concept
Govenie (Lenten fasting and confession preparation)
fasting
also: говеть, говею
The Orthodox practice of a period of fasting, church attendance, and self-examination undertaken before confession and communion; Mikhailo repeatedly cites his own fasting as the only thing restraining his temper, which sharpens the irony of his insulting a deacon.
Reading notes
- The Murder §137 to take communion
Yakov's fabricated alibi -- that Matvei had set out for Vedenyapino "to govet'" -- specifically means to undertake the period of fasting, church attendance, and self-examination that precedes confession and communion, not fasting in a general sense; the translation renders it contextually as "to take communion" to keep the specific occasion (a errand to the parish church) clear in English.
- At the Baths §18 I'm fasting now
Govenie: the period of fasting, church attendance, and self-scrutiny an Orthodox believer undertakes before confession -- Mikhailo cites it repeatedly as the sole restraint on his temper.