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Fasting not just for body cleansing and slimmer lines
the last three days of Carnival are filled with parties, costume parades, trick-or-treating, and feasting on cakes, donuts, and jitrnies, as if people were Christians on Ash Wednesday as if people are preparing for the 40-day fastthat begins for Christians
on Ash Wednesday
(this year on the 26th.
The fast is especially strict on this day, and people abstain from eating meat. During the service, the priest gives the so-called ashes. This means rubbing the forehead of the faithful with the ashes of the olive branch blessed in the Palm Sunday ceremony of the previous year. In doing so, he is told, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. This is a reminder of the impermanence of this world.
Lent is a kind of calm, a complete sobriety, above all a spiritual cleansing,a preparation for Easterthe most important Christian feast. People should focus on themselves, on what they can do more of for their health, on a more temperate life. For example, adopt a regimen of fruits and vegetables to cleanse the body. Limit car trips, walk more, and sit less in front of the TV or computer. Eat healthier and get outdoors to play sports. Lose excess weight and stop smoking and drinking. Doing good deeds and helping others is also desirable.
Previously, people avoided eating meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs during Lent. Meals were eaten once a day. Today,there is fasting on Ash Wednesday,Good Fridayand one large and two small meals are allowed per day. In addition, no meat is eaten on all Fridays of the year. However,the Friday fastmay be replaced by other fasts.
Renunciation and fasting are not observed on Sunday, which is a solemn day during the 40-day fast. It is a day to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. Lent ends on the 40th day,Palm Sunday(Christ\’s glorious entry into Jerusalem). It is followed byHoly Week and Easter.