When the Christmas post. What you can eat in the Christmas post - the best recipes for lenten dishes
So we have entered a special period for every believer - the Nativity Fast. We received a blessing for the exercises in fasting, congratulated the brothers and sisters in Christ on the beginning of this sacred time, and set about the feat. What will he be like? What will we be like during Lent? Will we learn to be even a little more restrained, more patient? Depends on… us.
Christmas post (also called Philip's Fast) every year invariably begins and ends at the same time. It begins on November 28 after the memorable day of the Apostle Philip (November 27). Advent ends on January 6 before Christmas.
All this time we are fasting so that by the time of the birth of Jesus Christ we will come purified, renewed, brokenhearted. The days of Advent are special days of exercise in the fight against passions. With the help and blessing of God, we drive away all the stench from our hearts and grow healing virtues in it - repentance, abstinence, prayer, mercy ... And we begin the "cleaning" with bodily abstinence.
In the fight against gluttony, we learn to refrain from evil deeds, words, and even thoughts. Since other passions gain strength through gluttony, as if by a chain, a decisive struggle with it helps in victory over all others (fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity, pride).
The outer side of fasting is abstaining from certain types of food.
Meals at Advent
The Advent fast is not as strict in food abstinence as, for example, Great. In severity, it is similar to Peter's post. According to the Church Charter, products of animal origin are prohibited: meat, milk and dairy products, eggs. On certain days, the Charter forbids monks to eat fish and oil (vegetable oil). To familiarize readers, let's take an example. These norms were adopted in the 17th century and are reflected in the Charter, now adopted in the Russian Church, the Typicon.
For the laity, there are other norms. So, for example, we worldly people keep the Advent Fast only on Christmas Eve. The laity discuss the rate of fasting with their confessor or with the priest, with whom they confess most often. For relaxation or, conversely, a more strict fast, a blessing is sought from the priest, otherwise you can over-exhaust your strength or fall into poisonous pride.
Now let's move on to the most interesting part - the practical part of the Christmas Lent.
Switching from fast food to lean food
With the beginning of fasting, the quality of our food changes dramatically. It becomes less caloric, digested faster. Therefore, the transition from fast food to simpler, leaner food is often not easy. It is especially difficult when a novice Christian tries to fast for the first time. This is where the phenomenon often happens, which is called "jealousy not according to the Spirit." A person takes on a very large measure of fasting, for example, he undertakes to observe it according to monastic norms and ... his body announces a “strike”, which manifests itself in:
- Depletion of strength, weakness;
- Headaches, dizziness;
- Indigestion (usually diarrhea);
- Suddenly developed gastritis, in connection with which severe pain in the stomach.
Such an unsuccessful fasting experience can not only turn one away from fasting, but even from faith. That's why first tip: if you are just starting to fast, do not take on an unbearable burden, do not hesitate to discuss the measure of abstinence with the priest, otherwise the consequences are deplorable for both the body and the soul.
Let us remember Abba Dorotheus and his disciple Dositheus. How did he teach Dositheus to abstinence? Smoothly, gradually, bit by bit, the mentor reduced the student's portion of bread. In the end, Dositheus began to be content with very little, and this was enough for him to maintain his strength.
It is this gradualness that we must adhere to, otherwise by the end of the Advent, when abstinence is especially strict, we will simply exhaust our physical and emotional strength, we will “break loose”.
The next point in the transition to lean food is number of servings. Since the quality of food changes, it is less caloric, we need more of it. Lean food is digested faster, and accordingly we feel hunger faster. Many believers are oppressed by this “zhor” at the beginning of the fast. But let's not be embarrassed, from the point of view of physiological processes, this is normal. With a sigh of repentance for your weakness at this time, you should increase the number of servings. This is especially true for those who have problems with the digestive system (for example, cholecystitis). Eat small meals every 2.5-3 hours. A little later, the body will get used to it, the most important thing is not to upset it in the first 3 days.
The Secret to Fasting Faster
Christmas Lent, like any other, is a great time to learn how to chew your food thoroughly. In the careful mechanical processing of the food bolus lies an important secret: we fill up faster when we chew food 32 times. While the jaws are chewing, and the brain is counting the number of chewing movements, the satiety signal has time to reach the center in the brain. And here is a miracle: instead of two plates of porridge, we eat one! Thus, we bring the size of the stomach back to normal, its prolongation disappears.
We drink more
Drink plenty of clean water between meals. Our body very often gives out strange signals about thirst. It seems to us that we want to eat, but in fact this is how the desire to drink is disguised. Thus, hunger must be experienced: if you really want to eat, then after drinking a glass of water, the desire to eat does not disappear. Hunger subsided after drinking water? Great, you declassified thirst. And they postponed the meal until later, isn't it important, especially in fasting?
Dangerous "lean" foods
More and more people want to fast. We will not discuss here the purpose for which someone holds a post. But the new wonderful products that are ready to support during the fasting period need to be mentioned. We are talking about products that are formally lean. In reality, they can hardly be called such. Do you think the Lord would like you to eat a pack of chips instead of a quality piece of meat, for example? Hardly. The physical shell given to us must be treated with love, which is manifested not in gluttony, but in caring for health. It seems that a healthy diet should be the basis of fasting.
So, what do we attribute to products that are harmful to the Christmas Lent?
1. Chips and French fries
If you want to get an abundance of carcinogens in your body, eat chips! The vegetable oil used in the manufacture of chips and french fries is not sunflower at all, but rapeseed and palm oil, known for their carcinogenic properties, and their heat treatment turns these fats into transgenic ones. The harm of transgenic fats is absolutely proven - they contribute to the development of cancer cells.
The chemicals that these products are endowed with - flavors, colors, stabilizers, flavor enhancers, etc. - deal a blow to health. They deceive our gustatory nerve endings, and we imagine the uniqueness of taste, smell ...
2. Lean mayonnaise
To make regular mayonnaise, you need eggs, vegetable oil, salt and sugar, mustard powder, vinegar or citric acid. If the mayonnaise is factory, then there are also chemical components to avoid spoilage (this mayonnaise can be stored in the refrigerator for years and not deteriorate). With lean mayonnaise, everything is the same, only instead of egg powder, the so-called vegetable protein is added (what origin is unknown). Without salads with lean mayonnaise on holidays, we probably can’t do without. But on the rest of the days of the Advent, you need to take care of your health and refrain from this product.
3.Vegetable fat spread
This butter substitute is often labeled "lean". The composition should not contain animal fat (as in butter), dangerous hydrogenated fats (as in margarine). In reality, as in margarine, only in a smaller amount, this spread contains trans fats obtained by hydrogenation (turning liquid fat into solid). Hydrogenated fats in food are a factor in the development of cancerous tumors, damage to the walls of arteries, cardiovascular diseases, etc.
4. Lenten cookies
Lean cookies, like simple ones, contain a lot of palm oil, which we know a lot of bad things about (from fecal stones to the ability to stimulate the development of cancer).
5. Soy products: milk, yogurt, meat, cottage cheese.
These substitutes for the products we are accustomed to very successfully amuse our 
Here is the spiritual side of the issue. We're trying to cultivate temperance. Meat and milk substitutes are very similar to the "original" in taste. Eating a lot of soy products, we are unlikely to defeat the addiction to taste sensations.
So, it would be extremely dishonest, for example, to think that you are fasting and eat soy meat every day. Probably, we all do not like it when our children eat unhealthy food. It seems that we also need to be afraid of upsetting the Heavenly Father by intentionally inflicting wounds on our body - by using harmful products - especially during the period of time devoted to preparing a meeting with Him, during the Nativity Fast.
It would be more honest to take the blessing of relaxation in fasting, at first, than to use harmful substitutes.
The choice of useful, well, or less harmful, products during the fasting period is quite large:
Advent and personal holidays
It often happens that our personal holidays, such as birthdays, fall on Advent. If possible, it would be good to move the celebration to the nearest time after the end of the fast. If there is still a very long time before Christmas time, then you can celebrate a personal holiday, carefully keeping your soul from excessive noise, dancing and entertainment, on one of Sundays. Naturally, there should be lean foods on the table.
If the holiday falls on the time from January 2 to January 6, then 
refrain from celebrating. Very soon there will be an opportunity to celebrate your holiday together with the Born Christ!
Idea! Festive lenten sandwich: spread a piece of bread with honey, cut slices of bananas on top. It turns out a real cake!
We fast with a fast that is pleasant and useful for both the soul and the body!
How the Advent was established
The establishment of the Nativity Fast, as well as other multi-day fasts, dates back to the ancient times of Christianity. Since the fourth century, St. , Philastrius, mention the Nativity fast in their creations. In the fifth century, he wrote about the antiquity of the Nativity Fast.
Initially, the Advent fast lasted seven days for some Christians, and a few more for others. At the council of 1166, which was held under the Patriarch Luke of Constantinople and the Byzantine emperor Manuel, all Christians were supposed to fast for forty days before the great holiday.
Patriarch Theodore IV Balsamon of Antioch wrote that “the most holy patriarch himself said that although the days of these fasts (Assumption and Christmas. - Ed.) are not determined by the rule, we are forced, however, to follow the unwritten church tradition and must fast ... from the 15th day of November " .
The Advent Fast is the last multi-day fast of the year. It begins on November 15 (28 according to the new style) and lasts until December 25 (January 7), lasts for forty days and therefore is called the Fortecost in the Church Charter, just like Great Lent. Since the conspiracy for fasting falls on the day of remembrance of St. Apostle Philip (November 14 old style), then this post is called Filippov.
Why was the Advent Post established?
Christmas post- winter fast, it serves for us to consecrate the last part of the year by a mysterious renewal of spiritual unity with God and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.
In the third century, the feast of the Nativity of Christ is mentioned by St. Hippolyte.
During the persecution of Christians by Diocletian, at the beginning of the fourth century, in 303, 20,000 Nicodemian Christians were burned in the temple on the very feast of the Nativity of Christ.
“From the activity of the saints, from the life of our Savior and from the rules of life of those who live decently, it is clear that it is wonderful and useful to always be ready and be in feat, work and patience; however, do not weaken yourself by excessive fasting and do not bring the body into inactivity. If the flesh is inflamed in youth, much must be abstained from; if she is weak, then you need to eat enough to satiety, regardless of other ascetics - many or few people fast; look and reason according to your weakness, as much as you can accommodate: each has a measure and an inner teacher - his own conscience ... Moderate and reasonable fasting is the foundation and head of all virtues. If anyone wants to have a firm mind from bad thoughts, let him refine his flesh with fasting. It is impossible to be a priest without fasting; as breathing is necessary, so is fasting. Fasting, having entered the soul, kills the sin lying in the depths. (St. Paisios).
from the book "How to spend Advent, Christmas and Christmas time"
The Christmas post in 2020 according to the new style will last from November 28, 2020 to January 6, 2021.
During the entire fast, it is necessary to exclude from the diet any meat, eggs, milk and dairy products.
The dates for Advent 2020 are as follows.
The Advent calendar 2020 will help you in its correct and consistent observance.
Meaning of Christmas
The Pre-Christmas fast precedes the great Christian holiday of the Nativity of Christ. It begins on November 28, following the day of the Apostle Philip (hence the second name - Philip's fast, or Filippovka), and lasts almost forty days, like the Great (Easter) fast, until the Blessed Nativity of Christ. It was introduced precisely so that Christians could purify their soul and body not only by repentance, but also by gratitude and prayer, and with joy to meet the Son of God Jesus Christ, who appeared for the salvation of our souls. Lent is a time to think about your life, to cleanse yourself not only physically, but also spiritually.
The Advent fast is one of four multi-day fasts, the last of the year. It was first established back in the days of early Christianity, in the 4th century, and lasted only seven days. Somewhat later, in Constantinople, under the rule of Patriarch Luke, it was established at the Great Council to observe fasting for forty days, from November 15 to December 25 (old style).
To this day, Orthodox all over the world, starting from November 28, observe the pre-Christmas fast. Therefore, the answer to the question “What is the date of Advent in 2020” will be: “The same as in all previous years.”
Philip's fast is not strict: during this period it is allowed to eat fish. From January 2, for five days, the pre-holiday lasts - the toughest time of fasting, and on January 6, on Christmas Eve, until the "first star", food is completely refused. The word "Christmas Eve" comes from the old Russian word sochivo, which means a wheat dish that is prepared and eaten as a sign of fasting before Christmas.
How to keep the Christmas fast?
The menu of the Advent Post 2020 excludes products containing eggs, meat and dairy, and vegetable oil and fish are also prohibited on some days of fasting. From January 2, until Christmas Eve, fasting becomes more demanding, on the days of the pre-holiday only dry eating is allowed, that is, plant foods without the addition of oil.
There are five levels of severity during the fasting period:
- absolute abstinence from the use of any products;
- eating only plant foods, without adding oil (dry eating);
- the use of plant foods in finished or raw form, without the addition of oil;
- vegetable prepared or raw food with the addition of sunflower or olive oil (oil);
- fish dishes.
The charter of the Church says that during the period of fasting, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the rules of nutrition and refrain from taking non-recommended foods. But the most important thing is the spiritual component: it is important to spend the days of fasting in humility, repentance and prayer. Salvation of the soul will bring fasting, spent at a distance from vices, sins and deeds objectionable to the Lord, rather than spent in refusing food.
First of all, it must be remembered that fasting is not the goal itself - it is only a means of achieving forgiveness, humility and cleansing from filth and sins. In no case should fasting be used as a diet: without repentance and prayer, it loses its meaning.
Also, do not forget that the Church allows pregnant and lactating women, the elderly and sick people, and children not to adhere to the rules of fasting nutrition.
How to get used to fasting?
Do you know when Lent begins in 2020 and what its food calendar is like. Now you are probably worried about the question: how to get accustomed to fasting? The most important principle of fasting is the fight against sins and vice, but not the abstention from eating. It must be remembered that it is worth measuring your strengths with your capabilities and not exhausting your body. Fasting is a feat in its own way, for which it is necessary to carefully prepare.
During the year, train yourself to abstain from fast food a day or two a week, gradually removing necessary foods from the diet. Soon you will realize that you are already ready to fast, and you will accept it with ease. You should not plunge headlong into fasting, exhausting your body with hunger: the consequence of such rash actions can be undermined health. Accustom yourself to fasting slowly, measuredly and patiently, gradually transferring your body to the necessary food. Best of all, when starting to fast, ask for advice and blessings from a spiritual mentor.
How to celebrate the New Year?
While the whole world is celebrating the New Year, Orthodox Christians are fasting. And during fasting, any festival should be limited. But since we are all human, it is not worth completely abandoning the holiday. How to do this without going beyond the scope of the post? After all, the New Year is a family holiday that unites everyone.
Of course, it is worth remembering that during fasting it is necessary to limit oneself not only in food, but also in various kinds of entertainment. That is why, instead of watching TV, spend time talking with family and friends.
It is necessary to set the table in accordance with the requirements of fasting, since modern cuisine is replete with all kinds of dishes prepared without meat, eggs and dairy products. Meat in many dishes can be replaced with mushrooms. But do not overdo it, remember, fasting is a time of abstinence not only from a certain type of food, but also from its excess.
For forty days on the eve of Christmas, from November 28, 2019 to January 6 of the next 2020, Orthodox believers will observe the Advent fast. Since it begins after the Memorial Day of the Apostle Philip (November 27), it is often called Filippovskiy.
It is known that the first Christians observed fasting on the eve of the Nativity of Christ. For several centuries, its traditions in Orthodoxy managed to develop.
These days you need to adhere to a special lifestyle. It is not recommended to visit places of entertainment, lead an intimate life, spend days in idleness, indulge in slander, because fasting is primarily a purification of the soul.
It should be remembered that abstinence in nutrition is only a means to subordinate the bodily to the spiritual, but the main goal of a believer who decides to fast is to turn to God, show love for others, and do good deeds.
“What foods can you eat on Advent in 2019?” - those who decided to observe it for the first time are interested. It is considered not as strict as the Great and Assumption fasts. We will tell you what is recommended to include in the diet during this period, as well as what you can’t eat on Christmas Lent, and we will give a list of products. These rules are determined by the church charter.
What can not be eaten on Christmas Day?
The list of products that are excluded from the diet at this time includes: meat, eggs, dairy and sour-milk products: milk, cream, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, butter, cheese, etc.
Not everyone knows that at this time it is also impossible to eat pastries, white bread, mayonnaise, sweets and chocolate, because they also contain ingredients of animal origin.
And what foods can you eat on Christmas Day?
Of the products of animal origin, you can eat only fish - on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on the days of great holidays, for example, on the feast of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The basis of the diet during the Christmas Lent is:
- dishes from cereals (buckwheat, oatmeal, barley, barley, etc.),
- from legumes (beans, peas, lentils),
- from mushrooms (porcini, mushrooms, butter, chanterelles, honey mushrooms),
- vegetables, herbs,
- from fruits and dried fruits,
- nuts and seeds.
Sugar during fasting is better to replace with honey.
Plant foods can be consumed both boiled and raw. From these products, you can cook healthy and satisfying meals, so that food can be tasty and varied.
What and when can you eat on Advent?
Monday, Wednesday and Friday are dry days. This means that these days you can only eat food that has not been cooked: vegetables, fruits, nuts, honey; bread is also allowed.
It is allowed to use herbal teas from chamomile, mint, lemon balm, St. John's wort, sandy immortelle, etc. Fragrant healing teas are also brewed from berries, leaves and twigs of mountain ash, raspberries, lingonberries.
You can afford a little wine on Sundays and major holidays that fall during fasting. This:
- Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos (December 4),
- Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 19),
- Day of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called (December 13),
- Memorial Day of St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky (December 25),
- patronal holidays.
True, many clergymen believe that during the days of fasting, any alcohol should be completely excluded from the diet. Wine cannot be attributed to the number of necessary drinks, and it will not be difficult for true believers to refuse to use it.
What else is excluded during Advent?
It is worth recalling that the New Year, which is celebrated from December 31 to January 1, is a secular holiday, not a church one. Therefore, believers adhere to the same diet at this time as on ordinary days.
On the eve of Christmas, from January 2 to 6, fasting becomes more strict. At this time, it is recommended to adhere to dry eating. These days you can not include fish in the menu, strong alcoholic drinks are prohibited at this time.
On January 6, before Christmas Eve, food should be completely abandoned. It is customary to eat on this day only after the first star appears in the sky. Then the whole family gathers at the festive table and begins the meal.
What foods can you eat on the last day of Advent? The main dish on the table this evening is sochivo: grains of wheat, lentils or other grains boiled in honey. In such a porridge, you can add nuts, raisins, poppy seeds.
It is worth recalling that there are four degrees of fasting:
- very strict - dry eating, when they eat only non-cooked vegetable food without vegetable oil;
- strict - eat boiled vegetable food with vegetable oil;
- usual, the diet also includes fish.
- for people with poor health.
In the latter case (the fourth degree of fasting), concessions are provided: it is allowed to eat all foods except meat.
The word "fast" itself comes from the ancient German "fasta", meaning "firm, strong, constant." But only monks are recommended to adhere to a strict diet during the days of Advent.
As for the laity, whoever has the strength can fast according to the church charter. Those who do not have such an opportunity can include dishes prepared without some ingredients of animal origin in the menu. After all, it can be difficult to endure 40 days of restrictions, especially for people who work and suffer from various diseases.
We have given general rules regarding what foods can be eaten during the Nativity Fast, and the degree of fasting for each should be determined individually in a personal conversation with the priest.
If you have to do hard physical work, go on business trips, if you have health problems, the fast can be relaxed.
In a word, each person, depending on the circumstances, must determine for himself the measure of abstinence, deciding what he should and should not eat on the Nativity Fast, and make a list of products, after consulting with the priest and receiving his blessing.