Who of you practices Lent

[Mortimer]

I usually do not because food and consumption like coffee and cigarettes are a weakness of me i do pray several times a day though and im sexually celibate but food cigarettes coffe is my demon i failed now on catholic lent eventhough i did ate only once and it was seafood on ash wednesday but a new trie starting with orthodox lent in a few days im aware that im a sinner and this glutony is not to be put aside as small or unimportant the first sin of Adam was eating forbidden fruit afterall

How about you?

[Mortimer]

Bump

[Streyndza]

Being an Orthodox Christian, I'm also fasting during this Great Lent.
Regarding Adam eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil - it isn't exactly related to gluttony, although it's a good analogy regarding the temptation of seeing food and wanting to have a bite

Regarding cigarettes, I'd advise you to quit them, as I've come to notice that they're a bad spiritual influence - leading to sins multiplying, at least that was my case when I started smoking again, this time as a Christian. I've managed to quit cigarettes again thanks to God being so good and graceful, but I'd advise you to confess this sin to your priest, if you're baptized in the Orthodox church and have a spiritual father or a priest assigned to your parish. I understand that you may not even have the desire to quit cigarettes, as was the case with me, but you should keep confessing this. I've even confessed that I don't even have the desire to quit them, and after some time, God has given me the strength to realize how stupid of an addiction cigarettes are and to make a decision to quit something which was endangering my salvation. You could try doing the same as I did - I believe that God will help you once you reach out to Him for help.

[tropicalslavic]

I attempt to pray more, read more scripture, and at least do some parts of the fast. I think that for people who have very little time to cook food, vegetarian is a decent compromise if you can't do all the way lenten. I know typically you are supposed to talk to your priest about what works for you personally. Many people cut out music, personally I'm trying to cut out reality TV lol. I don't think caffeine and nicotine break the fast.

[Mortimer]

Being an Orthodox Christian, I'm also fasting during this Great Lent.
Regarding Adam eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil - it isn't exactly related to gluttony, although it's a good analogy regarding the temptation of seeing food and wanting to have a bite

Regarding cigarettes, I'd advise you to quit them, as I've come to notice that they're a bad spiritual influence - leading to sins multiplying, at least that was my case when I started smoking again, this time as a Christian. I've managed to quit cigarettes again thanks to God being so good and graceful, but I'd advise you to confess this sin to your priest, if you're baptized in the Orthodox church and have a spiritual father or a priest assigned to your parish. I understand that you may not even have the desire to quit cigarettes, as was the case with me, but you should keep confessing this. I've even confessed that I don't even have the desire to quit them, and after some time, God has given me the strength to realize how stupid of an addiction cigarettes are and to make a decision to quit something which was endangering my salvation. You could try doing the same as I did - I believe that God will help you once you reach out to Him for help.

I didnt fasted yet, I have a bad conscious though, i feel bad for not doing it. But I will cherrypick one week or two weeks, probably next week, after one week of fasting, i will go to the liturgy and communion, i think its weekly. Then I will pause again, and then the holy week i will fast again, definitely on big friday, big friday is always, that is a must.

[Victor]

I attempt to pray more, read more scripture, and at least do some parts of the fast. I think that for people who have very little time to cook food, vegetarian is a decent compromise if you can't do all the way lenten. I know typically you are supposed to talk to your priest about what works for you personally. Many people cut out music, personally I'm trying to cut out reality TV lol. I don't think caffeine and nicotine break the fast.

You don't have to cook food more time in case of Lent, lots of the days are without oil even, so it's literally veggies, nuts, seeds, etc. If your food becomes more expensive/complicated/makes you spend more time on cooking it's already not fasting. Depending on the year of fasting practice, the measure of fasting differs, but it's a personal matter discussed with the priest, but again, Lent and whole year fasting are not "optional" for an Orthodox Christian. Spiritual fasting is not a substitute for the food fasting, but normally come together.

Great Lent is a good time to give up smoking at all or to at least reduce smoking in case if this passion heavily took over a person. There are no "good" or "bad" passions, all of them harm people in different measure. If someone drinks 4-5+ coffees a day and feels bad if he has no coffee, can't spend a day or a week without it, it's already a passion. As there are very few people who can smoke a cig or two and easily don't smoke for day/days/week without feeling uncomfortable, it considers a passion and dependance in 99% of cases.

This is in general terms. And so, the first rule of the "Orthodox club" is not to discuss with anyone how you fast personally and the measure of your fast, except with your confessor.

As for Vegetarianism, it's God-defying, since it is based on the false goal of not eating animal food, not for the sake of God, moderation and abstinence, victory over passions fueled by exact foods, but for the sake of the imaginary earthly benefits of animals, given to us by God, including for food. Veganism is a secular cult.

[CosmoLady]

You don't have to cook food more time in case of Lent, lots of the days are without oil even, so it's literally veggies, nuts, seeds, etc. If your food becomes more expensive/complicated/makes you spend more time on cooking it's already not fasting. Depending on the year of fasting practice, the measure of fasting differs, but it's a personal matter discussed with the priest, but again, Lent and whole year fasting are not "optional" for an Orthodox Christian. Spiritual fasting is not a substitute for the food fasting, but normally come together.

Great Lent is a good time to give a up smoking at all or to at least reduce smoking in case if this passion heavily took over a person. There are no "good" or "bad" passions, all of them harm people in different measure. If someone drinks 4-5+ coffees a day and feels bad if he has no coffee, can't spend a day or a week without it, it's already a passion. As there are very few people who can smoke a cig or two and easily don't smoke for day/days/week without feeling uncomfortable, it considers a passion and dependance in 99% of cases.

This is in general terms. And so, the first rule of the "Orthodox club" is not to discuss with anyone how you fast personally and the measure of your fast, except with your confessor.

As for Vegetarianism, it's God-defying, since it is based on the false goal of not eating animal food, not for the sake of God and abstinence, victory over passions fueled by exact foods, but for the sake of the imaginary earthly benefits of animals, given to us by God, including for food. Veganism is a secular cult.

Is eating eggs permissible during Lent? What if your family has multiple chickens that keep laying eggs every day?

[Victor]

Is eating eggs permissible during Lent? What if your family has multiple chickens that keep laying eggs every day?

Eggs are out during whole Great Lent. In the situation with chickens, it's a good reason to give those eggs for free to people who lack food/do not follow Lent for some reason, any form of charity (necessarily non-public, not vain when "only God knows about it") can also be a good part of the Lent.

[Victor]

Here's a year round fasting Calendar by Typicon, ideally every Orthodox Christian should go for this (in few years after starting fasting practice)

Blank days have no limitations
Light blue allows any food except for meat
Dark violet allows fish and oils (no meat and eggs)
Yellow allows warm food with oils (no meat, eggs, fish)
Green allows warm food without oils (no meat, eggs, fish, oils)
Light violet allows cold food & cold drinks (no meat, eggs, fish, oils) - BUT the cold part goes for monastic practices and usually excluded, except for the cases when person and his confessor come to conclusion it may be good for a person
Grey goes for full abstinence (water only days)

Alcohol in moderation is allowed on all days when oils are allowed.

Also, normally most of the fasting days consider full abstinence until 12 PM or 15 PM, lots of priests nowadays define it less strict with "have a first meal after the Liturgy of this day has finished", so it excludes breakfasts.