In the spring, on the eve of the Bright Feast of Easter, especially religious Christians observe fasting. Fasting people strictly adhere to a lean diet, refuse carnal pleasures and all kinds of entertainment. The fast lasts 48 days, of which only three days are allowed to include seafood (fish and caviar) in the menu.
The beginning of Lent depends solely on the date of Easter, it is from it that calculations are made. And since Bright Resurrection is a passing festival, the boundaries of the beginning and end of the fast are shifted every year. The fact is that the date of Easter is calculated in a special way, where the new moon, the day of the vernal equinox, the day of the week are taken into account, only by observing a certain order in the calculations, you can find out the true number of the holiday. For example, in 2019, the Resurrection of the Lord in the Orthodox Church falls on April 28, and in order to understand when fasting begins, you need to count 48 days ago from this date (40 days - Forty days, 2 days - Annunciation and Palm Sunday, 6 days - Passionate A week).
Great post 2019: beginning and end
In 2019, Easter falls on April 28, therefore, having made some simple calculations, it becomes clear that Great Lent begins on Monday, March 11 (but this is only for the Orthodox). As for its end, it lasts exactly 48 days and will end only on the night of April 27-28 (seven weeks, during which a person must give up certain foods, pray a lot, and also improve spiritually).
Like the Orthodox Christians of the Catholic faith, fasting ends on the Saturday before Easter. But it begins on Wednesday, and this day is called Ash Wednesday (in 2019 - March 6). Fasting will end on April 20 this year. It is also worth noting that Lent in Catholicism and Orthodoxy is somewhat different, and the main difference is in the severity of the diet. In Catholic fasting, there are two types of days: abstinence (a ban on meat products, this does not include dairy foods and drinks, eggs) and lean (limiting the number of meals and the amount of food eaten per meal). A few decades ago, Catholic fasting was very strict, but now the rules of Great Lent among Catholics have changed and look like this:
- Ash Wednesday (in 2019 - March 6) - fasting and abstinence (complete rejection of meat, no more than three meals, among which only one is full).
- Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday - abstinence (on these days you can eat only three times, two meals among meals should be very light, vegetables should be preferred).
- Good Friday (2019 - April 19) - fasting and abstinence.
- Great Saturday (in 2019 - April 20) - fasting and abstinence.
On all other days, it is allowed to eat any food, the limit is set only on the number of meals - no more than three per day. As can be seen from the above, Lent is much milder for Catholics than for Orthodox Christians, since in the latter, almost all days of the diet are devoid of animal products, only on church holidays it is allowed to add a little fish and caviar to the menu.
Important: observing Lent - following a certain diet (reducing the number of meals and the absence of certain foods in food) - is only a step towards the main aspect - spiritual rebirth. It is not worth making a diet during fasting a primary task, it is much more correct to work on your human qualities - thoughts, desires, behavior, and so on.
