Слово в четверг недели 1-й Великого поста

“We fast with a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord: true fasting is alienation of evil, abstinence of the tongue, putting aside rage, excommunication of lusts, speaking, lying and perjury” (Verse, Monday of Lent). This church verse can rightly be called church teaching for all holy fasts. Our words and sermons, due to their very weakness, are often lengthy, but the teaching of the Church is as brief as it is strong and valid. It is all the more necessary, therefore, to pay full attention to it and reflect on what the Holy Church teaches in relation to fasting. “Let us fast a pleasant fast, pleasing to the Lord!” This means that fasting is unpleasant and displeasing to the Lord! What post is this? The one when you don’t eat ordinary food, or maybe no food at all; but with your anger and obstinacy you consume the soul and body of your henchmen, servants or household. That fast, when you fall to the ground in church and ask for absolution of your sins, you say that they should be forgiven in the same way as you forgive all sins against you; and when you leave the church, you will go to court to persecute your poor debtor, collect from him every last mite, otherwise put him in prison, and ruin his entire house and family. That fast is not favorable to the Lord when, outwardly, you seem to humble yourself and say that you are the chief of sinners, but internally, not knowing the extent of your imaginary merits, you place yourself in your thoughts above everyone else, making yourself a judge of the universal, ready to judge and re-examine everyone and everything. That fast is unpleasant and displeasing to God when you want and expect that for small bows and a few sighs of yours all the treasures of God’s grace will be opened for you, all the ulcers of your conscience will be healed, so that you will be taken to the royal supper itself and nourished with the Body and Blood of Christ; and you yourself, with all the groans and cries of your poor brethren, are not inclined to give them even a small part of your surplus, you coldly leave the sick and suffering without any help, you hesitate to bring strangers under your roof, you are stingy to share with the hungry - not your body and blood (let them remain with you), but those mountains and hills of food, from which your barns are almost falling apart. That fast is unpleasant and displeasing to the Lord when you are afraid to bring a cup of hot water to your lips; and are you not afraid that from these lips continue to come out, as before, like smoke from a furnace, idle and rotten words, bitter and wounding ridicule, hints full of temptation and spiritual infection. Let all such and similar fasters not dare to hope for mercy from the Lord; Their fast is not only not acceptable, but, in the words of the Prophet, is an abomination before the face of God. It would be better if you ate anything, but at the same time fed those who, even without fasting, almost die from hunger; It would be better if you continued to adorn yourself with your clothes as before, but at the same time, with your unnecessary clothes, hanging idly and eaten away by moths, to cover the nakedness of your poor brothers, who are groaning from the cold; It would be even better if you did not interrupt your usual fun and amusements, but, while chilling yourself, would bring comfort and joy to those who have long forgotten whether there is any joy on earth. True fasting is alienation of evil, abstinence of the tongue, putting aside rage, excommunication of lusts, speaking, lying and perjury. Removal from all these vices should not constitute fasting, coercion and labor for us, but the most natural thing, peace and joy, but, permeated in our ancestors with sin and self-will, accustomed by ourselves to violating the laws of abstinence, our nature has become so close to passions and lusts that following passions and evil will has become almost as natural for it as the body to take daily food. Therefore, whoever wants to be free from sins must constantly restrain himself from evil and force himself to good, just as those who fast abstain from food and force themselves to think about God. This abstinence from passions and vices, according to the teaching of the Church, constitutes a true and favorable fast to the Lord. External posts are not always necessary, but this internal post is necessary at all times. External fasts pass and end; and this spiritual fast is continuous and should end only with our life, when we, having put off our mortal and sin-loving flesh, put on incorruptibility and dispassion. So, do you want to truly fast? First of all, refrain your tongue from every idle word, especially rotten and inappropriate. Begin your spiritual fast with this small bodily member, which, however, is a great enemy and stubborn adversary. Having overcome his stubbornness, you will be strong to “bridle the whole body” (James 3:2). Otherwise, your tongue, like a wild and fierce horse, will drag you, together with your fasting, through the jungle of lies, malice and deceit. Do you really want to fast? Leave all hatred, annoyance, murmuring and bickering along with your food; become quiet, meek, humble, gracious and loving in everything and towards everyone. This is what decency itself requires during Lent. Otherwise, if you continue to be obstinate and grumpy, then others will reluctantly think that you, like a little child, are angry because the Church has forbidden you to eat your favorite foods. Do you really want to fast? Remove from yourself, along with food, all other carnal desires. For your old and sinful man blinds and destroys you not only through the satiety of the body. Excess food only harms you alone; and other types of carnality and voluptuousness harm many others besides you. Leave them all, remove from your bed the book that breathes voluptuousness and freethinking; seductive images from the walls of your rooms, and then throw away from your mind and memory itself (as much as possible at first, because suddenly this cannot be done: the mind is not like the walls of a house), throw away, I say, all lustful images and instead establish in your memory and imagination the Cross of Christ and the image of your death. Do you really want to fast? Tear apart, if you have any, any unrighteous scripture for taking possession of other people's property; discontinue the case brought in court on this occasion; give in as much as you can, even from your own rights, so as not to drag yourself through the courts, like a Jew and a Mohammedan. It is necessary for a Christian to be distinguished in some way, not only in church, but also in court. Do you really want to fast? Consider how you can serve, in the name of the Lord, your least brethren in Christ, and immediately begin the work of charity; allow entry into your barns for those who, without any guilt, are almost dying from hunger: clothe the naked, receive the orphan, look after the sick, visit the prisoner. For some fruit must come from such a great tree as Great Lent. What is better, if not the fruits of love for mankind, when you yourself seek God’s mercy through fasting? Such a fast will be favorable to the Lord! He who thus combines mental and physical abstinence will not lose his reward. Or better yet, he already accepts her here and now. For why do we fast? Without a doubt, not in order to save some unused food for yourself, but to tame your flesh, lighten your soul, revive your conscience, and bring the grace of God closer to you. But when we become purer and more chaste in thoughts, more truthful and edifying in words, meek and generous in morals, more just and beneficial in deeds; then the goal of fasting will thereby, with the help of God’s grace, be achieved in us - at first, of course, weakly and imperfectly, and then more and more perfectly; until we become in all respects such as the followers of Christ should be. Otherwise, our fast will be like a medicine, when using which the patient, through unreason and intemperance, indulges in all the previous habits that caused his illness. What can we expect from such a medicine, except for the severity of the disease, which is all the more dangerous because, in the hope of healing, we will think that we are recovering? In this case, it is better not to fast at all, because then, at least, we will not delude ourselves that we are out of danger. Amen. You might be interested in: