When do orthodox christians fast

In recognition of this, some sources advocate a more modest, minimal rule: couples should abstain from sexual relations before receiving Holy Communion and throughout Holy Week. Health Concerns During fasting seasons, avoiding prohibited foods poses no health risk as long as adequate amounts of other foods are taken. Calcium intake and adequate calories may be a concern for growing children and pregnant and nursing mothers.

Calcium-fortified orange juice is an easy way to guarantee plentiful calcium intake while avoiding dairy products. Nuts and nut butters are a good source of calories for those who need to maintain weight on a Lenten diet.

If you are new to fasting, you may find the onset of hunger pangs distressing. Hunger pangs are not harmful; they are simply part of the fast. The first few days of a long fasting period are often the most difficult. Do not be discouraged by headaches, fatigue, etc. If you are troubled by lethargy, try moderate exercise.

A short walk can make a surprising difference in your energy. At the Grocery Store. Read the ingredient lists on processed and packaged foods.

Butter, milk solids, whey, meat broth and lard are common additives. If you are baffled by what to cook during the fast, consult any of the many vegetarian cookbooks now available in bookstores or your public library. Several good "Lenten cookbooks" are on the market. The rules given here are of course only one part, the most external part, of a true fast, which will include increased prayer and other spiritual disciplines, and may include resolutions to set aside other aspects of our day-to-day life such as caffeine or television , or to take up practices such as visiting the sick.

Obviously, many Orthodox do not keep the traditional rule. If you adopt it, beware of pride, and pay no attention to anyone's fast but your own. As one monastic put it, we must "keep our eyes on our own plates. Do not substitute the notion of "deciding what to give up for Lent" for the rule that the Church has given us. First, keep the Church's fasting rule as well as you are able, then decide on additional disciplines, in consultation with your priest.

We are always advised to fast according to our strength, and you may find from experience that you need to modify the fasting rule to fit your own strength and situation. But do not assume beforehand that the rule is too difficult for you. The Lord is our strength, and can uphold us in marvelous and unforseen ways. Those who attempt to keep the Church's traditional fast will find that, though the temptations to pride and legalism are real, the spiritual benefits are great. A return to more diligent fasting could play a large part in the spiritual renewal of our Orthodox churches.

St Symeon the New Theologian: 'Let each one of us keep in mind the benefit of fasting For this healer of our souls is effective, in the case of one to quieten the fevers and impulses of the flesh, in another to assuage bad temper, in yet another to drive away sleep, in another to stir up zeal, and in yet another to restore purity of mind and to set him free from evil thoughts. Fasting is a tool that is used to assist in spiritual growth.

In the Orthodox world, we use the word "passions" to describe tendencies that each person has that lead us to sin.

Each of us has a "passion" for anger, lust, power, greed, ego, etc. We do not get through life without wrestling with each of these, sometimes on a daily basis. The most basic "passion" is hunger. While we can go a day without a lustful thought or an angry thought, we can't go more than a few hours without a hungry thought. So, if we can or tame our passion for eating, we can hopefully tame our other passions. If we can discipline ourselves to go without certain kinds of food, we can hopefully discipline ourselves so that we can go without certain kinds of behavior that are spiritually destructive.

Thus, fasting is not about giving up something only to get it back. Fasting is about getting control of our passions, maintaining control over them, and ultimately giving control of ourselves to God. It is the Orthodox Tradition to fast from food products that contain blood. So, we fast from meat, fish, dairy products, oil, and wine. Oil and wine, up until the last couple of centuries, were stored in skins of animals.

This is why we can eat grapes and olives, we cannot have wine or olive oil. If the fasting "rules" were ever to be reviewed and updated, the prohibition on oil and wine would have to be examined.

We can eat shellfish because they do not contain blood. Fasting through the year. Drunkenness and Gluttony Part of the purpose of having days and periods of fasting is to exercise the Spiritual fruit and virtue of Moderation and Temperance, and to avoid the sins of drunkenness and gluttony.

Wednesdays and Fridays. If on certain weeks you are not able to fast according to these standards, still do something, including one of these options which have some basis in Church tradition: 1. Fast from meat and alcohol for 24 hours on Wednesdays and Fridays 3. Great Lent and Holy Week. Fasting should always be accompanied by prayer.

Abstain completely from some habit or pastime that has you in its grip or is not spiritually profitable video games, some form of social media, etc. Attend Church regularly, and when possible penitential midweek services , be engaged in the prayers at Liturgy and other services, praying from the heart, realizing we are working together with God offering the sacrificial Liturgy for the life of the world.

Monday-Friday say the Lenten prayer of St. Give, rather, the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to me, your servant. Yes, Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for you are blessed to the ages of ages.

Accept my fast, increase in me the desire to do good and love for your commandments, help me entrust my life to you daily, and teach me how to love as I should. We are to replace them with listening to spiritual music, reading or listening to Scripture and other edifying books, exchanging youtube videos on secular matters with matters of faith, etc.

Buy some new spiritual books to read. If you will not do this on all days, then do it at least on Wednesdays and Fridays when Christ was betrayed and when Christ was crucified.

Prepare for and go to a meaningful and well-prepared Confession at least once during the 40 day fast of Great Lent i. Well prepared means doing a full examination of conscience, such as found in prayer books, or the following on our website holyorthodox. Why before Holy Week? Great Lent and Holy Week are distinct from one another and have different purposes. Many want to fast, but cannot do the strictest levels of fasting for various reasons. The full fast prescribed in the Typikon of the Monastery of St.

Sabbas--no meat, eggs, dairy through the whole period. One may eat olive oil and small portion of wine only on Saturdays and Sundays and Annunciation, fish with backbone only on Annunciation, Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. One may eat shellfish through the period. No hard liquor strong drink. Traditional Greek cuisine is rich in olive oil, vegetables, legumes, grains and fruit , and this is particularly true of dishes eaten during periods of fasting, although, of course, each fasting season brings its own traditional ingredients and recipes.

These are all boiled together and served with nuts, raisins and honey. During Lent, fresh vegetables from the late winter and early spring crops are used; as Easter approaches, these slowly give way to recipes with artichokes, spring onions, lettuce, broad beans, peas, leeks and herbs.

One can also enjoy numerous dishes featuring squid, octopus, cuttlefish and a variety of shellfish, such as clams, mussels and shrimp. Summer fasting periods are also rich in ingredients, as Greece produces a wide array of summer fruit and vegetables, as well as bountiful shellfish.

Here, food is seen both as a source of life and as a way of achieving communication with God as well as our fellow man. The act of consuming food has always had deep social and spiritual implications in Greece, whether it be in the course of fasting or in the midst of feasting.

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