A word about fasting

St. Ambrose of Milan begins his sermon “The Word on Fasting” with testimony about the advent of the days of redemption, heavenly healing. Probably, the speech was delivered to those wishing to receive Holy Baptism. Through baptism, a Christian dies to sin and is reborn to a new life: “With a new form of piety, both death and life act in one and the same person: namely, sinful desires die in him, and virtues come to life.” Baptism is called the second birth, which serves as a sign that the previous life has already ended. Using the example of the Apostle Paul, the saint shows how the Lord can heal, desiring salvation for every soul: “The Lord really strikes sinners with his commands in order to heal them, beats them with commandments in order to correct them, prescribes fasts, shows the path of abstinence, threatens judgment, and in order to drive away from us the grave fear of Gehenna, he offers healing, so that, fearing the future, we correct our present.” St. Ambrose calls on those preparing for the Sacrament of Baptism for 40 days, following the example of Christ Himself, the prophets Elijah and Moses, to strive diligently in fasting, prayer and vigil: “For fasting mortifies bodily lust; prayer nourishes the pious soul; vigils reflect the wiles of the devil.” The year the sermon was preached is unknown. The Holy Apostle, speaking about the servants of God, cites these words of Isaiah as evidence: I listened to you in time of delight, and on the day of salvation I helped you (Is. 49:8). And he himself adds to this: behold, now is the time favorable, behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2)! So I testify to you that these days are days of redemption; that this time is a time of, as it were, heavenly healing, when we can be healed from all sinful wounds, and wash away the impurity of all our vices, if we pray with faith to the Physician of our souls, so that His commandments, given to us for fulfillment, do not remain neglected by us. For a weak person is cured of his illness only when he carefully follows the doctor’s instructions; and if he acts contrary to his instructions, then it is no longer the doctor who is to blame for the intensified illness, but the one who disobeys his instructions. Our physician is the Lord Jesus Christ, who said: I will kill, and I will make life: I will strike, and I will heal (Deut. 32:39). Truly, in some way He first kills and then gives life. First, through baptism, He puts to death in us murders, adulteries, atrocities, thefts, and through this, making us as if new people, He revives us with eternal immortality. Therefore, through the washing of baptism, we die to sin, and through the spirit we are reborn to life, as the holy Apostle teaches: since you died to your sins, your life is hidden with Christ; you were buried with Him through baptism into death (Rom. 6:2.4). Precisely, we are killed in some way when we cease to be what we were before. With the new image of piety, both death and life operate in one and the same person: namely, sinful lusts die in him, and virtues come to life. In one and the same person the wicked and defiled are put to death, so that the merciful and pure may be reborn; - the idolatrous disappears, so that the God-pleasing may increase; - The lawless and intemperate perish, so that the chaste and sober can occur. Thus the Lord puts to death in order to give life; so he kills to show help; so punishes in order to correct! This is all of His severity towards people, that He wants their sins to be punished and their souls to be saved; so that vile vices are destroyed and good virtues increase. Many of those who were converted to God by this means have succeeded so much in the field of a better life, they have improved to such an extent that, seeing them, one might think that these people were born again, although their faces did not suffer any changes. For what we were before dies, is consumed and disappears in us to such an extent that, apparently, what we later became was born again. Why is this second birth a sign that the previous life is already over? As for the words: I will strike, and I will heal, then the Lord really strikes sinners with His commands in order to heal them, beats with commandments in order to correct them, prescribes fasts, shows the path of abstinence, threatens judgment, and in order to drive away from us the grave fear of Gehenna, offers healing, so that, being terrified of the future, we correct our present. Thus striking, the Lord healed the Apostle Paul. For when this one was still a persecutor, wicked, blasphemous, and hastened to Damascus to destroy the Churches; then the Lord suddenly struck him with a terrible radiance in order to illuminate him with the light of the Gospel splendor; and darkened his carnal vision, that he might enlighten the gaze of his spiritual eyes. He terrified him by subjecting him to bodily weakness in order to save him through dedication to faith. Rising from the ground, Paul, although he did not see either people or air with his outer eyes, but with his intelligent eyes he contemplated Christ himself in the sky. Finally, by this defeat, the Lord showed him such mercy that from a Jew he made him a Christian, from a blasphemer an Apostle, from Saul a Paul, and so changed the old man in him with his morals that he changed his very name. Having such a Physician, who by striking heals, and by killing, gives life, let us surrender ourselves to him for healing with all patience: let him, seeing what is rotting in our wounds, cleanse, separate, pluck out; let him take away the scabs inflicted by the devil and leave in us only that which is God’s. But his first instruction is that, during these forty days, we strive diligently in fasting, prayer and vigil. For fasting mortifies bodily lust; prayer nourishes the pious soul; vigils reflect the devil's machinations. And if the present time is spent in keeping these commandments; then the soul, purified and tired by these exploits, proceeding to baptism, is renewed in strength through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on it, and everything that has been dried up in it by the heat of various diseases is refreshed by the dew of heavenly grace, and therefore, putting aside the damage of the old man, it again acquires the property of youth. And how amazing it is that in one and the same person sins are replaced by holiness, lawlessness by righteousness, old age by infancy. In the new way of birth, the person being reborn becomes completely different, although he is the same one who sinned before. Elijah, after forty days of continuous fasting, was honored to end the long-term and terrible drought that was occurring throughout the world, and to quench the scorching thirst of the earth with abundant heavenly rain. And this, as you know, served as a prototype for us, i.e. that after a forty-day fast, heavenly rain will water our thirsty earth from above with spiritual drops of baptism, and that the streams of the saving font will soften the long-term dryness in the hearts of the pagans. For whoever is not watered with the grace of baptism; he truly endures dryness and heat in his soul. Having spent forty days and nights in fasting, Saint Moses was honored to converse and remain in the same place with God, and to receive the commandments of the law from His hand (Ex. 34:28). For although human nature alienated him from the face of God, the power of fasting brought him into close communion with the Divine. Frequent fasting is a share of God’s perfections in us; because God himself always fasts. And in whom He sees more than His works; He is especially close to him and becomes his friend, as the Scripture says: and the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as if someone spoke to his friend (Ex. 33:11). Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ, before glorifying Himself by resurrection, spent forty days and nights in fasting, in order to show that human life is not supported by bread alone. So, in this forty-day fast, God is reconciled with us, heaven is opened, and hell is abolished. Let us, beloved brethren, fast unceasingly and piously at this time, so that the Lord may be merciful to us, so that the heavens may be opened for us, and so that hell will not overcome us.