The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

We have made it! This is the busiest, hardest, most challenging week of the entire year. We are walking the Via Dolorosa with Christ. We are living each of those days with Him. Meals this week are lighter and simpler, and follow the strictest fasting rules. Traditionally, a full fast begins on the evening of Maundy (Mandatum - from the new mandate/commandment Jesus gives, as He established the priesthood, the sacraments of the Eucharist and confession), and goes through the end of the Vigil on Saturday, as we await Jesus by the tomb. The events of this week are what give shape to every other week of our year. We have the priesthood, the Eucharist, confession, because of this week. We fast on Wednesdays and Fridays because of Judas' selling Jesus on Wednesday and Christ's crucifixion on Friday. We celebrate a little Paschal feast every Sunday. This week is the most important week in the year.

This is the second year of our family trying to keep closer to the Church's fast. Even our littlest girls are wanting to participate and share in this life of Christ in the Church. So, this year, I will only be preparing food for one person for one meal on Good Friday, and only for two people on the Vigil Saturday. Jerome will have eggs, chocolate, coriander/cilantro, and all dairy back in time for the feast, which makes life quite a bit simpler for him and us. He will be re-introducing sesame, so we will be able to give him small amounts of the hummus and baba ghanooj for our feast, as long as this week goes well. He has been such a good sport about this, and has borne his own fast quite bravely and willingly. Yasmina and Mariam have been in cooking classes at our homeschool co-op, and making all these foods they cannot eat, bringing them home and dutifully putting them in the freezer to save for when the fast is over. Even though, technically, Mariam could have eaten them. They have both said that they want to bring them to the vigil for our breaking of the fast, to share with everyone. Our children truly show us how eager we should be to live out the piety we are taught in church.

Glory to God, we are able to have a vigil liturgy with our small congregation that Rich serves. A retired priest is coming to serve the liturgy and share in breaking the fast with us. Because it will be earlier in the evening than it has been in past years, this means we will be breaking the fast a little earlier, so we will have our bacon and egg-fest before midnight. It is still a point of sorrow for me that East and West are separated at this highest, holiest feast of the Christian year. We think that since each side calculates the date of the Paschal feast on the fixed date of March 21 (Old Calendar versus New Calendar), instead of using the astronomical date, that we should all shift to that astronomical date (first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox is how the date is determined), and let the secularists keep the western date, and their bunnies and so on, while we take advantage of chocolate sales and celebrate it together. One day. In the interim, we will continue to do our bit for unity.

May you have a blessed Holy Week! If you are Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, or Coptic, we pray for a continued Holy Lent!

• Sunday - Palm Sunday
  Breakfast: Vegan Fluffy Pancakes (Gluten-free for Jerome) with Raspberry Syrup, Fruit, Coffee and Tea
  Dinner: Moroccan Fish Tagine, Rice, Green Salad, Layali Lubnan (Lenten and Gluten-free)
• Monday - Holy Monday
  Breakfast: Vegetable Hash Breakfast Burritos (Gluten-free tortillas for Jerome), Dried Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Onion Pakoda Sandwiches (Gluten-free bun for Jerome), Pickles, Vinegar Coleslaw, Fruit Plate
• Tuesday - Holy Tuesday
  Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls with Almond Butter Drizzle, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Tomato Rice Soup (using safflower oil), Fruit Plate
• Wednesday - Spy Wednesday
  Breakfast: Tomato, Kalamata Olive, Eggplant and Red Pepper Toast, Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Cilantro Shrimp Burgers, Cabbage Slaw with Cumin Lime Dressing, Fruit
• Thursday - Maundy Thursday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas with Peppers and Onions, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Oranges, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Crudités, Fruit Plate for the Little Girls
• Friday - Good Friday
  Breakfast: None
  Dinner: Peanut Butter Sandwich with Pretzel Crosses for Nejat
• Saturday - Holy/Vigil Saturday
  Breakfast: Faux Egg Bites for the Little Girls, Fruit, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Tahina and Date Syrup Sandwiches for the Little Girls

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Holy Week, Homemaking, Lent, Menu Plans, Special Diet, Tales from the Kitchen, Triduum