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Due to a family health crisis, I've been on a whole-food, plant-based nutrition plan since 2017, which is a lot like our Eastern Christian fasting regimen!  It wasn't easy but it's not as hard as you might think.  Let me share some of what I've

learned along the way with you!  

 



Next up: 





 
The Great Fast

 
March 3-April 11







What is True Fasting?

 

 

The Great Fast

 

We begin our preparation for Pascha by enduring Holy Week.

We begin our preparation for Holy Week by striving the 40-day Great Fast

We begin our preparation for the Fast by enduring the pre-Lenten Sundays!

SO MUCH PREPARATION!  Well, the Resurrection is that important!

When we fast, it is NOT to make us suffer needlessly or to give up food meant to nourish us and give us what our body truly needs.  It IS to free us from the slavery we have to food so that our souls can be free from distraction and we can focus on God better AFTER the fast is over.  It helps us become just and merciful, like our God. 

 

Think: if we can barely keep ourselves from minor distractions like the hamburger or the chocolate bar after dinner, how can we judge our brother who can't keep from major addictions like alcohol, drug abuse, habitual lying, etc.  We become more compassionate AFTER we fail. 

 

When we give up things for Lent, yes, there are rubrics that should be followed, but these are guidelines only.  The individual needs to focus on what keeps him bound to the material and fast from it, no matter how trivial or permitted it may seem to someone else.  The merit lies in the journey and in taking each step toward perfection fast by fast, year by year. 

That said, we strive to refrain from eating any animal products: no meat, fowl, fish, eggs, or dairy.  On weekdays we also fast from wine and oil.  This is the goal.  Let us strive to take one step further this season and remember to increase prayer and almsgiving.  

 

Check out our Facebook group for added support, inspiration, ...and RECIPES!  God bless your fast!

Watch ByziMom

Catherine Alexander from

Your Word From the Wise

as she interviews

Abouna Moses from

Holy Resurrection Monastery on how to observe the Fast

See the Video HERE

Ask me about my 

Whole-Foods, Plant-Based 

way of life!


Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate, Completed October 2020, from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell University.
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My book is out!...

 

As you may already know, my family has been advised by our cardiologist to adopt a perpetual fast in order to combat a family health crisis.  We've adopted a whole-foods, plant-based, no oil diet...just like our Eastern Christian fast!...full time, and now that  we've done it, I can help you get through 40 days of fasting too.  

Screenshot 2020-10-08 at 2.16.04 PM - Ed

Here are a few of ByziMom's Great Fast Recipes:

Creamy Macaroni Recipe

Sweet Potato Tortillas

Lentil Loaf

Middle Eastern Meze:  falafel, tzadziki, tabbouleh & dolmades

Fajita Night:  sweet potato tortillas, unfried beans, oil-free vegetable stir fry, cashew nacho sauce, Mexican quinoa, etc.

Stuffed Shells/Lasagne

Homemade Seitan

Quick, Golden Vegetable Curry

What's for dinner tonight?

 

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A Palm Sunday RECIPE from ByziMom.com
Willow Treats

 

                                                             As you know, Lazarus was a very well-known man in  Bethany,  and there must have                                                                 been many guests at the funeral and many mourners with his sisters in the cemetery                                                                 garden when Jesus came there to perform this miracle.   What a spectacle it must                                                                     have been!   How often does someone see a man, especially one who had been                                                                       dead for four days, wake up and come back to life?  I’m sure they all RAN home (at                                                                     top speed…I know I would if I saw someone come out of a tomb!)  And I’m sure they                                                                   told absolutely everyone they met about what Jesus had just done. People were so i                                                                 impressed by this miracle that they all resolved that Jesus should be their king.  They                                                                would meet Him as He entered the city for Passover!  So, they began setting to work,                                                               organizing their friends to line the streets to greet Jesus and collecting palm branches                                                               and olive branches to wave at Him as a sign of honor.

                                                                                               

                                                            We will go to Divine Liturgy and hear the Gospel account of the  Entrance into                                                                            Jerusalem.  There, we will be given blessed palms and willow branches to carry and                                                                  wave during the Liturgy to celebrate the feast!   Then we will do something                                                                                  extraordinary. We will become actors as we re-enact Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem!  We will pretend to be among those honoring Christ as we carry our willows and branches and leave our places to march in procession around the church, just as the people of Jerusalem processed through the streets with Jesus on that day!   By this, we will mystically join the people of Jerusalem in honoring Jesus and show the passers-by that we are believers! 

Did you know that our ancestors in the  Carpathian  Mountains of  Eastern Europe lived in a much colder climate than it was in  Jerusalem?  There are no palm trees there,  nor olive trees for that matter.  At this time of the year, spring is only just starting to show any signs at all, and the only living thing outdoors may be a willow tree that is just beginning to flower.  This is why the Slavic people bless and carry willow branches and not palms on  Palm  Sunday. 

Here are some willows  that you can eat.  They are easy and fun to make.  You can make up a bunch for your family or even double the recipe and make a whole basket of them to share with everyone after Divine Liturgy! 

 

Ingredients

  • A container of pretzel rods   

  • A large bag of chocolate chips, melted and spooned into a tall jar    

  • A bag of mini marshmallows (White ones are best, but the multi-colored ones are a pretty alternative)

 

Preparation

Melt the chocolate and pour or spoon it into a tall jar. 

Dip each pretzel rod into the chocolate, leaving the end for holding, and set it onto a baking tray that has been lined with parchment or wax paper. 

Arrange the mini-marshmallows by setting them in the chocolate to look like the catkins of a pussy-willow. 

Allow them to dry and set completely.

 

Tip

Once they are completely dry, you can arrange them in a nice basket to take to Divine Liturgy on Palm Sunday and share with your friends afterward!

Material found on ByziMomcom may be reprinted for personal use; Not to be used for commercial purposes; All rights reserved © ByziMom.com 2023

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