there so many restrictions on pleasures, food, and sexual relations in Orthodoxy? It seems that no harm is caused to others, the commandment of love for one’s neighbor is not violated. Why is it necessary to “kill your body”, your desires? Why such lack of freedom?– Our body is killed not 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 some restrictions in pleasures come from, since love, when it exists, manifests itself in action, in our actions.
For example, it is easy to say: “I don’t love myself,” but at the same time our actions indicate that we love ourselves exactly as we should love God. And you can just as easily say: “I love God,” but nothing is easier than words—love is learned from deeds. And if we want to love God, then we will limit ourselves to what 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 gain anything worthwhile, and at the same time lose what they had.
Priest Mikhail Nemnonov
answers priest Alexy Chumakov (Los Angeles)
– How is it different from ordinary time? I already try to lead a strict spiritual life... how and what should I change during Lent? Xenia
– Hello, Ksenia!
May God grant 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 Peace”
— Father Alexander, one of the questions that readers asked us is this: they often say that a mother’s fast can have a beneficial effect on the spiritual life of a child. Will a child become better off from an uneaten piece of meat?
The point is that fasting is a sacrifice to God. If mommy fasts, wanting her feasible If you fast as a sacrifice to God, then it pleases Him and the baby will feel the grace of God, as when visiting a temple, as when the parents pray.
“Mother made a vow to God: if I remain alive, then she will go with me on a thanksgiving pilgrimage to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. And, thank God, he recovered... ...By the way, she “fasted on Monday” for the children (fasted on Monday), but she always hid it from us. In fact, she raised and educated all six children (three in higher educational institutions, and three in secondary schools). God save her!” Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov. God's providence in my life
—Did you strictly fast in the old days?
Of course, but then there was a different ecology and different food. In one work from the tsarist era, an unfaithful nephew said to his aunt: “What difference does it make whether I eat ham or sturgeon balyk during Lent?” Or there is another known case when a foreigner was advised to come to Russia during Lent, when the table is the most exquisite. After all, lean food can be tasty, 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 countryside to the cities, our peasantry was destroyed, in our modern language there is no word that can be called a farmer. Life has changed dramatically. That’s why the question of forms of physical fasting is so acute now: people used to have a greater margin of safety. People ate differently: milk came not from a bag, but from a cow, bread from the oven, spring water, clean air. The peasant actively owned 10,000 operations. Imagine - we will be asked 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 28th came and that’s it, now it’s a month of no meat or milk.
— Of course, even if a person approaches fasting without the proper depth, but fasts out of obedience to the Mother Church, then he is showing obedience, and obedience is already a virtue. And if you fast unconsciously, then the Lord will compensate and give you 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 rule of St. Timothy of Alexandria: “a wife who gave birth on Easter Day is commanded not to observe the legal fast, but to strengthen herself as much as possible by drinking wine and moderate food, for fasting was invented to curb the body, and when it is weak, it does not need curbing, but help to improve your health and regain your former strength.”
This rule says everything in accordance with high Greek learning: reinforce yourself in food, limited. If you need to eat food as medicine, eat it, or maybe you don’t need to be treated by fasting? 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 illness itself is a limitation.
Of course, in case of toxicosis - a painful condition, in case of poor health, you need to eat what the body requires. But I would like to rely on an authority quite far from pregnancy: Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov: “The bad soldier is the one who does not want to be a general. Every soldier must understand his maneuver."
Why are you fasting? If you are a mother, your task is to give birth to a healthy baby: you need to eat right, and your state should be peaceful and joyful, and it should be passed on to your child. If you don’t feel well, then eat what your body requires. And we start to get smaller - otherwise this is possible, but this? So, either you set yourself the task of giving birth to a child and more than one, or you turn fasting into pharisaical literalism. If your heart is peaceful, joyful, then the feat is correct, but if you treat God as an accountant who counts for you what you have eaten, 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 self-control, church life, and reliance on the advice of a confessor and people who already have experience in this area.
- That is, the fasting person needs to walk between Scylla and Charybdis in order not to lose strength and make a sacrifice to God?
— Fasting is not a referral to the hospital! One must fast as strictly as one can realistically do.
Often believers begin to fast excessively: jealousy beyond 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 grandparents, uncles, and aunts fasted, a child from childhood saw before himself all types of fasting, how adults fasted, how pregnant wives of older brothers fasted, and whether the sick fasted.
You need to limit yourself, especially pregnant women, wisely. For example, limit yourself from negative external impressions, the main source of which is television, from the habit of judging and picking on each other. The Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Sol. 5:16-18).. If your condition is like this, your fasting is pleasing to God. If you are unable to maintain 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 your intention.
Fasting 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 church-going woman, who is carrying, perhaps not her first child, living in an Orthodox family during a normal pregnancy, it is probably possible to fast according to the rules (but with the prudence that is expected of a normally church-going person).
People with little church, who do not have sufficient experience of Christian life, should probably have a different measure of fasting. First, we need to think about the basics - about faith in Christ and knowledge of the Gospel. Otherwise, many want to fast (or not fast) for their own glory, and not for the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul says - “I eat for the glory of God; I do not eat, I do not eat for the glory of God.” Don’t indulge your desires in general, but also don’t sew your mouth shut - feel good about yourself and the baby.
There is no need to ask for a blessing as a sanction for fasting or for its permission. Before fasting, ask for a blessing from your confessor or parish priest. Just a blessing. There is no need for your confessor to approve a list of what to eat and what not to eat (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 is known) fasting is not only abstinence from food. The mind fasts, the human heart fasts, the tongue fasts. The patristic teaching calls during Lent to perform deeds of mercy and goodness, to learn from the Holy Scriptures, to repent of sins, to pray more fervently than usual, to attend divine services (if possible), and to partake of the Holy Mysteries. And vice versa - move away from unnecessary entertainment, vanity of mind, idle talk and other evils. All this is more important than gastronomy and much more important in general for the mother and her unborn child.
Always rejoice!
Mother 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 craving a certain product and eating it. Fasting is a purely personal matter for each person. You just don’t need to forget about the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “Always rejoice, give thanks to God for everything”; you don’t 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. Wife of Roman Nikolaevich Getmanov, a famous obstetrician-gynecologist.
Fasting during pregnancy is undoubtedly individual: if you want, eat meat, if you don’t want, don’t eat. If you don’t 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 during Lent. If you can’t live without kebabs, then eat them. And if you need dairy, eat it. Just don't overeat.
I don’t ask my confessor how exactly I should fast during pregnancy, but I know that he allows his parishioners to have dairy during Lent during pregnancy.
In fact, protein consumption is no longer during pregnancy, but during feeding - that’s when it’s tight without milk. After fasting for a week, you feel that there is noticeably less milk.
Another well-known fact: during the siege of Leningrad, completely exhausted women gave birth to full-fledged children. This means that they themselves take everything they need from the mother’s body. It’s the mother’s teeth that can then break and hair fall out... (Smiles)“
Abstain from what you are addicted to
Mother Elena Karpenko , mother of three children, wife of priest Dimitry Karpenko.
For a woman, pregnancy is her feat, that small sacrifice to God that she can make. You need to fast according to your own strength, because, unfortunately, modern women are not so strong physically, and, I think, spiritually too. If there was a short break between pregnancies, it is very difficult to fast, 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, let’s say, such a limitation was abstaining from sweets - I must admit, this is my weakness. I know cases where women fasted throughout pregnancy, strictly observed the fast and gave birth to strong babies. That is, if you feel strong and your health allows it, then you can fast.
Fasting is a purely personal matter for everyone... The most important thing is not to get angry at others. During pregnancy, you need to abstain not from meat and yogurt, but from what you have addictions to. You can limit yourself from watching TV and idle talk. After all, try not to judge, but this is much more difficult than not eating a piece of meat.
It is best to ask questions about nutrition during pregnancy to the doctor you are seeing. It is still worth going to confession with your confessor not with questions about food, but with spiritual problems and experiences.
Lent consists of many prohibitions, many different “don’ts,” which is quite logical. What not to do during fasting eat? You should deny yourself the following products:
- animal products (meat, fish, chicken, milk, eggs);
- white bread, buns;
- candies;
- mayonnaise.
Also, for most of the fast you will not be able to cook or eat food with oil. However, there are also relaxations - on the twelve holidays (Annunciation and Palm Sunday) it is allowed to eat fish, on Lazarus Saturday (the eve of Palm Sunday) fish caviar. In general, fasting can be either strict or non-strict. In the second case, secular people are allowed to eat fish or add oil to their food.
What should you not do during Lent?
It cannot be said that the dietary component is the basis of fasting; on the contrary, the basis of fasting is its spiritual part. Thus, the meaning of Lent is repentance, which requires restrictions in habits and lifestyle. Therefore, there are certain recommendations regarding what not to do during Lent:
- you cannot smoke or drink alcoholic beverages (except for wine on permitted days and in permitted quantities);
- it is advisable to limit social communication and external impressions, for example, you should not go to the cinema, you should not attend concerts, it is better to reduce your TV viewing, etc.;
- Marital abstinence is recommended during fasting.
Lent is a time when a Christian frees his body and soul from various earthly needs that enslave his spirit. Therefore, it is important to remember not only what you should not eat during fasting, but also what you should not do during fasting. It is not enough to simply “go on a diet,” since truly Orthodox fasting is both physical and spiritual abstinence.
