Christians Obligated To Perform A Ramadan Like Fast

I know Christians of the past tended to take their Lent penance/fast much more earnestly than most do today! What if there was a Ramadan like fast/penance which all Christians were required to perform to this very day.
Would it bring the various Christian sects closer together, would it make for more disciplined Westerners in other aspects of their lives? Would it increase church,( whichever one you belong to) authority! One cannot help but admire Islamic people doing Ramadan, it's a tough enough obligation!
 
I know Christians of the past tended to take their Lent penance/fast much more earnestly than most do today! What if there was a Ramadan like fast/penance which all Christians were required to perform to this very day.
Would it bring the various Christian sects closer together, would it make for more disciplined Westerners in other aspects of their lives? Would it increase church,( whichever one you belong to) authority! One cannot help but admire Islamic people doing Ramadan, it's a tough enough obligation!

Regarding wether or not it brings Christian sects together I think it would if they did in the same manner and during the same time. Either way it would only connect everyday people not the elites of the sects. Als o I think the idea is plausible because Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and nights and he just didn't have Pizza or fish every friday :p.
 
For the Greek-Orthodoxs there is the "Tessarakosti" lent, the toughest fast of the year that lasts 49 days, until the Easter. During this fast the Christians are supposed to abstain from foods that contain animals with red blood (meats, poultry, game) and products from animals with red blood (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.), and fish and seafood with backbones. Olive oil and wine are also "forbiden" on Wednesdays and Fridays and the Holy Week (the one before Easter), and the number of meals and their quantity per day should also be limited.

Needless to say that today most of the Greeks do not follow literaly these rules, though. Also, I have to note that all this came from the gradually strenghnening of the Greek Orthodox Church during the Middle Ages and even more during the first centuries of Ottoman rule that led to a further rise of Church's power.

In Corfu, when the Calendar dispute ended in the 1580's and the timetable of the Great Lent and Easter became the same for Greek Orthodoxs and Roman Catholics, it led to a reconciliation between the two floks, so that they participate in each other's festivities and celebration, and we today feel that we are different, but not seperated...
 
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