Customs for the Second Week of the Easter Fast: Direct All Thoughts to One Goal
The Great Easter Fast, which lasts until April 12, i.e., until Easter, is considered one of the strictest fasts. The rules of the fast are to fast on water on all weekdays, while on weekends you can eat dishes prepared with oil.
TL;DR
- The Great Easter Fast lasts until April 12th and is one of the strictest.
- Fasting rules: water on weekdays, oil-based meals on weekends.
- Prayer is essential; without it, fasting becomes a diet.
- The second week is called the Week of St. Gregory Palamas, a 14th-century theologian.
- This week focuses on prayer, silence, and spiritual transformation.
- Services maintain a penitential tone, with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Wednesdays and Fridays.
- The goal is inner purification and peace through discipline, prayer, and abstinence.
- The second week reinforces faith after the initial enthusiasm of the first week.