Поучение 47 53 . В среду первой недели. О посте, бесстрастии и чистоте.

Brothers and Fathers! The present days of holy fasting, between other seasons, are likened to a quiet refuge, where everyone flocks and finds spiritual silence, not only monks, but also lay people, small and great, rulers and subordinates, kings and priests; for this time is beneficial and salutary for every kind and age of people. Now in cities and villages all turmoil and disorder cease, and hymns and songs, alms and prayers increase, with which our good God is propitiated and bows to mercy, pacifies our souls and grants us forgiveness of sins; if only we sincerely turn to Him with all our hearts, falling to Him with fear and trembling and promising to abandon every bad habit that anyone has had. But Christians living in the world have teachers, that is, their bishops and pastors who instruct and teach them. For just as wrestlers and combatants require stimulation, so those who fast require encouragement and consolation from teachers. And since I, too, am among you longed for in the place of primacy and abbess, then I also have a duty to tell you a few words about this soul-saving fast. Brethren! Fasting is a renewal of the soul; for the Apostle says: as much as the body becomes weak and withers from the Lenten struggle, so much the soul is renewed day by day, and becomes beautiful, and shines with the beauty that God gave us from the beginning. And when she is cleansed and adorned by fasting and repentance, then God will love her and will live in her, as the Lord says: “I and the Father... will come, and make an abode with him” (John 14:23). Therefore, if such is the dignity of fasting and such is its grace that it makes us a dwelling place of God, then we should meet it with great joy and gladness, and not become discouraged because of scarcity of food, knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ, when he blessed five loaves in the desert, fed five thousand people with bread and water. He could have commanded, if he had wanted, that all kinds of manifestations should appear there; but by this He gave us an example of abstinence, so that we would care only about what is necessary. Fasting now at first seems difficult for us, but if we apply diligence and compulsion day by day, then with God’s help it will be easier for us. However, if we want our fast to be true and pleasing to God, then with abstinence in food, we will also abstain from all sin of soul and body, as the stichera teaches us, which says: “We will not fast for the purpose of swearing, but to abstain from all sinful passions” 54 . Let us guard ourselves from laziness and negligence about our cell rules and about church services, and most of all from vanity, envious jealousy, from hatred out of malice and from enmity, since these are secret passions that kill the soul; Let us guard ourselves from evil behavior and self-indulgence, that is, we will not appropriate things and fulfill our will. For the devil loves nothing more than if he finds a person who does not question another and does not consult with someone who can instruct him to do good; then the enemy conveniently seduces the autocrat and catches him in everything that he does and considers to be good. Let us be vigilant, especially regarding carnal lust; for even now, when we fast, the manifold serpent devil fights us with evil thoughts. The fruit of sin is beautiful to look at and pleasant to taste, but it is not so in reality. Just as sometimes an apple looks beautiful on the outside, but when you cut it, you find rottenness inside; so carnal lust seems to contain pleasure, and when sin is committed, it turns out to be bitterer than gall, and like a two-edged sword. Our forefather Adam suffered this; he was seduced by the devil, tasted the fruit of disobedience, and hoped to receive life through this, but found death. This is what everyone from that time until now endures, who are enticed by the ancient serpent with the evil desires of carnal passions. For the devil is darkness, but he is transformed and appears as an angel of light. Thus, the inventor of evil, Satan, shows evil as good, and bitter as sweet, and dark as bright, and ugly as beautiful, and represents death as life, and thereby deceives the world and torments it. But we, brothers, will pay special attention so that he does not ensnare us with many of his crafty wiles, so that we do not suffer like birds who are caught in snares and nets because of food. Let us carefully test with our minds the tricks of evil, and in any case, recognize evil where it is hiding, and guard against it. In addition to this, let us have zeal and thoroughness in psalmody and church services; Let us diligently listen with our minds to what is being read. For just as the body, feeding on bread, strengthens and grows, so the soul feeds on the Word of God. Let us genuflect every hour, each according to his strength, and as much as is assigned to him; Let us also do our handicrafts; for he who does nothing, according to the word of the Apostle, is not worthy even of food (2 Thess. 3:10). We will help each other; for one is weak, and another is strong; Let us not be contentious, but let us only do good; Let us be sweet-tongued, peaceful, forgiving, merciful, meek, submissive, filled with mercy and good fruits. And may the peace of God preserve our hearts and minds, and may it vouchsafe us the heavenly kingdom in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belongs glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. See Patrol. Minya. Volume. 99, p. 581. See the stichera on the poem, on Tuesday of the first week of Lent, on Vespers. You might be interested in: