The Dormition Fast has been known since the very first centuries of Christianity - around 450, Saint Leo I the Great, Pope of Rome (440 - 461), clearly indicated the Dormition Fast among four church fasts, each of which falls on a certain time of the year.
It was finally installed at the Council of Constantinople in 1166 in honor of the church feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
This many-day fast begins with another holiday - the Origin (wear) of the venerable trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, which literally means 'procession of the cross.'
The Dormition Fast is, in its severity, equated to the Great Fast, that is, without dairy, meat and fish dishes. On Saturday and Sunday, you can eat vegetable oil, and only on the Transfiguration of the Lord is it allowed to serve fish dishes on the table. If the end of the fast falls on Wednesday or Friday, then fish is also allowed on these days. During the fast, one should refrain from sugary and plentiful food, meat products, dairy products, alcohol, eggs, vegetable oil and fish. The latter is allowed only on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, August 19. Of the permitted products for the Assumption Fast, the following are distinguished: vegetables, fruits, honey, nuts, mushrooms, cereals, bread.
But we want to remind the words of John Chrysostom: “The one who believes that fasting is only in abstaining from food. True fasting is removal from evil, curbing the tongue, setting aside anger, taming lusts, stopping slander, lies, perjury. '
