My Childhood Introduction to the Bible (1 of 5)

By John Sanidopoulos

My family never had a family Bible. In fact, the Bible played no role in my upbringing. I was a typical Greek Orthodox Christian kid, who went to church once or twice a month, with the summer months off completely. I went to Greek School twice a week throughout elementary school, and Sunday School only for about two years. When I was around 6 or 7 years old my mother removed me from Sunday School and made a special request to my priest to have me serve in the altar as an altar boy. Typically you had to be at least 12 or 13 to be an altar boy, but my priest made the exception and I began to serve in the altar. I was relieved, because I was bored of coloring in sketches from the Bible which had little to no meaning, and drawing figures of three crosses on a hill. The altar was much more exciting, because I was at the center of the action, and I got to hang around mostly high school kids, even though the two main altar servers were bullies.

Should a Child Fast?

The question of the title concerns many parents who want to fast during these days, but do not know what to do and more so, if a young child can follow the fast. In the scientific article below you will be informed about whether a child could and should (from a medical standpoint) fast, from what age, and if there is any risk. Lastly you will read about the benefits of fasting for the organism of a child.

By Chrysanthis Lathira, pediatrician

We are in the days of Lent and many Greek families are fasting, that is, they are abstaining from meat and anything derived from animals. When asked if children can fast and if this practice can cause health problems, I say yes, children can follow the fast of their parents, especially during school age, that is, after the 5th or 6th year of their life.