Vegan Lent ideas?

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SugarMagnolia

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I want to observe Lent this year, but I’m not sure how. Since I never eat animal products, I’m not really doing anything by abstaining from meat. I don’t ordinarily eat a lot, so the one meal and two small snacks of the fast also doesn’t feel like I’m doing much.

Any vegetarians or vegans with Lenten suggestions?
 
You can fast from something else you enjoy. It doesn’t need to be food.
Some people fast from Internet, social media, TV.
Some people fast from coffee or tea.

You also don’t have to do fasting (except for the fast days required by the Church), you could say extra prayers every day for the Poor Souls or for world peace instead.
 
Oh that’s super easy. Flip things around, only eat meat during Lent. Piece of cake.
 
How about a bread and water fast? Don’t kill me for asking this, but isn’t bread vegan, or aren’t there at least vegan substitutes or equivalents for it? 😅
 
Flopfoot said:
It’s already Lent for you all year round
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It is kind of the situation that strict monastic communities are in.
This is from Ch 49 of the Rule of St. Benedict:
1 The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent.
2 Since few, however, have the strength for this, we urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure
3 and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times.
4 This we can do in a fitting manner by refusing to indulge evil habits and by devoting ourselves to prayer with tears, to reading, to compunction of heart and self-denial.
5 During these days, therefore, we will add to the usual measure of our service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from food or drink,
6 so that each of us will have something above the assigned measure to offer God of his own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 1:6).
7 In other words, let each one deny himself some food, drink, sleep, needless talking and idle jesting, and look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing.
8 Everyone should, however, make known to the abbot what he intends to do, since it ought to be done with his prayer and approval.
9 Whatever is undertaken without the permission of the spiritual father will be reckoned as presumption and vainglory, not deserving a reward.
10 Therefore, everything must be done with the abbot’s approval.

I heard a priest on Monday note that we all hold onto things we shouldn’t. He urged to look first to letting go of those things that God hates. He was referring to the reading of the day, from Sirach:
To the penitent God provides a way back,
he encourages those who are losing hope
and has chosen for them the lot of truth.
Return to him and give up sin,
pray to the LORD and make your offenses few.
Turn again to the Most High and away from your sin,
hate intensely what he loathes,
and know the justice and judgments of God,
Stand firm in the way set before you,
in prayer to the Most High God.
 
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So you think Jesus would be pleased if I eat meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? Or are you mocking my sincere request for advice?
 
Yes, there is vegan bread. But I also don’t want to faint at work. The fast includes one meal and two snacks. I’m pretty sure there’s a reason for that.
 
SugarMagnolia said:
Yes, there is vegan bread. But I also don’t want to faint at work. The fast includes one meal and two snacks. I’m pretty sure there’s a reason for that.
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Yes, it is a working fast. The main thing, I have been told, is to make a self-examination and work first to eliminate those things that should be eliminated at all times. After that, look for things that are not forbidden but that you personally have an inordinate attachment to, so that you will be freed from those things to do the will of God, rather than being encumbered by giving priority to unimportant things.
 
As someone who is not vegan but does a bread and water fast regularly, it is very difficult to do it at work. At least it’s difficult for me. Even though I am permitted to eat all the bread I want, I get a variety of issues ranging from sleepiness to headaches to inability to concentrate. It is actually a pretty annoying fast.

I think if you want to do a food fast, a good way might be to eat what you normally eat but just cut your portion for each meal in half.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
As someone who is not vegan but does a bread and water fast regularly, it is very difficult to do it at work. At least it’s difficult for me. Even though I am permitted to eat all the bread I want, I get a variety of issues ranging from sleepiness to headaches to inability to concentrate. It is actually a pretty annoying fast.

I think if you want to do a food fast, a good way might be to eat what you normally eat but just cut your portion for each meal in half.
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Yes. If a person normally eats in a way that satisfies the regulations, nothing more is required.
If any person wants to make an extra effort at self-denial, then that can be a good thing. You might just leave the salt off of your egg on purpose and make a conscious effort to be even-tempered about it, so that if this happens by someone else’s negligence in the future, you won’t be tempted to depart from charity over such a small thing. (Vegans don’t eat eggs but might suffer if they couldn’t have any onion or garlic or herbs on their food for a day.) Some people turn down the temperature of their shower water, for the same reason: not because suffering is good in and of itself, but because self-denial can be used as a means to practice not being put out by inconveniences or even real pains that come our way.
 
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Thanks PetraG. I want to do something but I have to be careful what I choose because if I mess up I’ll think every bad thing that happens to me is punishment for messing up. Maybe I will vow to do something everyday, but it doesn’t have to be the same thing everyday.

I want to do the fast really well on Wednesday because I normally eat small meals, so to fast, I have to make them even smaller. Plus, I have to fast from midnight on Wednesday for a medical procedure with anesthesia on Thursday (and I’m scared of anesthesia because I’m a lightweight). So now I’m going to be eating extra light on Wednesday too.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Not really. Vegan food can be very tasty. I also understand in places like Serbia where the Orthodox are basically vegan for all of Lent, they have a lot of great recipes and even cookbooks to get everybody through that time.
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Go to the Town Hall section of the byzcath.org forum this time of year, and you will find a a recipes subform . . .

http://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbthreads.php/forums/31/1/food-recipes

Which is almost entirely for strict Eastern lenten fare . . .

Several years ago, the Maronites hosted a KofC post-degree banquet during lent, which kept to the strict fasting rules, and it was amazing . . .
Fauken said:
How about a bread and water fast? Don’t kill me for asking this, but isn’t bread vegan, or aren’t there at least vegan substitutes or equivalents for it? 😅
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Careful with those.

A few years ago, the religious brother in our parish did exactly that, and stayed with it. As he put it later, “Who gains weight during lent???”–I forget whether it was 20 or 40 pounds for him . . . as he wouldn’t back off, he was scouring bakeries for just about any different type of bread by the end of Lent . . .

Personally, fasting from food doesn’t get me very far, as I don’t notice . . . It’s probably about once a week that my wife gets exasperated when she comes home at night, asks if I’ve eaten anything all day, and I have to stop and think about it before replying, “I don’t think so.”

In all likelihood, if she weren’t putting food in front of me, there’s a good chance that it would quite often be the second or even third day before I got around to eating . . .
 
dochawk said:
A few years ago, the religious brother in our parish did exactly that, and stayed with it. As he put it later, “Who gains weight during lent???”–I forget whether it was 20 or 40 pounds for him . . .
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This is unfortunately true. If I did the bread fast for more than one or two days per week, I would probably gain at least 10 pounds. It’s not because I eat so much bread, it’s because I don’t eat very much bread on a normal day and my body doesn’t react well to having basically wads of dough shoved in it. Sometimes I have eaten various diet crispbreads, which are better in terms of not upsetting digestion or causing weight gain, but they taste pretty bad for the most part.
 
I really would rather not do that because I do not know when/if I will be able to eat on Thursday.
 
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