Lent: meals by day with recipes and a complete list of lean foods. Meals during fasting by day. What to eat during fasting

Making a menu for Lent In 2018, it is important to remember that you can eat according to the days of the week, because there are restrictions not only on the set of products. Several dates throughout the preparation for Easter will require the laity special effort to fight your own appetite. And it’s better to prepare for them in advance.

• Is it necessary to fast?
• How to enter a post
• What is allowed
• First week
• 2 – 6 weeks
• Before Easter

Is it necessary to fast?

Preparation for the bright holiday of Easter begins with Lent. It is believed that 40 days symbolize the Savior’s journey through the desert. The last week of Pentecost tells about the finale of Jesus’ journey among people, his death and the miracle of resurrection. Just as the Son of God refused temptations in the desert, so it is important for the laity to use the annual opportunity to cleanse themselves of sins and get closer to Salvation.

Important! Lent imposes serious restrictions on the diet. Therefore, the church does not recommend observing it if you have medical contraindications or engage in heavy physical and mental labor.

Before you start calculating what you can eat by day of the week during Lent, and preparing a menu for February-April 2018, you need to understand that bodily restrictions are secondary. First of all, every Christian should engage in spiritual development, cleansing his thoughts and soul from sin.

If you perceive Pentecost only as a long-term diet, then it is better to immediately abandon such an idea. Of course, strict restrictions in the vegan style will help cleanse the body. But a diet specially developed by a specialist would be better suited to achieve such a goal. At the same time, you won’t have to hypocritically observe church rules, forgetting about the main thing - the path to God.

How to enter a post

The main limitation of Lent is the refusal of fast food. It is quite easy to identify products in this category:

Meat and offal;
fish and caviar;
milk and all its derivatives, including cheeses, cottage cheese and sour cream;
eggs;
alcohol and tobacco.
Accordingly, all baked goods and many dishes containing animal proteins and fats in one form or another will have to be excluded from the diet. For an unaccustomed body, this can be a serious challenge and lead to digestive disorders.

To survive Pentecost and not end up in the hospital, preparation is necessary, for which the church allocates 3 whole weeks:

01/29-04/02 – The first week is called Continuous. For seven days the laity eat enough for future use without any restrictions on their diet;
02/05-11/02 – A colorful week in which signs of fasting appear. On Wednesday and Friday, people begin to give up meat;
12.02.-18.02 – Maslenitsa or cheese week. The festivities are accompanied by the active consumption of pancakes with various fillings. There should be no meat in them, but fish, cheese and other fast foods are not prohibited.
Forgiveness Sunday, which is considered one of the the most important stages. Without repentance, one cannot enter the path to God.

What is allowed

The basis of the future diet should be cereal porridge, vegetables and fruits. Modern market allows you to purchase fresh, canned and frozen products at any time of the year High Quality, which helps not to suffer from hunger even when refusing animal food. It is also worth placing special emphasis on the following products:

1. Nuts. They help get rid of hunger for those who can’t get enough of greens. Thanks to high content healthy vegetable fats and microelements, nuts help not only to compensate for the lack of calories, but also to charge the body with nutrients.
2. Legumes. Animal proteins are essential for the normal functioning of the body. Legumes that contain similar compositions will help compensate for their absence. chemical compounds. This is not only beans, but also peas, lentils, and soybeans.
3. Honey Despite the fact that this product is produced by bees, it is not a fast food, because insects are not warm-blooded animals. Therefore, if you give up your favorite sweets, honey will help you avoid suffering. A mixture with dried fruits and nuts is an excellent means of maintaining immunity and preventing anemia and vitamin deficiency.
4. Seafood. This rule appeared at a time when ancient monks equated the inhabitants of reservoirs with plants. Therefore, shellfish, crustaceans, squid and other marine life that are not classified as “fish” are completely permitted during Lent.

In addition to restrictions on the composition of the food basket, Lent regulates what you can eat and how to prepare dishes by day of the week, which will require you to demonstrate more imagination when preparing the menu for the beginning of spring 2018.

First week

Important! On February 20, eating is also prohibited. Allowed to eat only bread and water.

Wednesday and Thursday of the first week require abstinence from fast food. At the same time, it is prohibited to heat your food or add vegetable oil. The easiest way these days is to switch to a raw food diet or a variety of cuts and quick salads without refilling.

On Friday you can treat yourself to hot food, but using oil is still prohibited. But on the weekend you can not only fry, bake and cook, but also pour yourself a glass of dry red wine in the evening.

2 – 6 weeks

1. Monday/Wednesday/Friday. These are the days of raw food. As in the first week, food cannot be cooked or reheated. But nothing prevents you from eating pre-cooked porridge or soup and snacking on yesterday’s lean pies. Canned food is also allowed for consumption.
2. Tuesday/Thursday. The housewife can start cooking using the capabilities of modern hobs to the maximum. It is important not to forget that these days you need to give up not only lean food, but also vegetable oil.
3. Saturday/Sunday. On the weekend, you can please your stomach by relaxing and enjoying a hot delicious food, filled vegetable oil. You can also drink some wine.
On March 31 and April 1, the laity are allowed to treat themselves to caviar on Saturday and fish dishes on Saturday before Holy Week. Palm Sunday.

Before Easter

The last week of Lent, which in 2018 falls on April 2-6, has special requirements for the menu, otherwise regulating what can be eaten by day of the week:

1. Monday/Wednesday. As before, it is enough for the laity to follow the norms of raw food eating.
2. Tuesday. Preparing for serious restrictions before Easter, you can once again eat delicious fish dishes.
3. Thursday. On this day, everything is allowed except fast food.
4. Good Friday. On April 5 you will have to fast. It is advisable to limit yourself to only clean water.
5. Holy Saturday. It is also advisable to abstain from food until sunset.
6. Easter. On April 7, after the morning service, Lent is officially considered over and breaking the fast begins. Traditionally, Easter cakes and Easter eggs are prepared on this day, and the tables are crowded with a variety of dishes.

It is important to remember that the main thing during fasting is not the diet. Compliance with all norms and rules is necessary only as a means of overcoming one’s own weaknesses. Therefore, abstaining from food should be accompanied by prayers and work on oneself.

Important! Hypocritically following dietary rules without spiritual development is a sin. Closer to God will always be the one who, although he cannot follow the dietary canons of Lent, lives without lies, putting the real values ​​of humility and repentance above demonstrations of religious zeal.

If at some point the realization comes that it is not possible to observe Pentecost, then it is better to try more first short posts, like Uspensky or Rozhdestvensky. This is not a race, and there are no prizes for those who reach the end. The only important thing is what mark an attempt to abstain from gluttony and earthly joys will leave on the soul for the sake of getting closer to God and fully understanding the deep meaning of the bright holiday of Easter.

Lent in 2019 year passes from March 11 to April 27, marking a dramatic change in the diet of all believers. Lent is one of the strictest fasts in the church calendar, beginning seven weeks before Easter and lasting 48 days. It consists of Pentecost, symbolizing Christ's fasting in the desert for 40 days, and Holy Week, reminiscent of the last days of Christ's life, his crucifixion and resurrection.

During Lent, it is prohibited to consume animal products, including meat, eggs and milk, as well as products made with eggs and milk. For example, cakes, pastries, cookies, pastries - all this is prohibited. The consumption of fish and vegetable oil is allowed only on certain days, while the inclusion of seafood such as squid, shrimp or mussels in the diet is not prohibited. Allowed products include vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes, mushrooms, nuts, dried fruits, honey, sugar, halva, dark chocolate and sauces, including lean mayonnaise. You can also include egg-free pasta and bread made without milk or eggs in your diet. Don’t forget about homemade preserves, which will allow you to diversify your Lenten menu. certain days, and about greens, which can enhance the flavor of Lenten dishes. If you can’t imagine your life without milk, soy or coconut milk can be a real lifesaver for you.

It is worth noting that fasting does not at all mean starving, and if you think through your diet rationally, you will definitely not remain hungry. It is also necessary to remember that the fasting table represents only a part of fasting, while the primary point is concentration on prayers, visiting temple, good deeds, abandonment of bad thoughts and entertainment, forgiveness of offenses and a benevolent attitude towards others. If you follow all these rules, dietary restrictions will benefit both body and soul.

So, let’s take a closer look at daily meals during Lent in 2019. The first and last weeks of fasting are the strictest- these days especially strict restrictions are imposed on the diet. On Clean Monday - the first day of Lent- it is customary to completely abstain from eating food, while on Tuesday only bread and water are allowed. On the remaining days of the first week, you should stick to dry eating and eat foods exclusively in raw form once a day - these can be fruits, vegetables, nuts or herbs. On Saturday and Sunday first During the week, you can eat hot food with oil, for example, porridge, lean soups, stewed vegetables or fried mushrooms. On these days, two meals a day are acceptable. On Sunday You can afford a small amount of red wine - it should be natural and free of alcohol and sugar. It is advisable to dilute it hot water, or better yet, abstain from wine altogether.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday For each subsequent week of Lent, except for the last, dry eating is prescribed, while eating is allowed only once a day in daytime. Tuesday and Thursday during the same five weeks, hot food is allowed once every evening time, however, it must be cooked without adding oil. For example, it could be boiled or baked vegetables. So, oven-cooked carrots or pumpkin, supplemented with honey, nuts and dried fruits, can be a pleasant addition to your diet. On weekends those fasting are again expected to relax - you can increase the number of meals to two times a day and eat hot food with the addition of vegetable oil. So, braised cabbage, potato cutlets, vegetable soup, bean lobio, vegetable stew or potatoes fried with mushrooms and onions, excellent lean main courses. Eating fish is allowed on the feast of the Annunciation Holy Mother of God , which this time falls on March 25, and in Palm Sunday, which falls on 21 April. 20 April, on Lazarus Saturday, consumption of up to 100 g of fish caviar is allowed.

Holy Week - the last week of Lent- is no less strict than the first. In the first three days, only raw foods without oil are allowed once a day. On Thursday you can afford hot food after heat treatment, without adding oil. For example, it could be boiled cauliflower or baked potatoes. It is not customary to eat anything on Friday. On Saturday of Holy Week, many believers continue to refuse food until Easter. However, raw foods and bread are allowed in the afternoon.

For some people, these instructions may be too strict and unacceptable, for example, for health reasons or due to age - in this case, it is recommended to give up animal products and eat hot food cooked in oil throughout Lent. In any case, remember that Lent is not just about food restrictions, but about approaching spiritual purity, fighting sins and finding harmony with your soul through abstaining from food, and delicious Lenten recipes will help you with this.

On March 11, 2019, Lent begins, which lasts 7 weeks.

One of the conditions for abstinence at this time is a strict restriction in food of animal origin.

You can go this route if you know the rules of food restrictions. You need to start with preparation by learning how to fast during the first week of fasting.

Meals during the first week of Lent should be planned out day by day so that abstinence in food does not turn into a regular hunger strike or diet.

What is the meaning of Lent

The main purpose of fasting is spiritual growth, during which Orthodox people They try to get as close as possible to the Creator, to be filled with His power of love.

During Lent, pacifying and cleansing their flesh, believers spend time remembering the great sacrifice of Christ, who gave His earthly life to cleanse humanity from sins and illnesses.

This is a blessed time when Orthodox Christians can spiritually focus on the great mission of Christ, given to humanity the grace of salvation through faith in Jesus.

The Savior said that those who believe in Him are the temple of the Living God (1 Cor. 3:17). Cleansing our body is preparation for the celebration of Easter, when a miracle of miracles happened, Christ rose again after physical death, giving us hope for eternal Life.

Important. Throughout the 48-day abstinence period, it is not recommended to eat animal products. The use of vegetable oils is limited.

On certain days, fish and seafood products are allowed:

• crayfish;
• lobsters;
• squid;
• shrimps;
• mussels and others.

The first week's nutrition consists of dry eating, the list of products is as limited as possible, but with a properly composed menu you can live with dignity in abstinence for 7 days.

About other weeks of Lent:

The first week of abstinence - basic rules

The nutrition of the first week of Great Lent is limited to minimalism. Compliance with the strict rules of the first 7 days is only possible for Orthodox Christians who have walked this path more than once.

According to the strict canons of the Church, in the first week it is recommended to eat only in the evenings, once a day, and twice on weekends. Particularly steadfast Christians can withstand this regime of abstinence.

Orthodox Christians who have decided to perform the feat of abstinence for the first time should draw up a menu to determine for themselves how to fast in the first week of fasting.

Products for the first and second days of Lent are selected taking into account the fact that this is a time of dry eating - eating food without heat treatment.

For the first week of fasting, you should prepare fresh, dried and pickled vegetables, fruits, honey, crackers, mushrooms, and berries.

Monday

Eating on the first day of fasting is limited to a minimum. If the strength of faith and health allows, then no food is prepared during the day; dry eating is established on this day.

In preparation for fasting, Orthodox Christians dry crackers and fruits in advance, and prepare juices and infusions.

Small meals every 3-4 hours will help you maintain strict abstinence on the first day so that you don’t feel hungry.

Avocado sandwich

During this time of grace, a person should concentrate on spiritual food, and not on the stomach.

• You can start the day with a cracker with honey and a cup of fruit juice.
• For second breakfast, a cabbage salad with carrots, onions and a small bread sandwich with avocado, sprinkled with sesame seeds, are suitable.
• A snack before lunch with nuts and a few prunes and dried apricots will give you strength to get through the day.
• At lunch, you can satisfy your hunger with a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, mixed with avocado pieces, seasoned soy sauce and ground flax.
• Before dinner, you can eat a banana, which will give you a feeling of fullness.
• The daily diet is completed by taking juice, infusion with several crackers or bread with honey.

Tuesday

The second day of the great fast in the first week of abstinence before Easter is also under great prohibition.

Orthodox Christians who fast regularly continue to consume bread, kvass or water only in the evenings.

For those who are not confident in their abilities, but are very keen to go through the path of cleansing, a menu is drawn up for Tuesday.

Dried fruit candies

The church allows people who are starting to fast to brew tea and coffee to start their Tuesday. A piece of bread with honey is added to the drinks.

• Nuts and apples make a great second breakfast.
• Nuts and dried fruits satisfy hunger quickly and for a long time.
• During your lunch break, you can prepare a nutritious salad of turnips, apples, carrots with the addition of cranberries.
• A small sandwich with cucumber and tomato sprinkled with sesame seeds will be a great snack before dinner.
• Ground dried fruits in the form of dried apricots, prunes, raisins, poured with any unsweetened juice, will be a wonderful addition to an evening drink.

Important! Having finished your daily meal, do not forget:

• before going to bed, thank the Savior for the gift of food;
• ask for forgiveness for obvious and implicit sins committed during the day;
• pray for blessings on the coming sleep.

Wednesday

Many believers are concerned about the question: how many times a day can you eat in the first week of fasting?

For steadfast Orthodox Christians, monks and clergy, the first week is one of the “hungry” weeks, when food is taken once in the evening in the form of bread and water.

Sauerkraut with cranberries

Other people should not immediately burden their bodies with such restrictions. The menu below will help you live Wednesday in worship of God and dry eating.

• For breakfast on the third day of the first week of Lent, we recommend preparing a drink in the form of an infusion or fruit drink with bread flavored with honey.
• Carrots, grated and mixed with raisins, will help you get through the day until lunch.
• Sauerkraut with fresh cranberries and bread sandwiches with champignons will fill you up at lunch.
• A handful of nuts mixed with orange slices is a hearty afternoon snack while abstaining from fast food.
• Crispbread spread with ground banana, honey and poppy seeds will help with abstinence on the third day of fasting.

Thursday

To support the immune system, greens are introduced into the diet of the first week of fasting in the form of green onions and fresh herbs, which can first be grown on a windowsill or bought in a store.

Dry eating continues on the fourth day of Lent, when food cannot be cooked:

• not cooked;
• does not fry;
• does not bake;
• doesn't care.

Candied dates

The main foods for food during fasting remain vegetables, fruits and bread products without the addition of butter and eggs.

• After reading morning prayers, the fourth day of abstinence before Easter can begin with carrot salad, seasoned with orange juice, with the addition of ground flax. You can use water or fruit drink as a drink.
• Some walnuts, crushed with honey, can be recommended for second breakfast.
• Juicy turnips, spicy radishes, grated carrots, pieces of sour apples with the addition of pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are quite suitable for lunch, which can be varied with a piece of bread sprinkled with flax.
• A few pieces of candied dates with a cup of herbal infusion will help you not to go hungry until the evening meal.
• A banana mashed to a pulp, wrapped in a sheet of lavash, turns into savory rolls, which, when cut into pieces, you get a lean dinner that meets the requirements of dry eating.

More about cuisine in Orthodoxy:

Friday

The fifth day of the first week of Lent refers to a strict restriction of all products.

Friday is the day of Christ's crucifixion.

On this day, food intake should be limited to a minimum; in case of acute hunger, snack on bread with cabbage salad or other vegetables, avoiding fruits and berries.

Important! Lay people with chronic illnesses, children under 12 years of age, pregnant women and the elderly are exempt from the severity of the first week.

This issue should be discussed with your confessor.

Saturday

Having passed the first week of fasting with dignity in strict abstinence, on Saturday morning you can prepare a smoothie from berries, possibly frozen.

• To prepare a vitamin cocktail, just mix 250 g of any berries and 2 tbsp in a blender. water. A fruit smoothie will give you a good boost for the whole day.
• The second breakfast will complement the vitamin supply of the morning dish with a salad of pear and orange, seasoned with honey and nuts.
• A bright fresh pumpkin salad with ingredients will decorate the dinner table.

Berry smoothie

To prepare a vegetable salad, you should prepare the following vegetables, chopped to the state of Korean strips: carrots, turnips, pumpkin in a weight ratio of 1: 3: 2.

For taste, add salt, black pepper, lemon juice, and a lot of herbs. After thoroughly mixing the prepared mixture, you can start lunch with a piece of bread or cracker.

• Avocado ice cream will be a worthy reward for a week spent in shit.

To prepare this delicacy for dinner you should prepare:

• 70 - 80 ml lemon juice, lime;
• lime peel - 2 tsp.
• 250 - 300g thick, soft avocado, cut into pieces;
• a cup of 200 ml honey;
• vanilla sugar.

Beat all ingredients in a blender, place in molds and place in the refrigerator to freeze.

After a while, when the mass hardens to the state of ice cream, place it in balls on a saucer and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Sunday

Dry eating ends on this day, but it is not allowed to eat fish. Cooking can be seasoned with vegetable oil.

Sunday breakfast includes Kolivo, made from whole grains and flavored with honey.

Kolivo

Lunch consists of a first and second course. Vegetable borscht and boiled potatoes with mushroom gravy will seem like real culinary miracles after a week of dry eating.

Dumplings with potatoes, seasoned with fried onions, complete the meal of the first week of Lent.

Lay people who for some reason cannot withstand strict abstinence in the form of dry eating can begin Lent with the menu of the second week.

Watch a video about the first week of Lent

Fasting for a believer is a special time, a time of prayer and deep thoughts.

During this period, a person’s diet changes greatly, and serious restrictions are imposed on him. With improperly organized nutrition during fasting, deterioration is possible. general condition and even exacerbation of certain diseases. On the other hand, fasting is a time of cleansing, including physical cleansing. Therefore, from a medical point of view, fasting is a completely reasonable event, only with the caveat that you need to approach it thoughtfully.

Let me make a reservation right away that spiritual sense You can find out about fasting by contacting your spiritual mentor. Here I want to look at the post from a nutritionist's point of view.

Basic principles of proper nutrition during fasting

1. The main rule is the exclusion of all animal foods: meat, fish, poultry, milk and dairy products, eggs. Respectively, the basis of the diet will be herbal products – grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, mushrooms.
2. Try not to let your diet. Don't skip breakfast, don't forget about snacks.
3. In the absence of animal foods, which are rich in protein and promote a long-term feeling of fullness, frequent bouts of hunger are possible. During this period, there is a great temptation to overeat baked goods and sweets. However, there is no talk of any cleansing in this case. To avoid feeling hungry, eat regularly and include in your daily diet foods rich in complex carbohydrates and containing plant protein - whole grains and legumes.
4. Particular attention should be paid during the period of fasting soy products. There are a great variety of them now - soy milk, tofu cheese, all of this should be included in your diet.
5. Sometimes it's not so difficult to start a post correctly as to end it. It would seem that everything is over, the prohibitions have been lifted, you can eat forbidden foods. However, I want to warn you against overeating after fasting. Gradually begin to include animal foods in your diet after fasting. and be sure to combine it with plant foods - vegetables and grain products.

Lenten menu for the week

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

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Fasting, by its definition, is a strict prohibition or restrictions on the consumption of food or only certain products, for example, meat or dairy products.

Great Lent is the path to the Bright Feast of Great Easter, through which a believer must go through, keeping himself in strictness. The ban is imposed not only on eating food, but it is also prohibited to spend this time in fun and pleasure. Great Lent is one of the strictest fasts church calendar, it begins seven weeks before Easter and consists of forty days (Quentum) and a week before Easter (Holy Week). Pentecost is celebrated in honor of the fact that Jesus Christ fasted in the desert for forty days, and Holy Week commemorates the life of Christ in last days His life, His crucifixion and resurrection.

Lent in 2018- from February 19 to April 7

During Lent, it is not recommended to eat food of animal origin - meat, eggs, milk. However, it is allowed to eat fish, but only on the holidays of Palm Resurrection and the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Eating seafood such as squid, shrimp, and mussels is not prohibited during Lent.

But we should not forget that Great Lent is not an Orthodox diet, and the purpose of fasting is not so much to cleanse the stomach as to cleanse the human soul.

According to church regulations, Lent is a tribute to the memory of the Lenten feat of the son of God - Christ. After his baptism, Jesus wandered through the desert in thought for 40 days without water or food. This act marked the beginning of his great saving deeds in the name of all mankind. And in order to thank the Savior and honor him, the church introduced the strictest restriction for the whole Pentecost preceding Easter.

However, there is another version of the origin of the ritual of long pre-Easter fasting. At the dawn of Christianity, before the baptismal rite, future “children of the church” were ordered to pray fervently for 40 days and strictly limit food and water. The christenings themselves took place only 1-2 times a year on major holidays, most often on Easter. Everyone who wanted to join the religion was called catechumens. And being in solidarity with them, the rest of the Christians adhered to 40 days of abstinence in the period before the ritual (that is, before Easter). As a result, the post known to us today was established not all at once, but rather gradually. True, over hundreds of years, the conditions of fasting have undergone changes more than once.

The main rules of modern Lent:

1. Rejoice in everything and thank the Lord;
2. Visit the temple during Lent 2018;
3. Repent at Pentecost and you can be cleansed during Holy Week;
4. Take care of your health. In case of illness, soften the conditions of fasting;
5. Don't think about food;
6. Look at your plate;
7. Hasten to do good;
8. Remember why you entered into fasting;
9. Give up temptations and imaginary pleasures in favor of tireless prayers to the Lord;

As for the meal, according to the Church Charter, there are some rules:

• First and last week During Great Lent, a particularly strict fast is observed.
• Meat and dairy products (butter, cheese, cottage cheese, milk), eggs, are excluded. That is, all products of animal origin.
• You can eat only once a day, in the evening, however, on Saturdays and Sundays you are allowed to eat twice a day, at lunch and in the evening.
• On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, eat cold food, without vegetable oil. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, hot food without oil is allowed.
• On Saturdays and Sundays it is allowed to add vegetable oil to food, and it is also allowed to drink grape wine (except for Saturday of Holy Week).
• On Good Friday (this is the last Friday of Lent) you should abstain from food altogether.
• On Saturday, many who observe fasting also abstain from food until the onset of Great Easter.

How to fast correctly for Orthodox laypeople and what to eat on different days

The annual pre-Easter Lent is flexible in the calendar and in 2018 it falls from February 18 to April 7. The ritual of fasting lasts 49 days, of which 40 are the days of the Fourth Day, two twelfth holidays (the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem) and the ascetic 6-day cycle of Holy Week. According to the church charter, Lent 2018 is as follows:

• first week - February 18-24, 2018;
• second week - February 25 - March 3, 2018;
• third week - March 4-10, 2018;
• fourth week - March 11-17, 2018;
• fifth week - March 18-24, 2018;
• sixth week - March 25-31, 2018;
• Seventh “Holy” Week – April 1-7, 2018.

In addition to the church charter, it is important to know how to fast correctly and what you can eat Orthodox laity by day in the Lent 2018 calendar. According to strict conditions, there can be no more than two meals per day. The first traditionally occurs around lunchtime (after church liturgy), and the second in the evening (i.e. after Vespers). If there is only one meal, its time is 15.00 Moscow time. In terms of nutrition, the first and last “passion” weeks are the strictest. They include days of dry eating and complete fasting. On certain days in other weeks, hot dishes with or without butter are allowed, sometimes fish caviar, and on the twelve holidays - wine and fish. It will help you understand each week and its meaning in more detail. orthodox calendar Lent for 2018: what the laity can eat according to the days, read further in our article.

What foods are allowed to be consumed during fasting?

If you approach your diet wisely during Lent, then, firstly, you will not have to go hungry, and secondly, even during the period of strict fasting, nutrition can be quite varied and balanced.

So, the main products allowed during fasting:

• Black bread, cereal crispbread.
• Cereals (oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, corn, wheat, barley)
• Salted and pickled vegetables, berry and fruit jam.
• Mushrooms of various preparations.
• Legumes (beans, lentils, peas)
• Dried fruits, nuts, honey.
• Seasonal vegetables (potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, cabbage, radishes, etc.)
• Fruits in season (apples, bananas, grant, oranges, etc.)
• Fish is allowed to be consumed twice during the entire fast. On the feast of the Annunciation (in 2016 it falls on April 7) and Palm Sunday (April 24, 2016)

Nutrition calendar by day (menu)

The first week of fasting (the most strict). It is important to enter the fast correctly on the eve of the start. It is also important to know the personal contraindications, who should not fast.

Above we described one week, how, according to all the rules and canons, fasting should be observed; this is more acceptable for monks, or for people who strictly observe all the regulations of the church. If you decide to fast for the first time, then you should not take on excessive loads! It is quite possible, for example, to eat oil.

Here is a sample menu that you can use as a basis, adding or replacing certain dishes:

In the subsequent fifth and sixth weeks After fasting, you can repeat your menu as in the second and third weeks.

The seventh (Holy Week) week of Great Lent is as strict as the first.

The sixth Sunday of Great Lent falls on the celebration of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem, or it is also called Palm Sunday. On this day you can eat fish, food with butter, and consume a little Cahors.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - dry eating. Thursday you can eat warm food, but cooked without oil, and only once a day. On Friday only bread and water. Eating is prohibited on Saturday.

And finally, Sunday, the end of the strictest fast falls on the celebration of Easter.

It is important to watch this video for your safety!

It is worth noting that if you decide to fast for the first time, it is recommended to talk with a priest and decide for yourself the severity of fasting, because you need to understand the very important truth that main goal Observance of fasting is not a restriction in food, but humility and repentance, prayer!