During Great Lent, Orthodox Christians traditionally abstain from meat, dairy products, fish, olive oil, and wine; at St. Michael, oil and wine are allowed. That’s the basic answer. But there’s more to understand about how this works in practice.
The Five Main Categories
Meat means all animal flesh. Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb. Also things you might not think about right away: lard, chicken broth, gelatin made from animal bones. If it came from an animal that had to die, we don’t eat it during Lent.
Dairy includes the obvious things like milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt. It also means eggs. Check your pasta, most dried pasta is fine, but fresh pasta often has eggs. Same with bread. That loaf of French bread from Brookshire’s? Usually fine. Those Hawaiian rolls? Check the label.
Fish with backbones is the third category. Tuna, salmon, bass, catfish, all off limits on most days. But shellfish is allowed. Shrimp, oysters, crab, crawfish. This surprises people coming from Catholic backgrounds, where fish on Friday is standard. We’re doing something different here.
Olive oil is the fourth restriction in the traditional rule, covering oil used in cooking or as a condiment. At St. Michael, oil is allowed on fast days.
Wine rounds out the traditional list, and the traditional rule extends it to all alcoholic drinks. At St. Michael, wine is allowed on fast days.
Weekdays vs. Weekends
Here’s where it gets specific. Monday through Friday during Lent, the traditional rule is a strict fast, with all five categories out (at St. Michael, oil and wine are allowed). Traditionally, you’d eat one meal a day, often after noon or after the Presanctified Liturgy in the evening. Simple foods. Bread, fruit, vegetables, nuts. Nothing fancy.
Saturdays and Sundays relax a bit. We still don’t eat meat, dairy, or fish, but oil and wine are permitted. You can have two regular meals. Cook your vegetables in olive oil. Have a glass of wine with dinner if that’s your practice. This isn’t a break from the fast, it’s a recognition that Saturdays and Sundays always have a bit of a festal character, even in Lent.
In the traditional rule, Holy Saturday is the exception, with no oil that day.
Special Days
The Annunciation (March 25) and Palm Sunday allow fish, oil, and wine. These are major feasts, and the Church marks them even in the middle of Lent. If you’re working a turnaround at one of the plants and March 25 falls on a Wednesday, you can eat that fish without worry.
The first week of Lent is traditionally the strictest. Some people keep a total fast on Clean Monday. Some eat only uncooked foods after sunset the first few days. Holy Week ramps up the strictness again at the end.
Why These Foods?
This isn’t arbitrary. We’re not avoiding these foods because they’re bad or sinful. We’re fasting from richer, more luxurious foods as a form of training. Fasting is medicine for the soul. It’s meant to heal us, to help us gain control over our appetites and desires. When you’re hungry and you choose not to eat, or when you want cheese on that pasta and you choose vegetables instead, you’re exercising your will. You’re practicing saying no to yourself in small things so you can say no to yourself in bigger things.
The categories make sense when you think about it. Meat requires killing. Dairy and eggs come from animals we use. Fish with backbones are more substantial. Oil and wine are associated with celebration and luxury. We’re setting all that aside for a season. We’re simplifying.
Making It Work
You can eat beans, rice, vegetables, fruit, nuts, bread (check the ingredients), pasta without eggs, peanut butter, hummus, and cooking oils. Plenty of options. Southeast Texas isn’t exactly known for its Lenten cuisine, but you can make it work. Beans and rice is already in your repertoire if you live here. Add some vegetables and you’re set.
Talk to Fr. Michael about your specific situation. If you’ve got health issues, if you’re pregnant, if you’re doing physical labor in the heat, there’s room for economia, pastoral discretion. The goal isn’t to make yourself sick or to turn fasting into a legalistic burden. The goal is healing.
Start where you are. If you’ve never fasted before, don’t try to keep the strictest possible fast your first Lent. Work with your priest. Grow into it. This is a lifelong practice, not a one-time achievement.
