At the onset of holy fasting

Today, beloved, the bright spring of holy fasting has dawned upon us and encourages us to diligently gather in this God-worthy paradise to reap the fruits of abstinence and, having picked the beautiful flowers of purity, to weave a wreath of chastity. Again the angelic life calls us to the ancient pleasure and gives us access to that blessed and divine sweetness. Great boldness towards God is bestowed by voluntary fasting, which cleanses the body through abstinence, sanctifies the soul by approaching God, distracts from everything earthly and predisposes us to desire heavenly things. Fasting, which elevates those who love it to heaven, places them before Christ and brings them into communion with the saints. The Father of Fasting, beloved, is the law of God; his mother is temperance, patience, virtue; his daughters - feat, purity, chastity; his own sons - Moses, Elijah, Daniel, John the Baptist and the entire cast of saints, especially desert dwellers and ascetics; his closest relatives are faith, hope and love; his friends are peace, meekness, harmony; his servants are praise, unceasing psalmody, pure prayer; the fear of God cohabits with him; the fruits of their cohabitation are holiness, integrity, boldness towards God, the kingdom of heaven, eternal life. This is why, beloved, those who love fasting and have the law of God in their hearts fast unfeignedly, but the wicked do not fast. And the righteous always fast, remaining in piety, keeping the law of God and fulfilling it, loving purity and kissing chastity, moving away from drunkenness and clinging to Christ; The lawless not only do not fast, but are filled with all sorts of vices and satanic works: all fornication, wickedness and lawlessness are characteristic of them; their speech is shameful, their laughter is intemperate, their behavior is devilish; gluttony, drunkenness and intemperance are inseparable from them. Truly, drunkenness brings about many evils! Those intoxicated with wine darken their souls, bring themselves into a state similar to madness and insanity, wander and stagger, push from wall to wall, shamelessly touch those they meet and shamefully wallow in the mud. Let us flee, beloved, from such shame, and let us fast diligently in the fear of God, strengthened in faith, advancing in the law, adorned in chastity, growing in righteousness, maintaining purity of eyes and holiness of thoughts, giving ourselves over to prayer with great patience and a pure heart, sweeping aside the temporal and appropriating the eternal. He who fasts sincerely and unhypocritically imitates Christ, on earth becomes like the angels, competes with the prophets, enters into communion with the apostles, and, through fasting, having achieved the rebirth of his nature, becomes righteous from the unrighteous, good from the evil, pious from the wicked, and thus assimilates Christ, the treasure of life - which may we all be honored to achieve by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power with the beginningless Father and the life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.