The influence of the Orthodox Church on Russian culture. The influence of Orthodoxy on Russian culture. The influence of Christianity on the culture of ancient Rus'
NUTRITION ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT RELIGIONS.
Nutrition as a cult and as the basis of life.
Currently on globe More than 6 billion people live, and they all differ from each other not only in language, skin color, nationality, but also in religion. The word religion comes from Lat. heligio, which means “piety”, “shrine”, “piety”.
There are more than 200 definitions of religion, of which the one given by the American researcher B. Earhart can be called successful: “Religion is like time; everyone feels what it is, but it is not so easy to grasp its essence and give it an exact definition.”
Atheists define any religion as “the opium of the people.” Believers believe that religion is the relationship between God and man, and the very existence of God is not discussed. There is a third approach, when religion is considered as a historical and social phenomenon, as a system of uniting people by the church. Religion in modern society objectively represents one of the most important components of the culture of peoples.
The first and central question of any religion is the question of faith. This concept is intangible. Faith is emotional, intuitive, and involves religious feeling. Religion is an established system that exists on the basis of theory (religious teaching) and practical activity. Dealing with religion theology(from Greek theos - god and logos - teaching); in Russian this word corresponds to the concept of “theology”. The existence of religion is impossible without practice, the main and obligatory element of which is cult (from Latin - care, veneration).
Issues of nutrition, to a greater or lesser extent, as elements of a cult, are present in all religions. These are food prohibitions and restrictions (fasts), customs, traditions and other regulations.
On questions of being, life and its origin, there are two fundamental points of view: the religious position is called creationism, according to which, life was created by the Creator at a certain time, and the second, explaining processes of the universe from a scientific point of view(there are several main theories):
Spontaneous generation, i.e. everything happened by itself, as the name implies;
Theory steady state means that life has always existed;
According to the theory of panspermia, life was brought to planet Earth from outside;
The theory of biochemical evolution is the gradual emergence of life and its subsequent development from simple to complex.
Religious precepts are not discussed by a believer, no matter what they concern. Atheists(from the Greek a - negation and theos - god) the emergence of fasts and other food religious prescriptions is explained as follows: ancient people, even during the time of the tribal system, when the main source of food was hunting and gathering, due to superstitions began to use various rituals (please successful hunting, etc.). Rituals concerned many aspects of life, but since the presence or absence of food was of paramount importance for survival, rituals directly or indirectly related to nutrition became the most important. Co Over time, these rituals became entrenched in the minds of ancient people and in practical life, acquiring a cultic connotation. Food prescriptions were based not only on superstitions, but also on a purely economic basis - the need to carefully use food supplies; compliance with the gradually developed elementary hygienic rules was of vital importance.
Thus, the life of the primitive community was gradually regulated by a system of various prohibitions. Subsequently, as society developed, these cults acquired
religious overtones. As a result, the church gave the fasts essentially a new content - not only and not so much physical, but, above all, moral cleansing.
All religions are divided into two large groups: monotheistic(from Greek monos - one, and theos - god), recognizing the existence of one god, and polytheistic(polu - many and theos - god), worshiping many gods. The Russian term “polytheism” is an analogue of the term “polytheism”.
World religions.
There are many religions - from very small ones to national-state ones (for example, Hinduism in India forms the basis of the religious life of the nation) and even world ones, which have spread beyond the cultural-national center in which they arose and have a huge number of adherents all over the world. Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are considered world religions . According to the World Almanac magazine (1994), there were 1833 million Christians in the world; 971 million Muslims; 732.8 million Hindus; 314.9 million Buddhists (this data cannot be considered very accurate, because in some countries it is considered unethical to conduct a survey) .
Christianity.
Christianity (from the Greek Christos - “anointed one”, “messiah”), having originated as a single religion, divided over time (in 1054 there was a final split between the Catholic and Orthodox churches), and after the era of brutal religious wars of the 16th century, Protestantism and confessional division emerged Europe is becoming stable. Catholicism or Catholicism (means “universal”, “ecumenical”) is the most widespread Christian denomination (from the Latin confessionalis - church). There are up to 800 million Catholics. Catholicism predominates in the Romanesque countries (except Romania) and in Ireland. Orthodoxy (from the Greek - orthodoxy) historically developed as the eastern branch of Christianity, prevailing in Slavic countries (except for Catholic Poland and Croatia), Greece and Romania. There are about 100 million Orthodox Christians.
Protestantism is widespread in the German-Scandinavian countries (except for Catholic Austria and Bavaria). In the mid-90s the total number of people leaning towards Protestantism was determined at 585 million people; approximately 412 million of them are representatives of European Protestantism, which originated directly from the Reformation, and 173 million believers accepted the teaching as a result of missionary activity - “non-European independent Christians.”
The youngest of the world's religions is Islam (from the Arabic “submission” or from the word “salaam” - peace); The second name of the religion is Islam. There are about one billion people practicing Islam in the world today. The holy book of Muslims is the Koran, revealed to people in the form of verses through the prophet Muhammad in Mecca. Islam is also heterogeneous; its two main movements are called Sunnism (“Sunnah” in Arabic means “model”, “example”) and Shiism (“Shia” from Arabic means “followers”).
Buddhism and Hinduism.
There are approximately 2 times more Hindus than Buddhists.
Religious history of food.
One of the most ancient human activities was cooking. Over the course of a long time, different peoples have developed not only cooking skills, but also attachments and preferences. Culinary features were formed under the influence of many factors: geographical location, climatic features, economic opportunities, certain traditions and more. The menu of the peoples living on the shores of the seas and oceans, naturally, was dominated by fish and seafood; nomads (pastoralists) ate what animal husbandry could provide,
those. milk and meat; inhabitants of forest-steppes used livestock and forestry products in their diet; residents of southern countries used a large amount of vegetables and fruits for cooking. Thus, a set of initial products for cooking was determined. Another important factor under the influence of which national cuisines took shape is the technology of food preparation and the method of processing it.
The determining factor was the use of fire, i.e., the arrangement of the hearth. Geographical position and climate were of paramount importance in this matter. In a rather harsh winter, the Russian stove served as a source of heat and a device for cooking food at the same time. Southerners used open fire, often setting up the kitchen separately from the home. In turn, the design of the hearth determined the characteristics of heat treatment. It is most convenient to cook, stew and bake in an oven; it is preferable to fry over an open fire (on a spit, on a grill).
Taste preferences and diet also developed depending on climatic and geographical features: southern peoples widely used various spices, hot sauces and seasonings when preparing food, while northerners preferred relatively bland food. Most peoples have a tradition of eating three times a day. Southerners usually have a light breakfast, and lunch and dinner are plentiful.
The degree of influence of religions on the characteristics of national nutrition varies among different peoples. Most often, church regulations and prohibitions fit organically into the system of already established culinary traditions. However, the influence of the church as a whole on the characteristics of national cuisines is an undeniable and significant fact. Everyone knows that Muslims do not eat pork, considering the pig an “unclean” animal. The peoples of India who profess Hinduism (the vast majority of them in the country) do not eat animal meat at all; many Hindus are strict vegetarians. As a result, each nation's cooking acquires its own specific characteristics. This is how national cuisines developed, an essential element of which to this day are religious prescriptions.
In China, a system of religious practice has developed in an amazing way. Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism exist on equal terms in the country. If Buddhism is one of the world religions, then the last two are predominantly widespread in China.
Residents of Japan also profess both Buddhism and Shintoism (Japanese national religion). A similar situation exists in many countries around the world. In addition, there is no strict unity within the confessions. Christians have long been divided into Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox, Muslims - into Sunnis and Shiites, within Buddhism there are several directions, and even Hinduism is not homogeneous. You can also observe a combination of religious and national in people’s lives, including in matters of cooking. The interpenetration of national and religious led to the originality and uniqueness of peoples and the characteristics of their diet.
Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrianism belong to ancient religions. From about 1500 to 1200 BC. e. lived the prophet Zoroaster (Zaratushtra, or Zarathustra), endowed with the gift of foresight, the founder of this religion. And currently, 130-150 thousand people in Iran, Pakistan, India and some other countries consider themselves adherents of Zoroastrianism. Where this religion originated is not known exactly; according to the English researcher M. Boyce, “the prophet Zoroaster lived in the Asian steppes, east of the Volga.” Even then, much attention was paid to nutrition issues: religion prescribed not to eat meat without first removing the blood from it. The festive menu was regulated - when celebrating the New Year (Nouruz), there must be seven dishes on the festive table (composing the so-called lorca) of almonds, pistachios, walnuts, persimmons, figs, grapes and pomegranates.
Taoism.
The sage Lao Tzu is considered the founder of Taoism, although almost nothing is reliably known about him. The doctrine arose in the VI-V centuries BC. e. in China, and to this day many Chinese profess Taoism, although there is no exact data on how many followers of this religion currently live in modern China. Taoism is not a world religion and is widespread only in China. Modern Chinese medicine The principles of the Taoist diet are used for therapeutic and preventive purposes, as well as to improve the health of the body. The most important place in this is fasting (zhai). Distinctive feature Fasting Taoism is the absence of uniform, strictly written rules. Fasting is a system of a wide variety of prescriptions and restrictions relating not only to food; this is strict adherence to rituals, restraint of emotions and passions (“restrictions of the heart”) and abstinence from many thoughts, desires, words, and actions.
The method “ nine forms of food fasting." In general, the method is a path of improvement for a Taoist (who practices Taoism), consisting of 9 stages. General rule nutrition, related to its quantity - non-overeating, not being completely satiated, following the “golden middle." At the first stage, you need to give up eating meat and eat grains and cereals (mainly wheat). The second form provides for eating only vegetables and fruits, the third form strictly regulates the amount of food taken and the time of its consumption. The first forms of this unique fast are aimed only at physical limitations.
To “feed on radiance” (fifth form), you need to drink water prepared and enchanted in a special way (dissolve the ashes of burnt paper with the image of magical hieroglyphs in the water). “Nourishing radiance” means using the energy of the sun, moon and stars; breathing exercises and in-depth meditation allow you to master the seventh form - “qi nutrition”. The eighth stage means feeding on the “primordial qi,” i.e., the energy of the original world; ninth, highest stage - “fetal nutrition”, when nothing can be done to maintain life .
Confucianism.
Confucianism is also one of the religions of China. Confucius (in Chinese pronunciation sounds like Kun-tzu, or Kung-fu-tzu - the sage Kun), the founder of the religion, lived from 551 to 479 BC. e., i.e. approximately 25 centuries ago. The teachings of Confucius are multifaceted; it represents a set of spiritual and social norms that have been passed down from generation to generation for almost 2.5 thousand years. In addition to China, Confucianism is also practiced in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore (although not
is equally widespread there).
Until 1913, the teachings of Confucius remained the official ideology in China. In everything, Confucius preached the principle of moderation, the “golden mean,” and he himself put these principles into practice. It is said about him: “I caught fish with a fishing rod, not a net.” ». It’s easy to imagine how Confucius ate thanks to the surviving records: “he never ate his fill of either polished rice or thinly sliced meat.” “I never ate anything that changed its color or smelled bad; I also never ate anything that was poorly prepared; and never ate exact time; did not eat food that was cut incorrectly; and never ate unless the correct sauce was used.” Even if there was enough food around, he avoided eating anything other than rice. To this day, in the homeland of Confucius, in the city of Qufu, Shandong Province, the culinary recipes he developed are used.
Buddha in Sanskrit means “Enlightened One”, “Awakened One” ». Currently, the majority of Buddhist adherents live in South, Southeast and East Asia: Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand and Laos. Buddha lived from 624 to 544. BC e., i.e. in 1956 the 2500th anniversary of Buddhism was celebrated. The historical birthplace of Buddhism is the Ganges River valley, northeastern part modern India. There, in a small (non-existent today) state on the border of India and Nepal, lived the founder of the teaching, a prince named Siddhartha Shakyamuni - the future Buddha. Knowing no need for anything, he lived in the luxury of palaces; but one day he suddenly changed his life and at the age of 29 went in search of the truth. The prince became a wandering hermit (shraman), one of the necessary properties of which was the ability to endure hunger. At the age of 35, enlightenment descended on him and he became Buddha. Having experienced both luxury and asceticism, Buddha made the choice of the “middle path.”
“Shortly before his death, he told his beloved student Ananda that he could extend his life by a whole century.” “The reason for Buddha’s death was a meal with the poor blacksmith Chunda, during which Buddha, knowing that the poor man was going to treat his guests to stale meat, asked to give all the meat to him. Not wanting his companions to suffer, Buddha ate it.”
Chinese cuisine, from a confessional point of view, is a synthesis of the prescriptions of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. On the one hand, according to the famous Chinese proverb “Life requires seven items: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soybeans, vinegar and tea,” the Chinese cuisine is simple, on the other hand, the Chinese use a wide variety of dishes, including exotic ones, to prepare dishes. products. Along with cereals, vegetables, meat, fish, and poultry, Chinese chefs prepare dishes from marine invertebrates, algae, and bamboo shoots. But milk and dairy products are not traditionally consumed in China.
The main food product is rice; Almost no meal is complete without it. Rice porridge is prepared everywhere and in a variety of ways, essentially replacing bread. There are two main types of rice porridge: dry crumbly and very liquid, which forms the basis of the Chinese breakfast. Porridges made from corn and millet are also popular. The main source of protein is legumes and products made from them; soybean oil, soymilk, soybean curd (there are hundreds of recipes), sauces and soybean paste are common. Popular flour products in China - noodles, flatbreads different types, the so-called pampushki - steamed bread, dumplings, cookies. Vegetables play a big role in Chinese cuisine: cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, many varieties of radish, green beans. Among vegetables, cabbage is the most popular . Young bamboo shoots are eaten boiled. Meat is not the most popular food item in China;
Most meat dishes are prepared from pork, while beef and lamb are less popular. More widely, Chinese cooking uses poultry, primarily ducks and chickens, their eggs, as well as fish and various seafood products - crabs, shrimp, various shellfish - squid, octopus, cuttlefish, sea cucumbers. The most common drink in China is tea, which is drunk everywhere.
Shintoism ("Way of the Gods").
Shintoism ("Way of the Gods") is the national religion of Japan, formed on the basis of local beliefs of antiquity. Shinto, as the Japanese themselves call it, coexists peacefully with Buddhism, which came to the islands from the south. In Japan, the average life expectancy is one of the highest, so interest in the eating habits of the Japanese is not just educational. The products used for cooking are diverse: primarily plant and seafood, various vegetables, herbs, sea and river fish, poultry, caviar, eggs, and sweets. As in China, rice is the Japanese's favorite and most common product. At the same time, the Japanese consume more meat dishes from beef and pork. Cabbage, including sea cabbage, and various vegetables - cucumbers, eggplants, turnips, radishes - are widely used on the islands.
Soybeans and other legumes, including sprouted ones, are popular. The first dish is usually prepared using specially prepared soybeans. This soup is eaten with noodles, meat and herbs. The basis of the Japanese second course is most often fish, which is prepared in an extremely varied way or eaten raw, cut into slices. Feature national cuisine The Japanese widely use various spicy seasonings, which are prepared from radishes, radishes and herbs. Salted and pickled vegetables, pickled garlic, and pickled cucumbers are also constant on the Japanese table. For cooking Japanese cuisine vegetable oil is used and fish fat. In Japan, it is customary to drink green tea.
Hinduism.
The leading feature of this religion (on nutrition issues) is its attitude towards animals. Hinduism is not homogeneous (experts distinguish Brahmanism, Bhagavatism, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, etc.), but the idea of rebirth in Hinduism is one of the central ones, it determines the relationship of man to animals. It is believed that in one of the subsequent rebirths a person can appear on earth in the guise of a cow, goat, monkey, buffalo or other animal or bird, i.e. a Hindu treats animals as sacred beings, and under no circumstances can harm them harm, except for ritual. Therefore, Hindus are strict vegetarians.
Ayurveda(meaning "knowledge of life" or, more fully translated, "knowledge of human life span") is a system of medical prevention and health care that originated in India more than 5,000 years ago. In the teachings of Ayurveda, the issues of rational nutrition are given exceptional importance; It is believed that the main cause of disease is poor digestion. Here is the main thesis of the teaching: the ability to effectively digest food allows you to benefit even from poison, while a healing balm in case of impaired digestion can cause irreparable harm (and even lead to death). Therefore, no food is good or bad; it all depends on the body’s ability to digest food and extract the necessary substances from it. This ability to assimilate and extract is determined by the intensity of digestion.
According to Ayurvedic theory, there are three innate types of digestion intensity:
Type 1 is characterized by unstable, sensitive digestion;
Type 2 has strong, intense digestion;
Type 3 is characterized by slow and often difficult digestion.
The Ayurvedic nutritional system is unusual; it does not consider concepts familiar to us, for example, it does not talk at all about fats, carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins. It is believed that in order to build proper diet only information about food is needed, the body itself has necessary tools to obtain this information: the primary information about food is contained in its taste. Ayurveda distinguishes six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.
The combination and presentation of flavors determines the nutritional value of food. A balanced dish, according to the Ayurvedic principle, must contain all six tastes, then optimal breakdown of food components and their absorption by the body occurs.
Ginger diet suggested to normalize digestion. To do this, in a small metal or ceramic container, 4 tbsp. l. Ginger powder is ground with clarified ghee. Stir until a homogeneous mass is obtained, then cover the container with a lid and place in a cool place.
The prepared mixture is taken every day before breakfast according to the following scheme:
1 day - 0.5 tsp;
2 days - 1 tsp;
3 days - 1.5 hours. l;
4 days - 2 tsp;
5 days - 2.5 tsp;
6th day - 2.5 tsp;
7 day - 2 tsp;
8 days - 1.5 tsp;
9day-1 tsp;
But if pain or stomach cramps occur, the ginger diet should be discontinued.
For ideal digestion and complete absorption of food, Ayurveda offers the so-called sattvic or “clean” diet(an analogue of this diet is breast milk for a child). A clean diet includes milk, purified melted butter, fruits and fruit juices, rice, Sesame oil, as well as sweets. Wheat, beans, coconuts, oranges, dates and honey are often added to this list. The Ayurveda system does not force you to use only the listed products, but recommends eating them regularly. Ayurvedic nutrition is the path to follow to maintain and improve health.
To summarize, a “clean” diet is an easily digestible, comforting food based on... fresh products, spring water, moderation of its quantity, balance of all six tastes. In addition, the diet is based on harmony with the surrounding nature; She's practically vegetarian. Modern experts consider its disadvantage to be an insufficiently diverse list of products that is not able to fully satisfy all the needs of an adult body. At the same time, many of its provisions are successfully used: in the USA, the rice diet, based on a combination of boiled rice and fruits, is recognized effective method treatment of heart patients, diabetics, obese patients.
Many modern nutritionists do not recommend that adults consume milk, citing various arguments (the absence of an enzyme in the body of an adult that breaks down milk, the possibility of allergies, etc.). Ayurvedic dietetics considers milk to be an extremely useful product, the disadvantages of which arise
when used incorrectly. Milk should be boiled, drunk hot or warm (not cold and especially icy), not combined with spicy, sour, salty foods, but combined only with sweet foods - flour, cereals, sweet fruits, or not combined with anything.
For Ayurveda, it is equally important not only what to eat, but also how. There is. General and universal rules of Ayurvedic nutrition (“Peaks of consciousness in the body”):
Eat in a calm environment;
Never sit down at the table upset;
Always eat while sitting;
Eat only when you are hungry;
Avoid cold foods and ice-cold drinks;
Don't talk with your mouth full;
Eat at a moderate speed, not too fast and not too slow;
Wait for your food to digest before eating your next meal (break 2- 4 hours between light meals and 4-6 between heavy meals);
Take small sips of warm water;
Whenever possible, eat freshly prepared food;
Minimize the consumption of raw food, as cooked food is better absorbed;
Do not add honey when cooking (heated honey is harmful);
Do not mix milk with other foods, drink it alone or with sweets;
Try to feel all six tastes in each dish;
Help digestion by leaving the stomach a third or a quarter empty;
Sit quietly after eating for a few minutes.
These simple rules will help you get the most out of any diet. . The ideal serving recommended by Ayurveda is two handfuls of food.
Products that do not follow the principles of Ayurveda:
meat, fish, poultry, heavy and fatty foods, eggs, cheese, long-prepared food and industrial food, food with excessive sour and salty taste, overeating
at all. And a special note - mushrooms, onions, garlic and pineapples are not recommended for transcendental meditators. The following nutritional rules are also extremely important: eat only fresh food that suits the season and the area where you live. Fruits, vegetables and dairy products should ideally be from your local area. Most of it should be eaten at lunch, when the most intensive digestion occurs, dinner should be modest, and breakfast is not at all necessary (but if you do eat breakfast, this meal is the lightest). It is advisable to eat regularly, at the same time and not to eat before bed, but you should have dinner alone or with people you are attracted to.
Yoga system, also known from India, promotes internal cleansing through clean food. Yogis recommend minimizing or eliminating all animal products (meat, fish, eggs, poultry and all products made from them) with the exception of milk and honey. Meat food causes rotting in the intestines. Eating meat, in their opinion, contributes to premature puberty, but the ability to have sexual activity also disappears in meat eaters earlier than it should be. However, yogis do not believe they have the right to impose their rules on other people, in particular Europeans.
Animal fats and margarine: it is recommended to add them to food instead vegetable oils(sunflower, olive). Sugar is replaced with honey, sweet or dried fruits, and berries. Butter should only be added to prepared foods in small quantities. Yeast bread and other yeast-based flour products are not recommended.
In India, they buy wheat grains instead of bread and bake unleavened thin flatbreads themselves. It is recommended to first replace table salt with sea salt, then completely abandon it. It is recommended to exclude tea, coffee, cocoa, artificial stimulating drinks and alcohol; canned foods, especially salted and pickled ones, except for natural juices and compotes without sugar; cold and hot food and especially their alternation; raw onions and garlic in large quantities; semolina and broken rice (rice should be whole).
Yogis recommend natural foods, primarily plant foods - all vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, berries, herbs, legumes, cereals, nuts, seeds, honey, decoctions and herbal infusions. It is also recommended that foods be processed as little as possible (gently), ideally a raw food diet, although the use of baked and boiled, but not fried and smoked foods is allowed. Utensils for both cooking and eating should ideally be clay, porcelain or glass.
Yogis do not recommend eating more than 2-3 times a day, the last time at 6 pm (6 pm). You should have a light breakfast in the morning, after physical exercise, following general rule- eat when you feel hungry. It is wrong to drink food with liquid; you need to chew well. The motto of yogis may be: “Drink solid food and chew liquid food.” Overeating is considered very harmful; it is better to undereat, and you need to get up from the table feeling slightly hungry. It is important to know the correct combination of foods; you should not combine:
Acidic foods and starch;
Acidic foods and proteins;
Starch and proteins;
Proteins and fats;
Proteins and sugars;
Starches and sugars;
Sweet and sour fruits;
The basis of the Indian diet is plant food, since a person who is convinced of the transmigration of souls cannot not only kill an animal, but also harm it. Milk (mostly sour) is quite widespread. From plant products Rice, corn, peas and other legumes are more commonly used, as well as vegetables, including potatoes. The most popular dish is pilaf, which is cooked with vegetables and legumes and a small amount of vegetable oil. Various seasonings and spices are common in India, for which, as you know, people rushed from all over the world (red and black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, mustard, mint, parsley, dill, saffron and others); All national dishes are invariably prepared with a lot of pepper. The source of protein for Indians is nuts, legumes and milk. Fruits (apples, apricots), berries and melons also play a significant role in the diet of Indians.
Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people with a corresponding number of believers.
The founder of Judaism is the prophet Moses, born in Egyptian captivity.
Moses himself, like Jesus Christ later, fasted for 40 days. The regulations concerning the diet of the Jews are determined primarily by the corresponding chapters of the Old Testament (Leviticus 7:22-27). “And the Lord said to Moses: “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat any fat from an ox, or from a sheep, or from a goat. The fat from the dead and the fat from that torn by wild beasts can be used for any purpose; but don't eat it.
For whoever eats the fat of an animal that is sacrificed to the Lord will be cut off
that soul is from his people. And you shall not eat any blood in all your dwellings, either from birds or from livestock. And whoever eats any blood, that soul will be cut off from his people.” And further, Leviticus, chapter 11, verses 2-11; 13-21; 26-27; 29; 32-35: “Say to the children of Israel, These are the animals that you may eat of every livestock on the earth.” “Every cattle that has cloven hooves and a deep cut in the hoof, and that chews the cud, eat.” “Only these you shall not eat from those that chew the cud and have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud, but its hooves are not cloven. He is unclean for you." “And the jerboa, because it chews the cud, but its hooves are not cloven; he is unclean to you." “And the hare, because it chews the cud, but its hooves are not cloven, it is not clean for you.” “And a pig, because its hooves are cloven, but it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.” “Do not eat their meat and do not touch their corpses; they are unclean to you." “Of all the animals that are in the water, eat these: those that have feathers and scales in the water, whether in the seas or rivers, eat them.” “And all those who do not have feathers and scales, whether in the seas or rivers, of all those who swim in the waters and of all who live in the waters, are unclean to you.” “They must be bad for you; You shall not eat their meat and disdain their corpses.” “Of the birds you shall abhor these: the eagle, the vulture, and the sea eagle.” "The kite and the falcon with its kind." "Every raven with its kind." "Ostrich, owl, seagull and hawk with their kind." "The owl, the fisherman and the ibis." "Swan, pelican and vulture." “The heron zuya with his breed, the hoopoe and the bat.” “All animals, creeping things, winged things, walking on four legs, are unclean to you.” “Of all the winged reptiles that walk on four legs, eat only those that have legs higher than their feet, so that they can jump on the ground.” “Every beast that has cloven hoofs, but does not have a deep cut, and does not chew the cud, is unclean to you: whoever touches it will be unclean until the evening.” “Of all four-legged animals, those that walk on their paws are unclean to you.” “This is what is unclean for you among the animals that move on the earth: the mole, the mouse, the lizard and its kind.” “And anything on which any of them falls dead, any wooden vessel, or clothing, or skin, or bag, or anything that is used for work, will be unclean.” “If any of them falls into any vessel, then what is in it will be unclean, and you will break the vessel itself.” “Every food that is eaten that has had water in it from such a vessel will be unclean, and every drink that is drunk in any such vessel will be unclean.” “Anything on which anything from their corpse falls will be unclean: the oven and hearth must be broken, they are unclean.”
All Jewish food is divided into permitted (kosher) and unlawful (tref). Kashrut (permissibility or suitability) is a concept most often associated with the question of eating a particular food . Permitted, “pure” mammals include ruminant artiodactyls - both wild and domestic; while an animal endowed with only one of these characteristics (for example, a pig is an artiodactyl, but not a ruminant) is “unclean,” that is, prohibited. On the other hand, a pig is considered an “unclean” animal, because it has been possessed by the devil.
It is forbidden to eat the meat of camel, jerboa, hare, pig, reptiles, and some birds. You should not eat the meat of birds of prey, as well as swamp and waterfowl (except goose and duck). Of the fish, it is allowed to eat those that have at least one fin and easily detachable scales. Meat for cooking must be drained of blood, since the soul of a living creature is in the blood. These are the regulations regarding the suitability or unsuitability of food. In addition, it was allowed to consume the meat of animals and poultry slaughtered only according to the rules of ritual slaughter.
Rules for the slaughter of livestock and poultry were developed - death should occur instantly; For this purpose, carvers were specially trained, whose duties also included a thorough examination of the animal before slaughter. This is how the Jewish surname Reznik, common in Russia, was born.
Observance of fasts was also regulated. According to the laws of the Old Testament, this
holy book of the Jews, fasting had a special meaning, it served as a proper
an expression of humility, repentance and dedication to God, although in the future the observance of fasts will be “joy and cheerful triumph; only love truth and peace” (Ex. 8:19). The law established fasting for Jews only on the great day of “Purification,” which is therefore primarily called “fasting.” This is written in detail in the Old Testament (the third and fourth books of Moses: Lev. 16:29 and Num. 29:1-39). In addition, fasting could be declared for several days during times of public disaster or during preparation for some important matter. The people were then ordered to abstain from food and ask God for mercy and help. It was also possible to fast on an individual basis, for example, before performing an important task or because of a misfortune. The ancient Jews observed fasts carefully and strictly, lasting 24 hours - from evening to evening.
Modern Jewish fasts: fasting in honor of the exit of the Israelis from Egypt - “The Tenth of Av”; it begins the evening before and continues until the evening of the next day. Usually this fast is combined with the day of remembrance of the Jews who died as a result of the actions of Hitler's Nazism. During this fast it is forbidden not only to eat and drink, but also to talk. Another modern fast is celebrated on the day of “Absolution”, “Day of Judgment”, on the eve of which the Jew makes peace with his enemies and asks for forgiveness from the offended. The festive meal associated with the celebration of the Day of Judgment is bread with honey, apples with honey, dates, pomegranates, and a fish or lamb's head.
Passover is dedicated to the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian captivity and was celebrated by the ancient Jews with a dinner of lamb and wine. After Passover, unleavened bread called matzo is consumed for 7 days. The fact is that, leaving Egypt, the fugitives did not have time to leaven bread for the journey.
On the holiday of Shavuot, Moses received the teaching of the laws, i.e., the Torah, on Mount Sinai. On this day, Jews eat dairy and flour foods: cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, pancakes with cottage cheese, cakes, gingerbread with honey, because “The Torah is sweet and pleasant, like milk and honey.”
Orthodoxy.
Fasting is the most ancient church institution; according to
In the Old Testament, the first commandment given to people was the commandment to fast. Fasting exists in all religions and primarily as a means of cleansing and renewing the human soul. Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days before the Sermon on the Mount. In the Russian Orthodox Church, fasting has a special meaning and is a central element of the teaching of asceticism. In the Orthodox church calendar, about 200 days are occupied by fasting . We prepared for posts in advance, stocked up sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers, salted and dried mushrooms, prepared berries, apples, nuts, buckwheat, millet, peas, barley, lean herring .
In Russia there is a distinction four degrees of strict fasting:
“dry food” is bread, raw and pickled vegetables, fresh and dried fruits;
“boiling without oil” - boiled vegetables without vegetable oil;
“permission for wine and oil”;
"fish permit"
The general rules of fasting are that believers were required to abstain from meat and dairy foods .
Fasting is not limited to food prohibitions and regulations. Their main goal is spiritual improvement; fasting instills the skills of abstinence and self-control. . This is a time of intensifying the fight against passions, emotional healing and developing mental balance. During fasting, people strive to engage in charity and show mercy.
At the same time, fasting was also considered as a weapon in the fight against the devil, for demons are cast out only by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29; Matthew 17:21).
From this point of view, the use of therapeutic fasting in psychiatry has a theological basis. By duration, posts are divided into one-day and multi-day. One-day fasts include Wednesdays and Fridays (except for the six so-called continuous weeks of the year).
The fast was established on Wednesday, because, according to the gospel story, Judas agreed to betray Jesus Christ on this day, and on Friday - in memory of the torment of the cross and the death of the son of God. The Church allows not to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays during Easter week, Trinity week, Christmastide, the week of the tax collector and the Pharisee, and Cheese week (Maslenitsa). Of the one-day fasts, we note three: on the day of the erection of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord, on the day of the beheading of John the Baptist (John's head was cut off by order of Herod the Great, king of Judea) and on the eve of the feast of the Epiphany. In addition to the listed one-day fasts, it is also practiced to observe them on tragic days of death of relatives and friends, on days of general misfortunes and troubles.
Among the one-day fasts established by the Orthodox Church, St. Anne's Day - December 22 (December 9) - stands out for its unusualness. According to legend, Anna is the mother of the Virgin Mary, whom she gave birth to after 20 years of infertility. On this day, fasting is established for pregnant women. There is a popular expression - pregnant women fast for the conception of St. Anne. Pregnant women were prohibited from performing any significant work. The benefits of one-day fasts are beyond doubt among nutritionists, but this has not been proven for pregnant women, and at present this fast has no significance.
The following prohibition is interesting: until the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 19 (August 6) It was strictly forbidden to eat apples and generally tried not to eat any fruits except cucumbers. And from that day on, all over Rus' they began to eat fruits and vegetables. It is difficult, from a physiological point of view, to explain this custom. There are four multi-day fasts: Great, Petrov (Apostolic), Assumption and Nativity (Filippov)). The total number of fasting days in a year fluctuates, since Peter's fast can be of different durations. The total number of fasting days is about 200, or more precisely, from 178 to 199. In this regard, the Russian Orthodox Church has significantly surpassed Catholicism.
Christmas post always takes place at the same time, from November 15 (old style) to December 25 - the Nativity of Christ, and lasts 40 days. In terms of severity it is inferior Great and Dormition fasts. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, a dry diet was prescribed - boiled food was not allowed, and it was possible to eat only once a day. Wine and vegetable oil could be consumed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And the lightest degree of fasting occurred on Saturday and Sunday, when it was allowed to eat fish.
The severity of the fast intensified from December 20, when all fish was prohibited, even on Saturdays and Sundays, and on the last day of the Nativity Fast, December 24, Christmas Eve, it reached its maximum. It was impossible to eat on Christmas Eve before the first star appeared in the sky (a sign of the birth of Jesus Christ). The word “Christmas Eve” comes from the ancient word “sochivo” and means porridge with honey (kutya), which according to the rules is supposed to be eaten on this day. Rozhdestvensky (or Filippov) the fast has a double name, because it begins the day after the day of the Holy Apostle Philip, crucified on the cross for his preaching work.
Lent is the most important and strict, since it precedes the central holiday of believers - Easter. Lent consists of the 40-day fast itself and the fast of Holy Week, celebrated by the Orthodox before Easter.
The time frame for fasting is always constant - it begins on the Monday after Maslenitsa (Forgiveness Sunday).
It was customary to prepare for Lent in advance, shortly after feast of the Epiphany. The period of preparation for fasting included a special 4 weeks, during which believers were reminded of spiritual Christian values.
During the first week there was no need to restrict yourself in nutrition (as well as in the second and third); believers were called to repentance and humility, to get rid of pride, which was the main source of sin. In the second week, it was recommended to reread the parable of the prodigal son, in which the motive of repentance sounds; the third week is called the “meat week,” or the week of the “Last Judgment,” and should remind believers of the coming judgment. During the fourth and last week before Lent, called Maslenitsa, it was still allowed to consume milk, cheese, butter, and eggs, but meat was already prohibited. Maslenitsa ends Forgiveness Sunday. During Lent, according to the church charter, vegetable oil is allowed to be consumed on Saturdays and Sundays.
On these same days, believers are allowed to take wine (blessed in church) in moderate quantities, including to strengthen the strength of those fasting.
Eating fish is only allowed on holidays Annunciation Holy Mother of God and on Palm Sunday. In the first and last weeks of fasting, from Monday to Friday, a dry diet is prescribed; at other times, boiled vegetables without vegetable oil (“cooking without oil”). At the same time, the first week of Lent is a day of special strictness; for the first 2 days, the church charter recommends going without food at all; on the third day, bread, vegetables and honey are allowed. It was also strictly prescribed to spend the last week of fasting, especially Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross). If previously only the sick, the elderly and small children, as well as those on the move (especially sailors) were allowed to relax the fasting regime (they could eat dairy foods), then the modern Orthodox Church allows patients in hospitals and military personnel not to observe fasting. military service and people performing heavy work.
A week after Trinity begins Petrov (Apostolic) post. It was installed before the feast of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, who were executed in Rome for preaching Christianity. The duration of the apostolic fast is variable and ranges from 8 to 42 days depending on the date of Easter. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during Peter's Lent it was prescribed to abstain from fish, wine and vegetable oil.
The Assumption Fast was established in honor of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. It lasts two weeks, from August 1 to 14, and in severity exceeds the Apostolic (Petrov) and Nativity fasts, equating it to the Great Fast. According to the church charter, a dry diet was prescribed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, on Tuesdays and Thursdays - boiled food, but without oil, on Saturday and Sunday it was possible to consume oil and wine.
Along with fasting and other restrictive regulations, Christians celebrated church holidays, during which the tables were set in abundance and variety.
Christmas Eve falls on January 6 (December 24, old style). On this day, it is a well-known rule not to eat any food until the evening, “until the first star.” The people's testament goes like this: “On Holy Evening they do not eat until the star.” . According to the church charter, on Christmas Eve it was prescribed to eat “sochivo” - and it was customary to sit down at the festive Christmas table after the end of the service. Holiday dishes should symbolize the birth of Jesus Christ. Two dishes had the most important symbolic meaning - kutia and vzvar. It is customary to eat kutya at funerals, and vzvar - at the birth of children. Sochelnitskaya kutia was usually prepared from boiled wheat and barley grains; later they were replaced by rice. To prepare the broth, apples, pears, plums, cherries, raisins and other fruits and berries were used, boiling them in water. The combination of kutya and vzvar, thus, symbolized the birth and death of Jesus Christ.
In general, the festive table on Christmas Eve is usually prepared in a plentiful, generous and varied manner. Traditional dish is the Christmas goose.
The following holidays occur on January 14 (January 1): Circumcision of the Lord, memory of St. Basil the Great and New Year.
Archbishop Basil the Great founded several monasteries, did charity work, and built shelters for the poor. Among the people, Basil the Great was considered the patron saint of pigs, so a pig's head was an indispensable attribute of the festive table. For wealthier believers, the main treat of St. Basil's evening was the "royal" pig, and the pig's head stood on the table for a week; Therefore, January 1 was popularly called the “pig holiday.”
New Year (January 1). The philosophy of the festive New Year's table is simple. If food is plentiful, then the prosperity of the coming year is ensured. In addition, we tried to decorate the table as varied as possible, using everything that was in the house. They prepared a variety of flour, meat, and cereal dishes; pies with various fillings were considered obligatory. They tried to prepare a large number of dishes from pork (the pig was considered a symbol of fertility). Drinks were also brewed in a variety of ways and in large quantities - compotes, jelly, beer. Ritual New Year's dish Some Slavic peoples (Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Moldovans) served sweet porridge (kutya) and pancakes. There certainly had to be sweets and nuts on the festive table. They, as well as animal figures baked from dough (horses, cows, bulls), were treated to guests.
Christians of Rus' baked pies with onions on February 20 (February 7) Venerables Parthenius and Luke.
Maslenitsa was widely celebrated in Rus' even in the pre-Christian period as “farewell to winter”; it was later adopted by the church as a religious holiday. Maslenitsa lasts one week, immediately before Lent, its beginning ranges from February 3 (January 21) to March 14 (March 1). Maslenitsa is widely celebrated; culinary-wise, it was distinguished by a variety of baked goods, primarily pancakes. In addition to pancakes, they baked a lot of rolls, pancakes, pies, and prepared sweet dishes. Beer and wine were also prepared and consumed.
A.I. Kuprin describes the cooking of Maslenitsa as follows: “And today the real king, knight and hero of Moscow is a thousand-year-old pancake, the grandson of Dazhbog. The pancake is round, like a real generous sun. The pancake is red and hot, like a hot all-warming sun, the pancake is poured with melted butter - this is a memory of the sacrifices made to powerful stone idols. Pancake is a symbol of the sun, red days, good harvests, good marriages and healthy children. The appanage principality of Moscow! She eats pancakes hot as fire, eats them with butter, with sour cream, with granular caviar, with pressed caviar, with napkin caviar, with Achuevskaya, with chum salmon, with catfish, with herrings of all varieties, with sprats, sprats, sardines, with salmon and with sizhok, with sturgeon balyk and whitefish, with teshechka, and with sturgeon milk, and with smoked sterlet, and with the famous smelt from Bela Ozero. They eat it with both a simple filling and an intricately combined one. And for ease of passage into the inside, each pancake is poured with a variety of vodkas of forty varieties and forty infusions. Here is the classic one, on currant buds, fragrant with the garden, and cumin, and wormwood, and anise, and the German doppel-kümmel, and the all-healing St. John's wort, and bison, tincture on birch buds, and on poplar, and lemon, and pepper, and all you can’t list it.” It is impossible to describe the cooking of Maslenitsa better. We should be interested primarily in the medical aspect of the problem. A lot of people around the world are making titanic efforts to lose weight.
bodies, spend a lot of money, swallow tons of medications, doctors promote, convince, patent new methods, introduce technologies.
Let's call for help from one of the best doctors of all times - A.P. Chekhov. In the story “The Stupid Frenchman,” the clown of the French circus touring in Moscow, Pourquois, decided to have breakfast at Testov’s tavern.
I ordered a consommé with 2-3 croutons and looked around. The artist’s attention was attracted by “a plump, handsome gentleman sitting at the next table.” “How, however, do they serve a lot in Russian restaurants? - thought the Frenchman, watching his neighbor pour hot oil over his pancakes. - Five pancakes! Can one person eat so much dough? And the neighbor had already “smeared the pancakes with caviar and swallowed them in less than five minutes” and called the policeman: “What kind of portions do you have? Give me ten or fifteen at once! Give me some balyk...salmon, or something.” “Strange,” thought Pourquois, looking at his neighbor. - He ate five pieces of dough and is asking for more! However, such phenomena are not uncommon. I myself had an uncle François in Brittany who, on a bet, would eat two bowls of soup and five lamb cutlets. They say that there are also diseases when you eat too much.” The neighbor was brought a mountain of pancakes and two plates of balyk and salmon; After drinking a glass of vodka, he “ate some salmon and started eating pancakes.” “Obviously he’s sick...” thought the Frenchman. - And does he, the eccentric, imagine that he will eat this whole mountain? He won’t eat even three pieces before his stomach is already full.” The neighbor continued to eat and order. “But, however, half the mountain is already gone! - the clown was horrified. - My God, did he eat all the salmon? If we had this gentleman in France, they would show him for money. God, the mountain is no longer there!” At this time, the neighbor, taking caviar and onions, orders a bottle of wine, another portion of pancakes and asks to bring it faster, and “after the pancakes a portion of the village.” “Maybe I’m dreaming? - the clown was amazed. “You can’t eat such a mass with impunity.” Yes, yes, he wants to die! You can see it in his sad face.” The Frenchman tries (unsuccessfully) to appeal to the sexual. Here the neighbor says, turning to the Frenchman: “Orders, nothing to say! These long intermissions irritate me terribly! Please wait half an hour from serving to serving! So and your appetite will disappear. It’s three o’clock now, and I have to be at the anniversary dinner by five.” “Excuse me, sir,” says the Frenchman, “after all, you are already having lunch,” “No-no. What kind of lunch is this? This is breakfast, pancakes.” In a word, the neighbor continued to eat, the Frenchman “began to examine his neighbor’s face with regret, expecting every minute that convulsions were about to begin with him, which Uncle Francois always had after a dangerous bet.” Finally, the clown could not stand it and turned to his neighbor: “I do not have the honor of knowing you, but nevertheless, believe me, I am your friend. Is there anything I can help you with? Remember, you are still young, you have a wife and children.” "I do not understand!" - the neighbor shook his head, staring at the Frenchman. “Oh, why be secretive, sir. You eat so much it’s hard not to be suspicious.” The neighbor is surprised: “I eat a lot! I!? Completeness. How can I not eat if I haven’t eaten anything since the morning?”
It's worth a thousand lectures. You can take what you read with humor, but it’s also worth thinking about. And in order not to limit ourselves to humor, let us turn again to A.P. Chekhov: “On Mortality” (Maslenitsa theme for the sermon). “The court councilor Semyon Petrovich Podtykin sat down at the table and, burning with impatience, began to wait for the moment when the pancakes would begin to be served. A whole picture spread out before him . There were bottles in the middle of the table. There were three types of vodka, Kiev liqueur, chatolarose, and rhine wine. Herrings in mustard sauce, sprat, sour cream, grainy caviar, fresh salmon, etc. were crowded around the drinks in artistic disorder. Podtikin looked at all this and greedily swallowed his saliva: “Well, is it possible to take so long? - he winced, turning to his wife. - Hurry up, Katya! But finally the cook appeared with pancakes. Semyon Petrovich, risking burning his fingers, grabbed the top two, hottest pancakes and deliciously plopped them onto his plate. Podtikin smiled pleasantly, hiccupped with delight and doused them with hot oil. Then, as if whetting his appetite and enjoying the anticipation, he slowly, sparingly coated them with caviar. He poured sour cream on the places where the caviar did not get. Podtikin looked at the work of his hands and was not satisfied. After thinking a little, he put the fattest piece of salmon, sprat and sardine on the pancakes, then, sweating and panting, he rolled both pancakes into a tube, drank a glass of vodka with feeling, grunted, and opened his mouth. But then he was seized with apoplexy.”
Apoplexy was then called a stroke (bleeding in the brain). A typical hemorrhagic stroke due to arterial hypertension, which in turn is associated with obesity, has been described. Comments, as is customary to say in such cases, are unnecessary.
Easter- the main holiday of all Christians. Easter is preceded by 7 weeks of Lent, the last week of which is called Holy Week.
On Maundy Thursday of this week they prepared for Easter - they cooked, painted eggs, baked Easter cakes, made “Easter”, brewed beer, mash, honey. The egg is a symbol of Easter - life is born in it.
Feast of the Ascension of the Lord It is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter with special culinary products. On this day, the Orthodox baked large oblong pies, the top crust of which was laid across the crossbars. The crossbars symbolize the ladder leading to heaven.
In a day martyrs Evstigney, Canidius and others - August 18 (August 5) - Orthodox Christians in Rus' ate cheese and onions with bread, salt and kvass. Bunches of bulbs were hung in rooms to purify the air.
Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - August 28 (August 15) has a joyful, bright character. This is the time of the end of the harvest, when they brewed beer together, killed a sheep and baked pies, and then invited neighbors to celebrate the holiday at the table.
Interesting notes Day of the Beheading of John the Baptist September 11 (August 29). Firstly, it is not allowed to pick up knives and other cutting objects on this day, and secondly, songs and dances were excluded on this day (it was with the help of dancing that Salome achieved the beheading of the Baptist) . On the holiday, it is customary to treat the poor, beggars, and wanderers. The food was prepared lean, and it was not allowed to eat anything round (symbolizing the head): onions, cabbage, apples, potatoes, watermelons, etc.
The Orthodox celebrate in the same way Day Hieromartyr Phocas, Holy Prophet Jonah 5 October (September 22): On this day it is forbidden to eat fish as a reminder of Jonah's stay in the belly of the whale.
A guest holiday is considered St. Nicolas day, December 19 (December 6), when in every house there is an abundance of cheerful beer and mash, delicious pies, and when they treat themselves to both, they go to visit each other.
Catholicism.
The division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western influenced the subsequent split of the Christian Church into Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox. Catholic Church took the path of weakening the severity of ancient institutions. The Catholic practice of fasting is quite different from the Orthodox one.
You can try to compare the nutrition of Catholics and Protestants if you consider the features of Italian, for example, and German cooking. The stronghold of Catholicism is Italy, and Martin Luther (the founder of Protestantism) was born in Germany.
Having breakfast in Italy accepted easily: bread, cheese, coffee. But the lunch is hearty, including appetizers, a first course (minestra), a second course and dessert (cheese, fruit, coffee and dry grape wine). The first course can be soup (puree soup, clear soups, pasta soup), and sometimes the first course is only
fried, stewed or boiled meat. Italians are well known for their love of pasta, all dishes made from which are called “pasta”; The most popular "pasta" is spaghetti - long pasta. Pasta is seasoned with sauce, cheese, butter, cooked with meat, served with beans, cauliflower, peas, etc. Italian ravioli is also known - small square-shaped dumplings; they are served in tomato sauce with grated cheese.
Along with pasta, the most popular food of Italians is cheese, many varieties of which are a characteristic feature of the national cuisine. The second course is usually prepared from vegetables, most often it is braised cabbage, seasoned with olive oil and black olives. Along with olive oil lard is a frequently consumed fat among Italians. It is also interesting that in Italy they eat exclusively wheat bread. Among the drinks, the most popular are coffee and grape wines.
For German cuisine The typical use (along with vegetables) is pork, poultry, game, and beef. A distinctive feature of the cuisine are various sandwiches (with cheeses, ham, fish, minced meat). Also characteristic is the widespread consumption of a variety of sausages, sausages, sausages and other meat dishes. The preparation of first courses has its own characteristics: firstly, various broths are common (with eggs, dumplings, etc.); secondly, the portions of first courses are small - up to 300 g. Second courses are often prepared from natural meat, minced meat is used less often. A characteristic feature of German cuisine is the widespread use of egg-based dishes - omelettes, scrambled eggs, deviled eggs, etc. Popular and sweet dishes: fruit salads with sauces and syrups, always served chilled, as well as mousses, jellies, ice cream. The national drink, known to the ancient Germans, is beer; Coffee is also popular, both black and with milk.
Islam is the world's second largest religion after Christianity. Currently, Islam is practiced by about a billion people. Islam translated from Arabic means “submission”, “surrender to the will of God”. The birthplace of Islam is the Arabian Peninsula, the city of Mecca, where the Prophet Muhammad was born around 570. The religion is widespread; in many countries Islam is the state ideology. Islam (another name for Islam) is practiced by Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Morocco, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Turkey,
Tajikistan.
The holy book of Muslims, the Koran, contains many dietary regulations that believers must observe. Chapter 5 of the Koran is called “food” (Arabic: Al-Maidah). Although it talks primarily about the need for spiritual improvement, nutrition issues are given significant space. Section 1 - “Improvement of religion in Islam”: “You are forbidden to eat anything that has died its own death, and blood, and the flesh of a pig, and that over which a name other than Allah has been pronounced, and that which has been strangled (animal). And that which was beaten to death, and that which was killed by a fall, and that which was pierced by a horn, and which was eaten by wild animals - except those that you killed” (we are talking about one of the methods of slaughtering cattle).
The meaning is this: if an animal eaten by wild animals is found still alive, then its meat is allowed to be eaten if the animal is killed properly). It is forbidden to eat carrion, shed blood and the flesh of pigs: “for verily this is unclean.”
Section XXI2 of the Holy Quran (called “The Cow”) prescribes: “O people, eat lawful and good things from what is on earth; don't follow in the footsteps of the devil. In truth, he is your clear enemy.”
For a long timeexisted in Russian culturecontinuousconnection with Christianity. P after the mass baptism of the Eastern Slavs, carried out in 988-989 by Prince Vladimir Svyatosla anyway Christianity in Rus' gains primacy.The adoption of Christianity led to changes in the culture of ancient Russian society and its enrichment. Painting, architecture, writing and written literature came to Rus' from Byzantium.
With the Baptism of Rus', its true cultural and state life began. Under the influence of Christianity, cruel morals softened, because the Church brought with it the teaching of love and mercy. The acceptance of Orthodoxy has become a defining feature of the spiritual appearance of Russian people, both his culture and the culture of the Russian State as a whole.
Target my work – find out how the Orthodox Church influencedon the development of Russian culture, for which it is necessary to consider the following questions:
1) The place and role of Christianity in Russian national culture:writing and education, history, literature, architecture,
painting, music
2) the cultural role of Orthodoxy in modern Russia
Writing and education
After the adoption of Christianity, the need for clergy was acutely felt. For this purpose, schools were organized in which children from different social groups studied.
Cyril and Methodius will forever remain in Russian culture(Thessalonica brothers), Slavic enlighteners, Orthodox preachers, creators of the Slavic alphabet. Cyril and Methodius in 863 were invited from Byzantium by Prince Rostislav to introduce worship in the Slavic language. The main liturgical books were translated from Greek into Old Church Slavonic.
With the adoption of Christianity, a large amount of translated literature appeared. The first books to penetrate into Rus' were those translated from Greek into Old Church Slavonic. Among them were collections of services for the whole year, texts of holiday services before and after Easter, and various missals. The Gospel, texts of the apostolic acts, and lives appeared, in which questions of Christian morality and monastic life were posed and resolved, and the lives and exploits of Church leaders were described.. The books were mainly instructive in nature.
History, literature
The emergence of Christianity, in addition to the spread of writing, greatly contributed to the appearance of the first literary works. The need for which was experienced primarily by the church for the presentation of Christian doctrine. From the endXand before the startXIIV. Several literary genres appeared in the culture of Kievan Rus. There were sermons and chronicles and lives of saints.
An outstanding literary monument of that period, belonging to the chronicle genre, is “The Tale of Bygone Years” by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor. The main goal of this chronicle was to show the place of the Russian land among other powers, to prove that the Russian people have their own history. The introductory part begins with a description world history, but this time from the “global flood” and the distribution of the land among the sons of Noah. Nestor recounts the biblical story of the Babylonian Pandemonium, during which people were divided into nations and spoke different languages.
“The Tale of Bygone Years” defines the place of the Russian people among the peoples of the world, describes the origin Slavic writing, formation of the Russian state.
Architecture
After the baptism of the Kievites, the Grand Duke ordered to cut down churches and put them in places where idols had previously stood. The first of them was the Church of St. Basil, whose name Vladimir received at Baptism. The prince erected another magnificent stone temple in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. For the temple, he chose the place where the first Christian martyrs, the Varangians Fyodor and John, were killed. In Suzdal, Pereslavl, Rostov, Belgorod and other cities of Rus', churches began to be built during the reign of Vladimir and after him.
Basically, these were small four-pillar, single-domed churches without vestibules. There is already a noticeable departure from the cruciform composition and an attraction to more classic cubic forms. These buildings are very harmonious, giving the impression of a balanced pyramid. White stone (limestone) became the favorite building material - a legacy of the Vladimir-Suzdal tradition. This is how the first stone buildings were built in the Moscow Kremlin - the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the Church of the Nativity, and the Church of the Annunciation.
Ideaconciliarity (“cathedral-union” embodied in the Russian church itself, which was understood as a unifying principle designed to dominate the world. The universe itself must become the temple of God. This became the spiritual ideal that Russian people aspired to. From poverty and poverty Everyday life, to the richness of otherworldly, spiritual life, its image was served by the golden domes of white-stone churches burning against the sky, the “onions” of Russian churches, embodying the idea of prayerful burning. This is how the Russian temple appears - a giant candle-reminder that the highest has not yet been achieved here on earth.The main idea of Russian religious art - the conciliar unity of the world of people and angels, as well as any living creature on earth.
Painting
From Byzantium, the art of Kievan Rus adopted not only the main genres of painting (mosaic, fresco), but also easel painting - icon painting. Long before the baptism of Rus', Christian theologians, justifying the cult of veneration of icons (the icon was considered as a visible symbol of the invisible world), developed a rigid system for their writing -iconographic canon. According to legend, the oldest Christian icons either appeared miraculously (the Savior Not Made by Hands) or were painted from life (the image of the Mother of God created by the Evangelist Luke). Therefore, the Christian Church never allowed icons to be painted from living people or from the artist’s imagination, but demanded strict adherence to the icon-painting canon.
The first Christian churches of Kievan Rus were built and decorated with icons by Byzantine masters.
The exponent of the Novgorod style in painting wasFeofan the Greek, the great Byzantine who found his second home in Rus'.
In total, Theophanes the Greek painted about forty churches in Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, including the Church of the Savior, some of the frescoes of which have survived to this day.
The exponent of these ideas was the brilliant Russian painterAndrey Rublev, defining the style of icon painting for all subsequent eras. The basis of Andrei Rublev’s work is a religious concept different from that of Theophanes the Greek. It is devoid of the idea of gloomy hopelessness and tragedy. This is a philosophy of goodness and beauty, harmony of spiritual and material principles. In Christian teaching, Rublev, unlike Feofan, saw not the idea of merciless punishment of a sinful person, but the idea of love, forgiveness, and mercy. And his Savior is not a formidable almighty and merciless judge, but a compassionate, loving and all-forgiving God
The main monument of Andrei Rublev's creativity in the field of monumental painting is the frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.
The main creative discovery of Andrei Rublev was the new ideal of art that came with him to Russian artistic culture. In his work, the high moral value of man was deeply expressed. Thanks to the work of Andrei Rublev, Theophanes the Greek, Daniil Cherny, Dionysius, Russian icon painting reached unsurpassed heights.In this form visual arts Russia is recognized as having the same primacy as Ancient Greece in sculpture, and Byzantium in mosaics.
Music
No less significant in the art characteristic of Russian culture was music, especially important in church services. In fact, the icon and the chants and prayers heard in front of it formed the basis of the spiritual culture of Ancient Rus'. Old Russian worship had the character of magic, during which a person could receive spiritual cleansing, free himself from the worries and vanity that burdened him, and become morally enlightened.
For both iconographic and musical images it was mandatorycanon. Like the original icons, the canon was a creation of the cathedral. Conciliarity is inherent in Russian culture.Also, church singing did not have instrumental accompaniment .
Russian church singing art developed in continuous interaction of the Byzantine origin with the original Russian singing nature. This gave rise to such a greatest phenomenon of Russian music asznamenny chant - a majestic creation of ancient Russian musicians, possessing amazing internal power, epic strength and rigor.
Russian creativitysingers (composers) reflected the most important events in the history of that time. This is especially noticeable in services written in honor of Russian saints. The first service was created to the first Russian martyrs Boris and Gleb. Later, the services reflected the brightest pages of Russian life.
Church, state policy and culture of Russia.
In Russia, its political history has been marked by a confrontation between two branches of power - spiritual and secular, where there is either a struggle or mutually beneficial cooperation between their ideas.
In modern Russian society there was a revision of fundamental ideological values, which entailed a change in worldview to religious and cultural heritage. This contributed to the establishment of the opinion about the unity of religious and cultural values. It is undeniable thatcitizen and patriot is formed in the bosom of national culture. Russian culture has its deep roots in Orthodoxy.
The most important part of Orthodox culture was that it contributed to the unity of the Russian people, which is part of the Russian State.
In our time with the support of the State the church begins its “second” life, destroyed temples-abodes of spiritual life on earth are being restored.If we take our hometown, then over the last decade the number of holy monasteries has increased. This is alreadybuilt and currentchurches of Deerzhinsk:
Church of Anthony the Great All Saints Church Church of John the Baptist Church of Sergei
Radonezh
Orthodox icon case Church of the icons, chapel of the Archangel, Church of the Annunciation
Our Lady of Vladimir Mikhail in Zhelnino
Construction is being completed
Temple of Seraphim of Sarov Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ
The appearance of holy monasteries undoubtedly has great importance in modern Russia and will affect the spiritual development of future generations of Dzerzhin residents and the development of Russian culture as a whole..
Conclusion
Since the population of Rus' adopted Christianity, the church has played a vital role in the history of Russia. Religion permeated the entire Russian culture: from a tiny letter from the alphabet of Cyril and Methodius to the great paintings of Andrei Rublev and the majestic Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The thousand-year-old Russian Church has withstood all the tests with dignity. And today she is still strong in her faith, lives with love for the world and the hope that the Lord and Mother of God will not abandon E in the future.e.
There is and cannot be a history of Russia without the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Literature
1. Anichkov E.V. Paganism and ancient Rus'.
2. Kartashev A.V. Essays on the history of the Russian church.
3. Nechvolodov A. Tales of the Russian Land Monuments of literature of Ancient Rus'.
4. Tancher V.K. Christianity and social development
5. Reader on the history of Russia
Internet resources http://www.google.ru/search?num
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Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
University of Moscow
on the topic: The influence of Orthodoxy on Russian culture
Moscow 2012
Introduction
Relevance of the research topic. In the last decade, our country has been experiencing a deep crisis that has affected all spheres of public life. In search of ways out of this crisis, the idea is taking root in the mass consciousness that a possible means of overcoming its consequences is the improvement of the spiritual and moral world of man. Against this background, the eyes of politicians, cultural figures, and the general public are increasingly turning towards social institutions, in particular, institutions of religion and the church, which have a historical experience of spiritual and moral influence in Russia. orthodoxy art christianity culture
The relevance of the topic is predetermined primarily by the change in social and ideological realities in Russian society, the transformation of the status and possibilities of influence of various religious faiths on public consciousness and the socio-psychic climate in Russia. To date, a situation has arisen that requires a sociological study of the impact of religion, including the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), on spiritual and moral processes in Russian society. Why does Orthodoxy now require close attention from scientists? Firstly, today in Russia 53% of the population consider themselves Orthodox, which cannot but strengthen the social position of Orthodoxy, turning it into a real factor in the spiritual and moral life of society. Secondly, the Russian Orthodox Church itself, along with many other social institutions, is persistently and purposefully trying to fill the ideological, spiritual and moral vacuum observed in the country. During the period of radical reform, the need for the spiritual and moral elevation of society and the individual increases. Thirdly, the restoration of Orthodox religiosity in Russia during the 1990s is stimulated by the emerging need of society to return to the mainstream of historical continuity of development and national self-identification. Fourthly, the process of de-theization of society is proceeding in an extremely contradictory manner and is perceived in society in a very ambiguous manner, which necessitates the need to minimize conflicts and prevent possible disasters. Orthodoxy actively invades the sphere of spiritual and moral life and seeks to influence both public and individual consciousness, which actualizes the problem of identifying the spiritual and moral potential of the Russian Orthodox Church and the possibilities of its real impact on society. Finally, a study of the role of Orthodoxy in spiritual and moral life modern society It is also important in connection with the need to predict the future of Russia.
The purpose of the work is to study the influence of Orthodoxy on the culture of Russia.
Research objectives:
1. Analyze the theoretical foundations of the doctrine of the state in the ideological paradigm of Orthodoxy.
2. Study the influence of Orthodoxy on music, literature and architecture of Russia.
3. Trace the process of development of Orthodoxy in Rus'.
1. Influence on art
1.1 The influence of Orthodoxy on literature
For many centuries, Orthodoxy had a decisive influence on the formation of Russian self-awareness and Russian culture. In the pre-Petrine period secular culture in Rus' practically did not exist: the entire cultural life of the Russian people was concentrated around the Church. In the post-Petrine era, secular literature, poetry, painting and music were formed in Russia, reaching their apogee in the 19th century. Having spun off from the Church, Russian culture, however, did not lose the powerful spiritual and moral charge that Orthodoxy gave it, and until the revolution of 1917 it maintained a living connection with church tradition. In the post-revolutionary years, when access to the treasury of Orthodox spirituality was closed, Russian people learned about faith, about God, about Christ and the Gospel, about prayer, about the theology and worship of the Orthodox Church through the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, and other great writers, poets and composers. Throughout the seventy-year period of state atheism, Russian culture of the pre-revolutionary era remained the bearer of the Christian gospel for millions of people artificially cut off from their roots, continuing to testify to those spiritual and moral values that the atheistic government questioned or sought to destroy.
Russian literature of the 19th century is rightly considered one of the highest peaks of world literature. But its main feature, which distinguishes it from Western literature of the same period, is its religious orientation, its deep connection with the Orthodox tradition. “All of our literature of the 19th century is wounded by the Christian theme, all of it seeks salvation, all of it seeks deliverance from evil, suffering, the horror of life for the human person, the people, humanity, the world. In her most significant creations she is imbued with religious thought,” writes N.A. Berdyaev.
The above applies to the great Russian poets Pushkin and Lermontov, and to writers - Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leskov, Chekhov, whose names are inscribed in golden letters not only in the history of world literature, but also in the history of the Orthodox Church. They lived in an era when an increasing number of intellectuals were moving away from the Orthodox Church. Baptisms, weddings and funeral services still took place in the temple, but visiting the temple every Sunday was considered almost bad manners among people of high society. When one of Lermontov’s acquaintances, entering the church, unexpectedly found the poet praying there, the latter was embarrassed and began to justify himself by saying that he had come to the church on some instructions from his grandmother. And when someone entered Leskov’s office and found him on his knees praying, he began to pretend that he was looking for a fallen coin on the floor. Traditional churchliness was still preserved among the common people, but was less and less characteristic of the urban intelligentsia. The intelligentsia's departure from Orthodoxy widened the gap between it and the people. All the more surprising is the fact that Russian literature, contrary to the trends of the times, maintained a deep connection with the Orthodox tradition.
The greatest Russian poet A.S. Pushkin (1799-1837), although he was raised in the Orthodox spirit, even in his youth moved away from traditional churchism, but never completely broke with the Church and in his works repeatedly turned to religious themes. Pushkin's spiritual path can be defined as the path from pure faith through youthful unbelief to the meaningful religiosity of his mature period. Pushkin went through the first part of this path during his years of study at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, and already at the age of 17 he wrote the poem “Unbelief,” testifying to inner loneliness and the loss of a living connection with God:
Four years later, Pushkin wrote the blasphemous poem “Gabriiliada,” which he later renounced. However, already in 1826, a turning point occurred in Pushkin’s worldview, which is reflected in the poem “The Prophet.” In it, Pushkin talks about the calling of a national poet, using an image inspired by the 6th chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Regarding this poem, Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov notes: “If we did not have all the other works of Pushkin, but only this one peak sparkled before us with eternal snow, we could quite clearly see not only the greatness of his poetic gift, but also the entire height of his vocations." The keen sense of divine calling reflected in The Prophet contrasted with the bustle of secular life, which Pushkin, by virtue of his position, had to lead. Over the years, he became increasingly burdened by this life, which he repeatedly wrote about in his poems.
Pushkin’s poetic correspondence with Filaret was one of the rare cases of contact between two worlds, which in the 19th century were separated by a spiritual and cultural abyss: the world of secular literature and the world of the Church. This correspondence speaks of Pushkin’s departure from the unbelief of his youth, the rejection of “madness, laziness and passions” characteristic of his early creativity. Pushkin's poetry, prose, journalism and drama of the 1830s testify to the ever-increasing influence of Christianity, the Bible, and Orthodox church life on him. He repeatedly rereads the Holy Scriptures, finding in them a source of wisdom and inspiration. Here are Pushkin’s words about the religious and moral significance of the Gospel and the Bible:
There is a book in which every word is interpreted, explained, preached to all ends of the earth, applied to all kinds of circumstances of life and occurrences of the world; from which it is impossible to repeat a single expression that everyone does not know by heart, which would not already be a proverb of peoples; it no longer contains anything unknown to us; but this book is called the Gospel, and such is its ever-new charm that if we, satiated with the world or depressed by despondency, accidentally open it, we are no longer able to resist its sweet enthusiasm and are immersed in spirit in its divine eloquence.
I think that we will never give the people anything better than Scripture... Its taste becomes clear when you start reading Scripture, because in it you find the whole of human life. Religion created art and literature; everything that was great in the deepest antiquity, everything depends on this religious feeling inherent in man, just like the idea of beauty together with the idea of goodness... The poetry of the Bible is especially accessible to pure imagination. My children will read the Bible in the original with me... The Bible is universal.
Another source of inspiration for Pushkin is Orthodox worship, which in his youth left him indifferent and cold. One of the poems, dated 1836, includes a poetic transcription of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian “Lord and Master of my life,” read at Lenten services.
In Pushkin of the 1830s, religious wisdom and enlightenment were combined with rampant passions, which, according to S.L. Frank, is a distinctive feature of the Russian “broad nature”. Dying from a wound received in a duel, Pushkin confessed and took communion. Before his death, he received a note from Emperor Nicholas I, whom he knew personally from a young age: “Dear friend, Alexander Sergeevich, if we are not destined to see each other in this world, take my last advice: try to die a Christian.” The great Russian poet died a Christian, and his peaceful death marked the completion of the path that I. Ilyin defined as the path “from disappointed unbelief to faith and prayer; from revolutionary rebellion - to free loyalty and wise statehood; from dreamy worship of freedom - to organic conservatism; from youthful love - to the cult of the family hearth.” Having passed this path, Pushkin took a place not only in the history of Russian and world literature, but also in the history of Orthodoxy - as a great representative of that cultural tradition, which is completely saturated with his juices.
Another great poet of Russia M.Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841) was an Orthodox Christian, and religious themes appear repeatedly in his poems. As a person endowed with mystical talent, as an exponent of the “Russian idea”, aware of his prophetic calling, Lermontov had a powerful influence on Russian literature and poetry of the subsequent period. Like Pushkin, Lermontov knew the Holy Scriptures well: his poetry is filled with biblical allusions, some of his poems are reworkings of biblical stories, many epigraphs are taken from the Bible. Like Pushkin, Lermontov is characterized by a religious perception of beauty, especially the beauty of nature, in which he feels the presence of God
Lermontov inherited the theme of the demon from Pushkin; after Lermontov, this theme will firmly enter into Russian art of the 19th and early 20th centuries until A.A. Blok and M.A. Vrubel. However, the Russian “demon” is by no means an anti-religious or anti-church image; rather, it reflects the shadowy, seamy side of the religious theme that permeates all Russian literature. The demon is a seducer and deceiver, a proud, passionate and lonely creature, obsessed with protest against God and goodness. But in Lermontov’s poem, good wins, the Angel of God ultimately lifts the soul of a woman seduced by a demon to heaven, and the demon again remains in splendid isolation. In fact, Lermontov in his poem raises the eternal moral problem of the relationship between good and evil, God and the devil, Angel and demon. When reading the poem, it may seem that the author’s sympathies are on the side of the demon, but the moral outcome of the work leaves no doubt that the author believes in the final victory of God’s truth over demonic temptation.
Lermontov died in a duel before he was 27 years old. If in the short time allotted to him Lermontov managed to become the great national poet of Russia, then this period was not enough to develop mature religiosity in him. Nevertheless, the deep spiritual insights and moral lessons contained in many of his works make it possible to inscribe his name, along with the name of Pushkin, not only in the history of Russian literature, but also in the history of the Orthodox Church.
Among the Russian poets of the 19th century, whose work is marked by the strong influence of religious experience, it is necessary to mention A.K. Tolstoy (1817-1875), author of the poem “John of Damascus.” The plot of the poem is inspired by an episode from the life of St. John Damascus: the abbot of the monastery in which the monk labored forbade him to engage in poetic creativity, but God appeared to the abbot in a dream and commanded him to lift the ban from the poet. Against the background of this simple plot, the multidimensional space of the poem unfolds, including the poetic monologues of the main character.
Religious themes occupy a significant place in the later works of N.V. Gogol (1809-1852). Having become famous throughout Russia for his satirical works, such as “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls,” Gogol in the 1840s significantly changed the direction of his creative activity, paying increasing attention to church issues. The liberal-minded intelligentsia of his time met with misunderstanding and indignation Gogol’s “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” published in 1847, where he reproached his contemporaries, representatives of the secular intelligentsia, for ignorance of the teachings and traditions of the Orthodox Church, defending the Orthodox clergy from N.V. Gogol attacks Western critics:
Our clergy is not idle. I know very well that in the depths of monasteries and in the silence of cells, irrefutable works are being prepared in defense of our Church... But even these defenses will not yet serve to completely convince Western Catholics. Our Church must be sanctified in us, and not in our words... This Church, which, like a chaste virgin, has been preserved alone from the times of the apostles in its immaculate original purity, this Church, which is all with its deep dogmas and the slightest outward rituals as would be demolished straight from heaven for the Russian people, which alone is able to resolve all the knots of bewilderment and our questions... And this church is unknown to us! And we still have not introduced this Church, created for life, into our lives! There is only one propaganda possible for us - our life. With our life we must defend our Church, which is all life; We must proclaim its truth with the fragrance of our souls.
Of particular interest are the “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy”, compiled by Gogol on the basis of interpretations of the liturgy belonging to the Byzantine authors Patriarch Herman of Constantinople (8th century), Nicholas Cabasiles (14th century) and St. Simeon of Thessalonica (15th century), as well as a number of Russian church writers. With great spiritual trepidation, Gogol writes about the transfusion of the Holy Gifts at the Divine Liturgy into the Body and Blood of Christ
It is characteristic that Gogol writes not so much about the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ during the Divine Liturgy, but about “listening” to the liturgy, being present at the divine service. This reflects the common practice in the 19th century, according to which Orthodox believers received communion once or several times a year, usually in the first week of Lent or Holy Week, with communion preceded by several days of “fasting” (strict abstinence) and confession. On other Sundays and holidays believers came to the liturgy only in order to defend it, to “listen” to it. This practice was opposed in Greece by the collivads, and in Russia by John of Kronstadt, who called for frequent communion.
Among the Russians writers of the XIX centuries, two colossi stand out - Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Spiritual path of F.M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881) in some ways repeats the path of many of his contemporaries: upbringing in a traditional Orthodox spirit, a departure from traditional church life in his youth, a return to it in maturity. The tragic life path of Dostoevsky, sentenced to death for participation in a circle of revolutionaries, but pardoned a minute before the execution of the sentence, having spent ten years in hard labor and exile, was reflected in all his diverse creativity - primarily in his immortal novels “Crime and Punishment” , “Humiliated and Insulted”, “Idiot”, “Demons”, “Teenager”, “The Brothers Karamazov”, in numerous stories and short stories. In these works, as well as in “The Diary of a Writer,” Dostoevsky developed his religious and philosophical views based on Christian personalism. At the center of Dostoevsky’s work is always the human personality in all its diversity and inconsistency, but human life, the problems of human existence are considered from a religious perspective, presupposing faith in a personal, personal God.
The main religious and moral idea that unites all of Dostoevsky’s work is summarized in the famous words of Ivan Karamazov: “If there is no God, then everything is permitted.” Dostoevsky denies autonomous morality based on arbitrary and subjective “humanistic” ideals. The only solid foundation of human morality, according to Dostoevsky, is the idea of God, and it is God’s commandments that are the absolute moral criterion towards which humanity should be guided. Atheism and nihilism lead a person to moral permissiveness, opening the way to crime and spiritual death. The denunciation of atheism, nihilism and revolutionary sentiments, in which the writer saw a threat to the spiritual future of Russia, was the leitmotif of many of Dostoevsky’s works. This is the main theme of the novel “Demons” and many pages of “A Writer’s Diary.”
1.2 Influence of Orthodoxy on painting
In Russian academic painting of the 19th century, religious themes are represented very widely. Russian artists have repeatedly turned to the image of Christ: it is enough to recall such paintings as “The Appearance of Christ to the People” by A.A. Ivanova (1806-1858), “Christ in the Desert” by I.N. Kramskoy (1837-1887), “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane” by V.G. Perov (1833-1882) and a painting of the same name by A.I. Kuindzhi (1842-1910). In the 1880s, N.N. turned to Christian themes. Ge (1831-1894), who created a number of paintings on gospel themes, battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin (1842-1904), author of the Palestine series, V.D. Polenov (1844-1927), author of the painting “Christ and the Sinner”. All of these artists painted Christ in a realistic manner inherited from the Renaissance and far from the tradition of ancient Russian icon painting.
Interest in traditional icon painting was reflected in the work of V.M. Vasnetsov (1848-1926), author of numerous compositions on religious themes, and M.V. Nesterov (1862-1942), who owned many paintings of religious content, including scenes from Russian church history: “Vision to the youth Bartholomew”, “Youth of St. Sergius”, “Works of St. Sergius”, “St. Sergius of Radonezh”, “Holy Rus'”. Vasnetsov and Nesterov took part in the painting of churches - in particular, with the participation of M.A. Vrubel (1856-1910) they painted the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv.
1.3 Influence of Orthodoxy on music
Churchliness was reflected in the works of the great Russian composers - M.I. Glinka (1804-1857), A.P. Borodin (1833-1887), M.P. Mussorgsky (1839-1881), P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), S.I. Taneyeva (1856-1915), S.V. Rachmaninov (1873-1943). Many plots and characters of Russian operas are associated with the church tradition, for example, the Holy Fool, Pimen, Varlaam and Misail in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. In a number of works, for example, in the Easter overture “Bright Holiday” by Rimsky-Korsakov, in the overture “1812” and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, motifs of church hymns are used. Many Russian composers use imitation of bell ringing, in particular Glinka in the opera “A Life for the Tsar”, Borodin in “Prince Igor” and the play “In the Monastery”, Mussorgsky in “Boris Godunov” and “Pictures at an Exhibition”, Rimsky-Korsakov in several operas and the overture “Bright Holiday”.
The element of bells occupies a special place in Rachmaninov’s work: the ringing of bells (or its imitation with the help of musical instruments and voices) sounds at the beginning of the 2nd piano concert, in symphonic poem“Bells”, “Bright Holiday” from the 1st suite for two pianos, prelude in C sharp minor, “Now you let go” from “All Night Vigil”.
Some works by Russian composers, for example Taneyev’s cantata to the words of A.K. Tolstoy’s “John of Damascus” are secular works on spiritual themes.
Many great Russian composers also wrote church music: “Liturgy” by Tchaikovsky, “Liturgy” and “All-Night Vigil” by Rachmaninov were written for liturgical use. Written in 1915 and banned throughout Soviet period Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil is a grandiose choral epic based on ancient Russian church chants.
All of these are just individual examples of the profound influence that Orthodox spirituality has had on the work of Russian composers.
1.4 The influence of Christianity on culture ancient Rus'
During the period of the 10th-13th centuries, a complex psychological breakdown of pagan beliefs and the formation of Christian ideas took place. The process of changing spiritual and moral priorities is always difficult. In Rus' it did not take place without violence. The life-loving optimism of paganism was replaced by a faith that demanded restrictions and strict adherence to moral standards. The adoption of Christianity meant a change in the entire structure of life. Now the church has become the center of public life. She preached a new ideology, instilled new values, and raised a new person. Christianity made man the bearer of a new morality, based on a culture of conscience, arising from the evangelical commandments. Christianity created a broad basis for the unification of ancient Russian society, the formation of a single people based on common spiritual and moral principles. The border between Russian and Slav has disappeared. Everyone was united by a common spiritual basis. There has been a humanization of society. Rus' was included in the European Christian world. From that time on, she considers herself part of this world, striving to play a prominent role in it, always comparing herself with it.
Christianity influenced all aspects of life in Rus'. The adoption of a new religion helped to establish political, trade, and cultural ties with the countries of the Christian world. It contributed to the formation of urban culture in a predominantly agricultural country. But it is necessary to take into account the specific “sloboda” character of Russian cities, where the bulk of the population continued to be engaged in agricultural production, supplemented to a small extent by crafts, and urban culture itself was concentrated in a narrow circle of secular and ecclesiastical aristocracy. This can explain the superficial, formal-figurative level of Christianization of the Russian philistines, their ignorance of elementary religious beliefs, and the naive interpretation of the fundamentals of religious doctrine, which so surprised Europeans who visited the country in the Middle Ages and later. The government's reliance on religion as a social-normative institution that regulates social life, formed a special type of Russian mass Orthodoxy - formal, ignorant, often synthesized with pagan mysticism. The church contributed to the creation of magnificent architecture and art in Rus'; the first chronicles and schools appeared, where people from various segments of the population studied. The fact that Christianity was adopted in the Eastern version had other consequences that manifested themselves in a historical perspective. In Orthodoxy, the idea of progress was expressed weaker than in Western Christianity. During the times of Kievan Rus this was not yet of great importance. But as the pace of development in Europe accelerated, Orthodoxy’s orientation towards a different understanding of the goals of life had a significant impact. The European-type orientation toward transformative activity was strong in the early stages of history, but it was transformed by Orthodoxy. Russian Orthodoxy oriented people toward spiritual transformations and stimulated the desire for self-improvement and closer approach to Christian ideals. This contributed to the development of such a phenomenon as spirituality. But at the same time, Orthodoxy did not provide incentives for social and public progress, for transformation real life personality. Orientation towards Byzantium also meant rejection of the Latin and Greco-Roman heritage. M. Greek warned against translating the works of Western thinkers into Russian. He believed that this could be detrimental to true Christianity. Hellenistic literature, which had nothing to do with Christianity at all, was subjected to special blasphemy. But Rus' was not completely cut off from the Ancient heritage. The influence of Hellenism, secondary, was felt through Byzantine culture. The colonies in the Black Sea region left their mark, and there was great interest in ancient philosophy.
2. Establishment of Orthodoxy in Russia
The Birth of Christianity
According to legend, long before the baptism of Rus', St. Prince. Vladimir, the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea was visited by St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
The results of his preaching were witnessed by one of the Church Fathers, St. Clement of Rome, third heir of St. Peter on the see of Bishop of Rome, exiled by Emperor Trajan to Crimea in 98. His testimony is especially valuable because he, a Roman by birth, was converted to Christianity by the Apostle Peter himself, the brother of the Apostle Andrew, and subsequently was a faithful assistant in the holy work of the Apostle Paul. St. Clement has already found about two thousand Christians in Crimea.
There is a chronicle legend that St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called not only visited the Black Sea region, but also climbed the Dnieper to the place where Kyiv was later located.
Christianity spread widely in the Greek colonies on the Black and Azov Seas. The main center of early Christianity in Russia was Chersonesus. The saints who became famous in it were: Basil, Ephraim, Capiton, Eugene, Epherius, Elpidius and Agathador, who occupied the See of Chersonesus in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
In the 4th century, Christianity penetrated into Khozaria, which then occupied the entire southern territory of Russia from the Caucasus and Volga to the Dnieper.
In the 9th century, Christianity spread in Russia mainly thanks to the works of the disciples of Sts. brothers Cyril and Methodius. They enlightened Volyn and Smolensk, which later became part of the Kyiv State of St. book Vladimir.
The first missionary trip of St. is also connected with the south of Russia. Cyril in 861 to Chozaria. After the Norman attack on Constantinople on July 18, 860, Patriarch Photius sent St. Cyril to the Khazars to attract them and the Slavs to the Christian faith.
St. the brothers Cyril and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic alphabet) and translated the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books into the Slavic language, i.e. the dialect of the surrounding area of Thessaloniki, which they knew best and which was understandable to all Slavic peoples of that era.
The meaning of St. There are a lot of brothers for the cause of enlightenment in Russia. Thanks to them, the Russian people were able to learn the Orthodox faith in their native language from the very beginning. Soon missionaries arrived in Kyiv and other Russian cities from St., who was enlightened in 864. Cyril and Methodius of Bulgaria. They preached and performed worship in a language understandable to the population.
At the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th centuries, the first churches were built in southern Russian cities. There were Christians among the soldiers who made up the princely squads, and among the Russians who traded with Constantinople. In Igor’s agreement with the Greeks, the squad is already divided into baptized and unbaptized (945).
The oldest monument of the Cyrillic alphabet is considered to be an inscription from 893 on the ruins of a temple in Preslav (Bulgaria). The epigraphic inscription found during the construction of the Danube-Black Sea Canal dates back to 943, and the inscription from the tombstone of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil dates back to 993.
There is a legend that the first of the Russian princes to be baptized were Askold and Dir in 862. But Grand Duchess Olga, who is canonized by the Church, is revered as the country’s enlightener. Holy book In the first part of her life, Olga was a zealous pagan and did not hesitate to take cruel revenge on the Drevlyans who killed her husband, Prince Igor.
The people revered her for her wisdom, which manifested itself especially in the management of the Kyiv state during the early childhood of her son Svyatoslav and then during his numerous campaigns.
According to one legend, St. Olga was baptized in Kyiv in 954 and received the name Elena at baptism; otherwise, she only prepared to receive baptism, and the sacrament itself was performed during her trip to Constantinople in 955 (57). According to this second legend, Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself and the Patriarch of Constantinople were her successors.
St. Princess Olga arrived in the capital of the empire with a large retinue and was greeted with great honor. She was amazed by the splendor of the imperial court and the solemnity of the services in the church of St. Sofia. Upon returning to Kyiv (until his death in 969), Prince. Olga was strict Christian life, preached Christ in her country.
Bishop Adalbert of Trier came to her from Emperor Otto, but relations with Rome did not improve, since the Roman episcopate stood for holding services on Latin, and demanded the inclusion of the “Filioque” in the Creed, but in Kyiv Christians held tightly to services in their native Slavic language and did not recognize the “Filioque.”
When the prince's son Olga, Svyatoslav, conquered in 964 half of the Bulgarian Kingdom, which was then in full bloom of cultural and religious life and independent of Constantinople, relations with this country strengthened, and from there Orthodox clergy began to come to Kievan Rus to serve numerous Russian churches. Book Svyatoslav, although a pagan, spared the clergy and did not touch the churches during the conquest of Bulgaria.
By the end of the reign of Prince. Olga, a new Russian center was formed in the north of the Caucasus, off the coast of the Black and Azov Seas, in ancient Tamatarcha (Tmutarakan), through which Christianity began to penetrate into Rus' directly from Byzantium.
Relics of St. book Olga was laid in 1007 by her grandson Vladimir in the Assumption Cathedral (Church of the Tithes) in Kyiv.
Baptism of Rus' by St. book Vladimir.
St. Vel. book Vladimir was raised by St. book Olga, who prepared him for the adoption of Christianity, but he remained a pagan in the first years of his reign. In Kyiv and in all cities there were idols to which sacrifices were made, but churches also existed in many places, and services were performed freely.
The chronicle mentions only one case of persecution of Christians, when a crowd in Kyiv in 983 killed two Varangians, a father and son named Theodore and John, after the father refused to give his son to the pagans to sacrifice to idols.
According to the chronicle story, in 986 to Prince. Mohammedans, Jews and Christians from Rome and Byzantium came to Vladimir in Kyiv and persuaded each one to accept his own faith. Book Vladimir listened to them all, but did not make any decision. IN next year he, on the advice of his associates, sent ambassadors to different countries to get acquainted with different religions.
The ambassadors returned and reported to the prince that what impressed them most was the service in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople. They did not even know “whether they were on earth or in heaven.” Then the book Vladimir decided to convert to Christianity from Byzantium.
According to historical data, the baptism of Prince. Vladimir and the people of Kiev happened like this: Prince. Vladimir wanted his state to join the culture and join the family of civilized peoples. Therefore, he maintained relations with three Christian centers of that time: Constantinople, Rome and Ohrid, but tried to maintain complete independence for his country, both state and church.
On August 15, 987, the uprising of Bardas Phocas began in the Byzantine Empire, and Emperors Constantine and Vasily turned to Prince Vladimir for help. He set the condition for sending troops - marriage to Anna, the sister of the emperors. The latter agreed on the condition that Prince Vladimir accept Christianity. During the autumn and winter there were negotiations; but Princess Anna never came to Kyiv.
Prince Vladimir, for his part, fulfilled the condition and was baptized in the spring of 988 and baptized the entire population of Kyiv. At the beginning of the summer, with a selected army of 6,000 warriors, he defeated Bardas Phocas at Chrysopolis, opposite Constantinople, but the emperors he saved were slow to fulfill their promise. Meanwhile, Barda Phokas again gathered troops and started an uprising. Book Vladimir again came to the aid of Byzantium and finally defeated Varda at Abydos on April 13, 989.
But this time, the emperors, freed from danger, did not want to fulfill either the promise of sending Princess Anna or to grant the Kyiv state an independent hierarchy, as in Bulgaria. book Vladimir, on his way back to Kyiv, besieged the rich Greek trading city of Chersonesus in the Crimea and, after a long siege, took it in early 990.
The Byzantine emperors, for whom the loss of Chersonesos was of great importance, finally decided to fulfill the conditions. Princess Anna arrived in Chersonesus, accompanied by several bishops and numerous clergy. Following this, the book. Vladimir with Princess Anna and her retinue returned to Kyiv. This sequence of events is confirmed by the monk Jacob in his “Praise to Prince Vladimir,” written at the end of the 11th century.
According to the chronicle story, led. book Vladimir was baptized not in Kyiv, but in Korsun (Chersonese), and shortly before he lost his sight and was miraculously healed after the sacrament of baptism. He ordered the people of Kiev to gather on the banks of the Dnieper, where the Kiev clergy baptized them in his presence.
All the idols were destroyed, and the idol of Perun was tied to the tail of a horse and drowned in the river.
During the campaigns the book. Vladimir against Varda Foki, the Kiev state entered into communication with the Russians who were in Tmutarakan, and Tmutarakan Rus' was included in the state of Vladimir the Holy. From here, during the reign of Vladimir's son, Mstislav, Byzantine influence penetrated to Chernigov, and then to the north of Russia, to Rostov and Murom.
Conclusion
National self-awareness and all its elements are manifested in spiritual culture. Russians for the most part have retained their ideas about the historical past of the Fatherland and give preference to primordial national traditions inextricably linked with Orthodoxy. Perhaps our spiritual culture is most vulnerable due to the absence of such an element as awareness of national interests, and it is their awareness that can make it possible to formulate a national idea, which is so necessary to overcome the crisis that covers all spheres of Russian life, and to carry out the construction of a Great Russia.
The influences of Christianity are listed below:
1. Per person: Raised the morality of people, Contributed to the softening of cruel morals, Directed all human activity towards good.
2. On the family: Strengthened marriage, Eradicated polygamy, Stopped the arbitrariness of men, Freed women from a slave position in the family, Improved the situation of children.
3. On culture: Positively influenced art, education, music, Laid the beginning of book printing, Laid the beginning of Russian culture, Positively influenced the culture of all countries.
4. On laws and rights: Laws throughout the world began to be based on Christian teaching about life and relationships between people. Many political movements borrowed the main points for their program from Christians. For example, “Liberty, fraternity, equality,” “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”
5. On other religions: Many pagan religions softened and purified under the influence of Christianity
Bibliography
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2. Alekseev N.N. - The idea of the “Earthly City” in Christian doctrine. M.: 2003.
3. Alekseev N.N. Christianity and the idea of monarchy. M.: 2003.
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6. Archimandrite Rafail Christianity and modernism M.: 2001.
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16. State-church relations in Russia. M.: 1993. .
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18. Gumilyov L.N. From Rus' to Russia. M.: 1992.
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21. Deryagin V.Ya. A Word about Law and Grace. M.: 1994.
22. Dugin A.G. Russian Orthodox Church in the space of Eurasia M.: 2002. .
23. John Domaskin. An accurate exposition of the Orthodox faith. St. Petersburg: 2004.
24. John, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. Cathedral Rus'. Essays on Christian statehood. // Our contemporary. -1994.-No.-10,11,12.- 1995.-L 1,2,3,4,6. .
25. Leontyev K.N. Byzantium and Slavism. // Favorites. M.: 2003.
26. Lotman Yu.M. Culture and explosion. Tartu: 1992.
27. Milyukov P.N. Essays on the history of Russian culture. M.: 2004.
28. Science, religion, humanism. M.: 1992.
29. National culture and religion. M.: 1989.
30. Odintsov M.I. State and church in Russia, 20th century. M.: 2004.
31. Odintsov M.I. State-church relations in Russia (based on materials national history XX century), a dissertation in the form of a scientific report for the degree of doctor historical sciences. -M.: 1996.
32. Platonov S.F. Russian history. M.: 2006.
33. Religion and human rights. M.: 2006.
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A. A. Brumberg, dietitian, State Budgetary Healthcare Institution "City Clinical Hospital No. 52 of the Moscow Health Department"
Currently, more and more more people turns to its origins, discovers national traditions, culture, religion. Within each of the famous religions, there is a set of rules and laws that regulate such an important part of our lives as nutrition, starting from the list of permitted and prohibited foods, methods of processing them, and ending with diet.
Each nation is the bearer of its own specific tradition and food culture, in the formation of which, along with characterological and cultural characteristics of one or another ethnic group, the influence of religious beliefs played a huge role.
Jewish dietary laws
For example, in Judaism, food must be kosher (“suitable”, “suitable”), that is, permitted for consumption, meeting the requirements of kashrut - Jewish laws on eating food. Kosher refers to all products and their combinations that are permitted by the Torah (the main holy book of the Jews, known to Christians as the “Pentateuch of Moses”) and Jewish tradition as food for Jews.
Principles of Kashrut: Kosher cattle are defined as having a cloven hoof and chewing the cud (pork, for example, is excluded from the diet, since the pig is not a ruminant animal), kosher fish must necessarily have scales and ray fins (molluscs and crustaceans are prohibited). Jews eat only domestic poultry (chickens, turkeys, quails, ducks), the kosher of which is confirmed by tradition. Milk, eggs, caviar of non-kosher animals, birds and fish are prohibited, as is any dish that contains non-kosher products during the preparation process.
Particular attention in Judaism is given to the rules of slaughtering livestock and poultry. They are strictly regulated. Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds for food in accordance with the requirements of kashrut. The slaughter is performed by a shochet (“ritual slaughterer”), a religious Jew who has undergone special training. With one quick movement of a sharp blade (chalef), he must cut the animal's trachea, esophagus, common carotid artery, jugular vein and vagus nerve. As a result, blood pressure in the victim's brain instantly drops and irreversible loss of consciousness occurs. According to Jewish religious sources, the animal in this state is insensitive to pain and is bled dry by a gentle, quick and precise action.
Since the Torah prohibits eating the blood of animals and birds, the meat is soaked in water and then placed on special curing boards and sprinkled with coarse salt. The salt absorbs the blood, then the meat is thoroughly washed. Eggs with blood in the embryonic sac are also considered unfit for food.
In Judaism, there are rules for eating permitted types of food. Meat and meat products should not be eaten with milk or dairy products. Even if some milk accidentally gets into the meat broth during cooking, this broth will certainly need to be poured out. The thing is that kosher cuisine is strictly divided into two parts: meat and dairy. For the preparation of meat and dairy products, not only separate kitchen utensils and utensils are used, but also separate rooms, especially in catering establishments.
All foods that are prohibited are considered non-kosher. For example, beluga caviar is not kosher, but salmon caviar is kosher. The exception to this rule is honey, a non-kosher insect product that is allowed to be eaten because it is not actually a bee's waste product.
In Judaism there are several fasts during which believers must observe certain rules, including in relation to nutrition. The most important holiday and fasting day in Judaism is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). This fast, as well as the fast of the Ninth of Av (the national day of mourning of the Jewish people), lasts from sunset until the appearance of the stars in the evening of the next day, that is, more than 24 hours. During this time, eating and drinking is prohibited. On the eve of the Ninth of Av fast, three weeks of mourning pass. During the last week, you should not eat meat or wine.
Less strict fasts in Judaism, during which food and drink are prohibited: 3 Tishrei (Fast of Gedaliah), 10 Tevet and 17 Tamuz, Esther, the fast of the firstborn before the holiday of Passover. All these fasts continue from dawn until the stars appear.
Food Code of Islam
The religious traditions of Islam also have a direct impact on the food culture of believers. Formation diet Muslims occurs exclusively according to the rules prescribed by the Koran (the holy book of Muslims, a set of revelations spoken in the name of Allah by the Prophet Muhammad) and the Sunnah (the biography of the Prophet Muhammad).
The Islamic religion has the following principle: everything that is not explicitly prohibited (haram) is permitted (halal). Accordingly, food consumed by Muslims must be halal.
Muslims do not eat blood, the meat of animals that died a natural death, were not slaughtered in accordance with the Muslim religious tradition, and unclean animals: pork, meat of predators, omnivores, etc.
According to Muslim traditions, meat products must be produced using a special technology that provides for gentle treatment of the animal during slaughter. According to the ritual, before cutting the carotid artery of an animal, a prayer must be read. When producing halal products, it is important to comply with certain technical conditions, for example, in the production of finished meat products, use only chilled meat, etc. Animals used in the production of halal meat must be raised on environmentally friendly feed that excludes hormonal additives, and meat products must not contain soy and transgenic additives. When transporting finished halal products to retail stores, the goods must be separated from other products.
In Islam, great importance is attached to the compatibility of products and ready-made dishes, as well as the ritual of not only eating, but also drinking water. It is considered unacceptable to drink while standing, in a hurry, in one big sip. If possible, you should sit down and drink water in three doses, with the number of sips gradually increasing from one to five. It is customary to take food and drink with the right hand. Muslims treat bread and bread crumbs with special respect and consider it a sacred product.
According to religious traditions, Muslims should not include predominantly meat products in their diet. However, it is not recommended to exclude meat from the diet for more than 40 days. Boiled meat should not be mixed with fried meat, and fresh meat dishes with salted or dried meat.
Muslims should begin and end their meals with salt. Muslims consider this product good remedy to destroy germs. They are convinced that a pinch of salt before eating cleanses the mouth of germs and prepares it for eating.
The eating behavior of Muslims during fasting, as well as that of believers of other religions, must comply with strict rules. However, they apply more to the time of eating than to its quantity or composition. For example, during the main fast - Ramadan (lasts one month) - it is forbidden to eat food from sunrise to sunset, and this rule must be observed very strictly, even while buying food at the market during the day, it is strictly forbidden to try it.
Meals during Orthodox Lent
In the rules governing nutrition in Christianity, a special role is given to fasting. That is why it is important to consider the features of the diet and food intake during each Orthodox fast.
In the Russian Orthodox Church, fasts are divided by duration into one-day and multi-day (the total number of fasting days per year is close to 200), as well as by severity, that is, by the degree of restrictions imposed. One of the forms of abstinence in Orthodox posts- this is abstinence from food and drink - a restriction in accepting food products of various origins.
One-day fasts (Wednesday and Friday) seem to play a role fasting days in a weekly cycle, and multi-day ones (Veliky, Petrov, Uspensky, Rozhdestvensky) - in an annual cycle. In addition, fasting properly prepares the body for the change of seasons. Thus, Lent cleanses the body of toxins and prepares it for summer, the Assumption Fast is the transition to autumn, and the Nativity Fast is the transition to winter.
Weekly fast days are Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday, fasting was established in remembrance of the betrayal of Christ by Judas, on Friday - in memory of the suffering on the cross and death of the Savior. On these days of the week, the Holy Church prohibits the consumption of meat and dairy foods, and during the week of All Saints before the Nativity of Christ, the exclusion of fish and vegetable oil follows. Only when the days of celebrated saints fall on Wednesday and Friday are vegetable oils allowed, and on the biggest holidays, such as Intercession, fish.
One-day fasts also include: Epiphany Eve (January 18), on the eve of the Epiphany; The beheading of John the Baptist (September 11), this is the day of memory and death of the great prophet John; The Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (September 27), the memory of the suffering of the Savior on the cross for the salvation of the human race.
One-day fasts are days of strict fasting (except Wednesday and Friday). Fish is prohibited, but food with vegetable oil is allowed.
The Church attaches particular importance to Lent, which precedes Easter. It starts at Forgiveness Sunday and lasts 49 days. Lent is preceded by a preparatory period, the so-called weeks (weeks). The first week is about the publican and the Pharisee - there are no restrictions on food here. The second week is dedicated to the parable of the prodigal son. The third week is meat-free week (Maslenitsa week, cheese week).
The last week of preparation for Lent is an example of a gradual transition to strict fasting. This week, meat foods are excluded from the diet, but milk, cheese, eggs, butter are allowed, i.e., complete animal products are included in the diet - sources of proteins, fats and carbohydrates that compensate for the lack of meat products in the diet.
In 2015, Lent begins on February 23 and ends on April 11. During Lent, believers, while fully observing it, are subject to very severe restrictions. Fasting is observed with particular strictness during the first and passionate weeks. On Clean Monday, complete abstinence from food is accepted. The rest of the time: Monday, Wednesday, Friday - dry food (water, bread, fruits, vegetables); Tuesday, Thursday - hot food without oil; Saturday, Sunday - food with vegetable oil. However, the most strict Lent cannot be considered completely vegetarian: on the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday, it is allowed to include fish dishes in the diet, and on Lazarus Saturday, fish caviar is allowed. On Good Friday (April 10), you cannot eat until the shroud is taken out.
Petrov, or Apostolic, fast - strict fasting (dry eating) on Wednesday and Friday. On Monday you can eat hot food without oil. On other days - fish, mushrooms, cereals with vegetable oil.
During the Dormition Fast, the diet of Orthodox Christians should be as follows: Monday, Wednesday, Friday - dry eating; Tuesday, Thursday - hot food without oil; On Saturday and Sunday, food with vegetable oil is allowed. On the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 19), fish is allowed. Fish day in Assumption is held if it falls on Wednesday or Friday.
The Nativity (Filippov) fast takes place at the end of autumn, 40 days before the great holiday of the Nativity of Christ. The food regulations of this fast (until the day of St. Nicholas) coincide with the regulations of Peter's fast. If the Feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple falls on Wednesday or Friday, then fish is allowed. After the feast day of St. Nicholas and before the pre-festival of Christmas, fish is allowed on Saturday and Sunday. On the eve of the feast, you cannot eat fish on all days; on Saturday and Sunday, food with oil is allowed.
On Christmas Eve, you cannot eat until the first star appears, after which it is customary to eat juice - wheat grains boiled in honey or boiled rice with raisins.
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Variety of dishes
Despite the fact that in Christian religion compliance is provided large quantity fasting (and therefore restrictions), the diet of an Orthodox Christian is quite varied.
In the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language” by V. I. Dahl, a description of the everyday Lenten peasant table is given:
“Radish in layers (slices) with butter; boiled volukha; peas; pies with nothing, sipped with wort; jelly with butter or wort; pie with custard cabbage or mushrooms; sliced potatoes with vinegar; stew made from hemp juice with milk mushrooms; boiled peas, millet, egg, oatmeal or buckwheat porridge; burnt potatoes; pickled cucumbers, milk mushrooms and cabbage; wort with cherries, bird cherry, strawberries, boneberries, strawberries, boyarka, lingonberries (seven dishes); steamed turnips, carrots, beets in hot wort; pea jelly with butter; jelly: wheat and oatmeal with full or kvass; pies: turnip, carrot, beetroot, mushroom with cereal; pancakes, pancakes, pancakes; frozen lingonberries and cranberries, honey; pie with one raspberry or poppy seed cake with honey; snacks: nuts, gingerbread, raisins, herbal.”
And on fasting days, when Orthodox Christians are allowed fish dishes, the diet becomes even more varied. Thus, in “Domostroy” it is written that “in Lent the following is served at the table: lean bread, pressed caviar, autumn sturgeon caviar and fresh sturgeon caviar, sterlet caviar, simple pike liver, porridge with white fish, salmon liver, porridge with pike perch, porridge sterlet, porridge with stellate sturgeon, porridge with fresh beluga, fresh sturgeon liver, slightly salted beluga liver, dried sturgeon and beluga liver, smelt and souschik, carp and ulcer strips, boiled caviar, fried caviar, sturgeon and freshly salted sturgeon, vizigu in vinegar, barrel sterlet, raw tongues, dried sterlet, sturgeon teshka, beluga teshka, beluga tongues, Shekhon sturgeon, pea noodles, millet with poppy seed oil, whole peas and split peas, double cabbage soup, pancakes and pies with jam or onions, and hearth pies with poppy seeds, and jelly, both sweet and unleavened.”
On “fish days,” for example, during the Dormition Lent, the menu described in Domostroy is even more tempting:
“Sour cabbage is served with herring, various caviar are placed side by side, dried beluga back, salmon with garlic served in slices, Shekhon sturgeon, white fish, dried salmon, sturgeon back and sterlet, steamed herring, steamed pike, steamed sterlet, steamed bream , salmon back, white fish back and other fish backs are served steamed, fish jellies with saffron, baked black perch soup (let it cool), hot ordinary fish soup, pike ear, sterlet ear, crucian ear, perch ear, carnivore soup, fish soup from bream, tavranchuk sturgeon, and between different ears served fish balls and sterlet, fish dishes, pies, pies in nut oil, yarn hearth pies with peas, sour pancakes in nut oil, sour hearth pies with peas, large pies with poppy seeds on hemp oil with peas, and a big pie with milk of poppy seeds, and a big pie with succulents, a pie with whitefish and a pie with catfish or with herring, and put them all in pancakes.”
In the book by E. I. Molokhovets “A Gift for Young Housewives” (1901), the extensive chapter “Lenten Table” contains recipes for preparing various dishes recommended during fasting and menus - almost 80 options for Lenten dinners.
All of the above confirms that food during fasting can and should be varied.
Fasting from a nutritional perspective
When considering the diet observed during Lent, from a nutritional point of view, the first thing worth noting is that it is an excellent opportunity to diversify your diet with new natural plant-based products and tasty, healthy dishes. Believers are allowed to eat vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, berries, cereals, nuts, and honey. These are plant products that are very beneficial for the body. modern man, since they are the main source of biologically active components, a large amount of dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin C and beta-carotene, and have a low content of cholesterol and saturated animal fats. But during fasting it is forbidden to include animal products in the diet - meat, milk, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, egg, fish consumption is limited. Thus, a person does not receive enough iron, zinc, vitamin B12, D, and calcium from food.
With the exclusion of protein products of animal origin from the diet, the amount of the main sources of tryptophan, an essential amino acid, which is a precursor to serotonin, decreases. And this can lead to decreased immunity, activity, bad mood, lethargy and apathy, and depression. Therefore, it is necessary to balance the diet with plant sources of tryptophan: legumes, mushrooms, nuts.
It must be emphasized that children, pregnant and lactating women, and sick people are contraindicated to strictly fulfill all the requirements of fasting.
Before you start fasting, be sure to consult your doctor!
Strict fasting is not for everyone!
From the “Handbook for a Clergyman” (1977): “... the Orthodox Church does not impose the rules of fasting in its entirety on children and the sick, the infirm and the elderly. The Church provides for bodily weakness, or extreme necessity, or the difficulty of times, for the appropriate application of the principle of ecclesiastical oikonomia (lenience) in accordance with the authoritative judgment and pastoral care of the bishop of local churches.”
If a person is sick and wants to fast, then he needs to consult with his doctor. Some food restrictions or substitutions can harm the body.
It is not difficult for a healthy person to fast, provided that the basic recommendations during fasting are followed:
- Since there is a ban on meat, poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs, to prevent protein deficiency, include plant-based protein in your diet - that’s all soy products(their range is very wide: from meat to yoghurt), legumes, nuts, seeds, various cereals and cereals, wholemeal products.
- Include a variety of cereals, pasta and potatoes in your diet daily as a source of energy.
- Eat vegetable oils (1-2 tablespoons), watch the fat content of your diet.
- Eat vegetables and fruits in quantities of at least 500 g daily.
- To prevent exacerbation of spring depression, dishes made from brown rice, millet, buckwheat, soybeans, lentils, as well as dates, bananas and peanuts are needed.
- Take vitamin and mineral complexes.
- Maintain drinking regime.
- Remember, honey and dried fruits in the diet are a source of vitamins and microelements.
- Eat at least 4-5 times a day.
- Diversify your diet during fasting and do not eat dishes and foods that you dislike.
- Be sure to get enough sleep and walk in the fresh air.
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When breaking your fast, be moderate in your consumption of meat and fatty foods. Gradually reintroduce it into your daily diet. Remember that by the end of fasting, the level of enzymes that break down protein in the body is minimal, and the products of protein decay in the intestines can take you out of your work schedule. It is no coincidence that after fasting on Easter, Orthodox Christians give each other Easter eggs- a cult product. A boiled egg is a balanced product that stimulates the activity of the digestive system after a multi-day restriction.
Is fasting a diet?
The question of whether fasting can be used as a restrictive diet for weight loss is incorrect not only from an ethical and theological point of view, but also from the point of view of an absolutely materialistic, medical approach. The fact is that the purpose of the restrictive measures imposed by the Church on believers is to direct them along the path of spiritual development through obedience and humility. Saint Basil the Great said in “Conversations on Fasting”: “True fasting is avoidance of evil, abstinence of the tongue, suppression of anger, excommunication of lusts, slander, lies, perjury. Abstinence from this is true fasting.”
