Sofi Mkheyan, Nadezhda Sargsyan, Nazik Avdalyan. Who fasts?

The Armenian Church has defined the period of Great Lent as a time of abstinence and repentance for the faithful. Each Sunday during this period is named after an event in the Holy Bible that contains the message of the day. According to the calendar, the days prior to weekly fasts, as well as Great Lent, (with the exception of the fast preceding Holy Nativity) are called Barekendan. The word Barekendan means “good living” or “good life”, as we are called to live cheerfully, joyfully, and to be happy on these days preceding fasting periods.

This year, on February 20 begins the Great Lent and lasts for 48 days.

Fasting may be of three kinds: usual fasting, rigorous abstinence and absolute fasting. In case of usual fasting people can eat only food of vegetable origin. In case of rigorous fasting people refuse to eat any food even of vegetable origin. And in case of absolute fasting people refuse to eat any kind of food, including even bread and water.

Lurer.com tried to find out whether famous artists Nadezhda Sargsyan, Sofi Mkheyan and Nazik Avdalyan fast or not, and what the fasting means for them.

Sofi Mkheyan

- There has been a year when I fasted the whole Lent, but last year I fasted only for a week.

Most mysterious was the fact that on April 8, on my birthday, I went to church, participated in the liturgy: the feeling was unexplainable.

This year, I do not fast, because I had previously planned concerts, and it can create problems for an artist for the fact that your body can react to these changes in diet, so I realized that maybe I can not get the energy which would not lead to problems with voice.

Every person has his own decisions to make and maintain during the life. I try to "damage" neither me nor people next to me.

Nadezhda Sargsyan

I must be sincere and say that I have never fasted.

Frankly, I can not say what caused it, I just know that my faith is the most important thing. And the fact that I have ne may be probably because of I'm afraid not to be able to fast and make my promise. If I violate it, it is better not to promise.

As for the spiritual, then my faith is so much that is not fasting, that should put me on the right way.

It's better when I need it, when I feel that I can fast till the end, then I'll fast.

Nazik Avdalyan

- Before starting my trainings, when I was 17-18 years old, I remember that following my mother's and grandmaother's example, I fasted due to the fact that I have always stressed the importance of the Lent, and even though I was a teenager, but I was following them. And it was not a formality at all. I really felt spiritual tranquility and it was a very inexplicable feeling.

As for the spiritual, which includes a number of crimes, including for example not to tell a lie, not to get angry, now, though, I do not remember well, but I was trying not to violate them.