Christmas day in this country is also connected with the end of forty days of fasting, which starts on November 15.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church says that fasting is fighting sin, it’s not a diet. One should purify one's soul, the aim is not losing weight. Fasting aims mostly at achieving spiritual perfection Many Bulgarians, mostly young people, assume the fast to be a kind of a diet. Actually fasting is abstinence for religious and moral purposes. The Lenten fare is only the corporal part of fasting. On its one it is insufficient, without the spiritual fasting. The Orthodox Christians, when they want to fast should know this principle and to observe it.

Fighting the sin by abstinence from food is essential for fasting. It is the abstinence namely, not the exhaustion of the body is the real task of the fast. Fasting, though, is not a goal of its own; it is a means for humbling the body and purification of the soul from sin. Without prayer and humility, fasting is just a diet.

Since apostolic times the Church has arranged the holy sacraments of confession and the Holy Communion to follow and be tied to fasting. This means the fast is preparation, a preparation of the soul. The Great Lent is the best time for such a preparation. Like the other Lents, it starts with Shrovetide. In the evening meat dishes are served and from the morning next day fasting starts. But the Great Lent, fasting takes a week when the first three days are of complete abstinence from any kind of food. It is not imposed by the church, it is voluntary and is approached by those who can endure it.
Fasting should not start at once. It commences by abstinence from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays in the year. Those who want to observe the Lent should consult an experienced priest, tell him of their spiritual state and physical condition and ask for blessing their fasting.