These are the last moments of meat for us and for the East. Today is Judgment Sunday in the East, also known as Meatfare Sunday (which has the same meaning as carnival - carnivale - farewell to meat/flesh). The Eastern Church will not have any meat from tonight through the Paschal feast. We have a couple more days, because we begin on Ash Wednesday, midweek. Quinquagesima is the 50th day before the Paschal feast for us in the West. Sadly, the East and West are a week apart again this year, but one day, we continue to pray, that both East and West will unite to celebrate together every year. The practices of Ash Wednesday are so profound, as are those of Forgiveness Sunday, and I hope that eventually the Church will get her act together and find a way to bring them together in all ways. At present, the next time we will celebrate together is 2025. Glory to God!

In the meantime, we are continuing to eat up meat and fish and dairy to empty our fridge and freezer a bit to make room for our Lenten discipline. We will have our doughnut night on Tuesday, as is our custom, and now that our children are much older, just about everone is fasting on Ash Wednesday. I will be preparing a light dinner for Nejat (and Mariam, if she needs to break the fast earlier), but it will be quite simple. Any non-Lenten foods we have left after Mardi Gras that can be frozen will be, and any that cannot be will be given to Nejat to eat this week. Then we will begin our xerophagy in earnest.

I've explained before that xerophagy is the accurate term for Lenten fasting. It means dry eating. We restrict meat, fish, dairy, eggs, oil and wine, which means our food is not as lubricated as normal. There are two strict fast days (no food or nutritive drink) in the West, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. There is an optional strict fast from the evening after the Maundy Thursday service through the end of the Paschal Vigil. In the East, the first week of Lent, from Clean Monday through their vespers service on Wednesday is supposed to be as strict a fast as possible, with the guidance of a spiritual father or mother, and they share the same Triduum fasting, I believe. Aside from that, the earliest rule of the Church is to eat no meat, no fish (with the exception of shellfish - because of the expense, we eat them sparingly), no dairy or egg, no olive oil (all oil in a few jurisdictions), no wine. On Saturdays and Sundays, the rule is relaxed to include olive oil and wine, and on a few significant feast days we are able to eat fish, and one day on which caviar is permitted (Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, as fish eggs acting as a shadow of the eggs associated with the Resurrection). None of this is to imply that eating or that any of these foods are bad. They are good things from which we abstain as a discipline to train ourselves, following the example and teaching of our Lord. In the West, penance is emphasized, and while this is absolutely a part of our Lenten journey, fasting, praying, and almsgiving, are seen more as a discipline Christ gives us through the Church to grow us spiritually. Young children, the elderly, those who have serious medical conditions, those who are hospitalized, pregnant and nursing women, are all exempt. There is no make-up required for these people. Their fast is considered complete. In all cases, fasting or not, we are to keep our eyes on our own plate. We are not to concern ourselves with how someone else is keeping the fast, unless that person is asking us for assistance or support. Because we serve an Anglican parish on Sundays, we will be relaxing the fasting on Sundays to permit fish, as the parishioners are not required to keep the stricter fasting rules, so you will see fish on those days sometimes.

As we prepare for Lent, we must prepare for self-examination. So, in that frame of mind, if I have offended you or wronged you in any way, please forgive me and pray for me, a sinner. As for you readers, I pray that this will be a profitable and Holy Lent for you, however you observe it. Please pray for us, as well. Have a blessed fast.

• Sunday - Quinquagesima
  Breakfast: Fried Eggs with Smoked Porkchops, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Ham and Beans, Cornbread, Chopped Salad, Tagalong Bars
• Monday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Egg and Cheese Burritos, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy, Biscuits, Steam Sautéed Carrots and Peas with Garlic and Dill, Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies
• Tuesday - Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)
  Breakfast: Arabic Cheese and Veggie Platter with Olive Oil and Za'atar, Toast, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Beef and Vegetable Pot Pies, Treats brought by our Friends, Louqaimat, Fastnacht Kreppel, Ricotta Fritters with Maple Syrup, Fritule
• Wednesday - Ash Wednesday
  Dinner: Tahina and Date Syrup Sandwich with Sliced Oranges for Nejat
• Thursday - Feast of Saint Polycarp
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas with Vegetables, Toast, Fruit Plate, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Charred Eggplant with Chermoula (using sunflower oil), Arabic Style Rice Pilaf (using safflower oil), Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Friday - Feast of Saint Matthias
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Shorbat 'Addas, Tamis (both made with sunflower oil), Fruit Plate
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Ful, Tomato, Radish, and Onion Relish, Kalamata Olives, Bread, Sliced Apples, Coffee
  Dinner: Pasta Trappanese, Green Salad, Fruit Plate

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, Homemaking, Lent, Mardi Gras, Menu Plans, Quinquagesima, Tales from the Kitchen