Lent anyone?
 

It is Lent Season, both Western and Eatern, is anyone else participating in the celebration? In Ethiopian christianity, Lent is accompanied by fasting:



Fasting

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians do not eat meat and diary products (i.e. egg, butter, milk, and cheese) on fasting days. According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church belief, the faithful must abstain from eating meat and diary products to attain forgiveness of sins committed during the year, and undergo a rigorous schedule of prayers and atonement. However, the sick, travellers and the weak may be exempt from or reduce the fasting periods but if they want to observe the fasting, they can fast the whole or part of the fasting periods. As for those who observe the fasting periods, they will continue to do this through out their life or as long as they are able to do without restrictions.
Church services are held daily in all Orthodox Tewahedo Churches from morning to 3 PM (9 o'clock in the afternoon Ethiopian time). Only one meal is allowed during the fasting days and the fist meal is taken after 3 PM (9 o'clock in the afternoon Ethiopian time), except Saturdays and Sundays, where a meal is allowed after the morning service.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christian fasting periods are:

• all Wednesdays and Fridays except the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost.
• Tsome Neviyat (the fast of the Prophets known as Advent): 43 days fasting before Christmas which starts from 15 November to 28 December Ethiopian Calendar.
• Tsome Gahad (The Vigils): one day fasting which takes place on Christmas eve i.e. 28 December Ethiopian calendar and the day preceeding before Epiphany i.e. 10 January Ethiopian Calendar.
• Tsome Nenewe (the fast of Nineveh): 3 days fasting which starts on the Monday proceeding before Abye Tsome (Lent).

• Abye Tsome or Hudade (Lent): 55 days Fasting before Easter which is divided in to the following three categories:
  • Tsome Hirkan: 8 days fasting which starts 8 days proceeding before Tsome Arba.
  • Tsome Arba: 40 days fasting which starts immediately after Tsome Hirkan up to Palm Sunday.
  • Tsome Himamat: 7 days fasting which starts on the Monday after Palm Sunday until Easter

• Tsome Hawaryat (the fast of the Apostles): begins on the day following Pentecost until 5 July Ethiopian calendar.
• Tsome Filseta (the fast of the Holy Virgin Mary): 15 days fasting which takes place from 1 - 15 August Ethiopian calendar.

Vegetarian meals such as lentils, ground split peas, grains, fruit, varieties of vegetable stew accompanied by injera and/or bread are only eaten during fasting days. Meat and diary products are only eaten on feasting days i.e. Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and at all other times. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christians, Jews and Muslims do not eat pork

no wai.

but i do a fast every now & then. clears my head.

& spring is the right season.

so as a matter of fact im on day 2 of a fast but ***it has nothign to do with jeebus***

that is precisely the point of Christian fasting. to the clear the head and the heart from the clutter of doing whatever the hell you want all week. sometimes prohibition can be rewarding. [I said sometimes, not always, and generally voluntary is the best]

why give up something that you are gonna splurge out on at easter anyway to make up for it. why not try and do soming a bit extra for lent. the lord didnt want us to hurt or impeed us for the lenten period, just to make ourselves better! its just the way religion is taught to us in schools makes us believe we have to give up something........ and i am a catholic!

do you mean recovering catholic? [joking]
it is not right for a person to do whatever they want whenever they want. it is not a punishment to not eat meat until April. it is a reward, as the discipline produces much spiritual fruit. if you view it as a punishment, then you will only hate the experience, but if you see it as spiritual exercise, then it becomes different. do people go to the gym as a punishment? do they eat lunch after exercise as a negative self-destructive splurge? no, they exercise to maintain proper physical, mental and spiritual health, and they eat a hearty meal as a futher reward for a job well done. it is a physical discipline. christian fasting is similar, it is exercising the spiritual ability to control the simple urges of the body. as !@#$% mentioned, it can fulfilling on its own account, all religion aside.

yeah, ok i take that no problem. but isnt it better to do good to others during the lenten period than simply to give up meat or not smoke 20 joints a day etc etc. the material things in life are pointless compared to the good will shown to others. i have, in the past, worked with underpriviledged kids, helped out elderly neighbours, etc etc for lent (shit that sounds crap as i didnt go and beat em up on easter, i began it during lent and carried it on after easter.... the helping not the beatings). maybe rcatholicism is taught wrongly in irish schools, it was when i was in school, it was rammed down your neck!

I always respected fasting. In fact it was one of the truly noble things I found about my Catholic upbringing. However I noticed that most found it as a chore or "that time of the year" than the real call to restraint that it is.

In my post-Catholic life, I fast quite a bit unvoluntarily because slow money. I should voluntarily fast some time. And I mean no food. For some length of time.

I've always been told that, while observing Lent is obligatory, it is not done for the purposes of bragging about it, and one certainly should never tell what one is 'lenting'.

As such I've probably said too much.

I assume SuchFriends is giving up pot for Lent?

Personally, I do things because I want to engage or not engage in certain behavior, not because some moldy text says I should.

Id be worried if i gave up Drink for lent i might start tolerating things that i am totally right to hate. I might start going "Ah yknow, Muse arent so bad.. theyve got all those pretty lights and he can play guitar really fast.."

*opens bottle*

I am not lending anyone anything

yes, that is exactly the entire point of lent, Isaiah 58 speaks of the honest fast:
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.




But remember, these things must come from the inside out, and you must clean the inside of the cup before even thinking of cleaning the outside.

Christ......

mary christ!

this dude?

Discussion of Lent on the SY board. So. Lent is hip now? Lent is, like, the new Passover. That's what I've heard.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gliu1JDLC3Y catholic block

I shall give up my sobriety for lent.

Yes you have said too much, we know you have giving up on shagging ladies, to shag guys. Come over at nine.

I'm not sure who you mean, and because Christ was meant to be a very kind guy, I'm assuming it's the guy washing the old bloke's feet. Right?

Does the writing say "Jesus pathetically washes some lazy, stinking cunt's feet whilst a queue forms for the same treatment"?

I will give up giving up for Lent. I'm really tired of being selfless and self-sacrificing.