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When we part with a guest who spent several days with us and with whom we cordially shared conversation and table, then the next day after his departure, at the sight of the set table, we immediately remember him and the mutual conversation, and turn to him with ardent love. We will do the same in relation to fasting. He stayed with us forty days; we received him cordially and then saw him off. Intending now to offer a spiritual meal, let us remember him and all the benefits he brought to us. After all, not only the fast itself, but also the memory of it can bring us very great benefit. Just as those whom we love give us great pleasure not only when they are with us, but also when we remember them, so the days of fasting with their meetings, general conversations and other good fruits that we received from it, make us happy when we remember them; If we remember all this, we will receive great benefit today. I say this not to force you to fast, but to convince you not to get carried away with entertainment and not to behave like the majority of people, if only these cowardly people should be called people, who, as if freed from bonds and escaped from some heavy imprisonment, say to each other: “at last we have sailed across this boring sea of ​​fasting.” And others, weaker ones, are already afraid for the future Lent. This happens because the rest of the time they indulge in excess of fun, luxury and drunkenness. If we tried to spend all other days honestly and modestly, then we would remember the past fast with love, and we would accept the upcoming one with great pleasure. In fact, what benefits does fasting not bring us? There is silence and bright calm everywhere. Aren't houses free from noise, running around and any anxiety? And even before home, peace fills the very souls of those who fast; and throughout the whole city the same improvement is being established that happens in souls and in houses: in the evening you can’t hear people singing, during the day you can’t notice those making noise and drinking; there is no shouting, no fighting, but complete calm everywhere. And now it’s not like that, but from the very early morning there is screaming, noise, the running of cooks, great chaos both in our homes and in our thoughts, because entertainment inflames passions within us and fans the flame of vicious desires. Therefore, we should regret the past fast, since it held all this back. Even though we have laid aside the very labor of fasting, we will not stop loving him and will not erase the memory of him. When you, having had lunch and rested, go out to the square and see that the day is leaning toward evening, then, entering this church and approaching the pulpit, remember the time of Lent, when the church was full of people and everyone had a strong desire to listen, there was lively joy and excited thought; Having imagined all this, remember those longed-for days. When you order it to be served, eat with the memory of fasting - and you will never fall into intemperance. Just as someone who has a sedate, chaste, noble wife and has a fiery love for her, and in her absence cannot fall in love with a depraved and dissolute woman, because love for the former fills his soul and does not allow another passion to enter into it, so it happens with fasting and with intemperance: if we remember the first - noble and chaste, then the latter - this public harlot and the mother of all shamelessness, that is, intemperance, we will drive away from oneself very easily, because the love of fasting repels the shamelessness of intemperance stronger than any hand. Through all this, I ask you to always remember those days (1). If what corresponds to fasting is not fulfilled, then fasting does not bring any benefit. In the same way, virginity without love is neglected. Although it is difficult, although fasting is great, God does not require such labor; but both are pleasing to Him when they bear fruit. Someone once said: “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12), and yet it was of no benefit. The fasts are established so that we abstain from effeminacy and become ready for mercy; if anyone does not do this, then his labors are in vain (4). The body is sanctified through fasting; the soul, if it is not nourished, dies. Let the body fast by abstaining from sins, and let the soul be saturated with divine teaching. You cannot eat the bread of Christ and the bread of tears, just as Paul says: “You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21). So, a fasting person needs to abstain from food, but first of all, from sins. Truly, the Angels notice every day who has decided to abstain from greed, or fornication, or untruth. Angels write down such fasts, and God treasures them. Just as, brothers, just as the rulers, having accepted requests in the royal name, present everything to the king, so the Angels inform God about everything that happens, not teaching Him as if ignorant, but fulfilling the official duty of the creation. I would call the one who eats a thousand times more blessed than the one who fasts and does injustice. I say this not to destroy fasting, but to call for piety. It is not food that is evil, but sin that is evil, which is why God speaks of a certain righteous man: Did not your father eat and do My will, and in another place: “The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become joy and joyful triumph for the house of Judah; only love truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:19) (5). Doesn't fasting turn out to be precisely the cutting sword that guards access to the Kingdom of Heaven? Those who do not observe it with modesty and meekness, he flogs, and before those who fulfill it with a clear conscience, he not only retreats readily, but also shows them the path to a carefree life, unclouded joy and painless pleasure and delivers countless benefits as reward (5). Although they say about some that they cast out demons without fasting, it cannot be that a person living among pleasures will get rid of such an illness: no, someone suffering from such an illness has a special need for fasting. You will say: if faith is needed, why else is fasting needed? For the fact that, in addition to faith, fasting also gives a lot of strength; he teaches great wisdom, makes a person an Angel and strengthens him against incorporeal forces. However, not on its own - prayer is also needed, and it must precede. And look what benefits come from these two virtues. He who prays as he should, and also fasts, requires little; but whoever demands little will not be a lover of money; and whoever is not a lover of money loves to give alms. He who fasts becomes light and inspired, and prays with a cheerful spirit, quenches evil lusts, appeases God and humbles his arrogant spirit. That is why the apostles almost always fasted. He who prays with fasting has two wings, lighter than the wind itself. Such a one does not sleep, does not talk much, does not yawn or relax in prayer, as happens to many, but he is faster than fire and higher than the earth; That is why such a person is especially an enemy and warrior against demons, since there is no stronger person who sincerely prays. If a wife could bow down a cruel boss who neither feared God nor was ashamed of people, then how much more can he bow down to God who constantly stands before Him, tames his belly and rejects pleasures. If your body is weak to fast incessantly, then it is not weak for prayer and for neglecting the pleasures of the womb. If you cannot fast, then at least you can not indulge in luxury, and this is also important and not far from forgiveness and can tame the fury of the devil (7). Fasting has no concept of debts, the fasting person's meal does not remind of usury, the children of the one who observes fasting do not strangle orphans and do not weave webs for them like spiders. On the other hand, fasting is a source of pleasure. After all, just as someone who is thirsty finds every drink pleasant, and when hungry even the simplest meal seems tasty, so fasting makes you appreciate the subsequent permission to eat. Occupying the middle and interrupting the continuous enjoyment of food, it is a pleasant change for you, just as a break in the journey is for a traveler (9). You might be interested in: