17. Убеждение к соблюдению поста в Рождественский пост

From this day begins the holy fast, established by the Church of God in order to prepare us for the worthy meeting and glorification of the incarnate God - on the feast of the Nativity of Christ. Let us submit to the Church and enter into the feat of fasting and all other pious exercises combined with fasting. Others have a belief that this fast is not as great as, for example, the fast of the Holy Pentecost; That's why they don't care about it, and carry it out somehow. This is a delusion that cannot be justified. – The Church of God has prescribed to sanctify all four fasts: Great, Assumption, Petrov and Nativity, and it is our duty to sanctify them equally, although the degree of severity of fasting in them is somewhat different. The coming fast is definitely easier than the “Great” and Dormition fasts; but this preferential treatment is so insignificant that it cannot help but seem like severity - for our weakness. – Let it be allowed to eat fish during this fast, but this is only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays; on Tuesday, quarters and fish are not allowed; and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, not only is fish not allowed, but also wine and oil. So, when the Holy Church does not mention this fast casually, but has so definitely established rules for it, is it proper for her obedient children to spend it carelessly, without attention or even memory of it? Let us sanctify it - let us sanctify it by restoring its high meaning in thought, by strict fulfillment of the Church Rule in it, and even more so by cleansing the conscience in repentance and strengthening ourselves by the holy communion of the body and blood of Christ. - Look how the holy fathers talk about him! – One says (Days of Worship, part 2, p. 33, Simeon of Thessalonica – in answers to questions): “the fast of the Nativity Pentecost depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the words of God inscribed on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living word - not inscribed on stones, but incarnate and born of the Virgin - and we partake of His Divine flesh.” – Another teaches (Lev. great demon. XXII): “The preservation of abstinence is imprinted on us for 4 times, so that throughout the year we may recognize that we are in constant need of cleansing, and that in the scattering of life we ​​must always try to destroy sin by fasting and alms, which is multiplied by the frailty of the flesh and the impurity of desires.” This is how God-enlightened minds reason and where they direct the forces and labors of obedient piety! “Let us take this suggestion to heart; it is so beneficial and saving for us.” It is known that the limit of life in Christ Jesus is purity and holiness. But everyday affairs, and more importantly vanity, denigrate and stain travelers going into this region of purity, often against their will. And so, just as for the wanderer, the protective hosts set up chambers that give rest, refreshing meals and washing baths: so the many-caring goodness of God in the maternal bowels of the Church set up posts - all four - with an invitation to fast in them, to confess and receive communion, for rest for those who are tired of the many worries of this life, for washing for those who are dirty and dusty with sins and unclean thoughts, for strengthening those who have weakened and exhausted the strength of the spirit through struggle or fall. Zealous worker, come under this canopy of peace, wash yourself in a self-made bath of tears, strengthen yourself with the heavenly food offered - and then again, like Elijah, refreshed from the food brought by an Angel, you cheerfully eat the desert paths until you reach high Sinai - the holiday of the Nativity - to perceive the sensations of God approaching us, according to the measure of your labor and the degree of preparation. Or that I appeal to the zealous and cheerful? - Those who are zealous for the Christian life, burning in spirit, will fast themselves, without being reminded, and fulfill their Christian duty during fasting as they should. - But what can I say to you, sick with effeminacy, fearing for your health from changing dishes, fashionable with independence and breaking all the bonds imposed by fatherly customs, rising above the clouds and eager - short-sighted - to point out to the Most High in His corrective laws and regulations the inconsistency with nature, which you have spoiled? – I would tell you one thing: “you will cry and not dance; you will weep and not weep” (Matthew 11:17). - But in the hope of stilling the greyhound of your uncontrollable thoughts and your waywardness, I will bring to your memory the apple of paradise, red in appearance and pleasant to the taste, which destroyed and is destroying our race, - lentils, which deprived the gluttonous birthright, - meat, which filled the desert with coffins of lust, - a small part of honey, which took away the victory and prepared the death of the king’s son, - that feast in which the inscription was given from above: mani, torch, fares, which was then fulfilled, - and this young man, who ate everything, and then wanted to be satisfied with a roe, like a pig, - and the rich man, who was having fun all the days, and - there - was looking for a drop of water to cool his tongue and did not receive - I will remind you of all these harmful consequences of not fasting and intemperance, - to add to this: if you have understanding, then learn. And “you will not be like a horse and a horse that has no understanding” (Ps. 31:9), - whose jaws are pulled back with the reins and bridles when they persist and do not submit. - These people have a bridle at the helm; and those who are wise have reason. But there is a crooked mind: I don’t mean it; but a sound mind, knowing its limits, not relying on the mind of God, but submitting to it and humbly bending its will under its yoke. Restore it within yourself and give it strength. And he will teach you not to abandon what God has laid down through the mouth of the church; but, on the contrary, to spare no effort in testifying to her obedient sonship; - will teach you not to listen to suggestions that are concerned about health, - pointing out not in fasting, but in non-fasting - the source of ill health of the body and relaxation of the soul; - to despise the disapproving exclamations of outsiders, assuring that whoever says something bad about fasting and the fasting person will thereby say worse about himself than about them; - not to see even now the timelessness in the strict implementation of the statutes of the Holy Church, realizing that they were rather timeless when they were introduced for the first time and had not yet seen the performers, than now among such a multitude of them; - to drive away timid thoughts about not achieving that measure of fasting, at which it is salutary, imagining that when the servile fasters - Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist - now resting in glory, were just laying out the path to fasting - achieving its highest degrees was more difficult than now, after so many bright examples and successful experiences; - to remove the flattering thought of the possibility of replacing bodily fasting with spiritual fasting, instilling that it is more likely that a physical fast will take place without the spiritual than a spiritual fast without the physical; - to see in the exhaustion of the flesh a measure of renewal of the spirit, and in the degrees of fasting - a ladder of spiritual ascent, the upper end of which is established in heaven. – By protecting ourselves with such and similar thoughts, we will give the good intention of obedience to the Church the power to germinate, strengthen and bear fruit - works of repentance and worthy completion of the upcoming fast - to the glory of the Lord, who exhausted Himself through our incarnation for the sake of salvation - to Whom we will pray - to emit a ray of light from His Nativity, like a star, on us, and thus, illuminating the gloom of Lent, cheerful and joyful lead the procession to the Bethlehem manger - and then make us worthy to sing joyfully with the Angels: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace: good will toward men. Amen. On the 23rd week after Pentecost 1. And civil life is a field of pleasing God for those whose labors in it are dedicated to God 2. Thanksgiving and devotion to God and keeping His commandments are the sources of the people’s well-being 3. Just as a good life is a good life, there is a saving cross. 4. Piety and virtue are evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us 5. The order of success in virtues 6. Faith Movement in the Blind Man of Jericho 7. The rule of faith: knowing it, perceiving it in the heart and putting it into practice 8. About love for God: what are its signs 9. St. John the Evangelist does not allow you to say: believe as you want, just love 10. Love is the crown of ascetic labors, and from the narrow path is wide 11. Urges to love the Lord, and how this love is evidenced 12.How to learn to love the Lord 13. Signs of love for the Lord, and how to succeed in it? 14. About almsgiving - that it is sowed, and that the more one sows it, the more he will reap 15. The unfoundedness of excuses for giving alms, and the good thoughts that encourage one to do it 16. Forgiveness of debts to your neighbor is salvation 17. Conviction to observe fasting during the Nativity Fast You might be interested in: