“There is no Lent without fasting.” —Alexander Schmemann
Lately I’ve heard some interesting discussion on Catholic radio about fasting and abstinence. It’s encouraging to hear people talking about fasting and even proposing to restore the tradition of abstinence from meat on Fridays throughout the year. But some of the discussion seems to miss the mark.
The first week of the Great Fast is traditionally known as “Clean Week,” which is a euphemistic way of saying “Severe Gastro-Intestinal Disquietude Week,” as the body adapts to a diet free of animal products. I’ve got some friends who have decided to do a bread and water fast for the entire period of Lent. I can only image what they’re going through.
I’d love to say more about fasting right now, but I’ve got a pretty nasty cold on top of the rigors of Clean Week and I’ve already stayed up too late trying to learn the Lamplighting Psalm in Romanian Tone 8, a doozy. Tone 5 is even worse—like, say, a vegan fast compared to a bread and water fast.
You’ve got to love a religion that has a feast called the “Sunday of Cheesefare.” Cheesefare Sunday—so called because it is the last day to eat cheese and other dairy products before the beginning of Great Lent—was the day before yesterday for most Eastern Catholics in the U.S. Other Eastern Catholics will celebrate Cheesefare Sunday next week, along with the Orthodox.
For Cheesfare Sunday I baked some four-cheese vegetarian calzones (no meat; we ate the last of that a week ago on Meatfare Sunday). The four cheeses were ricotta, parmasan, mozarella and pecorino, the last three of which I picked up at Trader Joe’s on Saturday. It was a mournful moment there in the dairy aisle, bidding farewell to my cheesy friends.
Rob over at Cockeyed.com has posted some great high-res, close-up insect photos. I thought I’d post some of mine (click on a thumbnail for a high-res version).
The first of these was shot with a Canon Powershot S300. The others were shot with a Canon Digital Rebel XT. And yes, I know spiders aren’t insects. But they are bugs.
. . . but I do watch TV shows*. That is to say, I watch a few shows on DVD. At the risk of scandalizing more pious readers, I’ll admit that two of our favorite shows are The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm. We checked out Six Feet Under, but found it tedious. Last Fall we got into Lost. Our latest discovery is 24.
Before I go on, a warning. First, don’t follow any of the links above if you haven’t already seen all the episodes of any of those show and there’s any chance you’ll want to watch them. Network sites abound with spoilers. Second, spoilers on 24 will follow. (more…)