Слово в среду недели 1 -й Великого поста, на утрене

“Blow the trumpet in Zion... sanctify the fast, preach celibacy... and cry earnestly to the Lord” (Joel 2:1, 1:14). Sanctify the fast! But isn’t fasting in itself holy that it needs to be sanctified? No, brethren, fasting in itself is holy and pure, but it is not holy because of our uncleanness, just as a clean and golden vessel loses its purity and splendor when unclean hands and lips touch it. In fact, look at those who are fasting: one, having given himself over to fasting, thinks by not eating food to repay the law and truth of God for his sins, and, in a false dream of his holiness, he allows himself to despise, as sinners, everyone who does not fast like him: is it not necessary to sanctify such a proud fast with humility? Another, in the heat of pious but thoughtless zeal, suddenly indulges in fasting to the point that he makes himself incapable of correcting the affairs of his calling: shouldn’t this foolish fast also be sanctified by Christian prudence? The third, limiting fasting to the body and its needs, does not think at all about spiritual fasting, about abstinence from passions, about deeds of love and piety: and this one-sided and fruitless fast, obviously, requires sanctification through internal selflessness, contemplation of God, prayers and charity. So, brothers, wanting to sanctify ourselves through fasting, let us first sanctify, according to the word of the prophet, fasting itself. How? Firstly, by freeing our fasting from incorrect concepts about it, which transform it and take away its power; secondly, the correct use of our fastings and the closest direction to their goal; finally, by combining fasting with other works of faith and love. We called holy fasting medicine for the soul. This concept of fasting has already helped us a lot in depicting its beneficial actions. This same concept of fasting, despite its simplicity, will be sufficient even now in order to derive from it all the main rules that we must observe during fasting. Fasting is healing for soul and body; Therefore, he would be in a pathetic delusion who, relying on the power of his fast, would imagine to find in it alone a means to reconciliation with God, to satisfaction with the law and truth of God, to reward for his sins, to the payment of the debt of conscience. By curing their illnesses they do not pay their debts, do not compensate for the insults caused to someone, and do not reconcile themselves with the law. A criminal who is cured of an illness by whatever means is still a criminal. To be freed from the threat of execution, one needs not health, but something completely different - acquittal or pardon. You know by whom and how this Divine justification and at the same time pardon was delivered to all of us - through merits and the death on the Cross of the Son of God, raised for us. Therefore, whoever, without faith in the merits and death of the Savior, would, by fasting alone, satisfy the justice of God for his sins at the trial, would thereby show a completely false concept both about the truth of God and about his sins. What satisfaction is there to the law of God if we do not eat food? The all-holy truth of God, offended by our sins, cannot be satisfied by our very virtues; for they are all our indispensable duty. It is satisfied, as we said, by the death of the Son of God alone, which was taken for us. Therefore, in order for our fast to be valid and favorable to the Lord, we must remove from it any concept as a sacrifice for sins, and imagine it only as a means to weaken in us the destructive inclination towards sensuality and the shameful slavery of the flesh, and at the same time we must, as much as possible, sanctify it with faith in the merits of the Redeemer, which alone, by assimilating them to our soul, thereby justifies us before God. This is the first sanctification of fasting - through faith and hope! Fasting is medicine for soul and body; therefore, he would obviously act contrary to the very essence of fasting, who, while observing fast, would think that for this very reason he has the right to exalt himself over anyone who does not fast like him. Do you take pride in having a lot of medications or using them for a long time? On the contrary, it is often considered necessary to hide it. Why will you be proud of your fast? If it is big, then this is a sign that you are still small. If it lasts, it is without a doubt because your illness is persistent, or your health is unreliable. What is there to boast about? Is your neighbor not fasting like you? Perhaps he is already sound in spirit and has no need for this healing; Perhaps he accepts this medicine in a different form than the one you accept. Even if he were spiritually dead without the medicine you used, you can and should only regret and pray for him, and not be proud that you have comprehended the power of medicine and are using it as you should. But you cannot use it as you should until you illuminate your fast with humility. For the common human illness, which you undertook to heal within yourself through fasting and repentance, mainly consists of self-love and pride. That is why the Holy Church never prays to the Lord as loudly and repeatedly as during Lent, that He would grant each of us to “see our own sins and not condemn our brother.” Is it worth it? It stands for its Lord. Falling? He falls to his Lord, who is always able to raise him up. Everyone should look after himself: is he standing, is he not falling? This is the second, necessary sanctification of fasting - humility! Fasting is medicine for the soul and body, therefore it must be used as medicine. How are medications used? Mostly not suddenly, but gradually, to a certain extent. The use of all medicine suddenly, in many cases, would cause death. Fasting, by its very essence, belongs to medicines that are not used suddenly. Therefore, he would act foolishly who, having decided to resort to fasting to heal his soul, would suddenly deprive himself of food for too long a time. Instead of benefit, harm can come from here; In this way, the one who fasts will become incapable of doing the work of his calling, will weaken, and may even endanger his life. Then what's the use: one complaint about the post. The holy ascetics fasted for a very long time, gradually accustoming themselves to it. Only eagles like them can soar behind these eagles to the clouds; It is enough for us to begin to rise from the ground. Once you improve in flight, then strive higher and further. What else is observed when using medications? They are proportioned to the age, physique and other circumstances of the patient. The same thing should be observed when using fasting. It would be foolhardy for a minor, or an elderly person, or a weak person to assume such a post that only those who are old, strong and full of life can endure. The Holy Church, like a loving mother, did not forget to pay attention to all this; and just as she herself established the rules of leniency in relation to the position of those fasting, she made it an obligation for spiritual fathers to do the same when imposing fasting on penitents, in the form of penances. After this, all we can do is be attentive to our situation and take advantage of the benevolent guidance of the Holy Church and its shepherds. This is the third sanctification of fasting - by using it prudently, according to one’s strengths and needs. Fasting is medicine for the soul; Therefore, during fasting, one must look not at the body alone, but more at the soul. And when healing bodily ailments, the state of the soul means a lot; That’s why doctors advise, when using medications, to maintain as much peace of mind as possible, not to think about this or that subject, and try to occupy your imagination with what is best. This is even more necessary when fasting. What a harmful contradiction it would be - to deprive the body of food, and at the same time allow the soul to indulge in worldly thoughts, violent movements, impulses of pride or hatred! This would mean destroying with the other hand what is being planted and created with one. Ask: What activities are especially appropriate for fasting? First, prayer, public and home; then self-examination or examination of one’s life and conscience, reflection on the objects of faith, especially on the life and teaching, suffering and death of our Savior for us; further - reconciliation with all enemies and forgiveness of insults, acts of philanthropy and charity; reading the word of God and soul-saving books, talking with pious people, and the like. Each of these means helps the effect of fasting, increases its strength, sweetens its bitterness, and thus sanctifies our fast. Finally, fasting is a strong and necessary healing, but at the same time, it is by no means the only one, but a preparatory one for other, higher, spiritual healings; Therefore, when indulging in fasting, one must always keep in mind the further goal, that is, repentance, confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries. Fasting should first help you get out from under the power of sensuality, destroy the strength and power of carnal passions, give you freedom and convenience to review your life, recognize, as accurately as possible, the ulcers of your conscience, find the main passion that consumes you, encourage you to sincerely seek healing from it, decide once and for all to begin a virtuous life. If this is not the case, then fasting has not yet brought you any significant benefit, and you need to either aggravate it or correct it. It is necessary to aggravate it or correct it in this case, if, while fasting, you did not draw closer in spirit to your Savior, did not feel the need for His merits, did not feel the spiritual hunger to saturate yourself with the Divine meal of His Body and Blood, did not yet hear in yourself the voice of His love calling for union with Him. No matter how short and simple these rules of fasting that I have proposed, if we, brethren, observe them constantly during our fasting; that is, if we dissolve our fast with faith, humility and prayer, we will proportion it to our strengths and needs, we, while fasting physically, will fast at the same time spiritually: then our fast will be holy and pleasing to the Lord, and will serve to sanctify our souls and bodies. Meanwhile, from the very instructions on fasting that I have offered, you already see, brethren, how necessary it is for each of you, entering the field of fasting, to think thoroughly in advance about how to fast? What should you especially avoid? To what extent should deprivation be extended? What and how to occupy yourself during this time? For many, in this case, the need may still arise for a conference with people experienced in spiritual exploits. Do not neglect this important remedy; Take the trouble to find a prudent leader for yourself. When we undertake to heal some important illness of the body, how many preliminary thoughts do we have! We are ready, if possible, to convene doctors from all over the world! And when we begin to heal the soul - such an important matter, the consequences of which extend throughout eternity - we think to do this without much thought, hastily, superficially, as if it were about healing some domestic animal! After this, is it surprising that the most excellent means of spiritual healing, presented to us by the Holy Church, do not bring any benefit, and their use, remaining without fruit, often serves to criticize the means themselves? Let this not happen to any of you, beloved! May holy fasting become a saving medicine for our souls and bodies! The Prophet, whose words we each time relied on as the basis for our conversations about fasting, had the consolation of later depicting the beneficial effects that fasting, repentance and prayer, commanded by him, produced on his listeners. Not attributing anything to our weak word, but expecting everything from the omnipotent action of the grace of God, who chose us unworthy for the ministry of the word, and we dare to hope that, at the end of the field of holy fasting, with the onset of the holy days of the Resurrection of Christ, when we will have to depict the qualities of a person resurrected with Christ and renewed by grace, we will have, precious to us, consolation, if we do not point to any of you in example of spiritual renewal, then at least keep it in mind for yourself. Amen. You might be interested in: