Word at the beginning of the Lent of Pentecost

In the “Sermon at the Entry of the Fast of Lent” by St. Gregory of Nyssa reveals the theological and moral significance of fasting as the most important spiritual achievement in the life of a Christian. The author proceeds from the dualism of human nature, emphasizing that the soul, being incorporeal and immortal, is called upon to dominate the body - an instrument created to serve the spirit. Fasting allows the soul to free itself from carnal lusts and draw closer to God. The saint proves the beneficial effects of abstinence on both soul and body. For the soul, fasting is the path to contemplation of heavenly things, liberation from passions and becoming like God; for the body - a way to gain lightness, clarity of feelings and health. The essay provides examples of the harmful consequences of intemperance (ancestors, Ham, Esau, etc.) and the blessed fruits of abstinence (the prophets Elisha, Moses, Daniel, as well as Christ Himself, who defeated the temptations of the devil through fasting). The saint refutes false ideas about fasting and emphasizes that fasting is not a slavish compulsion, but a free feat that opens the way to a future immortal life. St. Gregory of Nyssa calls not to lose heart, but to trust in God, who will give strength to those going through the feat of fasting, and reminds of the great reward awaiting those who with faith and love go through the field of Pentecost. Man consists of a visible body and a rational, disembodied soul. However, these two parts do not have the same essence and dignity: the body is an instrument created in order to act under the control of the soul, as its mistress, while the soul, as the best part in man, is given control and dominion over the body. Being gifted with intelligence, and therefore having the ability to distinguish good from evil, she knows God the Creator and Creator not only of everything visible, subject to external senses, but also of the invisible, which she can perceive, through her contemplation, only her disembodied mind. Striving in truth and virtue, and thereby trying to please God, she strives for spiritual life; obeying the laws and requirements of this life, she removes herself far from all the desires of the flesh, approaches God, and, if possible, tries to liken herself to a good Being. Abstinence is very closely connected with this spiritual life. For the mind, unperturbed by anything, rejecting the base lusts of the belly and unclean thoughts, unhinderedly indulges in its activities, contemplating heavenly objects that are akin to it. So, all of you, pupils of philosophy, trying to study lofty subjects, love the present time, and joyfully accept the holy Pentecost. She is the teacher of chastity, the mother of virtue, the nourisher of the children of God, the tamer of the unbridled, the joy of souls, the well-being of life, the inviolable and undisturbed peace. For with her severity and holiness, she calms passions, extinguishes enmity and anger, pacifies and calms every violent movement of the heart produced by satiety. Just as during the summer heat, a quiet breath of wind, cooling the air, gives freedom to our breathing: fasting also has the same effect, cooling the heat of carnal passions that comes from satiety. Fasting, being so beneficial for the soul, is no less beneficial for the body. For it refines its roughness, reduces its heaviness, weakens the veins that are beating so strongly from the fullness of blood, giving them some relief, so that the same thing does not happen to them, which happens to channels that, due to excessive accumulation of water exceeding their capacity, break through, being unable to withstand the overcoming force of it. And when the veins have the correct beat, and the brain is not clouded by excessive fumes, then there is order and silence in our head. Abstinence also gives rest to the stomach: for it is freed from hard work and does not labor, like a boiling cauldron, over digestion. Then our eyes look purely, clearly, there is no darkness before them that surrounds vision from gluttony; our feet walk firmly; hands act with proper strength; breathing gains freedom because it is not constrained by any internal disturbances; the speech of the fasting person is clear and separate, the mind is bright, and, truly, then becomes godlike, performing his actions as if in a disembodied body, without any obstacle or confusion; sleep is serene and free of ghosts. Briefly put, fasting is peace, generally bestowed on the soul and body, a life that is not disturbed, constant, pleasing to God, and offending His enemy. Just as an enemy, seeing his adversary awake, armed, practicing military actions, foresees his defeat in this vigilant readiness for battle: so the enemy of our salvation hates all our concern for virtue, like his own misfortune. Therefore, know, man, that the home of the fasting person is watched and guarded by angels, and the home of the person who indulges in pleasures during Lent is guarded by demons, these friends of all intemperance, lovers of luxury, helpers in the matter of drunkenness. For spirits, both pure and unclean, have communication with souls akin to themselves, which can be seen among the birds themselves. For example, a dove lives in clean places, flies in fields, collecting grains for itself and its chicks. A turtledove sits on tree branches, cooing softly and pleasantly. On the contrary, a greedy raven flies near those places where meat is sold; sellers know his unpleasant and disgusting cry. Let us therefore love self-control, that we may be loved by the angels; let us hate luxury and satiety in order to get rid of the demonic community. None of those who were sated were zealous for piety; none of those involved in feasting was a student of virtue. Not a single sensualist became a saint; not a single person living according to the flesh has become a partaker of the Kingdom of God. Turn to the beginning of the human race, and you will see from experience itself that it is not in vain that we condemn intemperance. If the first commandment of abstinence had not been broken, then the law of fasting would not have been given to us; Our belly would not be called an insidious enemy if, under the guise of pleasure, it did not produce actual sin; we would have no need for a plow, nor for oxen, nor for reins, nor for sowing, nor for watering, nor for the rotation of times, nor for the cold of winter, nor for the warmth of summer - we would not have known any of the disasters surrounding us, if we had not been condemned to this temporary labor, for the criminal and willful wish of our ancestor; but we would lead a life completely different from the present one, the kind of life that we again hope to receive, upon resolution from this passionate life, through the resurrection. This is the beneficent purpose of God’s coming to us, to raise us to our former dignity, which we received from the man-loving God, but which we did not know how to preserve sacredly. Fasting is an image of a future, imperishable life; for there will be no drink, no food, no other pleasures of the belly. Starting with the first man, number his descendants in order. What brought righteous Noah into such a state of insensibility that his members were exposed, which law and decency command to be covered? What made the reckless Ham be so disrespectful to his father? “One sin produced extreme evil: because of the same drunkenness, the father was left without protection, and the son was deprived of his freedom. After this, when I turn to the sons of the high priest Eli, and look at his history, I see a whole series of disasters, following one after another, and they all come from one beginning - gluttony. Turning the priesthood of their father into a means of serving luxury and voluptuousness, they desecrated the sacrifices, and dedicated the firstfruits of the offerings, instead of God, to their womb. This was followed by the sin of fornication - the brother of luxury. At the end of this, the terrible and inexorable judgment of God came. Jerusalem was attacked by a hostile people because of the iniquities of the sons of Eli. But in order not to expand in the description of sad events, let's say briefly: intemperate young men fell in battle; the fatherland suffered along with the criminals; The ark of God was taken captive by the enemies. Elder Elijah was struck with death by the ill-fated news. The people suffered so many disasters for their lust and intemperance! So, let us all fast, and especially the children of priests and other members of their family should fast. Abstinence should be a home teacher for them, and its wise suggestions should always be their lessons. If it is indecent for the children of an artist to engage in a low craft, and to handle iron and anvil, then is it proper for the children and relatives of priests to distance themselves from the goal towards which the boss and owner of the house strives? For also pleasing the womb, the eldest son of Isaac suffered a very important loss. Being an animal catcher, one day he returned home exhausted. Tormented by hunger, he saw the soup prepared by his brother, and gave him his birthright for the food. The consequence of this was that he anticipated his father's blessing. Thus, moving little by little away from virtue and God, he lost the glorious name of the patriarch, and then, having deviated from community with Israel, he became a foreigner and a foreigner, and produced the same tribe from himself. Gluttony also led the Old Testament people to the violation of divine and sacred laws. While Moses received the tablets of the law from God, the Israelites, throwing off the bonds of obedience, turned to feasts and dancing. since they indulged in self-will and neglected virtue, the devil quietly drew them into wickedness. This is where the merger of the calf, demonic service, Aaron's participation in the crime, the breaking of the Covenant, the breaking of the tablets, the second ascent of Moses to the mountain, and everything else happened. Intemperance was the cause and root of all evil. I want to present another striking example of this, although it is later in time than what I said. King Saul, being on the battlefield, and wanting to complete the defeat of the enemies he had defeated, commanded the people not to eat food until the evening, sealing this command with an oath, and determining death for the violator of it. But while the whole army remained faithful to this commandment of the king, Jonathan, the son of Saul, seeing the bee-house and being seduced by the sweetness of the honey, thrust the end of his staff into the honeycomb and ate from it. Jonathan, of course, would not have escaped death if the people had not collectively opposed the king, who was already ready to justify the terrible oath over his son. In addition to these examples, many others can be cited, which will clearly show us how beneficial abstinence is, and, on the contrary, how harmful is immoderate enjoyment of food and drink. Fasting is a teacher of saints; fasting is the producer of every good deed. Just as artists do not produce anything without tools, so pious people, famous for their spiritual gifts, have never performed any miracles and signs without fasting. Elisha raised the dead, with the aid of fasting; Moses saw God after a preliminary fast; Daniel put to shame the sorcery and cunning of the Assyrians by fasting; The Lord defeated the temptations of the devil through fasting. The Ninevites averted the disaster that threatened them by fasting. The apostles, when beginning important matters, prayed and remained in fasting. In a word, fasting is an intercessor before God, worthily respected; he is a faithful messenger who quickly persuades God to fulfill our requests. So, all of you, pious men, loving God more than the pleasures of the womb! Enter the days of fasting with joy and complacency. For can a fighter be called courageous who, even at the beginning of his exploits, reveals mournful cowardice? Do not be sad, like the children who are sent to school; Do not complain about the days of purification; Do not wait for the end of the week, as you wait for the appearance of spring after a cold winter. Do not, like the Jews, desire the coming of the Sabbath in order to indulge in drunkenness; do not calculate the days of Lent, like lazy mercenaries, waiting from hour to hour for the time appointed by the contract to end; Do not complain that your house soon stops smoking from smoke, and the cook does not stand by the fire. Give something up to the soul, but not everything to the body. The soul is nourished by abstinence, and the body loves an abundance of food. But since the soul and body, with all the differences in their being, are closely connected with each other by the providence and wisdom of the Creator, then we must support the life of the soul and body in a way characteristic of them. Human! you are made up of two parts. I am not yet saying that the soul is incomparably superior to the body, and that therefore you yourself must take incomparably more care of it. For now, I want to say that you, as a rational and noble being, while giving your body its due, should not forget the soul. But if you wish, I will also talk about the soul, this faithful companion of the body, and prove that it unjustly suffers insults from it. The soul is a spiritual being, incorporeal, immortal, indestructible; its affinity is not with the earth and not with earthly things, but with God. Being pure in herself, she enjoys only the pure; It did not receive its existence from matter, and therefore it abhors all materiality. However, since she is assigned to preserve a vessel made of earth, she, submitting to the will of the Lord, remains in it, observing it and providing for it, until the time when the command comes to her to leave this vessel. So for the soul, which animates the body, abstinence is useful; and for the body, as an earthly and perishable instrument, it is necessary to consume food. Despite its superiority, however, the soul does not require anything superfluous for itself. She seems to say to a person: “Divide the seasons, determine six months for the one who lives under the management, and six months for the one who governs. The demand is fair. No carnal judge will be so partial that he doubts confirming the truth thereof. But while condescending to the weakness of the body, I will not limit myself to an equal division. I’m giving too many ten months to his share, just let him unquestionably cede the Pentecost to me, in order to at least somewhat relieve himself from the burden of vanities, and cool the heat of passions with abstinence.” Christians! This request is fair and indisputable, both according to the judgment of God and according to the judgment of man. Now you are here yourself: be the judges, decide the dispute between soul and body yourself. So, Christian, reject lust as something childish! You are the husband; It is indecent for you to become like children, who, while they are not given honey or cheese, usually cry, get angry, and with their screams do not give anyone peace. I’m even ashamed to say with what reluctance and with what boredom gluttons greet Lent. They yawn incessantly; as soon as they get out of bed, they are inclined to sleep again; try to pass the time somehow; They complain that the sun is moving so slowly to the west, and that the days themselves have become longer than usual. In addition, they pretend that they suffer from indigestion, shortness of breath, headaches, and generally that they feel unwell. But these are not the consequences of fasting, but of satiety! They sit down to a modest meal with contemptuous displeasure; they revile plants and vegetables, saying that they were created in vain. Voluptuous people, at the sight of Lenten dishes, become naturalists! They drink water without shortness of breath, as if taking a bitter medicine prescribed by doctors. In order to console themselves in such sadness, many drink something that looks like wine, and imagine that they are drinking wine itself. And others are looking for ways to make the simplest vegetables tasty for the palate. All this is reckless and meaningless: fasting should be the fruit of an arbitrary and free disposition; for its goal is by no means to make us hypocritical slaves, correcting their positions forcefully and carelessly. Do you demand a reward for yourself for living according to the law of virtue? but know that the reward is promised not to the evil ones, but to true workers. Do not damage the purity of Pentecost with hypocrisy, so that the same thing does not happen to you as happens to those who sell wine. If they are already punished for mixing water with wine; then how will you escape punishment, weakening the severity of fasting with refined pleasures? Don't apologize with feigned weakness. Do not slander the Pentecostal Lady as if she is the culprit of illness: on the contrary, she brings health. Do not look for excuses for sin along with people who are attached to pleasures. Abstinence, only because of your bad habit, seems disgusting to you, but in itself it does not harm you in the least. Witnesses of this are all the wild peoples who neither plant grapes nor produce wine, and for whom natural and native water serves as drink; but behind all this they are courageous and brave in war, and even defeat wine drinkers, that is, sober - drunk, as it should be. They have light bodies, capable of enduring labor, quickly mount horses, skilled in shooting, courageous and at the same time careful, so prudent that in difficult circumstances they always know how to find a way to save themselves. So do not blame water, as if it causes illness and makes those who drink it dry and weak. Your slander is refuted by experience. What can we say about wine? The Scythians living near Vospor and the Rene River live near their herds, without having permanent dwellings. Some nomadic peoples are content with the wool and skins of sheep, do not eat bread, do not know the plow, and do not cultivate the land. How is it that these peoples, not engaged in agriculture, sowing, or planting, and living their lives without bread and wine, are nevertheless strong, capable of fighting with all sorts of nations, and still able to defeat many of them? It does not harm them at all that they have neither wine nor bread. The habit of their great-grandfathers turned into nature for them. But why did I mention this? In order to show that skill and exercise improve a person in those subjects with which he is most involved. Accustom yourself to abstinence: and little by little it will become pleasant for you. On the contrary, if you indulge in pleasures and love feasts, you will never love fasting - you will turn away from it as from something terrible and unusual. Fasting life is a semblance of the future, immortal life. For just as then, having stripped ourselves of this passionate body, we will receive freedom, and nothing will force us to serve the belly and servile the passions: so now, rejecting the flesh and resisting its demands, we can put ourselves in a state very close to the immortality we expect. Let us avoid voluptuousness to the best of our ability, for it is impossible for the same person to be both voluptuous and God-loving. He who loves the body necessarily falls into the love of money, and the one who loves money is already far from the truth; he who repents of unrighteousness will easily break the laws and trample upon the statutes of the wise; and in the end he will allow himself everything, collecting food for pleasure from everywhere, and sacrificing everything to his belly, as to some kind of ruler. Do not be afraid of the labors of abstinence, but rather contrast future hopes with present labors, and you will easily begin to complete the feat of fasting. Tell yourself: fasting is bitter, but heaven is sweet; Thirst is weary, but the source is near, from which he who drinks will never thirst; the body is restless, but the disembodied soul is stronger than the body; the limbs are lifeless, but the resurrection is near! Tell the belly that tempts you what the Lord said to the tempter: man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word of God (Matthew 4:4). Fasting is not a time of hunger, but only a slight delay in eating; is not inevitable condemnation, but arbitrary restraint of oneself; is not some kind of slave work, but a free feat. Pray and you will receive strength; cry out, and a quick helper will appear to you! Bring ancient history to mind, and you will see that people who loved piety and exhausted their bodies for its sake were not inferior either in strength of strength or beauty of face to those who consumed sweet foods and wine. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyria, pleased the flesh in every way, and was tied to luxury, like an animal to a manger. Wanting to please not only his taste, but also his eyes, he ordered that young men, strong in body and handsome in appearance, be elected to the position of cupbearers, founders of the meal, and in general, as servants of his belly, and fed them from the royal meal. Three youths from the captive Israelites, having been chosen as such servants, did not, however, eat the royal food, as sacrificed to idols, but ate earthly seeds, and for the same reason they did not drink wine. When the chief, alarmed by the fear that such abstinence would not damage the beauty of their faces and expose him to execution, began to force them to accept the food he offered, they said to him: “Leave us, don’t force us; we will by no means seem to the king worse than those who eat luxurious food; our complexion will not fade. You are afraid that you might present the ugly servants to the king: no; The One who created and formed us will send us His grace, and you will see from experience that fasting is most beneficial for our beauty, which you care so much about.” And so it happened: these young men surpassed everyone in the beauty of their faces and the strength of their bodies. What can we say about Sampson? Was it not from his very conception that he learned fasting? For the angel revealed to his mother that for the sake of her son she herself should abstain from wine and all other pleasures. But who was stronger than him among the people? Who was more glorious than him among the heroes? He was so courageous that he boldly went out against an entire enemy army - one against so many! - and having neither a sword nor a spear, he beat a thousand enemies with one donkey’s jaw. So, strength will be given to you too, if you hope! Do not be discouraged, and you will be strengthened. Keep your ears glued to the hidden teaching, and you will forget about food, like the people who followed Jesus, who taught in word and deed. Let us be ashamed, we intemperate and lust-loving pagans and Jews, who, although in vain and without purpose, nevertheless fast. Let us assume that they deprive themselves of food without benefit: but at least they consider the rule of fasting worthy of fulfillment, and decent for people who care about virtue. After this, is it not appropriate for Christians to live a temperate and strict life when the pure and true word of piety is communicated to them? Anyone who works without piety to correct his morals is, in all fairness, like a man who builds a house without a foundation, or a ship without a bottom. And that is exactly what the foolish Jews are like! I always feel regret when I see Jews, in rags, without shoes, walking along the crossroads; the Jews are the disgrace of Moses and the prophets, slaves of madness, instead of being sons of freedom for them; the Jews are the children of the Law, and those who do not obey the Law, who boldly rejected the images of the future, and who have lost the hope of deliverance. For everything that Moses established was only a type of the truth. And tabernacles, and trumpets, and circumcision, and unleavened bread, and bitter herbs - all this was a sign of life in Christ - an image predestined for those who were destined for perfection. I am a Christian, a slave of the Crucified One, I fast in order to purify myself in the hope of the resurrection, and so that I, as a servant who loves my Lord, may be crucified with Him. But you, a descendant of those who slain the Lamb, the author of the blood He shed, which your fathers so recklessly took upon themselves and their children, tell me, why are you fasting? If in order to cleanse yourself from sins, then I highly praise you for your intention; just leave the synagogue of the wicked, and join the Church of the pious, approach the blood of the Lamb and sprinkle it with it; – where your condemnation comes from, there you will find purification for yourself! But if you now remain the same as you were before: after this, what does your abstinence from food mean? Or are you imitating the Nile crocodiles, about whom they say that they cry over the heads of the people they devoured, not because they repent of the murder (can unreasonable animals have such a feeling?); but because skulls have no meat in them and cannot be eaten? Something similar is in your post. For singing and dancing during the days of fasting, it seems, is not at all appropriate for this time. Fasting instructs us to behave strictly and abstinently; and dancing reveals a soul scattered from excessive pleasures. Remember the saying of Moses: on the tenth day of the seventh month one must fast (Lev.16:29). Here the seventh month means the seventh day, and the tenth day means the tenth hour in which the Lord gave up His spirit on the cross. Each action has its own external signs, from which the inner, invisible disposition of the soul is learned. Why do you combine and mix things that have no unity with each other? – The Jews also have other festivals, for example: the establishment of tabernacles, the memorial of trumpets. But the Jews do not understand that they are celebrating Christian festivities at the same time: since the arrangement of the tabernacles is an obvious image of the Church, which the Word raised for us. They, decorating the tabernacles with leaves, and the vestibules thereof with fruits, thereby signify the new, fruitful Church that grew up after the Law. And the Feast of Trumpets excites us to prepare for the resurrection, as the apostle says: The trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise (1 Cor. 15:52), and as our God and Savior Himself teaches in the Gospel: His angels will send with a great trumpet voice, and His elect will be gathered from the four winds, from the end of the heavens to the end of them (Matthew 24:31). But perhaps the Jews will say that they celebrate these celebrations in memory of ancient miracles, as a sign of thanksgiving for God’s benefits shown to them on Mount Sinai, and in remembrance of the trumpets that sounded at the giving of the Law. But the vain-wise do not understand that the sound of the trumpet, during the giving of the Law at Sinai, was used to signify the hidden truth. Precisely, since those who accept the Law, as a rule of pious life, should fear punishment for violating it; then God, giving people commandments for life, inscribed on tablets, immediately accompanies this gift with the voice of a trumpet, as a sign of the resurrection of the dead, that is, so that those who obey the commandments, looking at judgment through the resurrection, would inviolably preserve the teaching of the Divine Lawgiver. Thus, fasting and tabernacles and trumpets are ancient images of the sacraments of our faith, revealed in the appearance of our Savior in the flesh. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.