12/04/2017
On November 28, for all believers, the Nativity Fast began. Some believers observe it every year, and some decide to fast for the first time. What about you? Do you observe it? Does your Ukrainian girlfriend take it seriously?
Christmas fasting is a winter fast, it serves to consecrate the last part of the year with a mysterious renewal of spiritual union with God and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.
The Christian fast is an ascetic practice, meaning the abstinence of the body from food of animal origin and other corporal pleasures, and the soul - from evil thoughts, deeds and words; it is a time of pure repentance and inner self-observation.
Fasting, as can be seen from the definition, has two components: a body Fast and a spiritual Fast. The first involves restrictions on food, and the second - the struggle of man with his passions. The second is the main one. The first helps the second. The first without the second is useless.
Catholic Christmas came before the New Year. But Orthodox New Year falls on Christmas time so orthodox Christians are in a more difficult situation. Such a cheerful holiday, which is celebrated by almost the entire country, certainly does not correspond to the lean mood very much.
How to combine the post with the New Year celebration? Most of the confessors allow you to drink a little wine and eat fish on New Year's Eve. But at the same time, they remind us that we should visit the church, ask the Lord for peace and help in the coming year, and defend the New Year's prayer, which is now almost universally entered into the tradition. Some deviation from strictness should not cross borders that distinguish moderation from the binge.
