Structured Fasting Practices During Great Lent
During the Great Lent, specific restrictions and principles governing food intake are established. In particular, the tradition observed before the fast begins (Forgiveness Sunday) includes a special limitation whereby forbidden foods – milk, butter, eggs, and even fish – are preemptively abandoned, symbolically preparing believers for the upcoming period of abstinence (quote from source link txt).Furthermore, the fast is divided into several degrees of abstinence depending on the day of the week and the severity of the restrictions. For example, during the first two days of the first week, complete abstinence from food is prescribed, while on the following days of the Quarantine (with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays), only one meal per day is allowed – usually consisting of bread, vegetables, or peas, but without the addition of butter and even without water. At the same time, on Saturdays and Sundays a more lenient regime is permitted – consumption of boiled food with butter twice a day is allowed (quote from source link txt).In addition, there are special rules for believers in poorer health: for instance, food is allowed on Tuesday evening during the first week, and certain relaxations are provided for the consumption of wine and fish. Specifically, wine is permitted only on days of church commemorations or during extended church services, while fish is allowed exclusively on festive days such as the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Palm Sunday (quote from source link txt).Thus, the restrictions and principles of diet during the Great Lent are carefully structured: they involve a gradual tightening and loosening of the rules depending on the phase of the fast, the health condition of the believers, and special church dates, reflecting the aim to combine spiritual abstinence with the preservation of health.Supporting citation(s):"The last Sunday before the start of the Great Lent is called Forgiveness Sunday, when believers ask each other for forgiveness. On this day, abstention from all other forbidden foods – milk, butter, eggs, and even fish – is decreed..." (source: link txt)"In the first two days of the first week, the strictest degree of fasting is established – in these days, complete abstinence from food is prescribed. On the remaining days of the Quarantine, except for Saturdays and Sundays, the Church establishes the second degree of abstinence – food is taken once, without butter, in the evening. On Saturdays and Sundays, the third degree of fasting is allowed, meaning the consumption of boiled food with butter, twice a day." (source: link txt)"For those in poorer health, it is permissible to consume food on Tuesday evening of the first week. On all other days of the Great Lent, except Saturdays and Sundays, only dry food is allowed, and only once a day – bread, vegetables, peas – without butter and water. Boiled food with fasting butter is permitted only on Saturdays and Sundays. Wine is allowed only on days of church commemorations... Fish – only on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Palm Sunday." (source: link txt)