Is it possible to eat black bread fasting. The best cake is black bread

great post- one of the most significant posts in the Christian religion. This is preparation for a very significant holiday - Easter. During this time, a person, as it were, lives through those days that, according to legend, Jesus Christ spent in the wilderness, before he was crucified on the cross and then resurrected. During this time, he fasted and prayed, the devil tempted him, and he resisted.

That is why this post is considered the most strict. At this time, even fish can be eaten only 1-2 times for its entire duration.

The first and last week are especially strict - it is not allowed to eat even vegetable oil.

Is it possible to eat bread in fasting?

As for bread, you can eat it, but not all varieties:

Therefore, you can eat bread in fasting. But based on vegetable oil and without chicken eggs. These rules apply to all pastries that we eat during this period, for example: pies.

I know the recipe for such a test. I cook from it not only in fasting, but also in common days. Bread, bagels, buns, pies, etc. are very tasty.

In connection with the upcoming period of spiritual cleansing, many people are beginning to wonder if bread can be fasted, or if other products are possible. Let's try to consider this issue, not only from the point of view of generally accepted morality, but also in accordance with the canons of Orthodoxy.

Is it possible to eat bread during fasting

If we deviate a little from this issue, it should be borne in mind that bread, according to Jesus Himself, is His flesh. It is not surprising, because the same procedure of Communion with the Lord occurs through the use of a piece of bread dipped in red wine.

Thus, the question itself, whether bread can be fasted, is resolved, of course, positively. True, there are some nuances here.

Is it possible to eat bread in fasting

This question can be simply considered from the point of view of the origin of food. In fasting (Great, Christmas, Assumption and others), animal products should be avoided, and bread is not one of them. However, even the official Church recommends refraining from white bread, but still give preference to coarse black. In principle, this agrees quite well with the Bible, because even when Jesus fed and watered all the afflicted with five loaves of bread and two fish, black bread is still described.

On the other hand, the Church, in general, does not even consider the question of whether bread is allowed during fasting, as too fundamental. It is enough that this product is allowed to be consumed, but only on the condition that it was prepared without the addition of animal products such as eggs.

But here one important fact should be taken into account. For example, bread crumbs fried in butter should not be eaten. Vegetable, please. Frankly speaking, even if you follow the old Russian traditions, vegetable oil is the first companion of bread. Even numerous Russian folk tales mention this fact.

Finally, it remains to add that the question of whether bread can be fasted has a completely simple answer, and the problem comes down only to choosing a type of bread. But, as already mentioned, regardless of the variety, flour products of this type are allowed. You will have to give up bread only on some days, when it is not recommended to eat at all, although even monks use the so-called "bread" (dry fried slices) during this period.

In general, as it is already clear, while observing fasting, it is better to give preference to black bread. Some Ministers of the Church White bread, not only that they do not recommend, but even forbid, although this may seem to many quite unlawful.

If you want to observe Great Lent, then No, you cannot eat white bread during Great Lent.

It is very difficult to follow all the rules of Great Lent, but if you have great willpower, then this post is for you. If you look from the point of view of medicine, then the post is not very correct option, since people eat a little bit of everything, the body requires it.

If the words white bread mean baking, then, of course, it’s impossible. After all, in sweet pastries there are eggs and butter that cannot be eaten on fast days. In an ordinary loaf butter no, but there are still eggs, so let's give up the loaf.

In Lent you can only eat white bread own cooking , or purchased but marked lean, because in the production of white, rich bread manufacturers often use egg powder, whey or even milk, and these are already animal products that are forbidden to take during Lent.

It is preferable, of course, to eat gray and black bread during Lent, but if, for medical reasons, you can’t eat it, then cook white bread yourself or buy lean bread. Fortunately, it is now on store shelves big choice and completely lean products, including bread.

Not desirable. In Lent they eat mainly black bread. coarse grinding, crackers, potato cakes without adding eggs. My opinion is that fasting is not only abstaining from fast food, but also a purification of the soul.

In Great Lent you can not eat white butter bread because it uses animal products.

Also remember that in any fast you need to limit yourself, eat modest food, no frills and not falling into gluttony (even lean food). After all, fasting is a cleansing of the soul and body.

For lovers of white bread, there are goods in stores that say that they can be consumed in fasting, so you can see the presence of white bread in them.

White bread is one of the forbidden foods during Lent. True, with the proviso that this is rich white bread, that is, one in the production of which eggs and milk were used. If it's plain white wheat bread, which we sell in stores for 18 rubles and in the recipe of which there are no products of animal origin, but only Rye flour replaced with wheat, then you can eat it.

The difference between Great Lent and other fasts is that it is very strict, especially for those who have seriously decided to observe it. Therefore, in Great Lent one should refrain from eating white butter bread, which also contains butter and milk, sometimes kefir. And these are products of animal origin.

Many reach fanaticism, in stores they look for whether the cookies contain margarine on the packaging. In my opinion, if you are a lay person and want to observe Great Lent, it is enough not to eat basic animal products and not go to extremes.

And the essence of Great Lent is not only in abstinence from food, but also from smoking, alcohol, and also, in repentance and correction.

It is strictly forbidden to eat white bread during Lent, because its recipe contains eggs and butter, which, as we know, are of animal origin. But not everyone succeeds in following these rules, just be patient.

You can't eat white bread during Great Lent.





It depends what you mean by white bread. If it contains milk and eggs, and I doubt that they are added to the dough in production (but it’s impossible to check anyway, because you can write everything on the label), then you can’t use such bread in fasting. Unless, of course, you fully observe Great Lent, without deviating from the rules.

There are now a lot of goods in stores that say that they can be eaten in fasting, including white bread with such an inscription - feel free to take it, it is unlikely that forbidden foods are put there, eggs and butter are now so expensive that manufacturers will not it's good to deceive you.

IN modern world fasting is much easier than before. Many manufacturers now offer great amount lean foods that are allowed to be consumed during fasting.

But first, let's look at the benefits and harms of certain products, as well as what will really apply to lean products.

Soy and its products

There are entire stores specializing in the sale of semi-finished soy products. And what kind of lean products are not made from soybeans: cutlets, chops, goulash, and even the entire list of dairy products, from milk to cheese.
This is very healthy, because soy is rich in various vitamins, it is quickly prepared and contributes to the saturation of the body with proteins. Also, soy products are useful for blood vessels, brain function and comprehensively improve the functioning of our body.

There is probably only one risk most soybeans are grown using transgenes. Those. to abuse soy, albeit lean products, is still not worth it.

lean sausage

Sausage. Once it was impossible to dream about this product in a post. Now, even during the period of fasting, it turns out that you can treat yourself to such lean product like a sausage. But here is its composition: dyes, thickeners, flavors, etc., alas, except to worsen your well-being, they are unlikely to be able to do anything else.

lean bread

To be honest, we already eat lean bread. After all, in its manufacture do not use eggs and butter.

But what kind of bread is healthier is still worth mentioning. Most healthy bread is a product made from malt. The second most useful can be considered bran bread. It is not very beautiful, but very useful, because. in its manufacture, wholemeal flour is used.

And, of course, bran and bread from grain, of course, is also successful with most useful can replace ordinary bread. They are rich in vitamins and microelements.

But for the sweet lovers confectionery factories in the post, their range of lean products is significantly expanded, and stores appear sweet pastries which everyone can enjoy.

Macaroni and dumplings

Pasta is another product that can be consumed without restrictions during fasting. As we all know, they are made using only water, flour and salt. True, you can’t add butter to them in a post, but it’s quite possible to drop a little vegetable oil.

The main thing is to pay attention to pasta without adding egg powder and out of flour durum varieties. This information can be found in the description.

Dumplings are in composition, in fact, the same pasta, only with filling. You can use them in fasting or not, it depends only on what they put in them. Those. also carefully read the composition.

Margarine and spread

Both margarine and spread are substitutes for butter. They are made from herbal ingredients. True, manufacturers sometimes add animal fats to spreads. Fully vegetable spread, allowed as a lean product, or not, can be understood already from the name. If the name is “vegetable fat spread”, then there are no animal fats in it. If it is “vegetable-creamy”, then animal fats are present in the composition and it is no longer possible to call such a product lean.

Lean mayonnaise

Theoretically, mayonnaise cannot be a lean product in principle. The main ingredient for making mayonnaise is eggs. That is, " lean mayonnaise” is a mayonnaise flavored sauce. It's best to make your own sauce. It will be both healthier and better for the figure.

Lenten pastries and sweets

During the fasting period, in the confectionery departments, you can find pastries specially made for fasting people. The main thing is to pay attention to the composition so that there are no eggs and milk.

Also, a lean product is dark and bitter chocolate. It is important that there is no milk in the composition. But this applies to white and dairy species chocolate. Here they can not be used in the post.

Marmalade, gozinaki and halva. Well, where without these sweets during the fasting period! They do not contain any fats of animal origin, so they can be enjoyed with pleasure.

The most important thing during the fasting period is not to replace the usual food with something the same, only different in composition. The main thing is the purification of the soul through the ability to think through one's actions and refrain from temptation. Therefore, when compiling a menu, the main thing is to remember the purity of the soul.

Well, so that it doesn’t take you a lot of time to plan lunches and dinners, we offer a list of allowed products.

List of lean foods

- Father Igor, do you remember your first post? How it was? How did he get through?

My very first post is Great. Great Lent is special, it is completely different from all other fasts. And my memory of the first post is one of the most joyful.

It so happened that literally two weeks before the start of Lent, I came to my first confession. She was still very raw, I still could not call myself a believer, but rather a person seeking faith. It was in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in the temple of the Theological Academy, I was confessed by a wonderful priest - hieromonk Svyatoslav. From him, I learned that there would be a post soon, although I had a vague idea about the post.

So my entry into the Church began with that Great Lent. It was a very strict fast, I tried to fast according to all the rules. And there really was a feeling that I entered the post as one person, and came out completely different, looking at the world with completely different eyes. At the end of this post, I did not just realize myself as a believer, but I was convinced that faith is the greatest value in my life. These are my memories of the first post.

- Were there any difficulties?

Difficulties are not remembered. What is done with desire, what is done by one's own decision, as a result own choice- always easy. Everything that a person does is difficult because he needs to do it, but does not want to. And I wanted to go through the experience that, as I understood from a conversation with Father Svyatoslav, an Orthodox Christian is going through.

- The ease of fasting, which is felt by those who fast for the first time, is not given by chance?

It is not given to everyone.

In this regard, I would generally be careful not to make any generalizations. I often have to communicate with people who decide to fast, and it always happens in different ways. I know people who fast with joy and ease, but there are those for whom this period is very unpleasant. Some consider fasting unbearable, impossible for themselves, they say: “I won’t fast, I just can’t! I can't live without meat, without animal food. I am ready to fast for a few days, but not the whole fast.” There are a lot of them. In the spiritual life there is no monotony, everything is very diverse.

- If a person does not dare to start fasting, although he has a desire. Are there any tips here?

For some reason it seems to me that if a person wants, then he will decide. In relation to the post, there is no such formulation of the question - "either-or". Try to fast as much as you can. Try!

Any experience, even if it is negative, will not be superfluous. Moreover, in the Orthodox Church, both the holy fathers and the Holy Scriptures are categorically forbidden to reproach and condemn someone who is not fasting. Here is the approval of a fasting person - this is normal.

As a priest, I am always happy when I meet people who are trying to zealously observe the fast. But if I meet people who don't succeed, then I never condemn, I only regret a little, because that my first experience of fasting was wonderful.

I always hope that the next post will be a repeat of this first experience. Absolute repetition, of course, does not happen, you cannot enter the same river twice, but still, every time you manage to relive something valuable, something that remains in the soul even after fasting. To the spiritual experience that you already have, new grains that you value are added.

Many are afraid to fast because they are used to sleeping sweetly, eating deliciously, it is the restriction in food that scares people ...

But fasting is a restriction in food. We often like to say that fasting is not only food: the main thing is not to offend anyone, not to eat each other, and so on. Sometimes it gets to the point that food is not important at all. This, of course, is wrong. It is clear that the spiritual component of fasting, prayer is very important, but in reality a person feels fasting precisely in food, and food is very important for human life. No matter what they say, food is our life, it is what makes it possible to continue living.

The Lord, loving us, endowed food different flavors Thanks to this, the process of eating food is not only necessary, but also pleasant. And everyone knows that this second component, that is, pleasantness, very often displaces the first one: for a person it becomes more important that it is tasty, and not healthy, for example. Of course, we can say that during fasting we should try to minimize this second component. Although this is very bad.

As is known, the best seasoning to any food is hunger. Therefore, when you start fasting, after a while the very food that you would not normally look at becomes a delicacy. The same buckwheat, which I ate yesterday without oil, but today it is possible with oil - it becomes tastiest.

One priest said: “When in the first days of Great Lent I ate practically nothing, and then, when it became possible, I cut off a piece of black bread, salted it and anointed it sunflower oil, no most a delicious cake or a cake could not be compared for me in taste with this black bread!

Here I recall the descriptions of Shmelev's fasting bazaars ... What was there just not there - all sorts of mushrooms, pickles! So, perhaps, you will not notice the post?

Of course, I understand that for people who are very strict with themselves, all this should even cause protest - what kind of post is this? Now fasting has become immeasurably easier. When I started fasting, and it was still the 80s, everything was gone in the stores. Then, indeed, the fast was like this: pasta, potatoes and cabbage, and zucchini caviar was the most delicacy.

Now you go to the store - all sorts of frozen vegetables, mushrooms and so on. And yet, even in these conditions, it is difficult for many to give up meat and dairy products.

Here the motivation may be the desire to overcome something, the desire to win. It is inherent in man to feel life as a kind of struggle. This is understandable - humanity and each person individually have existed for many years in conditions of unceasing struggle, this is one of the properties of man. And in any struggle there is always a desire to win, and this victory brings joy to a person. We see this in sports, in various competitions - this is normal, this is how a person works.

Many people want to win. But what or whom to win? Not everyone knows that the most beautiful and joyful victory is a victory over oneself, a victory over one's own weakness, some kind of vice. Only such a victory really gives real joy. And this is a much greater joy than eating sausage.

Therefore, for many, the post that a person himself has chosen is a stay in some kind of unceasing joy. And fasting is joy, and the holiday after that is joy. A person who has fasted experiences the joy of the holiday in a different way, the taste of joy is different.

But if you think about food all the time, and even work colleagues eat sausage and offer what to do? Once broke, the second, then abandoned?

Yes, there is such an error. A man came and said: “Father, I fasted, fasted, and then there was a birthday, and I jumped off, I could not resist. And now what to observe ... ". It is not right. If for some reason you broke the fast, this does not mean that the fast is over, start again. And, perhaps, such a post will become more valuable for you, as it will be difficult - starting all over again is always more difficult than continuing what you started.

It’s understandable - I got on a birthday or some kind of holiday, waved my hand, ate something that you shouldn’t eat fasting, and the next day you wake up and you already want it again. And you think: "What's the difference now?". And it would be necessary to say: “Yesterday - it was yesterday. Forgive me, Lord, I could not restrain myself, today I start all over again. The ability to do this is very valuable. No breakdown should mean the end of the fast.

- Is it worth it to start small? Do not eat only meat, for example, or is it better to dive right away, so dive?

This is a very controversial question, I've heard completely opposite opinions. I remember one well-known priest in some television program said that you shouldn't strictly fast right away. He recommended not eating meat in the first post, milk in the second, and so on. I did not agree with him then, because I remembered my first strict post.

Then I consulted with another priest, who also believed that beginners should fast as strictly as possible, because this strictness makes it possible to immediately feel the fast.

Now I think that everywhere is needed individual approach. Eat different people, different type of character. Just as some followed Jesus Christ at once, leaving everything, while others thought for a long time, hesitated, hid, like Joseph and Nicodemus, for example. But they also became worthy disciples and are glorified by the Church.

You have to listen to yourself. There are people who are prone to extremes, maximalists - "either all or nothing." I treat such people with respect. If a person is like that, then it will be much more difficult for him to limit himself by half. And there are people who understand: I can’t do that much, but I can only half, and they do it, and thank God. Let us give everyone the opportunity to choose the path that is more in tune with their inner character.

- Does a person decide for himself how to fast or should he receive a blessing?

It does not interfere. I think that everything in life should be decided by the person himself. Another thing is that when making these decisions, he must take into account the opinion and advice of those whom he respects, who is an authority for him, whom he trusts. As for the blessing, I will say that for a believer it makes sense to take a blessing for everything - the blessing of God, first of all. "Bless, Lord!" - these words should accompany any of our actions.

As for fasting, then, of course, it is not superfluous to ask the priest to bless. And not some random priest - this is also a mistake. Fathers are different. Of course, one must consult with the priest with whom there is some kind of connection, even better if it is a confessor. It is clear that not everyone has a confessor, but at least a person should have experience of communicating with this priest. And even in this case, what the priest says is far from always to be taken as something unshakable. We, the priests, give advice, not some kind of directives "do it just like that." The final decision, I will say again, is made by the person himself and is responsible for this decision.

- And if there is no priest nearby, then a person can simply look at the church rules and follow them?

Certainly! The simplest rule is one: during fasting, you need to refrain from animal food, during strict fast and from fish, during a less strict fast we do not abstain from fish - that's all. And as for "with oil-without oil" - this, I think, is not for everyone. For a person living in the world, working, simply abstaining from meat and dairy food - sufficient measure during the post. If this does not work, then at least one should refrain from meat food, because there are many diseases when the use of dairy food is required.

Fasting is still a refusal, a deprivation. And any rejection of something for the sake of the Lord, for the sake of faith, and the rejection of what you would not want to give up - this is already great, already blessed by God, no matter how much it happens. And already the degree of this measure is different for everyone. After all, the ability to say “no” to some of your wishes is one of the most valuable things in life.

- What is the peculiarity of the Christmas Lent? Can I fish, fasting is easier?

In the Orthodox Church there is a charter, and fish is not allowed every day. But there is a practice, which is now widespread almost everywhere, that on Advent, except for Wednesday and Friday, fish is eaten. I do not consider it necessary to prohibit this, although compliance with the charter is welcome. Speaking about me personally, I think that it is more useful for me to eat fish only on Saturday and Sunday, and on other days try to abstain from it. Otherwise, I will not feel the post. Any fish is so delicious, what a post! But I cannot demand this from everyone.

Of course, during the Nativity Fast, questions arise about the New Year. To the point that some people are desperately arguing that you need to switch to a new style on the calendar. And when I ask what their arguments are, they say in all seriousness: “But New Year! How? It turns out that everything is how people celebrate, and we have a post!

Of course, we have the right to celebrate the New Year, but with Lenten table- fish, seafood. Some zealous Orthodox almost defiantly go to bed and that's it. They say: “I don’t celebrate the New Year, I’m an Orthodox person, and this is a pagan holiday!”

It's not close to me, I think that the New Year - good holiday. And the fact that it falls on our fast should not cancel the fast, but it is permissible to soften the fast on the day new year holiday. And starting from the second day, until Christmas, fasting becomes especially strict.

If for health reasons a person cannot fast, what should be done? What should fasting be like without food as a component?

There can be a lot of different approaches here, there is even some scope for creativity - to try to figure out what in this life gives me pleasure, what I can do without. For some it's a TV, for some it's the Internet, social media, computer games, maybe some moral restrictions.

One of my acquaintances in a post categorically forbade himself to reproach or reproach anyone, even if there were grounds for this.

Reproaches are generally one of the most harmful phenomena in human life, because any reproach creates some kind of crack in human relations. Often, one could do without reproaches and reproaches, because as a rule they do not change anything.

And so my friend decided: if he nevertheless reproaches someone on the case - it really was necessary, work after all - he will still have to pray for this person in the evening, read, for example, the 50th psalm, and if at all he reproached just like that, without reason, did not restrain himself, then, for example, a repentant canon. It is clear that sometimes it is necessary to reproach or reproach, there are situations, but with this approach this will be minimized.

Someone takes a vow of silence for the entire post. Not like real silencers, of course, this is impossible. No, keep up the conversation, talk when necessary, but don't just talk. They asked - he answered, you need something for work - he said. Keep track of it so that there is no idle talk. In fact, it is very difficult, but for talkative people it is so simple a heroic feat.

Someone in the post sets the task of getting up early and reading prayers or some book that they have long wanted to read, but put it off due to laziness. Or memorize a few psalms, following Holy Communion, and so on.

- Quit smoking?

This, of course, every smoker should try to do, regardless of fasting, but for people who have a long-term habit, it is very difficult. A person is constantly tormented that it is necessary to get away from this, but he does not find strength in himself, makes an attempt after an attempt. To make another such attempt with a post is a good deed.

A few years ago, and even now, you can often hear that one or another famous person began to fast and always talks about it. Fasting has become fashionable. Is there any relation here to fasting as a diet - “and I will lose weight, and my soul is good”? How to explain that fasting is still not a diet?

Of course, fasting is not a diet. But I so often had to deal with the fact that in various Orthodox literature this is emphasized - fasting is not a diet, up to the opposition, which I think, it is not at all necessary to contrast these concepts. What is a diet? A diet is a restriction in nutrition, which is intended to bring some benefit to my body, my body. What's bad about it? If you treat this without fanaticism, if it does not become the goal of life for a person, then there is nothing wrong. Yes, what we eat, how much we eat, affects the body. Therefore, you should not cross out the diet from the list of therapeutic measures to improve the body.

A diet, if it is built on a competent, scientific basis, is a good and kind thing. Fasting is also a diet. Moreover, this is one of the additional incentives for a person to start fasting. I know for sure about myself that during any fast I feel much better, lighter, my brains think better, the heaviness goes away, it’s easier to wake up, sleep is healthier, and so on. Of course, it happens differently, but I generally have the feeling that during fasting all my ailments go away.

On the one hand, in no case should you identify fasting with a diet and see in it the possibility of some kind of healing of the body, but on the other hand, you must understand that this also includes fasting. And this does not prevent a person from fasting at all, on the contrary, it gives additional motivation for fasting.

- Fasting is preparation for the holiday, so you can get sick after overeating for the holiday?

Are there many such examples? Of course, this is not a question of fasting already, but simply of elementary rationality and human culture. A person should not be stupid, he should understand that if he has limited himself for some time, then immediately removing all restrictions, you need to observe some reasonable measure.

But as a rule, if a person strictly fasted the entire fast, then breaking the fast is very moderate. The man says: "I ate a couple of pieces of sausage, and that's it, I'm full." I heard this very often, but I don’t remember anyone overeating.

During fasting, food ceases to occupy the important place in a person’s life that it occupied before. Man has already tasted a certain joy, which happens even without food.

There is rather another problem, not conversations, but incantations. Here I know for sure that many people allow themselves this in last days before the fast with the thought that there is a fast ahead, and now we will finally “tighten up”, that - yes, you can get sick. Here you can read Gilyarovsky - how many people were taken to hospitals who had eaten pancakes for Maslenitsa, how many deaths there were - intestinal volvulus and so on. Talking - it really becomes a dangerous problem for someone. And to break the fast, we’ll break the fast, it’s just that a person must understand that a measure is needed in everything - both in fasting and in breaking the fast.

- If there are children in the family, and suddenly the family decides to start fasting for the first time, should the children also be included immediately?

Children, like adults, are different, and the approach to each child should be different. Giving some uniform requirements for all children is not correct. Only one requirement is obligatory - if we want the child to grow up as a believer, Orthodox, then it is by no means permissible to exclude fasting from the child's life. It is a gross pedagogical mistake to think that he is small, he has no need to fast. But the measure of this post is a question that must be resolved reasonably and not impose burdens that are insupportable on the child.

Fasting for a child must be voluntary. Freedom, which we must develop in every possible way both in ourselves and in our children, it is precisely in this situation that it should manifest itself in the fact that the child will have the opportunity to decide for himself what his post will consist of.

If there are good relations between parents and children, if a child trusts his parents, loves them, they are authority for him, then I think they will be able to explain to the child what fasting is. “Dad and I will not eat this, that, the third, the fourth, and you are still small and your body requires a completely different attitude towards yourself than ours. But let's decide with you that you will also give up something for the time of fasting, let's think about it together with you? Let it be small, let it be something very insignificant, but obligatory.

In this regard, it is important for the child to experience that, having made a decision, he must be faithful to this decision. This is one of the most important qualities that every person should have - constancy, fidelity to the word. We, many, make decisions and break them easily. Not all, of course, are strong-willed, firm people, I always admire such people, but I want us all to be like that. So that we are not, as Christ said, “a reed moved by the wind”, so that having decided something, we firmly put this decision into practice. And this must be taught in childhood; those who do not learn this in childhood will never be able to learn.

Will is difficult to cultivate in adult life. The one who was weak-willed in childhood is likely to remain so for the rest of his life, even if he perfectly understands that it is bad without a will. Exceptions are rare, as a rule, a person who has been formed as a weak-willed person remains so.

While the child is small, laying in him the foundations of firmness, responsibility for the decisions made is very, very important. And fasting is an excellent school for such work.

How this should happen specifically - let each family decide individually, each parent must independently find the form in which they will work with their child.

Is the post private? Or discussion with friends, in social networks, for example, can help? Is it helpful for a beginner to share the experience of fasting?

I think that spiritual experience and our relationship with God in general is a topic that the less we discuss with someone, the better. The Gospel speaks of this - both fasting and prayer must take place in secret. Of course, I am not a supporter of extremes, it is hardly possible to live in such a way that fasting is an absolute secret, so that no one even guesses. But the less it is discussed, the better.

As for strangers, there is nothing to talk about at all. It is clear that if I have a close friend, then one of the manifestations of friendship is to share the most intimate, to reveal what you will not reveal to others. But here, too, one must be careful. A confessor is another matter, here you have to be ready, without hiding anything, to tell about everything that happens in fasting. As for the rest of the people, I repeat, the less the better.

- And if you didn’t succeed in fasting, then that’s all, you don’t deserve the Christmas holiday?

I think that the words “failed” can only be applied to those people who have not even tried to fast. They have no problems at all, they were not going to fast. But if a person tried, then at least he did something. And if he did something, then let him rejoice at this "something", the little that he did. The workers of the eleventh hour, as we know, are rewarded in the same way as the workers of the first.

If we are talking about the beginning of fasting, then starting, then quitting and not fasting until the end is wrong. In any case - the end of the crown. I think that if someone started, fasted and quit, then, since the whole fast is still ahead, let him try to return to the fast at least a few days before it ends. This will be great, because then he will really be an "eleventh hour worker."

Even if a person begins to fast after the New Year, he will get together four or five days before the end of the fast and decide: at least I will do so much - this will also be very good. If it doesn’t work out differently, let it be at least that way.

Anyone who has done at least something, let him thank God for this “something”. And he decides for himself that next time he will do more. Since I was able to fast for three days, then I can do four or five. In life, it is very important that our movement is on the rise, so that there is no regression. If I fasted for 10 days this year and 9 days next year, then there is a high probability that it will be even worse in the future. And vice versa, if I fasted 9 days this year, and 10 days next year, then there is growth.

In the word of St. John Chrysostom on Easter, it says so: “Come, all you fasting and non-fasting, let no one weep for his misery,” is the holiday for everyone? Or is it only for Easter - for the sake of joy is forgiven?

I think that these words are heard at Easter because Easter is a special, highest joy that exists in the Church. But this joy does not negate other joys. The joy of the Incarnation, Christmas is also great. The fact is that the Nativity Fast is not like the Great one. During Lent everything changes, the whole life, the whole way of life. And during the Nativity Fast everything is simpler, more ordinary, there are, of course, certain statutory changes, but they are almost not felt by believers.

But Christmas is the celebration of the Love of God. God became man. God's love for people is manifested with such force, God loves man so much that He Himself becomes a Man. Of course, this love is addressed not only to fasters, but to all people without exception, this is a joy for everyone. Fasting, however, can enable the soul to experience this joy more fully and deeply. But only, of course, on the condition that we do not look down on those who did not fast.

Interviewed by Maria Stroganova