Tomorrow being the commemoration of the beheading of St. John the Baptist (at least, on the New Calendar), I got to thinking, how do different Orthodox individuals and cultures observe strict fast days? I have always understood that, ideally, on strict fast days one does not eat or drink anything at all until after Vespers. Personally, I can\'t keep the fast that strictly because I need some food and drink to get through the workday. How do pious Orthodox laypeople in, say, Russia or Greece (or elsewhere, including America) keep the fast while living (and working) in the secular world?
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