Fasting on Passion Week food. What can you eat on the days of Holy Week

Holy Week brings together seven of the most the strictest days in a year. Eat right, in accordance with the recommendations of the church, to cure many diseases and cleanse your soul from sins.

The last week before Easter is the most difficult and strict compared to the rest of the days. This period is very important for Orthodox people because we remember last days the life of Jesus on earth and his sufferings. It is advisable to spend Holy Week in prayers that will help you better understand yourself.

The right diet for the week

Monday: the most difficult day of Holy Week. In addition to the fact that food can only be eaten once in 24 hours, it must be eaten raw. Therefore, for most of us it is difficult and unusual. righteous people who firmly believe in God, try to refuse food altogether on this day. For beginners, it is permissible to include in the diet of Monday flour products especially bread and vegetables. They can be consumed in any form: dried, fried and pickled. This day is also characterized by the use of fruits and mushrooms for food. In unlimited quantities, you can drink water, cool compotes and fruit drinks. It is important to know that you can eat only in the evening.

Tuesday: on Tuesday you can eat whatever you cook. However, remember that during Lent we exclude sweet, flour, meat, fish, dairy and eggs from the usual diet. It is permissible to eat vegetables and fruits on Tuesday, but only in limited quantities. Eating should be the same as on Monday, evening time and only once a day.

Wednesday: On this day, people remember Judas, who betrayed Christ. You should visit the church and repent of your sins. It is known that this is best time to cleanse your soul. Dry food is served at the table, it is advisable to refuse food altogether, so that nothing interferes with cleansing the body and thoughts on this day.

Thursday: passes easier than the previous days, because from now on you can eat twice a day. IN daily diet hot food appears, which was previously banned, and vegetable oil. Begins active training for Easter: people bake Easter cakes, paint eggs, prepare treats for festive table.

Thursday is characterized by various rituals to expel evil spirits and evil from the house. One of them is that when cleaning the home, you need to throw a handful of little things into a basin of water. This will attract prosperity and wealth in the future. Water on Maundy Thursday has magic power, so you can sanctify the apartment and, after washing, rid yourself of diseases for a whole year.

Friday: is a time of mourning for Orthodox people. It was on the fifth day of the week that Jesus Christ was crucified. It is forbidden to consume any food, the exception applies only to infants and infirm people. Any household chores should be postponed. By doing something on this day, you show your disrespect for God. It is necessary to gain strength and try to endure this day, honoring Christ, who gave his life for our sins.

Holy Week is very important for people: these days, a rethinking of life comes to many. During this time, a person is spiritually cleansed and meets Easter with pure and bright thoughts. It is imperative to keep all the commandments, pray and not denigrate yourself with sinful deeds and thoughts. It is known that if you repent on the Bright Resurrection of Christ with with a pure heart and firm faith, then God will surely forgive you for everything. Learn how to properly prepare for confession. Good luck,and don't forget to press the buttons and

Today, April 2, Holy Week 2018 began and it will last until April 7, ending with a holiday. Holy Week is the strictest week of Lent. During this period, Orthodox Christians remember the last days of earthly life, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

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Meals for the days of Great Lent on Holy Week

Being the strictest week in terms of fasting, Holy Week involves observing a strict fast, excluding dairy, egg, fish, and meat foods. If you know, then the basic principles of fasting will be clear to you in the seventh week.

The main foods that are allowed to be eaten this week are raw or semi raw vegetables without use vegetable oil and possibly without salt.

Holy Week (White, Clean Week).

43 days of fasting. Maundy Monday (Clean Monday).

Preparations for Easter begin on Holy Monday. Women traditionally cleaned the house on this day, and men, in order to free them from work holidays, made preparations for fodder for livestock for the entire Bright Week following Easter.

On the first day of Holy Week, the most strict regime fasting in the form of complete abstinence from food. However, this measure applies to especially pious people and monks who profess strict post. One of the relaxations of the fasting diet on this day is dry eating - permission to eat raw vegetables with bread and water once a day.

44th day of fasting. Great Tuesday.

On Holy Week Tuesday, in order to protect cattle from disease, they were given milk diluted with water from ground flax and hemp seeds at dawn.

Some believers continue to abstain from food on Tuesday as well. The monastic charter does not prohibit this, and in turn recommends limiting yourself to dry eating once a day.

For the laity, such dietary restrictions during Great Lent are often not feasible due to the lifestyle and rhythm of life, therefore, on this day, it is also recommended to limit food without vegetable oil.

45th day of fasting. Great Wednesday.

Since the Great Wednesday, the peasants collected not melted snow along the ravines, but the resulting snow. melt water salted and poured over livestock. Such a ceremony was supposed to protect the barnyard from various diseases throughout the whole year.

According to the monastic charter, dry eating is prescribed on this day once in the evening. The laity, on the Wednesday of Holy Week, should refrain from food using vegetable oil.

46th day of fasting. Maundy Thursday (Thursday, Maundy Thursday).

Candles lit that day in the church, according to folk custom, were carried home for good luck. Great Thursday is popularly called Pure Thursday, since everyone on this day seeks to cleanse themselves spiritually and bodily, therefore it is so important on this day not only to clean the house, wash things, and put on clean clothes, but also to confess and take communion. As a symbol of purification in the old days, the custom of purification with water was also widespread. It could be either swimming in an ice-hole, a river, or a lake, or dousing in a bathhouse. The only condition was that it had to be done before sunrise.

On Maundy Thursday, the main preparations for Easter begin. On this day, it was customary to dye eggs, slaughter cattle and make other preparations for the Easter table.

On Maundy Thursday, as an exception, food with vegetable oil is allowed. You can afford both hot food cooked in oil and vegetable salads seasoned with vegetable oil.

47th day of fasting. Great Friday (Five, Good Friday).

Evening Service Good Friday(“Taking out the Shroud”) is dedicated to the burial of Christ and is usually performed in the middle of the day or in the late afternoon. Women on this day Special attention devoted to the preparation of the Easter table: they baked Easter cakes and prepared Easter.

On Good Friday, the Church recommends, if possible, to completely refuse to eat until the evening service (until the Holy Shroud is taken out). If for health reasons or for other reasons you cannot abstain from food on this day, it is recommended to limit yourself to dry eating (raw food without vegetable oil).

48th day of fasting. Great Saturday.

Great Saturday is the last preparatory day for Easter. The dark clothes of the priests are changed to light ones, and after the morning service in churches, according to custom, the consecration of Easter cakes, Easter cakes and eggs for breaking the fast on Easter Day begins.

On Great Saturday, it is important to try to finish all your chores before evening and come to the night service in order to celebrate the great Easter holiday.

Some believers continue to abstain from food even on Holy Saturday. If you do not adhere to a particularly ascetic diet, then you can limit yourself to dry eating, or hot food without the use of vegetable oil.

Easter. Feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ.

Easter is the most important and joyful religious holiday. On this Bright Holiday, all prohibitions on eating fast food are lifted. There is a so-called breaking the fast, when it is allowed to eat oil, and eggs, and fish, and meat.

The final seventh week of Great Lent is not only the most strict in nutrition, but at the same time, the preparatory week of the body for breaking the fast. Small portions of food and partial fasting improve the functioning of the body before eating animal (fast) food.

However, my advice to you: do not pounce on everything at once, as this is fraught with various problems associated with digestion. Do not forget about moderation, because this is what Great Lent taught us.

by the most best product Eggs have been used to break the fast since ancient times. It is no coincidence that they are an invariable attribute of the Easter holidays. They contain almost all necessary for the body trace elements and vitamins, as well as fats, proteins and carbohydrates. The uniqueness of eggs for the fasting organism also lies in the fact that, being absorbed by almost 100%, they completely provide the body with all the components it needs, replenishing their reserves after long period post. At the same time, you can absolutely not be afraid for.

With this material, I complete a series of articles on meals by day in Great Lent. Thank you for being with me all these seven weeks - for me it was an invaluable experience, and for you, I hope helpful information and reliable help for every day of Great Lent.

Immediately after Palm Sunday, before Easter, the most strict six days of fasting begin, called Holy Week, Holy Week, Holy Week. In 2018 Holy Week begins on April 2nd. Often, even those who did not keep a strict fast all the days join fasting these days, to the great sacrament of purification of the soul, mind and body, in order to unite in a common outburst of gratitude and get closer to the great mystery of the Faith.

This week brings even greater strength and desire to share the hardships that the Lord endured before His Resurrection. This strict time requires even more abstinence and even more strict behavior.

First of all, these days we should complete our spiritual cleansing, from everything that torments the heart, that torments the soul, through prayers, communion and confession, we work out, let go and prepare for the Bright Day of the Resurrection of Christ.

For believers, all the rules have long become common truth, for people who are a little far from faith and the church and who want communion, let's talk about this topic.

Holy Week: what to do

On Holy Week, one should especially refrain from unrighteous deeds, bad deeds and thoughts, not to allow envy, heartlessness and malice. At this time, it is not advisable to arrange noisy entertainments, holidays, laugh out loud, rejoice - this is a period of great sorrow. Help the needy, take care of the sick, time for good deeds.

Continuing to cleanse the soul, this week they are preparing their home for the holiday, renewing and transforming it.

We prepare in advance products for the festive table, eggs for dyeing, carefully think over the details of the festive decoration.

During Lent, foods that contain meat, fish, poultry, and eggs are strictly prohibited. You can not eat dairy products, as well as chocolate, pasta, White bread, pickles, spices and alcohol.

Holy Monday

Holy Week begins on Holy Monday. Earlier on this day, they usually put their yard in order, shoveled, cleaned, repaired the outside. The weather does not always allow this, and there are fewer and fewer yards, so we immediately begin preparing for the holiday right from the home.

On this day begins a big tidy. The house is cleared of old, bulky things.

On Monday, you can eat raw vegetables and fruits, as well as bread, honey and nuts. It is recommended to eat once a day - in the evening.

Good Tuesday

Buying food for Easter. women cooking medicinal infusions. Men should not even touch herbs, tinctures, powders.

As on the previous day, raw fruits and vegetables, honey, nuts and bread are allowed. It is advisable to eat only in the evening.

Passion Wednesday

This is the day of washing and all sorts of rubbing. On Wednesday, it is advisable to thoroughly wash, scrape the floors, knock out the carpets. On Wednesday during Holy Week we remembered special rite against every bodily weakness. It was necessary to scoop up a mug of water from a well or from a barrel on the street or draw water from a river. Having crossed themselves three times, they covered the mug with a clean or new towel, and at 2 o'clock in the morning, having crossed themselves again three times, they poured this water over, leaving a little in the mug. After that, they put on clothes on a wet body, without wiping themselves, and the water that remained in the mug was poured up to 3 hours on a bush or flowers. It is said that a body washed in this way is reborn.

You can also eat bread, vegetables and fruits, cold raw food without oil.

Pure Thursday

A special day this week is Thursday, called Maundy Thursday.

WITH early morning it is important for everyone to take a shower, a bath, this morning water has a special gift of purification, gives health and brings good luck for the whole year. We put on clean clothes.

Finishing cleaning our house. After a clean Thursday, we no longer clean the house until next week.

It is also important to remember: since Thursday, nothing has been given out of the house, starting with small things like salt to money in debt.

It is believed that water on this day has special properties, is able to heal, make lotions and can be used in conspiracies and rituals. It can be collected in a container and used throughout the year when you or someone in your household gets sick. For healing, Thursday water can be drunk or applied to a sore spot in the form of a compress.

Preparing Thursday salt is useful for those who perform rituals and conspiracies: all family members throw a pinch of salt into a common bag, mix it and remove it. Such salt keeps the special energy of this day and the whole family. It is desirable to consecrate this salt in the Temple.

With pure thoughts and a cleaned house, a sacred action begins on this day - baking Easter cakes and coloring eggs.

Thursday - on Maundy Thursday it was advised to cut your hair for the first time one year old baby(up to a year, cutting was considered a sin), and for girls - the tips of the braids so that they grow longer and thicker. All livestock were also advised to cut a tuft of wool for health and well-being.

There are many traditions associated with this day. On Maundy Thursday, they cleaned the houses, washed and cleaned everything. It was customary to collect and burn juniper branches to fumigate dwellings and stables. It is believed that the healing juniper smoke protects the person and the "animal" from evil spirits and diseases.

There was also such a belief that demolished in good thursday eggs eaten at Easter protect against illness, and egg shells buried in the ground in a pasture reliably protect livestock from the evil eye.

Starting from Maundy Thursday, they prepared for the festive table, painted and painted eggs. By ancient tradition colored eggs were laid on the sprouted greens of oats, wheat.

On Thursday morning they began to bake Easter cakes, women, small products from wheat flour with the image of crosses, lambs, doves, larks, as well as honey gingerbread. Easter was being prepared in the evening.

Everyone in the family should take a handful of salt and pour it into one bag. This salt is removed and stored, and it is called "Thursday salt", i.e. Great Thursday. You can treat yourself with it, as well as your family and friends. This salt is used to make amulets for the family, livestock, garden, home, etc.

IN Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday, it was customary to wash with water melted from snow, all domestic animals - from cows to chickens - and burn the salt in the oven, which, according to folk beliefs, acquired from this healing properties. In some villages, at midnight on Maundy Thursday, women were also instructed to douse themselves with water to protect themselves from disease.

If before dawn you wash your face on Maundy (Clean) Thursday, you need to say at the same time: “I wash off what they let loose on me, then what the soul and body toils with, everything is removed on Pure Thursday.”

On Easter morning, they wash themselves with water left from Maundy Thursday. It is good to put a silver little thing or a spoon in it, you can use a coin. Wash for beauty and wealth. If a girl cannot get married, you need the towel with which she dried herself in Maundy Thursday, to give to people for Easter, to those who beg, along with krashenka and Easter cake. After that, they soon get married.

There was also a custom to burn crosses on doors and ceilings with a candle to protect the house from invasion. evil spirits. Passionate candles were given into the hands of seriously ill or suffering from difficult childbirth, they have healing power. From Maundy Thursday it was forbidden to sweep the floor in the house until Easter itself.

On this day, it is allowed to eat hot vegetable food with vegetable oil twice a day.

Good Friday

Good Friday is a special day of compassion, on this day Jesus Christ was betrayed and crucified on the cross at Mount Calvary. The Savior of the human race accepted martyrdom, thus atoning for human sins. This day of special sorrow, it is not customary to work, you should devote the day to prayer.

There is a sign that any disease that happens on this day will be quickly cured.

Any problem that arose on this day will soon be well resolved.

Cooking on this day is argued. They continued to bake and prepare for the celebration of Easter. “Angels help,” say pious people. On Friday they sweep the corners with a rag, this rag will help get rid of lower back pain if you tie yourself with it. The same rag is used to wipe the feet in the bath after washing, so that the feet do not hurt. Ash, taken on Friday before Easter, will help to recover from alcoholism, black shaking, from the evil eye and from mortal anguish.

On Good Friday, generally refrain from eating.

Holy Saturday

Last (quiet) tidy. You can also dye eggs. On this day, common festive dishes are prepared. On Saturday, they brought painted eggs, Easter cakes, Easter cakes and other products to the church to consecrate. And before in Easter night to go to the service, they left refreshments on the table, so that later they could break the fast. True, they ate little by little - only symbolically, after which they went to sleep. But late Sunday morning, a real feast began, which lasted all week.

Of course, all the preparatory work: cooking, painting eggs must be completed before Bright Sunday.

On Saturday, you can eat hot vegetable food once a day, but without oil.

Saturday is the end of preparations for Easter. We paint eggs, bake Easter cakes, if this could not be done on a clean Thursday.

Passion Week for believing Christians is a special period, not only the most difficult for the body, but also the brightest for the soul. Translated from the Church Slavonic language, "passions" mean "trials and sufferings."

Passion Week is dedicated to events in the dying days of Christ's earthly life: the Last Supper, betrayal, suffering, crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The Holy Week before Easter is popularly called Red and Pure Week.

DAYS OF HOLY WEEK

Each day of Holy Week begins with the name "Great", has its own grandeur and significance. Holy Monday reminds us of the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, as a prototype of the suffering of Jesus Christ. The curse of a barren fig tree is also recalled, symbolically showing the soul of a person without the fruits of faith, repentance and works of mercy.

THE BENEFITS OF THE FAST

The observance of the Orthodox fast gives a very great benefit to the human body. Some perceive it as a diet and suggest that it is only useful for people who are overweight. This is wrong. This post is helpful for everyone. Lean food mainly consists of cereals, fruits and vegetables that contain a lot of fiber. Such food, like a universal cleaner, rids the body of toxins and toxins, normalizes weight and makes the body healthier. AND one-day fasts well strengthen the body. Reducing the volume of the stomach during fasting reduces the need for food, especially since lean food very useful and nutritious. Fasting is good for the sick and the healthy, the thin and the fat.

There is an opinion that Orthodox posts difficult to observe, many expect hunger pangs. This is wrong. Those who try to fast are often surprised by the feeling of fullness without meat products. Nowadays, it is easy to prepare a lean meal with a variety thanks to a variety of recipes. Therefore, the question of what to eat on Holy Week does not cause a problem.

WHAT YOU CAN EAT DURING HOLY WEEK

All this week, a particularly strict fast is due for the sake of the Passion of Christ and for worthy preparation for the celebration of Easter. In the last 7 days of Lent, it is allowed to eat:

Vegetables and fruits in fresh, dried, dried or any other form
Mushrooms
Fish (only for the Annunciation, April 7)

It is forbidden to cook food, i.e. boil or fry them. Instead of thermally processed food, you need to eat raw vegetables and fruits. At the same time, dishes prepared from them should be without the addition of vegetable oil. Drinks also have their own restrictions: only teas and some infusions are allowed. Of course, alcohol is completely prohibited. On the days of Holy Week, one evening meal is allowed.

Of course, any organism, even with excellent health, you need to allow small concessions. Orthodoxy provides for a number of exceptions in the second half of Holy Week: starting from Thursday inclusive, Christians are allowed to take hot vegetable food cooked without adding oil. During this period, two meals a day are provided, including a small amount of red wine to maintain the strength of the body.

But such exceptions will need to be left on the day of Good Friday, which involves a complete abstinence from food. According to Scripture, Christ was crucified on this day. Therefore, Good Friday is a difficult day, not only in the physical plane because of complete failure from food, but also in the spiritual, when a true Christian deeply experiences this tragic and terrible event.

During Lent, it is allowed to eat fish only twice: on the Annunciation, April 7, and on Palm Sunday Exactly one week before Easter.

Great Monday

Cold food without oil (for example, sauerkraut with cranberries, salted mushrooms, bread). Any is allowed, including boiled plant food without oil.

Maundy Tuesday

Cold food without oil (mushroom caviar without oil, fresh cabbage and carrot salad with lemon juice, prunes).

Great Wednesday

Cold food without oil (cucumber, tomato and onion salad, bananas with oranges, olives).

Maundy Thursday

Cold food without oil (daikon with carrots and lemon juice, nuts, apples). Any vegetable food with vegetable oil is allowed.

Good Friday

By folk tradition On Good Friday, it is advisable to refuse food altogether.

Great, or Good Friday - on this day, a particularly strict fast is observed in memory of the day when Christ was sentenced to death and made his way of the cross to Golgotha. Until the shroud is taken out in temples (until about 4 p.m.) - food is not accepted. After - only raw vegetable food without oil or complete abstinence from food.

Holy Saturday

After the morning service, believers consecrate Easter cakes, Easter and eggs. Cold vegetable food without oil. Xerophagy.

Holy Sunday of Christ

The Easter service will take place on the night from Saturday to Sunday. After midnight you can break your fast. You have to start with Easter eggs, Easter cake and Easter, and only then proceed to the main meal, which includes meat, fish, dairy products, sweet desserts.