{"id":193975,"date":"2025-11-28T22:31:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T20:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=193975"},"modified":"2025-11-28T22:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T20:31:08","slug":"christmas-fast-begins-forty-days-of-preparation-for-the-day-of-christs-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/christmas-fast-begins-forty-days-of-preparation-for-the-day-of-christs-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"CHRISTMAS FAST BEGINS: Forty days of preparation for the day of Christ\u2019s birth!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The six-week Christmas Fast is observed by the faithful of the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches, as well as the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Mount Athos, as they prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the Christmas Fast, meat, dairy products and eggs are not consumed, while oil and wine are permitted on all days except Wednesday and Friday, which are fasted \u201con water,\u201d the Serbian Orthodox Church states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Christmas Eve, neither oil nor wine are used, and fasting \u201con water\u201d is obligatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-serbiantimes-info wp-block-embed-serbiantimes-info\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"REYmvGSDMj\"><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/zelenski-nikada-nece-prihvatiti-glavni-pregovarac-kijeva-odbacio-jednu-od-kljucnih-tacaka-mirovnog-plana\/\">&#8222;ZELENSKI NIKADA NE\u0106E PRIHVATITI&#8220;: Glavni pregovara\u010d Kijeva odbacio jednu od klju\u010dnih ta\u010daka mirovnog plana!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#132;&#8222;ZELENSKI NIKADA NE\u0106E PRIHVATITI&#8220;: Glavni pregovara\u010d Kijeva odbacio jednu od klju\u010dnih ta\u010daka mirovnog plana!&#147; &#8212; Serbiantimes.info\" src=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/zelenski-nikada-nece-prihvatiti-glavni-pregovarac-kijeva-odbacio-jednu-od-kljucnih-tacaka-mirovnog-plana\/embed\/#?secret=BCk4XPWCP4#?secret=REYmvGSDMj\" data-secret=\"REYmvGSDMj\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It is important for Orthodox Christians living in countries where New Year\u2019s holidays are celebrated according to the new calendar not to break the fast during the Christmas Fast, but to celebrate the New Year according to the Orthodox calendar, respecting the tradition of their ancestors and church rules, the SOC notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>True fasting has two aspects: physical and spiritual. It consists not only of abstaining from non-fasting foods, but also from evil thoughts, desires, and deeds, as well as dedicating oneself to prayer and acts of charity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spiritual fasting involves doing good deeds, forgiveness, prayer, and repentance, while physical fasting is a supporting means in the struggle against passions and sins, such as pride, which is considered the root of all further evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Christmas Fast was established so that before the day of the \u201cbirth of Christ\u201d we might cleanse ourselves through repentance, prayer, and fasting, and so that with pure hearts, souls, and bodies we may reverently welcome the Son of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/interview-sergej-trifunovic-both-washington-and-brussels-fear-the-student-list-the-embrace-of-the-sajkaca-and-the-hijab-is-an-epic-moment-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">INTERVIEW, SERGEJ TRIFUNOVI\u0106: Both Washington and Brussels fear the student list! The embrace of the \u0161ajka\u010da and the hijab is an epic moment! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-call-was-not-of-clear-content-health-center-cacak-about-the-accident-in-which-the-student-ana-died\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cTHE CALL WAS NOT OF CLEAR CONTENT\u201d: Health center \u010ca\u010dak about the accident in which the student Ana died!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/resignation-of-zeljko-obradovic-rejected-partizans-executive-board-made-a-unanimous-decision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">RESIGNATION OF \u017dELJKO OBRADOVI\u0106 REJECTED: Partizan\u2019s Executive Board made a unanimous decision!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/america-celebrates-thanksgiving-from-the-first-meal-with-the-indians-to-millions-of-roasted-turkeys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">AMERICA CELEBRATES THANKSGIVING: From the first meal with the Indians to millions of roasted turkeys!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: RTS;\u00a0<strong>Foto<\/strong>: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The six-week Christmas Fast is observed by the faithful of the Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches, as well as the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Mount Athos, as they prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. During the Christmas Fast, meat, dairy products and eggs are not consumed, while oil and wine are permitted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":193976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[4102,3805,2660,240,401],"class_list":["post-193975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-bozic-3","tag-bozicni-post","tag-hrana","tag-pravoslavlje","tag-spc","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193975"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193997,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193975\/revisions\/193997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}