In the Orthodox Church we fast through all of Great Lent which this year begins on this coming Sunday evening with Forgiveness Vespers, and continues until the “Feast of feast”—Pascha—celebrated this year on April 8.
During the Great Fast we abstain from all red meat, all poultry, all fish with a backbone (except on the Feast of the Annunciation and Palm Sunday), all eggs, milk, cheese, and dairy. Every day—Sundays included.
We began to prepare our bodies for the Fast this week, called “Cheesefare” by abstaining from all meat, poultry, and fish.
Also important to note that this intense fasting is accompanied by intense prayer. In addition to the usual Saturday Vespers and Sunday Matins and Divine Liturgy we have Great Compline every Monday evening, the PreSanctified Divine Liturgy every Wednesday evening, and the Salutations to the Theotokos every Friday evening.
No wonder one of the hymns for Forgivness Vespers begins “come let us enter into the arena to strive against the passions”
Good grief, what do you eat?
Bread has some of those ingredients, so can you even eat bread?
That’s pretty amazing. I suppose lamb isn’t included? The rest of the diet would be vegetables? Curious about what fish doesn’t have a backbone? This is fascinating to me. Not sure I could follow this fast for more than a day, but amazing that it’s done. Blessings to you.