Behind the left shoulder is an angel. What shoulder is your guardian angel behind? Communication with the guardian angel occurs through thoughts, images, feelings

1. Why is fasting necessary? The Holy Fathers instruct that fasting is an irreplaceable means for achieving spiritual renewal and growth; without it, it is impossible for a person to struggle with passions and temptations and prepare his soul for the action of the saving grace of God.

St. Theophan the Recluse explains the purpose and meaning of fasting by the fact that the labors of abstinence and good deeds give scope for the action in us of the grace of the Holy Spirit:

“What digging the earth in the material is the exploits of self-mortification in the spiritual. What is moisture and warmth in the material, then in the spiritual are the works of good deeds and piety. God spoke to Noah's contemporaries: "I shall not have My Spirit to abide in these men...for they are flesh" (Genesis 6:3). Therefore, He will dwell where the flesh is crucified with passions and lusts, or where the feats of self-denial are carried out. The apostle writes: “Quench not the spirit, or: do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, Whom you are known for on the day of deliverance” (Eph. 4:30) - and then enumerates the passions that should be avoided, and the virtues in which one should prosper; consequently, the Spirit does not quench there, where there is a struggle with the passions and the labor of doing good. Elsewhere he teaches: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, singing and singing in your hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18, 19). Therefore, where there is hymns, church and domestic prayers, and deeds of piety in general, there will also be the filling of the Spirit or the manifestation of the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Feats of self-sacrifice, labors of good deeds and piety give scope for the action in us of the grace of the Holy Spirit, and it, hidden, then comes to life and shows its action both to the bearer himself and to others.

St. rights. John of Kronstadt:

Eating extensively, you become a carnal person, not having a spirit, or soulless flesh, but by fasting, you attract the Holy Spirit to yourself and become spiritual. Take cotton paper not soaked in water. It is light and, in small quantities, is carried in the air, but moisten it with water, it becomes heavy and immediately falls to the floor. So it is with the soul. Oh, how to protect the soul with fasting!

What is this great post? He is a precious gift to us of our Savior, Who Himself fasted for forty days and nights, did not eat or drink, a truly precious gift for all those who seek salvation, as a mortifier of spiritual passions. By His word and example, the Lord legitimized him to His followers. ... Fasting with prayer is a sure weapon against the devil and the many-passionate flesh. Let no one be clever that fasting is not needed.

It (fasting) pacifies our sinful, whimsical flesh, frees the soul from under its weight, giving it, as it were, wings for free soaring to heaven, gives a place for the action of the grace of God. Whoever fasts freely and correctly knows how light and bright the soul is during fasting; then good thoughts easily enter the head, and the heart becomes purer, more tender, more compassionate - we feel the desire for good deeds; is contrition for sins, the soul begins to feel the fatality of its position and begins to lament over sins. And when we do not fast, when thoughts are in disorder, feelings are not curbed, and the will allows itself everything, then you rarely see a saving change in a person, then he is dead in his soul: all her forces act in the wrong direction; the main goal of action - the goal of life - is overlooked; there are many private ends, almost as many as every person has passions or whims.

Fasting is a good teacher: 1) it soon makes it clear to anyone who fasts that every person needs very little food and drink and that in general we are greedy and eat, drink much more appropriate, that is, what our nature requires; 2) fasting well renders or reveals all the infirmities of our soul, all its weaknesses, shortcomings, sins and passions, just as muddy, stagnant water that begins to clear itself shows what reptiles are found in it or what quality rubbish; 3) he shows us the need to resort to God with all our hearts and seek mercy, help, salvation from Him; 4) fasting shows all the cunning, deceit, all the malice of the incorporeal spirits, whom we previously worked without knowing, whose deceit, when illuminated, now clearly turns out to be the light of God's grace, and who now viciously persecute us for leaving their ways.

It is necessary for a Christian to fast in order to clarify the mind and arouse and develop feelings and move the will to good activity. We overshadow and suppress these three abilities of a person most of all by overeating, drunkenness and worldly cares (Luke 21:34), and through this we fall away from the source of life - God and fall into corruption and vanity, perverting and defiling the image of God in ourselves. Overeating and voluptuousness nail us to the ground and clip, so to speak, the soul's wings. And look how high the flight of all fasters and abstinences was! They, like eagles, soared in the sky; they, the earthly, lived with their minds and hearts in heaven and heard inexpressible words there, and there they learned divine wisdom.

Our duty is to prepare for the heavenly life and take care of spiritual food, and spiritual food is fasting, prayer, reading the Word of God, especially Communion of the Holy Mysteries. When we do not care about fasting and prayer, then we are filled with all sorts of sins and passions, but when we feed on spiritual food, then we are cleansed of them and adorned with humility, meekness, patience, mutual love, purity of mind and body.

For this, by the way, the fasts were established by the Holy Church, so that Christians would have weapons in them against the devil and his countless wiles.

Prayer and fasting purify, enlighten and strengthen the soul; on the contrary, without prayer and fasting, our soul is an easy prey for the devil, because it is not fenced and protected from him. Fasting and prayer are spiritual weapons against the devil, which is why the Lord says that the race of demons proceeds only through prayer and fasting. The Holy Church, knowing the power of this spiritual weapon, calls us twice every week to fast - on Wednesday and Friday, by the way, in remembrance of the suffering and death of our Savior, and in a year - many times in all multi-day fasts, and Great Lent connects with special touching prayers of repentance. Fasting and prayer have that spiritual benefit that, by strengthening our souls, they strengthen faith, hope, and love in us and unite us with God.

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

Variable food and abstinence of the body and soul is renewed. The Holy Fathers, moved by the Holy Spirit, established fasts both for our spiritual and physical benefit.

Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin):

“The ancient Christian apologist Athenagoras, in response to the question of his pagan opponent about how bodily illness can affect the activity of a disembodied soul, gives the following example. The soul is a musician, and the body is an instrument. If the instrument is damaged, the musician is unable to extract harmonic sounds from it. On the other hand, if a musician is sick, then the instrument is silent. But this is just an image. In fact, the connection between body and spirit is immeasurably greater. The body and soul make up a single human personality.

Thanks to fasting, the body becomes a refined instrument capable of capturing every movement of the musician - the soul. Figuratively speaking, the body of the African drum turns into a Stradivarius violin. Fasting helps to restore the hierarchy of spiritual forces, to subordinate the complex mental organization of a person to higher spiritual goals. Fasting helps the soul to conquer passions, extracts the soul, like a pearl from a shell, from the captivity of everything grossly sensual and vicious. Fasting frees the spirit of a person from loving attachment to the material, from constant appeal to the earthly.

Conscious self-restraint serves as a means of achieving spiritual freedom...

Fasting increases the spiritual potential of freedom: it makes a person more independent of the external and helps to minimize his lower needs. At the same time, energy, opportunity and time for the life of the spirit are released.

Fasting is a volitional act, and religion is largely a matter of will. He who cannot limit himself in food will not be able to overcome stronger and more refined passions. Lechery in food leads to licentiousness in other areas human life.

We have touched on the personal aspect of fasting, but there is another, no less important, church aspect. Through fasting, a person is included in the rhythms of temple worship, becomes able to really experience through sacred symbols and images of the event biblical history.

The Church is a spiritual living organism, and, like any organism, it cannot exist without certain rhythms.

Fasts precede great ones Christian holidays. Fasting is one of the conditions for repentance. Without repentance and purification, it is impossible for a person to experience the joy of the holiday. Rather, he can experience aesthetic satisfaction, an upsurge of strength, exaltation, etc. But this is only a surrogate for spirituality. True, renewing joy, as an action of grace in the heart, will remain inaccessible to him.

A number of fasts are dedicated to the mournful events of biblical history: on Wednesday Christ was betrayed by His disciple Judas; on Friday he was crucified and died. Anyone who does not fast on Wednesday and Friday and says that he loves God is deceiving himself. True love will not satisfy his belly at the tomb of his beloved. Those who fast on Wednesday and Friday receive as a gift the ability to empathize more deeply with the Passion of Christ.”

Saint Leo the Great:

“After the long feast of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary in order to purify our thoughts and make us worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The real feast, which the Holy Spirit sanctified by His descent, is usually followed by a nationwide fast, beneficially established for the healing of the soul and body, and therefore requiring that we see it off with due goodwill. For we have no doubt that after the apostles were filled with the power promised from above and the Spirit of truth dwelled in their hearts, among other mysteries of the heavenly teaching, at the suggestion of the Comforter, the teaching was also taught about spiritual abstinence, so that the hearts, cleansed by fasting, would become more capable of acceptance of grace-filled gifts... it is impossible to fight the forthcoming efforts of the persecutors and the furious threats of the wicked in a pampered body and fattened flesh, since that which delights our outer man, destroys the inner, and vice versa, the rational soul is the more purified, the more the flesh is mortified.

Rev. Isaac Sirin:

The spirit does not submit [to the cross] unless the body first submits to it.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

The head of the virtues is prayer; their foundation is fasting.

The law of fasting, being outwardly a law for the womb, is in essence a law for the mind.

The mind, this king in man, if he wants to enter into the rights of his autocracy and preserve them, must first of all obey the law of fasting. Only then will he be constantly alert and bright; only then can he rule over the desires of the heart and body; only with constant sobriety can he study the gospel commandments and follow them. The foundation of virtue is fasting.

He who does not observe moderation and proper legibility in food, cannot preserve either virginity or chastity, cannot curb anger, indulges in laziness, despondency and sadness, becomes a slave to vanity, a dwelling place of pride, which introduces into a person his carnal state, which is the most luxurious and well-fed meals.

“Take heed to yourselves, but not when your hearts are burdened with overeating and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34), the Lord bequeathed. Excessive drinking and drunkenness convey fatness not only to the body, but to the mind and heart, i.e. bring a person soul and body into a carnal state.

The carnal man is wholly immersed in sinful pleasures. He is voluptuous in body, heart, and mind; he is incapable not only of spiritual pleasure and the acceptance of Divine grace, but also of repentance. He is generally incapable of spiritual pursuits: he is nailed to the ground, drowned in materiality, alive - dead in soul.

Saint Theophan the Recluse. Letters about Christian life:

The rules for observing Orthodox fasting are designed to ensure that believers undergo the necessary preparation for entering into Heavenly Kingdom. This tradition of abstaining from fast food and limiting sexual life is a special form of asceticism, exercising the spirit and leading to salvation. individual consciousness. Fasting guidelines vary depending on the age and health of the people.

The meaning of fasting in Orthodoxy

Today, this tradition is often neglected. Some people think that fasting is just an unpleasant monastic act that can harm the body. Such an examination of the issue is completely wrong, since an Orthodox follower should think about his own soul, and not about the earthly shell.

The meaning of fasting in Orthodoxy

He who raises his consciousness and faith in God rejoices in abstinence and easily endures conditional bodily difficulties. The sensible parishioner should use this time to the best advantage. It is with this that it is customary for true Christians to congratulate on the onset of a period of purification from the material and vain.

Important! A simple change in the composition of food is not a fast if there is no desire in the mind to abstain, to repent of inevitable sins through sincere prayer.

Spiritual limitation stands next to the physical, but rises above it. If a person gives himself entirely to the first, the Lord instills necessary forces to overcome the secondary difficulties of the physical shell. John Chrysostom authoritatively confirms: “Let all parts of your body be involved in fasting through reliance on a strong and steadfast mind.”

Lenten Recipes:

Today's life sometimes incorrectly considers the essence of tradition - many people see here only the deprivation of material reinforcement through punishment. Orthodox (and any) post - greatest way achieve the desired result in the service of God. By exhausting his own body, the believer removes the dark veil from the soul and opens a mystical path that facilitates the approach to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Abstinence cannot be called the hunger to which all beings are subjected for this or that misdeed. This tradition acquires religious value only when combined with exercises for the soul (repentance, the destruction of vices through prayer).

Fasting is the thinning of the physical flesh, which makes it possible to approach the influence higher powers and become filled with grace. The Church speaks of abstinence in order to remind of the necessary healing of a seriously ill soul, mired in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. certain days in religious calendar designed for such cleansing procedures. They are pure abstinence and balance between the shells, which should return the supremacy of the mind (soul) over the body.

Christ fasted for forty days in the wilderness

The apostles said that before the advent of fasting, a person lost to passions and the devil. Christ set the example of 40 days of abstinence and received the power of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is obligated to follow the example of the Sinless Son and strike down his own weaknesses. A fasting person has an unshakable mind and is capable of any accomplishments.

On a note! The rules for observing the Orthodox fast are described in the Typicon (the book of the Divine Rule), the Nomocanon (the Byzantine collection of church instructions), the Menaion and other similar works.

The practice of abstinence is incredibly developed in Christian world- number fast days sometimes it reaches 200. The severity of the fast described in these books differs for monks and lay people.

Features of charitable temperance

The feat of repentance and prayerful petition must be accompanied by thoughts about individual sinfulness. The believer should also renounce pleasure trips, watching inappropriate programs, reading "light literature", etc. If these categories do not let go of the mind, a person is obliged to make a mental effort and break the fetters of meaninglessness.

Depending on the preparedness of the body and health, abstinence differs in five degrees:

1. For the sick, the elderly or beginners, the first type is suitable with the rejection of only meat food.
2. Next comes the refusal of dairy products.
3. Fish rejection.
4. In the penultimate position, a complete rejection of oil.
5. Fasting without consuming any food at all for a certain period is a step available to believers with unshakable faith and titanic health.

There is no fasting when a believer leaves the place of the meal with a burdened stomach and a feeling of satisfied satiety. There are practically no sacrifices and hardships, which alone give abstinence a great value.

Some Orthodox are changing physical abstinence to "spiritual", which means restraining irritability, criticism of other people and all kinds of quarrels. However, such an attitude does not advance the believer on the path to true righteousness, since favor is self-evident at all times. Therefore, indulgence in eating is only self-deception, devoid of benefit.

lean food

If a person is not able, for health reasons or financial disadvantage, to observe the traditional rules of fasting, he must give up entertainment, sweets, abstain, at least on Wednesday and Friday. Communion begins with a small thing - the denial of meat.

Interesting! Earlier in Russian families, fasting was extremely revered and was performed with with a pure heart. Some princes observed the rules of abstinence better than many monks. The monks of Egypt echoed the 40th post of Moses and Christ. The monks of the Optina Hermitage in the Kaluga region ate only grass and were famous for their longevity.

Separate periods of abstinence

In Orthodoxy, one-day and multi-day fasts are distinguished. Believers fast before church holidays or significant days for Orthodoxy.

One day posts

Weekly fast days include Wednesday and Friday. Fast days have their own symbolic essence, which the Christian soul does not dare to pass by indifferently.

There are exemptions for the following periods:

• week after Trinity;
• the period of Christmas time (from Christmas to Epiphany);
• on Maslenitsa (meat food is prohibited, dairy products are allowed)

There are also special one-day posts:

1. Day of the beheading of John the Baptist (September 11).
2. Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (September 27).

Multi-day posts

1. Church opinion

   Religion says fasting is effective method transforming the Wrath of God into His mercy. Life in asceticism and asceticism is pleasing to the Lord, it is like a pure crystal that has thrown off the shackles of dirty sin and the slavery of materiality.

   • Abstinence is a practice for a great undertaking. Any action is easier to perform if you subdue your own flesh.
   • Reducing costs for yourself Orthodox person has the opportunity to put more on the altar of mercy. Food will be more useful to an orphan, a widow, or a homeless person who will pray for salvation.
   • Temperance allows you to stay with the Church, to commune with the apostles, Christ and the Father. It opens best qualities and brings you closer to the deepest mysteries.
   • However, excessive abstinence is like satiety of the womb: there were examples when fanaticism acquired negative qualities and became gluttony. The believer must know own forces and be thoughtful.
   • A person should eat as much food as is necessary to maintain bodily functioning. Starting from scratch and falling into fanaticism, the neophyte will hurt himself excessively, and for a long time he will not be able to realize the right direction.
   • The main condition is not to violate the charter of mental fasting if you have to give up the rules of consumption. There were examples when the future saints ate a modest meal, but their minds did not move away from contemplating the greatness of the Lord.
   • If a believer notices exhaustion in the body, an inability to offer prayer, this indicates a wrong method. Here the guidance of experienced confessors who have experience in fasting helps.
   Important! Fasting in Orthodoxy is a means of healing from the ailments of sinfulness. It cleanses the mind from the action of polluting thoughts, refines the body and brings it closer to areas of supreme bliss.

   Watch a video about the meaning of fasting in Orthodoxy

AT Orthodox countries long and one-day fasts were established. Long, as a rule, concern almost all believers. But even for those who do not go to church and do not pray, it becomes interesting what fasting is, why it is needed, and sometimes they also want to join.

In order for the event to bring truly spiritual benefit and joy, you need to follow a number of rules. The article is dedicated not only to newcomers to the faith, but also to all interested people who want to help themselves become better, learn to love and forgive, humble themselves and rejoice. Note that the material is compiled according to numerous answers. Orthodox priests about what fasting is and what it gives people.

Meaning of "post" in the dictionary

First, let's look at the definition of the word "post". It has three meanings in Ozhegov's dictionary, which are very different from each other.

In the first case, this word means the voluntary abstinence of a person from certain foods, from bodily pleasures and entertainment in the name of God.

The second meaning of the word is workplace a person of some profession, associated with observations, protection, inspection. For example, a customs post, a security post.

The third option is an elite position, for example, in government. Often we hear on TV: “He is elected to the post of vice-president of the country ...”, “He will take the post of minister ...”.

What does fasting mean in Christianity

What is fasting in Christianity? In fact, this is not only a restriction in food and a lack of entertainment, but also a prayer. That is, a person must himself, without extraneous requests and without coercion, force himself to take a step towards God. But in order to start communication with the Almighty, you need to discard everything earthly:

• entertainment;
• joys;
• pleasure;
• fun;
• fuss;
• unimportant worries;
• evil deeds.

That is, a person must learn to perceive himself, those around him and God in a new way, become better, spiritually purer (get rid of evil thoughts, fuss, learn to forgive and love). That's what a post is!

First of all, a person must learn to pray, to communicate with the Lord. The Church, services in the temple, prayer books help with this. Fasting is always difficult, but at the end of such a feat, real joy appears, lightness in the soul.

How did he appear

Fasting began, as many priests preach, back in paradise. As the Bible says, God ordered Adam and Eve to eat any plants, but not to touch one tree, which was fraught with evil. This was fasting - eat everything, but do not touch what can harm you. Eve did not listen, tempted by the words of the demon, who was hiding behind the guise of a serpent. A tragedy happened - the world became the way we see it now: suffering, evil, illness and death. But in order for a person to improve, God gave absolutely all people a chance to return to paradise through fasting and prayer.

Before the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, people also limited themselves for the sake of God. But when the Savior was born and began to preach, then the rules that the Orthodox observe to this day changed. Fasting is for the people themselves, not for God.

What restrictions and prayer give

Almost every deeply religious person knows that fasting is a spiritual school of life. Having limited themselves to worldly cares and entertainments or excluding them altogether for a while, Christians suddenly realize that we have completely forgotten that all the fuss that revolves around us and around which we ourselves revolve will pass, it doesn’t matter. There is a more important thing in life - the salvation of the soul from death, from falling into hell for sins.

Often people ask priests about what kind of fasting is considered valid. The answer is unequivocal: voluntary, with the desire to change yourself, leave everything worldly and remember God, why we live, and of course, learn to love and forgive everyone. Such a feat is considered the most difficult, it is very difficult to part with pride and approach the offender, saying sincerely about forgiveness. And it is also difficult to devote some time to God so as not to be distracted by other things and concerns.

Having overcome his earthly desires in order to meet the Lord, pray to Him, thank Him, ask for help, a person gains genuine joy, not just a fleeting feeling that arises in connection with pleasant circumstances, but spiritual joy for no apparent reason.

How to start fasting as a beginner

Newbies are always wondering when fasting starts and when it ends. The Church has established fasting days: one-day (Wednesday and Friday) and multi-day (Christmas, Great, Petrov and Assumption).

As a rule, modern calendars indicate what days you can eat. The dates of major church holidays are also given.

It is advisable to know in advance how to fast. The following will be brief information about preparation.

What can and should be done

We figured out what a post is. But how to spend all the days, because it is almost impossible to always devote time to prayer? Indeed, during such a period, Christians try to do something good in the name of the Lord and for the salvation of the soul:

• do works of mercy;
• go on pilgrimages;
• read Orthodox literature;
• listen to the sermons of church pastors;
• prepare for the holiday to which fasting is dedicated.

Most often, fasters notice that there is much more time, and it does not run away at a rapid speed. After all, a contemporary at this moment leaves the TV, computer, gadgets. He uses the phone only on business and does not allow himself to say extra words. In addition, you should not communicate with friends if the meeting is held for the purpose of "just chatting, arguing, having fun."

How to prepare

Preparation for fasting usually begins with a visit to the temple in order to:

• pray conciliarly at the liturgy;
• confess your sins before the priest;
• partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ;
• listen to the preaching of the priest.

Usually people learn in church what fasting is. As a rule, priests remind that bodily and spiritual restriction is necessary in order for a person to part with his passions.

After all, everyone has to afterlife get used to the new conditions. If a person gravitates towards everything earthly, then in eternity he will unbearably want to go back, but there will be no way back. In addition, a person voluntarily sends himself to hell. To prevent this from happening, posts are given.

Who needs to fast

Until the age of seven, children are not able to be responsible for their actions, they only learn life, perceive absolutely everything that surrounds them. Therefore, they do not need to repent of their sins at confession. And at the age of 7, a boy and a girl must learn to be aware of responsibility for themselves, for their actions, deeds and thoughts, feelings.

The same goes for the post. It is related to confession. Therefore, children from the age of seven should join their parents. But one should not forcefully limit food and entertainment so that the child loses the desire to be a real Christian. Priests recommend doing everything gradually, and if the child is ready, he does not resist.

What to do after graduation

Many are looking forward to the end of the fast in order to return to their usual way of life as soon as possible. But Orthodox elders it has always been said that such a worldview is deceptive: such people do not fast, but simply follow a diet. Such thinking about fasting is dangerous because a person misleads himself. Lent should be a favorite period for a Christian.

It is recommended to observe the restrictions and devote more time to prayer according to the fasting calendar. The dates are not random. They are also a symbol of obedience, that is, a person does not point to something to himself, but obeys a certain law - in this case charter of the Orthodox Church.

What conclusions does the person make?

Lent is the longest, and it is also the strictest. Lasts 48 days. It should be noted that strict post applies more to monastics. Lay people (people who do not live in monasteries and have not taken tonsure) are allowed relief, but if the priest blesses. This is also why you should go to the temple the day before to discuss all the conditions with the priest: what to limit yourself to, and what can be left as usual. After all, not everyone is able to strictly abstain for one reason or another. For example, due to illness or during pregnancy, one should not refuse dairy products, meat, if the doctor forbids.

So what conclusions does a person who has fasted spiritually and sincerely draw? He usually doesn't want to go back to former life. He becomes disgusted with what he liked to do before. And I also want to communicate with the Lord more often.

You have learned what fasting is, what it should be. If a person managed to leave his earthly affairs, or at least limit himself, then, with the end of this period, did not want to return to them, then the time was not spent in vain, but with great benefit for the soul.

Instructions for a Christian about fasting can vary greatly depending on the state of health of the Christian's body. It may be in full health. young man, not quite healthy in the elderly or with a serious illness. Hence the instructions of the church about observing fasts (on Wednesdays and Fridays) or during periods multi-day posts(Rozhdestvensky, Veliky, Petrov and Uspensky) can vary greatly depending on the age and physical state of health of a person. All instructions fully apply only to a physically healthy person. For physical illnesses or for the elderly, the instructions should be taken carefully and judiciously.

How often among those who consider themselves Christians one can come across disregard for fasting, misunderstanding of its meaning and essence.

Fasting is considered by them as a matter obligatory only for monks, dangerous or harmful to health, as a relic from the old rituals - a dead letter of the charter, which it is time to put an end to, or, in any case, as something unpleasant and burdensome.

It should be noted to all who think in such a way that they do not understand either the purpose of fasting or the purpose of the Christian life. Perhaps it is in vain that they call themselves Christians, since they live in their hearts together with the godless world, which has its own body and self-indulgence as a cult.

A Christian, first of all, should think not about the body, but about his soul and worry about its health. And if he really began to think about her, then he would rejoice at fasting, in which the whole situation is aimed at healing the soul, as in a sanatorium - at healing the body.

The time of fasting is a time of particular importance for spiritual life, it is “an acceptable time, this is the day of salvation” ().

If the soul of a Christian yearns for purity, seeks spiritual health, then it should try to make the best use of this useful time for the soul.

That is why among the true lovers of God, mutual congratulations are accepted on the onset of fasting.

But what is a post in essence? And is there not self-deception among those who consider it necessary to fulfill it only by the letter, but do not love him and are weary of him in their hearts? And is it possible to call fasting only the observance of some rules about not eating fast food on fast days?

Will fasting be fasting if, apart from a certain change in the composition of food, we think neither of repentance, nor of abstinence, nor of the purification of the heart through fervent prayer?

It must be assumed that this will not be a fast, although all the rules and customs of fasting will be observed. Rev. Barsanuphius the Great says: “Bodily fasting means nothing without spiritual fasting. inner man which consists of protecting oneself from the passions.

This fast of the inner man is pleasing to God and will reward you for your lack of bodily fasting” (if you cannot observe the latter, as you would like).

As St. Isaac the Syrian: “Fasting is a weapon prepared by God… If the Lawgiver Himself fasted, then how could one of those obliged to keep the law not fast?..

Before Lent, the human race did not know victory, and the devil never experienced defeat ... Our Lord was the leader and the firstborn of this victory ...

And as soon as the devil sees this weapon on one of the people, this adversary and tormentor immediately comes into fear, thinking and remembering his defeat in the wilderness by the Savior, and his strength is crushed ... Whoever abides in fasting, his mind is unshakable ”(Word thirty).

It is quite obvious that the feat of repentance and prayer in fasting should be accompanied by thoughts about one’s sinfulness and, of course, refraining from all kinds of entertainment - going to theaters, cinema and guests, light reading, cheerful music, watching TV for entertainment, etc. If all this still attracts the heart of a Christian, then let him make an effort to tear his heart away from it, even during the days of fasting.

Here we must remember that on Fridays, St. Seraphim not only fasted, but also remained on this day in strict silence. As writes about. : “Lent is a period of spiritual effort. If we cannot give our whole life to God, then let us dedicate at least periods of fasting undividedly to Him - let us intensify prayer, multiply mercy, tame passions, and reconcile with enemies.

Here the words of the wise Solomon apply: “To everything there is a time and a time for every thing under heaven. … a time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to complain and a time to dance… a time to be silent and a time to speak,” etc., ().

In some cases, sick Christians replace for themselves (themselves or on the advice of confessors) abstinence from food with "spiritual" fasting. The latter is often understood as more strict attention to oneself: keeping oneself from irritability, condemnation, and quarrels. All this, of course, is good, but in ordinary times, can a Christian afford to sin, or be irritated, or condemn? It is quite obvious that a Christian should always be "sober" and be careful, protecting himself from sin and everything that can offend the Holy Spirit. If he is unable to restrain himself, then this will probably take place equally both on ordinary days and in fasting. Hence, replacing a fast in food with a similar “spiritual” fast is most often self-deception.

Therefore, in those cases when, due to illness or a great lack of food, a Christian cannot observe the usual norms of fasting, then let him do everything he can in this regard, for example: refuse all entertainment, from sweets and dainty dishes, will fast at least on Wednesday and Friday, will try to ensure that the most delicious food is served only on public holidays. If a Christian, due to senile infirmity or ill health, cannot refuse fast food, then he should at least somewhat limit it on fasting days, for example, do not eat meat - in a word, to one degree or another, still join the fast.

Some refuse fasting for fear of weakening their health, showing painful suspiciousness and lack of faith, and always strive to nourish themselves abundantly with fast food in order to achieve good health and to maintain the "fatness" of the body. And how often they suffer from all sorts of diseases of the stomach, intestines, kidneys, teeth ...

In addition to showing one's feelings of repentance and hatred of sin, fasting has other aspects. Fasting times are not random days.

Wednesday is the betrayal of the Savior - the highest of the moments of fall and shame human soul going in the person of Judas to betray for 30 pieces of silver of the Son of God.

Friday is the patience of bullying, excruciating suffering and death on the cross Redeemer of mankind. Remembering them, how can a Christian not limit himself by abstinence?

Great Lent is the path of the God-man to the Calvary sacrifice.

The human soul has no right, does not dare, if only she is a Christian, to pass indifferently past these majestic days - significant milestones in time.

How dare she then - on the Last Judgment to become at the right hand of the Lord, if she is indifferent to His sorrow, blood and suffering in those days when the Universe - Earthly and Heavenly - remembers them.

What should be the post? No general measure can be given here. It will depend on the state of health, age and living conditions. But here one must certainly hurt one's flesh-pleasing and voluptuousness for the living.

At present, a time of weakening and falling of faith, it seems unattainable to us those rules on fasting, which in the old days were strictly observed by pious Russian families.

Here, for example, is what Great Lent consists of church charter, the obligation of which extended equally to both the monk and the layman.

According to this charter, Great Lent is supposed to be: complete non-eating for the whole day of Monday and Tuesday of the first week and Friday of Holy Week.

Only for the weaker is it possible to eat food on Tuesday evening of the first week. On all other days of Great Lent, except Saturdays and Sundays, only dry food is allowed and only once a day - bread, vegetables, peas - without oil and water.

Boiled food with vegetable oil is supposed only on Saturdays and Sundays. Wine is allowed only on the days of church remembrance and during long services(for example, on Thursday in the fifth week). Fish - only in the Annunciation Holy Mother of God and Palm Sunday.

Although such a measure seems to us excessively harsh, it is, however, achievable for a healthy organism.

In the life of the old Russian Orthodox family one can see the strict observance of fasting days and fasts. Even princes and kings fasted in a way that many of the monks do not fast now, perhaps.

So, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich dined during Great Lent only three times a week - on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and on other days he ate only a piece of black bread with salt, salted mushroom or cucumber, washed down with kvass.

Some Egyptian monks in ancient times practiced a complete forty-day abstinence from food during Great Lent, following the example of Moses and the Lord Himself in this respect.

Forty-day fasts were held twice by one of the brothers of the Optina Hermitage, Schemamonk Vassian, who lived there in the middle 19th century. This schemnik, by the way, just like St. Seraphim, to a large extent, ate grass "snotweed". He lived to be 90 years old.

For 37 days, nun Lyubov of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery did not eat or drink (except for one communion). It should be noted that during this fast she did not feel any weakening of her strength and, as they said about her, "her voice thundered in the choir as if even stronger than before."

She made this fast before Christmas; it ended at the end of the Nativity Liturgy, when she suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to eat. Unable to control herself any longer, she immediately went to the kitchen to eat.

It should be noted, however, that the norm for Great Lent described above and recommended by the Church is no longer considered by everyone to be so strictly binding on everyone. The Church recommends, as a certain minimum, only the transition from fasting to fasting food in accordance with her instructions for each of the fasts and fast days.

Compliance with this norm for quite healthy people is considered mandatory. However, she provides more to the zeal and zeal of every Christian: “I want mercy, not sacrifice,” says the Lord (). At the same time, we must remember that fasting is necessary not for the Lord, but for ourselves to save our souls. “When you were fasting… were you fasting for me?” the Lord says through the mouth of the prophet Zechariah (7:5).

Therefore, fasting is practiced in the church as a means of preparing oneself for any undertaking. Having a need for something, individual Christians, monks, monasteries or churches imposed a fast on themselves with intense prayer.

The post also has one more positive side, which the Angel drew attention to in the vision of Hermas (see the book "Shepherd Hermas").

By substituting simpler and cheaper food for it, or by reducing its quantity, a Christian can cut costs on himself. And this will give him the opportunity to spend more money on works of mercy.

The angel gave the following instruction to Hermas: “On the day on which you fast, do not eat anything but bread and water, and having calculated the expenses that you would have made on this day for food, following the example of the past days, set aside the rest of this day and give it to the widow. , orphan or poor; in this way you will humble your soul, and he who has received from you will be satisfied and will pray to God for you.”

The angel also pointed out to Hermas that fasting is not an end in itself, but only an auxiliary means to purifying the heart. And the fast of the one who strives for this goal and does not fulfill the commandments of God cannot be pleasing to God and is infertile.

In essence, the attitude to fasting is a touchstone for the soul of a Christian in his attitude to the Church of Christ, and through the latter to Christ.

As writes about. Alexander Elchaninov: “... In fasting, a person manifests himself: some show the highest abilities of the spirit, while others become only irritable and angry - fasting reveals the true essence of a person.”

The soul that lives by living faith in Christ cannot neglect fasting. Otherwise, she will unite herself with those who are indifferent to Christ and religion, with those who, according to Fr. :

"Everyone eats - and in Maundy Thursday when it is done Last Supper and the Son of Man is betrayed; and in Good Friday when we hear the cry of the Mother of God at the tomb of the Crucified Son on the day of His burial.

For such there is neither Christ, nor the Mother of God, nor the Last Supper, nor Golgotha. What kind of post can they have?

Addressing Christians, Fr. Valentine writes: “Keep and observe fasting, as a great church shrine. Every time you refrain from fasting that is forbidden during the days of fasting, you are with the whole Church. You do in complete unanimity and unanimity what the whole Church and all the holy saints of God have done from the very first days of the existence of the Church. And this will give you strength and firmness in your spiritual life.”

The meaning and purpose of fasting in the life of a Christian can be summarized following words Rev. Isaac the Syrian:

“Fasting is the protection of every virtue, the beginning of struggle, the crown of the temperate, the beauty of virginity, the source of chastity and prudence, the teacher of silence, the forerunner of all good deeds…

From fasting and abstinence, a fruit is born in the soul - the knowledge of the mysteries of God.

Mindfulness in fasting

I want mercy, not sacrifice.
()

Show ... in virtue prudence.
()

Everything good in us has some trait,
crossing which imperceptibly turns into evil.
(Prot.)

All of the above about fasting applies, however, we repeat, only to healthy people. As with any virtue, prudence is also needed for fasting.

As Rev. Cassian the Roman: “Extremes, as the holy fathers say, are equally harmful on both sides - both the excess of fasting and the satiety of the womb. We know some who, not being conquered by gluttony, were cast down by immeasurable fasting, and fell into the same passion of gluttony, because of the weakness resulting from excessive fasting.

Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, one can proceed to right action, but not from the former.

The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, ate as much food as needed to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety requires.

A monk should conduct the work of fasting so reasonably, as if he had to stay in the body for a hundred years; and so curb spiritual movements - forget insults, cut off sorrow, put sorrows in nothing - as one who can die every day.

It should be remembered how Paul warned those who unwisely (arbitrarily and arbitrarily) fasted - “this has only the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility of mind and exhaustion of the body, in some neglect of the nourishment of the flesh” ().

At the same time, fasting is not a ritual, but a secret of the human soul, which the Lord commands to hide from others.

The Lord says: “When you fast, do not be despondent like the hypocrites, for they take on gloomy faces in order to appear to people who are fasting. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward.

And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face to appear fasting not before people, but before your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly ”().

And therefore, a Christian must hide both his repentance - prayer and inner tears, as well as his fasting and his abstinence in food.

Here one must be afraid of any revelation of one's difference from others and be able to hide from them one's feat and one's hardships.

Here are a few examples of this from the lives of saints and ascetics.

Fasting will be unreasonable even when it puts up barriers to the hospitality of those who treat you; By this we will reproach those around us for neglecting fasting.

The following story is told about Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow: once he came to his spiritual children just in time for dinner. As a duty of hospitality, he should have been invited to dinner. Meat was served at the table, and the day was fasting.

The Metropolitan did not show any sign of it and, without embarrassing the hosts, he ate a modest meal. So indulgence to the weakness of the spiritual of his neighbors and love, he put higher than the observance of fasting.

In general, church institutions cannot be treated formally, and, following the exact implementation of the rules, no exceptions can be made from the latter. We must also remember the words of the Lord that “the Sabbath is for a man, and not a man for the Sabbath” ().

As Metropolitan Innokenty of Moscow writes: “There were examples that even monks, like, for example, a saint, used all kinds of food and even meat at all times.

But how much? So much so that I can only live, and this did not prevent him from worthily partaking of the Holy Mysteries and, finally, did not prevent him from becoming a saint ...

Of course, it is not prudent to unnecessarily break the fast by eating fast food. He who can observe the fast by parsing food, observe it; but, most importantly, keep and do not break the fast of the soul, and then your fast will be pleasing to God.

But whoever does not have the opportunity to sort out food, use everything that God gives, but without excess; but on the other hand, be sure to strictly fast with your soul, mind and thoughts, and then your fast will be just as pleasing to God as the fast of the most strict hermit.

The purpose of fasting is to lighten and subdue the body, curb desires and disarm passions.

Therefore, the church, asking you about food, does not so much ask about - what kind of food do you eat? – how much about what you use it for?

The Lord Himself approved the act of King David, when, out of necessity, he had to break the rule and eat “the bread of the offer, which neither he nor those who were with him should have eaten” ().

Therefore, taking into account the need, it is possible to make indulgences and exceptions during fasting even with a sick and weak body and advanced age.

St. app. Paul writes to his disciple Timothy in this way: “From now on, drink not only water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” ().

Rev. Barsanuphius the Great and John say: “What is fasting, if not the punishment of the body in order to pacify the healthy body and make it weak for passions, according to the word of the apostle: “when I am weak, then I am strong” ().
And the disease is more than this punishment and is imputed instead of fasting - it is valued even more than it. Whoever endures it with patience, thanking God, through patience receives the fruit of his salvation.
Instead of weakening the strength of the body by fasting, it is already weakened by illness.
Thank God that you have been freed from the labor of fasting. If you eat ten times a day, do not grieve: you will not be condemned for that, because you do this not in favor of yourself.

On the correctness of the norm of fasting, Rev. Barsanuphius and John also give the following instruction: “Concerning fasting, I will say: touch your heart, is it not stolen by vanity, and if it is not stolen, touch a second time, if this fasting does not make you weak in the performance of deeds, for this weakness should not be, and if this does not harm you, your fast is correct.

As the hermit Nicephorus said in the book by V. Sventsitsky “Citizens of Heaven”: “The Lord does not require hunger, but feat. A feat is what a person can do the greatest according to his strength, and the rest - by grace. Our strength is now weak, and the Lord does not require great feats from us.

I tried fasting a lot, and I see that I can't. I am exhausted - there is no strength to pray, as it should be. Once I was so weak from fasting, I can’t read the rule to get up.”

Here is an example of a wrong post.

Ep. Herman writes: “Exhaustion is a sign of wrong fasting; it is just as harmful as satiety. And the great elders ate soup with butter during the first week of Great Lent. Sick flesh has nothing to crucify, but must be supported.

So, any weakening of health and ability to work during fasting already speaks of its incorrectness and excess of its norm.

“I like it better to be exhausted more from work than from fasting,” one pastor said to his spiritual children.

It is best when those who are fasting are guided by the instructions of experienced spiritual leaders. We should remember the following incident from the life of St. . In one of his monasteries, a monk was lying in the hospital, exhausted by illness. He asked the servants to give him meat. They refused him this request, based on the rules of the monastery charter. The patient asked to be taken to St. Pachomy. The monk was struck by the extreme exhaustion of the monk, wept, looking at the sick man, and began to reproach the hospital brethren for their hardness of heart. He ordered that the patient's request be immediately fulfilled in order to strengthen his weakened body and encourage his despondent soul.

The wise ascetic of piety, Abbess Arsenia, wrote to the aged and sick brother of the bishop during the days of Great Lent: “I’m afraid that you are burdening yourself with a heavy lean food and I ask you to forget that now is fasting, and eat fast food, nutritious and light. The difference of days has been given to us by the church as a bridle of healthy flesh, but you have been given the sickness and infirmity of old age.”

However, those who break the fast due to illness or other infirmity should still remember that there may be a certain amount of lack of faith and intemperance here.

Therefore, when the spiritual children of the elder Fr. Alexei Zossimovsky had to break the fast by the doctor’s prescription, then the elder ordered in these cases to curse himself and pray like this: “Lord, forgive me that, according to the doctor’s prescription, due to my weakness, I broke the holy fast,” and not to think that this is as if so and need.

This is already stated with exhaustive clarity in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Jews cry out to God: “Why do we fast, but You do not see? We humble our souls, but You do not know? The Lord, through the mouth of the prophet, answers them: “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do your will and require hard work from others. Here you fast for quarrels and strife and in order to strike others with a bold hand: you do not fast at this time so that your voice will be heard on high. Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man torments his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads sackcloth and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord? This is the fast I have chosen: loosen the shackles of iniquity, loosen the bands of the yoke, set the oppressed free, and break every yoke; divide thy bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your house; when you see a naked one, clothe him and do not hide yourself from your half-blood. Then your light will open like the dawn, and your healing will soon increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will accompany you. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; you will cry out and He will say: “Here I am” ”().

This wonderful passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah convicts many - both ordinary Christians and shepherds of the flock of Christ. It convicts those who think to be saved only by observing the letter of fasting and forgetting about the commandments of mercy, love for one's neighbor and serving them. Convicts those shepherds who "bind burdens that are heavy and unbearable and lay them on the shoulders of people" (). These are the shepherds who require their spiritual children to strictly adhere to the “rule” of fasting, regardless of their advanced age or their sickness. After all, the Lord said: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” ().

St. Petersburg
2005