How to keep fast before Easter? How to properly observe Lent?

Fasting is a custom followed by a large part of the religious population in pious intentions. He provides for a non-permanent refusal of food and drinks and is associated with some spiritual activity. For Orthodox people, fasting is the period of the highest union with the Lord in the Confession of the Blessed Sacrament. How to keep fast? Immediately the question arises for beginners. Further, this article will tell about this.

What's the point

Its essence lies in the fact that a person himself first decides to lose a certain meal, fun and connections with the world so that his spirit will be free from sin. The real abstinence is not only infringement of oneself in food, but also a refusal of anger, bad speech, lies, fury and predilections. In the days of Lent, people try not to commit wrongdoing and not to depart from all the commandments of God in order to obtain forgiveness. Now, more on how to keep the post properly.

The length of the post

This abstinence lasts a lot - for seven weeks. How can fasting for so long? And still withstand it? Many, of course, ask such questions. However, any devout person must follow strict food requirements for about two months. During this period, any beginner can repeatedly try to finish the business started. But you can not abandon it.

Modern people perceive fasting as torture. But, only overcoming it, you can get power. Therefore, aiming at a favorable order and with a wonderful attitude, it is likely to endure the entire post.

The main conditions for how to keep fast

Let's understand. There are some rules how to fast before Easter. It is very important to understand that all prohibitions during abstinence are combined not only with food products. There are also other limitations in some life circles:

• No swearing, untruth, hostility, slander is allowed, since fasting is first and foremost the liberation of the soul, and not the abdomen before the festival;
• It is prohibited during the fasting period to go to night and entertainment establishments;
• You can not drink alcohol and energy drinks, various types of antidepressant drugs and smoking;
• But it is absolutely not necessary to renounce sexual relations, it is only by agreement of both partners;
• The strictest are the first and last weeks of abstinence, where there should be only one meal - dinner.

What products are banned

There is food that you can not eat in fasting. But how correctly to observe the Great Lent and at the same time fully eat? The answer is available. To begin with, you need to try to attach to this whole family - so it will be much easier to stick to all the routines. So, what products should you close your eyes on:

1. To unattainable food belong, first of all, meat and products from it. These are dumplings, steaks, cutlets, sausages, sausages (although there is almost no meat in them). Under the taboo will fall and rabbit, chicken, beef.
2. With eggs, too, will have to wait. True, how to keep the Easter fast, if it's customary to eat your favorite dish for breakfast - an omelette?
3. Adherents of dairy products, such as kefir, yoghurts and milk, will not be easy, since this category of products also appears under strict prohibition. This kind also includes creams, condensed milk, sour cream, cream and other dishes, in which there is even a minimum proportion of processed milk.
4. Many also think about how to fast without sunflower, cream and olive oil. This can further frighten those who are about to start fasting.
5. Probably, for the majority it will be just a shock that their favorite fish will not be present on the table either. Karpov, bream, carp and salmon on it should not be.

Horrified by such harsh rules, you can immediately imagine that the probability of consuming all the necessary products for such a long period is lost. But this is far from the case. In the menu are still vegetables, fruits, cereals, nuts and much more. Now about them in more detail.

How to keep fast with good foods

As it was said earlier, the most stringent requirements of the Great Lent affect the initial and final weeks. The middle of abstinence is also full of various difficulties and trials.

Only dry food is allowed (without the addition of different sauces and oils), which can be eaten during the first, fourth, and seventh weeks. All foods lying on the table in these weeks, should be consumed in a cold or at room temperature. On other days, you can comfortably eat boiled vegetables, as well as other products cooked for a couple.

Good Friday is allowed only to eat dry food.

On Saturday, just before Easter, you can eat boiled food.

For all seven weeks on weekends, fish are allowed to eat. But it should be ordinary, that is, dwell in local lakes, not imported.

Without breaking the fast, it is necessary to develop your own schedule - to eat food clearly at the appointed hours. And you need not forget to drink some water in any volumes.

Permissible and inadmissible drinks

How to observe the Great Lent without violating the order of consumption of certain drinks? After all, teas, coffee, fruit drinks, juices, beer, vodka, wine and sour milk drinks are constantly drunk on the whole planet.

It is clear that milk and juice drinks, which include milk, can not be unequivocally.

About tea and coffee, there is the importance of abstinence. It is better to reduce their consumption by two days. Have a feeling that without them? Then it is necessary to overcome this dependence , and the fast is very suitable for this.

Unequivocally, all various jelly, juices, fruit drinks and compotes can be drunk, even necessary. Do not also ignore such useful for the body drinks, such as broth of wild rose and cranberry mors.

How to fast without alcohol? Here, as with coffee and tea, one is allowed to take them, others are required to restrain themselves. Church order allows laymen to drink grape wine on weekends.

Follow the post or not

Based on the above, any person will be able to decide on the solution of fasting. But how to observe the Great Lent, adhering to all the rules and not to give up this matter halfway? There is still need to know and remember that the strict adherence to the post is offered by the very temple of God only to monastic persons, and the laity must themselves decide to what extent they are prepared to abstain. The main thing is conscious restraint from pleasures. There are people who do not even watch TV shows of an entertaining nature. And that's why it is important to know not only about prohibitions, but also about the spiritual formative of fasting.

Based on these actions, one does not have to ask questions about what is required to eat in the post, and what to refuse, having established these restrictions independently and following the instructions of the church.

Who can not fast?

Abstinence is also a test of the weakness of the modern people. How to properly observe fasting, how not to violate its prohibitions? Many even do not want to delve into these issues, continuing to poison their body with harmful food, ruin their health with harmful habits. For any person there is a whole problem to remove from your diet chips, convenience foods, sweets and much more. But Lent is given to mankind for rethinking of important things in life.

Before the reception of the post, it is not superfluous to visit the doctor. Since people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and ulcers, it is harmful to change their food preferences to more strict ones.

Pregnant women, as well as those who have just given birth, should not fully adhere to a hard line. They should abstain from certain foods, but without harm to the baby.

Man must individually come to consciously intend to fast. And how to keep fasting before Easter, when to come to this and how to make this far from easy step to self-purification - everything will depend only on the believer himself.