Слово во вторник недели 1-й Великого поста, на часах

“Blow the trumpet in Zion... sanctify the fast, preach celibacy... cry out to the Lord earnestly” (Joel 2:1, 1:14). This invitation is so clear that it could be understood the first time. And yet, the prophet, despite the brevity of his prophecy and the variety of subjects about which he had to speak, turns it to the Jewish people twice (Joel 2:15). If the prophetic word about fasting, a strong word and living by Divine inspiration, needed repetition in order to achieve its goal: is it surprising that our word, which is rich in zeal for the eternal good of your souls, sometimes echoes the same subject in your ears several times? Even if we sometimes stretch our zeal to the point of some kind of excess, then in this case too, we pray to your love, “receive us lightly.” For, let us say in the words of the Apostle, we preach to you, “not that we ourselves will show ourselves skillfully, but that you will do good; but we will be unskilled” (2 Cor. 13:7). So, following the prophetic word, let us turn again to holy fasting. Last time we saw its beneficial effect on our very physical composition; Now let's look at how he heals our souls and hearts. One of the best approvals for medicine, since it is used by everyone, is a sign that everyone, or at least very many, have experienced its beneficial power. Look now, where is there no fasting? The Jew has fasting, the Mohammedan has fasting, the pagan has fasting; in India they fast, in China they fast, even among savage peoples they fast. What could have made peoples so opposed to fall in love with a remedy so contrary to our sensuality, if not a firm conviction of its general usefulness? And where does this conviction about the benefits of fasting come from, if not from actually testing it? Other means could be based either on speculation, or natural inclinations, or benefit: who and what will stand for fasting? One experience. And this experience, it must be said, in relation to fasting, is so great that it extends beyond the limits of humanity. For what does not fast on earth? Animals? And they fast, remaining at times without food, and some observing this as if it were some kind of special commandment at certain times. Plants? And they have a fast; and they do not always equally receive nutritious juices from the earth, eating very little food for entire months. The earth itself at appropriate times assumes the appearance of fasting, and sometimes, for example, during drought and winter, it undergoes, as it were, a special fast imposed on it. Why is fasting so universal in nature? To restore exhausted strength. It would seem that nutrition should strengthen and restore the strength of all living things, and, however, nutrition alone is not enough for this: fasting is needed, as a restorer of the strength of nutrition itself. After this, it is no longer difficult to judge whether fallen man can do without this all-restorative remedy, that is, fasting? On the contrary, for a person, fasting is, one might say, a natural means to rebellion. For where did it begin and what was our first fall? The fact is that we, in the person of our ancestor, did not observe fasting. If fasting had been preserved in paradise, says one teacher of the Church, man would still have remained in paradise: but we can say that if fasting had been maintained outside paradise, then we would have long ago approached Eden. For where does the fall of each of us begin now? From breaking the commandment to fast. Did you not keep the fast in sight and hearing? – purity of heart is lost. Has one not observed fasting in thoughts and contemplation? – the door is open to freethinking and unbelief. Has the fast in desires been broken? - you become a slave to covetousness and pride. Is the fasting of the tongue and mouth neglected? - a blasphemer and idle talker came out. And what finally happens when fasting and abstinence are completely removed from the meal? In this case, even people who, apparently, were destined to stand above humanity, are often treated as foolish beasts. What, brothers, after this wondrous thing, if the Holy Church, taking us into her arms for spiritual healing at the present time, first of all, through fasting, tries to close and dry up the main source of evil that is consuming us? Fasting by its very appearance already dispels a large crowd of unrest and temptations; compare these days with the past week: where previously there were disorderly meetings, there is silence and order; people who dishonor human nature are not visible; no clicks are heard, tearing apart the chaste ear; everyone goes sedately to his business; whether he is dating anyone - does not make empty speeches; even if he argues, he argues peacefully; Even if he is angry, he is angry moderately. If someone, having seen the city before, looked at it now, and did not know that holy fasting had begun, he would have thought that some miracle had happened to us. What is this miracle? In the post. The source of evil is closed, and the channels dry up on their own. Without a doubt, such a beneficial change in the city implies a change for the better in the houses; and now everything should be quieter and more beautiful there; the husband is less tolerant of a grumpy and stubborn wife; the wife does not suffer so much from her proud and insensitive husband; children are less devoted to noisy games; servants are not so amused by services, they are not so much sighing at the whims of their masters; most domestic animals are now more weakened; the most soulless things, usually used in the household, now seem to be at rest. The post produced all this with its one appearance. But this is still only the initial action of healing; with further correct use of fasting, together with other spiritual healings, it penetrates to the very depths of sinful leprosy, and returns a person to spiritual health not for a few days or weeks, but for life. To see how this happens, let us descend in thought to the most important source of evil, which consumes us. Why do we, even though we want to be good and follow God’s law in everything, remain slaves to our lusts and passions? Because the order of things has been transformed in us: our body should serve as an instrument of the soul and be in complete subordination to reason; but with us the soul serves as an instrument of the body and is slave to its inclinations. Not only that: the flesh, dominating the spirit, constantly using it in its sensual, impure forms, so weakens and humiliates the spirit that it is not even able to serve as a good instrument for the body, it itself demands, becomes fleshy, even completely lost and, as it were, disappears; Looking at such people, we are involuntarily forced to ask: is there a soul in such a person? The Lord himself, when he looked at such people before the flood, found that they were one flesh. “My Spirit shall not abide in these men... for they are flesh” (Gen. 6:3). After this, it is clear, brethren, that this means should be called excellently effective for our correction, by which the spirit is most freed from the slavery of the flesh. And what can contribute more and more to this liberation, if not holy fasting? – A sensual person is most devoted to food and drink; the womb, as the apostle puts it, is his god; and this very idol is overthrown by the very first action of fasting, which therefore always, no matter how it appears, is already a sign of the dominion of the spirit over the flesh, is a herald of its liberation from slavery. The further and more strictly the fast is observed, the more freedom of spirit increases: whoever is able to deprive himself of food at all, whenever he wants, is clearly even more able to deprive himself of luxurious food; it is even easier for him to do without spectacles harmful to the purity of the heart, without noisy and murderous games, without reading seductive and empty books, without ostentation in clothes, etc. And such an opportunity to dispose of oneself and limit oneself in itself means a lot: for this is what many lack, and because of this lack, many, despite the kindness of their hearts and many good feelings, spend their entire lives in slavery to the flesh and the world, blind whims and passions. Bringing such freedom to the spirit and such dominion over the body, holy fasting strengthens all this by the fact that, on the one hand, it takes away from the body many qualities harmful to the spirit, and on the other hand, it gives the spirit strength and strength to maintain its holy dignity. Compare your body before fasting and after fasting, even a short one; you will see that its very severity has changed significantly. As a result of fasting, our body receives lightness and mobility: those who could barely bow their heads to express their humility before their Creator can freely throw themselves to the ground before Him in the spirit of repentance. Lightness is followed by the pacification of all bodily feelings: disorderly leaps of the flesh, from which the best of people unfamiliar with fasting often suffer, disappear by themselves, like boiling in a vessel under which the fire has been extinguished; violent movements in the face of displeasure and grief, if they do not stop altogether, then lose their power, like arrows shot from a bow whose bowstring is weakened. The body, lightened and pacified in this way, instead of what the spirit itself had previously led to coarsening and hardening, itself sinks and, as it were, becomes spiritualized, eagerly follows all the movements of the spirit, easily endures feats of love and self-sacrifice, begins, as David put it, to rejoice “in the living God and to rise in the morning to the holy church.” Therefore, when death itself comes to separate the soul from the body, then, having found them in a legal relationship to each other, not seeing that the spirit was entangled on all sides by the bonds of the flesh, it separates them quickly and quietly, without using severe shocks and suffering for this. Corruption itself does not dare to spread its usual clouds of stench onto a body sanctified by fasting: its composition is resolved in purity, like spring snow in the radiance of the morning sun. By this alone you can judge, brethren, how good the soul should be under the shadow of holy fasting. Having assumed dominion over the flesh, not bound by its demands and whims, it begins a new life and activity that is akin to itself. Her cares are no longer directed towards satisfying only sensual needs; time hitherto spent in pleasures is spent either in the thought of God, or in deeds of love and humility. Each ability of the soul appears after fasting in a different, better form; the mirror of conscience, not obscured by the breath of the flesh, becomes purer and reflects much more clearly the law of God and our iniquities, makes it possible to see the most insignificant stains, the smallest deviations from the Royal path of duty; the will takes power to control the entire ship of the soul and, concentrated in the matter of salvation, directly directs it to an eternal refuge; the imagination, not cluttered with images of needs and carnal pleasures, pictures sacred objects, the Cross and the suffering of the Savior, the Last Judgment, the bliss of the righteous and the torment of sinners; memory rather gives its pledge, does not hide with a veil of oblivion past sins, neglected lessons of Providence, omitted opportunities for self-correction, unfulfilled vows; reason judges spiritual objects more easily and more coherently, resolves the perplexities of conscience more quickly, speaks louder about the need for reconciliation with God and preparing oneself for eternity; warmth appears in the heart, and a source of holy feelings emerges, from which cleansing tears of repentance involuntarily flow; the taste is purified, receives an aversion not only to the coarse, but also to the refined pleasures of the flesh, and an inclination towards spiritual joys and consolations; in a word, the whole soul with all its thoughts, desires, intentions, feelings, takes a higher direction, sinks, concentrates, lives, is spiritualized; the whole person changes for the better. Therefore, when the time comes for using other spiritual healings: confession and holy communion, they find the person already prepared. The grace of God, in a field cleared from fasting, calmly carries out its sowing and harvest into eternal life. In depicting the beneficial effects of fasting in this way, I, brethren, as you can see, limit myself to the most obvious, ordinary and, so to speak, inevitable effects of fasting; I limit myself in order to present it in a form that is convenient for each of you. What miracles would not be revealed if, walking along the ladder of experiences of holy people, we decided to climb to the very top, and from there see what holy fasting has produced and, therefore, can produce! You would have seen how Moses, after forty days of fasting, became able to accept the law at Sinai, amid thunder, lightning and storms; how Elijah, after the same fast, is worthy to see the glory of God at Horeb, and then he himself ascends with his flesh to heaven in a chariot of fire; how the Forerunner is raised by fasting into a man, more than “not raised in those born of women”; - just as the Savior Himself did not first set out on the feat of saving the whole world before preparing for forty days of fasting in the desert; how the apostles remain in fasting, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit, and again indulge in fasting before every important task; how the Lamps of the Church: Basil, Gregory, Chrysostom - find inexhaustible oil during fasting for burning on the candlestick of the Church; how the very leaders of the people turn to fasting for spiritual help: Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantines, Justinians, Vladimir; how fasting forms a whole host of Angels in the flesh, whose holy and incorruptible bodies constitute the precious treasure of our city. But it is enough for us to mention all these miracles of holy fasting: this is the portion of God’s elect; It is enough for us if fasting serves to heal our own soul from the wounds of sin. And he will serve this purpose if we love him heartily; if, having loved, we will use this medicine wisely. It is prudent, I say, because it should not be hidden that the healing of holy fasting, like any healing, can be used incorrectly, and, used in this way, can, like any healing, not bring benefit, and even turn into harm. After this, brethren, if mental health is dear to you, you must necessarily ask: how should you fast in order to receive all the spiritual benefits from fasting? But this question is so important that its resolution cannot be superficial; and therefore we will deal with it next time. Until then, we ask you to reflect on what you have heard and begin to verify as much as possible with your own experience, which, without a doubt, will reveal to you much more than what could, in the shortness of time, be told to you from here. Amen. You might be interested in: