Communion for a pregnant woman. Cathedral How often should pregnant women take communion?

ABOUT PREPARATION FOR MOTHERS' COMMUNION

It probably doesn’t make sense to talk about the close connection between mother and child. Everyone knows this very well. While still in the tummy, the baby very sensitively perceives everything that happens to the mother and around her. Echoes of the outside world reach him and in them he is able to detect anxiety or peace. Therefore, during pregnancy, it is very important for a woman to take part in the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. The mother’s prayer for the well-being of childbirth, for the Lord’s influence of His grace on the child, of course, will not go unheard.

To prepare pregnant women for Communion, the Church establishes relaxations. You can fast according to the degree of your well-being. It would be right to discuss this issue with your confessor or priest who will confess and give you Communion. 9 months, as a rule, fly by unnoticed, waiting to meet your beloved baby. And now this miracle happened. You are a mother!!! The joy that fills a mother’s heart is impossible to describe!

One of the most important issues in the spiritual development of your child is the acceptance of Holy Baptism. It takes place on the 40th day from the birth of your son or daughter. During the Sacrament, cleansing prayers are read over the mother, after which she can again confess and receive Communion. Of course, the Church does not equate the preparation of a nursing mother with the regular fasting of an adult. A young mother is not required to leave her child and go to morning and evening services for several days, just as it would be completely unwise for a nursing mother to begin strictly fasting. Consumption of food of animal origin, dairy products, eggs is determined in agreement with a neonatologist and your pediatrician. It is important that all the necessary nutrients and beneficial substances enter the newborn’s body with mother’s milk.

Therefore, preparation for Communion and Confession for a nursing mother may consist of intense prayer (when there is free time), condescension towards the shortcomings of others, in a word - in Christian virtues, at least within one’s own family.

Babies, especially infants, are brought to church before Communion itself. It is important that the baby is fed at least a few hours before participating in the Sacrament. This is necessary in order to avoid regurgitation of the Holy Gifts. If this suddenly happens, it is recommended to burn the child’s clothes with drops of the Blood of the Lord on them.

By the way, preparing a nursing mother for Communion is not such an idle question. Several years ago, a round table was dedicated to him with the participation of Moscow clergy and priests: Dmitry Smirnov, Maxim Kozlov, Vladimir Vorobyov, etc. And everyone agreed that it is not worth overloading the mother of the family with reading the canons, especially if she also works. Preparation must be feasible. The main thing is not how much or what the mother ate, but how much she desires with her soul to raise her baby as a good Orthodox Christian.

Many expectant mothers are true Christians. They are accustomed, even before the onset of an “interesting” situation, to observe all fasts. But how should they fare in their new form? Will food restrictions harm the normal development of the baby in the womb? Let's look into this issue.

About the spiritual component of fasting

There are 4 fasts a year that Orthodox Christians must observe. Spiritual fathers emphasize that the main thing in such periods is moral purification and improvement of the soul. This is also necessary for the expectant mother. After all, she carries within herself the pure soul of the unborn child. That’s why it’s so important to work on yourself during pregnancy and fasting.

Spiritual cleansing is the feasible sacrifice that each of us can make to God. Its essence is not only food restrictions. Although they are the ones who cleanse the body, and it is the temple of our soul. Spiritual cleansing is the careful observance of prayer rules. We admit that we do not always go to sleep with sleep, and we wake up in a hurry, without turning to God for mercy on the coming day. Envy, condemnation, foul language, deception, rudeness, unwillingness to understand parents and colleagues - these are only part of the daily sins that are inherent in pregnant women. Therefore, on fasting days you should try to avoid this. Everyone knows their shortcomings and bad habits, which cause a lot of trouble and grief to their neighbors. Even pregnant women sometimes realize that their capriciousness, grievances against their husband, mother-in-law, and girlfriends are unfounded. Therefore, during Lent you need to be stricter with yourself and your actions. Silence is gold. And this axiom should become the rule of spiritual purification.

Priests repeat more than once that on fasting days the main thing is not to eat your loved ones. This means that you need to be kinder, more merciful, softer. This also applies to expectant mothers, to whom God has granted the happiness of carrying a child under their hearts.

Food restrictions as part of fasting

So, gynecologists always recommend that women consume dairy and calcium-containing products in sufficient quantities so that the physical development of the baby in the womb is healthy. But what about during strict fasts, when the consumption of dairy and meat foods is prohibited?

Let us remember that rich sources of protein are peas, soybeans, beans, that is, legumes. - a known problem for pregnant women - can be solved by regularly consuming buckwheat and millet. Porridges made from them in vegetable oil are no less tasty than meat. They give satiety, energy, and improve the functioning of the digestive system. It’s no secret that when carrying a child, women often suffer from constipation. Drinking beetroot and carrot juice daily will help eliminate iron deficiency in the body. As for pomegranates, exotic fruits can cause allergic reactions. Therefore, expectant mothers need to be careful with them. Folic acid helps the body in the formation of hemoglobin and the prevention of fetal malformations. It is prescribed to pregnant women in tablets.

If a woman is worried about her baby and often feels dizzy, then she can relax her fast—pregnant women are allowed to do this. You can eat fish, boiled and baked meat, cottage cheese. But culinary excesses - preparing gourmet dishes from the above products - are not needed. Food should be simple, not multi-ingredient. Let food for a pregnant woman be medicine, not pleasure. After all, the latter is nothing more than gluttony. And this is another significant point in the nutrition of the expectant mother. Many people tell her to eat for two. But why do this if in the early stages, for example, the child weighs several hundred grams. Why should a baby eat as much as an adult woman? Increased feeding should be avoided. After all, this is also gluttony. A child developing in the womb accumulates excess nutrients with catastrophic speed. There he already gets used to excessive food consumption, which for his mother results in edema, excess weight, and digestive problems. But this could have been avoided by simply observing fasting.

Reasonable compromises can always be present in the diet of a pregnant woman. For example, fasting can be strict on Wednesday and Friday. On other days it is allowed to be relaxed.

Don’t forget about the enormous power of Communion during pregnancy. The grace that comes to the fruit is priceless.

November 4 is the Day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, I decided to go to communion, for this my mother said to fast (no meat and dairy) Monday and Tuesday, on Tuesday evening for confession, and on Wednesday for communion. but that’s not enough for me, so I searched the Internet for material that was relevant to me

In your situation, fasting can be weakened: it is quite enough if you abstain from eating meat on fasting days. Don’t worry, but pray to the Lord, go to church regularly, confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The baby feels his mother’s condition very well, so it is very important for you now not to be depressed and anxious, but calm and joyful.

Sincerely,

Priest Alexander Ilyashenko

Is it necessary to be at the evening service the day before to receive communion and confession? What is required for confession and then for communion?

Masha

Dear Mary, of course, for those who are pregnant, seriously ill, and burdened with twenty-hour work six days a week, the Church does not prescribe what is inconceivable and allows the Chalice of the Holy Mysteries of Christ to the person who, in such circumstances, was not at the evening service. Speaking about the fact that we must prepare for communion by fasting, that is, by such an organization of at least a day, two, three of our lives, which would involve some kind of self-restraint and sacrifice for the sake of accepting the Holy Mysteries of Christ. This sacrifice can and should be the refusal of entertainment and excessive distractions, limiting oneself in food, that is, observing fasting, more strictly following the morning and evening prayer rules, if possible, attending worship services, as a normal minimum, at least on the eve of the day when we partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. If, instead of the evening service the day before, you are going to sit at the bedside of your sick grandmother, go; if instead of the same service, the alternative is to go to a nightclub or sit at home in front of the TV - go to the service. Draw your own conclusions.

What foods should you not eat while pregnant?

Hello Maria! The extent of fasting is different for everyone; usually during fasting, women in your position are blessed to eat everything except meat (that is, dairy products and eggs are allowed). However, the extent of personal fasting must be determined in a personal conversation with the priest. When weakening your physical fast, pay more attention to your spiritual fast: go to church more often, devote more time to prayer, and avoid watching entertainment programs and films during fasting. Be kind and merciful to your loved ones, try not to judge anyone, not to quarrel with anyone, not to get irritated and to wait complacently and joyfully for the birth of your baby. God help you!

Priest Alexander Ilyashenko

Recommendations on what to talk about and what to read before confession, number in the hundreds. We will only say what seems most important. It is useless to talk about small things while hiding big things. Little sins tend to come back if the roots of sin are not pulled out. You only need to confess about your own. Wife, children, neighbors, bosses are not remembered in confession. Nor are the sins committed by someone once remembered, even if their consequences burden the lives of entire nations. There is no need to repent of the sin of regicide or the sin of Adam; it is worth sorting out your confused and spoiled life.

When a deep-sea bathyscaphe slowly sinks into the black abyss of the ocean, people, covered in the cold sweat of fear, look at the instruments or out the windows. From time to time, caught in the spotlight, they come across such underwater monsters that you won’t see in any of Bosch’s paintings. I say this because realizing your sins and illuminating the depths of your heart with repentance is almost the same as descending to the bottom of the ocean. By the way, the number of people who have been in space is tens of times greater than the number of people who have sunk to the ocean floor. I think that the number of those who descend into the abyss of their hearts is just as small. Most of our spiritual efforts related to confession are like wiping off dust with a damp rag, although the human heart is not a polished table, but the sea is great and spacious: there are reptiles there, of which there is no number, animals small and large(Ps. 103:25).

Someone is tired of repenting of the same thing and is ashamed of confession because he is not correcting himself. Some have not gone to confession for years because they have lost interest in the faith, or become fussy, or are offended by the priest. And someone dreams of the first confession, as Ostap dreamed of Rio de Janeiro. He dreams long and uselessly, without hope of fulfillment, because he is afraid to take the last step and bow before the lectern. There are many more different states regarding confession. And the best of them is one in which a person does not get used to the shrine and does not lose reverence, but with all his nature feels the benefit of this Sacrament. After all, you can feed your soul all your life with this contrast between the melancholy of a slave on his knees (at the beginning of confession) and the free flight of an eagle, spreading its wings wide (of course, after).

Prepared by Maria Asmus, Anna Danilova, Anna Yanochkina.

We asked the priests and mothers to answer some questions about the individual measure of fasting; today we are publishing the answers of Archpriests Alexander Ilyashenko, Igor Pchelintsev, mothers of many children - Mother Inna Viktorovna Asmus, Olga Dmitrievna Getmanova, Mother Elena Karpenko.

Fasting is not a referral to the hospital!

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior in Moscow,father of 12 children, chairman of the editorial board of the Orthodoxy and Peace portal.

– Father Alexander, one of the questions that readers asked us is this: they often say that a mother’s fast can have a beneficial effect on the spiritual life of a child. Will a child become better off from an uneaten piece of meat?

The point is that fasting is a sacrifice to God. If mommy fasts, wanting her feasible If you fast as a sacrifice to God, then it pleases Him and the baby will feel the grace of God, as when visiting a temple, as when the parents pray.

“Mother made a vow to God: if I remain alive, then she will go with me on a thanksgiving pilgrimage to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. And, thank God, he recovered... ...By the way, she “fasted on Monday” for the children (fasted on Monday), but she always hid it from us. In fact, she raised and educated all six children (three in higher educational institutions, and three in secondary schools). God save her!” Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov. God's providence in my life

-Did you strictly fast in the old days?

Of course, but then there was a different ecology and different food. In one work from the tsarist era, an unfaithful nephew said to his aunt: “What difference does it make whether I eat ham or sturgeon balyk during Lent?” Or there is another known case when a foreigner was advised to come to Russia during Lent, when the table is the most exquisite. After all, lean food can be tasty, nutritious and healthy.

But we are very different from our ancestors in both physical and spiritual health, we have a different ecology, pace of life, overload. We are different. Therefore, one cannot literally adopt those traditions that were natural even not so long ago, even at the beginning of the twentieth century. There was a migration from the countryside to the cities, our peasantry was destroyed, in our modern language there is no word that can be called a farmer. Life has changed dramatically. That’s why the question of forms of physical fasting is so acute now: people used to have a greater margin of safety. People ate differently: milk came not from a bag, but from a cow, bread from the oven, spring water, clean air. The peasant actively owned 10,000 operations. Imagine - we will be asked to harness a horse. Repair the plow, fold the hut. How amazingly they wielded an ax!

– And if fasting is perceived even by a believer not as a sacrifice to God, but simply as a restriction established by the Church, November 28th came and that’s it, now it’s a month of no meat or milk.

– Of course, even if a person approaches fasting without the proper depth, but fasts out of obedience to the Mother Church, then he is showing obedience, and obedience is already a virtue. And if you fast unconsciously, then the Lord will compensate and give you a deep understanding of fasting.

– Father, is it right for pregnant women to limit themselves to their favorite food and eat less tasty, albeit fast food? In particular, readers remember the 8th rule of St. Timothy of Alexandria: “a wife who gave birth on the Fourth of Easter is commanded not to observe the legal fast, but to strengthen herself as much as possible by drinking wine and moderate food, for fasting was invented to curb the body, and when it is weak, it does not need curbing, but help to improve your health and regain your former strength.”

This rule says everything in accordance with high Greek learning: reinforce yourself in food, limited. If you need to eat food as medicine, eat it, or maybe you don’t need to be treated by fasting? Moreover, this rule does not cancel fasting; the reason why we fast is also indicated here: we fast in order to be able to limit our desires. But illness itself is a limitation.

Of course, in case of toxicosis - a painful condition, in case of poor health, you need to eat what the body requires. But I would like to rely on an authority quite far from pregnancy: Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov: “The bad soldier is the one who does not want to be a general. Every soldier must understand his maneuver."

Why are you fasting? If you are a mother, your task is to give birth to a healthy baby: you need to eat right, and your state should be peaceful and joyful, and it should be passed on to your child. If you don’t feel well, then eat what your body requires. And we start to get smaller - otherwise this is possible, but this? So, either you set yourself the task of giving birth to a child and more than one, or you turn fasting into pharisaical literalism. If your heart is peaceful, joyful, then the feat is correct, but if you treat God as an accountant who counts for you what you have eaten, then you are mistaken. But at the same time, it is very easy for a person to relax and give himself unnecessary indulgences. This requires self-control, church life, and reliance on the advice of a confessor and people who already have experience in this area.

– That is, the fasting person needs to walk between Scylla and Charybdis in order not to lose strength and make a sacrifice to God?

– Fasting is not a referral to the hospital! One must fast as strictly as one can realistically do.

Often believers begin to fast excessively: jealousy beyond reason, in my opinion, is associated with the loss of traditions. After all, the issues of fasting, in fact, should be decided not so much by the priest as by the traditions of the family. In a large patriarchal family, where grandparents, uncles, and aunts fasted, a child from childhood saw before himself all types of fasting, how adults fasted, how pregnant wives of older brothers fasted, and whether the sick fasted.

You need to limit yourself, especially pregnant women, wisely. For example, limit yourself from negative external impressions, the main source of which is television, from the habit of judging and picking on each other. The Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything” (1 Sol. 5:16-18).. If your condition is like this, your fasting is pleasing to God. If you are unable to maintain such joy, then you are not fulfilling the main task of fasting. But even if you somehow limit yourself, the Lord will reward it, He kisses your intention.

Fasting not for your own glory, but for the glory of God

Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev, clergyman of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

It seems to me that fasting depends on the spiritual and physical strength of the woman herself. For a church-going woman, who is carrying, perhaps not her first child, living in an Orthodox family during a normal pregnancy, it is probably possible to fast according to the rules (but with the prudence that is expected of a normally church-going person).

People with little church, who do not have sufficient experience of Christian life, should probably have a different measure of fasting. First, we need to think about the basics - about faith in Christ and knowledge of the Gospel. Otherwise, many want to fast (or not fast) for their own glory, and not for the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul says - “I eat for the glory of God; I do not eat, I do not eat for the glory of God.” Don’t indulge your desires in general, but don’t sew your mouth shut either - feel good about yourself and the baby.

There is no need to ask for a blessing as a sanction for fasting or for its permission. Before fasting, ask for a blessing from your confessor or parish priest. Just a blessing. There is no need for your confessor to approve a list of what to eat and what not to eat (and in what quantity) - this is simply unworthy of our church life.

From the questions asked, we see that often the problem of fasting is, first of all, a problem of nutrition, but (as is known) fasting is not only abstinence from food. The mind fasts, the human heart fasts, the tongue fasts. The patristic teaching calls during Lent to perform deeds of mercy and goodness, to learn from the Holy Scriptures, to repent of sins, to pray more fervently than usual, to attend divine services (if possible), and to partake of the Holy Mysteries. And vice versa - move away from unnecessary entertainment, vanity of mind, idle talk and other evils. All this is more important than gastronomy and much more important in general for the mother and her unborn child.

Always rejoice!

Mother Inna Viktorovna Asmus, mother of 9 children, wife of Archpriest Valentin Asmus

As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, eat what you want, just don’t eat each other. This is our main problem. I think that pregnant women should eat according to science and there is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman being craving a certain product and eating it. Fasting is a purely personal matter for each person. You just don’t need to forget about the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “Always rejoice, thank God for everything,” and you don’t need to try to turn Christianity into something mournful.

The measure of fasting is individual

Olga Dmitrievna Getmanova, raised 9 children. In 2006, she was awarded by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy the “Patriarchal Badge of Motherhood.” Wife of Roman Nikolaevich Getmanov, a famous obstetrician-gynecologist.

Fasting during pregnancy is undoubtedly individual: if you want, eat meat, if you don’t want, don’t eat. If you don’t eat meat for a month and a half, nothing will happen to you or your child. You won't be fasting all year. I myself love potatoes – I feel good with them during Lent. If you can’t live without kebabs, then eat them. And if you need dairy, eat it. Just don't overeat.

I don’t ask my confessor how exactly I should fast during pregnancy, but I know that he allows his parishioners to have dairy during Lent during pregnancy.

In fact, protein consumption is no longer during pregnancy, but during feeding - that’s when it’s tight without milk. After fasting for a week, you feel that there is noticeably less milk.

Another well-known fact: during the siege of Leningrad, completely exhausted women gave birth to full-fledged children. This means that they themselves take everything they need from the mother’s body. It’s the mother’s teeth that can then break and hair fall out... (Smiles)“

Abstain from what you are addicted to

Mother Elena Karpenko, mother of three children, wife of priest Dimitry Karpenko.

For a woman, pregnancy is her feat, that small sacrifice to God that she can make. You need to fast according to your own strength, because, unfortunately, modern women are not so strong physically, and, I think, spiritually too. If there was a short break between pregnancies, it is very difficult to fast, I know from my own experience.

You need to eat whatever you want and limit yourself only to what is not particularly necessary. Each woman must determine her diet for herself, find the “golden mean”. For me, let’s say, such a limitation was abstaining from sweets - I must admit, this is my weakness. I know cases where women fasted throughout pregnancy, strictly observed the fast and gave birth to strong babies. That is, if you feel strong and your health allows it, then you can fast.

Fasting is a purely personal matter for everyone... The most important thing is not to get angry at others. During pregnancy, you need to abstain not from meat and yogurt, but from what you have addictions to. You can limit yourself from watching TV and idle talk. After all, try not to judge, but this is much more difficult than not eating a piece of meat.

It is best to ask questions about nutrition during pregnancy to the doctor you are seeing. It is still worth going to confession with your confessor not with questions about food, but with spiritual problems and experiences.

It was established by the Lord Himself and has been carried out in the Church continuously for two thousand years. All this time, Christians of different times and peoples seem to be participating in that Last Supper, when Christ divided the bread and wine among His disciples and declared this food to be the Divine Body and Blood.

Of course, not all wine or bread are sacred, but only those over which special, liturgical prayers are said. The Particles eaten during the Liturgy provide believers with Divine grace, spiritual strength, and cleanse them from the consequences of sin. There are frequent cases of recovery from illnesses and other miracles that occur by the will of God.

The main shrine of the Church should be approached after appropriate preparation. An important step in this preparation is fasting. Fearing breaking church rules, inexperienced parishioners often ask priests how to fast before Communion? Is fasting obligatory for everyone? In what cases can it be weakened or canceled? A brief excursion into the history of the ancient Church will help you understand this.

How did the tradition of fasting before Communion come about?

In the first centuries of the existence of the Christian Church, Communion was obligatory for any Christian present. Every Sunday, and sometimes more often, people gathered in the house of one of the Christians and had a meal with prayers and sharing bread. Then there was no special fasting before this action, because the Eucharist was celebrated in the evening and all participants in the action had already had lunch and even dinner.

It often happened that the dinners of wealthy Christians were too luxurious and were combined with music and dancing, as was customary in the East. The Apostle Paul, who himself often celebrated the Eucharist, considered it unacceptable that such Christians approach Communion after feasts and entertainment, when their thoughts cannot concentrate on prayer. Over time, the Liturgy began to be celebrated in the morning and the custom arose of eating the Body and Blood of Christ on an empty stomach, “before any food.” However, even then they did not fast for several days, as is customary in the modern Church.

When the persecution of Christians stopped in 4 AD, many began to be baptized. What were once small, close-knit communities that met secretly in homes became large gatherings of worshipers in spacious churches. Due to human weaknesses, the moral level of believers has decreased. The Holy Fathers of the Church, seeing this, called on every Christian to carefully examine his conscience when approaching Communion.

It was not allowed to approach the Sacrament if a person ate food the night before the Liturgy, had sexual contacts or “unclean visions” (dreams). Christians who revealed these involuntary sins during confession were temporarily removed from Communion and followed a special prayer rule. There were no restrictions regarding food on other days, since believers strictly observed Wednesday, Friday and four fasts a year.

The tradition of fasting before Communion for three or seven days was established during the synodal period (XVIII-XIX centuries). This was associated with a general decline in spirituality and religiosity. Many began to go to church “out of habit,” and received communion only because it was taken into account in church documents. If there was no record in the church register that a parishioner had confessed and received communion, trouble in the civil service could follow.

At this time, the tradition of “fasting” was introduced - preparing for Communion for several days in order to distract a lazy person from the bustle of life and help tune in to prayer. This custom is preserved in the Russian Orthodox Church to this day. Retreat consists of food restrictions and confession on the eve of Communion. How many days to fast - the confessor decides. You can also read about this in the Rules, a stand with which is usually located in a visible place in the temple.

Rules for fasting before Communion

So, there is no church-wide rule of obligatory fasting and confession before communion. But many priests strongly recommend to their parishioners fast for three days before entering the Sacrament. Is it worth rejecting a good tradition for the sake of the letter of the law? It is impossible to argue with the priest or consciously refuse to fast, since condemnation and insults only add sin to existing ones. It is better to fulfill the prescribed rule based on your physical strength.

The Orthodox Church prescribes avoidance of the following foods:

• meat of any animal or bird, even lean;
• milk (kefir, cottage cheese, whey, etc.);
• eggs of any bird;
• fish (not always).

In fact, at the disposal of a fasting Christian there remain fruits, vegetables, cereals, pasta and bread. Don’t give in to the temptation to cook delicious “lenten dishes”: food should not become a source of pleasure, but only maintain strength.

Is it permissible to eat fish before Communion? In most cases, a healthy person should refuse it. The exception is living in the Far North or on ships, where fish is the main source of food. Seafood is considered a leaner food than fish and is allowed in moderation. Short fasting before Communion is also associated with other restrictions, refusing the following:

• sweets;
• sexual contacts;
• alcoholic drinks;
• smoking;
• participation in various entertainments (weddings, parties, concerts).

6 hours before the start of the Liturgy, food and drink should be completely avoided.. This six-hour fast is called "Eucharistic". If the Eucharistic fast is broken, the priest may not allow you to participate in the Sacrament.

Many believers strive to receive communion during church-wide fasts. This makes it possible to calmly prepare, especially if loved ones are also fasting and do not offer unnecessary temptations.

Is it permissible to take communion if you have smoked or unwittingly broken your fast? All excesses committed during the fast should be reported tell the priest in confession. Through confession, admission to the Sacrament is made and concealment of even a small offense is considered a great sin before God.

How to fast for children

There is a tradition in the Russian Orthodox Church compulsory confession for children from the age of seven. At the same age they should be accustomed to fasting. But children receive communion from the very moment, i.e. from infancy.

Fasting before communion is not mandatory for a child if he is under three years old.

From three to seven years of age, restrictions are introduced gradually; the child must not only be deprived of tasty food, but be aware of the need and purpose of fasting. You can support your child by your own example by removing savory foods from the family menu. Parents themselves should begin confession and Communion together with their child.

The decision about whether fasting can be made easier should be made by parents after a conversation with the priest, based on the child’s health condition. Children who grow up in non-believing families and do not have proper spiritual development cannot be forced to fast.

Fasting for pregnant women

For pregnant women and sick people who want to receive communion but are on a strict diet, the fast can be weakened or canceled. This is only done with the blessing of the priest. Before you go for such permission, you should test yourself: will a short-term fast really turn out to be an unbearable burden, or because of laziness you don’t want to disrupt the usual course of life?

If it is impossible for a pregnant woman to give up dairy products, this can be replaced by giving up sweets or other things to which she feels affection. Such abstinence will be accepted by the Lord as a significant feat.

Posting in a dormitory

It is allowed to ease or cancel fasting for Christians who are in military service, studying, hospital, boarding school or places of detention, where meals are provided in common canteens and there is no opportunity to choose Lenten food. In this case, you should adhere to the blessing of the confessor visiting a military unit or boarding school. Refusal of fast food can be replaced by other restrictions or prayer. It is better for those wishing to receive communion to resolve this issue with the priest a week before the Sacrament or (if impossible) before confession.

When can you take communion without fasting?

During the Christmas holidays - from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany - and on Bright Week - seven days after Easter - a five-day fast is not required for the communicants; only the six-hour Eucharistic fast is maintained. But this permission can only be granted to those who fully observed the previous, Christmas and Great Lents.

Lenten preparation is canceled for seriously ill and dying people.