Starting this Sunday, Orthodox Christians world wide begin saying goodbye to meat products and then next week it will be farewell to all dairy products. I wanted to take this time to share with you my thoughts on this.
To me this season of lent is actually a beautiful cleansing dating back to the Israelites fleeing Egypt where we spend 40 days the Israelites only ate what God gave them for 40 years. The Christians inherited the tradition of fasting from the Jews. Jesus, too, gave examples of fasting to his disciples, most notably preceding his forty days in the desert when he was tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1-11)
Typically both the Israelites and modern Christians grumble against fasting for long periods of time. Some wonder what the purpose is or fall into the sin of pride because they want to show off. Fasting is saying that you are giving up fleshly desires so that your spirit can be closer to God.
God blessed Daniel and the young men that were captured with him in the first chapter of the book of Daniel. Daniel did not want to defile himself with the kings food that was not blessed and fixed in accordance with the laws of Moses, so he asked the chief eunuch to test them for 10 days. They would only eat vegetables for 10 days and after that time they would be compared to the other young men who eat the kings food. After the 10 days the young men that ate the kings food were not in good condition and Daniels group were healthy so much that the chief eunuch took away the kings food and wine and fed them all the same diet that Daniel requested. Afterward God gave them insight and all letters of wisdom. Hopefully I will gain some of that wisdom while I am fasting this year 
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Sometimes food fit for a king is not the best thing for you. Lent is a time for cleansing and not to be fed by anything that suffered before our Lord’s death and resurrection. Food is just one level but a very evident part of this season. It is where we get the word “carnival” which means “without meat” and yes all Christians did fast during this season for over a thousand years.
The other parts of fasting is being in prayer, cleansing our self daily. Fasting also partners with prayer, alms giving and confession, readying the whole person like an athlete, body, mind, and soul, for an upcoming feast, similar to the way in which Orthodox Christians would hope to be properly prepared for the Second Coming. For this reason, during fasting seasons, no marriages should take place. Another important part of any fasting period is going to Confession.
This will be my 5th Pasha as an Orthodox Christian. I actually started into a Lenten mindset about a week ago while reading the Philokalia , and have shared some of the quotes from it on my Facebook page. This season, will also read The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is a good book to read during this time period. If you want to share what you are reading during this Lent, please leave me a note in the comments. I wish you all a blessed Lent season. May God be with you.
In Christ’s love
Subdeacon Charles-Michael
