Fasting calendar. Orthodox church calendar. Meals in Lent

In 2017, Great Lent lasts 49 days. Its name is also known as "Holy Forty Day". This name emphasizes the special grace of these days. It also reflects that Great Lent itself lasts exactly 40 days. From the total number of 49, the feasts of the Annunciation and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Saturday and Sunday) are excluded, on which fasting is relaxed, which means that it can no longer be called fasting in the strict sense. 6 days of Holy Week are also not considered, since they form a special liturgical and ascetic cycle - the Fast of Holy Week.

Lent in 2017 day by day

• 1st week - from February 26 (evening) to March 4, 2017
• 2nd week - from March 5 to March 11, 2017
• 3rd week - from March 12 to March 18, 2017
• 4th week - from March 19 to March 25, 2017
• 5th week - from March 26 to April 1, 2017
• 6th week - from April 2 to April 8, 2017
• Holy Week - from April 9 to April 15, 2017

Why is it necessary to refrain from eating while fasting?

Now every year there are more and more people who want to join the sacrament of fasting. And very often beginners have a question: why are food restrictions imposed during fasting, how can this affect the state and purification of the soul?

Very often, it is Great Lent that is chosen as the first test in the feat of abstinence, probably attracting with its significance. But you need to think about church fasting only if you already have some spiritual experience. Today, many people who are drawn to faith decide to enter the Christian life by starting to fast, and especially during Great Lent. At the same time, they do not go to the temple and do not read prayers, and from such a fast one continuous diet is obtained. Fasting has meaning as abstinence both in bodily pleasures and in spiritual entertainment, and the essence of fasting is not in abstinence itself as a fact, but in showing through this one’s obedience to the Church and expressing fidelity to Christ, preparing one’s soul for a meeting with the living God.

Having decided to fast, every Christian must clearly understand its goals and objectives. Fasting serves to focus on serving God, renouncing worldly problems and worries, to cleanse your soul from sinful filth. An important, although by no means the only component of fasting, are dietary restrictions. Why is this needed? What does abstinence in food have to do with the spiritual state of a Christian during the period of fasting? The answer is simple enough. During the period of fasting, we must show our love for God to the maximum, but love, as you know, is learned from deeds, and if we want to love God, we must limit ourselves in what removes us from Him. Both in worldly life and in spiritual life, if we set ourselves some kind of goal, then we have to sacrifice something. Those who do not want to sacrifice anything are left with nothing, not only do they not acquire anything worthwhile, but also lose what they had. Restrictions in nutrition and act as one of these victims, the most simple, understandable and accessible. But one should not approach the concept of fasting only from gastronomic positions. There are people who already have a tendency to the restrictions imposed by fasting, for example, because they do not like meat and entertainment. In this case, if fasting is easy for you, without effort, you should contact your spiritual father to figure out what you should work on during the fasting period.

Each of us has something that can become the subject of special care during fasting days - imperfection often lies not outside, but inside us, and the task of fasting is to help see it. The Church singles out special fasting periods as a time of knowing one's own weakness and overcoming one's own "I". During this period, we realize something important for the soul, embark on the path of struggle with certain inclinations and shortcomings, and we take these achievements, awareness out of fasting into everyday life. The next post brings something of its own. Thus, through each fast, we become closer to God, which is why the Holy Fathers say that fasting is a ladder that leads us to Heaven. Therefore, during the period of fasting, one should not only observe dietary restrictions, but also be very attentive to one’s inner mood, try to be calm and friendly with everyone, pray regularly and ask the Lord for forgiveness for any, even minor, sins, grant humility, patience and meekness.

How to Prepare for Great Lent?

Those who are serious about fasting understand that this is not just the observance of a certain diet, but, first of all, spiritual cleansing and mental work. In this regard, the question arises: how to prepare for fasting, what is required for this?

“Fasting is not in the belly, but in the spirit” - this is how the popular proverb says. For many years now, most priests have agreed that a culinary fast is by no means an end, it is just a means. And the goal is a post of feelings, emotional experiences of a person. If you limit yourself in food, but allow yourself an empty pastime, watching TV, then your abstinence from food is meaningless. The meaning of fasting is that, by limiting, troubling his flesh, a person makes it possible for his spirit to work, concentrating on his service to God.

In fasting, as already mentioned, you must definitely visit the temple, pray, control your behavior, and do good deeds. In fasting, worship brings a special inner joy. To understand what it is, you need to start going to the temple. In fasting worship, the closeness of God to man is manifested most clearly, and this feeling is the main content of Great Lent.

Advice for beginners who find it difficult how to fill these days for their own improvement: Before the start of Lent, write down on a piece of paper what you should get rid of in your life. Lent is the time when you can work on yourself.

With such an appropriate spiritual attitude, abstinence in food will become natural and logical for you.

Preparing for Great Lent 2017

Very often, when talking about Great Lent, they forget to dwell on those days that are its eve.

February 18, 2017

Day of Remembrance of the Dead. On parental days, Orthodox Christians commemorate the dead, visit churches where funeral services are performed. These days, it is customary to make sacrifices on the memorial table (eve) in the form of various products, with the exception of meat.

This is a week of folk festivals, when everyone bakes pancakes and pies in abundance, go to visit and treat each other with them. Butter, eggs, fish and dairy are allowed all week, but meat is no longer consumed this week

Again, the celebration should be reasonable: one should not spend time in drunkenness, not in overeating, because this is the time of preparation for a gradual entry into the ascetic exploits of Great Lent. With spiritual growth, every Christian will gradually abandon such purely worldly, secular amusements on Maslenitsa and come to understand the spiritual meaning of this preparatory week: Cheese Week (Maslenitsa) passes between the weeks (Sundays) of the Last Judgment and the remembrance of Adam's exile. That is, the two Sundays framing Maslenitsa tell us about quite serious events in the history of mankind, which are not particularly conducive to fun.

February 26, 2017 - Forgiveness Sunday

On this day, a conspiracy is made for fasting: for the last time, modest foods (except meat and dairy) are allowed. There are two meals. On this day, a ban on dairy products is already imposed. This day is called Cheesy Week by the Church.

Food in Lent 2017

The Orthodox Charter suggests no more than 2 meals a day. The first of these is usually performed after the Divine Liturgy (around noon), and the second after Vespers. If only one meal is laid, then it is usually served at 15 o'clock Moscow time.

In fasting, it is forbidden to eat only modest (from the old Russian "soon" - fat) and high-tech products (high in food additives, and simply - chemistry). When eating natural, predominantly plant foods during Lent, the body has time not only to cleanse itself of poisons and toxins, but also to rejuvenate. The correct selection of dishes and products will not allow you to gain extra pounds, despite the restriction of protein nutrition. Thanks to the active use of raw salads, the restriction of many sweet dishes, drinking herbal teas, various natural kvass and other drinks that have always been used in Rus', your body will receive cleansing on the physical level along with spiritual cleansing. Lenten cuisine can and should be healthy and varied.

The first week of Great Lent 2017 from February 26 to March 4

It is called "Fedor's Week", or the week of "Triumph of Orthodoxy". At this time, it is customary to remember all the defenders of the Orthodox faith. The holiday itself falls on the first Sunday (week) of Great Lent - March 5th. The first and last weeks of Great Lent are, according to the Rule, the strictest in regard to abstention from food.

• This is a day of complete abstinence. Christians wash, change clothes, try to spend this day clean. Shrovetide amusements remain in the past; concentration and humility come to replace them. On this day, the charter prohibits any food, only drinking water.
• On this day, you can drink a lot of cold water, about 2 liters per day. Two days (including Tuesday) of such washing with water against the background of complete fasting perfectly cleanse the body of toxins and toxins, as a result, the mind clears up and lightness appears in the body. On an empty stomach, a person who prays is better able to concentrate his thoughts and direct them towards God. Worldly cares recede, because there is no need to think about food and its preparation. Frees up time to think about the soul.

• On this day, it is recommended to continue fasting, but if this is not within the power of health, then dry eating should be followed. Entering the period of fasting, regarding food restrictions, one should take into account the state of health. And for those who cannot endure complete abstinence from food and drink during the first two days of Lent, as well as for the elderly, “bread and kvass” is allowed on Tuesday after Vespers.

• Xerophagy. According to the Athos version, on Wednesday and Thursday they eat once a day, it is possible with salt, and they drink water.
• On the first four days of the week, in the evening, during Divine Liturgy (at Compline), the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read in churches. This liturgical service contains 250 troparia; it is permeated with a sense of repentance before God, a person's awareness of his sinfulness; this main theme is revealed in the canon by referring to images from the Old and New Testaments, to examples of the lives of saints. From Monday to Thursday of the 1st week, the canon is read in parts; it is read in full at Matins on Thursday of the 5th week of Great Lent.

• Dry eating (according to the strength of the fasting person). Dishes that are allowed to be eaten also remain cold. Blessed in the church and served kutya.
• Kutya is blessed in the church and served on the table on Friday of the first week of Great Lent in memory of the miracle of St. Martyr Theodore Tyron, who, appearing on this day in 362 in a dream to Bishop Eudoxius of Antioch, warned of the desecration of food in the markets with idolized blood.

• Boiled legumes, olives and black olives are recommended at the meal.

Second Week of Great Lent from 5 to 11 March 2017

March 5, 2017 - The Triumph of Orthodoxy, the first week of Great Lent

• This is the first week (Sunday) of Lent. On this day falls the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. In the week (Sunday) of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the victory over the iconoclastic heresy is celebrated. For almost 100 years, iconoclasts opposed icons, considering their veneration to be idolatry. The veneration of icons was finally restored in the 9th century by Empress Theodora on the first Sunday of Great Lent, on which the Triumph of Orthodoxy has been celebrated ever since.
• Hot food with vegetable oil is allowed.

• Meal once a day.

• Hot food without oil, seafood is allowed.
• Meal once a day.

• Xerophagy. Cold dishes without vegetable oil and cold drinks are allowed. But in our climatic conditions, hot tea is quite acceptable for the laity.
• Meal once a day.

• Finding the head of John the Baptist (first and second acquisition) - an Orthodox holiday in honor of the most revered part of the relics of John the Baptist - his head. The prophet John the Baptist had the great honor of baptizing Jesus Christ himself. He is also called the Forerunner, because he became the forerunner of both the birth of the Lord, and His preaching, and His death. John the Baptist is remembered in every divine service. In his holiness, he is considered above all people, except for the Most Holy Theotokos.
• On this day, hot food with vegetable oil is allowed. Eating once a day.

• Xerophagy. Cold dishes without vegetable oil and cold drinks are allowed. But in our climatic conditions, hot tea is quite acceptable for the laity.
• Meal once a day.

March 11, 2017 - Parental ecumenical Saturday of the 2nd week of Great Lent. Day of Remembrance of the Dead.

• Hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, wine, meals twice a day.
• Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Third Week of Great Lent - March 12-18, 2017

March 12, 2017 - Week of Gregory Palamas, the second week of Great Lent.

• This is the second week (Sunday) of Lent. On this day, the Church prayerfully remembers St. Gregory Palamas, who lived in the 14th century, a zealous champion of monastic life and spiritual work, an exponent of a special church teaching about the Light of Tabor - the intangible, grace-filled Heavenly light with which the Lord shone during the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor; this is a teaching about the possibility for a person to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, about the ways to this - prayer and good deeds, to which believers are especially called upon by the Church during the days of fasting.
• Hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, wine, meals twice a day are allowed.
• Pure grape wine diluted with hot water is allowed. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

• Dry eating: eating once a day.

• Dry eating: meals once a day.

• Dry eating: meal once a day.

March 18, 2017 - Parental ecumenical Saturday 3rd week of Great Lent

• On Saturday of the third week, during Matins, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is brought to the middle of the temple for veneration by believers, therefore the third week and the next, fourth, week are called the Adoration of the Cross.
• Hot food with vegetable oil and wine, meal twice a day.
• Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Fourth Week of Great Lent Adoration of the Cross from March 19 to March 25, 2017

The fourth week of Great Lent is called the Adoration of the Cross, or the Cross of the Cross. The Life-Giving Cross from Sunday - the week of the Adoration of the Cross - until Friday of this week is in the center of the temple, in the place of the icon of the holiday. The Church glorifies the Holy Cross of Christ as a sign of the mightiest power that protects us and opens the way to salvation. Throughout the week, believers worship this shrine with special reverence. On Friday of the week, at the end of the service, the Cross is solemnly conveyed to the altar.

March 19, 2017, Sunday. Third Week of Great Lent - Adoration of the Cross

• On this day, they read spiritual literature, help their neighbors, think about death and the terrible judgment, work is considered a sin. All believers visit temples to worship the cross, reflect on the concept of "bearing their cross."
• Hot food with vegetable oil and wine is allowed (pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water). At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
• Seafood is allowed.

• Dry eating, eating once a day.

• . On the day of commemoration of the 40 martyrs, the Holy Church established the celebration of the Liturgy, lightening the fast, and thereby making this day more solemn.
• On Wednesday of the Cross (at the end of Lent), the Charter of Mount Athos allows two dishes with butter. But dishes that are allowed to be eaten also remain cold. These are salads from raw and fresh vegetables, stews, cold infusions and herbal teas and other drinks. Cold appetizers.
• According to tradition in Rus', on this day they baked products from lean dough in the form of birds - “larks”.

• Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day.

• Xerophagy. Meals are allowed once a day.

March 25, 2017

• Hot food with vegetable oil, eating fish and seafood is prohibited.

Fifth Week of Great Lent 2017 from March 26 to April 1

• Memorial Day of theologian John of the Ladder. Rev. John of the Ladder was the abbot of the Sinai monastery, wrote the famous "Ladder of Virtues". "Ladder" in Old Slavonic means "Ladder". This scripture is about the steps of ascent to spiritual perfection. The image of the "Ladder" is borrowed from the Bible, which describes Jacob's vision of the Ladder, along which the angels ascend. According to the calendar, the day of memory of John of the Ladder falls during Great Lent, it was moved to Sunday, and it was assigned to the 4th Sunday of Great Lent.
• Allowed hot food with vegetable oil, seafood and wine (one cup of 200 ml), a meal twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

• Xerophagy. Meals once a day.

• Hot food without oil. Eating once a day.

• Xerophagy. Meal once a day.
• On Wednesday evening, a special service is performed in Orthodox churches - "Maria's Standing". At this service, for the only time a year, the whole Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read (before that it sounded in parts from Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent) and the life of St. Mary of Egypt.

• On this day, according to ancient custom, the following of the Great Canon is sung. Saint Andrew composed it at the same time that Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote down the life of Mary of Egypt. Father Andrew first brought the great canon and the word about St. Mary to Constantinople when he was sent by Patriarch Theodore of Jerusalem to help at the Sixth Council.
• Hot food with vegetable oil is allowed. Eating once a day.

• Xerophagy. Once a day.

• Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• There have been several cases in history of the miraculous deliverance of Constantinople from enemies by prayers to the Mother of God. In memory of them, the Holy Church established the Feast of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos on Saturday of the 5th week of Great Lent. On this day, everyone turns to the Mother of God not with requests and not even with gratitude, but with praise. With special solemnity, the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos is read in churches. This is the first akathist written for church use and has become a model for all subsequent akathists in honor of various church holidays.
• Allowed hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, wine (one bowl 200 ml). Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Sixth Week of Great Lent 2017 from 2 to 8 April

April 2, 2017, Sunday. Fifth Week of Great Lent (Fifth Sunday of Lent)

• Memorial Day of St. Mary of Egypt. The Monk Mary was born in Egypt in the middle of the 5th century. At the age of 12, she left her parents and went to Alexandria, where she spent 17 years living in sin. Once Mary arrived in Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but some force prevented her from doing so. She realized her fall and began to pray in front of the icon of the Mother of God, which was in the vestibule of the temple. After that, she was able to enter the temple. Then Mary went into the desert, where she spent the rest of her life, 47 years, in fasting, asceticism and repentance. The Church gives in the person of St. Mary of Egypt an example of true repentance and shows the mercy of the Lord to repentant sinners. The calendar memory of Mary of Egypt falls during Great Lent, it was moved to Sunday, and it was assigned to the 5th Sunday of Great Lent.
• On this day, hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, wine, meals twice a day are allowed. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

• Xerophagy. Once a day.

• Hot food without oil. Once a day.

• Xerophagy. Once a day.

• Hot food without oil. Once a day.

• Feast of the Annunciation.
• On this day, a spiritual event on a global scale is celebrated. Announcement to the Virgin Mary of the good news of the conception and future birth of the Divine Infant Jesus Christ by Her. Archangel Gabriel brought to the Virgin Mary the biggest and most important message - the Son of God becomes the Son of man. Isaiah's prophecy is being fulfilled. The Mother of God responds by agreeing to the message of the angel: "Let it be to me according to your word." Without this voluntary consent, God could not have incarnated and become a God-man. He could not be incarnated, since God does not act by force, does not force us to do anything.
• Hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, wine. Fish are allowed. Meal once a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water.
• Fish dishes during Great Lent are allowed only on the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and on Palm Sunday.

• Lazarus Saturday
• On this day, Christians remember the miracle of the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus by Christ, which was performed as evidence of the coming resurrection of all the dead. The celebration of Lazarus Saturday has been established since ancient times; it precedes the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.
• Hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, fish caviar, wine, meals twice a day are allowed. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Holy Week of Great Lent 2017 from 9 to 15 April

Food restrictions in Holy Week are as strict as in the first week of Lent. It is supposed to observe dry eating once a day.

• The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem - the great twelfth feast is celebrated a week before the celebration of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, in memory of the solemn Entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on the eve of His Passion on the Cross. Christ entered Jerusalem on a young colt, greeted by many people who learned about the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus. The people greeted Him as kings and conquerors are greeted, but in a few days these same people will shout to the Roman governor Pilate: “Take, take, crucify Him!” and they will pronounce a terrible curse on their people: “His blood is on us and on our children.” Therefore, this celebration is actually a foreshadowing of the suffering of the Savior.
• According to church tradition, on this day in churches, believers, as if meeting the invisibly coming Lord, stand at the service with willow branches in their hands (hence the other name of the holiday - Palm Sunday). Willows replace vaya - palm branches, which were held in the hands of the inhabitants of Jerusalem who met Christ.
• On the eve of the holiday, at the all-night vigil on Saturday, the willows are consecrated by sprinkling with holy water after reading a special prayer.
• Fish are allowed. Hot food with vegetable oil, seafood, wine.

• On Great Monday, the Old Testament patriarch Joseph, sold by his brothers to Egypt, is remembered as a prototype of the suffering Jesus Christ, as well as the gospel story about Jesus cursing a barren fig tree, symbolizing a soul that does not bear spiritual fruit - true repentance, faith, prayer and good deeds.

• On Great Tuesday, we remember the denunciation of the Lord of the scribes and Pharisees, His conversations and parables, spoken by Him on this day in the temple of Jerusalem: about tribute to Caesar, about the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, about ten virgins and about talents.

• On Great Wednesday, the anointing of the feet of Jesus Christ with peace and the betrayal of Judas are remembered.

• On Maundy Thursday, 4 most important evangelical events that took place on this day are remembered in worship: the Last Supper, at which the Lord established the New Testament sacrament of Holy Communion (Eucharist), the Lord washing the feet of His disciples as a sign of deepest humility and love for them, the Savior's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the betrayal of Judas.

• The day of the Great Heel (Friday) is dedicated to the remembrance of the condemnation to death, the suffering on the Cross and the death of the Savior. In the worship of this day, the Church, as it were, sets us at the foot of the Cross of Christ and before our reverent and trembling eyes depicts the saving sufferings of the Lord. At the Matins of the Great Heel (usually served on Thursday evening), the “Following of the Passion of the Lord” is performed, after which 12 corresponding fragments from the Gospels are read. At the end of Vespers on Good Friday, the rite of the removal of the Shroud of Christ is performed with the image of His position in the tomb, after which there is a reading of the canon about the crucifixion of the Lord and the lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
• Refraining from food until the removal of the shroud.

• On Great Saturday, the Church remembers the burial of Jesus Christ, the stay of His body in the tomb, the descent of the soul into hell to proclaim victory over death and the deliverance of souls who with faith awaited His coming, and the introduction of the prudent thief into paradise.
• On Great Saturday, many believers also refuse food until Easter, but for monks 200-250 g of bread, 6 pieces of figs or dates, a cup of kvass or honey drink are allowed. Or bread with vegetables. For the laity, hot food with vegetable oil is allowed.

• Easter means "transition", "deliverance". With the Resurrection of Christ, we celebrate the deliverance of the human race from the power of sin and death.

Fasting is a religious tradition of temporary abstinence from eating (fully or selectively) and spiritual cleansing (spending time in prayer, visiting temples, pure thoughts). Believers refuse entertainment activities (going to the cinema, listening to cheerful music, etc.).

Post Calendar 2020

During the fasting period, modest food - dairy and meat products - is prohibited. Fishing is allowed on certain days. On days of strict fasting, fish, hot food and food cooked in vegetable oil are prohibited. You can eat cold food cooked without oil and cold drinks. Throughout the year there are:

• four multi-day;
• three one-day;
• post on Wednesday and Friday.

Orthodox multi-day fasts in 2020:

1. From March 2 to April 19 - Lent
2. From June 15 to July 11 - Petrov post.
3. From August 14 to August 27 - Assumption fast.
4. From November 27 to January 6 - Advent.

Orthodox one-day fasts in 2020:

Wednesday and Friday of the whole year, with the exception of continuous weeks and.

1. January 18 - (Evening of the Epiphany).
2. 11 September -
3. September 27 -

IN one day posts you can not eat fast food and fish, but it is allowed to eat food with vegetable oil

Post Wednesday and Friday established in connection with the fact that on Wednesday Judas betrayed Jesus, and on Friday Christ was crucified. There is no fast on these days during the Solid Weeks:

• Christmas time (from 7.01 to 18.01);
• two weeks before Great Lent - the week of the publican and the Pharisee;
• - a week before the start of Lent;
• Easter - the week after Easter;
• Trinity - the week before the Petrovsky fast, coming after the Trinity.

On Wednesday and Friday, dry eating was established during the period:

• the winter meat-eater coming after and ending before Great Lent;
• spring meat-eater, starting at the end of Peter's Lent and ending before;
• autumn meat-eater (between the Assumption and Christmas fasts).

At this time, food is taken raw, cold drinking is allowed.

Any food without meat is allowed on Cheese Week.

In the first week after the week of the Publican and the Pharisee, on Wednesday and Friday, you can eat hot food without oil. On Wednesdays and Fridays, which fall on major church holidays, you can eat fish dishes. On and on the day, if these dates fall on Wednesday and Friday, the fast is canceled.

In 2020, it runs from March 2 to April 19. Its total duration is 48 days. It starts on Monday, 7 weeks before Easter and ends on Saturday, a week before the holiday.

The first week of fasting is especially strict. On Monday, you need to completely refrain from food. Dry eating is allowed from Tuesday to Friday (you can eat bread, uncooked fruits and vegetables, nuts, honey, drink plain water). On Saturday and Sunday, hot fast food with the addition of butter is allowed.

During the second and sixth weeks of Great Lent, dry eating was established on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Hot food without oil can be eaten on Tuesday and Thursday, while hot food with oil is allowed on weekends.

In the last week of Great Lent (Passion Week), dry eating is prescribed. And on Friday, you can’t eat until the shroud is taken out.

On the feast of the Annunciation (April 7) and on Palm Sunday, you can eat fish dishes, and on Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday), you can eat fish caviar.

During Lent, you need to clear your thoughts of negativity, make peace with those with whom you are in a quarrel, recognize your sins and repent of them.

Petrov or Apostolic Lent(June 15-July 11, 2020) was established in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul, who prepared with fasting and prayer for the sermon of the Holy Scriptures. Fasting begins on the 57th day after Easter on All Saints Monday (June 15) and always ends on July 11 (inclusive). Each year the length of the fast is different. It all depends on the date on which Easter fell. The shortest lasts a week and one day, and the longest is six weeks. In 2020, the duration of the Petrov fast is 27 days.

Hot food without butter is allowed on Mondays. On Tuesday, Thursday and weekends you can eat fish, mushrooms and hot food with butter, on Wednesdays and Fridays - dry eating.

On July 7, on the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, you can eat fish dishes, no matter what day of the week this date falls on.

Assumption post comes a month after Petrov. In 2020, it starts on August 14 and ends on August 27. Duration - 14 days. Established in honor of the holiday U. This post is often the shortest of all multi-day posts.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday you can eat bread, raw fruits and vegetables, drink water. Hot food without oil is allowed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On weekends, vegetable oil can be added to hot food.

Christmas post begins at the end of autumn, 40 days before Christmas (November 28-January 6). Duration - 40 days. Established in honor of the Nativity of Christ.

From November 28 until St. Nicholas Day () on Mondays you can eat hot food with butter, and on Tuesday, Thursday and weekends fish dishes are allowed, on Wednesday and Friday - dry eating.

From December 20 to January 1, you cannot eat fish on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but you can eat hot meatless dishes with butter. On other days, the food does not change.

From January 2 to 6, dry eating is prescribed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, hot food without oil is allowed on Tuesday and Thursday, and a little oil can be added to dishes on weekends.

On January 6, before the appearance of the first star in the sky, one should not eat, after which they eat sochivo - boiled rice with raisins or wheat porridge boiled with honey.

Video: Orthodox fasting, its purpose and content

Christians enter Great Lent for the purpose of spiritual cleansing, so it is wrong to perceive fasting as a diet. However, there are general rules for eating during Lent.

These days it is not recommended to eat food of animal origin: meat, eggs, dairy products. On the feasts of Palm Sunday and the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, fish is allowed. Other seafood is also not included in the list of forbidden.

There is a certain church charter. In Great Lent in 2017, it is worth not only compiling a nutrition calendar, but also knowing the traditions of fasting:

• In the first and last week of Great Lent in 2017, fasting is observed with particular strictness. All products of animal origin should not be eaten.


• Eating is allowed only in the evening; on Saturdays and Sundays, only the morning meal can be excluded.


• On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, only cold food is eaten, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, hot food is allowed without oil.


• On Saturdays and Sundays, in addition to vegetable oil, moderate use of grape wine is allowed (this does not apply to the Saturday of Holy Week).


• On Good Friday, it is better to refrain from eating all day.


• Many Christians also abstain from food until Easter.

In order for Great Lent in 2017 to pass in prayer, and not in worldly worries, we offer an already compiled nutrition calendar by day.

Great Lent According to the Church Charter

1. Forty days (first 40 days);


2. Lazarus Saturday (1 day - Palm Saturday before Palm Sunday);


3. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (1 day - Palm Sunday, a week before Easter);


4. Holy Week (6 days - the whole week from Monday to Saturday before the Easter holiday).

Great Lent 2017: food calendar by day

Great Lent 2017: meals in the first Week (February 27 - March 4)

February 27- Clean Monday. Refrain from food.
28th of February- Tuesday. Refrain from food.
For those who have health problems, as well as for the elderly, bread and kvass are allowed on Tuesday after Vespers. You can eat bread with salt and drink water or kvass (optional) /
March 1 - Wednesday. Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (one dish to choose from).
Infusion of dill or decoction of berries / fruits with honey.
Food is taken once a day, during the day.
2nd of March- Thursday. Refrain from food.
March, 3rd- Friday. Baked or boiled hot food without oil once a day, in the afternoon.
March 4- Saturday. Baked or boiled food with vegetable oil twice a day. Olives and black olives are allowed. Grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted in hot water, is allowed in small quantities, but abstinence from wine is recommended.

Great Lent 2017: Meals for the Second Week (March 5 - March 11)

First week Great Lent (first Sunday of Lent). Triumph of Orthodoxy
On the week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the victory of Orthodoxy over the iconoclastic heresy is celebrated. Iconoclasts believed that the veneration of icons was idolatry. Thanks to the patronage of the emperors, the persecution of icons continued for almost a hundred years. The veneration of icons was finally restored in the 9th century by Empress Theodora on the first Sunday of Great Lent, on which the Triumph of Orthodoxy has been celebrated ever since.

March, 6- Monday.

March 7- Tuesday.

March 8- Wednesday.
Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
9 matra- Thursday.
Finding the head of John the Baptist(first and second acquisition) - an Orthodox holiday in honor of the most revered part of the relics of John the Baptist - his head.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g). Once a day, around 3:00 pm. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
10th of March- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
11th of March- Saturday.

Great Lent 2017: Meals for the Third Week (March 12 - March 18)

March 12- Sunday.
Second Sunday of Great Lent (Second Sunday of Lent). Memorial Day of St. Gregory Palamas.
St. Gregory Palamas lived in the 14th century. According to the Orthodox faith, he taught that for the feat of fasting and prayer, the Lord illuminates the faithful with His grace-filled light, which the Lord shone on Tabor. For the reason that St. Gregory revealed the doctrine of the power of fasting and prayer and it was established to celebrate his memory on the second Sunday of Great Lent.
March 13- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 14th- Tuesday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 15th- Wednesday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 16- Thursday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 17- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
18th of March- Saturday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
On Saturday of the third week, during Matins, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is brought to the middle of the temple for veneration by believers, therefore the third week and the next, fourth, week are called the Adoration of the Cross.

Great Lent 2017: Meals for the Fourth Week (March 19 - March 25)

March 19- Sunday.
Third week Great Lent (third Sunday of Lent) - cross.
On this day, they read legends, consecrate prosphyra, do not work, visit temples to worship the cross, reflect on the concept of “carrying their cross”, fast (with eating brew with oil and wine).
20th of March- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
21 March- Tuesday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 22- Wednesday.
Memorial Day of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste are Christian soldiers who were martyred for their faith in Christ in Sebastia (Lesser Armenia, modern Turkey) in 320 under Licinia.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With wine (one cup 200g). One meal a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
March 23- Thursday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 24- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 25- Saturday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Great Lent 2017: Meals for the Fifth Week (March 26 - April 1)

26 March- Sunday.
Fourth week Great Lent (Fourth Sunday of Lent). Memorial Day of theologian John of the Ladder.
John of the Ladder was the abbot of the Sinai monastery, wrote the famous "Ladder of Virtues", where he showed the steps of ascent to spiritual perfection. (“Ladder” from the old Slav. “Ladder”. Variants - Paradise Ladder, Spiritual Tablets). The image of the "Ladder" is borrowed from the Bible, which describes the vision of Jacob's Ladder, on which the angels ascend (Gen.28:12).
The calendar memory of John of the Ladder falls during Great Lent, it was moved to Sunday, and it was assigned to the 4th Sunday of Great Lent.
On the day of memory of John of the Ladder they baked "ladders".
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
March 27- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 28- Tuesday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
March 29- Wednesday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
On Wednesday evening, a special service is performed in Orthodox churches - "Maria's Standing". At this service, for the only time in the year, the whole Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read, which sounded in parts from Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent, and the canon of St. Mary of Egypt.
30th of March- Thursday. Standing Rev. Mary of Egypt.
On this day, according to ancient custom, the following of the Great Canon is sung. Saint Andrew composed it at the same time that Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote down the life of Mary of Egypt. Father Andrew first brought the great canon and the word about St. Mary to Constantinople when he was sent by Patriarch Theodore of Jerusalem to help at the Sixth Council.
On Standing Rev. Mary of Egypt - hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (200g). Once a day, around 3:00 pm. Some statutes allow only wine, and oil (oil) is not allowed.
March 31- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
Before the feast of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos, some charters allow wine. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
April 1- Saturday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Great Lent 2017: Meals for the Sixth Week (April 2 - April 8)

April 2- Sunday.
Fifth week of Great Lent (fifth Sunday of Lent). Remembrance Day Mary of Egypt
The Monk Mary was born in Egypt in the middle of the 5th century. At the age of 12, she left her parents and went to Alexandria, where she spent 17 years living in sin. Once Mary arrived in Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but some kind of force held her back. Realizing her fall, she began to pray in front of the icon of the Mother of God, which was in the porch of the temple. After that, she was able to enter the temple. The next day, Mary crossed the Jordan and went into the wilderness, where she spent the rest of her life, 47 years, in fasting and repentance. The Church gives in the person of St. Mary of Egypt an example of true repentance and shows in her an example of the inexpressible mercy of God to penitent sinners. The calendar memory of Mary of Egypt falls during Great Lent, it was moved to Sunday, and it was assigned to the 5th Sunday of Great Lent.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
April 3- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
April, 4- Tuesday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
5th of April- Wednesday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these). Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
April 6- Thursday.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. Oil free. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
April 7- Friday , Feast of the Annunciation.
The name of the holiday - the Annunciation - conveys the main meaning of the event associated with it: the announcement to the Virgin Mary of the good news about the conception and birth of the Divine Infant Christ by Her.
Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine. Fish are allowed. Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
April 8- Saturday. Lazarus Saturday.
On this day, Christians commemorate the miracle of the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus by Christ (John 11:1-45), which was performed to testify to the coming resurrection of all the dead. The celebration of Lazarus Saturday has been established since ancient times, it precedes the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
Fish caviar is allowed up to 100 gr. Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.

Great Lent 2017: Meals for the Seventh Week (April 9 - April 15)

April 9- Sunday. sixth week Great Lent (Sixth Sunday of Lent).
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). - (the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem on a donkey, when the people greeted him, throwing palm branches onto the road - in Rus' they were replaced by willow) - the last Sunday before Easter. Fish are allowed. Hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one cup 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
April 10 - Maundy Monday
On Good Monday, the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph, sold by his brothers to Egypt, is remembered as a prototype of the suffering Jesus Christ, as well as the gospel story about Jesus cursing a barren fig tree, symbolizing a soul that does not bear spiritual fruit - true repentance, faith, prayer and good deeds. Mt 21:18-22
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these).

Once a day, around 3:00 pm.

April 11 - Maundy Tuesday
On Maundy Tuesday, we remember the sermon of Jesus Christ in the Jerusalem Temple. On this day He told the disciples about the second coming Mt 24, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents Mt 25:1-30. The chief priests and elders tempted him with questions, wanted to arrest him, but were afraid to do it openly because of the people who considered Jesus a prophet and listened to him attentively.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these).
From drinking: dill (hot infusion or decoction of herbs or berries, fruits) with honey.
Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
“Like in the 1st week of this holy Lent.”
April 12 - Great Wednesday
On Great Wednesday, the anointing of Jesus Christ with peace and the betrayal of Judas are remembered. Matthew 26:6-16
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - each time one of these).
From drinking: dill (hot infusion or decoction of herbs or berries, fruits) with honey.
Once a day, around 3:00 pm.
“Like in the 1st week of this holy Lent.”
April 13 - Maundy Thursday. Last Supper
On Maundy Thursday, we remember the Last Supper and the establishment by Jesus Christ of the sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion). Matthew 26:17-35, Mark 14:12-31, Luke 22:7-39, John 13-18
According to the usual (Palestinian) order, one dish is laid, but boiled food with vegetable oil is allowed.
According to the Studian charter, one boiled dish is supposed, but supplemented with sochi (any porridge) and legumes; without oil.
According to the charter of the Holy Mount Athos, two boiled dishes with oil and wine are required. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstinence from wine is highly commendable.
April 14 - Great Five. Good Friday. crucifixion of christ
On Good Friday, Orthodox Christians remember the arrest of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, the trial of the high priests, the trial of Pilate, the way of the cross of Jesus, the crucifixion, death and the signs accompanying it, removal from the cross and burial.
They don't eat anything. For the elderly, bread and water are allowed after sunset.
April 15 - Great Saturday. The Descent of Christ into Hell
Great Saturday is dedicated to the remembrance of the presence of Jesus Christ in the tomb and His descent into hell to free the souls of the dead.
On Great Saturday, many believers also refuse food until Easter. For the rest - 200-250 g of bread, 6 pieces of figs or dates and a cup of wine, or kvass, or a honey drink. Or bread with vegetables. Once a day around 7pm.
End of Lent.

Food in Lent: allowed foods

Adhering to the food calendar for Lent in 2017, you can include some exotic foods in it:

• seaweed;


• Korean salads;


• seeds;


• nuts;


• pasta that does not contain eggs;


• flour products made from flour, water and salt;


• bread (without the use of milk and eggs), unleavened lavash, crisps; sauces (ketchup, lean mayonnaise, adjika, soy sauce, tomato paste);


• balsamic, apple, table vinegars.

It is important to understand that the essence of fasting is not food restriction, if you have health problems, it is better to talk with your doctor and with your confessor. Following the calendar of Great Lent in nutrition by day, you should not forget about prayer and the spiritual side of fasting.

Many adhere to the rules of nutrition, refuse excesses. The meaning of abstinence lies in the purification of the spirit, the development of spiritual life, the purification of thoughts, deliverance from everyday fuss, familiarization with the spiritual example of Christ.

The Essence of Cleansing

Great Lent 2020 recalls the forty-day cleansing of Christ the Savior in the wilderness, it recalls the last days of his life, suffering, death, and burial. He gave a clear example that the devil can be driven out by prayers and observance of Great Lent, in particular, in 2020.

For all Orthodox, the beginning of Lent in 2020 is March 11. It lasts until April 27th. Heralds the Easter holiday, for which they prepare their soul and body.

Photos:

Compliance service as note

Purification has four periods and lasts 48 days. The following calendar periods of Lent 2020 are distinguished.

1. Lasts forty days. It's called the Forty Day. Characterized by strict abstinence. The main goal is cleansing from sins, focusing on the spiritual, on prayers, chanting. All undergo abstinence, which humbles the flesh.
2. Starts on the sixth Saturday. It is called Lazarus Saturday. Time before Palm Sunday. Aimed at remembering the miracle of Christ on the resurrection of Lazarev. Then there is Palm Saturday. In the evening, the Annunciation is held, consecration with holy water.
3. Begins on the sixth Sunday. Palm Sunday is the entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Ceremonies are performed with willow. The holiday indicates the revival of nature, spirit. There are many traditions associated with this holiday.
4. Passion Week.

What's happening in the last week?

Holy Week is the last period. The days are called Great: Great Monday, Great Thursday.

1. Monday is the preparation of housing for the holiday.
2. On Tuesday, laundry is washed and ironed.
3. The next day completes the chores. The house must be completely clean, the garbage is thrown out. Eggs for Easter eggs must be prepared, materials for painting them are prepared.
4. Thursday is the maximum number of rituals, the corresponding signs and traditions. Easter cakes are being baked. Before baking, be sure to pray passionately.
5. Good Friday is known for not eating. Singing, listening to music, housework is prohibited. Violation of the prohibition is considered a major sin.
6. Holy Saturday is one of the busiest days. hostesses prepare dinner, prepare pysanky.

As already mentioned, fasting is spiritual cleansing and preparation for Easter. Spiritual preparation consists of prayers, reading spiritual books, research, atonement for sins, sinful thoughts. All actions are directed at the thoughts of God. The bodily preparation is the abstinence from non-lean food.

Since the days of abstinence are a time of great repentance, the following is forbidden.

1. Refusal of established chants on weekdays. Each hymn is filled with joy and triumph.
2. It is forbidden to celebrate the days of saints on weekdays. All holidays are transferred to weekends.
3. Celebrations on the occasion of marriage, weddings, celebrations of birthdays are prohibited.
4. Bodily intimacy and foul language are considered sin.

Compliance with the rules of nutrition

Using the calendar helps to follow the rules of nutrition: it explains on which days food is allowed to be consumed. If you have not fasted before, then you should fast very carefully. All stages are introduced gradually. Sudden rejection of habitual foods can lead to health complications. Animal protein should be completely replaced with vegetable protein. Main products: legumes, nuts, dried fruits and mushrooms.

Children, people suffering from chronic diseases, as well as diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, pregnant women and breastfeeding are exempted from strict fasting. We offer basic recommendations on what is allowed and not recommended on abstinence days.

The following foods are prohibited:

1. All meals that include animal protein.
2. Dairy products, even powdered milk.
3. Egg powder, a food that includes eggs.
4. Fish, fish products (exceptions are days when consumption is allowed).
5. Oil of vegetable origin, except for the days when you can use it.
6. Alcohol, sweets, carbonated drinks. The exception is some days, as well as red wine.

Wine, like vegetable oil, is not included in the general rules. They can be turned on on weekends. It is impossible only during Holy Saturday. Vegetable oil is consumed during the days of remembrance of the Great Saints. Fish can be eaten on the Annunciation of the Holy Mother of God. Fish caviar is introduced into the diet on the sixth Saturday.

List of products included in the allowed menu for Lent 2020.

1. Homemade sourdough products and pickles.
2. Pickled vegetables and fruits.
3. Jam.
4. Juices and compotes.
5. Fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, legumes, seeds.
6. Greens in any form: fresh or dried.
7. Spices are allowed.
8. Mayonnaise, yogurt, milk and cheese, in which the main ingredient is soy.
9. Any bakery products and bread. Exception: muffin, white flour products.
10. Cereals.

Strict days are considered to be the first four weeks, Holy Week. You can not eat on the first day of Lent 2020, as well as during Good Friday. The diet of the first Friday of Lent: boiled wheat sweetened with sugar, honey. Hot food is consumed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Separate calendars of Great Lent for 2020 nutrition by day are issued. Also learn about and download our free .

Important calendar days

An important first day of Lent. The people have the name clean: people actively use water procedures, often change linen. Formerly it was customary to abstain from food. On Clean Monday, it is customary to rinse your mouth to wash away the traces of food eaten during Shrovetide.


On Friday of the first week, it is customary to eat consecrated wheat porridge sweetened with honey.

On Saturday, it is customary to mourn at the end of Maslenitsa. In the morning, lean pancakes are prepared in vegetable oil.

The first Sunday is the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. The veneration of the icons of saints is sung, victories over the opponents of Orthodoxy are remembered.

Forgiveness Sunday

The last Sunday before Lent is Forgiveness. That's when the Maslenitsa week ends. Before starting the fast, you must finally prepare for this test. It is customary for Orthodox Christians to ask each other for forgiveness for their sins and atrocities. Forgiveness promotes concentration on the spiritual realm of life. The man is preparing for the main confession. In addition, it is customary to commemorate the dead, go to the cemetery, clean the graves.

When holding a festive dinner, leftover food is burned. Thus, with a pure soul and heart, everyone begins to observe Great Lent in 2020. Traditionally, the rite of forgiveness is performed.

Great Lent in 2017 begins on February 27th. Great Lent immediately follows Forgiveness Sunday, which ends Pancake week. Nutrition calendar by day, the menu of Great Lent, as well as detailed information about when you can eat fish, caviar, drink wine, and on which days dry eating is recommended, in our review.

Immediately after Forgiveness Sunday, on Monday, February 27, Great Lent begins and ends on April 15.

Great Lent, which all believers observe, is not a diet or an opportunity to lose weight. Great Lent, first of all, is an opportunity for repentance, spiritual purification and self-knowledge.

Recall that doctors do not recommend observing Great Lent for those who have health problems. By the way, the church also exempts seriously ill people, young children, as well as pregnant and lactating women from observing strict fasting.

In Fasting, all meat, dairy (including butter of animal origin) and eggs are completely excluded from the diet.

Fish is allowed on some days.

Lent 2017: food calendar by day of the week

February 27 (Monday) recommended complete abstinence from food, while you can drink water.
On February 28 (Tuesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 1 (Wednesday) food is the same as the previous day.
March 2 (Thursday) the food is the same as the previous day.
March 3 (Friday) the food is the same as the previous day.
March 4 (Saturday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.
March 5 (Sunday) the food is the same as the previous day.

On March 6 (Monday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 7 (Tuesday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 8 (Wednesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 9 (Thursday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 10 (Friday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 11 (Saturday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.
March 12 (Sunday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink some wine.

On March 13 (Monday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 14 (Tuesday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 15 (Wednesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 16 (Thursday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 17 (Friday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 18 (Saturday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.
March 19 (Sunday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.

On March 20 (Monday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 21 (Tuesday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 22 (Wednesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 23 (Thursday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 24 (Friday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 25 (Saturday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.
March 26 (Sunday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.

On March 27 (Monday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 28 (Tuesday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 29 (Wednesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
March 30 (Thursday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On March 31 (Friday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 1 (Saturday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.
April 2 (Sunday) boiled lean food (vegetables, fruits, cereals on the water, etc.) with the addition of vegetable oil, you can drink a little wine.

On April 3 (Monday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 4 (Tuesday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On April 5 (Wednesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 6 (Thursday) boiled vegetable (lean) food without oil, porridge on the water.
On April 7 (Friday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 8 (Saturday) Lazarus Saturday On this day, the strictness of fasting is weakened, believers can eat boiled food with the addition of vegetable oil, drink wine, on this day it is customary to pamper yourself with caviar.
April 9 (Sunday) Palm Sunday on this day you can eat everything except meat and dairy, it is allowed and even customary to eat fish.

Great Lent 2017: the seventh week of Holy Week is the strictest, even stricter than the first week.

On April 10 (Monday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 11 (Tuesday) Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin on this day you can eat fish.
On April 12 (Wednesday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
On April 13 (Thursday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 14 (Friday) Good Friday - Strict fasting is recommended complete abstinence from food. You need to drink warm water.
On April 15 (Saturday), dry eating is recommended (bread, raw vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, honey, nuts). You need to drink water, preferably warm.
April 16 (Sunday) Easter (Bright Sunday of Christ) starting at midnight, the breaking of the fast begins, after which you can eat everything. It was then that Easter cakes, Easter cottage cheese and Easter eggs appeared on the table.