concept
Great Lent Fast-Breaking (Razgoveniye / Scoromnoe)
the fast
also: razgoveniye, разговенье, scoromnoe, скоромное
The Orthodox Great Lent fast and its ceremonial breaking (razgoveniye) after the Easter midnight service; scoromnoe denotes meat, egg, or dairy foods forbidden until the fast ends.
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 20 February 1889. Moscow. §3 the fast, on these days of prayer, repentance, and hypocrisy
The Great Lent (Великий пост), the seven-week Orthodox fast preceding Easter, begins with Clean Monday around this date in 1889; Chekhov's congratulation is characteristically ironic, pairing genuine religious observance ("prayer, repentance") with the social hypocrisy he associates with its outward show.
- Zakuska (Appetizers) §12 break the fast
Razgovenье: the ceremonial first meal after the Great Lent fast, eaten only after the Easter midnight service -- the guests keep debating whether it is too early to eat meat and dairy.
- Zakuska (Appetizers) §16 a fasting dish
Scoromnoe: food containing meat, eggs, or dairy, forbidden during the Great Lent fast and permitted again only once it ends -- Prekrasnovkusov's joke is that he has eaten it before the fast has technically broken.