What is a fast day? What can you eat and what can't you eat? Weekly posts on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Lots of daily posts. They are different in terms of the strictness of compliance and are not always associated with a specific calendar date. The most famous of them are on Wednesdays and Fridays every week, on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, on the day before the Baptism of the Lord, on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist.

There are also one-day fasts associated with the commemoration of famous saints. These fasts are not strict unless they are on Wednesday and Friday. On such one-day fasts, one cannot eat fish, but food with vegetable oil is allowed.

Special posts may be appointed by the church in connection with some kind of misfortune or public calamity - an epidemic, war, terrorist act, etc.

One-day fasts precede the sacrament of communion.

Post on Wednesdays and Fridays

On Wednesday, according to the Gospel, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ, and on Friday Christ suffered on the cross and died. In memory of these events, the Orthodox Church established fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays every week. The exception is continuous weeks, or weeks, during which the existing restrictions do not apply to these two days. Such weeks are Christmas time (January 7-18), Publican and Pharisee, Cheese, Easter and Trinity (the first week after the Trinity).

Fasting on Fridays is the most ancient and widespread custom, dating back to the 1st century AD. e.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, you can not eat meat and dairy foods, as well as eggs. Many especially pious Christians do not allow themselves to eat these days even fish and vegetable oil, that is, they switch to dry eating. The weakening of the fast on Wednesdays and Fridays can only be if this day falls on the feast of a particularly glorified saint, to whose memory a special church service is dedicated.

In the period from the week of All Saints to the Nativity of Christ, one should also abstain from fish and vegetable oil. If the days of celebrated saints fall on Wednesday or Friday, vegetable oil can be eaten. On major holidays - such as Pokrov - it is allowed to eat fish.

Fasting on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

This day falls on September 14 (27). The holiday was established in honor of the memory of the acquisition of the Cross of the Lord. This event took place in the 4th century. According to legend, the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine the Great, won many victories thanks to the Cross of the Lord and therefore revered this symbol. Expressing gratitude to God for the consent of the church at the First Ecumenical Council, he decided to build a temple on Golgotha. Elena, the mother of the emperor, went to Jerusalem in 326 to find the Cross of the Lord.

According to the then-existing custom, crosses, as instruments of execution, were buried near the place of execution. Soon 3 crosses were found on Golgotha. It was difficult to know which of them was the Lord's, since a tablet with the inscription: "Jesus of Nazarene, King of the Jews" was found separately from all the crosses. As a result, the Cross of the Lord was determined by the power that manifested itself in the healing of a sick woman and the resurrection of a person from touching this cross.

According to statistics, most of the monks are long-lived. Perhaps the reason for this is in the diet that they follow.

The fame of the miracles of the Cross of the Lord also attracted many people, that because of the tightness, many could not only approach and kiss, but even see him. Then Patriarch Macarius stood on an elevated place and raised the cross, showing it to all who were in the distance. This is how the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross arose.

The holiday was timed to coincide with the day of the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, which took place on September 13, 335, and began to be celebrated the next day, September 14.

In 614, the Persian king Khosra took possession of Jerusalem and removed the shrine from there. In 328 Khozroy's successor, Syroes, returned the stolen Cross of the Lord to Jerusalem. This happened on September 14, so this day is a double holiday - the Exaltation and the Finding of the Cross of the Lord.

On this day you can not eat cheese, eggs and fish. This is how Orthodox believers express their reverence for the Cross.

Protestants do not have fixed calendar fasts. The question of the time and duration of fasting is decided individually.

Fasting on the Eve of the Epiphany

The Baptism of the Lord takes place on January 5 (18). According to the Gospel, when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove, which was witnessed by John the Baptist. He also heard the voice of God saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Thus, John testified that Jesus is the Messiah, that is, Christ is the anointed of God.

On the eve of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a vigil is held in the temple, during which consecration by sprinkling and drinking of holy water takes place. In connection with this church charter, fasting was established. During this fast, you can eat 1 time per day and only juicy and kutya with honey. Thanks to such a menu, the eve of Epiphany is popularly called Christmas Eve (novel). If the evening falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the fast on that day is not canceled, but is facilitated. On such a day, they eat 2 times - after the liturgy and after the blessing of water.

For modern Catholics, fasting is as easy as possible. It is allowed to consume eggs and milk, it is allowed to eat 1-2 hours before communion.

Fasting on the day of the Beheading of John the Forerunner

This day is celebrated on August 29 (September 11). It was installed in memory of the death of John, who was the Forerunner of the Savior. According to the Gospel, John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas for denouncing him for cohabitation with Herodias, the wife of Philip, Herod's brother.

On the day of his birth, Herod arranged a feast at which Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced so skillfully that the king liked it.

Very often, doctors ignore the facts recorded by statistics: many peoples and tribes that eat mainly plant foods are distinguished by special endurance and longevity.

He promised to give her everything for the dance that the girl wishes. The mother persuaded her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist as a reward. The king fulfilled his promise by sending a warrior to the prisoner to cut off his head.

Christian Orthodox faith provides for a number of fasting days and weeks a year, when, thanks to abstinence from food during fasting, a simple Christian approaches God, being cleansed not only physically, but also spiritually.

The Orthodox canons of the holy apostles say that “If Orthodox Christian don't fast at great post or on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, with the exception of holidays, then the laity, according to the 69th canon of the holy apostles, are excommunicated from communion of the Holy Mysteries, and the priests are cast out. Relaxation in fasting is allowed for the infirm, the sick, the elderly…”

That is, if an Orthodox Christian does not observe all multi-day and one-day fasts throughout the year, he is not allowed to receive communion, and priests are generally deprived of their dignity.

At the same time, pregnant women, children under 14 years of age, sick people and the elderly may not observe the fast or observe it in full, which is better to consult with the priest in the local Orthodox Church.

A good Christian must observe the Orthodox Great Lent before Easter - the Feast of the Feasts of the Resurrection of Christ, in the fast of the holy apostles Peter and Paul - Peter's fast, in fasting Holy Mother of God- Dormition fast from August 14 to 27, Nativity fast - Philip's fast before Christmas from November 28 to January 6.

As well as Orthodox person must observe fasting on Epiphany Christmas Eve on January 18, on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist on September 11, on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 27, and also throughout the year fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, except for the weeks of continuous Orthodox weeks and Christmas time from 7 to January 18th.

The significance of multi-day fasts and fast days on Wednesdays and Fridays lies in the fact that by abstaining from food, limiting one's own desires and appetites directly and figuratively of this word, an Orthodox Christian is likened to Jesus Christ (remember his forty-day hermitage in the desert, where He fought Satan and temptations) and pays tribute to his sufferings that the Son of God endured for us, mere mortal people, to give us immortality - eternal life in Paradise in Heaven as a reward for a righteous lifestyle.

In the modern world, the Orthodox fast is not observed as strictly as it was before the revolution in Russia, when the positions of the Orthodox Church and the Orthodox canons were strong and respected. Today, the Orthodox Church does not insist on the absolute, meticulous observance of all restrictions regarding the lenten menu, both in multi-day and one-day fasts.

At the same time, no one canceled the fasts for a believer. But…

If, for example, a working person simply does not have the physical and material capabilities to observe all the canons of the Orthodox fast, then he himself, or better, with the blessing and permission of the priest, can make indulgences for himself on the lenten menu during the days and weeks of fasting.

After all, the main goal of any Orthodox fast is not to exhaust the body, not to bring it to exhaustion and anorexia - no!

The main goal and task of the Orthodox fast is to strengthen a person in the Faith through renunciation, a temporary rejection of some physical and food joys, the pleasures of life.

How can a person prove to the Lord God his love and faith? It is simple and very difficult at the same time: by not violating the 10 commandments of God, by using daily Orthodox prayer, by periodically visiting the temple of God - the Orthodox Church, and by observing Orthodox fasts and individual fasting days almost every week.

Recipes and menus for the Orthodox fast and fast days for each person should be individual - they should take into account the state of his health, lifestyle, and also - let's not be hypocrites - the degree of a person's faith in God.

Lenten menu on fast days

The fast days of the week - on Wednesdays and Fridays - were established in honor of the memory of the sufferings of Jesus Christ before the crucifixion on the Cross: on Wednesday, Judas betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver, and on Friday the Son of God was executed - crucified on the Cross, where he died on the same day .

Their observance disciplines the believer, constantly reminds of the presence of God in his life.

My husband and I, for example, always observe (at least try very hard) fasting days - Wednesday and Friday. Because there is simply not enough strength or spirit to observe long Orthodox fasts - we will last a maximum of 1 week and that's it.

And by observing fast days weekly, we at least do something to please God.

What should be our lenten menu on the fast days of the week - on Wednesdays and Fridays?

So, on fasting days of the week on Wednesdays and Fridays, an Orthodox Christian should, as far as possible, avoid eating FAST food.

What is fast food? FAST FOOD is any food of animal origin containing proteins and fats of animal origin, as well as any foods and dishes containing at least some animal products. Specifically, pork and beef meat, butter, eggs, sour cream, milk, cottage cheese, cheese, dumplings, egg pasta, fat, non-lean cookies (cooked with eggs, sour cream, milk, fat), cakes, pastries, cream , ice cream, sausages, sausages, lard ...

All these and many other dishes containing proteins and fats of animal origin are fast meals by definition and cannot be eaten on fast days of almost every week - on Wednesdays and Fridays.

The only thing you can eat on fast days on Wednesdays and Fridays is vegetable oil, fish, vegetables, fruits, honey, jam, cereals, nuts, dried fruits, potatoes, cabbage, greens. So it can be said with full responsibility that the observance of the Orthodox fast on fast days is beneficial for the Christian himself, because. vegetable food is a healthy food that cleanses not only the body, but also the soul delivers from sin.

And one more thing: if during the Great Orthodox Lent before the Easter holiday, a Christian is forbidden to enter into close relations with a spouse by marriage, then this restriction does not apply to daytime fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Thus, each Orthodox believer decides for himself whether or not to observe fast days by week on Wednesday and Friday.

In general, taking into account the fact that our country has been “atheistic” for a long time, every believing Orthodox person must himself, gradually, come to a conscious understanding that the observance of Orthodox fasts is necessary first of all for himself ...

The first commandment given by God to mankind is about fasting. It was necessary for us in paradise, before the fall, and it became all the more necessary after the expulsion from paradise. We must fast, fulfilling God's commandment.

The book of the prophet Joel says: But even now the Lord says: Turn to Me with all your heart in fasting, weeping and weeping ... make a fast(Joel 2:12-15).

God commands here that sinful people fast if they want to receive His mercy. In the book of Tobit, the angel Raphael says to Tobias: A good deed is prayer with fasting and almsgiving and justice ... It is better to do alms than to collect gold(Tov. 12, 8).

In the book of Judith it is written that Joachim, the great priest of the Lord, went around all the people of Israel and said that the Lord would hear their prayers if they continued in fasting and in prayers.

The book of the holy prophet Jonah tells that the king of Nineveh, having heard the prophecy of Jonino about the death of the city, put on sackcloth and forbade the whole city to eat, so that not only people would fast, but even cattle would not be given food for three days.

King David mentions in the psalms how he himself fasted: dressed in sackcloth, fasted my soul(Ps. 34, 13); and in another psalm: My knees are tired from fasting(Ps. 108:24). This is how the king fasted so that God would be merciful to him!

The Savior himself fasted for forty days and forty nights, leaving us an example, that we may follow in His footsteps(1 Pet. 2:21), so that we, according to our strength, keep fasting on the Holy Forty Day.

It is written in the Gospel of Matthew that Christ, having cast out a demon from a young man, said to the apostles: this kind is driven out only by prayer and fasting(Matthew 17:21).

The holy apostles also fasted, as it is said in Acts: As they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then they, having fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, let them go.(Acts 13:2-3).

The Holy Apostle Paul in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, exhorting the faithful to show themselves to everyone as servants of God, among other charitable deeds, also mentions fasting: in vigils, in fasting(2 Cor. 6, 5), and then, remembering his exploits, he says: in labor and exhaustion, often in vigil, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting(2 Cor. 11:27).

“It is necessary for a Christian to fast in order,” writes the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, “in order to clarify the mind and excite and develop feelings, and move the will to good activity. We overshadow and suppress these three abilities of a person most of all gluttony and drunkenness and worldly cares(Luke 21:34), and through that we fall away from the Source of life - God and fall into corruption and vanity, perverting and defiling the image of God in ourselves. Excitement and voluptuousness nail us to the ground and cut off, so to speak, the soul's wings. And look how high the flight of all fasters and abstinences was! They, like eagles, soared in the sky; they, the earthly, lived with their minds and hearts in heaven and heard inexpressible words there, and there they learned Divine wisdom. And how a man humiliates himself by gluttony, overeating and drunkenness! He perverts his nature, created in the image of God, and becomes like dumb cattle, and even becomes worse than him. Oh, woe to us from our addictions, from our lawless habits! They prevent us from loving God and our neighbors and keeping the commandments of God; they root in us criminal carnal selfishness, the end of which is eternal perdition. It is necessary for a Christian to fast, because with the incarnation of the Son of God, human nature is inspired, deified, and we hasten to the Heavenly Kingdom, which not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit(Rom. 14:17); Food for the belly, and the belly for food; but God will destroy both(1 Cor. 6:13). Eating and drinking, that is, having a passion for sensual pleasures, is peculiar only to paganism, which, not knowing the spiritual, heavenly pleasures, provides all life in the pleasure of the womb, in many eating and drinking. That is why the Lord often denounces this pernicious passion in the Gospel... Whoever rejects fasting forgets why the first people fell into sin (from intemperance) and what weapon the Savior showed us against sin and the tempter when he was tempted in the wilderness (fasting for forty days and nights) , he does not know or does not want to know that a person falls away from God precisely through intemperance, as it was with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and with Noah's contemporaries - for all sin in people comes from intemperance; whoever rejects fasting takes away from himself and others weapons against his many-passionate flesh and against the devil, who are strong against us especially through our intemperance, he is not a warrior of Christ, for he throws down his weapon and voluntarily surrenders himself into captivity to his voluptuary and sin-loving flesh; he, finally, is blind and does not see the relationship between the causes and consequences of deeds.

So fasting serves us necessary means to our sanctification and union with God, a means to a living participation in the life, suffering, death and glory of the God-man and His saints.

For a long time, Christians have voluntarily deprived themselves of conveniences, pleasures, and comforts of life, contrasting this with fasting, prostrations, prayerful vigils, standing, walking around holy places, pilgrimages to shrines. This has always been considered the best and living evidence of our Orthodox faith.

Some people think that given the current plight in Russia, when salaries are not paid for months, when many people do not have money even for the cheapest products, fasting is not a topic for conversation. Let us recall the words of the Optina Elders:

"If they don't want to fast voluntarily, they will fast involuntarily..."

How to fast for children, the sick and the elderly

Our book contains the rules of strict fasting specified in the Church Charter. But fasting is not a straitjacket. Elderly, sick people, children (up to 14 years old), as well as pregnant women are exempt from strict fasting. However, you should consult with the priest about measures of relief.

The rules of fasting from ancient times have a binding effect mainly on healthy members of the Church. Children, the sick, and the elderly, who cannot keep a perfect fast according to the Rule, are not deprived of the motherly mercy of the Church, which acts in the loving spirit of its Master and Lord. So, the Charter of the Church on keeping the fast in the first week of Lent says: “On Monday, do not eat, and also on Tuesday. Those who are able, let them fast until the heel. Tuesday. And the old ones create a likeness.

In Canon 69, St. The apostles on the preservation of the Fortecost in general, it was decided: "Whoever does not fast for forty days, let him erupt, unless due to illness: the weak are forgiven to eat according to their strength to eat oil and wine."

“Regarding fasting when there is no health,” writes St. Theophan the Recluse, “the patience of illness and complacency during it replace fasting. Therefore, if you please, eat the food that is required by the nature of the treatment, although it is not fasting.”

The Church Fathers advise to reward the weakening of the fast with inner feelings of contrition and desire for the Lord.

How to spend posting time

The saints were in unceasing feats of fasting and prayer, they constantly stood in spiritual guard behind themselves. But we, its weak members, the Church only temporarily puts on this watch.

Just as a warrior, when he is on duty, does not eat or drink, vigilantly observing his fast, so we, on the days of fasting appointed by the Church, must refuse excesses in food, drink and in general the pleasures of the flesh, vigilantly watching ourselves, guarding and cleansing yourself from sin.

The Church Charter clearly depicts both the time of consumption and the quality of Lenten food. Everything is strictly calculated, with the aim of weakening in us the passionate movements of the flesh, excited by the abundant and sweet nourishment of the body; but in such a way as not to completely relax our bodily nature, but, on the contrary, to make it light, strong and capable of obeying the movements of the spirit and cheerfully fulfilling its requirements. The time for daily eating on fast days, according to ancient custom, is appointed later than usual, mostly in the evening.

The Charter of the Church teaches what should be abstained from during fasts: “All those who fast piously must strictly observe the rules on the quality of food, that is, abstain in fasting from certain brushes [that is, food, food], not as bad (let it not be) but as from indecent fasting and prohibited by the Church. Brasna, from which one must abstain during fasting, are: meat, cheese, butter, milk, eggs, and sometimes fish, depending on the difference of holy fasts.

There are five levels of fasting severity:

Complete abstinence from food;

Xerophagy;

Hot food without oil;

Hot food with oil (vegetable);

Eating fish.

On the day of eating fish, hot food with vegetable oil is also allowed. AT Orthodox calendars vegetable oil is commonly called oil. To comply with certain days a more strict degree of fasting than defined, you need to take a blessing from the priest.

True fasting is not a goal, but a means - to humble your flesh and cleanse yourself from sins. A bodily fast without a spiritual fast brings nothing for the salvation of the soul. Without prayer and repentance, without refraining from passions and vices, eradicating evil deeds, forgiving insults, refraining from married life, excluding entertainment and entertainment events, watching TV, fasting becomes just a diet.

"Fasting, brethren, bodily, let us fast also spiritually, let us resolve every union of unrighteousness," commanded the Holy Church.

“During bodily fasting,” writes St. Basil the Great, “the womb fasts from food and drink; during mental fasting, the soul refrains from evil thoughts, deeds, and words. , foul language, idle talk, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all kinds of slander. In a word, a real faster is one who moves away from all evil ... ".

“Bodily fasting alone cannot be sufficient for the perfection of the heart and purity of the body, if spiritual fasting is not combined with it,” writes St. John Cassian the Roman. “For the soul also has its own harmful food. " falls into voluptuousness. Backbiting is a harmful food for the soul, and, moreover, pleasant. Anger is also its food, although not at all easy, for it often feeds it with unpleasant and poisonous food. Envy is the food of the soul, which corrupts it with poisonous juices, torments it, poor Vanity is her food, which delights the soul for a while, then empties it, deprives it of all virtue, leaves it barren, so that it not only destroys merit, but also brings great punishment. filling it with harmful juices, and then leaving it without the heavenly Bread... So, abstaining from these passions during fasting as far as we have the strength, we will have a useful bodily fast. of the flesh, combined with the contrition of the spirit, will constitute a pleasing sacrifice to God and a worthy abode of holiness in the intimacy of a pure, well-decorated spirit. But if (hypocritically) fasting only bodily, we will be entangled with the fatal vices of the soul, then the weariness of the flesh will not do us any good in defiling the most precious part, that is, the soul, which could be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. For it is not so much the flesh as the pure heart that is the temple of God and the habitation of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, while fasting on the outward person, at the same time one must abstain from harmful food and on the inside, whom the holy apostle especially urges to keep pure for God, in order to be worthy to receive the Guest - Christ.

The essence of fasting is expressed in the following church hymn: “Fasting from brashen, my soul, and not being cleansed of passions, we console ourselves in vain by non-eating: for if fasting does not bring you correction, then you will be hated by God as false, and become like evil demons, never eating."

“The law of fasting is like this,” writes St. Theophan the Recluse, “to abide in God with mind and heart with renunciation of everything, cutting off every pleasing to oneself, not only in the bodily, but also in the spiritual, doing everything for the glory of God and the good of others, carrying willingly and with love labors and fasting deprivations, in food, sleep, rest, in the comforts of mutual communication.

What posts are established by the Church

Some of the Orthodox fasts are constantly in the same months and dates, others - on different dates, therefore Orthodox posts divided into transient and non-transitory. Posts can also be multi-day and one-day.

The multi-day fasts corresponding to the four seasons and instituted by the Church before great feasts call us four times a year to spiritual renewal for the glory of God, just as nature itself is renewed four times a year for the glory of God. Fasting spiritually prepares us for participation in the holy joy of the coming holidays.

The Church has established two multi-day transitory fasts - Great and Petrov, the date of which is set depending on the date of the Holy Resurrection (Easter), and two multi-day imperishable - Assumption (or Mother of God) - from August 1 to 14 (according to the old style) - and Christmas (or Philippov ) post - from November 15 to December 24 (old style).

One day posts established by the Church, - fasting on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - September 14 (old style), fasting on the day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist - August 29 (old style), fasting on the eve of the Theophany of the Lord - January 5 (old style).

In addition, the fast of Wednesday and Friday is kept throughout the year.

How to fast on Wednesday and Friday

The fast kept by the Orthodox Church on Wednesday is established in remembrance of the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ by Judas to suffering and death, and on Friday - in remembrance of His very suffering and death.

Saint Athanasius the Great said:

"By allowing me to eat on Wednesday and Friday, this man crucifies the Lord." “Those who do not fast on Wednesday and Friday sin a lot,” said St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Fasting on Wednesday and Friday is just as important in Orthodox Church like the other posts. It strictly enjoins us to observe these fasting days and condemns those who arbitrarily violate it. According to the 69th Apostolic Canon, "if anyone is a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or a subdeacon, or a reader, or a singer, does not fast on the Holy Fortecost before Easter, or on Wednesday, or on the heels, except for an obstacle from bodily weakness: let him be deposed And if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated."

But although the fast of Wednesday and Friday is compared with the fast of Forty, it is less strict than Great Lent. Most of the days of Wednesday and Friday of the year (if they do not fall on the days of large fasts), boiled vegetable food with oil is allowed.

In the summer and autumn meat-eaters (periods between the Petrov and Assumption fasts and between the Assumption and Rozhdestvensky fasts), Wednesday and Friday are days of strict fasting. In winter and spring meat-eaters (from Christmas to Great Lent and from Easter to Trinity), the Charter allows fish on Wednesday and Friday. Fish is allowed on Wednesday and Friday, and when the feasts of the Meeting of the Lord, the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Nativity of the Virgin, the Entrance of the Virgin into the Temple, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Apostle John the Theologian. If the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord fall on Wednesday and Friday, then fasting on these days is canceled. On the eve (eve, Christmas Eve) of the Nativity of Christ (usually the day of strict fasting), which happened on Saturday or Sunday, vegetable food with vegetable oil is allowed.

Continuous weeks (a week is a week - the days from Monday to Sunday) mean the absence of fasting on Wednesday and Friday.

The following are established by the Church as an indulgence before a multi-day fast or as a rest after it: continuous weeks:

2. Publican and Pharisee - two weeks before Lent.

3. Cheese (Shrovetide) - a week before Lent (allowed the whole week of eggs, fish and dairy, but without meat).

4. Easter (Bright) - a week after Easter.

5. Trinity - a week after the Trinity (week before Peter's fast).

How to fast on the eve of the Theophany of the Lord

This one-day fast is called the same as the eve of the feast of the Nativity of Christ - Christmas Eve, or nomad. The pious expectation of consecrated water prompts the keeping of the fast on the eve of Theophany, before drinking which Orthodox Christians, acting according to the ancient sacred tradition and the Charter of the Church that approved this tradition, do not eat food, “until they are sanctified by the drenching of water and communion, that is, by drinking.”

On Christmas Eve, on the eve of the feast of Epiphany, when it is necessary to fast before drinking holy water, a meal is prescribed, as on Christmas Eve, once, after the Divine Liturgy. At the meal, the rule of the Church is to eat with oil. "Cheese, and those like it, and fish, we will not dare to eat."

According to the Church Charter, on Christmas Eve - Christmas and Epiphany - Orthodox Christians are prescribed to eat juicy - a mixture of grains of wheat, poppy seeds, walnut kernels, honey.

How to spend carnival days

The last week of preparation for the Holy Forty Day is called cheese, and in common parlance - Shrovetide. This week, meat products are no longer consumed, but dairy, cheese foods are prescribed. Preparing us for the feat of Great Lent, condescending to our weakness and flesh, the Church established a week of cheese, “so that we, led from meat and overeating to strict abstinence, do not grieve, but little by little stepping back from pleasant dishes, take the reins of fasting.”

On Wednesday and Friday of Cheese Week, the Church prescribes fasting until the evening, as in Great Lent, although in the evening you can eat the same food as on other days of Shrovetide.

How to fast in Great Lent

Lent begins seven weeks before the feast of Holy Pascha and consists of Lent and Holy Week proper. Fortecost was established in remembrance of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth and in honor of the Savior Himself's forty-day fasting feat in the wilderness, and Passion Week is dedicated to the remembrance last days earthly life, suffering, death and burial of Jesus Christ.

The Orthodox Church, prescribing that the entire Great Lent should be kept, from ancient times established that the first and Passion Weeks be celebrated with special rigor.

On the first two days of the first week, highest degree fasting - these days, complete abstinence from food is prescribed.

On the rest of the days of Lent, except for Saturdays and Sundays, the Church established the second degree of abstinence - vegetable food is taken once, without oil, in the evening. On Saturdays and Sundays, the third degree of fasting is allowed, that is, the use of cooked vegetable food, with oil, and twice a day.

The last, easiest degree of abstinence, that is, eating fish, is allowed only on the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos (if it does not fall on Passion Week) and on the day of Palm Sunday. Fish caviar is allowed on Lazarus Saturday.

On Holy Week, fasting of the second degree is prescribed - dry eating, and on Friday and Saturday - complete abstinence from food.

So, fasting on Holy Forty Day, according to the rules of the Church, consists in abstaining not only from meat and dairy products, but even from fish and vegetable oil; consists in dry eating (that is, without oil), and during the first week - the first two days are prescribed to be carried out without food at all. The Fathers of the Church severely denounced those who ate food, albeit lenten, but refined during fasting. “There are such guardians of the Fortecost,” says blessed Augustine, “who spend it more whimsically than piously. They seek new pleasures more than curb old flesh. With a rich and expensive selection of different fruits, they want to surpass the variety of the most delicious table. Vessels, in whose meat was cooked, they are afraid, and not afraid of the lust of the womb and their larynx.

How to fast on Petrov Post

Peter's fast was established in honor of the holy apostles and in remembrance of the fact that the holy apostles, after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, dispersed from Jerusalem to all countries, always being in the feat of fasting and prayer.

The Petrov fast is less strict than the Lent of Fortecost. During Peter's Lent, the Charter of the Church prescribes three days a week - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - of dryness (that is, to take vegetable food without oil) at the ninth hour after Vespers.

On the rest of the days - Tuesday, Thursday - vegetable food with oil is blessed. On Saturdays, Sundays, as well as on the days of the memory of the great saint or on the days of the temple feast, performed during this fast, fish is allowed.

How to fast on Dormition Fast

The Dormition Fast was established in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos. The Mother of God, preparing to depart into eternal life, constantly fasted and prayed. So it is for us, the weak and infirm (spiritually and physically), the more we should resort to fasting, turning to the Blessed Virgin for help in every need and prayer.

The Dormition Fast is not as strict as the Great Fast, but it is more strict than Petrov and the Nativity Fasts.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the Dormition Fast, the Charter of the Church prescribes to eat dry food, on Tuesday and Thursday - you can eat boiled vegetables, but without oil; oil is allowed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Few people know that until the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, when grapes and apples are consecrated in churches, the Church obliges us to abstain from these fruits until they are blessed. According to a legend from St. father, "but if someone from the brethren to tear down a bunch before the holiday, then let him accept the prohibition for disobedience and not eat the bunch during the whole month of August." After these holidays, grapes, apples and other fruits of the new harvest are present at the meal, and especially on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

On the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, according to the Church Charter, fish is allowed at the meal.

How to fast on the day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Reverent for fasting, the suffering and death of the Lord and His saints, the Church instituted a one-day fast on the day of the Beheading of John the Forerunner and the Baptist of the Lord, a great faster who ate locusts and wild honey in the desert.

In the Charter of the Church it is written that "on that day it is worthy for us to complain about a dull life, and not to have gluttony." Fasting on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist should consist, according to the Charter of the Church, in abstinence not only from meat and dairy food, but from fish, and, therefore, consist "in a meal of oil, vegetables, or whatever God grants from them."

How to fast on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord

The life-giving Cross of the Lord reminds us of the voluntary, saving suffering for us and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. On this day, the Church, transferring our thoughts to the sad event on Golgotha, inspiring us to actively participate in the suffering and death of the Lord and Savior crucified for us, established a one-day fast that disposes us to repentance and testifies to our living participation in the suffering and death of the Lord.

At the meal on the day of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, it is supposed to eat vegetables and vegetable oil. “We will not dare to touch cheese, eggs, or fish,” says the Church Rule.

How to fast on Advent

The Advent fast was established so that by the day of the Nativity of Christ we have cleansed ourselves by repentance, prayer and fasting, so that with a pure heart, soul and body we can reverently meet the Son of God who has appeared in the world, and so that, in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, we offer Him our pure heart and desire follow His teachings.

The rules of abstinence prescribed by the Church for the Nativity Fast are just as strict as for Peter's Fast. It is clear that meat is forbidden during fasting, butter, milk, eggs, cheese. In addition, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the Nativity Fast, fish, wine, and oil are forbidden by the charter, and it is allowed to eat food without oil (dry eating) only after Vespers. On the other days - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday - it is allowed to eat food with vegetable oil. Fish during the Nativity Fast is allowed on Saturdays and Sundays and great holidays, for example, on the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, on temple holidays and on the days of great saints, if these days fall on Tuesday or Thursday. If the holidays fall on Wednesday or Friday, then fasting is allowed only for wine and oil. From December 20 to December 24 (old style), fasting is intensified, and these days, even on Saturday and Sunday, the fish is not blessed. This is especially important to remember, because with the introduction of the new calendar, it is on these days of strict fasting that the celebration of the civil New Year now falls.

The last day of the Nativity Fast is called Christmas Eve, because according to the Charter, it is supposed to eat juicy on this day. There is a sochivo taken, apparently in imitation of the fast of Daniel and the three youths, remembered before the feast of the Nativity of Christ, who ate from the seeds of the earth, so as not to be defiled from a pagan meal (Dan. 1, 8), - and in accordance with the words of the Gospel, pronounced sometimes in holiday eve: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field, which, although smaller than all seeds, but when it grows, is larger than all cereals and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches.(Matthew 13:31-36).

On Christmas Eve, Orthodox Christians maintain the pious custom of not eating anything until the first evening star, reminiscent of the appearance of a star in the east, announcing the birth of Jesus Christ.

How they used to fast in Orthodox Russia

Recipes for many lenten dishes have come to us since the time of the Baptism of Russia. Some of the dishes are of Byzantine, Greek origin, but now it is impossible to recognize Greek origin in these traditional Lenten dishes.

AT Ancient Russia recipes were not written down, there were no cookbooks, recipes were passed from mother to daughter, from house to house, from generation to generation.

There were almost no changes in recipes and cooking technology, and on the fast days of the sixteenth century or even the end of the nineteenth century, they ate almost the same dishes that had been prepared since the time of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. Only new vegetables were added: until the end of the seventeenth century, other vegetables were not known in Russia, except for cabbage, garlic, onions, cucumbers, radishes, and beets. The dishes were simple and not varied, although the Russian tables were distinguished by a huge number of dishes. But these dishes were similar in almost everything to each other, differing only in a small way - what greens they sprinkled, what oil they seasoned.

Shchi, fish soup, brine were very common.

Hot soups were served with pies stuffed with porridge.

Pies were made spun, that is, fried in oil, and hearth, baked.

On fast non-fish days, pies were baked with mushrooms, poppy seeds, peas, juice, turnips, mushrooms, cabbage, raisins, and various berries.

On fast fish days, pies were baked with all kinds of fish, especially with whitefish, smelt, lodoga, with fish milk alone or with screech, in hemp, poppy or walnut oil; finely chopped fish was mixed with porridge or Saracen millet, which we now call rice.

They also made pancakes, pancakes, brushwood, jelly in fasting.

Fritters were made from wholemeal flour, with nut butter and served with molasses, sugar or honey. Huge fritters were called command fritters, because they were brought to commanding people at a wake.

Pancakes were made red and white: the first from buckwheat, the second from wheat flour.

Pancakes were not carnival accessories, as they are now; Shrovetide symbols were cheese pies and brushwood - elongated dough with butter.

They ate oatmeal or buckwheat porridge, millet porridge was rare.

Sturgeon and whitefish caviar was a luxury; but the pressed, baggy, Armenian - irritating properties and crumpled, the lowest grade, was available to the poorest.

Caviar was seasoned with vinegar, pepper and crushed onions.

In addition to raw caviar, they used caviar boiled in vinegar or poppy milk, and spun: Russians made caviar, or caviar pancakes, for fasting, they beat the caviar for a long time, added grainy flour, then the dough was steamed.

In those fasting days, when it was considered a sin to eat fish, they ate sour and boiled fresh cabbage, beets with vegetable oil and vinegar, pea pies with vegetable filling, buckwheat and oatmeal porridge with vegetable oil, onions, oatmeal kissel, levashniks, pancakes with honey, loaves with mushrooms and millet, boiled and fried mushrooms, different dishes from peas: broken peas, grated peas, strained peas, pea cheese, that is, hard-beaten crushed peas with vegetable oil, noodles from pea flour, cottage cheese from poppy milk, horseradish, radish.

They liked to add spicy seasonings to all dishes, and especially onions, garlic and saffron.

On the Wednesday of the first week of Great Lent in 1667, dishes were prepared for His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow: “Cheet bread, paposhnik, sweet broth with millet and berries, pepper and saffron, horseradish, toast, cold stomped cabbage, cold peas zobanets, cranberry jelly with honey, grated porridge with poppy juice".

On Lenten days, in the high-society houses of Moscow or St. Petersburg, the same boiled cabbage was served, poured with vegetable oil; they ate sour mushroom cabbage soup, as in any of the cities and houses of the Russian Empire.

During fasts in all restaurants, taverns, even the best establishments on Nevsky Prospekt, the choice of dishes was no different from those that were eaten in monasteries. In one of the best taverns in St. Petersburg, "Stroganov", during Lent, of course, there was not only meat, but even fish, and visitors were offered mushrooms heated with onions, shaky cabbage with mushrooms, mushrooms in dough, mushroom dumplings, cold mushrooms under horseradish, milk mushrooms with butter, heated with juice. In addition to mushrooms, the lunch card included crushed, beaten, filtered peas, berry, oatmeal, pea kissels, with molasses, full and almond milk. These days they drank tea with raisins and honey, boiled sbiten.

Over the centuries, the Russian Lenten table has not changed much. Here is how Ivan Shmelev describes the first days of Great Lent at the beginning of the twentieth century in his novel "The Summer of the Lord":

"They will cook compote, make potato cutlets with prunes and sear, peas, poppy seed bread with beautiful curls of sugar poppy seeds, pink bagels, "crosses" on the Cross... frozen cranberries with sugar, jellied nuts, candied almonds, soaked peas, bagels and saiki, jug raisins, rowan marshmallow, lean sugar - lemon, raspberry, with oranges inside, halva... And fried buckwheat porridge with onions, drink kvass! and kutia with marmalade on the first Saturday, some kind of “kolivo”! And almond milk with white jelly, and cranberry jelly with vanilla, and ... a great kulebyaka for the Annunciation, with a screech, with sturgeon! pieces of blue caviar, with pickled cucumbers ... and pickled apples on Sundays, and melted, sweet-sweet "ryazan" ... and "sinners", with hemp oil, with a crispy crust, with a warm emptiness inside! .. ".

Of course, not all of these dishes can be cooked in our time. But some can easily be prepared in our kitchen, from available products.

The best recipes of the old Russian cuisine of the post

mushroom caviar

This caviar is prepared from dried or salted mushrooms, as well as from their mixture.

Wash and cook until tender dried mushrooms, cool, chop finely or pass through a meat grinder.

Salted mushrooms should be washed in cold water and also chopped.

Fry finely chopped onions in vegetable oil, add mushrooms and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Three minutes before the end of the stew, add crushed garlic, vinegar, pepper, salt.

Put the finished caviar on a plate in a slide and sprinkle with green onions.

Salted mushrooms - 70 g, dried - 20 g, vegetable oil - 15 g, onion - 10 g, green onion - 20 g, 3% vinegar - 5 g, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Radish with butter

Grate the washed and peeled radish on a fine grater. Add salt, sugar, finely chopped onion, vegetable oil, vinegar. Mix everything well, let stand for a few minutes. Then put in a salad bowl with a slide, garnish with chopped herbs.

Radish - 100 g, onion - 20 g, vegetable oil - 5 g, salt, sugar, vinegar, herbs to taste.

Pickled cucumber caviar

Finely chop the pickled cucumbers, squeeze the juice from the resulting mass.

Fry finely chopped onions in vegetable oil, add chopped cucumbers and continue to fry over low heat for half an hour, then put the tomato puree and fry all together for another 15-20 minutes. A minute before readiness, season the caviar with ground pepper.

In the same way, you can cook caviar from salted tomatoes.

Pickled cucumbers - 1 kg, onion - 200 g, tomato puree - 50 g, vegetable oil - 40 g, salt and pepper to taste.

Lean pea soup

In the evening, pour cold water over the peas and leave to swell and cook the noodles.

For noodles, half a glass of flour should be mixed well with three tablespoons of vegetable oil, add a spoonful of cold water, salt, leave the dough for an hour to swell. Thinly rolled and dried dough cut into strips, dry in the oven.

Boil the swollen peas, without draining the water, until half cooked, add the fried onions, diced potatoes, noodles, pepper, salt and cook until the potatoes and noodles are ready.

Peas - 50 g, potatoes - 100 g, onions - 20 g, water - 300 g, onion frying oil - 10 g, parsley, salt, pepper to taste.

Russian lean soup

Boil pearl barley, add fresh cabbage, cut into small squares, potatoes and roots, cut into cubes, into the broth, and cook until tender. In summer, you can add fresh tomatoes, cut into slices, which are laid at the same time as the potatoes.

Sprinkle with parsley or dill when serving. Potatoes, cabbage - 100 g each, onions - 20 g, carrots - 20 g, pearl barley - 20 g, dill, salt to taste.

Rassolnik

Chop peeled and washed parsley, celery, onion in the form of straws, fry everything together in oil.

Cut the skin off the pickles and boil them separately in two liters of water. This is the broth for the pickle.

Cut the peeled cucumbers lengthwise into four parts, remove the seeds, finely chop the cucumber pulp into pieces.

Put the cucumbers in a small saucepan. To do this, put cucumbers in a saucepan, pour in half a glass of broth, cook over low heat until the cucumbers are completely softened.

Cut potatoes into cubes, chop fresh cabbage.

Boil the potatoes in a boiling broth, then place the cabbage, when the cabbage and potatoes are ready, add the browned vegetables and poached cucumbers.

5 minutes before the end of cooking, pickle should be salted, pepper, bay leaf and other spices to taste.

A minute before readiness, cucumber pickle is poured into the pickle.

200 g fresh cabbage, 3-4 medium potatoes, 1 carrot, 2-3 parsley roots, 1 celery root, 1 onion, 2 medium-sized cucumbers, 2 tablespoons of oil, half a glass of cucumber pickle, 2 liters of water, salt, pepper, bay leaf sheet to taste.

Rassolnik can be prepared with fresh or dried mushrooms, with cereals (wheat, pearl barley, oatmeal). In this case, these products must be added to the specified recipe.

Festive hodgepodge (on fish days)

Prepare a liter of very strong broth from any fish. Fry the finely chopped onion in a pan with oil.

Gently sprinkle the onion with flour, stir, fry until the flour becomes golden brown. Then pour the fish broth and cucumber pickle into the pan, mix well and bring to a boil.

Chop the mushrooms, capers, remove the stones from the olives, add all this to the broth, bring to a boil.

Cut the fish into pieces, scald with boiling water, put in a pan with butter, tomato puree and peeled cucumbers.

Add the fish and cucumbers to the pot and cook the saltwort over low heat until the fish is done. Three minutes before readiness, add bay leaf, spices.

Properly prepared hodgepodge has a light, slightly reddish broth, pungent taste, smell of fish and spices.

When serving on a plate, put a piece of each type of fish, pour the broth, add a cup of lemon, dill or parsley, olives.

Pies with fish can be served with the hodgepodge.

100 g of fresh salmon, 100 g of fresh pike perch, 100 g of fresh (or salted) sturgeon, a small can of olives, two teaspoons of tomato puree, 3 white pickled mushrooms, 2 pickled cucumbers, onion, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, a tablespoon of flour , a quarter of a lemon, a dozen olives, half a glass of cucumber pickle, a tablespoon of capers, black peppercorns, bay leaf, salt to taste, a bunch of dill or parsley, 2 cups of lemon.

Sour daily mushroom cabbage soup

Boil dry mushrooms and roots. Finely chop the mushrooms taken out of the broth. Mushrooms and broth will be needed for cooking cabbage soup.

Stew over low heat for one and a half to two hours squeezed shredded sauerkraut with a glass of water and two tablespoons of tomato paste. The cabbage should be very soft.

10 - 15 minutes before the end of the stew, add the roots and onions fried in oil, and fried flour about five minutes before the end of the stew.

Put the cabbage in a saucepan, add chopped mushrooms, broth and cook for about forty minutes until tender. You can’t salt cabbage soup from sauerkraut - you can ruin the dish. Shchi tastes better the longer it cooks. Previously, such cabbage soup was put in a hot oven for a day, and exposed to frost at night.

Add two cloves of garlic mashed with salt to the prepared cabbage soup.

You can serve kulebyaka with fried buckwheat porridge with cabbage soup.

You can add potatoes or cereals to cabbage soup. To do this, cut three potatoes into cubes, separately steam two tablespoons of pearl barley or millet groats until half cooked. Potatoes and cereals should be put in a boiling mushroom broth twenty minutes earlier than stewed cabbage.

Sauerkraut - 200 g, dried mushrooms - 20 g, carrots - 20 g, tomato puree - 20 g, flour - 10 g, oil - 20 g, bay leaf, pepper, herbs, salt to taste.

Mushroom soup with buckwheat

Boil diced potatoes, add buckwheat, soaked dried mushrooms, fried onions, salt. Cook until done.

Sprinkle the finished soup with herbs.

Potatoes - 100 g, buckwheat - 30 g, mushrooms - 10 g, onion - 20 g, butter - 15 g, parsley, salt, pepper to taste.

Lean sour cabbage tyurya

Mix chopped sauerkraut with grated onion. Add stale bread, also grated. Mix well, pour over with oil, dilute with kvass to the density you need. AT ready meal you need to add pepper, salt.

Sauerkraut - 30 g, bread - 10 g, onion - 20 g, kvass - 150 g, vegetable oil, pepper, salt to taste.

Potato cutlets with prunes

Mash 400 grams of boiled potatoes, salt, add half a glass of vegetable oil, half a glass of warm water and enough flour to make a soft dough.

Let stand for about twenty minutes so that the flour swells, at this time prepare the prunes - peel it from the stones, pour boiling water over it.

Roll out the dough, cut into mugs with a glass, put prunes in the middle of each, form cutlets, pinching the dough in the form of pies, roll each cutlet in breadcrumbs and fry in a pan in a large amount of vegetable oil.

Loose buckwheat porridge

Fry a glass of buckwheat in a pan until it is browned.

Pour exactly two cups of water into a saucepan (it is better to use a cauldron with a convex bottom) with a tight lid, add salt and put on fire.

When the water boils, pour the red-hot buckwheat into it, cover with a lid. The lid must not be removed until the porridge is fully cooked.

Porridge should be cooked for 15 minutes, first on high, then on medium and at the end - on low heat.

Ready porridge should be seasoned with finely chopped, fried in butter until golden brown onions and dry mushrooms, pre-treated.

This porridge can be served as an independent dish, or it can also be used as a filling for pies.

Lean dough for pies

Knead a dough of half a kilogram of flour, two glasses of water and 25-30 g of yeast.

When the dough rises, add salt, sugar, three tablespoons of vegetable oil, another half a kilogram of flour to it and beat the dough until it stops sticking to your hands.

Then put the dough in the same pan where the dough was prepared and let it rise again.

After that, the dough is ready for further work.

Buckwheat porridge shangi

Roll out cakes from lean dough, put buckwheat porridge cooked with onions and mushrooms in the middle of each, bend the edges of the cake.

After laying the finished shangi on a greased form, bake them in the oven.

The same shangi can be prepared stuffed with fried onions, potatoes, crushed garlic and fried onions.

Buckwheat pancakes, "sinners"

Pour three cups of buckwheat flour in the evening with three cups of boiling water, stir well and leave for an hour. If you do not have buckwheat flour, you can make it yourself by grinding buckwheat in a coffee grinder.

When the dough has cooled, dilute it with a glass of boiling water. When the dough becomes slightly warm, add 25 g of yeast dissolved in half a glass of water.

In the morning, add the rest of the flour, salt dissolved in water to the dough and knead the dough until the density of sour cream, put it in a warm place and bake in a pan when the dough rises again.

These pancakes are especially good with onion fritters.

Pancakes with spices (with mushrooms, onions)

Prepare a dough of 300 g of flour, a glass of water, 20 g of yeast and put it in a warm place.

When the dough comes up, pour another glass of warm water, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt, sugar, the rest of the flour into it and mix everything thoroughly.

Soak the washed dried mushrooms for three hours, boil until tender, cut into small pieces, fry, add chopped and lightly fried green or onion, cut into rings. After spreading the pastries in a pan, fill them with dough, fry like ordinary pancakes.

Pies with mushrooms

Dilute the yeast in one and a half glasses of warm water, add two hundred grams of flour, stir and put the dough in a warm place for 2-3 hours.

Pour 100 grams of vegetable oil with 100 grams of sugar, pour into the dough, mix, add 250 grams of flour, leave for an hour and a half to ferment.

Soak 100 grams of washed dried mushrooms for two hours, boil them until tender and pass through a meat grinder. Fry three finely chopped onions in a pan in vegetable oil. When the onion turns golden, add finely chopped mushrooms, salt, fry for a few more minutes.

From ready dough form balls and let them come up. Then roll the balls into cakes, put the mushroom mass in the middle of each, make pies, let them rise for half an hour on a greased baking sheet, then carefully grease the surface of the pies with sweet strong tea and bake in a heated oven for 30-40 minutes.

Put the finished pies in a deep plate and cover with a towel.

Lukovnik

Prepare lean yeast dough like for pies. When the dough has risen, roll it into thin cakes. Chop the onion and fry it until golden brown in vegetable oil.

At the bottom of a stewpan or a mold greased with oil, put a thin cake, cover with onions, then again a cake and a layer of onions. So it is necessary to lay 6 layers. The top layer should be from the dough.

Bake the onion in a well-heated oven. Serve hot.

pies

400 g flour, 3 tablespoons butter, 25-30 g yeast, 300 g pike, 300 g salmon, 2-3 pinches of ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon crushed crackers, salt to taste.

Knead the lean dough, let it rise twice. Roll out the dough that has risen again into a thin sheet and cut mugs out of it with a glass or a cup.

Place minced pike on each circle, and a thin piece of salmon on it. You can use minced sea bass, cod, catfish (except sea), pike perch, carp.

Pinch the ends of the patties so that the middle remains open.

Place pies on a greased baking sheet and let them rise for 15 minutes.

Lubricate each pie with strong sweet tea and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake pies should be in a well-heated oven.

A hole is left in the top of the pie so that fish broth can be poured into it during lunch.

Pies are served with fish soup or fish soup.

On days when the fish is not blessed, you can cook pies with mushrooms and rice.

For minced meat, you will need 200 g of dried mushrooms, 1 onion, 2-3 tablespoons of oil, 100 g of rice, salt, ground black pepper.

Pass the boiled mushrooms through a meat grinder or chop. Fry finely chopped onion with mushrooms for 7 minutes. Fried mushrooms cool with onions, mix with boiled friable rice, salt, sprinkle with pepper.

Rybnik

500 g fish fillet, 1 onion, 2-3 potatoes, 2-3 tablespoons of oil, salt, pepper to taste.

Make lean dough, roll it into two cakes.

The cake that will be used for the bottom layer of the pie should be slightly thinner than the top.

Lay the rolled out flatbread on a greased baking sheet, lay a layer of thinly sliced ​​raw potatoes on the flatbread, sprinkled with salt and pepper. large pieces of fish fillet, on top - thinly sliced ​​raw onions.

Pour everything with oil and cover with a second cake. Connect the edges of the cakes and fold down.

Put the finished fisherman in a warm place for twenty minutes; before putting the fisherman in the oven, pierce the top in several places. Bake in an oven preheated to 200-220°C.

Pie with cabbage and fish

Roll out the lean dough in the form of a future pie.

Lay out a layer of cabbage evenly, on it - a layer of chopped fish and again a layer of cabbage.

Pinch the edges of the pie and bake the pie in the oven.

Potato fritters

Grate peeled raw potatoes, salt, let the juice appear, then add a little water and enough flour to make a dough like for pancakes.

Spread the finished dough with a spoon on a hot frying pan, greased with vegetable oil, and fry on both sides.

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A woman in a scarf and a long skirt has been tormenting the saleswoman of the confectionery department for a long time: “Please show me this box of chocolates. That's a pity, and they do not fit - they also have powdered milk. “Excuse me, do you have an intolerance to this component?” - tactfully asked a store employee. “No, I’m going to visit for my birthday, and today Wednesday is a fast day; after all, we, Orthodox, sacredly honor Wednesday and Friday, ”the woman proudly answered, deeply absorbed in the analysis of the chemical composition of sweets ...

Priest Vladimir Hulap, Candidate of Theology,
cleric of the church of St. equal to ap. Mary Magdalene, Pavlovsk,
assistant of the St. Petersburg branch of the DECR MP

Wednesday and Friday fasting is one of the traditions of the Orthodox Church, to which we are so accustomed that most believers simply never thought about how and when it arose.

Indeed, this practice is very ancient. Despite the fact that it is not mentioned in the New Testament, it is already evidenced by the early Christian monument "Didachi", or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles", which arose at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd centuries. in Syria. In chapter 8 of this text we read an interesting injunction: “Let your fasts not be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and fifth days of the week. But you fast on the fourth and sixth.”

Before us is the traditional Old Testament account of the days of the week, corresponding to the order of creation in chapter 1 of the book of Genesis, where Saturday ends each week.

If we translate the text into the language of calendar realities known to us (the first day of the week in the Didache is the Sunday following Saturday), then we will see a clear opposition of two practices: fasting on Monday and Thursday (“on the second and fifth day of the week”) versus Wednesday fasting and Fridays ("on the fourth and sixth"). Obviously, the second of them is our current Christian tradition.

But who are the "hypocrites" and why was it necessary to oppose their fasting at the very dawn of church history?

Fasting hypocrites

In the Gospel we repeatedly meet the word “hypocrites”, which sounds menacingly from the lips of Christ (etc.). He uses it when speaking about the religious leaders of the Israeli people of that era - the Pharisees and scribes: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites" (). Moreover, Christ directly condemns their practice of fasting: “When you fast, do not be despondent, like hypocrites, for they take on gloomy faces in order to appear to people who are fasting” ().

In turn, the Didache is an ancient Judeo-Christian monument reflecting the liturgical practice of the early Christian communities, which consisted mainly of Jews who had converted to Christ. It opens with the popular Jewish "doctrine of two paths", polemicizes with Jewish prescriptions about the ritual qualities of water, uses Christian processing of traditional Jewish blessings as Eucharistic prayers, etc.

Obviously, there would be no need for the injunction “Your fasts should not be with hypocrites” if there were no Christians (and, apparently, a significant number) who adhered to the fasting practice of “hypocrites” - apparently continuing to follow the very tradition which they kept before their conversion to Christ. It is on her that the fire of Christian criticism is directed.

long awaited rain

Obligatory fasting day for the Jews in the 1st c. AD was the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Four one-day fasts were added to it in memory of national tragedies: the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem (Tevet 10), the conquest of Jerusalem (Tamuz 17), the destruction of the Temple (Av 9) and the murder of Godaliah (Tishri 3). In the event of severe disasters - drought, the threat of crop failure, epidemics of deadly diseases, locust invasions, the threat of a military attack, etc. - special periods of fasting could be declared. At the same time, there were also voluntary fasts, which were considered as a matter of personal piety. The weekly fast of Monday and Thursday arose as a result of the combination of the last two categories.

Basic information about Jewish fasts is found in the Talmudic treatise Taanit (Fasting). Among other things, it describes one of the most terrible for Palestine natural disasters- drought. In the autumn, in the month of Marcheshvan (the beginning of the rainy season in Israel, October - November according to our solar calendar), a special fast was appointed to give rain: “If it doesn’t rain, some people begin to fast, and three fasts are fasted: on Monday, Thursday and the next Monday". If the situation did not change, then exactly the same fasting scheme was prescribed for two next months Kislev and Tebet (November - January), but now all Israelites had to observe it. Finally, if the drought continued, the strictness of the fast increased: over the next seven Mondays and Thursdays, "trade, construction and planting, the number of betrothals and marriages were reduced, and they did not greet each other - like people who were angry with the Omnipresent."

A model of piety

The Talmud says that the “individuals” mentioned at the beginning of these prescriptions are rabbis and scribes (“those who can be made leaders of the community”), or special ascetics and prayer books, whose lives were considered especially pleasing to God.

Some pious rabbis continued to observe the custom of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the year, regardless of the weather. This widespread custom is even mentioned in the Gospel, where in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, the latter puts forward such a two-day fast as one of his distinguishing features from the rest of the people: “God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this publican: I fast twice a week ... "(). From this prayer it follows that such a fast was not a universally obligatory practice, which is why the Pharisee boasts of it before God.

Although the gospel text does not say what these days are, not only Jewish, but also Christian authors testify that they were exactly Monday and Thursday. For example, St. Epiphanius of Cyprus (+ 403) says that in his time the Pharisees "fasted for two days, on the second and fifth day on the Sabbath."

Two out of seven

Neither Talmudic nor early Christian sources tell us why the two weekly days of fasting were chosen. In Jewish texts we encounter attempts at later theological justification: the recollection of the ascent of Moses to Sinai on Thursday and the descent on Monday; fasting for the forgiveness of sins that caused the destruction of the Temple and to prevent a similar misfortune in the future; fasting for those who swim in the sea, travel in the desert, for the health of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, etc.

The inner logic of such a scheme becomes clearer if we look at the distribution of these days within the framework of the Jewish week.

It goes without saying that fasting on Saturday was forbidden, since it was considered a day of joy about the completion of the creation of the world. Gradually, the holiness of Saturday began to be limited from two sides (Friday and Sunday): firstly, so that someone would not accidentally break the fast of Saturday joy, not knowing the exact time of its onset and end (it varies depending on the geographical latitude and time of year); secondly, to separate periods of fasting and joy from each other for at least one day.

The Talmud clearly speaks of this: “They do not fast on the eve of the Sabbath because of the honor due to the Sabbath, and they do not fast on the first day (i.e., on Sunday), so as not to abruptly move from rest and joy to work and fasting.”

The Jewish fast of that era was very strict - it lasted either from the moment of awakening until evening, or from evening to evening, so its duration could reach 24 hours. During this time, any food was forbidden, and some refused to drink water. It is clear that two such consecutive fasting days would be too difficult, as another Talmudic text says: “These fasts ... do not follow one after another in a row, every day, because such a prescription is not able to fulfill the majority of society.” Therefore, Monday and Thursday became fast days equidistant from each other, which, together with the Sabbath, were called to the weekly consecration of time.

Gradually, they also acquired liturgical significance, becoming, along with Saturday, the days of public worship: many pious Jews, even if they did not fast, tried to come to the synagogue on these days for a special service, during which the Torah was read and a sermon was delivered.

"We" and "they"

The question of the obligation of the Old Testament heritage was very acute in the early Church: to decide whether pagans accepting Christianity should be circumcised, it even required the convening of an Apostolic Council (). The apostle Paul repeatedly emphasized freedom from the Jewish ceremonial law, warning against false teachers "forbidding the eating of what God has created" (), as well as the dangers of "observing the days, months, times and years" ().

The confrontation with the weekly Jewish fast does not begin in the Didache - perhaps it is already mentioned in the Gospel, when others do not understand why the disciples of Christ do not fast: “why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” (). It can hardly be assumed that we are talking about one of the obligatory annual Jewish fasts here - we see that Christ fulfills the Law, speaking out against the later ritual rabbinic prescriptions, "the tradition of the elders" (). Therefore, we are talking here, apparently, about these weekly fasts, the observance of which was considered as an important component of a pious life.

The Savior clearly answers this question: “Can the sons of the bridal chamber fast when the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast, but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.

It is possible that some Palestinian believers understood these words of Christ in such a way that after the Ascension it was time to observe traditional Jewish fasts. Since this tradition was popular among yesterday's immigrants from Judaism, more effective way wrestling seemed to be its Christian modification. Therefore, not wanting to be inferior in the level of piety, the Christian communities established their weekly fast days: Wednesday and Friday. The Didache tells us nothing about why they were chosen, but the text clearly emphasizes the polemical anti-Jewish component: "hypocrites" fast two days a week, Christians do not abandon this practice, which, obviously, is not bad in itself, but establish their own days, regarded as characteristic and distinguishing feature Christianity versus Judaism.

In Christianity, the highest point of the weekly circle is Sunday, therefore naturally its internal structure also changes. On Sunday, as on Saturday, the early Church did not fast. Excluding the Jewish fast days, there were two possibilities: "Tuesday and Friday" or "Wednesday and Friday." Probably, in order to further separate themselves from the "hypocrites", the Christians not only moved both fasts forward by one day, but the first of them was shifted by two days.

Theology of tradition

Any tradition sooner or later requires a theological interpretation, especially if its origins are forgotten over the years. In the Didache, the fasting of Wednesday and Friday is justified exclusively within the framework of the opposition of “our” and “their” fasts. However, this interpretation, relevant and understandable to Christians living in the Jewish environment of the 1st century, required rethinking over time. We do not know when this process of reflection began, but we have the first evidence of its completion at the beginning of the 3rd century. The Syrian Didascalia puts the following words into the mouth of the resurrected Christ addressing the apostles: “So, do not fast according to the custom of the former people, but according to the Covenant that I made with you… You must fast for them (i.e. for the Jews) on Wednesday, for on that day they began to destroy their souls and decided to seize Me ... And again you must fast for them on Friday, for on this day they crucified Me.

This monument originated in the same geographical area as the Didache, but a century later the theological perspective changes: Christians living near the Jews fast “for them” weekly (obviously connecting with fasting a prayer for their conversion to Christ). As a motive for fasting, two sins are named: betrayal and the crucifixion of Christ. Where such contact was not so close, only the themes of the betrayal of Christ by Judas and Death on the Cross gradually crystallize. The traditional interpretation, which today can be found in any textbook of the Law of God, we meet in the “Apostolic Decrees” (4th century): “On Wednesday and Friday, He commanded us to fast - on that one, because they betrayed Him then, because then He suffered.”

Church on duty

Tertullian († after 220) in his work "On Fasting" designates Wednesday and Friday with the Latin term "statio", literally meaning "military guard post". Such terminology is understandable throughout the theology of this North African author, who repeatedly describes Christianity in military terms, calling the believers "the army of Christ" (militia Christi). He says that this fast was an exclusively voluntary affair, lasted until 9 o'clock in the afternoon (until 15 o'clock according to our time), and special services took place on these days.

The choice of 9 o'clock is deeply justified from a theological point of view - this is the time of the death of the Savior on the Cross (), therefore, it was it that was considered as the most appropriate for the end of the fast. But if now our fasts are of a qualitative nature, that is, they consist in abstaining from this or that type of food, the fast of the Ancient Church was quantitative: believers completely refused food and even water. We find the following detail in the description of the martyrdom of the Spanish bishop Fructuosus (+ 259 in Tarragona): “When some, out of brotherly love, offered him to take a cup of wine mixed with herbs for bodily relief, he said: “The hour of ending fasting has not yet come” ... For It was Friday, and he strove joyfully and confidently to complete the statio with the martyrs and prophets in the paradise that the Lord had prepared for them.

Indeed, in this perspective, fasting Christians were likened to soldiers on the ground. combat post who also did not eat anything, devoting all their strength and attention to the performance of their service. Tertullian uses Old Testament military stories (), saying that these days are a period of special intense spiritual struggle, when true warriors, of course, do not eat anything. We also meet with him a “military” perception of prayer, which in the Christian tradition has always been inextricably linked with fasting: “Prayer is the fortress of faith, our weapon against the enemy who besieges us from all sides.”

It is important that this fast was not only a personal affair of the believer, but included a diaconal component: that meal (breakfast and lunch) that believers did not eat on a fast day was brought to the church meeting to the primate, and he distributed these products among the needy poor, widows and orphans.

Tertullian says that "the statio must be terminated by the acceptance of the Body of Christ", that is, either by the celebration of the Eucharist, or by the communion of the Gifts, which believers in antiquity kept at home for daily communion. Therefore, Wednesday and Friday gradually become special liturgical days, as testified, for example, by St. Basil the Great, saying that in his time in Cappadocia there was a custom to take communion four times a week: on Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, i.e. obviously to celebrate the Eucharist on these days. Although in other areas there was another practice of non-Eucharistic meetings, which Eusebius of Caesarea (+ 339) speaks of: “In Alexandria, on Wednesday and Friday, the Scriptures are read and the teachers interpret it, and here everything that relates to the meeting takes place, with the exception of the offering Secret."

From voluntary to mandatory

In the Didache we do not find any indication of whether fasting on Wednesday and Friday was at that time obligatory for all believers or a voluntary pious custom observed by only a few Christians.

We have seen that the fasting of the Pharisees was a personal choice of the individual, and probably the same attitude prevailed in the early Church. Thus, in North Africa, Tertullian says that "you can observe it (fasting) at your own discretion." Moreover, the Montanist heretics were accused of making it obligatory.

However, gradually, primarily in the East, the degree of obligation of this custom gradually begins to increase. In the “Canons of Hippolytus” (4th century) we read the following injunction about fasting: “The fasts include Wednesday, Friday and Forty. Whoever also observes other days will receive a reward. Who, with the exception of illness or need, deviates from them, transgresses the rule and opposes God, who fasted for us. The last point in this process was put by the "Apostolic Rules" (late IV - early V century):

“If a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or a subdeacon, or a reader, or a singer, does not fast on Holy Fortecost before Easter, or on Wednesday, or on Friday, except for the obstacle of bodily weakness, let him be deposed, but if a layman: let him be excommunicated ".

From the words of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus shows that fasting on Wednesday and Friday was not observed during the period of Pentecost, as contrary to the festive nature of these days: “During the whole year, fasting is observed in the holy catholic Church, namely on Wednesday and Friday until the ninth hour, with the exception of only the whole of Pentecost, during which neither kneeling nor fasting is prescribed. However, monastic practice gradually changed this tradition, leaving only a few "solid" weeks during the year.

So, the long process of the reception of Jewish practice and its transformation into a new Christian tradition ended with a theological reflection and, finally, with the canonization of Wednesday and Friday.

Means or purpose?

Looking at the fast of Wednesday and Friday in today's church life, the words of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “It is necessary for a Christian to fast in order to clarify the mind, to arouse and develop feelings, to move the will to good activity. We overshadow and suppress these three abilities of a person most of all by overeating, drunkenness and worldly cares, and through this we fall away from the source of life - God and fall into decay and vanity, perverting and defiling the image of God in ourselves.

Indeed, on Wednesday and Friday you can eat lenten potatoes, get drunk on lean vodka and once again spend the whole evening in front of lenten TV - after all, our Typicon does not prohibit any of this! Formally, the prescriptions of the fast will be fulfilled, but its purpose will not be achieved.

Remembrance in Christianity is not a sheet of a calendar with a particular anniversary, but involvement in the events of sacred history that God once created and which should be updated in our lives.

Every seven days we are offered a deep theological scheme for the sanctification of everyday life, leading us to highest point sacred history - the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.

And if they are not reflected in our souls, in our "small Churches" - families, in our relationships with others, then there is no fundamental difference between us, who do not eat "non-kosher" meat and dairy products on Wednesday and Friday, and those who eat a lot centuries ago, in distant Palestine, he spent every Monday and Thursday in complete abstinence from food.

Fasting on Wednesday and Friday is established in memory of two events: the arrest and torture of Christ and the execution of the Savior through crucifixion. Orthodox church fasts - from the Great, the longest and most difficult, to one-day ones - are directly related to memorable events in the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they must be strictly followed?

Fasting on Wednesday and Friday is one of the traditions of the Orthodox Church

It is necessary for every Orthodox to fast two days every week, with the exception of solid (for example, Bright) weeks or cases when the confessor allowed relief - either in case of illness or for other reasons - for example, a long business trip in which it will be impossible to strictly observe the Christian canons .

Both weekly fast days were established to honor the events of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On Wednesday believers remember terrible event arrest and torture (tradition to torment and execution), and on Friday they honor the passions (torments) and the humiliating execution of Jesus by crucifixion.

It should be noted that, although they are as short as possible (one day), each of these fasts is quite severe and obligatory for strict execution, as the ascetics of all centuries of Christianity have repeatedly reminded.

For example, St. Athanasius the Great and St. Seraphim of Sarov argued that a person who allows himself unlenten food on mournful days sins greatly and with these sins, as it were, joins the executioners of Christ today.

Fasting on Wednesday and Friday has always been considered fateful for everyone: the observance of the adopted law is a chance for everyone to save their soul. The observance of fasting these days is recognized as so important that a separate (69th) Apostolic canon has even been established for it, which reads: or on Wednesday, or on heels, except for the obstacle from the infirmity of the body, let it be cast out. And if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.”

Why fast on Wednesday and Friday?

The clergy have been reminding and explaining to the flock all two thousand years about why fasting on Wednesday and Friday is extremely important for believers. Yes, ssmch. Peter of Alexandria, who compiled the Rule of Repentance, in his 15th paragraph recalls: “We must fast on Wednesday because of the council drawn up by the Jews about the betrayal of the Lord, and on Friday because on this day He suffered for us.”

The words of the Gospel are reminiscent of the need to obey the church's ruling on fasting these days. The Apostle Mark (14:1) narrates: “In two days it was to be the feast of the Passover and unleavened bread. And the chief priests and scribes were looking for ways to take him by cunning and kill him.

The holy ascetics explained that fasting is not so much a restriction of oneself in a set of products and increased prayer rule, but also distributing mercy to the poor, helping everyone around and trying to behave in such a way that, in the words of the holy fathers, "you do not crucify Christ with your sins."

It should be remembered that the church day does not begin at midnight, but at the beginning of Vespers of the previous day. In different churches, the time may be different (between 16 and 20 hours), but it is the beginning of the service that marks the beginning of a new church day.

Accordingly, fasting should begin simultaneously, in accordance with the schedule of services of your parish church.

An Orthodox, going to Vespers, takes the usual, fast food, and returning after the service, he has the right to eat only fast food until the next day's evening service begins. That is, the Wednesday fast begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday and ends at 5 p.m. Wednesday. From the moment Vespers ends, according to church reckoning, Thursday begins, although there are still a few hours left before the calendar onset of a new day.