What is the difference between meat week and cheese week? Meat week. The entire preparatory period before Easter

Lent precede preparatory weeks (Sundays) and weeks. The order of the services of the preparatory weeks and Great Lent itself is set out in the Lenten Triodion. It begins with the week about the publican and the Pharisee and ends in Holy Saturday, covering a 70-day period.

The Great Lent is preceded by the Holy Pentecost - the week about the publican and the Pharisee, the week and week about the Prodigal Son, the week and week of the meat-free season (meat-holiday), the week and week of the raw-holiday (raw-holiday, cheese, Shrovetide).

During the preparatory weeks, the Church prepares believers for fasting by gradually introducing abstinence: after continuous week Wednesday and Friday fasts are restored; then follows highest degree preparatory abstinence - prohibition from eating meat foods. In the preparatory services, the Church, recalling the first days of the world and man, the blissful state of the first parents and their fall, the coming to earth of the Son of God for the salvation of man, encourages believers to fast, repentance and spiritual feat.

The synaxarion of Cheese Saturday says that just as “leaders, before a militia army already standing in the ranks, talk about the exploits of ancient men and thereby encourage the soldiers, so the holy fathers who enter into fasting point to the holy men who have shone in fasting and teach “that fasting consists not only in the abstinence of food, but also in curbing the tongue, heart and eyes.”

Such preparation for the fast of Pentecost is an ancient institution of the Church. Yes, already famous preachers In the 4th century, Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria spoke in their conversations and words about abstinence in the Weeks preceding Lent. In the 8th century, the Monks Theodore and Joseph the Studites compiled services for the Week of the Prodigal Son, meat and cheese services; in the 9th century, George, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, compiled a canon for the Week about the publican and the Pharisee.

Preparing for fasting and repentance, the Church in the first Week, through the example of the publican and the Pharisee, reminds of humility as the true beginning and foundation of repentance and all virtue, and of pride as the main source of sins, which defiles a person, alienates him from people, makes him an apostate, imprisoning yourself into a sinful selfish shell.

Humility, as a path to spiritual exaltation, was shown by God the Word Himself, who humbled himself to the weakest state of human nature - “to the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7).

In the hymns of the Week about the publican and the Pharisee, the Church calls to reject - to “reject” highly praised pride, fierce, destructive exaltation, “highly praised arrogance” and “vile arrogance.”

To awaken feelings of repentance and contrition for sins, the Church sings during the preparatory weeks Sunday mornings, starting with the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee and ending with the fifth Sunday of Lent, after the Gospel, singing “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ” and reading the 50th Psalm, before the canon touching stichera (troparia) “Open the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life”, “On the path of salvation guide me. Mother of God”, “Thinking about the many cruel things I have done, O wretched one, I tremble.” Bringing together the 70-day period of the Triodion with the 70-year stay of Israel in Babylonian captivity, the Church in some preparatory weeks mourns spiritual captivity new Israel by singing Psalm 136 “On the rivers of Babylon.”

The first stichera - “Open the doors of repentance” - is based on the parable of the publican: comparisons are taken from it to depict the feeling of repentance. The second song, “On the Path to Salvation,” is based on the parable of the prodigal son. At the heart of the third – “Many evil things I have done” – is the Savior’s prediction of the Last Judgment.

On the Week of the Prodigal Son with the Gospel parable (Luke 15:11-32), from which the Week itself received its name, the Church shows an example of God’s inexhaustible mercy towards all sinners who turn to God with sincere repentance. No sin can shake God’s love for mankind. To a soul that has repented and turned from sin, imbued with hope in God, God's grace comes to meet it, kisses it, adorns it and triumphs reconciliation with it, no matter how sinful it was before, before its repentance.

The Church instructs that the fullness and joy of life lie in a grace-filled union with God and in constant communion with Him, and removal from this communion is a source of spiritual disasters.

Having shown the true beginning of repentance on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Church reveals its full power: with true humility and repentance, forgiveness of sins is possible. Therefore, no sinner should despair of the gracious help of the Heavenly Father.

The Meat Week is also called the Week of the Last Judgment, since the Gospel is read about it at the liturgy (Matthew 25. 31 - 46).

On Saturday the Meat Shabbat, which is also called Ecumenical parent's Saturday, the Church commemorates “from the ages of the dead all those who lived by faith in piety and died piously, either in the desert, or in cities, or in the sea, or on earth, or in any place... from Adam even to this day, who served God purely, the fathers and our brethren, friends together and relatives, every person who has served faithfully in life, and who has come to God in many ways and in many ways.” The Church diligently asks “to give (them) in the hour of judgment a good answer to God and to receive His presence in joy, among the righteous, and among the saints, a bright lot, and worthy of being His Kingdom.”

According to an inscrutable Providence, people have different demise. “It is appropriate to know,” says the synaxarion, “that not all who fall into the abyss, and into fire, and into the sea, and the verbal destruction, and cold (cold) and famine, suffer this by the direct command of God: this is the essence of God’s fate , some of them happen by (God’s) good will, others (to others) by permission, others for the sake of knowledge and rebuke (warning), and the chastity of others.”

On Meat Saturday, the Church, out of its love for mankind, especially prays for those dead who did not receive a church funeral service or at all church prayer: “I have not received legalized psalms and hymns of memory.” The Church prays “for some of the righteous to do”, “even though the water was covered, the battle was reaped, the coward (earthquake) was embraced, and the murderers were killed, and the fire fell.” Prayers are offered for those who, in ignorance and not in their own minds, ended their lives, for those whom the Lord, knowing everything useful, allowed to die by sudden death - “from the sadness and joy that preceded it unreliably (unexpectedly)” and for those who died in sea ​​or on land, on rivers, springs, lakes, which became the prey of animals and birds, killed with a sword, burned by lightning, frozen in the cold and snow, buried under an earthen collapse or walls, killed by poisoning, strangulation and hanging from neighbors, died from any other type of unexpected and violent death.

The thought of the end of our life while remembering those who have already passed into eternity has a sobering effect on everyone who forgets about eternity and clings with all his soul to the corruptible and fleeting.

Meat Eating Week (Sunday) is dedicated to a reminder of the general final and Last Judgment of the living and the dead (Matthew 25, 31 - 46). This reminder is necessary so that people who sin do not indulge in carelessness and carelessness about their salvation in the hope of God’s ineffable mercy. The Church, in the stichera and troparions of the service of this Week, depicts the consequences of a lawless life, when the sinner will appear before the impartial Court of God.

Recalling the last Judgment of Christ, the Church at the same time points out the true meaning of the very hope in God’s mercy. God is merciful, but He is also a righteous Judge. In liturgical hymns, the Lord Jesus Christ is called just, and His Judgment is called a righteous and incorruptible test (unwashed torture, unwashed judgment). Both inveterate sinners and those carelessly relying on God’s mercy must therefore remember the spiritual responsibility for their moral state, and the Church, with all its services of this Week, strives to bring them to the awareness of their sinfulness.

What works of repentance and correction of life are especially emphasized? First of all and mainly, on acts of love and mercy, for the Lord will pronounce His Judgment primarily on works of mercy, and, moreover, possible for everyone, without mentioning other virtues that are not equally accessible to everyone. No one has the right to say that he could not help the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, or visit the sick. Material works of mercy have their value when they are a manifestation of love that rules the heart and are connected with spiritual works of mercy, which include the body. and the souls of our neighbors are relieved.

The last week of preparation for the Holy Pentecost is called cheese week, cheese week, Maslenitsa, Maslenitsa. During this week, cheese foods are consumed: milk, cheese, butter, eggs.

The Church, forbearing to our weakness and gradually leading us into the feat of fasting, established the consumption of cheese food in the last week before Pentecost, “so that we, from meat and overeating, would be led to strict abstinence... little by little we would take the reins from pleasant foods, that is, the feat of fasting " On raw Wednesday and Friday, a stricter fast is required (until the evening).

Through the chants of Cheese Week, the Church inspires us that this week is already the threshold of repentance, the forefeast of abstinence, the week of pre-purification. In these hymns, the Holy Church invites us to deep abstinence, recalling the fall of our ancestors, which resulted from intemperance.

On Cheese Saturday, the remembrance of holy men and women is celebrated, who shone in the feat of fasting. By the example of holy ascetics, the Church strengthens us for spiritual feats, “as if we look at their original, kindly lives, we do manifold and varied virtues, just as there is strength for everyone,” remembering that the holy ascetics and ascetics glorified by the Church were people clothed with infirmities flesh like us.

The last Sunday before Great Lent has the inscription (name) in the Triodion: “On the Week of Cheese, the expulsion of Adam.” On this day, the event of the expulsion of our first parents from paradise is remembered.

IN Church Slavonic language The word “week” refers to Sunday. If we talk about the word “week”, which is familiar to the Russian language, then it corresponds to the name “week”. That's why Meat week- This is the Sunday preceding Cheese Week or Maslenitsa. And after these seven days, Great Lent begins...

It is worth noting that it is on Sunday, in 2015 it is February 15, that you can treat yourself to meat once again, but then you need to refuse to eat meat dishes.

Meat week: what can you eat?

People who honor Orthodox traditions, one is usually interested in the question of what to eat during these seven days, when the body is preparing for Lent. Let's talk about everything in order. First, let's determine what you can eat on Sunday (the week in the church sense), and only then we will discuss the diet for seven days.

So, on Sunday you can use quite familiar meat products:

  • Pork;
  • Chicken;
  • Veal;
  • Lamb and other meats can be served on the table.

There are no strict food prohibitions on this day. If you want lard or fatty sausages, you can eat it. True, you should not be too zealous and lean on meat, since there is a preparatory week ahead, and then Lent. It is important that your body is ready for the transition to a more modest diet that does not contain meat.

Next comes meat-eating week (7 days), in 2015 it lasts from February 16 to 22. All these 7 days without meat products are called Cheese Week. After it, Lent will begin, where the menu of believers will undergo a number of changes. They will “go away” from the diet fish dishes, eggs, dairy products. Therefore, remember that the last day when you are allowed to eat meat is February 15th.

It is worth noting that church traditions are very wise. After all, if you properly prepare your body for fasting, it will benefit you. If you follow the church canons and give up meat a week before Lent, and consume fish for the next 7 days, this will prepare the body for Lent. It will last from February 23 to April 11, during this period it will be possible to cleanse the body of “harmful substances”, improve well-being and mood.

In general, on February 15 you will still eat meat, and from Monday the basis of your diet should be plant-based dishes. Prepare various porridges, for example, buckwheat, millet, rice, eat bread, first courses in vegetable broth, dumplings, vegetable stew, pancakes and other dishes without adding meat.

In the old days, housewives often prepared sbiten; now you can also make such a drink. This requires honey, spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, etc.) and medicinal herbs. If desired, you can add wine and hops to the drink, and then let it brew. Sbiten has a beneficial effect on the immune system and nervous system.


During this period, you can cook something simple and light. If you wish, you can try to recreate some old recipe, necessary ingredients You can buy it at your nearest store. And if you can’t get some component, then replace it with products that are similar in composition.

Some people are also interested in the following question: “ Is it possible to eat fish??. There are no fish bans either on Sunday or for the following week. But since Sunday is the last day when meat products are allowed, it is recommended to taste them, and consume fish already during Shrovetide week.

In addition to it, you should eat dairy products and eggs, because all this will not be possible during Lent. By the way, there are no prohibitions regarding the varieties and methods of preparing fish; do it the way you like best.

Delicious recipe for Lent

And finally, I would like to offer a recipe for making delicious and aromatic pies with mushrooms. They can be prepared both during Meat Week and during Lent.

To prepare the dough you will need:

  • Flour – 600 g;
  • Vegetable oil – 100 ml;
  • Boiled water – 1 tbsp.;
  • Fresh yeast – 25 g;
  • Salt – 2 tsp;
  • Sugar – 1 tsp.

For the filling take:

  • Mushrooms of your choice – 500 g;
  • One onion;
  • Sunflower oil without aroma for frying;
  • Salt to taste.


Wash the mushrooms and boil together with the onion until tender. Then place in a colander and let the water drain. When the vegetables have cooled, cut into small pieces and fry on vegetable oil Add salt until golden brown.

Mix flour (2 tsp), sugar, yeast and 50 ml of water together and let stand for a quarter of an hour. After this, add the remaining ingredients and replace the loose dough. Put it in warm place, and when it rises, “press down” a little with your hands. Do this manipulation twice. After this you can make filled pies. They need to be baked for half an hour in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

The most strict fast, which in 2018 will occur on February 19. To prepare for Lent, you need to know not only the date of its beginning, but also the traditions and customs of the period preceding it. This will help you tune in to spiritual cleansing.

Orthodox Church three preparatory weeks are established. They not only have a unique nutritional calendar, but also their own rules and special meaning. The penultimate (third) week before the central fast is called meat fasting. The name is no coincidence: at this time, a fasting for meat food occurs - believers who observe fasting stop eating meat. It is worth mentioning that the week of the Last Judgment in Orthodoxy is one single day, Sunday, and not a whole week. On this day, believers remember the parable of the Last Judgment, which is read on February 11th. However, the whole week, which begins with the memories of the general last and Last Judgment of the living and the dead, is called Meat, Cheese or Maslenitsa.

Features of the week about the Last Judgment

Maslenitsa week in 2018 will take place from February 11 to 18. At this time, meat is no longer eaten; food is prepared exclusively using dairy products. The preparatory week before Lent begins on Sunday. On the 11th, every person who has undergone the sacrament of baptism is obliged to remember the parable that the second coming of the Son of God is coming. The world will perish in the abyss of chaos, ashes, war and sin. The common people call this time the end of the world, the destruction of everything material and low. Everyone will become equal and will appear before the Lord accountable for their sinful deeds. Everyone will get what they deserve.

Church workers advise waking up on February 11 with thoughts about the sins you have committed, with a desire to repent. Try to reconsider your life and find all the flaws in it. This is a time of thanksgiving prayers to the Lord and the saints, as well as prayers for the forgiveness of sins. Of course, you need to atone for your sins sincerely, and not because of fears about the Last Judgment. Be honest with yourself and with God, who will forgive you everything from which you have learned a life lesson.

This is a special day for one and all, filled with light and love, although it may not be noticeable at first glance. The prophecy should not scare you, it should only remind you that there is only one path in everyone’s life, and its name is the path of faith. The guarantee of salvation is righteousness, and the week of the Last Judgment should be a demonstration for everyone. Good, sooner or later, can settle in the soul of even the worst person, because everyone deserves salvation and the love of God, regardless of their position in society, worldview, values ​​and views. There is only one truth, and everyone must find it.

Throughout the next week, churches will hold services dedicated to the week of the Last Judgment. The clergy will read sermons about the price of fornication, sin, lack of faith and what the outcome of such a path is.

Meat Week 2018

Meat week is also called cheese week or Maslenitsa week. Starting from February 11 and until the 18th, you cannot eat meat, so it is worth thinking over a menu that will comply with all church canons. Sunday, February 18, is considered the final day before Lent and is called Forgiven Day. At this time you can last time before long-term abstinence, taste meat food, but this is not the main custom of this period. On the 18th, all people must ask each other for forgiveness in order to enter into the strictest fast of the year with with a pure heart and readiness to meet the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

All people are sinners, but any of us can find the strength within ourselves to admit our mistakes and answer for our sins, repent of them. Priests recommend going to church to read prayers on this difficult but bright day. If it is not possible to visit the temple of God, then read your prayers at home. May the week of the Last Judgment help you cleanse your soul and heart of filth before the most important Orthodox holiday - Easter. We wish you peace in your soul,and don't forget to press the buttons and

10.02.2018 05:05

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Here it is, the third Sunday that precedes it, and the traditional way of life is changing. People are slowly forgetting about meat food, because soon they will be eating non-animal food. People remember Last Judgment what is coming, and pray. Why do people remember the Judgment? In order for sinners to remember mercy, but stop indulging in carelessness, and think more about their salvation.

Well, Orthodox holiday is still revered by many people. A week? This refers specifically to Sunday; the word “week” in its original interpretation has been preserved in the Ukrainian language. By the way, the canons of Orthodoxy are closely intertwined with pagan holidays. This is the week before Maslenitsa. On meat fast, eating meat is allowed, and this is the last day before a difficult test for many - going without meat for many weeks.

Since meat-eating week is coming in 2017 on February 19, what can you eat - key question for those who honor Orthodox traditions. We will talk about what you can eat during the week in the church sense (Sunday), and only then what is familiar to us.

On Sunday you can treat yourself to meat. Both chicken and pig, and beef and lamb - you can even not deny yourself too much, frying whole chickens and eating pork sausages, generously flavored with lard. But you shouldn’t accustom yourself too much to meat, because all the previous weeks are preparation for the upcoming abstinence. We must prepare for fasting in such a way that it is not a complete surprise to our body. After Sunday, you will have to limit yourself in many ways.

The meat-free week menu in 2017, in the usual sense of the word “week,” includes a lot of plant-based dishes: porridge (buckwheat, rice, millet), bread, lazy dumplings, borscht without meat, vegetable pancakes, stewed cabbage, and vegetable okroshka. We used to drink sbitney, so it’s worth trying to make this drink yourself. For sbiten you will need a lot of honey and various medicinal herbs and spices, including ginger, cloves, cinnamon, even allspice. You can add a little wine to the sbiten, add hops and let the drink sit. For food, anything that is easy to find in the store is suitable - old dishes are easy to prepare today. Fast days this week are Wednesday and Friday.

Is it possible to eat fish during meat-free week? Again, we will interpret this day as Sunday. It's worth eating meat dishes this Sunday, but there are no restrictions on fish. But in the next few days you will be able to please yourself only with fish - a long period without meat begins, so it’s worth adding eggs, the aforementioned fish, and dairy products to the menu. Fish - hake, trout, catfish, carp and others, can be cooked as the owners wish. According to the canons, this entire week without meat is called Cheese Week, and it lasts from February 20 to 26. When Lent begins, you need to exclude fish dishes from the menu.

It is worth remembering that the last day on which you can afford to taste meat is February 19th. Church traditions not deprived wise beginning, and even after giving up meat, you can eat fish for a week, preparing your body and spirit for Lent, which will begin this year on February 27 and end only on April 16. During this time, the body will be cleansed of many harmful substances, you will feel better, your mood will noticeably rise.


The last preparatory week is Oil Week, Cheese Week. Features of worship, meaning and history Maslenitsa week, folk traditions and customs, what can and cannot be done on Maslenitsa, dietary habits.

Orthodox Christians begin Lent in 2018 on February 19. On February 12, Maslenitsa, Cheese and Meat Week begins, popularly known as Maslenitsa. This period ends on February 18th Forgiveness Sunday. All this week you can eat dairy foods, fish and eggs, but you can no longer eat meat in any form. According to the old Russian custom, pancakes are baked on Maslenitsa and all sorts of entertainment is held.

The chants of Cheese Week remind believers of the fall of Adam and Eve, which occurred from intemperance. In addition, fasting is praised, which has saving fruits. These readings are intended to remind us that we must do good deeds and repent for the sins we have committed, for which we will have to answer at the Last Judgment.

It is known that Cheese Week is the most ancient of the preparatory weeks before Lent. Palestinian monks had a tradition of gathering together for a while before going to their desert cells for the period of fasting. At this time, strict fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays was canceled in order to accumulate strength before the ascetic feats of abstinence in food.

Maslenitsa, Meat Week or Cheese Week - features of the week, folk traditions and customs

This week you can visit each other, have fun, communicate with loved ones, and lovingly ask for their forgiveness. But weddings are not blessed at this time; weddings are not held during Lent itself, or in the previous and subsequent weeks.

Maslenitsa is one of the most important ancient Slavic holidays. Researchers note that our ancestors attached multiple meanings to this holiday.

  • In ancient times, Maslenitsa was celebrated around the day of spring balance and with their noisy celebration they tried to reverse the balance towards the final establishment of spring warmth.
  • Another look at Maslenitsa is the performance of rituals to prepare the land for spring work in the language familiar to that time.
  • The third meaning of the holiday is to support procreation. The Proto-Slavs felt themselves to be one world with all surrounding nature and the revival of the earth after winter dormancy was associated with the resumption of the human race.
  • The last sacred component the most ancient holiday- it is his . Our ancestors believed that ancestors, whose bodies rest in the earth, could influence its fertility. Therefore, at this time, dead relatives were especially revered and abundant funeral feasts were held.

In fact, ancient Maslenitsa was one of the first attempts by man to get closer to the mystery of life and death, to the awareness of the entire surrounding space as an endless series of dying and resurrection, withering and flourishing, darkness and light, cold and warmth, unity and struggle of opposites.

Maslenitsa, Meat Week or Cheese Week - features of the week, folk traditions and customs

The Church did not include the Maslenitsa holiday in its calendar, but somehow merged it with important period- preparation for Lent, gradually replacing the ancient sacred meaning with new content. Now this is a week of relaxation, fun, communication with loved ones and a feast of pancakes to strengthen bodily strength before a long fast.