NT and Orthodox fasting

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

I received an email a while back from someone about how to incorporate NT

into Orthodox fasting periods. I found something that might help, but I've

since

learned that there are several Orthodox folks on the list so I'll post it

here.

And in case anyone is reading purely out of interest...

A slim majority of the days in a year are " fasting " days according to the

Orthodox calendar. (and generally several weeks more due to a longer of the

" short " fasting periods if you follow the " old " calendar but that's another

story...). Fasting in general requires the abstention from all or some animal

foods, in addition to eating less etc and the just as important increase in

almsgiving and prayer. The fasting is similar to the pre-Vatican II Catholic

fasting

except a little stricter, inheriting the legacy of the Eastern method of

fasting which was always similarly stricter than the West while the churches

were

united.

Wednesdays and Fridays are the most strict, where eggs, dairy, meat, fish,

shellfish, wine, and olive oil are abstained from. Great Lent (40 days in

addition to Holy Week before " Easter " [Pascha]) comes in second where all

products

mentioned above are abstained from except shellfish, olive oil and wine is

allowed only on weekends. The Lent which precedes Christmas allows the

shellfish, wine and olive oil on all days except Wednesdays and Fridays and in

addition

allows fish on the same days. Etc, etc.

Research has been conducted on the diet of the inhabitants of the Greek

island Crete, which is considered to roughly represent the pre-1960s diet of

Greece

as a whole.

One interesting tid bit I read is that Cretans, who strictly adhere to the

Orthodox fast eat SNAILS during Great Lent.

Note that snails are not a plant food.

This sheds some interesting light on the " extrapolation theory. " What I mean

is some folks say you can't eat butter but you can eat margarine, others say

that margarine is just imitation butter so you can't eat it. (I fall into the

margarine is poison so you can't eat it category ;-) ) Or some folks say

olive oil is banned, and since olive oil was the staple, that goes for all other

oils as well. I've doubted this because I believe tahini or sesame oil was

also used in the area.

So the question is, if the rule is no " meat, " which to them did not mean all

meats but meant mammal meat, does that exclude bones for use? Does

prohibition of all " normal " meats like " meat, " fish, and shellfish preclude

things that

aren't just that-- mammal meat, fish and shellfish? If the tradition of the

Cretans is informative the answer is no. Modern Orthodox folks tend to

interpret the fast as banning animal products because it prohibits all the ones

we

typically eat in our culture. But traditional societies that consider

themselves to adhere to the fasts very strictly apparently allow themselves

nutrient-dense snails, and presumably insects of all sorts would be game.

As far as I know *bones* are not prohibited, but I don't know for sure. If

not, this indicates to me that it is an improper extrapolation to say that

since meat is banned bones from the same animal are banned. Eating the meat is

operative, not killing the animal. Animal skins were used for paper in the West

in medieval days and they did not cease writing during Lent.

So presumably a Lenten diet could include insects, if you can handle it ;-)

plenty of coconut and palm oils, and possibly bones, which would make for a

decently NT-ified Lent. And of course, even during the strictest fast of the

year, one of the most nutrient-dense animal foods in existance-- shellfish-- are

allowed on weekends. So stocking up on the oysters in every meal on Saturday

and Sunday would be a great insurance against zinc deficiency and other

nutrients that would be at sub-optimal levels during the week.

Chris