Do Greek Orthodox celebrate Lent?
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning “Great 40 Days,” and “Great Fast,” respectively) is the most important fasting season in the church year in the Eastern Orthodox Church (including Byzantine Rite and Western Rite Orthodoxy), Byzantine Rite Lutheran Churches and the …
What do Greek Orthodox give up for Lent?
Greek Orthodox Lent is a time of fasting, which means abstaining from foods that contain animals with red blood (meats, poultry, game) and products from animals with red blood (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.), and fish and seafood with backbones. Olive oil and wine are also restricted.
How many days is Greek Orthodox Lent?
48 days
The three major fasting periods under study were: Christmas (40 days), Lent (48 days) and Assumption (August, 15 days).
What do Orthodox eat during Lent?
Kathara Deftera: Clean Monday marks the beginning of Lent and the foods consumed on this day contain ‘no blood’. So salads, fresh and pickled vegetables (tursi), shellfish, octopus, squid and the traditional Lenten flatbread lagana bread are enjoyed. Halva is the traditional dessert.
How do Greece celebrate Lent?
Church lasts into the early morning, and then Greek Orthodox Christians celebrate with a feast filled with foods that were forbidden during Lent. The period of Great Lent exists to prepare us for Christ’s Resurrection and is as much a time of spiritual self-reflection as it is a physical abstention from food.
Can you eat eggs during Greek Orthodox Lent?
For Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian calendar, the Great Lent is more strict, as the faithful are expected to abstain from meat, meat by-products, poultry, eggs, and dairy products for the entire Lenten period.
Can you eat fish during Greek Orthodox Lent?
Orthodox. The Orthodox Church refers to Lent as Great Lent or the Great Fast, and it calls for fasting for the entire duration of the 40-day liturgical season. The faithful not only abstain from meat but from eggs and dairy, too. Moreover, the Orthodox define meat as all animals with a backbone, including fish.
Why do Orthodox not eat meat during Lent?
Regarding the consumption of meat, the principal reason for its exclusion from the OF diet is related to the spiritual achievements of fasting (as gaining mastery over oneself and conquering the passions of the flesh) (1) and, more specifically, with the curbing of erotic desires of the flesh.