A Post on Post

Growing up I had many Catholic friends and come February, they would discuss what they were giving up for Lent.  In my Protestant family, I simply made crafts from palms got some great chocolates come Easter morning. No giving up anything. But now that I am grown and actually quite interested in spiritual observances AND dietary cleanses, I have taken notice to the practice of religious fasting here in Moldova.  Orthodox Christians are rather rigorous in their observance of fasting, believing that regular fasting is a crucially important discipline for one's spiritual growth. Here in Moldova they call this fasting Post. I can’t find anywhere on the Internet that describes it this way but here it is Post and I have decided to observe this practice this year. We are fast approaching the longest Post period of the year, known as the Great Lent. 

In general, this fasting means abstaining from meat and meat products, dairy products and eggs (which historically were considered more luxury foods than ordinary breads), fish, olive oil, and wine with some additional restrictions on certain days, and some other allowances on other days.

I wanted to explore, what is the goal of post? And here is what I found:

1. Purification of Body
2. Strengthening of will
3. The uplifting of the soul over the body
4. Above all, glorification of God and respect for His saints.

And here is a full rundown of how to follow this Easter-time fasting/post. There are a lot of details and I am not sure I will strictly follow the special days, but at least I know have this reference ;)

4 WEEKS OF PREPARATION (February 5 – 26)

• February 5 is the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee and the week that follows (February 6-12) is fast-free.
• February 12 is the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and the week that follows (February 13-19) is a normal week. Wednesday and Friday of this week are fasting days.
• February 19 is Meatfare Sunday (the Sunday of the Last Judgment) and on this day you say “farewell” to meat. During the week that follows (February 20 – 26) you fast from meat only. All dairy, cheese, eggs, wine, and oil are permitted during this week.
• February 26 is Cheesefare Sunday (the Sunday of Forgiveness) and on this day we say “farewell” to cheese, dairy, eggs, wine, oil, etc.  (And by “farewell” you can actually have it on this day; it is the last day before the full fast).  After this begins the full fast…

GREAT LENT AND HOLY WEEK 2012 (February 27 – April 14)

In general, the fasting rules during Great Lent and Holy Week are as follows:

·         WEEKDAYS are observed as Strict Fast Days.  On these days we abstain from meat, dairy, fish with backbones, fowl, alcoholic beverages, and olive oil.

·         WEEKENDS are observed as Wine and Oil Days.  On these days the fast is relaxed to permit alcoholic beverages and olive oil.

In addition, two special “feastdays” that fall during this period - Annunciation (March 25) and Palm Sunday (April 8) -are kept as Fish, Wine, and Oil Days.  On these days the fast is relaxed to permit fish, in addition to alcoholic beverages and olive oil.

There are also certain days of the Lenten-Holy Week cycle that have special fasting rules.

• Great and Holy Thursday (April 12, this year) is observed as a Wine and Oil Day due to the commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist.
• Great and Holy Saturday (April 14, this year) is observed as a Strict Fast Day-the only Saturday of the year kept as a strict fast; however, wine (but not oil) is permitted.

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A dietary theory I have always felt good about is seasonal eating.  Not only does eating what Mother Nature provides in certain seasons make good sense financially and logistically, but it makes sense health-wise.  Storage fruits, root vegetables, and dried nuts in winter provide the sweet and grounding properties and nutrients we need to keep us warm.  Conversely summer’s light, juicy and sweet fruits lift us up to endure the long and warm days.  And so when spring rolls around, nature provides the first greens and sprouts, or foods that cleanse.  Spring is a great time for cleansing-it is called “spring cleaning” after all!  And so observing this fast is, for me, a kind of cleansing.  But more importantly, it will be an exercise of my will, to help me to strengthen my ability to rule, soul over body. 

It’s also a great reason to experiment how your body feels on a vegan diet.  Often the thought of just “going vegan” overnight can seem really overwhelming.  But if you know it’s only for 40 days and there are thousands of other people doing it too, it can help the mind and body to submit to the change with more ease.  There is no lack of information on the internet about the benefits of a vegan diet-whether they are for health or environmental reasons (or both!).  I am not here to advocate any certain way of feeding your physical body, but I am here to advocate feeding your soul.

And to keep in mind, here in Moldova we don’t have things like tempeh and rice milk, or even peanut butter.  I have heard rumors of tofu and soy milk in the capital and will see what I can find.  Those foods are certainly not something I want to eat every day, but will be helpful in getting creative with recipes. And since I will abstain from yogurt, I plan to learn more about fermenting vegetables and even have a lesson for sauerkraut planned with my Russian tutor, which I will post the recipe for on Taste of Peace. We need our probiotics! I will be sure to keep you all updated on the 40 days; how I feel, challenges, new-found loves for foods, awakenings (hey-a girl can dream). Here’s to my last weekend with yogurt for a while (or maybe forever?) Would you like to join me?

XOm!

References:

Wikipedia

All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church