Tomorrow Greek Cypriots will mark the start of the Easter Lent by heading out to the fields to eat vegetables (and sometimes souvla), but is it worth denying yourself?
BACK in the old days, Christians avoided meat and fish for six weeks a year, top models like Liz Hurley limit themselves to one meal a day and most of the biggest bestsellers are diet books. It seems that throughout the years, self-denial has been something like fashion; you can’t really deny it. As of Green Monday (March 14), thousands of Greek Orthodox, believers and non-believers will give up chocolate, meat, fish and any milk products for the 49 Days of Lent. Some will do it as an act of faith and others will do it to shed those extra Christmas kilos.
Being one of those who will faithfully follow the rules may improve the state of your liver (no alcohol is allowed) and be a miracle-worker for your body (as your choices will be limited) but doubts remain about the benefits of such self-sacrifice. Research shows that people who try to follow diets such as Atkins often end up gaining all the weight back within weeks of finishing their period of self-denial.
Lent comes from the old English word ‘lencten’, which means spring and was the word people used to describe the lengthening of the days after the long winter nights. The Christian tradition of fasting before religious festivals was borrowed from Judaism: John the Baptist was a particular believer, insisting that candidates for baptism went without anything to eat before the ritual.
But all took a turn from the seventh century, when the Christian church developed the rule of a fast from Green Monday to Easter Sunday, as a sign of remembrance of Jesus’ time in the wilderness. Observers of the fast were allowed one meal a day although meat, fish and eggs were not allowed. This period, however, was also for people who had been kicked out of church to perform acts of remorse in the hope that they will be welcomed back to the fold on Easter Sunday.
Although Lent is something that is considered a lot more strict and serious in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the Salvation Army has held an annual Self-denial week ever since 1886. This came through a hard-up follower called John Carleton announced that he had no money to give to the cause but instead decided to skip his daily pudding for a year, so he can save and donate 50 shillings. The first self-denial week raised a stunning amount of £4,000 and now it generates millions each year.
Oscar Wilde, who was not known for his self-denial abilities once wrote: “Self-denial is the shining sore on the leprous body of Christianity.” But fasting and self denial are still highly thought of in Cyprus so we asked six relevant people how they stood on the issue.
Jocelyne Thalassinou
Clinical Dietician
“My personal point of view is that I don’t believe that anyone should deny themselves anything for the sake of religion. It’s OK for a while, I guess, especially if somebody has reached a point where they abuse food. But if somebody is going to deny themselves meat and all the other things that we don’t eat during the days of Lent, then they should do it properly. They shouldn’t eat sweets or olive pies and say they are fasting. That’s not right. But overall, I think people in Cyprus deny themselves these things for the wrong reasons. They think that God will punish them if they don’t deny themselves but I know that God is good and doesn’t punish anybody. There are other ways to show your respect to religion without denying yourself.”
Nikki Dake
Nutritional Therapist
“I suppose fasting and self-denial in general are good things, especially when your body is taking that time to get rid of animal proteins which can sometimes be harmful. But I personally think that fasting should only be carried out for a short while, especially where older people are concerned. Due to the fact that the 50 days of Lent do not allow any dairy products this means that people who suffer from osteoporosis are not getting their necessary vitamins. But this could be fixed with calcium tablets. Because Cypriots in general are very religious I would advise them to either take the necessary vitamins or simply fast for 28 days, which is a reasonable time.”
Father Panayiotis
Orthodox priest
“Fasting is an ancient institution which was brought upon us by the apostles. In those days, the people used to fast in a very different way to us today. A piece of bread and some olive were what they used to eat because they just wanted to eat simply so they would stay alive. Fasting is all about the soul and not the body. When we fast, we fast because we are making efforts to save our souls. God is the source of life, not food. Thousands of years ago, people made it with some bread and some olives, so how can we not? Of course, many of these people were hermits and they practised throughout the years. By denying ourselves several small pleasures in life it makes us stronger, not physically but mentally and we are proving to God that we can do it. However, I do not expect every single person to fast for 50 days. It depends on each person’s powers and strengths. If you think you can only fast for 10 days that too is good because the whole point is the experience of making us stronger and eventually having the right to take in the body and blood of Christ.”
Achilles Koukkides
Clinical Psychologist
“Personally, I consider fasting to be a very good thing. By denying and sacrificing some things, you must need great strength but in the end, you obviously feel better and stronger. Fasting can make you leave all physical needs including sex and give more attention to your inner world. We celebrate the carnival so much and the word ‘Carnival’ indeed means no meat, it means depriving yourself of this luxury which is harmful anyway. If for example, you have had an argument with your husband or with a friend and you leave the scene and set off to think of things with a much clearer head, after a while you will miss this person and realise all the good things about him or her. It’s all a case of abusing and taking for granted some things in life, so by denying them, you realise their value.”
Kypros Christodoulou
Student
“I was brought up in a society which is very religious and therefore I have learnt that fasting is something very important. But I have never managed to fast for more than a week. And that week is usually Holy Week, when I feel humble enough to think of everything that Christ went through to save mankind, so I couldn’t really imagine scoffing a piece of meat. Other than that I think the church is a bit too strict and we shouldn’t have to fast for 40 and more days. I’m not against it though, I mean, everyone can do as they wish. All I’m saying is that I couldn’t deny myself some things just because I’m supposed to.”
Georgia Papoui
Cypriot yiayia (grandmother)
“Of course we must fast. That is what Christ did and so did the Apostles, so we should do it as well. The younger generation though, I think they don’t really understand the significance of this action. It’s a sin not to fast and I fast whenever I should, not just during the 40days of Lent. It’s like going to church every Sunday or during the days of Easter. That is what we, as Christians, are supposed to do. Other religions follow the rules, even the Muslims do and they are much stricter, so why can’t we?”
