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Orthodox typikon. Church charter on fasting

St. Basil's Cathedral

“A charter is needed so that you are tormented” ...

There is such a wonderful phrase in the post-Soviet army, however, it sounds tougher, but the meaning is clear. And, like many other military concepts (again, post-Soviet ones), it perfectly combines with church concepts. And even though the army charter and the liturgical charter are two big differences, we have one approach to them. It doesn’t matter what the meaning is and whether it exists, the main thing is to do it. Or don't. This is how comrade commanders, His Eminence Despots, with their fathers, deputies, deign and deign to be abbots. In general, it does not matter why kathismata should be read and the Songs of Scripture should be sung at Matins, the main thing is that they be read or sung. Well, they were either not read or sung in various options assembling the service "if the rector pleases." What is the meaning of this singing and reading? All long forgotten and no one cares. The main thing is to subtract and sing, because as it is written in the book, the rector said, the bishop blessed and, in general, “it’s supposed to be so.”

Given by whom? To whom? When?

Strange as it may seem, we will not find any Council that would order in the parishes to serve according to the monastic Typicon. Ah, yes. Directly on the first page of the Typicon (which is forgotten like a nightmare after passing the liturgy in the seminary) it is written that this book is not for your parish. And not even for the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. This is a book about worship in the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified in Palestine and it was written for the abbot and monks of this same Lavra. Not even next door. When it was written, the neighboring Palestinian monastery lived according to the Egyptian charter, but that one, 10 km. to the west, according to Roman. In general, this book is not for the parish. This book is for those who have gone to the monastery. And not urban with serving the poor. And not missionary with preaching to the Gentiles. No. To a monastery in the desert, where there is nothing else to do but pray. What for? The question is different. But his task from the very beginning is precisely to beg the monk until he loses consciousness. Literally. He came to the cell, slept for two hours, and again went to prayer for five hours. Again, I slept for two hours, and so the whole day ... And if the parish rite of worship remembered that people still needed to work and be with their families and do something else, then the monastery charter did not think about these people, due to their absence within the walls monastery. Like a class. On the other hand, the brethren of the monastery of St. Savva could not even think about how the two kliroshankas would serve the “statutory” all-night vigil, purely physically. Because there were, indeed, many monks there.

The parish charter left the church slowly. At first, during the iconoclasm, icon-venerating monks served secretly for the same lay people as they could. And they knew how "monastically". Then the Crusaders conquered Byzantium and replaced worship in the cities with Latin. In Russia, ordinary bishops were monks from Kiev Pechersk Lavra and carried with them the same Lavra service. And then the Mongols finished off the parish tradition in our country, cutting out the cities. In general, by the 13th century in Orthodoxy, a complete disaster happened with worship. What is called, "serve cannot be reduced." Because that book, according to which we all must serve, was written for monks who served 10-15 hours a day and it seems like it needs to be fulfilled, but it is clear that this is impossible to do. But spiritual education no, and no one remembers that it was once different and that it might not be the same at all. Therefore, they pretended that there was no problem at all, and each church began to solve it in its own way. There were three ways.

1. Polyphony. Here a reader reads kathisma, there another sings a canon, and if there are several priests in the temple, then each of them simultaneously serves one service in one of the limits. Therefore, the limits were made in the form of small temples (see Intercession Cathedral near the Kremlin). Minuses? Well, there is either a complete confusion in reading, or you can only be in one service (and you should - in all, in theory).

2. Serve in due time. Well, what kind of groom or state councilor will go to the temple for the midnight office or matins at 3 o'clock in the morning? So let the priests serve for themselves, for what the state pays them money, after all? And respectable, busy people will come to Mass and Vespers, if they deem it necessary. And everything would be fine, if not for vigils. Especially long statutory services, and even without breaks. By the way, they appear quite late and are very remotely connected with the night services of the first Christians. If related at all. In general, Empress Catherine II was carried out with a chair and a table with solitaire, but this did not help either. Because it was long and not very clear.

3. In general, worship began to be reduced. How? Its structure, origin and true meaning were poorly understood. From the word "no way". That is why they cut everything that came to hand and how it was necessary. However, what other choice was there? Here are kathismas, for example. Excerpts from the Psalms. Remove them? So there will be less Scripture in worship. Leave? So you have to chants in honor of the day or the saint to clean up. In the end, they came to a "compromise". We often pretend to read them. And we read one instead of two (often abbreviated). Or 1020 verses instead of all (as in MDA). And then we also shorten the canon, leaving one Song of Scripture from all, "My soul magnifies the Lord." It would seem that it is possible for the bishops to get together, to draw up a new order for reading the Psalter and the canon at divine services, but ... But then I must say that there is a problem with this. That our Typicon is not suitable for parishes. And not even because. that the parishes are bad and secular, but because it was not written for them. Instead of this…

Instead, the game of charter worship often begins. Such a competition "who cuts less". It must be said that it helps that the participants in this pop competition themselves have not read the Typicon, they do not know it and consider it “statutory”, for example, worship in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, or even the local diocesan monastery. They especially like to do this in Great Lent. At this point, almost everyone remembers that there is also Compline, and some even that the Midnight Office is not only for Easter. In general, a nightmare. Why? Well, if you read one for 4-6 hours without interruptions, as I have done more than once, you would understand. This game adds +100 to the reputation of the "elder", "zealot" and "anti-modernism", and that the service turns into torture, it's just "grace-un-grace". And do not ask why God does this and whether it pleases Him. Once the book says that you need ...

We will see a wonderful example this week. Canon Rev. Andrew of Crete. “There is no need to translate into Russian, anyway, people will not understand the meaning of this canon, if they do not know the Bible, they must teach it.” What is the result? As a result, the Bible is not better taught to people. Because it is more pleasant for people who say this to explain about “autocratic power”, “Russian world” and “the seal of the Antichrist”. And for the parishioners, the canon turns from a sermon-prayer on the themes of Scripture into a mantra, “God have mercy on me, have mercy on me.” Chanting of mantras (who tried it will confirm) is a fascinating process, causing an altered state of consciousness, trance and a special feeling of pleasure. Only the Bible is not about this, and the canon itself (no matter how you treat this example of true Greek verbosity with multiple repetitions of thoughts and plots) too. If you think about the meaning, why did St. Andrei, I would partly agree with these people, but I would not agree at all. Here at the same time. It would be better, and more useful, to read sermons on some topics of the canon than to read it entirely in the temple. For those who wish, there is no problem now to read it at home or listen to audio / video recordings, even in Russian, even in Slavic, even in Greek. Similarly, it would be better, I think, to read one psalm with explanation and translation than thirty, but somehow, in a hurry or throwing everything away. One Canto of Scripture instead of nine, but with an explanation. One song of the canon, but with a sermon on the life of the saint. Let's be honest now. We ourselves in the altar do not particularly listen to either the canon or the kathismas with the Six Psalms. And if we decide...

“Read slowly…” And it doesn't matter that she has to pick up the children from the kindergarten and cook dinner for her husband, who is not very religious. So we run. Who serves forty minutes, just to run, departed, put a cross in the magazine and went. Who seeks to "beg" everyone around. But has this service taught anyone anything? Did people actually pray on it, or did they “stand”? What's the difference. For the priests (“priests”), worship becomes either work or an idol, but it has ceased to be a means that would teach people, inspire them to think about the Bible, to live like a Christian. Therefore, it doesn’t matter to them that the service is incomprehensible to people or that in its current form it doesn’t need the laity at all (well, wait, if you’ve come), for us it becomes a repetition of words and rituals, or even turns into a “show” (bishop’s liturgy - the twelfth holiday and the Last Judgment in one bottle, only today - flying trikiriya).

And just do not say that we serve God in this way. God does not say this: “I want mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hos. 6:6) and “when praying, do not say too much, like pagans, for they think that in their verbosity they will be heard; do not be like them” (Matthew 6:7-8).

To the Glory of the True Orthodox Lord!
Chapter:
Russian Orthodox cuisine
Traditions, prayers, recipes
2nd page

How to eat in fasting
LENTEN HOLIDAYS
Russian Orthodox cuisine
Charter on fasting according to the Typicon

PRAYERS BEFORE AND AFTER TASTING FOOD

BEFORE TASTING
Our Father, Who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven and on earth. Give us our daily bread today; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. The eyes of all in Thee, O Lord, trust, and You give them food in good time, You open Your generous hand and fulfill every animal goodwill.

AFTER TASTING
We thank Thee, Christ our God, for Thou hast satisfied us with Thy earthly blessings; do not deprive us of Your Kingdom of Heaven, but as if in the midst of Your disciples, Thou hast come, Savior, give them peace, come to us and save us.

SECRET PRAYER BEFORE EATING FOOD FOR THE UNTEMPTABLE IN DIET
(prayer for weight loss)
I also pray to You, Lord, deliver me from satiety, voluptuousness and grant me in the peace of my soul to reverently accept Your generous gifts, so that by eating them, I will receive strengthening of my spiritual and bodily strength to serve You, Lord, in the little rest of my life on Earth.

Traditional thank you phrase:
"Angel to you for the meal!"

Jesus Christ, our Lord, did not bequeath to us fasting.
Churchmen borrowed fasts from Jewish Judaism, which arose and existed among the Jews in pre-Christian times, long before the holy Sermon of Christ, which laid the foundation for Christianity.

According to the good Christian tradition,
children and elders over 60 years of age are exempted from the hardships of fasting
(including ,
in old age, who sacredly believed in soul-saving truths
and baptized from a faithful communist-Leninist into a zealous pilgrimage candlestick
- for the mind is one, that the old, that the small).
After the completion of this baptism, the Lord completely deprived Russia of all His holy grace of God.

In total, there are more than 20 different Orthodox Churches in the world of Orthodox Christianity - autocephalous (headed by patriarchs) and autonomous (headed by bishops and metropolitans).
Among the Orthodox Churches of the world, the Russian Orthodox Church is traditionally ranked fifth.
The first and dominant among all the Orthodox Churches of the whole world is the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.
The Patriarch of Constantinople is the patriarch of all other patriarchs.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia is the locum tenens of God on earth.

In addition, now in Russian Federation There are many different Orthodox Churches.
And they all differ greatly in their holy church ritual and liturgical customs.

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC of the Moscow Patriarchate) is the one that since the revolution has always diligently cooperated with the authorities and competent authorities;

True Orthodox Church;

Apostolic Orthodox Church;

Russian Orthodox Church;

Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church;

The Russian Catacomb Church of True Orthodox Christians (the one that after 1917 did not cooperate with the Bolshevik authorities, therefore severely persecuted);

Two Russian Orthodox Churches of the Old Rite (Old Believer Churches - priestly and bespopovskaya);

Ancient Orthodox Pomeranian Church.

Therefore, when you say that you belong to the holy Orthodox faith, you always need to clarify - which Orthodox Church!

Orthodox church calendars fasts and holidays for the current year, see the traditions of multi-day and one-day Orthodox fasts.

LENTEN HOLIDAYS
Calendar of one-day posts

Wednesday - Day of remembrance of the betrayal of Christ by Judas

Friday - Day of Remembrance of the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ

Troparion to the Beheading of the Forerunner and Baptist John

Troparion, tone 2
The memory of the righteous with praises, but the testimony of the Lord is sufficient for you, Forerunner: you showed me truly and the most honest prophets, as if you were honored with the Preaching in jets of baptism. There, having suffered for the truth, rejoicing, you proclaimed the gospel to those who are in hell of God, manifesting the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and giving you great mercy.

Kontakion, tone 5
The forerunner of the glorious beheading, watching was some kind of Divine, and even those who are in hell preach the coming of the Savior; Yes, and sobs Herodia, having asked for an unlawful murder: not the law of God, nor love the living age, but feigned, temporary.

magnificence
We magnify thee, John the Baptist of the Savior, and honor all your honorable heads of beheading.

TROPARIUM TO THE EXALATION OF THE HONEST AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS OF THE LORD

Troparion, tone 1
Save, O Lord, Thy people and bless Thy inheritance, granting victory to the opposition, and Thy keeping Thy Cross living.

Kontakion, tone 4
Ascended to the Cross by your will, to your namesake new residence, grant Your bounty, Christ God; rejoice us in Your strength, giving us victories for adversaries, Your help to those who have Yours, the weapon of the world, an invincible victory.

magnificence
We magnify Thee, Life-Giver Christ, and honor Your Holy Cross, by which Thou hast saved us from the work of the enemy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fasting as the most important foundation of spiritual life was established by God immediately after the creation of Adam and Eve, when he commanded the first people not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Since then, fasting has been the main means of limiting the human self, a way that removes from sin and leads to life in the law of the Lord.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko wrote: “Fasting means taking care of the salvation of one’s soul, seeking freedom for one’s spirit, striving after the angels; and not to fast means to be like the dumb, who do not know fasting, to be cold to prayer and to cleansing one’s soul from lusts.

For human spirit fasting is a real spiritual school. Fasting is the spiritual soil that is capable of growing a rich spiritual field. Those who start fasting for the first time need to remember that a physical fast without a spiritual one is a useless exercise.

Physical fasting is, first of all, abstinence in food, alcohol, sleep, in the sexual life of a person, etc. A reasonably implemented physical fast in conjunction with the spiritual leads to a complete renewal of the human body.

What is spiritual fasting? According to the definition of a modern theologian, this is, first of all, a prayerful aspiration to God, a prayerful feat performed by a person... and replacing it with a truly human attitude towards people is the path of spiritual self-deepening, an honest analysis of oneself in the face of God, repentance and reconciliation with God ”(Father Dmitry Konstantinov).

In the 17th century, which we know as the time of the heyday of Holy Russia, according to the testimony of the Archdeacon of Antioch, Pavel of Aleppo, Russian people fasted daily until 2-3 pm. In addition, all annual fasts, as well as Wednesdays and Fridays, were observed very strictly. According to the Church Charter, there are more fast days per year than fast days, but, despite this, our believing ancestors also attached special personal fasts to them, which amazed the imagination of even Orthodox foreigners.

In the Charter on fasting, there are indications of strict fasts (without food or on one bread and water), dry eating (uncooked food), boiling (boiled food), permission to eat vegetable oil, fish and wine.

Since ancient times, the Orthodox Church has established three one-day fasts. The first is Epiphany Christmas Eve (eve of Theophany), on the eve of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the second - on the day of the beheading of John the Baptist; the third - on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. One-day fasts also include weekly fasts. fast days: Wednesday - in remembrance of the betrayal of Christ by Judas and Friday - for the sake of the suffering on the cross and the death of the Savior. Exceptions are continuous weeks (weeks) and Christmas time.

Epiphany Christmas Eve ends winter Christmas time. On the eve of Epiphany, Christians consider it their duty to visit the temple. Now, as in ancient times, eating fish on the eve of the Epiphany is a great sin, oil is not eaten. If the eve happens on Saturday or Sunday, then instead of once (after the blessing of the water), it is allowed to eat twice: after the liturgy and after the blessing of the water. Indispensable dishes on Christmas Eve are kutia and fruit broth (uzvar).

On the day of the beheading of John the Baptist, the Church, for the sake of the temperate life of the saint, established a fast, so they do not eat fish. In the old days, the people called this rite Ivan Lenten.

Abstinence in food on this day sometimes went to extremes: they were careful not to eat anything round, such as cabbage. The Church considers such a precaution to be superstition. By establishing this fast, the Church instills in the faithful the abhorrence of gluttony combined with the slaughter of animals.

On the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, according to the Charter, “we will not dare to touch cheese and eggs and fish, since the veneration of the Cross consists in the mortification of the flesh.”

The basis of nutrition during fasts is bread, cereals, kvass, mushrooms, honey, fruits and fruit drinks, vegetables, pickles, marinades, fermentations, nuts. Moderate - meat, eggs, dairy products - are excluded from the menu.

The charter of the Church teaches what should be abstained from during fasts - "all pious fasting must strictly observe the charters on the quality of food, that is, abstain in fasting from certain brushes [that is, food, food. - Ed. SC], not as bad ( let this not happen), but as from indecent fasting and forbidden by the Church.

Brasnas, from which, in the opinion of the Church, should be abstained during fasts, are: meat, cheese, butter, milk, eggs, and sometimes fish, depending on the difference in holy fasts.

The rules of abstinence prescribed by the Church during the Nativity Fast are just as strict as the Peter's Fast.
In addition, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the Nativity Fast, fish, wine and oil are forbidden by the charter and it is allowed to eat food without oil (dry eating) only after Vespers.
On the other days - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday - it is allowed to eat food with vegetable oil.
Fish during Advent is allowed on Saturdays and Sundays and great holidays, for example, on the feast of the Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God, on temple holidays and on the days of the great saints, if these days fall on a Tuesday or Thursday.
If the holidays fall on Wednesday or Friday, then fasting is allowed only for wine and oil.

From December 20 to December 25 (old style), fasting is intensified, and these days, even on Saturday and Sunday, the fish is not blessed.
Meanwhile, it is on these days that the celebration of the civil New Year falls, and we, Orthodox Christians, need to be especially collected so that we do not violate the severity of fasting with fun, drinking wine and eating food.

Christmas fast is sometimes called cereal. The mistress of the table at this time is porridge.

Porridge is one of the oldest dishes of mankind.
There is an opinion that bread came from porridge - thick, overcooked porridge was the prototype of unleavened cakes.
Gradually, the cereals for such a cake began to be crushed, and flour appeared, and with it - unleavened bread.

In Russia, porridge was one of the most important dishes.
However, porridge in Ancient Russia was called not only cereal dishes, but in general all dishes cooked from crushed products.
Ancient sources mention bread porridge cooked from crackers, fish porridge, etc.

Porridge was cooked from millet, oats, barley, buckwheat and other cereals. The most revered porridge in Russia was buckwheat.

While fasting bodily, at the same time we need to fast spiritually. "Fasting, brethren, bodily, let us fast also spiritually, let us resolve every union of unrighteousness," commanded the Holy Church.

Bodily fasting, without spiritual fasting, brings nothing for the salvation of the soul, on the contrary, it can be spiritually harmful if a person, abstaining from food, is imbued with the consciousness of his own superiority from the consciousness that he is fasting.
True fasting is associated with prayer, repentance, abstinence from passions and vices, the eradication of evil deeds, forgiveness of offenses, abstinence from married life, with the exclusion of entertainment and entertainment events, and the strict exclusion of viewing programs from the central television channels of Russian television.

Fasting is not a goal, but a means - a means to humble your flesh and cleanse yourself from sins.
Without prayer and repentance, fasting becomes just a diet.

The essence of fasting is expressed in the following church song: “Fasting from fasts, my soul, and not being cleansed of passions, we console ourselves in vain by non-eating: for if fasting does not bring you correction, then you will be hated by God as false, and become like evil demons, never eat."

1. Introduction

Many holy fathers spoke about the importance of fasting in the spiritual life. “The soul is humbled by nothing more than if someone is temperate in food,” testified Abba Pimen. And the Monk John of the Ladder devoted a special stage of his spiritual “Ladder” to fasting, where he noted that “the head of demons is the fallen denier, and the head of the passions is gluttony.”

Of course, Orthodox post never seen as an end in itself. He, according to the Holy Fathers, is a means for true spiritual life, an aid in the struggle against passions and on the path to communion with God. “Abstinence is necessary so that, after pacifying the flesh with fasting, it is easier to enter into battle with other passions,” Abba Serapion instructed.

Bodily fasting must always be paired with spiritual self-restraint, primarily in passions, sinful desires, and lusts. “There is a bodily fast when the womb fasts from food and drink; there is spiritual fasting when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds, and words… Physical fasting is useful for us, but spiritual fasting is indispensable, so that bodily fasting is nothing without it,” wrote St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.

However, the importance of bodily continence was recognized by all ascetics, from the reverends of the ancient monastic patericons to the elders of the twentieth century.

At the same time, the Orthodox Church over the centuries has developed fairly clear rules and recommendations regarding the order and quality of food necessary for the successful completion of the feat of bodily abstinence. These institutions are indicated in the Typicon and Triodion. At the same time, on the one hand, the number of meals per day is limited, on the other hand, the time of the first eating of food, and, finally, the quality of food. In some cases, the entire volume and composition of the meal is clearly specified.

It should be noted that the Orthodox charter is not divided into monastic and secular and is mandatory for all faithful children. Orthodox Church. Only pregnant and lactating women, children, and seriously ill people are exempted from bodily fasting.

However, it should be borne in mind that the charter was nevertheless formed in the monasteries and mainly for the monastic community. Moreover, he was guided by countries with a hot climate. Even St. John Chrysostom, while in exile in the far north of the Roman Empire, noted that for the northern monasteries he founded, it was necessary to adjust the charter on fasting, taking into account the more severe climate and hard physical labor that the brethren had to endure.

The birthplace of the modern Church liturgical and disciplinary charter is the Palestinian monasteries, primarily the monastery of Savva the Sanctified near Jerusalem; also, as a rule, the tradition of Mount Athos is reflected in the Typicon. Often these two traditions are cited in parallel as equally possible and acceptable.

Perhaps the requirements of modern civilized man Orthodox charter seem unbearable, but even the very knowledge of what was considered ordinary and normal for a pious Christian in former times will allow us, if not to imitate the ancient laborers, then at least to soberly assess our own measure of abstinence and ascetic feat and thus acquire humility.

2. General provisions of the Orthodox charter on the meal

The Orthodox Charter does not require more than 2 meals a day. The first meal is usually served after the Divine Liturgy, i.e. around noon, and the second - after vespers, i.e. in the evening. If only one meal is laid, then it is usually offered at the 9th hour of Byzantine time.

There is a tradition of roughly translating this system into modern clocks, when the 1st hour of the day according to the Typicon corresponds to 6 o'clock in the morning in our understanding, and the 1st hour of the night corresponds to our 6 o'clock in the evening (18.00). We will adhere to this generally accepted tradition, indicating the approximate time when it is necessary to have a meal according to the Typicon.

With regard to food quality, one can distinguish the following types of meals(listed in ascending order of severity):

Permission "for the whole" or "at the meal of the brethren, consolation is great." No restrictions (only non-tasting of meat by monastics in all cases is preserved)
Abstinence only from meat, all other products are allowed (this happens for the laity only on the cheese week - i.e. butter)
Abstinence from meat, eggs and dairy products, but fish is allowed (and, of course, hot plant foods, vegetable oil, wine)
Abstinence from meat, eggs, milk and fish. Hot vegetable food is allowed - "boiling" (ie, heat-treated - boiled, baked, etc.) with vegetable oil and wine.
Abstinence also from vegetable oil and wine. Hot food without oil is allowed.
Xerophagy. “Bread and water and the like” is allowed (Chapter 35), i.e. raw, dried or soaked vegetables, fruits (in the Typicon, for example: raisins, olives, nuts (Chapter 36), figs, i.e. figs) - “one every day” (chapter 36), i.e. every time one of these.
Complete abstinence from food and drink is what the Typicon actually calls the word “fasting”.

Naturally, a less strict establishment allows everything that is possible with a more strict fast. That is, for example, if, according to the charter, fish is prescribed, then of course you can eat vegetable oil, and if dairy products are allowed, then you can also eat fish.

Wine in the Byzantine tradition was consumed everywhere, mostly diluted with hot water, and was considered a natural component of an ordinary meal. This explains the rather frequent permission for the use of wine in the charter of the meal. Naturally, we are talking only about natural grape wine without the addition of alcohol or sugar. The measure of wine is stipulated very clearly: from 1 to 3 krasovuls (i.e. bowls). The charter also notes that “praise to a monk, if you do not drink wine” (chapter 35), i.e. that abstaining from wine, even in those days when it is permitted by the charter, is highly laudable.

The order of the meal, especially during the Christmas and Petrov fasts, is closely related to the category, i.e. degree of holidays. From the point of view of the rules of fasting, the following three categories of church holidays are important: I - vigils, II - polyeleos and with doxology, III - small ones.

In the Typicon, the general order of the Meal is described in chapter 35. Additions and clarifications about the meal on holidays and during fasts are given in chapters: 32,33,34,36, as well as in the month itself (chapter 48), where instructions are made regarding the Christmas Fasting and the order of the meal on specific holidays. There are also instructions about the meal in chapters 49 and 50 - “On the Forty Day” and “On Pentecost” and 51 “The Beginning of the Fast of the Glorious and All-Praised Apostles (Peter and Paul)”. We will try to harmonize all these instructions into a common system.

3. The order of the meal outside of long fasts.

In non-fasting times and in non-fasting days, i.e. in addition to Wednesday, heel (and in monasteries Monday also belongs to fast days), it is supposed to eat twice a day without restriction as food.

On Sundays and the Twelfth Feasts of the Lord, three meals are served for lunch, and two for dinner. On other non-fasting days - two dishes for lunch, one for dinner.

Dishes for lunch and dinner are supposed to be the same. Typicon does not allow cooking specifically for the evening meal. However, the evening meal is supposed to be eaten warm.

Wine relies on a meal only on Sundays and holidays. On other, even non-fasting days, its use without special need or infirmity is forbidden.

Wednesday and Friday(in monasteries, Monday is also equated to them) - once a day “at the 9th hour” (about 15.00). According to the 69th canon of the Holy Apostles, to which the Typicon refers, fasting on Wednesday and Friday throughout the year is equated with Great Lent. This means that it is supposed to eat dry food once a day, "except infirmity and a holiday" (chapter 33).

For the violation of this fast, as well as Great Lent, the layman is subject to excommunication from Communion for a while, while the priest is deposed from the priesthood.

Holidays Post Wednesdays and Fridays relaxed as follows:

If on Wednesday or Friday (in the monastery - and on Monday) the feast of the Nativity of Christ or Theophany falls, then the fast is canceled, two meals are eaten without limiting the quality of food.

If on the same days the Twelve Feasts of the Theotokos fall (Nativity of the Theotokos, Assumption, Candlemas) or the great Sts. App. Peter and Paul, the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Intercession, vigilant saints, then two meals a day are supplied and eating fish is allowed. Fasting for dairy and meat food is saved.

If a middle feast falls on fasting days (polyeleos and with doxology), then two meals are served, and dry food is laid on the first, and boiled food with oil in the evening.

On minor holidays that fall on Wednesday or Friday (in the monastery - and Monday), the Typicon appoints to eat one meal at the 9th hour (15.00), but allows, "when the trouble of the soul is not seen", to eat boiled food without oil or even with oil (chapter 36).

During periods of long fasting, relief on the Twelfth and Great Feasts is specifically stipulated, namely:

On the Feasts of the Transfiguration, Entrance and Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem (which always fall during fasting), on any day of the week we allow fish, wine and oil, supplying two meals (chapter 33). Those. the rule is the same as on the great holidays that fell on Wednesday or Friday.

On the Feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Beheading of John the Baptist (great, but fasting holidays), it is supposed to eat twice, allowing for wine and oil, but without fish.

On the Annunciation, which almost always falls on Great Lent, the charter of the meal depends not only on the day of the week, but also on which part of Great Lent it will fall on. We will talk about this holiday in the next chapter.

4. Meal during Lent

The Orthodox Church has established four long Lent - one for each season. Each of them prepares a Christian for one of the most important Church Holidays and each has a different dedication.

The oldest, longest, strictest and most important Lent is the Great Lent. It is a preparation for the meeting of Holy Week and Easter of Christ.

Great Lent is offered to us in the spring and, according to the testimony of Church Tradition recorded in the Divine Liturgy, is itself a “spiritual spring” to the renewal of our spiritual feelings and pious thoughts.

Great Lent lasts 49 days. In the Typicon it is called "Holy Forty Day", and the very name emphasizes the special grace of these days. The name "Fourteen" is from the Church Slavonic numeral "fourty", i.e. "forty" is not accidental.

Lent itself lasts exactly 40 days, since the twelfth feasts of the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem are excluded from the total number of 49, on which fasting is relaxed and in the language of the Typicon can no longer be called a fast in the strict sense, as well as 6 days of Holy Week, which form a special Liturgical and ascetic cycle - Lent of Holy Week.

The Second Lord's Fast is winter, Christmas. It is also long - lasts 40 days, and is a preparation for the second most important Gospel event after the Resurrection of Christ - Christmas.

Third Post - autumn, Assumption. dedicated Mother of God and prepares us for the main feast of the Mother of God - the feast of the Assumption. It is the shortest, lasting only 14 days, but in terms of severity it is equal to Great Lent.

Fourth Post - summer, Petrovsky. This is an apostolic post, which is dedicated to the labors and deeds of the holy Apostles, who brought to us and to all peoples the Light of the faith of Christ. It ends with the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Historically, it was intended for those who violated or for some reason could not withstand Great Lent. And later extended to all Christians. The length of this Lent varies from year to year, because it depends on Easter. It begins on the Monday after All Saints' Week and ends on June 29/July 12. Accordingly, its duration varies from 11 to 42 days.

In different Fasts, the charter of the meal is different, so we will talk about each Fast separately.

5. Great Lent

Great Lent begins on Cheese Week (Maslyanitsa). The charter assumes from Cheese (meat-free) Monday abstention from meat, while all other food is allowed. And this week is solid. This means that dairy products and eggs can also be consumed on Wednesday and Friday.

With regard to the number of meals on all days, except for Wednesday and Friday, two meals are laid. On Wednesday and Friday, one meal is laid in the evening "at the 9th hour" (chapter 35), i.e. around 15.00.

On Cheesefare Week (Forgiveness Sunday), a conspiracy is performed. Two meals are laid and “at Vespers there is consolation to the brethren at the meal” (sheet 407, p. 823)

First week of Great Lent according to the Charter, the most strict in relation to the meal.

The charter offers two options for fasting this week - the main (Palestinian) and Athos.

The first rank suggests the following meal order:

In the special chapter of the Typicon dedicated to Great Lent (chapter 32), the first rite (of the Palestine monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified) is given, but a little more about the first three days. Namely, for those who cannot endure complete abstinence from food and drink during the first two days of Great Lent, as well as for the elderly, “bread and kvass” is allowed on Tuesday after Vespers (i.e. after the 9th hour day according to Byzantine time, which roughly corresponds to from 14.00 to 15.00). On Wednesday, at the meal, “warm bread and warm vegetable meals are blessed, and dill (that is, a hot infusion or decoction of herbs or berries, fruits) with honey is given.”

The second rank of Athos suggests the following:

Saturday of the First Week the number of meals in the Typicon is not specifically specified. Instructions are given for only one meal, the second is not mentioned. However, the general structure of the Divine Liturgy appoints the first meal in the afternoon, after the Liturgy, which presupposes the presence of an evening meal. The absence of special instructions means that the general principle previously formulated applies, namely, that the second meal is in all respects similar to the first. This principle of "default action" is in principle characteristic of the Typicon.

With regard to the quality of food, on the Sabbath of the First Week, boiled food with vegetable oil and wine is allowed. Boiled legumes, olives and olives are recommended at the meal, “we eat beans scalded with white and black olives, and boiled (i.e. boiled hot food) with oil. We drink wine according to krasovul ”(sheet 425ob, p. 858).

On the First Week of Great Lent, i.e. on Sunday, the charter definitely appoints two meals with boiled hot food, vegetable oil and wine - two bowls each. The same rule applies to all other Sundays of Great Lent.

In other weeks The Typicon (Chapter 32) prescribes on weekdays (from Monday to Friday) to abstain from food and drink until evening, which means eating at the 9th hour of the day, i.e. around 15.00, and eat dry food once a day. On Saturdays and Sundays, eat boiled food with vegetable oil and wine twice a day. (Although the number of meals on Saturday is not directly stated, but the whole structure of the Divine Services on Saturdays, as well as on Sundays, assumes the first meal after the Liturgy in the afternoon, which means that the evening meal is laid. When the Typicon prescribes one meal a day, it is served after Vespers at the 9th hour).

Fish for Lent allowed only twice - on the Feasts of the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem ( Palm Sunday).

On the Feast of the Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist, which happened in Great Lent, there is one meal after Vespers, but it offers two dishes of hot boiled food with oil and wine. If it falls on Wednesday or Friday, then two dishes of boiled food without oil; wine is allowed.

On the feast of the Annunciation(on the eve of the holiday), if it falls before Lazarus Saturday, boiled food with wine and oil is allowed. If on Holy Week, then fasting will not be relaxed. There is one meal.

The self Feast of the Annunciation, if it does not fall on Saturday or Sunday, one meal is also laid, but eating fish is allowed. However, if the Annunciation falls on Holy Week, the fish is no longer eaten. On Great Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, if the Annunciation happens, wine and oil are allowed (one meal is supposed). If the Annunciation falls on Great Heel, only wine is allowed.

On Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent (Standing of St. Mary of Egypt), one meal is served at the 9th hour (about 15.00) - boiled food with oil and wine "labor for the sake of vigil" (p. 882). Some statutes allow only wine, and oil is not allowed (ibid.)

On Friday of the same week (before the feast of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos), the wine "Labor for the Vigilant Who Wants to Be" is allowed (p. 883). The meal is supposed to be one at the 9th hour.

The charter of Holy Mount Athos allows two meals at a meal and the tasting of wine and oil, not only on the feast of the Finding of the head of St. John the Baptist (regardless of the day of the week), but also for the memory of 40 MCH. Sebastian, On Wednesday of the Cross (on the middle of Lent), on Thursday and Friday of the fifth week (on the Standing of St. Mary of Egypt and on the Praise of the Mother of God).

On Lazarus Saturday in addition to boiled food with oil and wine, fish caviar “asche imams” is allowed, i.e. if possible, three ongi (i.e. 100 gr.)

On the Feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem(Palm Sunday) “consolation at the meal” - fish is supposed to. As on other Sundays, two meals are laid, and permission for wine and oil is naturally preserved.

On Holy Week Typicon in the first three days, i.e. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, he prescribes dry eating, while indicating: “as it is on the 1st week of this holy Lent, on these days, on Great Monday, on Tuesday and on Wednesday it is fitting to fast” (Chapter 49, p. 902) .

There is an obvious contradiction here, since for the First Week, complete abstinence was prescribed for the first two days, and on Wednesday “warm vegetable meals” were allowed, i.e. boiled food. It is also not entirely logical to particularly emphasize the severity of these days, while all the weekdays of Great Lent the Typicon in another chapter appointed the same dry diet (chapter 35). Let's try to clarify this contradiction.

On the one hand, the Typicon often repeats information in different places with slight variations, so perhaps this is just such a case. On the other hand, it can be assumed that this case we are dealing with the fixation of different statutes, which is also characteristic of the Typicon. One of them is more strict, prescribes dry eating during the weekdays of the entire Lent. Another suggests dry eating only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, like other Fasts, and on Tuesday and Thursday it still suggested boiled food, although once a day and without oil. Those. similar to the Dormition Fast, which is indirectly confirmed by the phrase in the Typicon, which equates the Dormition Fast to the Great.

On Maundy Thursday, food is eaten after Vespers, connected with the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, i.e. once a day, in the evening. The beginning of the Vespers Typikon appoints at the 8th hour of the day (i.e. from 14.00), respectively, its end will be at the tenth hour, i.e. around 15.30-16.00 hours.

Regarding the quality of food on Maundy Thursday, the Typikon gives three ranks:

According to the usual (Palestinian) order, one dish is laid, but boiled food with vegetable oil is allowed.

According to the Studian statute, “eat the same brew, and juicy, and the bean is scalded, and we drink wine” (p. 912), i.e. one boiled dish is supposed, but supplemented with sochi (any porridge) and legumes; oil is silent in this statute, i.e. Apparently it's not allowed.

According to the charter of the Holy Mount Athos, two boiled dishes with oil and wine are laid.

On Great Heel, a complete fast is prescribed, that is, complete abstinence from food and drink. “If anyone is very weak or old,” i.e. very old in age, and cannot bear a full fast, “bread and water are given to him after the setting of the sun” (p. 920).

On Great Saturday "at the 2nd hour of the night", i.e. around 19.00, the only meal is supposed. “He gives the brethren a single loaf of bread, half a liter of loaves, and 6 figs or dates, and one measure of a cup of wine. And where there is no wine, the brethren drink kvass from honey or from zhit. The studio charter is also cited, prescribing the same thing: “eat nothing like this, but bread and vegetables and little wine” (p. 929)

Those who break Great Lent even by eating fish, except for the prescribed two Holidays, the Typikon forbids Communion on Holy Pascha and prescribes two more weeks of repentance (chapter 32).

The post of St. Apostles:

Typikon gives two ranks, close, but not identical. According to the first (chapter 34):

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, one meal is laid at the 9th hour (15.00), dry eating.

On Tuesday and Thursday boiled food with oil and wine is laid. Regarding the number of meals, it is not directly stated, but according to the general logic of the text (from the opposition to Monday, Wednesday and Friday), one can conclude that two meals were eaten. This is also confirmed by the fact that in the next chapter, devoted to the Dormition Fast, the need to fast until 9 o'clock in the afternoon (that is, until 15.00) and, accordingly, eat once a day on all days of the week is specifically stipulated.

Fishing is allowed on Saturday and Sunday. Regarding the number of meals, it is not directly stated, however, the Typikon directly prohibits fasting as complete abstinence on Saturdays and Sundays, therefore it is obvious that two meals are laid - in the afternoon and in the evening (for example, see about Christmas Eve of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany: “on Saturday or the week of fasting does not happen” (p. 351, chapter 48, December 25)).

If at the same time on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday there will be a memory of a polyeleic saint or a saint “with doxology” (middle holiday), then fish is allowed on these days. On Monday, there are also two meals a day, like Tuesday or Thursday.

If the memory of such a saint (middle feast) falls on Wednesday or Friday, then only wine and oil are allowed. The meal is supplied one per day.

If on Wednesday or Friday there is a memory of a vigilant saint or a patronal feast, then fish is allowed. Regarding the number of meals, the Typicon is again silent, but according to the general logic, one meal was specially stipulated when permitting fish, so it is logical to assume that on such holidays it is supposed to eat two meals a day.

Another rank (chapter 35 and 51 in part) suggests the following:

On Tuesday and Thursday, eat one dish of boiled food without oil once a day at about 15.00. Also, at the meal, “other dry food” is supplied, i.e. raw and soaked vegetables and fruits.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, dry eating “bread and water and the like” is prescribed, once a day.

On Saturday and Sunday - two meals of boiled food with oil and fish. Two meals.

Regarding the relaxation of fasting on holidays, the second rank does not give special instructions that differ from those given above.

Thus, there are only a few differences between the two ranks. The first involves eating two meals with oil and wine on Tuesday and Thursday, and the second blesses eating once a day and without oil, unless a feast happens. All other provisions of the two ranks of the Petrov post are similar.

6. Dormition Fast

On weekdays, except Saturday and Sunday, one meal is served at the 9th hour (15.00). On Monday, Wednesday and Friday - dry food, on Tuesday and Thursday - boiled food without vegetable oil. On Saturday and Sunday - two meals with vegetable oil and wine. Fish is allowed only for the Transfiguration.

7. Advent Post

According to the Typicon, its charter is in all respects similar to the charter on the fast of Sts. App. Peter and Paul.

When committing the so-called. "alleluium service", i.e. a purely Lenten service, similar to the Lenten rite, when the celebration of the Liturgy is not supposed, it is supposed to eat dry food at the 9th hour (chapter 48, November 14). On the first day of both the Christmas and Peter's fasts, unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, such a service is recommended. On other days of these fasts, when the memory of the minor saints is celebrated, the choice is left to the rector.

Typikon appoints public holidays when a polyeleic or vigil feast is celebrated and two meals, wine and oil are laid on the following dates: November 16, 25 and 30, and December 4, 5, 6, 9, 17, 20 according to Art. style. Feasts in honor of Russian saints are also added to these days.

With the beginning of the Prefeast of Christmas, i.e. from December 21, according to the old style, fish permits are canceled even for Saturdays and Sundays.

On Christmas Eve and Epiphany, fasting is laid, i.e. abstinence from food and drink until evening. Food is laid boiled with oil once a day after Vespers, i.e. not earlier than 9 o'clock (15.00).

If these days fall on Saturday and Sunday, so that there is no fasting as a complete abstinence on Saturday or Sunday, it is necessary after the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, performed at the 6th hour (until 12.00), to taste little” (Chapter 48, December 25, p. 352). After Vespers, “we eat completely, but we don’t eat fish, but with wood oil (that is, with vegetable oil), and scalded sochivo or kutia with honey; we also drink wine, but in poor countries we drink beer (drinking home-made - kvass, homemade wine, beer, etc.) ”

8. Meal on Pentecost

In the Bright Week, “we allow: monks for cheese and eggs and fish, but for the whole world” (chapter 32, p. 86)

During Pentecost, i.e. from the Week of Antipascha to Trinity on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, two meals are laid: the first is dry eating, the second is “more perfect than eating” (chapter 32), i.e. boiled food with oil. Some also allow fish (chapter 33). Undoubtedly, the fish is laid on the Feasts of Mid-Pentecost and Passover.

From Trinity to All Saints Week - permission for everything, including Wednesday and Friday.

9. Conclusion

The lives of the venerable fathers often describe marvelous deeds of fasting that surpass human understanding. Some holy fathers did not eat the whole Great Lent, others fasted until the 9th hour daily and ate food once a day without being satisfied, and still others did not eat not only milk, but even fish all their lives, and they put oil on the table - only once a year, at Easter. Examples of such fasting can be found even in the biographies of Athos elders of the 19th-20th centuries.

Therefore, it seems very useful to recognize one's weakness in the feat of fasting, comparing the customs of Orthodox fasting generally accepted today and the recommendations of the Church Charter. And also, with the blessing of the spiritual fathers, to diversify the personal fasting feat, accepting as a rule at least one or another separate requirement of the charter for a certain period of time.

10. REFERENCE APPENDIX

Some ancient food names and ancient measures used in the Typicon

CAULIFLOWER AND CARROT SALAD

Ingredients :
300 g cauliflower, 4 carrots, 1 fresh cucumber, 1/2 lemon, 4 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt, dill.

Cooking

Scald cabbage with boiling water, finely chop, combine with carrots, grated on a coarse grater, finely chopped cucumber, salt, put in a salad bowl, season with a mixture of vegetable oil, lemon juice and chopped dill.

BEANS SALAD

Boil the peeled beans in unsalted water (they should be soft and keep their shape) and cool.
Add boiled carrots, celery, greens (all this must be crumbled beforehand).
Pour a mixture of mustard, salt, vegetable oil, vinegar or citric acid (lemon juice) and mix.

BEANS PATE

Mix pre-peeled and boiled beans with fried onions, add vegetable oil, salt, pepper, spicy lovers can drop vinegar or citric acid.
Sprinkle with finely chopped savory, parsley and dill, mix well and refrigerate.

BEET CAVIAR

Ingredients :
100 g beets, 50 g pickles, 1 clove of garlic, 15 g onions, 5 g vegetable oil, vinegar, salt.

Cooking

Wash the unpeeled beets, boil, cool and peel. Pickled cucumbers are peeled and seeds are removed. Lightly fry the onion in vegetable oil. Peel the garlic.
Pass all prepared vegetables through a meat grinder, season with salt, pepper, vegetable oil, vinegar and mix well.

MUSHROOM CAVIAR

I. Soak two cups of dry mushrooms in water for 6-13 hours, rinse, boil in a small amount of water, pass through a meat grinder. Finely chop the onion and fry in vegetable oil until light brown. Mix mushrooms with onions, add salt, vinegar, sugar and mushroom broth to taste.
II. Boil dry mushrooms as above and mix them with mushroom broth, salt, black pepper, crushed garlic and mayonnaise.

CAVIAR FROM BAKED EGGLANTS
IN EKATERINODARSKI

Ingredients :
600 g eggplant, 1 onion, 2-3 tomatoes, salt, pepper, vegetable oil, lemon juice.

Cooking

Bake a few eggplants in the oven until soft, remove the skin, grind the pulp with a wooden spoon, add finely chopped onion and fried in vegetable oil, ripe tomatoes, diced, salt, pepper, vegetable oil and lemon juice or vinegar - to taste.
Mix everything thoroughly so that the caviar is not liquid.
Lay in a bowl on a plate, take out to the cold.
When completely cold, serve.

CABBAGE WITH ONIONS

Ingredients :
150 g sauerkraut. 30 g pickled cucumbers, 30 g onions, 20 g sugar, 12 g vegetable oil, 10 g cranberries, greens.

Cooking

Sort sauerkraut, chop large pieces. Chop the onion, pour over the cabbage brine, heat almost to a boil and cool.
Add onions to the cabbage, mix, season with sugar, pour over with oil, put in a salad bowl, and put sliced pickles on top, garnish with cranberries and sprinkle with herbs.

CABBAGE WITH APPLES

Ingredients :
125 g sauerkraut, 75 g apples, 10 g sugar, 25 g vegetable oil, 10 g herbs, 10 g cranberries.

Cooking

Sort the sauerkraut, squeeze out the brine. Peel apples, cut into slices and put in brine so that they do not darken.
Mix prepared apples with cabbage, season with sugar, pour over with oil, transfer to a salad bowl, garnish with cranberries and sprinkle with herbs.

CABBAGE WITH NUT SAUCE

Ingredients :
1 medium white cabbage, 2 onions, a few cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup shelled walnuts, pepper, salt, herbs to taste.

Cooking

Cut a medium-sized head of cabbage and boil in salted water. Then put it in a thin layer on a baking sheet, and put something heavy on top.
An hour later, season the cabbage with crushed nuts, garlic, chopped onions, herbs, black pepper.

APPETITE APPETITE FROM BEET HOLMS

Ingredients :
beet greens, 10–15 walnuts, 1–2 cloves of garlic, 2 onions, 1 bunch of dill, red pepper, salt, cilantro, wine vinegar.

Cooking

Pour beet tops with a small amount of water and cook for 30-40 minutes, then put in a colander, squeeze and cut. Pound walnut kernels in a mortar and add garlic, salt, a little red pepper and a couple of sprigs of cilantro, previously ground together. Chop onion and dill.
Mix everything and season with wine vinegar.
Instead of beet tops, you can use radish tops, only it needs to be boiled for 15-20 minutes. Cauliflower leaves (broccoli, kohlrabi) are also suitable, but you need to take those that are softer (they grow closer to the head, in the upper part of the plant).

BEET BASKETS WITH MUSHROOMS

Boil the beets in water with vinegar until tender, peel and pick out the middle with a spoon to make a basket. Put the filling in the baskets and bake in a baking sheet in a heated oven.
For the filling, pass dry boiled mushrooms through a meat grinder, fry together with onions and add boiled rice, salt and pepper.
Instead of dry mushrooms, you can use salted mushrooms, but they must first be soaked for 1-2 hours.
You can make the filling differently: fry the onion in vegetable oil, add tomato paste, chopped beet pulp, finely chopped salted or pickled mushrooms, salt, pepper to taste.

BORSCH LEAN

Boil the beets, peel and cut into strips.
Soak dry mushrooms in cold water for 3-4 hours, squeeze and strain the broth. Mushrooms cut into slices, fry in vegetable oil. Finely chop the carrots and fry in vegetable oil with finely chopped onions (without color change), add tomato puree or peeled tomatoes and heat for 5-10 minutes.
Boil the soaked prunes, remove the stones and cut into slices.
Put chopped fresh cabbage into boiling mushroom broth, boil for 10-15 minutes, add fried mushrooms, carrots, roots, prunes and bring to readiness, seasoning with vinegar, sugar and salt to taste.

BOTVINA LENT

Sort the sorrel, let it go, adding a little water. Do the same with spinach separately.
Rub the sorrel and spinach through a sieve, cool the puree, dilute with kvass, add sugar, lemon zest and refrigerate.
Pour the botvinia on plates, adding slices of boiled or smoked fish to each.

LENTEN BORSCHOK

Ingredients :
4-5 potatoes, 1/4 head of cabbage, 1 beetroot, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of flour, 1 tbsp. spoon of salt, 1 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste, peppercorns, white roots, 1-2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, herbs.

Cooking

In boiling water, lower the potatoes cut into cubes, chopped cabbage and boil for 15 minutes.
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, sauté flour in it, add chopped onions, carrots, beets, white roots, tomato paste, salt, pepper and lightly fry.
Then pour in 1 glass of water, boil over low heat so that there are no lumps and, having combined with borscht, cook for 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle the finished borscht with chopped or dried herbs.

BORSCH LENTEN HUTSUL

Ingredients :
270 g potatoes, 250 g fresh white cabbage, 150 g beets, 25 g dried mushrooms, 50 g beans. 100 g carrots, 50 g parsley root, 10 g sugar. 10 g flour, ground black pepper, salt to taste, 2 liters of water and mushroom broth, tomato paste, vinegar.

Cooking

Peel and chop fresh white cabbage. Cut peeled carrots, parsley and onion into strips and sauté. Sort the dried mushrooms, rinse well, boil and also cut into strips.
Boil beans previously sorted and soaked in cold boiled water in the same water until tender. Put peeled and chopped potatoes into boiling water, bring to a boil, then add shredded cabbage and cook for 15-20 minutes.
After that, put boiled, chopped mushrooms along with broth, boiled beans stewed in sunflower oil with tomato, sugar and vinegar, beets, sautéed carrots, parsley and onions, sautéed flour in vegetable oil, season with salt, black pepper and cook for 5-7 minutes.

CHI LENTENING

Ingredients :
500 g sauerkraut, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 tbsp. spoon of tomato paste, 2 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil, 1 Bay leaf, 5-7 black peppercorns. 2 tbsp. tablespoons of flour, salt, sugar to taste, parsley and celery.

Cooking

Rinse sauerkraut, squeeze and cut into smaller pieces. Saute in vegetable oil for 10-15 minutes. Add water and simmer covered for about an hour over low heat.
Transfer to a saucepan, add browned carrots, onions, tomato paste, water.
Put pepper, bay leaf, salt, sugar, season with flour fried in vegetable oil, and boil for 10 minutes.
Serve sprinkled with herbs.

BEANS SOUP

Ingredients :
1.5-2 liters of water, 300 g of dry beans, 2-3 medium-sized potatoes, 1 large onion, 1 carrot, parsley, savory, dill, salt, pepper to taste.

Cooking

Boil the peeled beans until tender. Add parsley, savory, dill, peeled and chopped potatoes.
Then saute onions and carrots in vegetable oil. Fill soup. Put salt and pepper to taste.

SOUP-PUREE PEA (lean)

Ingredients :
1 cup shelled peas. 1 onion, 1 parsley root, 1 tbsp. spoon of vegetable oil, 1/2 tbsp. tablespoons of wheat flour, salt, pepper to taste.

Cooking

Pour peas into a saucepan, pour water and put to boil, adding a little water from time to time. Cut the parsley, onion and lightly fry in vegetable oil, add a little flour and keep on fire.
Rub boiled peas through a colander, mix with vegetables; dilute with boiled water to the density, which is necessary, add salt, pepper and boil.
Ready soup served with croutons.

PEA SOUP WITH MUSHROOMS

Boil dried mushrooms, pre-soaked, in the same water, pour boiled peas into the broth and boil.
Before removing the soup from the heat, season it with onions and carrots fried in vegetable oil, do not forget to add salt.

LENTENING DUMPLINGS WITH MONASTERY MUSHROOMS

Soak dried mushrooms in water until they are soaked (1.5–2 hours). Then finely chop them and fry them in vegetable oil. Salt and sprinkle with pepper.
Chop a few onions, fry separately in vegetable oil and put in the same place.
Mix this mass and, when it is completely fried, make ordinary dumplings from unleavened dough.
Boil water in a saucepan, dip dumplings into it, and when they float, take them out with a slotted spoon and pour vegetable oil with fried onions.

BAKED POTATOES

I. Wash the potatoes well, put them on a sheet and bake in the oven.
II. Wash the potatoes well, wrap in foil, place on a wire rack and bake in the oven.
III. Pour salt into a frying pan or baking sheet with sides, put well-washed and dried potatoes in it and bake it in the oven.
IV. Peel the potatoes, rinse, dry, roll in rye flour mixed with salt, lay on a metal sheet and bake in the oven. When serving, pour vegetable oil with fried onions.

ZRAZY POTATO

Ingredients :
500 g raw grated potatoes, 500 g boiled potatoes (mashed), 0.5–1 cup wheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Cooking

Mix raw grated potatoes and mashed potatoes, add flour, knead the dough, roll it into a layer, cut into squares or rectangles, spread the filling (carrot, onion, mushroom, pumpkin) on them.
Form pies and fry in the oven on a baking sheet, greased with oil, or in a pan with vegetable oil.

POTATO Dumplings with GRINS

Ingredients :
12 potatoes, 1 cup barley groats, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, 3 onions, dill.

Cooking

Peel raw potatoes, grate, squeeze juice. Add the settled starch to the potato mass.
Cook porridge from barley groats.
Mix porridge with potatoes, add salt, mix, make round dumplings and boil in salted water.
Serve dumplings sprinkled with butter-fried onion and dill.

BEANS WITH POTATOES

Ingredients :
1 cup beans, 500 g potatoes, 2 onions. 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 tbsp. spoons of tomato puree, salt, pepper to taste.

Cooking

Boil beans and potatoes separately.
Cut the potatoes into slices, fry, mix with beans, add finely chopped, fried onions, tomato puree, salt, pepper, mix again, cover the pan with a lid and put it in the oven over low heat.

SOLYANKA FROM CUCUMBERS

Large, overgrown cucumbers are more suitable for this dish. After peeling them from the skin and removing the seeds, finely chop, put in a pan and, stirring, simmer until the liquid has evaporated.
Then transfer the cucumber mass to a bowl with thick walls. Separately, in vegetable oil, sauté onions and carrots with tomatoes.
Then combine them with cucumbers, add salt, pepper, herbs and simmer for another 15 minutes.

YERALASH FROM VEGETABLES

Line the bottom and walls of a clay or ceramic pot with cabbage leaves. Lay any vegetables in layers: chopped white cabbage, small cauliflower buds, sliced \u200b\u200bcarrots, turnips, tomatoes, turnips, celery, etc. - everything that is at hand.
In this case, do not salt the vegetables in any case.
Cover the pot with a lid, cover the edges with dough (or make a lid from the dough) and put in a heated oven for 1 hour.
Serve with vegetable oil and salt.

SAUTED VEGETABLE WITH PASTA

Ingredients :
200 g of pasta, 2 onions, 2 tomatoes, 2 eggplants, 1 bell pepper, 1 bunch of dill, salt, pepper to taste.

Cooking

Boil macaroni. Cut the onion into rings and fry until golden brown. Finely chop eggplant, tomatoes and peppers, combine with onions and simmer for 40 minutes.
Then put the boiled pasta and mix everything. Salt, pepper.
Sprinkle with dill before serving.

VERMICHEL WITH APPLES

Ingredients :
180 g vermicelli, 4 apples, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt, sugar.

Cooking

Boil vermicelli in salted water, put in a colander and let the water drain.
Peel the apples, remove the core, cut into slices and lightly fry in vegetable oil.
Then add the vermicelli, with constant stirring, bring to readiness, sprinkle with sugar.

BAKED PUMPKIN

Cut a small pumpkin (no more than 1 kg) across, remove the seeds and part of the pulp. Grind the pulp, mix with finely chopped onions, boiled rice, season with salt, pepper, you can add crushed garlic (no more than 1 clove) and fill the pumpkin halves with this stuffing.
Place them on a greased baking sheet, drizzle with vegetable oil and bake until tender in a heated oven.
Drizzle with onion sauce while cooking.

CARROT STEW

Ingredients :
1 kg of carrots, 2 teaspoons of wheat flour, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, 250 g of dried fruits, salt.

Cooking

Peel the carrots, cut into circles or slices, put in a saucepan, half-fill with water, salt, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of oil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Season the carrots with flour mixed with the rest of the butter and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
You can cook stewed carrots with prunes, dried apricots, and other dried fruits. In this case, first boil the carrots until half cooked and combine with washed dried fruits, season with flour and butter and simmer until tender.

Eggplant Straw

Cut the eggplant into strips, fry in vegetable oil and transfer to a bowl. Separately, fry the onion, add tomato sauce, 3-4 cloves of garlic, bay leaf, 3-4 tbsp. tablespoons of water, salt and lay out the straw.
Simmer until liquid evaporates.
Sprinkle the finished dish with grated garlic and mix.

AUPLANT SCHNITZELS

Bake small eggplants, peel and cut lengthwise. Salt, lightly squeeze, roll in flour or breadcrumbs, fry in well-heated vegetable oil.
When serving, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and dill.

ONION SAUCE

Ingredients :
1 st. a spoonful of flour, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 onion, vegetable broth, salt.

Cooking

Mix the flour with an equal amount of vegetable oil and sauté until light brown. Dilute with vegetable broth (beetroot, carrot) and cook for 10 minutes at a low boil.
Finely chopped onion fry in vegetable oil and transfer to the sauce.
Add salt to taste.

LENTENING SAUCE FROM FRESH VEGETABLES

Ingredients :
150 g carrots, 20 g parsley root, 150 g kohlrabi, 75 g onions, 300 g green peas, 100 g sunflower oil, 2.5 liters of water, salt, parsley.

Cooking

In a saucepan in hot sunflower oil, simmer finely chopped onions until half cooked, add chopped carrots, kohlrabi, parsley root, pour a little water, salt and simmer until the vegetables are soft.
Top up with warm water (depending on the number of servings).
At the end of cooking, add canned green peas and finely chopped parsley.

PIE WITH ONION FILLING

Ingredients :
For the dough: 800 g wheat flour, 30 g yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cups water.
For the filling: 8 onions, 3/4 cup vegetable oil.

Cooking

Knead the dough from flour, yeast, water and salt and let it rise.
Roll out 5 very thin round cakes, bake them, layer them with finely chopped onion and fried in vegetable oil and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

Does the great Jewish-biblical Lord let into His rich Paradise to taste in it the inexpressible heavenly bliss of His God-chosen Jewish prophets and holy Apostles any foreigners who do not belong to the God-chosen Jewish people, and, often, Jews beloved by the Lord and not at all revered? - This theological issue has not been reliably resolved by anyone.
Although no one forbids anyone to believe in such unrealizable Jewish happiness for foreigners. That's what holy faith is for, so that the laity believe in all sorts of church notions.

Of course, the Hebrew-Biblical Lord does not have any reasonable grounds to spoil the eternal paradise life His God-chosen Jewish righteous the presence in Paradise of all alien persons of non-God's chosen non-Jewish origin.
For the great Jewish-biblical God in His holy Paradise does not need national strife introduced by foreigners.
Unless, of course, the Lord divided His Hebrew-Biblical God's Paradise into some parts with insurmountable walls between them, so that foreigners would not penetrate into Paradise to the Jews and interfere with their eating holy Jewish God's grace.
But there is no evidence of such a division of the Lord's Paradise into parts.

Some saints who communicate with God testify that over the Gates of the rich and happy Jewish-Biblical Paradise, the wise Lord, in order to firmly admonish those who are hungry to get there, placed a red-decorated inscription, shining with gold and precious stones:
“BEFORE THESE HOLY GATES, LEAVE HOPE EVERYONE, FOR THE SINS OF THE ANCESTORS CREATED BY A FOREIGNER”.
Past the vigilant Apostle Peter standing at the gates of Paradise, no foreigner will slip into the blessed Jewish Paradise.

Therefore, in the holy Russian hopes for the mercy of the Jewish-Biblical God, not everything is as simple as many non-Jewish believers would like.
It is easier for a camel to crawl through the eye of a needle than for a non-Jew to get into the rich Jewish-Biblical Paradise.
For the great Jewish-Biblical Lord Himself firmly defends His God-chosen Jewish righteous living in Paradise from alien foreign influences.
As it is reasonably said in Holy Russia, I would be glad to Jewish Paradise, but nationality does not let.

For blessed, soul-saving church assurances for gullible parishioners are one thing, but God's inexpressible holy reality is quite another. And they will never get together.

In the steppe, covered with mortal dust,
The man sat and cried.
And the Creator of the Universe walked by.
Stopping, he said:
"I am a friend of the downtrodden and the poor,
I save all the poor
I know many sacred words.
I am your God. I can do everything.
Your sad look saddens me,
What misfortune are you pressing?
And the man said: "I am Russian",
And God wept with him.

Other revelations and spiritual advice of St. see father Vasily on other pages.

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http://leushino.ru/kurs/ustav_o_poste_po_tipikonu.html
or
http://azbyka.ru/dictionary/15/ustav-o-poste-po-tipikony.shtml#p5
Great Lent .

On Cheesefare Week (Forgiveness Sunday), a conspiracy is performed. Two meals are laid and “at Vespers there is consolation to the brethren at the meal” (sheet 407, p. 823)

First week of Great Lent according to the Charter, the most strict in relation to the meal.

The charter offers two options for fasting this week - the main (Palestinian) and Athos.

The first rank suggests the following meal order:

The second rank of Athos suggests the following:

Fish for Lent allowed only twice - on the Feasts of the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday).

On Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent (Standing of St. Mary of Egypt), one meal is laid at the 9th hour (about 15.00) - boiled food with oil and wine "labor for the sake of vigil" (p. 882). Some statutes allow only wine, and oil is not allowed (ibid.)

On Lazarus Saturday in addition to boiled food with oil and wine, fish caviar “asche imams” is allowed, i.e. if possible, three ongi (i.e. 100 gr.)

On the one hand, the Typicon often repeats information in different places with slight variations, so perhaps this is just such a case. But on the other hand, it can be assumed that in this case we are dealing with the fixation of different charters, which is also characteristic of the Typicon. One of them is more strict, prescribes dry eating during the weekdays of the entire Lent. Another suggests dry eating only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, like other Fasts, and on Tuesday and Thursday it still suggested boiled food, although once a day and without oil. Those. similar to the Dormition Fast, which is indirectly confirmed by the phrase in the Typicon, which equates the Dormition Fast to the Great.

Regarding the quality of food on Maundy Thursday, the Typikon gives three ranks:

According to the usual (Palestinian) order, one dish is laid, but boiled food with vegetable oil is allowed.

According to the charter of the Holy Mount Athos, two boiled dishes with oil and wine are laid.

Those who break Great Lent even by eating fish, except for the prescribed two Holidays, the Typikon forbids Communion on Holy Pascha and prescribes two more weeks of repentance (chapter 32).
http://azbyka.ru/dictionary/15/ustav-o-poste-po-tipikony.shtml#p5

Typicon

http://azbyka.ru/dictionary/18/tipikon-all.shtml

Cm. Explanatory Typicon Mikhail Skaballanovich

Typicon- (Greek Τυπικόν from τύπος, "sample, type, norm")

1) Liturgical Charter Orthodox Church.

In the Orthodox Church, three Statutes have spread: the Statute of the Great Church of Constantinople, the Studion Rite and the Jerusalem Rite.

At present, the Jerusalem Statute, adopted in the edition of 1695 (under Patriarch Adrian), is in force in the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Jerusalem Charter is named after the location of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified (439-539) near Jerusalem. Its Charter of St. Savva called three words at once: Τύπος κα παράδοσις και νόμος ("Pattern, tradition and law"). From the 13th century one word τυπικόν already appears in the titles of the manuscripts, without explanation. “The immobility, immutability and fidelity of antiquity in the daily service, we can recognize as the first feature of this rule in relation to the daily service, a feature that is valuable in this area and contributed to the predominance of the Jerusalem Rule over the Studian.

Another equally advantageous (from the Christian-ascetic point of view) feature of the Jerusalem Rule was the long duration church service according to him, depending on the greater proximity of this charter (and territorial) and fidelity to the traditions of ancient asceticism (a feature that was even more pronounced in the relatively greater severity of this charter in the Lenten regime); Most notably, this peculiarity in relation to the daily worship was reflected in the non-deleting service of the hours, which were not canceled for any holidays.

With regard to the most important daily services - Vespers and Matins - this feature of the Jerusalem Rule was manifested primarily in a greater number of kathismas: there were always one more of them at Matins than according to the Studian Rule, excluding great post, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, when the number of kathismas according to both charters was the same" (Mikhail Skaballanovich).

2) liturgical book , containing the liturgical charter, the calendar with Mark's chapters, connecting the movable and fixed annual liturgical circles, the rules on fasting, the rules of the monastic community and instructions on the celebration of temple holidays, meals and other aspects of church and monastic life.

The laity should remember that the full fulfillment of the instructions of the Typicon is the lot of monastics, while the laity can correspond to this ideal depending on age (physical and spiritual), marital status, etc.
A connoisseur of the Rule, Mikhail Skaballanovich, wrote about the Typicon: “A book with such a title wants not so much to legitimize its slightest details, eliminating any freedom of senders in it, but wants to draw a lofty ideal of worship, which, with its beauty, would evoke an everlasting involuntary desire for its implementation, to the fullest extent. may not always be possible, just as the realization of every ideal, the following of every lofty model.Such in essence is the whole law of Christ, which is completely unrealizable in all its heavenly heights, but with its divine majesty arouses an irresistible desire in humanity for its realization and through this life-giving world".
http://azbyka.ru/dictionary/18/tipikon-all.shtml

Why do different calendars have different fasting rules? Why do different priests advise different things? Maybe everyone can choose the degree of fasting?

1.

Fasting is essential in the spiritual life of a Christian. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself blessed the fasting of His disciples, saying: “The days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). All the holy fathers spoke about the need for fasting, from the reverends of the ancient monastic patericons to the elders of the 20th century.

2.

At the same time, in Orthodoxy, fasting has never been seen as an end in itself. According to the Holy Fathers, this is just an effective help in the fight against passions on the path to Communion with God. Therefore, bodily fasting should always be combined with spiritual self-restraint, primarily in sinful desires and habits, refraining from evil thoughts, deeds and words. According to the words of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, bodily fasting without spiritual fasting is nothing.

3.

For many centuries, the Orthodox Church has developed fairly clear rules and recommendations regarding the order of eating and its quality in order to help its children to adequately pass the feat of bodily abstinence. These establishments are indicated mainly in two books: the Typicon (liturgical charter of the Church, chapters 32, 33, 35, 38) and the Triodion (liturgical collection of the Church used in the period from the preparatory weeks for fasting to All Saints' Week).

4.

The rules of the Typicon and Triodion limit the number of meals per day, the time of the first eating of food, and, finally, its quality. In some cases, the entire volume and composition of the meal is fully prescribed.

5.

The Orthodox statute on fasting is not divided into monastic and secular and is mandatory for all faithful children of the Church: common terms and rules unite believers, confirm them in Orthodoxy, and preserve them from seduction into sectarianism.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that this charter of fasting, common to all (according to the Typicon), was formed in cenobitic monasteries and focused on countries with a hot climate. Even in the IV century. St. John Chrysostom, while in exile in the far north of the Roman Empire, noted that for the northern monasteries he founded, the charter on fasting needed to be adjusted, taking into account the more severe climate and hard physical labor that the brethren had to endure.

6.

The idea of the post is more important than the Charter. The differences that we find in the statutes of different monasteries, first of all, testify to the need to measure abstinence in food with the specific conditions of life.

The charter of the Holy Mount Athos allows monks to eat seafood (not fish) on Saturdays and Sundays: agriculture is not developed in this region of Greece, available plant foods (vegetables, wheat) are very scarce, but the sea is nearby.

The Solovetsky charter allows eating fish during Great Lent every Sunday and on the days of revered saints: in the north of Russia, Lent time falls at the end of winter, and large energy costs are required to maintain the desired body temperature.

7.

In the tradition of Russian monasteries, in the first days of Great Lent, there is no ordinary fraternal meal, but boiled potatoes “in their uniforms” always stand on the tables all day, sauerkraut, chopped onion, bread. Thus, each of the brothers determines for himself the degree of fasting: someone abstains completely and does not eat anything, someone eats at a later time, and someone reinforces his strength as needed.

8.

Today, believers learn about the rules of fasting through Orthodox calendars. They indicate the dates and dates of posts, as well as general rules their implementation. More detailed rules are given to the parishioners by the priest of the temple they go to, taking into account the peculiarities and traditions of a particular area, the instructions of the ruling bishop, and the individual circumstances of the life of the person who turns to him for advice.

9.

Variants of fasting, which are given in the calendars and in the personal recommendations of the priests, often differ from each other and from the Typicon. Both the authors of calendars and the clergy in their recommendations are guided by the generally accepted Charter, but at the same time they make an amendment to the fact that modern people live in conditions very different from those of the Palestinian monks for whom this Rule was written. For the vast majority of the laity, exact observance of the statutory instructions on fasting is beyond their strength.

10.

Such “polyphony” about the rules of fasting sometimes confuses believers. Some decide that in modern conditions, fasting is not at all necessary or impossible for them personally and refuse this most important means of spiritual self-improvement. Others, on the contrary, strive at all costs to observe the "letter" of the Law and fast strictly according to the rules of the Typicon - more precisely, according to their own understanding of these rules, which, due to the peculiarities of the language of the ancient text and other life realities, need to be interpreted by specialists.

11.

Most believers, however, recall the need for reasoning and following the middle royal path. They study the statutory instructions and their modern interpretations, correlate the clarified rules with their life circumstances (health, workload, the presence of additional care for loved ones, etc.), analyze their daily addictions, which formally do not fall under the fasting rules (for example , excessive love for sweets, for alcohol) and draw their own conclusions about what kind of fasting will be feasible and useful for them.

12.

Pious Christians must discuss the chosen measure of fasting with their confessor or a priest experienced in fasting in order to receive the blessing of the Church for their bodily feat through him.

The days of Advent are coming. As a priest, I am often asked how to fast. Surprisingly, the question is not so simple, because, on the one hand, there are strict instructions of the church charter, worked out by the holy fathers. On the other hand, there are our weaknesses, as well as the trends of the times. And it is up to you, a simple parish priest, to decide how to apply these rules in real life. But in order to make a decision, first you need to know these rules themselves, both for the priest and the laity.

Ekaterina Kovina, the clerk of our kliros, with my blessing, collected and summarized all the provisions of the Typicon regarding the practice of fasting. It turned out a little research, which I decided to post on my blog.

I immediately warn you and ask you not to be afraid of the strictness that is fixed in the church charter. This publication was made not so much as a call to fulfillment, but to realize how much we have deviated from what was previously considered the norm, and through this to acquire at least one, but the main virtue: humility in our weak post.

Introduction

Fasting is essential in the spiritual life of a Christian. The first commandment given by God to the paradise created by him was the commandment to fast. “Because we didn’t fast, we were thrown out of paradise! Therefore, let us fast in order to ascend to paradise again,” says St. Basil the Great. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself blessed the fasting of His disciples, saying: “The days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). Many holy fathers spoke about the importance of fasting in the spiritual life. “The soul is humbled by nothing more than if someone is temperate in food,” testified Abba Pimen. And the Monk John of the Ladder devoted a special stage of his spiritual “Ladder” to fasting, where he noted that “the head of demons is the fallen denier, and the head of the passions is gluttony.”

Of course, Orthodox fasting has never been seen as an end in itself. He, according to the Holy Fathers, is a means for true spiritual life, an aid in the struggle against passions and on the path to communion with God. “Abstinence is necessary so that, after pacifying the flesh with fasting, it is easier to enter into battle with other passions,” Abba Serapion instructed. Bodily fasting must always be paired with spiritual self-restraint, primarily in passions, sinful desires, and lusts. “There is a bodily fast when the womb fasts from food and drink; there is spiritual fasting when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds, and words… Physical fasting is useful for us, but spiritual fasting is indispensable, so that bodily fasting is nothing without it,” wrote St. Tikhon of Zadonsk.

However, the importance of bodily continence was recognized by all ascetics, from the reverends of the ancient monastic patericons to the elders of the twentieth century.

It should be noted that the Orthodox charter is not divided into monastic and secular and is mandatory for all faithful children of the Orthodox Church. Only pregnant and lactating women, children, and seriously ill people are exempted from bodily fasting.

It is possible that the requirements of the Orthodox statute will seem unbearable to a modern civilized person, but even the very knowledge of what was considered ordinary and normal for a pious Christian in former times will allow us, if not to imitate the ancient workers, then at least to soberly evaluate our own measure of abstinence and ascetic feat and thus acquire humility.

General provisions of the Orthodox charter on the meal

All time indications of the Typicon are based on the Byzantine principle of time calculation. This principle tied clocks to sunrise and sunset. Currently, he continues to operate on Mount Athos. According to the Byzantine clock, the time from sunrise to sunset was divided into 4 guards of the day, and also the time from sunset to sunrise into 4 guards of the night. Each guard consisted of 3 hours. Accordingly, the 1st hour of the day began at sunrise, and the 12th hour of the day ended at sunset. There is a tradition of roughly translating this system into modern clocks, when the 1st hour of the day according to the Typicon corresponds to 6 o'clock in the morning in our understanding, and the 1st hour of the night corresponds to our 6 o'clock in the evening (18.00). We will adhere to this generally accepted tradition, indicating the approximate time when it is necessary to have a meal according to the Typicon.

With regard to the quality of food, the following types of meals can be distinguished (given in order of increasing severity of fasting):

Permission "for the whole" or "at the meal of the brethren, consolation is great." No restrictions (only non-tasting of meat by monastics in all cases is preserved)

Abstinence only from meat, all other products are allowed (this happens for the laity only on the cheese week - i.e. butter)

Abstinence from meat, eggs and dairy products, but fish is allowed (and, of course, hot plant foods, vegetable oil, wine)

Abstinence from meat, eggs, milk and fish. Hot vegetable food is allowed - "boiling" (ie, heat-treated - boiled, baked, etc.) with vegetable oil and wine.

Abstinence also from vegetable oil and wine. Hot food without oil is allowed.

Xerophagy. “Bread and water and the like” is allowed (Chapter 35), i.e. raw, dried or soaked vegetables, fruits (in the Typicon, for example: raisins, olives, nuts (Chapter 36), figs, i.e. figs) - “one every day” (chapter 36), i.e. every time one of these.

Complete abstinence from food and drink is what the Typicon actually calls the word “fasting”.

Wine in the Byzantine tradition was consumed everywhere, mostly diluted with hot water, and was considered a natural component of an ordinary meal. This explains the rather frequent permission for the use of wine in the charter of the meal. Naturally, we are talking only about natural grape wine without the addition of alcohol or sugar. The measure of wine is specified very clearly: from 1 to 3 krasovul* (i.e. bowls). The charter also notes that “praise to a monk, if you do not drink wine” (chapter 35), i.e. that abstaining from wine, even in those days when it is permitted by the charter, is highly laudable.

II - polyeleos and with doxology,

III - small.

The order of the meal outside of long fasts.

In non-fasting times and on non-fasting days, i.e. in addition to Wednesday, heel (and in monasteries Monday also belongs to fast days), it is supposed to eat twice a day without restriction as food.

On Sundays and the Twelfth Feasts of the Lord, three meals are served for lunch, and two for dinner. On other non-fasting days - two dishes for lunch, one for dinner.

Dishes for lunch and dinner are supposed to be the same. Typicon does not allow cooking specifically for the evening meal. However, the evening meal is supposed to be eaten warm.

Wine relies on a meal only on Sundays and holidays. On other, even non-fasting days, its use without special need or infirmity is forbidden.

On Wednesday and Friday (in monasteries Monday is equated to them) - once a day "at the 9th hour" (about 15.00). According to the 69th canon of the Holy Apostles, to which the Typicon refers, fasting on Wednesday and Friday throughout the year is equated with Great Lent. This means that it is supposed to eat dry food once a day, "except infirmity and a holiday" (chapter 33).

For the violation of this fast, as well as Great Lent, the layman is subject to excommunication from Communion for a while, while the priest is deposed from the priesthood.

During the Holidays, Wednesday and Friday fasting is relaxed as follows:

If a middle feast falls on fasting days (polyeleos and with doxology), then two meals are served, and dry food is laid on the first, and boiled food with oil in the evening.

During periods of long fasting, relief on the Twelfth and Great Feasts is specifically stipulated, namely:

On the Feasts of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Beheading of John the Baptist (great, but fasting holidays), it is supposed to eat twice, allowing for wine and oil, but without fish.

Meal during Lent

The Orthodox Church has established four long Lent - one for each season. Each of them prepares a Christian for one of the most important Church Feasts, and each has a different dedication. The oldest, longest, strictest and most important Lent is the Great Lent. It is a preparation for the meeting of Holy Week and Easter of Christ. Great Lent is offered to us in the spring and, according to the testimony of Church Tradition recorded in the Divine Liturgy, is itself a “spiritual spring” to the renewal of our spiritual feelings and pious thoughts. Great Lent lasts 49 days. In the Typicon it is called "Holy Forty Day", and the very name emphasizes the special grace of these days. The name "Fourteen" is from the Church Slavonic numeral "fourty", i.e. "Forty" is no coincidence. Lent itself lasts exactly 40 days, since the twelfth feasts of the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem are excluded from the total number of 49, on which fasting is relaxed and in the language of the Typicon can no longer be called a fast in the strict sense, as well as 6 days of Holy Week, which form a special Liturgical and ascetic cycle - Lent of Holy Week.

The Second Lord's Fast is winter, Christmas. It is also long - lasts 40 days, and is a preparation for the second most important Gospel event after the Resurrection of Christ - Christmas.

Third Post - autumn, Assumption. It is dedicated to the Mother of God and prepares us for the main Mother of God feast - the feast of the Assumption. It is the shortest, lasting only 14 days, but in terms of severity it is equal to Great Lent.

Fourth Post - summer, Petrovsky. This is an apostolic post, which is dedicated to the labors and deeds of the holy Apostles, who brought to us and to all peoples the Light of the faith of Christ. It ends with the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Historically, it was intended for those who violated or for some reason could not withstand Great Lent. And later extended to all Christians. The length of this Lent varies from year to year, because it depends on Easter. It begins on the Monday after All Saints' Week and ends on June 29/July 12. Accordingly, its duration varies from 11 to 42 days.

In different Fasts, the charter of the meal is different, so we will talk about each Fast separately.

Great Post.

On Cheesefare Week (Forgiveness Sunday), a conspiracy is performed. Two meals are laid and “at Vespers there is consolation to the brethren at the meal” (sheet 407, p. 823)

The first week of Great Lent, according to the Rule, is the most strict in relation to the meal.

The charter offers two options for fasting this week - the main (Palestinian) and Athos.

The first rank suggests the following meal order:

Monday and Tuesday - complete abstinence from food and drink. (“We did not come to do the pre-sanctified, even until Wednesday, for the hedgehog to fast according to the tradition of the whole brotherhood.” Sheet 415, p. 839)

On Wednesday, one meal after Vespers and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. “We eat dry food: we drink and juice with honey” (sheet 423, p. 853).

On Thursday - complete abstinence from food and drink. “On the Thursday of that week, we do not supply a meal, but we remain fasting even to the heel” (sheet 423ob, p. 854)

On Friday, once a day, boiled food without oil is eaten. “We eat jam with plums without oil and armea *. Those who let themselves eat dry food, as if on Wednesday ”(sheet 424ob, p. 856). The Typicon also points to the tradition of the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, on this day, for the sake of the memory of St. Theodore Tyrone, drink wine and oil. However, this tradition is designated as rejected: “but we do not do this now for the honesty of the day” (Ibid.).

In the special chapter of the Typicon dedicated to Great Lent (chapter 32), the first rite (of the Palestine monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified) is given, but a little more about the first three days. Namely, for those who cannot endure complete abstinence from food and drink during the first two days of Great Lent, as well as for the elderly, “bread and kvass” is allowed on Tuesday after Vespers (i.e. after the 9th hour day according to Byzantine time, which roughly corresponds to from 14.00 to 15.00). On Wednesday, at the meal, “warm bread and warm vegetable meals are blessed, and dill * (i.e., a hot infusion or decoction of herbs or berries, fruits) with honey is given.”

The second rank of Athos suggests the following:

Monday - complete abstinence from food.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - eat once a day, in the evening one liter * of bread, you can with salt, and water. “The charter of the Holy Mountains on the first day does not at all command food. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, one liter * of bread and water is appropriate for eating, and nothing else, unless demanding salt with bread ”(sheet 415, p. 839)

On Friday - there is no separate indication, therefore, in the same way as the Palestinian charter prescribes (see above)

On Saturday of the First Week, the number of meals in the Typicon is not specifically stipulated. Instructions are given for only one meal, the second is not mentioned. However, the general structure of the Divine Liturgy appoints the first meal in the afternoon, after the Liturgy, which presupposes the presence of an evening meal. The absence of special instructions means that the general principle previously formulated applies, namely, that the second meal is in all respects similar to the first. This principle of "default action" is in principle characteristic of the Typicon.

With regard to the quality of food, on the Sabbath of the First Week, boiled food with vegetable oil and wine is allowed. Boiled legumes, olives and olives are recommended at the meal, “we eat beans scalded with white and black olives, and boiled * (i.e. boiled hot food) with oil. We drink wine according to krasovul * ”(sheet 425ob, p. 858).

On the First Week of Great Lent, i.e. on Sunday, the charter definitely appoints two meals with boiled hot food, vegetable oil and wine - two bowls each. The same rule applies to all other Sundays of Great Lent.

In other weeks, the Typicon (chapter 32) prescribes on weekdays (from Monday to Friday) to abstain from food and drink until evening, which means eating at the 9th hour of the day, i.e. around 15.00, and eat dry food once a day. On Saturdays and Sundays, eat boiled food with vegetable oil and wine twice a day. (Although the number of meals on Saturday is not directly stated, but the whole structure of the Divine Services on Saturdays, as well as on Sundays, assumes the first meal after the Liturgy in the afternoon, which means that the evening meal is laid. When the Typicon prescribes one meal a day, it is served after Vespers at the 9th hour).

Fish in Great Lent is allowed only twice - on the Feasts of the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday).

On the Feast of the Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist, which happened in Great Lent, one meal is laid after Vespers, but it offers two dishes of hot boiled food with oil and wine. If it falls on Wednesday or Friday, then two dishes of boiled food without oil; wine is allowed.

On the feast of the Annunciation (on the eve of the holiday), if it falls before Lazarus Saturday, boiled food with wine and oil is allowed. If on Holy Week, then fasting will not be relaxed. There is one meal.

On the Feast of the Annunciation itself, if it does not fall on Saturday or Sunday, one meal is also laid, but eating fish is allowed. However, if the Annunciation falls on Holy Week, the fish is no longer eaten. On Great Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, if the Annunciation happens, wine and oil are allowed (one meal is supposed). If the Annunciation falls on Great Heel, only wine is allowed.

On Lazarus Saturday, in addition to boiled food with oil and wine, fish caviar “asche imams” is allowed, i.e. if possible, three ongii * (i.e. 100 gr.)

On the Feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) "at the table of consolation" - fish is supposed. As on other Sundays, two meals are laid, and permission for wine and oil is naturally preserved.

On Holy Week Typicon in the first three days, i.e. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, he prescribes dry eating, while indicating: “as it is on the 1st week of this holy Lent, on these days, on Great Monday, on Tuesday and on Wednesday it is fitting to fast” (Chapter 49, p. 902) .

Regarding the quality of food on Maundy Thursday, the Typikon gives three ranks:

According to the usual (Palestinian) order, one dish is laid, but boiled food with vegetable oil is allowed.

According to the Studian statute, “eat the same brew, and juicy, and the bean is scalded, and we drink wine” (p. 912), i.e. one boiled dish is supposed, but supplemented with sochi* (any porridge) and legumes; oil is silent in this statute, i.e. Apparently it's not allowed.

According to the charter of the Holy Mount Athos, two boiled dishes with oil and wine are laid.

On Great Saturday "at the 2nd hour of the night", i.e. around 19.00, the only meal is supposed. “He gives the brethren a single loaf of bread, half a liter * loaves and 6 figs or dates, and one measure of a cup of wine. And where there is no wine, the brethren drink kvass from honey or from zhit. The studio charter is also cited, prescribing the same thing: “eat nothing like this, but bread and vegetables and little wine” (p. 929)

Those who break Great Lent even by eating fish, except for the prescribed two Holidays, the Typikon forbids Communion on Holy Pascha and prescribes two more weeks of repentance (chapter 32).

The post of St. Apostles: