For the middle week of Lent

Blessed be God, who granted the ascetics of fasting to accomplish half of their victorious feat! Now we are already standing on the threshold of the middle part of the field; Here the very height of the competition opens before us. Let us courageously take on the next half of the field with firm trust in the heroic hero Christ. By the grace of God, we have already ascended half the ladder that leads to heaven: let us destroy sins not only halfway, but to the end. We are already close to winning awards: we will try to retain the place we have taken. The gifts awaiting the ascetics of piety are already shining, the wreaths prepared for the workers are shining, the rewards with which the ascetic Christ will crown those who have achieved victory are reaching from heaven. He strengthens us from above in our zeal for fasting and from above promises to give rewards to the ascetics of fasting. But in order to reach the city prepared for those crowned for the exploits of fasting, we must drive away all negligence far from ourselves. After all, heaven itself opens up to the disciples of fasting, heaven receives imitators of angels into its arms, since the way of life of those who fast is heavenly. After all, fasting elevates people from earth to heaven, introduces them into the ranks of angels, facilitates their path from earth to heaven and places them in the face of the heavenly King himself, bestowing the enjoyment of eternal blessings. This spectacle of our exploits is extraordinary, brothers, and incomparable to anything. Children take part in the fight on an equal basis with adults, wives compete with husbands, the weaker female sex is armed with the courage to perform a feat. The field of fasting is open to everyone, and rewards for victory are distributed by the generous hand of Christ. Let us hasten to the middle of the feat we are accomplishing: let no one be ashamed of this spiritual struggle, let no one abandon the work that has begun. The enemy already loses courage, retreats, is defeated by the judgment of God, is enslaved, driven out by fasting, is thrown to the ground with laughter by babies, suffering from them an insult as if in the form of a shameful tombstone. Let no one become weak after reaching the middle of the fast; Let no one lose heart halfway along the road: our courage is a sure guarantee of victory over the enemy. If anyone strives carelessly, he encourages the enemy; If one of you fights weakly, he strengthens the enemy. So, let us be courageous in the struggle to complete the fall of the enemy. Let us avoid the temptation of food, let us endure a little longer in order to achieve immortal joy. Adam ate and was condemned to death; Elijah fasted - and the keys of heaven were entrusted to him; Noah drank and was ridiculed by his son; Enoch labored and was caught up in the angels; Pharaoh was fed up and was drowned in the sea with all his chariots; Moses fasted and crossed the sea, erecting wonderful walls from the wet elements of water, and led the people across the sea as if on dry land, preparing a path for them through an extraordinary land. Eve was seduced by the lawless eating - and doomed all her descendants to death; The Lord born of Mary also abstained from permitted food and freed everyone from condemnation to death. The tree of paradise gave birth to death: “on the day,” says (God), “on which you eat of it, you will die” (Gen. 2:17). The tree of the cross conquered death: from its foot the source of eternal life flowed. The thief passed from the cross to heaven, exchanging death for life. The fruit of envy was eating from the tree of paradise; partaking of the fruits of the cross eradicates envy. If Adam had refrained from eating, He would not have been condemned to death, would not have been deprived of the sweetness of heaven, and would not have undergone corruption. After all, the Divine Scripture says that “God created man for incorruptibility... but through the envy of the devil death entered the world” (Wis. 2:23–24). But Christ came - “our peace, making both one and destroying the barrier that stood in the middle” (Eph. 2:14), “having destroyed ... the handwriting that was against us, ... nailed it to the cross” ( Col. 2:14). And Paul cries: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). So, beloved, let us give back to the Benefactor to the best of our ability: with small coins let us serve Him who is rich in mercy. Our Lord was crucified for us, and we will feed the poor, created in His image. He tasted death in order to deliver us from death, and for His sake, with small alms, we will rescue our brothers from mortal hunger. After all, He himself, in the person of the poor, accepts what is given. Do not, man, pass by a poor man with an outstretched hand, although in the name of the fact that the Lord himself is extending this hand in his face. Let the hand of the poor be for you like a censer of incense placed in the square. Instead of fire, it contains coals, melting from hunger. Let us throw two oxen into it instead of incense, so that the fragrance it spreads will reach heaven and so that we can be heard from heaven: “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40) - to hear these words of Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.