Spiritual flower garden. Holy Fathers about fasting. What you need to know about the Christmas post: why it was set, when to start talking, what is important to do in time
FROM observance of fasts and fasting days is necessary... This is not a human invention, but with the assistance of the Holy Spirit it was decreed and legitimized by the Church and Councils, and the foundation and Head of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself...
I wish you to strive for a good feat, “to fast spiritually and bodily, with a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord”: shut the doors of the cell from people, the door of the tongue from the verb and the door of the heart from the evil spirits.
Rev. Macarius Optinsky
P ost - an ancient gift; fasting is the jewel of the fathers. It is contemporary to humanity. Fasting is legal in paradise. This is the first commandment Adam received: “from the tree, if you know good and evil, you shall not tear down” (Genesis 2:17). And this: do not eat - there is a legalization of fasting and abstinence.
St. Basil the Great
FROM the meals of those who fast... borrow for yourself the medicine of life, and awaken your soul from mortification. For among them, sanctifying them, the Beloved reclines, and the labor of fasting and their deeds transforms into His inscrutable sweetness; and His heavenly servants overshadow them and their holy feasts. I know one of the brethren who saw this clearly with his own eyes.
Rev. Isaac Sirin
O Whoever believes that fasting is only about abstaining from food is in trouble. True fasting is the removal from evil, the curbing of the tongue, the laying off of anger, the taming of lusts, the cessation of slander, lies and perjury.
St. John Chrysostom
G the lava of the virtues is prayer, their foundation is fasting.
St. Ignaty Brianchaninov
...P he drew near and ... fasting came; how are we going to fast? We cannot keep a sensual fast from brashen as our fathers and teachers kept it, but even if we kept it, what we will use without a spiritual fast, which the Church remembers us: “we fast with a spiritual fast, favorable to the Lord” and so on (stichera Triodi ). So, we must try, remembering our sins: firstly, to have a "contrite and humble heart" (Ps. 50, 19), not to listen to other people's shortcomings and not to judge them, but to pay more attention to our passions and not allow them to occur in action.
Rev. Macarius Optinsky
To sometimes he neglects fasting, he is also weakened in other deeds, negligent, weak, he shows the beginning and a bad sign of the relaxation of his soul, and gives the one who fights with him a chance to win ...
Rev. Isaac Sirin
..B maybe you spare the flesh and run away from fasting, as from a carrier of exhaustion; but on the contrary! - it is satiety that leads to the occurrence of gout, and migraine, and other diseases; and fasting is the mother of health; so that not only the fornicator sins against his body, but the glutton sins the same, making him weak and more painful
St. Gregory Palamas
AT every deprivation and every compulsion is valued before God, according to what is said in the Gospel: “The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force seize it” (Matthew 11:12). And boldly and arbitrarily violating the rule of fasting are called "as enemies of the cross of Christ: their god is the womb, and their glory is in shame" (Phil. 3, 18-19). And in the psalms it is said: “from the womb [of the mother] they go astray” (Ps.57, 4). Of course, it is a different matter if someone breaks the fast due to illness and physical infirmity. And those who are healthy from fasting are healthier and kinder, and moreover, they are more durable, although they look skinny. During fasting and abstinence, the flesh does not rebel so much, and sleep does not overcome it so much, and empty thoughts crawl into the head less, and spiritual books are more readily read and more understood.
Rev. Ambrose Optinsky
And A night that neglects fasting shakes the whole building of its virtues: this building will not stand if the builder does not come to his senses and does not take care in time to strengthen the foundation.
St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)
...O From intemperance, every evil happens... Fasting excites prayer, is somehow especially hated by the enemy: they come to me for advice and for confession, among other things, I advise you to observe holy fasts. They agree with everything, but when it comes to fasting: I don’t want to, I can’t, and so on. The enemy excites, he does not want to observe holy fasts ...
Rev. Barsanuphius of Optina
E If we fast, abstaining only from food, then after forty days the fast ends. And if we abstain from sins, then even after this fast, it still continues, and we will be constantly benefited from it.
St. John Chrysostom
AT all who wish to embark on the feat of fasting and prayer, all who wish to reap abundant fruits from their repentance, hear the word of God, hear the covenant of God - and forgive your neighbors their sins against you.
St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)
AT while abstaining from brashens, one must also abstain from passions.
Rev. Macarius Optinsky
FROM With what motherly, tender, and holy love the Holy Church preserves our souls and bodies, appointing us frequent fasts, which, ignorantly, seem to many to be a constraint on their freedom! Through abstinence and fasting, she wants to give us the widest spiritual freedom: for intemperance enslaves our spirit to the body, its passions and lusts, and even the body itself aggravates and exposes to diseases.
St. rights. John of Kronstadt
E There is a bodily fast, there is a spiritual fast. During bodily fasting, the body fasts from food and drink; during spiritual fasting, the soul refrains from evil thoughts, deeds and words. A real faster refrains from anger, rage, malice and revenge. A real faster refrains from idle talk, swearing, idle talk, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all kinds of slander. In a word, a real faster is one who moves away from all evil.
St. Basil the Great
To then he fasts truly and without hypocrisy, he imitates Christ, on earth he is likened to angels, imitates the prophets, enters into communion with the apostles and, through fasting, having achieved the regeneration of his nature, becomes righteous from the unrighteous, from the evil to the good, from the wicked to the pious, and so thus appropriates Christ, the treasure of life.
St. John Chrysostom
To you need to eat so much that after eating you want to pray, so that the spirit always burns and insatiably strives for God day and night.
Saint Silouan of Athos
O The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, should eat as much food as necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety requires.
Venerable Cassian the Roman
AT I do not agree with you about adding rules to fasting, given your poor health, and also because you care about fulfilling only quantity, but you have no care about quality; in the impoverishment of both, let humility replace them. And with these, when there is no fragrance of humility, then (man) will not take advantage of them in the least, but will also take harm with vanity and opinion.
Rev. Macarius Optinsky
And bloodthirsty beasts, and predatory hawks, and how many more innocent animals, small and great, and what innumerable thousands of them are also fasting. Wolves, they say, sometimes don't eat even more for a week. Shouldn't we, Christians, the heirs of the Eternal Kingdom, fast? And now is the best time. This time is auspicious. This is the day of salvation. “A merry time of fasting, the same purity of light, and pure love, luminous prayers, and all other virtues richly sated, let us cry out brightly: Cross of Christ, all-holy, increasing the sweetness of life, we will bow down to you all the pure in heart!”
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky
P ost is the beginning and foundation of all spiritual activity. Whatever virtues you give back on the basis of fasting, they will all be unshakable and unshakable, as if built on a solid stone. And when you accept this foundation, that is, fasting, and put in its place the satiation of the womb and other inappropriate desires, then all the virtues will be shaken and scattered from bad thoughts and from the stream of passions, like sand is blown by the wind, and the whole building of virtue collapses.
Rev. Simeon the New Theologian
H and the question: “Does it matter to God what kind of food?” - the elder replied: “It is not food that matters, but the commandment, Adam was expelled from paradise not for overeating, but for eating only the forbidden. ... What is especially important here is that through obedience, humility is developed. ”
Rev. Ambrose Optinsky
…E If we remember what a meager meal the Holy Fathers had, then we will be satisfied. Meager food grieves the flesh, but quickens the spirit...
Rev. Macarius Optinsky
H we should do this: not just go through the weeks of fasting, but examine our conscience, test our thoughts, and notice what we managed to do this week, what the next, what new things we undertook to achieve the next and what passions we have corrected. If we do not correct ourselves in this way and show such concern for our souls, then we will not benefit from the fasting and abstinence to which we subject ourselves.
St. John Chrysostom
P imitate ... the Monk Theodore the Studite, who was daily at the meal, but meanwhile he was fasting.
Rev. Ambrose Optinsky
…H and in the very first week of fasting, after ... spiritual consolation, strong carnal warfare set in, and then spiritual languor. You ask me: why could this happen? You yourself state the reasons for this in your letter. First: reckless doubt and embarrassment that you cannot endure fasting as you should, and then grumbling against the Lord. Saint Isaac the Syrian writes that God endures all human infirmities; but he does not tolerate a man who grumbles, so as not to punish him.
The second reason for this scolding that has arisen against you is an unauthorized post. While you lived on your own, no matter what you did, everything got away with need: the Lord condescended to your stupid zeal and recklessness. If, however, you have a spiritual relationship with someone, then you should no longer voluntarily go through or take on reckless exploits, contrary to the blessing or advice received, and this not only cannot please God, but such self-will does not go unpunished, but brings on a person temptation.
... St. John of the Ladder writes: “whoever attempts to tame this warfare with one abstinence, he is like one who swims with one hand and wants to swim out of the sea,” but in another place he indicated a real remedy: “if you are connected with obedience, then thereby from it (t .e battles of the flesh) will be resolved; if you acquire humility, you will cut off her head.”
Rev. Ambrose Optinsky
P Therefore, it is appropriate to measure the way of bodily nutrition with the state of strength and strength of the body: when it is healthy, oppress it as much as necessary, and when it is weak, loosen it a little. The ascetic should not relax his body, but be as strong as is required for the achievement, so that even though bodily labors, the soul is properly cleansed.
Bliss. Diadoch
H it is necessary to pay attention so that, by excessive abstinence, weakening bodily strength, not to make the body lazy and inactive for the most important occupations ... I think that the sign of the best orderliness is to follow the prescribed rules.
St. Basil the Great
FROM Prayer must always be connected with fasting... And prayers are performed with attention, especially during fasting, because then the soul is lighter, is not burdened by anything, and is not suppressed by the fatal burden of pleasures.
St. John Chrysostom
To Just as the desire for light is characteristic of healthy eyes, so fasting observed with discretion is characteristic of the desire for prayer.
Rev. Isaac Sirin
Church of St. John Chrysostom
AT abstinence from food, observed for show, hates the soul of the Lord; but abstinence, used to enslave carnal wisdom, is loved by the Lord, because through the weariness of the flesh it arranges sanctification.
St. Basil the Great
AND the vivid memory of death suppresses intemperance in food; and when intemperance in food is cut off with humility, then other passions are cut off at the same time.
Rev. John of the Ladder
P ost, as a doctor of our souls, in one Christian humbles the flesh, in another it tames anger; it drives away sleep from one, arouses another to greater good deeds; in one it cleanses the mind and makes it free from evil thoughts, in another it binds an uncontrollable tongue and with the fear of God, like a bridle, restrains it, not allowing it to speak idle and rotten words; and in another he does not allow his eyes to look hither and thither and wonder what one or the other is doing, but he encourages everyone to listen to himself.
Rev. Simeon the New Theologian
P ost is the law and command of God, and those who transgress this law of God, the devil, the first offender of the will of God, takes into his power and torments them like a tyrant. Although this does not happen immediately, because God is longsuffering with us, waiting for our repentance, nevertheless we will not run away from the hands of this enemy of ours in every possible way, whether in this life or in the next, if we continue in sin and do not repent.
Rev. Simeon the New Theologian
Whoever limits fasting to a single abstention from food, he greatly dishonors him.
Not only mouths must fast, no, let them fastand eye, and hearing, and hands, and feet, and our whole body.
Saint John Chrysostom
On November 28, the Advent fast begins, which will last for forty days. In terms of severity, the Nativity Fast is inferior to the Great and Assumption Fast and is equated with Peter's Fast. It was established by the Church so that we, having cleansed our hearts with prayer and repentance, would worthily meet the feast of the Nativity of Christ.
Small Fortecost
Learn to be temperate in food: by abstinence you will deliverhealth and strength of the body,
and the mind a special cheerfulness,so much needed in the work of salvation ...
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
The Advent fast is the first multi-day fast in the church year*. It begins on November 28 (old style on November 15) and lasts for forty days, by analogy with Lent. Therefore, the Nativity Fast is often called the Little Fortecost, or the Philippine Fast, since on the eve, November 27 (14), the memory of the holy Apostle Philip is celebrated. On this day, a conspiracy usually takes place, that is, for the last time before fasting, it is allowed to eat fast food: meat, milk, eggs and products from them. In terms of severity, the Nativity Fast is inferior to the Great and Assumption Fast and is equated with Peter's Fast (with the exception of the last days). In general, the Nativity Fast in some of its features is similar to the Holy Forty Day. For example, on certain days, according to the Charter, during the service, prostrations are made with the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian. However, this is not currently done in parish practice.
Without wine and oil
Fasting with prudence is a vast abode for every good thing.And whoever neglects fasting, he causes all good things to waver,because fasting was a commandment given at first to our nature as a warningwhen eating food, and breaking the fast, the beginning of our creation fell.
Reverend Isaac the Syrian
The most strict abstinence, "dry eating", or eating without boiled food and, of course, without oil, is prescribed by the Charter on Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the fast. On Tuesday and Thursday, wine and oil (vegetable oil) are allowed. Fish can be eaten on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on the other days of the week, if there is a great feast of the twelfth, a great feast of a saint, or the patronal feast of a temple.
The strictest abstinence for all forty days is set on January 6 (December 24), the last day of fasting. This day is called Christmas Eve. This name comes from the word "sochivo", that is, porridge made from boiled grains of rice or wheat. It is allowed to eat sochivo on the eve of the holiday after Christmas Vespers.
Except the weakness of the flesh
Fasting should be prudent:upcoming post
try to conduct judiciously, considering the bodily forces.
Rev. Ambrose of Optina
The holy fathers often warn against unreasonable fasting, against excessive strictness, which can upset the spiritual life and damage health. For example, St. Cassian the Roman writes: “Extremes, as the holy fathers say, are equally harmful on both sides - both the excess of fasting and the satiety of the womb. We know some who, not having been conquered by gluttony, were cast down by immeasurable fasting and fell into the same passion of gluttony because of the weakness resulting from excessive fasting. Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, one can proceed to right action, but not from the former. The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with the strength, condition of the body and age, eat as much food as necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety requires.
Many people with chronic illnesses cannot fast with the strictness that the Charter prescribes, and given that there are very few even relatively healthy people in our time, it turns out that most modern Christians need indulgences. “There is no bodily fasting for the sick, the infirm, and the old, and it is often harmful,” said Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). “It is necessary to emphasize spiritual fasting: abstinence of sight, hearing, language, thoughts, and so on. This will be a true post, useful to everyone and always. Of course, the Nativity Fast is not the strictest, but even here concessions are often needed, for example, permission for dairy products. But how to determine the optimal measure of fasting for yourself? Of course, after consulting with the priest, with whose blessing some indulgences are possible.
Weeks of the Holy Forefathers and Holy Fathers
By the faith of the forefathers you justified, from the tongue of those prejudiced Church:they boast in the glory of the holy, as if from their seed they eat
Blessed is the fruit, without seed You gave birth.With those prayers, Christ God, have mercy on us.
Troparion forefather
During the Nativity Fast, only the last two Sundays are consecrated with a special memory: for the holy forefathers and fathers of antiquity. On these Sundays, the ancestors of the Savior according to the flesh and all the Old Testament righteous in general, who were waiting for His Coming, are remembered. Let's try to figure out why the Church gives us the example of the Old Testament righteous just in the Nativity fast.
After the fall, Heaven was closed to man. The souls of the dead, even the righteous, descended into the dungeon (hell, sheol), being bound by the bonds of original corruption. Mankind could only wait with weeping and sighing for the Redeemer promised to Adam. But it took many, many centuries before Christ came to earth. All this time the Lord was preparing mankind for His Coming: before Abraham - in the person of the forefathers, and after Abraham - in the person of the chosen people of Israel.
The holy fathers and forefathers, living in intense expectation of the Savior, were the best representatives of the Old Testament humanity. In the person of these righteous people, thanks to whom, long before the birth of Christ, people began to prepare for the acceptance of the New Testament, the new Kingdom of love and grace, we are given an example of unshakable faith and steadfastness in trials. Therefore, during the Advent, when the Church lives with the expectation of a great event - the Nativity of Christ, their feat of faith and long expectation is set as an edification to New Testament humanity.
Two thousand years ago the Savior came into the world. And now every year, having cleansed our hearts during the fast with prayer and repentance, we experience those joyful events when the prophecies came true, when humanity, enslaved by sin, finally met the Messiah, Who showed the way to salvation, granted the New Testament, crushed hell and revealed the Resurrection.
Prepared by Denis Kamenshchikov
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Holy Fathers on fasting
D ve thousand years ago, humanity waited with hope for the Savior. However, the majority imagined Him as an earthly king and therefore did not notice the day of His Nativity.
Bethlehem slept peacefully, and only a handful of shepherds heard the angelic gospel.
These people believed that the Savior could be born not in the royal palace, but in a cave where sheep are sheltered from bad weather. These people saw the One Whom the whole world was waiting for, because they were pure in heart. And as a reward for everything, the secret of the Embodiment of Love was revealed to them.
How often do people hope that life will improve due to external causes. They do not suspect that the darkness of everyday life can only illuminate the love in their souls. But in order to find it, you need to cleanse your heart.
D no fasting pulls a person out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, demands from him a pure life for God. This is a different, non-peaceful time. In the Old Testament, you were required to bring a tenth of your income to the Temple. Fasting is the New Testament sacrifice of Christians to God.
Leo the Great writes:
“The very keeping of abstinence is sealed by four times, so that during the year we would know that we constantly need purification and that when life is dispersed, we should always try to exterminate sin by fasting and alms, which is multiplied by the frailty of the flesh and the impurity of desires.”
According to Leo the Great, the Nativity fast is a sacrifice to God for the harvested fruits. “Just as the Lord has generousd us with the fruits of the earth,” writes the saint, “so during this fast we should be generous to the poor.”
According to St. Simeon of Thessaloniki, "The fast of the Nativity of Forty Days depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the inscription of the words of God on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living Word from the Virgin, not inscribed on stones, but incarnated and born, and partake of His divine flesh".
The Advent fast is established so that by the day of the Nativity of Christ we cleanse ourselves by repentance, prayer and fasting, so that with a pure heart, soul and body we can reverently meet the Son of God who has appeared in the world, and in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, bring him a pure heart and desire follow his teachings.
Rev. Paisius Velichkovsky
By fasting I call eating one day a little, - while still being greedy to get up from the meal; to have bread and salt for food, and water for drink, which springs themselves bring. This is the royal way of eating, that is, many were saved by this way, as the Holy Fathers said. It is not always possible for a person to abstain from food for a day, two, three, four, five, and a week, but in order to eat bread and drink water every day, it is always possible. Only after eating, one should be a little greedy, so that the body is both obedient to the spirit, and capable of labor, and sensitive to intelligent movement, and bodily passions will be defeated; fasting cannot kill bodily passions as much as meager food does. Some fast for a while, and then indulge in sweet foods; for many begin fasting beyond their strength and other severe deeds, and then weaken from immoderation and unevenness, and seek sweet food and rest to strengthen the body. To do the same means to create, and then to destroy again, since the body, through poverty from fasting, is forced to sweetness and seeks consolation, and sweetness kindles passions.
If, however, one sets a certain measure for himself, how much to take meager food a day, he receives great benefit. However, regarding the amount of food, it should be established how much is needed to strengthen the strength<...>such a person can accomplish any spiritual work. If someone fasts more than that, then at another time he surrenders to rest. There is no price for a moderate feat. For some of the great Fathers took food in moderation and had a measure in everything - in exploits, in bodily needs and in cell accessories, and they used everything in due time and every thing according to a certain moderate charter. Therefore, the Holy Fathers do not command to start fasting beyond your strength and bring yourself into weakness. Make it a rule to eat every day, so you can more firmly abstain; but if someone fasts more, how can he then refrain from being full and overeating? No way. Such an immoderate undertaking comes either from vanity or from recklessness; while temperance is one of the virtues, conducive to the curbing of the flesh; Hunger and thirst are given to man for the purification of the body, preservation from bad thoughts and fornication; for every day, eating with poverty is a means to perfection, as some say; and will not in the least be humiliated morally and will not suffer spiritual harm, who eats every day at a certain hour; such are praised by Saint Theodore of Studite in his teaching on the heels of the first week of Great Lent, where he cites in confirmation the words of the holy God-bearing Fathers and the Lord Himself. This is how we should do it. The Lord endured a long fast; Equally Moses and Elijah, but once. And some others, sometimes, asking for something from the Creator, imposed on themselves a certain burden of fasting, but in accordance with natural laws and the teaching of divine Scripture. From the activity of the saints, from the life of our Savior, and from the rules of the life of those who live decently, it is clear that it is wonderful and useful to always be ready and be in feat, work and patience; however, do not weaken yourself by excessive fasting and do not bring the body into inactivity. If the flesh is inflamed in youth, much must be abstained from; if she is weak, then you need to eat enough to satiety, regardless of other ascetics - many or few people fast; look and reason according to your weakness, as much as you can accommodate: each has a measure and an inner teacher is his own conscience.
It is impossible for everyone to have one rule and one feat, because some are strong, others are weak; some like iron, others like copper, others like wax. So, knowing well your measure, take food once every day, except for Saturdays, weeks and sovereign holidays. Moderate and reasonable fasting is the foundation and head of all virtues. As with a lion and a fierce serpent to fight, so it should be with the enemy in bodily weakness and spiritual poverty. If anyone wants to have a firm mind from bad thoughts, let him refine his flesh with fasting. It is impossible to be a priest without fasting; as breathing is necessary, so is fasting. Fasting, having entered the soul, kills the sin lying in the depths of it.
The Advent fast continues, and we thank God that we are again preparing to take part in the mystery of the coming of our Savior into the world. As St. Theophan the Recluse says, during this fast we must partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord in such a way that we feel with our whole being that the Word has become flesh, and the Lord has partake of our flesh and blood, becoming one of us.
Today, when the Church reminds us of the need for fasting and prayer, I would like to say that, although Advent and not so strict in terms of external requirements, however, it requires a judicious attitude.
First of all, we must observe it, but, as St. Isaac the Syrian says, there is a measure of fasting. It must be understood that all church institutions must correspond to the measure of a particular person, depending on his bodily strength, age, health and other characteristics.
Reverend Isaac says that excessive fasting is more harmful than not fasting at all. This applies, first of all, to those lovers of fasting who want to immediately ascend very high, having great abstinence, not balanced by their internal state. Why is excessive fasting more harmful than not fasting? Because, says the Reverend, a person can still, out of non-observance of fasting, out of ignorance of how one can live spiritually correctly, come to a correct dispensation, and as a result of the distortions that arise from immoderate fasting, such a spiritual disorder can occur, which is already much more difficult to correct.
Fasting as a spiritual phenomenon always exposes our perception of both good and evil Therefore, each of us must remember that during fasting, special temptations naturally arise, and we can draw closer to God, or we can especially move away from Him due to the fact that the perception of good and evil is aggravated. Therefore, St. Synclitikia says that external fasting, which does not correspond to the measure of our spiritual work, is more harmful than useful, since it first of all arouses in us vanity, in which all sins are taken together, and exaltation over other people. That is, the mere external observance of fasting does not bring us closer to God and to another person, but, on the contrary, removes us from them. And all other passions - irritation, anger, and everything that is characteristic of us, can flare up especially brightly during fasting.
So, the most important thing is that the Church reminds us of fasting: when we perform bodily abstinence, our body, the fleshy veil that separates us from the invisible world, becomes thinner, as it were, and we become more receptive to the spiritual world. And if our heart is not cleansed, then it is natural that contacts in this invisible world are connected, first of all, with dark forces. Hence all the temptations and passions, which can only increase during Lent.
We know from Holy Scripture, from the history of the Church, that fasting can be so graceless that it can become the exact opposite of what it should be. The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles describes what a fast can be like when more than forty Jews swore not to eat or drink anything, that is, to keep the strictest abstinence until they kill the Apostle Paul. They were sincerely convinced that they were doing the work of God, and in order to maintain the fire of hatred for this person in themselves, they kept their terrible fast.
Both fasting and self-denial can be dark and disastrous. We know examples of such false spirituality in other religions, when asceticism, abstinence is kept precisely to nourish imaginary spirituality, to maintain an alien fire in the Soul of a person. Exactly the same property can be self-denial, and human heroism. Everyone knows that non-believers are capable of great selflessness and heroism when they are inspired by some false ideology, and are even ready to give their lives for it. In any false religion, this self-denial, this abstinence and this self-giving can reach especially terrible painful states. But in all the tragic cases that can be observed even today (say, in totalitarian sects, where young people come who know nothing about God and are ready to keep any strict fast and sacrifice everything and everyone), we see one feature: if all captives false religion to people who do not know God, but are capable of fatal heroism and selflessness, the true God was revealed, then they would not be so lukewarm, which we often are. The Savior warns about this danger, as the most serious one that threatens us in recent times. And it will be in the Church.
Let's think about it with you. From year to year we have become accustomed to fasting too outwardly, too formally, often reducing it to keeping one diet, without adding prayer and without delving into the awareness of our path to Christ, into the awareness of the mystery that is revealed to us at this time. Christ is actually approaching each of us, so we realize once again that the worst thing that can happen to us is lukewarmness, this is an outward formal observance of fasting. Let us try from the very beginning (not at the end, as happens when at a general confession we remember everything at the end of the fast, naming this sin first of all) to deepen our fast, drawing closer to Christ not only by reading the Holy Scriptures (especially the prophets), not only reading the Psalms and prayers (this is obligatory) and more frequent visits to the temple (this is essential and necessary), but precisely by communion with the most important thing that is in Christ - His love. His involvement in the suffering and fate of every living person, so that the mystery of Christ's Incarnation becomes our living knowledge during Lent.
The same Saint Theophan the Recluse also points to the convenience of homeopathic treatment. “Homeopathy can help in all sorts of diseases, but you have to guess the right medicine. You can guess by the symptoms or by how the disease manifests itself. Homeopathy can be treated without seeing a doctor - through correspondence.. And in our time and through the phone.
Before the revolution in St. Petersburg there was a very strong community of homeopaths. They produced handbooks suitable for home treatment. Anyone can use these guides. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt recommended homeopathy as an affordable treatment for poor people.
Many new methods for the treatment of diseases are being developed and proposed. Methods convenient for independent home use. Someone is engaged in cleansing the body, someone is treated with a mono-diet, someone drinks cinquefoil tincture, someone does breathing exercises, someone is delighted with aromatherapy. And great! If cinquefoil helps you, drink cinquefoil, if it is good from gymnastics, do gymnastics. And if you feel better, don't forget to thank God.
Once upon a time, the practical component of medicine was negligible. There were few medicines, methods of treatment, instruments for examination. The doctor treated, basically, with a word. By the way, the very word "doctor" comes from "to lie", that is, to tell, to speak. In the ancient world, priests healed using various spells. At that time it was impossible for a Christian to consult a pagan or Jewish doctor. It was an appeal for help to mysticism alien to Christianity. But today we use practical medicine, medicines and treatments designed for each person, regardless of his worldview. We can add a mystical, that is, a mysterious, spiritual component to the treatment ourselves with the help of the Church.
Our Orthodoxy should not be an obstacle either to communication or to cooperation with a doctor. And who knows, perhaps, by accepting help and trusting the doctor, who, not without the will of God, was by our side in a difficult time for us, we ourselves will somehow influence his fate, we will lead him to faith. And there were such cases. I know believing doctors whose clericalism was influenced by their patients.
Spiritual component
“Just as medical art should not be completely avoided, it is so incongruous to put all your hope in it”(St. Basil the Great).
A believer has something to add to the art of a doctor. We have already spoken about confession and communion during illness. About prayer. But there are also spiritual means.
It is, of course, holy water. Epiphany in the morning on an empty stomach and water from a prayer service that your relatives can order. For example, from a prayer service to the great martyr and healer Panteleimon. Or the unmercenary doctors Kosma and Damian. Water from a prayer service in illness can be drunk both during the day and after meals. Some use water taken from holy springs. And she, if drunk with reverence, also benefits.
Don't forget prosphora. And there is also a shrine that the Orthodox keep on purpose in case of illness - artos. A piece of blessed bread, which is distributed after Easter, on Saturday of Bright Week, in the church. Grains of arthos with epiphany or baptismal water are consumed, like prosphora - on an empty stomach. Use in the disease and holy oil. This oil is consecrated at holy icons or at relics. There are many cases when the sick received healing by anointing themselves with this oil. It can also be taken orally. One young man had a thyroid disease. The confessor gave him holy oil brought from Jerusalem. The patient daily anointed himself with a cross-shaped throat with the prayers "Our Father" and "Virgin Mother of God, rejoice" and went on the mend. He also did not avoid doctors, but the case was difficult, and, as he believes, without the Jerusalem oil, he would hardly have recovered. Not only oil or water, but also sand taken from a holy place, with our faith, can have a beneficial effect.
“An Orthodox Christian turns his face to the holy icons - the Savior, the Mother of God, angels and saints of God - in order to clearly show his faith in their presence, in their closeness to himself; holy icons realize, carry out our Orthodox faith, and without holy icons, we seemed to be hanging in the air, not knowing to whom we were praying..
Wonderful words of St. rights. John of Kronstadt soon! Spiritual life requires both image and action.
Thus, holy temples, monasteries and places of deeds of the saints of God can also be icons. Many pilgrims travel annually to see the shrine and pray at the holy place. God, of course, is one everywhere, and you can pray to His saints anywhere. Rev. Seraphim of Sarov is prayed to in Moscow, and in Kamchatka, and in America, and in China, and in Antarctica, but with what a warm feeling they eat crackers dried in the Reverend's cauldron, brought from Diveevo! They are like a personal blessing of the saint.
At miraculous icons, at holy relics, in the places of life of saints, they collect and record cases of miraculous help. In other places, such records are collected entire volumes.
Here are some testimonies about the miraculous help of St. rights. Simeon of Verkhotursky.
From a letter from the police chief of the city of Petropavlovsk, Nikolai Alekseevich Protopopov, dated November 14, 1878: “My wife had a toothache, no medicine helped, but when she rubbed her gums and teeth with earth taken from the saint’s grave, the disease stopped.” From the message of the girl Melnikova, received in 1880: “1874, on April 28, I went to Verkhoturye to the relics of St. righteous Simeon. At that time, my leg hurt a lot. The pain further and further multiplied more, and this disease is rarely seen; I tied a towel around my leg… and I could barely walk on two crutches… In the morning I got up with great difficulty and went to the village of Merkushinskoye, went to Vespers and prepared to receive the Holy Mysteries, and God allowed me to take communion. I shed a lot of tears here. I got up in the morning - my swelling was gone, and my leg didn’t hurt at all. ” Our contemporaries testify. Zaitsev Vladimir Alexandrovich, a resident of the city of Buzuluk, having heard about St. rights. Simeon of Verkhoturye, in 1997 visited Verkhoturye and the village of Merkushino, drank water from the tomb and, taking it with him, drank it on the road. He had osteochondrosis, which Vladimir Aleksandrovich had been ill with since 1974, before that he had been giving himself painkillers every day.
Priest Mikhail Kudrin said that his youngest daughter Catherine had a severe strabismus. After the prayer of St. rights. Simeon of Verkhotursky, her parents anointed her eyes with oil from the lamp over the tomb, and then did the same several times, until it suddenly turned out that her eyes were no longer squinting, but were looking straight ahead.
Petrukhina Nina Grigoryevna from Moscow reported: “A cancerous tumor appeared, the doctors wanted to remove it. I read a prayer to St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, anointed my forehead and sore spots with oil, applied earth to my head, and once drank water (probably from a tomb). A month later, the result of the analysis came: there are no cancer cells. The operation was canceled, but the risk of the disease remained. Apparently, it is necessary to be treated and pray right. Simeon..."
There are illnesses that cannot be cured or alleviated by drugs or the efforts of medicine. When only spiritual remedies can improve the condition.
Among the letters of Rev. Macarius of Optina is the answer to the father of a sick daughter. “I already wrote to you that this disease is not subject to physical cures, but one must seek healing in faith, ask God and His saints to send her healing from this disease.” The monk advises at home to serve a moleben with an akathist to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, and then visit his relics: “How many healings there were and are there by the prayers of the holy saint of God who resort to him, and God, through his prayers, will heal your daughter too. To the believer, all things are possible."
Another Optina Elder, Rev. Ambrose, a patient suffering from a headache and not expecting help from a doctor, advises to go to the Athos chapel, serve a prayer service for St. Great Martyr Panteleimon, take oil from the lamp and smear it on his head at night. “At the same time, at home, turn to the healing Panteleimon more often and ask for his help. The Lord will give - and it will pass".
In difficult illnesses, it is not uncommon practice to make vows to visit this or that holy place, to go to the relics of the saint. The Orenburg priest Philip Ivanovsky, who lived in the middle of the 19th century, told about himself that when he studied at the seminary, after a bad cold, he had some kind of incomprehensible neuropsychiatric illness. “Some kind of stupidity came over me, combined with incredible, unbearable anguish, unbelief and blasphemous thoughts.” He did not tell the doctor or his comrades about his illness, for fear that he would be expelled from the seminary. “All my consolation, all hope and all medicine consisted solely in the vows I made at the end of the course to go to some miraculous icons and in Verkhoturye.” And what? At the end of the course, when the promises were fulfilled, the disease receded. “There are diseases, the cure of which the Lord imposes a ban, when he sees that the disease is more necessary for salvation than health. I cannot say that this did not take place in relation to me,” wrote St. Theophan the Recluse. It happens to see people sick, as if incurable. Moreover, it is not always a disease from birth, from nature. But something in the nature of a person's character is such that illness, like some kind of bridle, is necessary for him. Another, having fallen ill, remembers God, begins to lead a church life, struggles with his sinful habits; but as soon as he recovers, his efforts gradually come to naught and God is no longer so needed.
Church life, which consists of prayer, fasting, attending Sunday and holiday services, regular participation in the Church Sacraments (that is, Confession and Communion), makes any illness more tolerable, alleviates. This is especially noticeable in relation to neuropsychiatric diseases. Even heavy, hereditary.
A case comes to mind when a young man came to church with a strange illness. He looked sullenly from under his brows, his movements were constrained and cheeky at the same time. He seemed to have no control over his motor skills. The shoulders are brought together, the head is lowered, the speech is similar to croaking. A jerky, not always appropriate laugh. It seemed that this congenital ill health could not be overcome.
But time passed. The young man attended church services, he carefully confessed, often took communion. To the extent possible, he participated in the affairs of the parish. Gradually, his appearance changed, his expression became softer, his shoulders straightened, his speech became intelligible.
And it was noticeable that during periods when for some reason he could not attend the temple, his illness again intensified. When the church rhythm of life was firmly established, the young man, one might say, simply flourished. His subsequent life went well.
And this is not the only, not a rare case, such stories will be told to you in any parish.
The Gospel mentions a woman who had a spirit of weakness for eighteen years: she was crouched and could not straighten up (Luke 13:11). The devil was named the cause of the disease: “Satan has bound for eighteen years now,” and liberation from the “spirit of weakness” came from the Savior. Thus, from Christ, from union with Him, together with church life, with the Church Sacraments, comes liberation to many people.
Christmas post (Philippov post, in the vernacular of Filippovka) - established in honor of the Nativity of Christ. Observed from November 15 (28) to December 24 (January 6).
In the Orthodox churches of the Byzantine tradition, Advent is one of the four multi-day fasts of the church year and serves as a 40-day preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.
Observed from November 15 (28) to December 24 (January 6) inclusive and ends with the feast of the Nativity of Christ. The conspiracy (the eve of fasting) - November 14 (27) - falls on the day of memory of the holy Apostle Philip, therefore the fast is also called Filippov. If the spell falls on one-day fasts, Wednesday or Friday, then it moves to November 13 (26).
Instructions of the Holy Fathers on fasting
“Do not limit the benefits of fasting to one abstinence in food, because true fasting is the elimination of evil deeds ... Forgive your neighbor an insult, forgive him his debts. You do not eat meat, but you offend your brother... True fasting is the removal of evil, the abstinence of the tongue, the suppression of anger in oneself, the excommunication of lusts, slander, lies and perjury. Refraining from this is true fasting."
“Abstention from food, observed for show, hates the soul of the Lord; but abstinence, used to enslave carnal wisdom, is loved by the Lord, because it, through the exhaustion of the flesh, arranges sanctification.
“One should fast moderately and provide the body with the most necessary help, but in such a way that not voluptuousness guides the choice of food, but reason determines the need with all severity. For with such a spiritual disposition, the one who eats food turns out to be no less in wisdom than the one who does not eat, and by intention observes not only unceasing fasting, but also non-eating, while taking care of the body deserves praise, as the best steward.
“It is necessary to pay attention so that, by excessive abstinence, weakening bodily strength, do not make the body lazy and inactive for the most important activities ... I think that the sign of the best orderliness is to follow the prescribed charters”
“Fasting is an ancient gift; fasting is the jewel of the fathers. It is contemporary to humanity. Fasting is legal in paradise. This is the first commandment Adam received: “from the tree, if you know good and evil, you shall not tear down” (Genesis 2:17). And this: do not eat - there is a legalization of fasting and abstinence "
“If Eve had fasted and had not eaten from the tree, then we would not have needed to fast now. “For health is not required of a physician, but of a sick person” (Mt. 9:12). We are corrupted by sin; let us be healed by repentance, and repentance without fasting is not effective. “Cursed is the earth… thorns and thistles will increase you” (Genesis 3:17-18). It is commanded to be broken in spirit, and not to indulge in luxury. Justify yourself before God by fasting"
“Fasting is the mother of humility, the source of all wisdom; fasting is the mother of all blessings, the teacher of chastity and all virtue"
“Fasting from alms borrows its firmness… If you fast without alms, then your fast is not a fast, and such a person is worse than a glutton and a drunkard, and, moreover, to the extent that cruelty is worse than luxury”
“Just as a bird cannot fly without the help of wings, so fasting cannot flow without its two wings - prayer and alms. Look at Cornelius, how, along with fasting, he also possessed these wings. That is why he heard a voice that was to him from heaven: “Cornelius, your prayers of your alms have come up” (Acts 10, 3-4) ”
“Prayer should always be connected with fasting... And prayers are performed with attention, especially during fasting, because then the soul is lighter, is not burdened by anything, and is not suppressed by the fatal burden of pleasures”
“A fasting person needs to abstain from food, but above all from sins… I would call a person who eats a thousand times more blessed than a person who fasts and does unrighteousness. I say this not to destroy the fast, but to call for piety. Not food is evil, but sin is evil"
“Let there be no excess; it contributes greatly to the health and strength of our body. Don't you see that countless diseases come from luxurious tables and immoderate satiety? Where does the disease in the legs come from? Where does head disease come from? Where does the multiplication of spoiled sputum come from? Why so many other diseases? Is it not from intemperance? Just as a crowded ship soon sinks and sinks, so a person, given over to overeating and drunkenness, rushes into the abyss, drowns his mind, and finally lies like a living corpse, often still able to do something bad, but capable of good no more than the dead. »
“The purpose of fasting is pure communion. For this reason, the Fathers spread the field of fasting and gave us a time for repentance, so that, having cleansed and washed ourselves, we would thus approach the Sacrament. Therefore, even now I cry out with a loud voice, testify, ask and beg - not with an unclean, not with a vicious conscience to start this sacred meal, because otherwise it will not be communion, .. but condemnation, torment and an increase in punishment.
“There are many people who, preparing to fight fasting, as if with a wild beast, protect themselves with gluttony, and, having burdened and darkened themselves to the extreme, very unwisely meet the quiet and meek face of fasting. And if I ask you: why are you going to the bathhouse today? - you will say: to meet the fast with a clean body. And if I ask: why do you get drunk? - you will say again: because I am preparing to enter the post. But isn’t it strange to meet this most beautiful fast with a clean body, but with an impure and intoxicated soul?”
“We should do this: not just go through the weeks of fasting, but examine our conscience, test our thoughts, and notice what we managed to do this week, what the next, what new things we undertook to achieve the next and what passions we have corrected. If we do not correct ourselves in this way and show such concern for our souls, then we will not benefit from fasting and abstinence to which we subject ourselves.
“In addition to abstaining from food, there are many ways that can open the doors of boldness before God for us. Whoever eats food and cannot fast, let him give the most abundant alms, let him make fervent prayers, let him show intense zeal for hearing the word of God—here bodily weakness does not hinder us in the least—let him reconcile with his enemies, let him banish all remembrance of malice from his soul. . If he does this, he will make a true fast, such as the Lord requires of us. Indeed, He commands the very abstinence from food so that we, curbing the desires of the flesh, make it obedient in fulfilling the commandments.
“Fasting, as a doctor of our souls, in one Christian humbles the flesh, in another it tames anger; it drives away sleep from one, arouses another to greater good deeds; in one it cleanses the mind and makes it free from evil thoughts, in another it binds an uncontrollable tongue and with the fear of God, like a bridle, restrains it, not allowing it to speak idle and rotten words; and in another he does not allow his eyes to look here and there and wonder what this or that one is doing, but he encourages everyone to listen to himself.
“Fasting is the beginning and foundation of all spiritual work. Whatever virtues you give back on the basis of fasting, they will all be unshakable and unshakable, as if built on a solid stone. And when you accept this foundation, that is, fasting, and put satiety of the womb and other inappropriate desires in its place, then all the virtues will be shaken and scattered from bad thoughts and from the stream of passions, like sand is blown by the wind, and the whole building of virtue collapses.
“It is written in the law that God commanded the children of Israel to give a tithe every year of everything they acquired, and in doing so, they had a blessing in all their affairs. Knowing this, St. The apostles established ... that we should separate a tithe from the very days of our life and dedicate it to God: so that we too would receive a blessing for all our deeds, and annually cleanse the sins we had committed during the year. Judging thus, they consecrated for us the seven weeks of Forty Days.”
“There are two kinds of gluttony: larynx and gluttony. The first kind is when a person seeks the pleasures of food; he does not always want to eat much, but he desires tasty things and is overcome by their pleasant taste. Gluttony is poly-eating, when a person does not even care about the taste of food, but strives to fill his womb.
“Whoever fasts out of vanity or, believing that he is doing a virtue, fasts foolishly and therefore begins to reproach his brother, considering himself someone significant. And whoever fasts wisely does not think that he is wisely doing a good deed, and does not want to be praised as a faster.
“Regarding the image of fasting, the same rule cannot be conveniently observed ... - the time, method and quality of nutrition should be different, precisely because of the unequal state of the bodies, or by age and sex; but everyone should have one rule of taming the flesh for temperance of the heart and strengthening of the spirit "
“Strict fasts are made in vain when they are followed by excessive consumption of food, which soon reaches the vice of gluttony”
“Suicides should be counted among those who do not change the strict rules of abstinence even when it is necessary to reinforce weakened forces by eating”
“Compress the stomach with abstinence, and thereby stop your mouth; for the tongue draws strength from a multitude of victuals."
“The living memory of death stops intemperance in food; and when intemperance in food is cut off with humility, then other passions are cut off at the same time.
“After we are satisfied, the spirit of gluttony departs, and sends the spirit of prodigal upon us, informing him of what state we are in, and saying: “Go and stir up such and such; his belly is full, and therefore you will labor a little.” This one, having come, smiles and, having tied our hands and feet with sleep, he does everything he wants with us.
“He who serves his own belly, and meanwhile wants to overcome the spirit of fornication, is like one who extinguishes a fire with oil”
“Just as the desire for light is characteristic of healthy eyes, so fasting observed with prudence is characteristic of the desire for prayer.”
“He who is clothed in the weapon of fasting is inflamed with jealousy at all times. For even the zealot Elijah, when he was zealous for the law of God, continued in this work - in fasting ”
“From the meal of those who fast… borrow for yourself the medicine of life, and awaken your soul from mortification. For among them, sanctifying them, the Beloved reclines, and the labor of fasting and their deeds transforms into His inscrutable sweetness; and His heavenly servants overshadow them and their holy feasts. I know one of the brethren who saw it clearly with his own eyes."
“There is a bodily fast, there is a spiritual fast. There is a bodily fast when the womb fasts from food and drink; there is spiritual fasting when the soul refrains from evil thoughts, deeds and words. A good faster is one who shuns all evil. If you wish, Christian, that fasting be useful to you, then, fasting bodily, fast spiritually, and always fast.
“It is appropriate, therefore, to measure the image of bodily nutrition with the state of strength and strength of the body: when it is healthy, oppress it as much as necessary, and when it is weak, loosen it a little. The ascetic should not relax his body, but be in strength, as much as is required for the achievement, so that even though bodily labors, the soul is properly cleansed. ”
St. Asterius of Amasia
“Lent is the teacher of moderation, the mother of virtue, the educator of the children of God, the leader of the disorderly, the tranquility of souls, the support of life, the world is strong and unperturbed; its severity and importance calms passions, quenches anger and rage, cools and calms all sorts of unrest arising from overeating.
Rev. Macarius Optinsky
“We must be, according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, not body-killers, but passion-killers, that is, to destroy passions in ourselves”
holy Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow
“The Apostle Paul said: if one of the unbelievers calls you and you want to go, then eat everything that is offered to you without any research, for peace of mind (1 Cor. 10, 27) - for the sake of the person who welcomed you cordially”
“Imprudent people are jealous of the fasting and labors of the saints with wrong understanding and intention, and think that they are passing through virtue. The devil, guarding them as his prey, casts into them the seed of a joyful opinion of himself, from which the inner Pharisee is born and nurtured and betrays them to perfect pride.
What is blessed at the meal during the Nativity (Philippov) Lent?
Advent meal prescriptions
According to the rules of abstinence, the Nativity fast is close to Peter's fast. According to the church charter, meat, dairy products and eggs are excluded on all days of fasting. In addition, it is prescribed:
- on Tuesdays, Thursdays - hot food with vegetable oil;
- on Saturdays and Sundays - hot vegetable food with vegetable oil, fish, wine;
- November 21 (December 4), on the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos - hot vegetable food with vegetable oil, fish, wine;
From December 20 (January 2) to December 23 (January 5) inclusive (the period of the prefeast of the Nativity of Christ):
- on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - dry eating;
- on Tuesdays and Thursdays, on Saturdays and Sundays - hot food with vegetable oil;
- December 24 (January 6), Christmas Eve - hot food with vegetable oil (according to the Charter); in addition, according to custom, they eat sochivo (kolivo) - a sweet porridge made from wheat, rice or other cereals, usually only after vespers.
On the days when wine is allowed, it is meant to be consumed in moderation.
