Very often in Orthodoxy you can come across such an expression, modest food. What is fast food and what does it mean? It will be very difficult for an ignorant person in these matters to understand the meaning of these words. What is fast food? This concept refers, of course, to the Orthodox tradition.
“The more days of fasting, the better the treatment; The longer the period of abstinence, the more abundant the acquisition of salvation..."
St. Augustine on fasting
Fast food is animal products
Fast food is animal products that cannot be consumed during fasting. Also, fast food makes up a significant part of the diet of many people. In fact, it is not considered bad for believers if it is used at the time prescribed by the church charter. Every person needs to know which foods are considered modest. Knowing this will help you follow the church rules accurately.
Fast food is animal products that cannot be consumed during fasting. Fast food makes up a significant part of many people's diet. Photo: moodle.molochnoe.ru
Savory products are the meat of warm-blooded animals, such as beef, pork, lamb, chicken, goose and others. Eggs and dairy products: milk, cottage cheese, butter, cheese and other fermented milk drinks and products. This is what humble products are all about.
Fish, for example, can be eaten on certain days, with the exception of Lent and Dormition Lent.
It is believed that a person can take fish at any time, except days of fasting.
But even when the church allows the consumption of animal products, you should not eat too much of them, as they are considered food that is difficult for the stomach. You also need to be very careful about your diet after the end of fasting time. On the first day, under no circumstances should you overeat on modest food. It is better to introduce it into your menu gradually.
What product is alcohol considered?
Can alcohol be considered a lean product? Let's try to figure it out. It so happened historically that a real drinking culture was formed in Rus'. Therefore, most lovers, in order to wet their throats, are looking for all sorts of tricks to drink wine on a holiday or on Sundays.
But in fact, for every Russian person, giving up alcohol will be a more serious sacrifice than giving up eating fish. It is for this reason that wine and other alcohol cannot be called a lean product; all of this is fast food.
So, taking into account the national love for alcohol, wine will have to be abandoned during Lent.
People limit themselves to fast food in the name of one goal in the name of God
It is also worth mentioning that many believers react differently to the adoption of frugal foods. Many, for example, can easily refuse them, while others have difficulty. But the most important thing is that these people have one thing in common - they limit themselves in food in the name of our God.
Refusal of food is required during church fasts. Refusal is necessary if an Orthodox believer wants to receive communion. Preparation for communion for an ordinary person lasts 3 days; it is during these days that a person should try to abstain from modest foods.
A person who wants to receive communion must abstain from fast food for three days in order to cleanse his soul of sins and thoughts. Photo: cdn.azbyka.ru
Also, the believer must fast after the priest imposes penance on him. But now such healing of the soul from sins is quite rare.
What drink
Of course, you can’t drink dairy products during fasting, but which ones exactly:
- milk;
- yogurt;
- kefir;
- curdled milk;
- Ryazhenka.
You cannot add milk to coffee or tea. You can drink these drinks themselves, but not in large quantities.
Fast food: cocktails, wine, beer, carbonated drinks, for example, Fanta, Duchess, and so on. Remember that during fasting you should not drink either vodka or wine. Ideally, there should be only water, juice, fruit drink, compote.
Why can’t you drink alcohol, since it’s not made from dairy, eggs or meat? The point here is not about physical food, but spiritual food. After drinking alcohol, a person relaxes, worst of all, he loses his mind. And drunkenness is a serious sin. In order to relax or dilate blood vessels, such things should not be consumed during fasting. How the holy fathers explain it: temptation and sin.
The meaning of fasting is to improve love for God and neighbors
You also need to say what the meaning of the post is. Giving up fast food is not considered a goal, since it is only a means. Heavy food burdens the body and mind, which is why a person becomes incapable of spiritual prosperity, as well as repentant prayer. Therefore, you need to know that the point of fasting is not food at all.
The meaning of fasting is to improve love for God and neighbors, because it is on love that every virtue that constitutes fasting is based.
Saint John Chrysostom said that anyone who limits fasting to abstinence from food greatly dishonors him, therefore, not only the mouth should fast, but the eye, the ear, the hands and our whole body should fast:
“Whoever limits fasting to abstaining from food alone greatly dishonors him. Not only the mouth should fast - no, let the eye, and the ear, and the hands, and our whole body fast... Fasting is the removal of evil, the curbing of the tongue, the putting aside of anger, the taming of lusts, the cessation of slander, lies and perjury... Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget those in prison, have pity on the tormented, comfort the mourning and crying; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, compassionate, unforgiving, reverent and sedate, pious, so that God will accept your fasting and grant you the fruits of repentance in abundance...”
John Chrysostom
Saint
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There is one instructive story by the Venerable Martyr Kronid, the vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. In it he tells what lesson he received from the Mother of God. This incident happened to him quite a long time ago, when he was still a young novice. His confessor released him to his parents.
And then one day he came to his relative, to his uncle. My uncle’s life was secular; he did not fast on Wednesday or Friday. Even when he sat down at the table and knew that today was Wednesday and Friday, he still tasted milk and eggs.
In the minds of the venerable martyr, the words immediately came to mind: who was he, that food should be specially prepared for him, so he ate everything that was offered to him. About a year before he was tonsured a monk, he had a dream. He stood in the temple, and behind the right choir he saw a large icon with the image of the Mother of God and the Eternal Child in her arms. The Mother of God was depicted as tall as a man and wearing a crown.
When the venerable martyr saw her face, he bowed his sinful knees before her, and saw how the Mother of God turned her face away from him. Then, in fear and trembling, he asked how he had insulted her, why did she turn her divine face away from him, the unworthy? And in response he heard:
“By breaking the fast, on Wednesday and Friday you allow yourself to eat modest food and do not honor the suffering of my Son, by this you insult him and me.”
After this, Kronid's vision ended, but this was a lesson for him for the rest of his life. That is why fasting must be observed.
The Mother of God Herself taught the Holy Martyr Kronid, the vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, to observe the fast.
How much should I use?
The Orthodox Church always says that food should be eaten in small portions. There is such a sin of overeating. That is, when a person overeats. As a rule, it becomes heavy, makes you sleepy, and you want to have another snack. Such a meal often ends with stomach pain and liver colic. We can say that in this case the person punished himself.
On the contrary, after eating just a little, you can feel full a few minutes after lunch or dinner. And it doesn’t matter whether the food is lean or lean, but you need to eat in moderation.
It is worth noting that the abundance of vegetable salads on the table, fruits and boiled potatoes with mushrooms does not mean a fast table. Food should be meager and far from varied.
You need to learn to replace fast foods so as not to harm your health.
It is also taken into account that some people find it very difficult to give up their favorite and familiar foods. But there are a lot of lenten dishes that are not inferior in taste even to fast food. What products are these? For example, these are lean confectionery bakery products. Bread is most often baked without adding milk. And if, for example, a baking recipe contains some animal products, then they can be replaced with other ingredients.
What kind of flour products can be prepared without modest ingredients? These are, for example, pies, pancakes, cookies, various buns. When kneading the dough, add warm or hot water to the flour instead of milk. There are also recipes for Lenten pancakes, cookies and much more. They also replace dairy products during production.
Ingredients are added to flour products that can replace fast food. This is exactly how a believer eats during Lent.
If a person loves sweets, then they can be replaced with such quick sweets as honey, halva, jam, jam.
During fasting, eating fish is allowed, but only on certain days; it removes the issue of lack of protein in human nutrition. But what then to do if it is prohibited? Products of animal origin can be replaced with plant-based ones without compromising your health.
A lot of protein is found in legumes - peas, beans, beans. Soy milk is also currently on sale. Of course, not everyone will like it, but there are buyers for such a product. Every post is incomplete without mushrooms. They can be eaten infrequently, and in small quantities, since they are poorly absorbed by our body. Nuts will also be a plant source of protein.
A lot of useful and necessary protein for humans is found in nuts and beans. They can be consumed by a person during fasting. Photo: 5-nt.ru
Salads can be seasoned with vegetable oil instead of mayonnaise and sour cream. You can also add lemon juice to them.
A few words about lean nutrition
Despite the ban on eating food of animal origin, during Lent you are allowed to eat all kinds of hearty dishes prepared from various cereals, vegetables and fruits. As a first, you can prepare cabbage soup from sauerkraut or nettles, as well as borscht or vegetable soup. After serving the liquid, you can eat squash caviar or stewed beans.
By the way, the range of dishes that are allowed during Lent is very extensive. You can cook dumplings, pilaf with mushrooms, and all kinds of porridges. While you are waiting for Easter, you are allowed to eat baked goods, but only after you make sure that the dough was prepared without adding eggs or milk.
In addition, such dishes are low in calories, healthy and very nutritious. Such food contains a lot of vitamins and antioxidants, micro- and macroelements - everything that our body needs for normal functioning.
It should be noted that in the first week of Lent, as well as in the last, when abstinence is the strictest, you will have to limit yourself as much as possible from all kinds of temptations. But on Maundy Thursday it is customary to completely give up food. On the first Friday after fasting begins, you can only eat boiled wheat with honey.
Well, when you finally wait for Easter, complete culinary freedom will be available to you. All Christians have tables filled with wonderful Easter cakes, colored eggs, honey gingerbread and various pastries.
Every believer cannot imagine his life without fasting
Every believer cannot imagine his life without fasting. Some people perceive it as a restriction in their diet, but this is only its external side.
As mentioned earlier, the meaning of fasting is the renunciation of pleasures, as well as the struggle with one’s passions and sins. This is a time of intense prayer. At this time, it will also be good to read Orthodox spiritual literature and attend church services more often - these are important components of fasting.
During fasting, it is necessary to get rid of various kinds of temptations. It will be very useful to read spiritual literature at this time.
When a person gets bogged down in his vanity, his dreams and problems overwhelm him, he constantly spins and is unable to stop. He doesn’t have enough time for anything, but when the time of fasting comes, he needs to discard everything unnecessary. And also, every person should think about what is most important for a truly believer? And the answer to this question is to live in Christ.
How to choose lean products in stores ^
With the beginning of Lent, new products appear on store shelves: “lenten” cheeses and pates, sausage and mayonnaise. What are they made of?
Marketing Traps
“The word ‘lenten’ has long turned into a marketing ploy,” says the owner of a restaurant on the outskirts of Moscow. — Look: buckwheat with mushrooms as a side dish is always on the menu, it costs 120 rubles. - no one eats. During Lent we raise the price to 250 rubles. and take out the “lenten” with a large plate. They order without interruption!”
Food manufacturers act similarly:
- They pass off as “specially for fasting” products that are already fasting 365 days a year: candies and brown bread, vegetable oil and marmalade.
- This is not prohibited by law, so sellers take advantage of it. Such a trick makes it possible to increase sales and raise the price of this assortment as if it were some kind of unique, special product.
Dear analogues
Another trick of sellers is to give lean properties to a product that is not at all lean: for example, dumplings or sausage. The role of meat in such products is played by soy protein isolate - a cheap substitute for animal protein.
- It is doubtful that such “sausage” will be to the taste of the consumer. Although, generously seasoned with flavor enhancers, flavors and consistency stabilizers, such products become similar in taste (but not in nutritional properties) to real meat.
- The cost of soybean is several times lower, so it is added to the cheapest minced meat, dumplings, sausages, and frankfurters.
- But pay attention: often “lean” pseudo-meat products are sold at the price of real ones!
Is butter “lean”?
Lenten supposedly “butter” is, in fact, margarine, which does not contain milk fat. It is made exclusively from vegetable (palm) milk fat substitute and contains trans fats that are extremely harmful to humans.
- It is prohibited to write “Oil” on such a product. But manufacturers write in large letters, for example, “Lenten butter!”, and in small letters on the back of the package they write “vegetable fat product” or “spread.”
- Remember: the price of such margarine is 30 rubles. per pack of 180 g. And natural oil costs at least 90 rubles. Don’t buy “vegetable oil” for 70-80 rubles, no matter how much you want to please your family.
We also recommend that you read the article on Happy-womens.com The extraordinary benefits of goat milk.
In Orthodoxy there are 4 multi-day fasts
In Orthodoxy there are 4 multi-day fasts - this is the most important Lent, which lasts 48 days. It ends with a bright and well-known holiday - Easter.
Then Peter's Fast - it begins a week after the feast of Holy Pentecost, and lasts until July 11. This post is dedicated to the holy apostles Peter and Paul.
The third post is Uspensky. It takes place from August 14 to 27, and was established in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The fourth post is Christmas. It lasts from November 28 to January 6.
One-day fast days are also established - this is January 18 in honor of Epiphany Eve. September 11 - in honor of the day of the Beheading of the Head of the Baptist John. And September 27 - in honor of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.
Also, on Wednesday and Friday during the year it is necessary to refuse food, since on Wednesday the betrayal of Christ occurred, and on Friday, he suffered on the cross. In memory of these days, believers must fast.
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