Observing the Christmas fast for some believers is one of the most difficult, as it falls on New Year's holidays. How to eat on these days and can you give yourself relief? Let's look at this issue together. For an Orthodox Christian, as a rule, the main holiday is the holiday of the Nativity of Christ - the day when Jesus Christ was born. At the same time, the New Year fades into the background.
The observance of the Christmas fast, although it lasts forty days - begins on November 28 and ends on January 6 - is considered far from the most strict. As for food, there are few prohibitions. Most fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays is assumed to be dry eating. On Mondays, it is allowed to eat vegetable food, but no vegetable oil. And on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, it is allowed to eat plant foods with vegetable oil, as well as fish and wine.
Only in the last week before Christmas does the fast become stricter: Monday, Wednesday, Friday - dry eating; Tuesday, Thursday - vegetable food without vegetable oil; Saturday, Sunday - with vegetable oil. On Christmas Eve, before the holiday, many do not eat until the first star.
Our ancestors had no problems with fasting. They cooked a simple but satisfying and varied meal. They put prepared pickles on the table, cooked porridge and cabbage soup, baked pies with cabbage, mushrooms, and potatoes. They often feasted on pea or bean stew. Much more attention was paid to spiritual cleansing during the fast. At this time, it was customary to help the poor and disadvantaged, it was impossible to allow despondency.
The New Year's table, if this holiday is celebrated in the family, can also be fast, but at the same time interesting and varied. You can also afford wine or champagne, but everything should be in moderation.
Important church dates
November 26 - Memorial Day of St. John Chrysostom. Honored as one of the main Ecumenical hierarchs. Helps with any mental disorder.
Promotional video:
November 28 - January 6 - Nativity Fast. One of the four days of fasting, precedes the feast of the Nativity of Christ.
December 4 - Introduction to the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. Joachim and Anna brought their daughter Mary at the age of three to the temple of the Lord, where she lived until she was 12 years old.