What is this post for? What is fasting, how to properly observe its traditions. Why is fasting and all these restrictions needed at all? What is the connection between hunger and holiday

This race can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.

(Matthew 9:29)

When you fasted... Did you fast for me?

.(Zech. 7, 5)

Instructions for a Christian to fast can vary greatly depending on the health of the Christian's body. It may be in perfect health in a young person, not so healthy in an elderly person, or in a serious illness. Hence, the instructions of the church on fasting (on Wednesdays and Fridays) or during periods of multi-day fasts (Rozhdestven, Great, Petrov and Assumption) can vary greatly depending on the age and physical state of a person’s health. All instructions fully apply only to a physically healthy person. In case of physical illness or for the elderly, the instructions should be taken carefully and judiciously.

Just as often among those who consider themselves Christians, one can find disdain for fasting and a misunderstanding of its meaning and essence.

Fasting is viewed by them as something obligatory only for monks, dangerous or harmful to health, as a relic from the old ritual - a dead letter of the rule, which it is time to do away with, or, in any case, as something unpleasant and burdensome.

It should be noted to all who think this way that they do not understand either the purpose of fasting or the purpose of the Christian life. Perhaps it is in vain that they call themselves Christians, since they live with their hearts together with the godless world, which has a cult of its body and self-indulgence.

A Christian, first of all, should think not about the body, but about his soul and worry about its health. And if he really began to think about it, he would rejoice at the fast, in which the entire environment is aimed at healing the soul, just as in a sanatorium - at healing the body.

The time of fasting is a time of particular importance for spiritual life, it is “an acceptable time, it is a day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

If the soul of a Christian yearns for purity and seeks mental health, then it should try to make the best possible use of this time that is beneficial for the soul.

That is why among true lovers of God mutual congratulations on the onset of fasting are common.

But what exactly is fasting? And isn’t there self-deception among those who consider it necessary to fulfill this only to the letter, but do not love it and are burdened by it in their hearts? And is it possible to call fasting only the observance of the rules about not eating meat on fast days?

Will fasting be fasting if, apart from some changes in the composition of food, we think neither about repentance, nor about abstinence, nor about cleansing the heart through intense prayer?

One must assume that this will not be fasting, although all the rules and customs of fasting will be observed. St. Barsanuphius the Great says: “Physical fasting means nothing without the spiritual fasting of the inner man, which consists of protecting oneself from passions.

This fast of the inner man is pleasing to God and will compensate for your lack of bodily fasting” (if you cannot observe the latter as you would like).

St. says the same thing. John Chrysostom: “Whoever limits fasting to one abstinence from food greatly dishonors him. It’s not just the mouth that should fast; no, let the eye, the ear, the hands, the feet, and our whole body fast.”

As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov: “In the dormitories there is a fundamental misunderstanding of fasting. What is more important is not fasting in itself, like not eating this and that or depriving yourself of something in the form of punishment - fasting is only a proven way to achieve the desired results - through exhaustion of the body, to reach the refinement of spiritual mystical abilities, darkened by the flesh, and thereby facilitating your approach to God...

Fasting is not hunger. A diabetic, a fakir, a yogi, a prisoner, and just a beggar are starving. Nowhere in the Lent services does it speak of fasting only in our ordinary sense, i.e. like not eating meat, etc. Everywhere there is one call: “we fast, brothers, physically, we fast and spiritually.” Consequently, fasting only has a religious meaning when it is combined with spiritual exercises. Fasting is equal to refinement. A normal, biologically prosperous person is inaccessible to the influence of higher powers. Fasting undermines a person’s physical well-being, and then he becomes more accessible to the influences of another world, and his spiritual filling begins.”

As mentioned earlier, the human soul is seriously ill. The Church sets aside certain days and periods of time in the year when a person’s attention should be especially focused on healing from mental illness. These are fasting and fast days.

According to Bishop Herman: “Fasting is pure abstinence in order to restore the lost balance between body and spirit, in order to return to our spirit its supremacy over the body and its passions.”

Fasting, of course, has other goals (they will be discussed below), but the main one is the expulsion of the evil spirit - the ancient serpent - from one’s soul. “This race is driven out only by prayer and fasting,” the Lord said to His disciples.

The Lord Himself showed us an example of fasting, fasting for 40 days in the desert, from where “he returned in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14).

As St. says Isaac the Syrian: “Fasting is a weapon prepared by God... If the Lawgiver Himself fasted, then how could anyone who was obligated to keep the law not fast?..

Before fasting, the human race did not know victory and the devil never experienced defeat... Our Lord was the leader and firstborn of this victory...

And as soon as the devil sees this weapon on one of the people, this enemy and tormentor immediately comes into fear, thinking and remembering his defeat in the desert by the Savior, and his strength is crushed... He who remains in fasting has an unshakable mind” (Word thirty).

It is quite obvious that the feat of repentance and prayer during fasting should be accompanied by thoughts about one’s sinfulness and, of course, abstinence from all entertainment - going to theaters, cinema and guests, light reading, cheerful music, watching TV for entertainment, etc. If all this still attracts the heart of a Christian, then let him make an effort to tear his heart away from it, at least during the days of fasting.

Here we need to remember that on Fridays, St. Seraphim not only fasted, but also remained in strict silence on this day. As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov: “Lent is a period of spiritual effort. If we cannot give our whole lives to God, then let us devote at least periods of fasting completely to Him - we will strengthen prayer, increase mercy, tame passions, and make peace with our enemies.”

The words of the wise Solomon apply here: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. …a time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance... a time to be silent and a time to speak,” etc. (Eccl. 3:1-7).

For physically healthy people, the basis of fasting is considered to be abstinence from food. Here we can distinguish 5 degrees of physical fasting:

1) Refusal of meat.

2) Refusal of dairy.

3) Refusal of fish.

4) Refusal of oil.

5) Depriving yourself of food for any period of time.

Naturally, only healthy people can go to the last stages of fasting. For the sick and elderly, the first degree of fasting is more consistent with the rules.

The strength and effectiveness of fasting can be assessed by the strength of deprivation and sacrifice. And naturally, not only the formal replacement of the fast table with a fast table constitutes a true fast: you can prepare delicious dishes from fast food and thus, to some extent, satisfy both your voluptuousness and your greed for it.

We must remember that it is indecent for someone who repents and grieves over his sins to eat sweet and plentiful meals during fasting, even if they are (formally) lenten dishes. We can say that there will be no fasting if a person gets up from the table with delicious lean dishes and a feeling of a full stomach.

There will be few sacrifices and hardships, and without them there will be no true fasting.

“Why do we fast, but You don’t see?” cries the prophet Isaiah, denouncing the Jews, who hypocritically observed rituals, but whose hearts were far from God and His commandments (Is. 58:3).

In some cases, sick Christians replace (on their own or on the advice of their confessors) abstinence in food with “spiritual fasting.” The latter is often understood as stricter attention to oneself: keeping oneself from irritability, condemnation, and quarrels. All this, of course, is good, but in ordinary times can a Christian allow himself to sin, or get irritated, or condemn? It is quite obvious that a Christian must always “be sober” and be attentive, protecting himself from sin and everything that can offend the Holy Spirit. If he is unable to control himself, then this will probably happen equally both on ordinary days and during fasting. Hence, replacing a food fast with a similar “spiritual” fast is most often self-deception.

Therefore, in those cases when, due to illness or a large shortage of food, a Christian cannot observe the usual norms of fasting, then let him do everything he can in this regard, for example: give up all entertainment, sweets and delicacies, fast at least on Wednesday and Friday, will try to ensure that the most delicious food is served only on holidays. If a Christian, due to old age or ill health, cannot refuse fasting food, then he should at least limit it somewhat on fasting days, for example, not eat meat - in a word, to one degree or another, still join the fast.

Some refuse to fast for fear of weakening their health, showing morbid suspiciousness and lack of faith, and always strive to feed themselves abundantly with quick food in order to achieve good health and to maintain the “fatness” of the body. And how often they suffer from all sorts of diseases of the stomach, intestines, kidneys, teeth...

In addition to showing your feelings of repentance and hatred of sin, fasting has other sides. Fasting times are not random days.

Wednesday is the tradition of the Savior - the highest of the moments of the fall and shame of the human soul, going in the person of Judas to betray the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver.

Friday is the endurance of mockery, painful suffering and death on the cross of the Redeemer of mankind. Remembering them, how can a Christian not limit himself through abstinence?

Great Lent is the path of the God-man to the Calvary sacrifice.

The human soul has no right, does not dare, unless it is a Christian, to pass indifferently past these majestic days - significant milestones in time.

How dare she later - at the Last Judgment, stand at the right hand of the Lord, if she is indifferent to His sorrow, blood and suffering in those days when the Universal Church - Earthly and Heavenly - remembers them.

What should the post consist of? It is impossible to give a general measure here. It will depend on your state of health, age and living conditions. But here you must certainly touch a nerve with your carnality and voluptuousness.

At the present time - a time of weakening and decline of faith - those regulations on fasting, which in the old days were strictly observed by pious Russian families, seem unattainable to us.

Here, for example, is what Lent consists of according to the church charter, the obligatory nature of which applied equally to both the monk and the layman.

According to this charter, during Great Lent it is necessary to: complete abstinence for the whole day, Monday and Tuesday of the first week and Friday of Holy Week.

Only the weaker can eat food on Tuesday evening of the first week. On all other days of Lent, except Saturdays and Sundays, only dry food is allowed and only once a day - bread, vegetables, peas - without oil and water.

Boiled food with vegetable oil is only allowed on Saturdays and Sundays. Wine is allowed only on days of church remembrance and during long services (for example, on Thursday in the fifth week). Fish - only on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Palm Sunday.

Although such a measure seems excessively harsh to us, it is, however, achievable for a healthy body.

In the everyday life of an old Russian Orthodox family one can see the strict observance of fasting days and fasts. Even princes and kings fasted in a way that, perhaps, many of the monks do not fast now.

Thus, during Lent, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich dined only three times a week - on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and on the other days he ate only a piece of black bread with salt, a pickled mushroom or cucumber, washed down with kvass.

Some Egyptian monks in ancient times practiced complete forty-day abstinence from food during Lent, following in this regard the example of Moses and the Lord Himself.

Forty-day fasts were carried out twice by one of the brothers of the Optina Monastery - Schemamonk Vassian, who lived there in the middle of the 19th century. This schema-monk, by the way, is the same as St. Seraphim, to a large extent, ate grass “sniff”. He lived to be 90 years old.

For 37 days, nun Lyubov of the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery did not eat or drink (except for one communion). It should be noted that during this fast she did not feel any weakening of strength and, as they said about her, “her voice thundered in the choir as if even stronger than before.”

She made this fast before Christmas; it ended at the end of the Christmas liturgy, when she suddenly felt an irresistible desire to eat. Unable to control herself any longer, she immediately went to the kitchen to eat.

It should be noted, however, that the norm described above and recommended by the church for Lent is no longer considered by everyone to be so strictly obligatory for everyone. The Church recommends, as a known minimum, only a transition from fasting to lenten food in accordance with its instructions for each of the fasts and fasting days.

Compliance with this norm is considered mandatory for completely healthy people. Still, she leaves more to the zeal and zeal of every Christian: “I want mercy, not sacrifice,” says the Lord (Matthew 9:13). At the same time, we must remember that fasting is necessary not for the Lord, but for ourselves for the salvation of our soul. “When you fasted... were you fasting for Me?” says the Lord through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah (7:5).

There is another side to the post. His time is over. The Church solemnly celebrates the holiday that ends Lent.

Can someone who, to some extent, has not partaken in this fast, celebrate and experience this holiday with dignity? No, he will feel like the impudent one in the Lord’s parable, who dared to come to the feast “not wearing wedding clothes,” i.e. not in spiritual clothing, purified by repentance and fasting.

Even if a person, out of habit, went to a festive service and sat down at the festive table, he would only feel an uneasiness of conscience and a coldness in his heart. And his inner ear will hear the formidable words of the Lord addressed to him: “Friend, how did you come here not wearing wedding clothes?” And his soul will be “thrown into outer darkness,” i.e. will remain in the grip of despondency and sadness, in an atmosphere of spiritual hunger - “crying and gnashing of teeth.”

Pity yourself, those who neglect, shun and run from fasting.

Fasting is the cultivation of the ability of the human spirit to fight against its enslavers - Satan and the softened and spoiled body. The latter must be obedient to the spirit, but in reality most often it is the master of the soul.

As the shepherd Father John S. writes (holy right. John of Kronstadt - editor's note): “Whoever rejects fasting takes away both from himself and from others weapons against his many-passionate flesh and against the devil, who are strong against us especially through our intemperance, from which all sin arises.”

True fasting is a struggle; this is in the full sense of the word “narrow and straitened path”, the salvation of which the Lord spoke about.

The Lord commands to hide your fast from others (Matthew 6:18). But a Christian may not be able to hide his fast from his neighbors. Then it may happen that relatives and friends will take up arms against the fasting person: “have pity on yourself, don’t torture yourself, don’t kill yourself,” etc.

Gentle at first, the persuasion of relatives can then turn into irritation and reproaches. The spirit of darkness will rise up against the one who fasts through his loved ones, gives arguments against fasting and sends temptations, as he once tried to do with the Lord fasting in the desert.

Let the Christian foresee all this in advance. Let him also not expect that when he begins fasting, he will immediately receive some kind of gracious consolation, warmth in his heart, tears of repentance and concentration in prayer.

This does not come immediately, it must still be earned through struggle, feat and sacrifice: “serve me, and then eat and drink yourself,” says the parable to the servant (Luke 17:8). Those who have gone through the path of severe fasting even testify to the weakening of prayer and dulling of interest in spiritual reading at the beginning of fasting.

Fasting is a treatment, and the latter is often not easy. And only at the end of its course can one expect recovery, and from fasting can one expect the fruits of the Holy Spirit - peace, joy and love.

In essence, fasting is a feat and is associated with faith and boldness. Fasting is pleasing and pleasing to the Lord as an impulse of the soul reaching for purity, striving to throw off the chains of sin and free the spirit from slavery to the body.

The Church also considers it one of the effective means by which one can shift the wrath of God to mercy or bend the will of the Lord to fulfill a prayer request.

Thus, in the Acts of the Apostles it is described how the Antiochian Christians, before setting off to preach to Sts. App. Paul and Barnabas “committed fasting and prayer” (Acts 13:3).

Therefore, fasting is practiced in the church as a means of preparing oneself for any undertaking. Having a need for something, individual Christians, monks, monasteries or churches imposed fasting on themselves with intense prayer.

In addition, fasting has one more positive side, which the Angel drew attention to in the vision of Hermas (see the book “Shepherd Hermas”).

By replacing fast food with simpler and cheaper food, or reducing its quantity, a Christian can reduce his own costs. And this will give him the opportunity to devote more funds to works of mercy.

The angel gave the following instruction to Hermas: “On the day on which you fast, eat nothing except bread and water, and having calculated the expenses that you would have made on this day for food, following the example of previous days, set aside the remainder from this day and give it to the widow. , orphan or poor; in this way you will humble your soul, and the one who receives from you will be satisfied and will pray to God for you.”

The angel also pointed out to Hermas that fasting is not an end in itself, but only an auxiliary means to cleansing the heart. And the fast of one who strives for this goal and does not fulfill the commandments of God cannot be pleasing to God and is fruitless.

Essentially, the attitude towards fasting is a touchstone for the soul of a Christian in his relationship to the Church of Christ, and through the latter - to Christ.

As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov: “...In fasting, a person reveals himself: some manifest the highest abilities of the spirit, while others only become irritable and angry - fasting reveals the true essence of a person.”

A soul living by living faith in Christ cannot neglect fasting. Otherwise, she will unite herself with those who are indifferent to Christ and religion, with those who, according to Archpriest. Valentin Sventsitsky:

“Everyone eats - even on Maundy Thursday, when the Last Supper is celebrated and the Son of Man is betrayed; and on Good Friday, when we hear the cry of the Mother of God at the tomb of the Crucified Son on the day of His burial.

For such people there is neither Christ, nor the Mother of God, nor the Last Supper, nor Golgotha. What kind of post can they have?”

Addressing Christians, Fr. Valentin writes: “Keep and observe fasting as a great church shrine. Every time you abstain from what is prohibited during the days of fasting, you are with the whole Church. You are doing in complete unanimity and unity of feeling what the entire Church and all the holy saints of God have been doing since the very first days of the Church’s existence. And this will give you strength and firmness in your spiritual life.”

The meaning and purpose of fasting in the life of a Christian can be summarized by the following words of St. Isaac the Syrian:

“Fasting is the guardianship of all virtue, the beginning of struggle, the crown of the abstinent, the beauty of virginity, the source of chastity and prudence, the teacher of silence, the predecessor of all good deeds...

From fasting and abstinence a fruit is born in the soul - knowledge of the mysteries of God.”

Discretion in fasting

I want mercy, not sacrifice.

(Matthew 9:13)

Show... in virtue prudence.

(2 Pet. 1, 5)

Everything good in us has a certain trait,

crossing which unnoticed turns into evil.

(Arch. Valentin Sventsitsky)

All of the above about fasting applies, however, we repeat, only to healthy people. As with any virtue, fasting also requires prudence.

As Rev. writes. Cassian the Roman: “Extremes, as the holy fathers say, are equally harmful on both sides - both excess of fasting and satiety of the belly. We know some who, not being overcome by gluttony, were overthrown by immeasurable fasting, and fell into the same passion of gluttony, due to weakness resulting from excessive fasting.

Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, you can move on to correct action, but from the former you cannot.

The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, ate as much food as was necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety required.

A monk should conduct the matter of fasting as wisely as if he had been in the body for a hundred years; and thus curb spiritual movements - forget grievances, cut off sadness, put sorrows at nothing - as one who can die every day.”

It is worth remembering how ap. Paul warned those who fasted foolishly (willfully and arbitrarily) - “this has only the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility and weariness of the body, in some neglect of the saturation of the flesh” (Col. 2, 23).

At the same time, fasting is not a ritual, but a secret of the human soul, which the Lord orders to be hidden from others.

The Lord says: “When you fast, do not be sad, like the hypocrites, for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people as fasting. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward.

And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may appear fasting not before men, but before your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:16-18).

And therefore, a Christian must hide both his repentance - prayer and inner tears, as well as his fasting and his abstinence in food.

Here you must be afraid of any revelation of your difference from others and be able to hide your feat and your deprivations from them.

Here are a few examples from the lives of saints and ascetics.

St. Macarius the Great never drank wine. However, when he visited other monks, he did not refuse wine, hiding his abstinence.

But his disciples tried to warn their owners, telling them: “If he drinks wine from you, then know that when he returns home, he will deprive himself of even water.”

The Optina elder Leonid once had to live for several days with the diocesan bishop. The latter’s table was abundant with fish and various tasty dishes, sharply different from the modest monastery meal of the Optina Hermitage.

The elder did not refuse delicious dishes, but when he returned to Optina, he deprived himself of food for several days, as if making up for the abstinence he had lost while visiting.

In all those cases when a faster must take food together with other, more infirm brothers, he should not, according to the instructions of the holy fathers, reproach them with his abstinence.

So Saint Abba Isaiah writes: “If you absolutely want to abstain more than others, then retire to a separate cell and do not upset your weak brother.”

Not only for the sake of preserving oneself from vanity, one must strive not to expose one’s post.

If the post for some reason confuses others, causes their reproaches, or perhaps ridicule, accusations of hypocrisy, etc. - and in these cases one must try to keep the secret of fasting, preserving it in spirit, but deviating from it formally. The command of the Lord has an application here: “Do not cast your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).

Fasting will also be unreasonable when it interferes with the hospitality of those who treat you; By this we will reproach those around us for neglecting fasting.

The following story is told about the Moscow Metropolitan Philaret: one day he came to his spiritual children just in time for dinner. Out of duty of hospitality, he had to be invited to dinner. Meat was served at the table, and it was a fast day.

The metropolitan showed no sign and, without embarrassing the hosts, partook of the humble meal. Thus, he placed condescension towards the weaknesses of his spiritual neighbors and love higher than observing fasting.

Church institutions generally cannot be treated formally, and, while ensuring the exact execution of the rules, no exceptions should be made from the latter. We must also remember the words of the Lord that “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

As Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow writes: “There were examples that even monks, such as St. John Climacus, ate all kinds of food and even meat at all times.

But how much? So much so that I could only live, and this did not prevent him from worthily communing the Holy Mysteries and, finally, did not prevent him from becoming a saint...

Of course, it is not prudent to break the fast unnecessarily by eating fast food. Anyone who can observe fasting by sorting food, do so; but, most importantly, observe and do not break your spiritual fast, and then your fast will be pleasing to God.

But whoever does not have the opportunity to sort out food, eat everything that God gives, but without excess; but be sure to fast strictly with your soul, mind and thoughts, and then your fast will be as pleasing to God as the fast of the strictest hermit.

The purpose of fasting is to lighten and pacify the body, curb desires and disarm passions.

That’s why the church, when asking you about food, is not so much asking about what food do you eat? - how much about what you use it for?

The Lord Himself approved of the action of King David when, out of necessity, he had to break the rule and eat “the shewbread, which neither he nor those who were with him were to eat” (Matthew 12:4).

Therefore, taking into account the need, it is possible, even with a sick and weak body and old age, to make concessions and exceptions during fasting.

St. ap. Paul writes to his disciple Timothy: “From now on, drink more than just water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Tim. 5:23).

And illness is more than this punishment and is charged instead of fasting - it is valued even more than it. Whoever endures it with patience, thanking God, through patience receives the fruit of his salvation.

Instead of weakening the strength of the body by fasting, it is already weakened by illness.

Thank God that you have been freed from the labor of fasting. Even if you eat ten times a day, do not be sad: you will not be condemned for that, since you are not doing this to please yourself.”

On the correctness of the norm of fasting, St. Barsanuphius and John also give the following instruction: “Concerning fasting, I will say: examine your heart, whether it has been stolen by vanity, and if it has not been stolen, examine again, whether this fasting does not make you weak in doing things, for this weakness should not exist, and if this does not harm you, your fast is correct.”

As the hermit Nicephorus said in V. Sventsitsky’s book “Citizens of Heaven”: “The Lord requires not hunger, but heroism. A feat is what a person can do the greatest within his own strength, and the rest is by grace. Our strength is now weak, and the Lord does not require great feats from us.

I tried to fast hard, and I see that I can’t. I’m exhausted - I don’t have the strength to pray as I should. One day I was so weak from fasting that I couldn’t read the rules to get up.”

Here is an example of an incorrect post.

Ep. Herman writes: “Exhaustion is a sign of incorrect fasting; it is as harmful as satiety. And the great elders ate soup with butter during the first week of Lent. There is no point in crucifying sick flesh, but must be supported.”

So, any weakening of health and ability to work during fasting already indicates its incorrectness and excess of its norm.

“I would rather be exhausted from work than from fasting,” one shepherd told his spiritual children.

It is best when fasting people are guided by the instructions of experienced spiritual leaders. We should remember the following incident from the life of St. Pachomius the Great. In one of his monasteries, a monk was lying in the hospital, exhausted by illness. He asked the servants to give him some meat. They refused his request, based on the rules of the monastery charter. The patient asked to be referred to as St. Pachomius. The monk was struck by the extreme exhaustion of the monk, began to cry, looking at the sick man, and began to reproach the hospital brethren for their hardness of heart. He ordered that the patient’s request be immediately fulfilled in order to strengthen his weakened body and encourage his sad soul.

The wise ascetic of piety, Abbess Arsenia, wrote to the elderly and sick brother of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov during the days of Great Lent: “I am afraid that you are burdening yourself with heavy fasting food and I ask you to forget that now is fasting, and eat fast food, nutritious and light. The difference of days was given to us by the church, like a bridle to healthy flesh, but to you the sickness and infirmity of old age was given.”

However, those who break fast due to illness or other infirmity should still remember that there may also be a certain amount of lack of faith and intemperance.

Therefore, when the spiritual children of the elder Fr. Alexei Zosimovsky had to break the fast according to the doctor’s orders, then the elder ordered in these cases to curse himself and pray like this: “Lord, forgive me that, according to the doctor’s orders, due to my weakness, I broke the holy fast,” and not to think that it was like that and necessary.

Speaking about fasting as about scarcity and a change in the composition of food, it should be noted that this feat is imputed to nothing by the Lord if a Christian does not at the same time keep the Lord’s commandments about love, mercy, selfless service to others, in a word, everything that is asked from him on the day of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).

This is already stated with exhaustive clarity in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Jews cry out to God: “Why do we fast, but You don’t see? We humble our souls, but You don’t know?” The Lord, through the mouth of the prophet, answers them: “On the day of your fast, you do your will and demand hard work from others. So you fast for quarrels and strife and in order to beat others with a bold hand: you do not fast at this time so that your voice is heard on high. Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man languishes his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads rags and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord? This is the fast that I have chosen: loose the chains of unrighteousness, untie the bonds of the yoke, set the oppressed free and break every yoke; divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your home; When you see a naked person, dress him and do not hide from your half-blood. Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; You will cry out and He will say: “Here am I”” (Is. 58: 3-9).

This wonderful passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah denounces many - both ordinary Christians and shepherds of the flock of Christ. He denounces those who think to be saved only by observing the letter of fasting and forgetting about the commandments of mercy, love for one’s neighbor and service to them. He denounces those shepherds who “bind heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4). These are the shepherds who demand from their spiritual children strict adherence to the “rules” of fasting, without taking into account their advanced age or their sick condition. After all, the Lord said: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13).

Everyone knows that a believer must fast, however, not everyone knows the true meaning of fasting, its main purpose and mechanism.

For people who have weak faith and are ignorant of the fundamental principles of the Orthodox Church, but at the same time sincerely strive to know them and live according to the Law of God, it is of utmost importance to understand the purpose of fasting, accept and understand its components, and only then begin to fast. For the fast will not be useful if the believer does not realize its true necessity.

What is fasting?

Fasting is a religious tradition of temporary complete or partial refusal to eat and drink, associated with a number of other various spiritual and ascetic practices. At the same time, fasting should be a voluntary act performed for the glory of the Lord God.

The post implies:

- abstaining from tasty and satisfying food, and all kinds of entertainment;

- a thorough and deep examination of your soul and cleansing of its sinfulness;

- sincerely encouraging oneself to do good deeds, to communicate with God through prayer and reflection on one’s spiritual purpose.

The result of fasting is spiritual growth, its benefit is staying in deep concentration and sobriety, in a heartfelt and unwavering call to God that He be present in the life of the believer, forgive him and direct him to the righteous path.

The essence of the post.

Man is designed in such a way that his flesh constantly and powerfully exerts pressure on his soul. Each of us constantly resists such carnal pressure. For the bodily side of a person craves what is contrary to the spiritual side, and the spirit, accordingly, desires what is contrary to the flesh. It is Orthodox fasting that helps the believer to tame his flesh and cope with its sinful desires.

A Christian, temporarily abandoning what he is accustomed to and without which he cannot imagine his own life, educates his soul, teaches it to resist its carnal demands. Fasting for a believer is, first of all, an “educator” of the soul. That is why you need to fast consciously, for the purpose of spiritual development, and not for the sake of bragging and the approval of others.

To understand the mechanism of fasting, it is necessary to first understand that fasting should not be regarded from the point of view of the category of changing the type of food consumed, it is important to perceive fasting as a time of strict abstinence, deliberate limitation of oneself and the opportunity to develop fortitude in oneself.

When considering the mechanism of fasting, it is necessary to take into account the natural needs of a person, which determine his all-round growth and development. However, it is important to understand that you don’t need much to satisfy them. All excesses are carnal desires that have enslaved the soul of a sinner. Each of us must strive to get rid of this slavery and make our flesh weaker and more infirm through fasting.

Of course, fasting does not provide complete liberation from bodily passions, but it helps to suppress their strength and power. Fasting does not eradicate sinful passions; it weakens the flesh and its influence on the soul.

For every believer, fasting should not be an end in itself, but an auxiliary means that allows one to tame the flesh and elevate the spirit.

When deciding to fast, it is important to compare the degree of fasting with the physical state of health in which the believer is, i.e. The degree of fasting should be determined by the degree of health of the person. There are five main degrees of fasting:

- the first degree allows the consumption of fish and any vegetable products (both raw and cooked);

- the second degree allows you to eat vegetables and boiled fruits flavored with vegetable oil;

— the third degree allows you to eat only boiled food without adding vegetable oil;

- the fourth degree is characterized by dry eating (uncooked plant foods without oil);

- the fifth degree prescribes complete abstinence from food, in which only water intake is allowed.

In the old days, people were healthier than they are now. The main set of church rules was written taking into account the fact that most people during fasting achieved its main goal - to make the flesh weaker and more frail for the benefit of spiritual growth.

However, the current generation, with numerous serious and chronic diseases, is not always able to receive true benefits from fasting. In this connection, for some people it is necessary to determine the relaxation of fasting. Children, pregnant women, people suffering from a serious illness or those engaged in heavy physical labor, according to the instructions of the priest, can receive an individual degree of strictness of fasting, corresponding to their state of health and the characteristics of the body that they possess.

Accompany fasting with frantic prayer, sincere faith and boundless love, and then it will have real value, correct meaning and true meaning!

Christian life is unthinkable without heroism. That is, without the effort that the faithful make, guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, to get rid of the yoke of sin and the domination of passions, and to selflessly follow the will of the Lord. To live in Christ and be a living member of His Body, which is the Church.

In this ascetic effort, fasting occupies a particularly significant place. It represents one of the most effective weapons in our spiritual struggle. The word of God testifies to this. This is revealed to us from the lives of the saints. This is what our Church believes and teaches, which perceives fasting as one of its most ancient and sacred institutions.

However, fasting, like other church institutions, especially in our days, is in danger of losing its meaning or becoming useless! And, unfortunately, this also happens among many of those Christians who zealously preserve and strictly fulfill the institutions of the Church.

So, some Christians - either through ignorance or carelessness - underestimate the importance of fasting and do not observe it. Others keep it to some extent, but do it formally. They do not have the necessary understanding of its deep meaning, they have no knowledge of what concerns fasting and what a conscious believer needs to know. Thus, observing fasting turns into a formal action that does not have the deep meaning that is invested in it by the faith and experience of the Church.

Archimandrite Simeon Kutsas

St. Augustine says: “If you are asked: why do you fast and torment yourself? answer: a mad horse that cannot be tamed with a bridle must be pacified with hunger and thirst.”

Fasting as a medicine to curb the evil, proud and proud “I” sitting inside us requires an appropriate dosage. The most ideal dosage is that established by the liturgical regulations of the Church. It is given in the Orthodox church calendar.

The individual dosage of fasting again depends on the measure of our love for other people. The more passions of pride, malice, envy, fornication towards other people in our hearts, the more food is required to restore the energy expended in satisfying these passions. The purer our heart, the more peace and love there is in it, the less our body needs bodily food. That is why the great saints, living in the desert, cleansing their souls of passions, could spend many days without food. They ate very little. Their diet included dry bread, water, plant roots, and some vegetables. The Monk Anthony the Great was even embarrassed to eat in front of others. Anyone who has visited monasteries could not pay attention to the fact that, despite the meager ration of monastic food, it is unusually tasty. It is much better than gourmet restaurant dishes because it is prepared with love.

But what about those who are just beginning to comprehend the essence of spiritual life in the Church, who have not yet seen the deep ulcers of sin in themselves, as well as those who have poor physical health?

Such people need to start their fast small. In the beginning, you need to fast (do not eat meat or milk) at least on Friday. Then add another day - Wednesday. During the period of Great Lent, make the fast even more intense - fast the first and last week before Easter. In this way, fasting will gradually turn into a habit. And the soul itself, for the sake of acquiring peace, love, mercy, will thirst for fasting.

In addition to abstaining from fast food, one must sharply limit watching entertaining television programs and listening to modern music. Fasting and prayer are two wings and cannot be separated in any way, because with one wing you cannot fly anywhere. Whoever fasts without prayer, without reconciliation with his neighbors, can greatly harm his health. Every Sunday it is necessary to visit the temple of God and at least once a month to confess your sins and receive Holy Communion. Christ's Mysteries. Every time in the temple, it is as if a meeting of the general staff for the salvation of the soul is held, at which attentive people are given important instructions and grace-filled forces to put these instructions into practice.

1. Why is fasting needed? The Holy Fathers instruct that fasting is an irreplaceable means for achieving spiritual renewal and growth; without it, it is impossible for a person to fight passions and temptations and prepare his soul for the action of the saving grace of God.

St. Theophan the Recluse explains the purpose and meaning of fasting by the fact that works of abstinence and good deeds give scope for the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit in us:

“What digging the earth in the material is like feats of self-mortification in the spiritual. What moisture and warmth are in the material are the works of good deeds and piety in the spiritual. God spoke to Noah’s contemporaries: “My Spirit shall not dwell in these men... they are flesh” (Gen. 6:3). Consequently, He will dwell where the flesh is crucified with passions and lusts or where feats of self-sacrifice are carried out. The Apostle writes: “Do not quench the spirit, or: do not offend the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you are marked on the day of deliverance” (Eph. 4:30) - and then lists the passions that should be avoided, and the virtues in which one should excel; therefore, the Spirit does not fade away there, where there is a struggle with passions and the work of doing good. In another place he teaches: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, making melody and singing in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18, 19). Consequently, where there is singing, church and home prayer, and acts of piety in general, there will be the filling of the Spirit or the manifestation of the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Feats of self-sacrifice, works of good deeds and piety give scope to the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit in us, and it, hidden, then comes to light and its action shows both the grace bearer and others.”

St. rights John of Kronstadt:

By eating extensively, you become a carnal man, not having a spirit, or soulless flesh, and by fasting, you attract the Holy Spirit to yourself and become spiritual. Take cotton paper that has not been moistened with water. It is light and, in small quantities, floats in the air, but if you wet it with water, it becomes heavy and immediately falls to the floor. So it is with the soul. Oh, how one must protect the soul through fasting!

What is this Lent all about? He is a precious gift to us from our Savior, Who Himself fasted for forty days and nights, neither eating nor drinking, a truly precious gift for all those seeking salvation, as a mortifier of spiritual passions. By His word and example, the Lord legitimized it to His followers. ...Fasting with prayer is a sure weapon against the devil and the multi-passionate flesh. Let no one pretend that fasting is not necessary.

It (fasting) pacifies our sinful, whimsical flesh, frees the soul from under its weight, giving it, as it were, wings to soar freely to heaven, and gives room for the action of God’s grace. Whoever fasts freely and correctly knows how light and bright the soul is during fasting; then good thoughts come easily to the head, and the heart becomes purer, more tender, more compassionate - we feel the desire for good deeds; Contrition for sins appears, the soul begins to feel the disastrousness of its situation and begins to lament for sins. And when we do not fast, when thoughts are in disorder, feelings are unbridled and the will allows itself everything, then you rarely see a saving change in a person, then he is dead in his soul: all its forces act in the wrong direction; the main goal of action - the goal of life - is lost sight of; there are many private goals, almost as many as each person has passions or whims.

Fasting is a good teacher: 1) it quickly makes it clear to everyone who fasts that every person needs very little food and drink and that in general we are greedy and eat and drink much more than what is proper, that is, what our nature requires; 2) fasting helps or reveals all the infirmities of our soul, all its weaknesses, shortcomings, sins and passions, just as muddy, stagnant water beginning to clear itself shows what kind of reptiles are found in it or what quality of rubbish; 3) he shows us the necessity of running to God with all our hearts and seeking His mercy, help, and salvation; 4) fasting shows all the cunning, deceit, all the malice of the disembodied spirits with whom we previously, without knowing, worked, whose cunning, when we are now illuminated by the light of God’s grace, is clearly revealed and who now viciously persecute us for leaving their ways.

It is necessary for a Christian to fast in order to clarify the mind and arouse and develop feelings and motivate the will to good activity. We overshadow and suppress these three human abilities most of all through gluttony, drunkenness and the worries of life (Luke 21:34), and through this we fall away from the source of life - God and fall into corruption and vanity, perverting and desecrating the image of God in ourselves. Gluttony and voluptuousness nail us to the ground and cut off, so to speak, the wings of the soul. And look how high all the fasters and abstinents were! They soared in the skies like eagles; They, earthly beings, lived with their minds and hearts in heaven and heard ineffable verbs there and learned divine wisdom there.

Our duty is to prepare for heavenly life and take care of spiritual food, and spiritual food is fasting, prayer, reading the Word of God, especially the Communion of the Holy Mysteries. When we do not care about fasting and prayer, then we are filled with all sorts of sins and passions, but when we feed on spiritual food, then we are cleansed of them and adorned with humility, meekness, patience, mutual love, purity of soul and body.

For this reason, by the way, the Holy Church established fasts, so that Christians would have a weapon in them against the devil and his countless intrigues.

Prayer and fasting cleanse, enlighten and strengthen the soul; on the contrary, without prayer and fasting our soul is an easy prey for the devil, because it is not protected and protected from him. Fasting and prayer are spiritual weapons against the devil, which is why the Lord says that the demonic race comes only through prayer and fasting. The Holy Church, knowing the power of this spiritual weapon, calls us to fast twice every week - on Wednesday and Friday, by the way, in remembrance of the suffering and death of our Savior, and in the year - many times during all multi-day fasts, and Great Lent connects with special touching prayers of repentance. Fasting and prayer have the spiritual benefit that, strengthening our souls, they strengthen our very faith, hope and love and unite us with God.

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

Through alternating food and abstinence, the body and soul are renewed. The Holy Fathers, moved by the Holy Spirit, established fasts for both our mental and physical benefit.

Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin):

“The ancient Christian apologist Athenagoras, in response to a question from his pagan opponent about how a bodily illness can affect the activity of a disembodied soul, gives the following example. The soul is a musician, and the body is an instrument. If the instrument is damaged, the musician is unable to extract harmonious sounds from it. On the other hand, if a musician is sick, then the instrument is silent. But this is just an image. In fact, the connection between body and spirit is immeasurably greater. Body and soul constitute a single human personality.

Thanks to fasting, the body becomes a sophisticated instrument, capable of capturing every movement of the musician - the soul. Figuratively speaking, the body of an African drum turns into a Stradivarius violin. Fasting helps restore the hierarchy of mental forces and subordinate the complex mental organization of a person to higher spiritual goals. Fasting helps the soul overcome passions, extracts the soul, like a pearl from a shell, from the captivity of everything grossly sensual and vicious. Fasting frees the human spirit from amorous attachment to material things, from constant recourse to earthly things.

Conscious self-restraint serves as a means of achieving spiritual freedom...

Fasting increases the spiritual potential of freedom: it makes a person more independent from the outside and helps to minimize his lower needs. This frees up energy, opportunity and time for the life of the spirit.

Fasting is an act of will, and religion is largely a matter of will. Anyone who cannot limit himself in food will not be able to overcome stronger and more refined passions. Promiscuity in food leads to promiscuity in other areas of human life.

We touched on the personal aspect of fasting, but there is also another, no less important – the church aspect. Through fasting, a person becomes involved in the rhythms of temple worship and becomes able to actually experience the events of biblical history through sacred symbols and images.

The Church is a spiritual living organism, and, like any organism, it cannot exist outside of certain rhythms.

Fasting precedes great Christian holidays. Fasting is one of the conditions for repentance. Without repentance and purification, it is impossible for a person to experience the joy of the holiday. More precisely, he can experience aesthetic satisfaction, increased strength, exaltation, etc. But this is only a surrogate for spirituality. True, renewing joy, like the action of grace in the heart, will remain inaccessible to him.

A number of posts are dedicated to sorrowful events in biblical history: on Wednesday, Christ was betrayed by His disciple, Judas; on Friday suffered Crucifixion and death. Anyone who does not fast on Wednesday and Friday and says that he loves God is deceiving himself. True love will not satiate its belly at the tomb of its beloved. Those who fast on Wednesday and Friday receive as a gift the ability to more deeply empathize with the Passion of Christ.”

Saint Leo the Great:

“After the long holiday of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary in order to purify our thoughts through it and become worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This celebration, which the Holy Spirit sanctified with His descent, is usually followed by a nationwide fast, beneficially established for the healing of soul and body, and therefore requiring that we accompany it with due goodwill. For we have no doubt that after the apostles were filled with the power promised from above and the Spirit of truth dwelt in their hearts, among other secrets of heavenly teaching, at the inspiration of the Comforter, the teaching of spiritual abstinence was also taught, so that hearts, cleansed by fasting, would become more capable of the acceptance of grace-filled gifts... one cannot fight the impending efforts of the persecutors and the furious threats of the wicked in a pampered body and fattened flesh, since what delights our outer man destroys the inner one, and on the contrary, the more the rational soul is purified the more the flesh is mortified.”

Rev. Isaac the Syrian:

The spirit does not submit [to the cross] unless the body first submits to it.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov):

The head of virtues is prayer; their basis is fasting.

The law of fasting, while outwardly a law for the belly, is in essence a law for the mind.

The mind, this king in man, if it wants to enter into the rights of its autocracy and preserve them, must first of all submit to the law of fasting. Only then will he be constantly cheerful and bright; only then can he rule over the desires of the heart and body; only with constant sobriety can he study the commandments of the Gospel and follow them. The basis of virtues is fasting.

He who does not observe moderation and proper discernment in food, cannot preserve either virginity or chastity, cannot curb anger, indulges in laziness, despondency and sadness, becomes a slave of vanity, the home of pride, which introduces into a person his carnal state, which is most luxurious and well-fed meals.

“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34), commanded the Lord. Overeating and drunkenness impart fatness not only to the body, but to the mind and heart, i.e. They bring a person’s soul and body into a carnal state.

The carnal man is completely immersed in sinful pleasures. He is voluptuous in body, heart, and mind; he is incapable not only of spiritual pleasure and the acceptance of Divine grace, but also of repentance. He is generally incapable of spiritual pursuits: he is nailed to the ground, drowned in materiality, alive - dead in soul.

Just as often among those who consider themselves Christians, one can find disdain for fasting and a misunderstanding of its meaning and essence.

A Christian, first of all, should think not about the body, but about his soul and worry about its health. And if he really began to think about her, then he would rejoice at the fast, in which the entire environment is aimed at healing the soul, as in a sanatorium - at healing the body.

The time of fasting is a time that is especially important for spiritual life, it is “an auspicious time, this is the day of salvation” ().

If the soul of a Christian yearns for purity and seeks mental health, then it should try to make the best possible use of this time that is beneficial for the soul.

That is why among true lovers of God mutual congratulations on the onset of fasting are common.

Will fasting be fasting if, apart from some changes in the composition of food, we think neither about repentance, nor about abstinence, nor about cleansing the heart through intense prayer?

This fast of the inner man is pleasing to God and will compensate for your lack of bodily fasting” (if you cannot observe the latter as you would like).

As St. says Isaac the Syrian: “Fasting is a weapon prepared by God... If the Lawgiver Himself fasted, then how could anyone who was obligated to keep the law not fast?..

Before fasting, the human race did not know victory and the devil never experienced defeat... Our Lord was the leader and firstborn of this victory...

Here we need to remember that on Fridays, St. Seraphim not only fasted, but also remained in strict silence on this day. As Fr. writes. : “Lent is a period of spiritual effort. If we cannot give our whole lives to God, then let us devote ourselves undividedly to at least periods of fasting - we will strengthen our prayers, increase our mercy, tame our passions, and make peace with our enemies.”

In addition to showing your feelings of repentance and hatred of sin, fasting has other sides. Fasting times are not random days.

Wednesday is the tradition of the Savior - the highest of the moments of the fall and shame of the human soul, going in the person of Judas to betray the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver.

Friday is the endurance of mockery, painful suffering and death on the cross of the Redeemer of mankind. Remembering them, how can a Christian not limit himself through abstinence?

Great Lent is the path of the God-man to the Calvary sacrifice.

The human soul has no right, does not dare, unless it is a Christian, to pass indifferently past these majestic days - significant milestones in time.

How dare she later - at the Last Judgment, stand at the right hand of the Lord, if she is indifferent to His sorrow, blood and suffering in those days when the Universe - Earthly and Heavenly - remembers them.

At the present time - a time of weakening and decline of faith - those regulations on fasting, which in the old days were strictly observed by pious Russian families, seem unattainable to us.

Here, for example, is what Lent consists of according to the church charter, the obligatory nature of which applied equally to both the monk and the layman.

According to this charter, during Great Lent it is necessary to: complete abstinence for the whole day, Monday and Tuesday of the first week and Friday of Holy Week.

Although such a measure seems excessively harsh to us, it is, however, achievable for a healthy body.

Some Egyptian monks in ancient times practiced complete forty-day abstinence from food during Lent, following in this regard the example of Moses and the Lord Himself.

Forty-day fasts were carried out twice by one of the brothers of Optina Pustyn, Schemamonk Vassian, who lived there in the middle of the 19th century. This schema-monk, by the way, is the same as St. Seraphim, to a large extent, ate grass “sniff”. He lived to be 90 years old.

Compliance with this norm is considered mandatory for completely healthy people. Yet she leaves more to the zeal and zeal of every Christian: “I want mercy, not sacrifice,” says the Lord (). At the same time, we must remember that fasting is necessary not for the Lord, but for ourselves for the salvation of our soul. “When you fasted... were you fasting for Me?” says the Lord through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah (7:5).

In addition, fasting has one more positive side, which the Angel drew attention to in the vision of Hermas (see the book “Shepherd Hermas”).

By replacing fast food with simpler and cheaper food, or reducing its quantity, a Christian can reduce his own costs. And this will give him the opportunity to devote more funds to works of mercy.

Essentially, the attitude towards fasting is a touchstone for the soul of a Christian in his relationship to the Church of Christ, and through the latter - to Christ.

A soul living by living faith in Christ cannot neglect fasting. Otherwise, she will unite herself with those who are indifferent to Christ and religion, with those who, according to Archpriest. :

For such people there is neither Christ, nor the Mother of God, nor the Last Supper, nor Golgotha. What kind of post can they have?”

The meaning and purpose of fasting in the life of a Christian can be summarized by the following words of St. Isaac the Syrian:

From fasting and abstinence a fruit is born in the soul - knowledge of the mysteries of God.”

Discretion in fasting

I want mercy, not sacrifice.
()

Show... in virtue prudence.
()

Everything good in us has a certain trait,
crossing which unnoticed turns into evil.
(Prot.)

All of the above about fasting applies, however, we repeat, only to healthy people. As with any virtue, fasting also requires prudence.

As Rev. writes. Cassian the Roman: “Extremes, as the holy fathers say, on both sides are equally harmful - both excess of fasting and satiety of the belly. We know some who, not being overcome by gluttony, were overthrown by immeasurable fasting, and fell into the same passion of gluttony, due to weakness resulting from excessive fasting.

Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, you can move on to correct action, but from the former you cannot.

A monk should conduct the matter of fasting as wisely as if he had been in the body for a hundred years; and thus curb the movements of the soul - forget grievances, cut off sadness, put sorrows at nothing - as one who can die every day.”

It is worth remembering how ap. Paul warned those who unreasonably (willfully and arbitrarily) fasted - “this has only the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility and exhaustion of the body, in some neglect of the saturation of the flesh” ().

At the same time, fasting is not a ritual, but a secret of the human soul, which the Lord orders to be hidden from others.

And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may appear fasting not before men, but before your Father, who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” ().

And therefore, a Christian must hide both his repentance - prayer and inner tears, as well as his fasting and his abstinence in food.

Here you must be afraid of any revelation of your difference from others and be able to hide your feat and your deprivations from them.

Here are a few examples from the lives of saints and ascetics.

Fasting will also be unreasonable when it interferes with the hospitality of those who treat you; By this we will reproach those around us for neglecting fasting.

As Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow writes: “There were examples that even monks, such as the saint, ate all kinds of food and even meat at all times.

But how much? So much so that I could only live, and this did not prevent him from worthily communing the Holy Mysteries and, finally, did not prevent him from becoming a saint...

The purpose of fasting is to lighten and pacify the body, curb desires and disarm passions.

Therefore, when the church asks you about food, it does not so much ask about what food do you eat? – how much about what you use it for?

The Lord Himself approved of the act of King David when, out of necessity, he had to break the rule and eat “the shewbread that neither he nor those with him should have eaten” ().

Therefore, taking into account the need, it is possible, even with a sick and weak body and old age, to make concessions and exceptions during fasting.

St. ap. Paul writes to his disciple Timothy: “From now on, drink more than just water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” ().

St. Barsanuphius the Great and John say: “What is fasting if not punishment of the body in order to pacify a healthy body and make it weak for passions, according to the word of the Apostle: “When I am weak, then I am strong” ().
And illness is more than this punishment and is charged instead of fasting - it is valued even more than it. Whoever endures it with patience, thanking God, through patience receives the fruit of his salvation.
Instead of weakening the strength of the body by fasting, it is already weakened by illness.
Thank God that you have been freed from the labor of fasting. Even if you eat ten times a day, do not be sad: you will not be condemned for that, since you are not doing this to please yourself.”

As the hermit Nicephorus said in V. Sventsitsky’s book “Citizens of Heaven”: “The Lord requires not hunger, but heroism. Feat is what a person can do the greatest within his own strength, and the rest is by grace. Our strength is now weak, and the Lord does not require great feats from us.

I tried to fast hard, and I see that I can’t. I’m exhausted - I don’t have the strength to pray as I should. One day I was so weak from fasting that I couldn’t read the rules to get up.”

Here is an example of an incorrect post.

So, any weakening of health and ability to work during fasting already indicates its incorrectness and excess of its norm.

“I prefer to be exhausted more from work than from fasting,” one shepherd said to his spiritual children.

It is best when fasting people are guided by the instructions of experienced spiritual leaders. We should remember the following incident from the life of St. . In one of his monasteries, a monk was lying in the hospital, exhausted by illness. He asked the servants to give him some meat. They refused his request, based on the rules of the monastery charter. The patient asked to be referred to as St. Pachomius. The monk was struck by the extreme exhaustion of the monk, began to cry, looking at the sick man, and began to reproach the hospital brethren for their hardness of heart. He ordered that the patient’s request be immediately fulfilled in order to strengthen his weakened body and encourage his sad soul.

The wise ascetic of piety, Abbess Arsenia, wrote to the bishop’s elderly and sick brother during Lent: “I am afraid that you are burdening yourself with heavy fasting food and I ask you to forget that it is now fasting, and to eat fast food, nutritious and light. The difference of days was given to us by the church, like a bridle to healthy flesh, but to you the sickness and infirmity of old age was given.”

However, those who break fast due to illness or other infirmity should still remember that there may also be a certain amount of lack of faith and intemperance.

This is already stated with exhaustive clarity in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Jews cry out to God: “Why do we fast, but You don’t see? We humble our souls, but You don’t know?” The Lord, through the mouth of the prophet, answers them: “On the day of your fast, you do your will and demand hard work from others. So you fast for quarrels and strife and in order to beat others with a bold hand: you do not fast at this time so that your voice is heard on high. Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man languishes his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads rags and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord? This is the fast that I have chosen: loose the chains of unrighteousness, untie the bonds of the yoke, set the oppressed free and break every yoke; divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your home; When you see a naked person, dress him and do not hide from your half-blood. Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will follow you. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; you will cry out and He will say: “Here am I”” ().

This wonderful passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah denounces many - both ordinary Christians and shepherds of the flock of Christ. He denounces those who think to be saved only by observing the letter of fasting and forgetting about the commandments of mercy, love for one’s neighbor and service to them. Convicts those shepherds who “bind heavy and unbearable burdens and place them on the shoulders of people” (). These are the shepherds who demand from their spiritual children strict adherence to the “rules” of fasting, without taking into account their advanced age or their sick condition. After all, the Lord said: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” ().

Saint Petersburg
2005