On the Great Fast #
In our era, after decades of atheism, many have not forgotten God but possess a mistaken notion about the path to salvation. Some people believe that being baptized and not harming anyone suffices for sainthood. They think it’s not necessary to observe fasting days for the salvation of the soul. However, Christian life is not a leisurely walk but a daily endeavor for Christ’s sake. Christ crucified Himself for me, accepted suffering and death - what have I done for His sake? - thus should a Christian think. And fasting is part of the Christian endeavor.
Fasting purifies us from sins, frees us from the bonds of sinful pleasures, extricates us from the captivity of carnal sins, cleanses the body, lightens the soul - and it ascends to God, flies to the heavens on the wings of fasting and prayer!
The more sinful we are - the more we need to diligently fast. Great saints fasted - all the more we sinners should! Moses fasted for 40 days and nights without consuming water or food - and became a conversant of God! Prophet Elia fasted - and was taken alive, with his body, from the earth! The three youths fasted - and God preserved them in the fiery furnace! Prophet Daniel fasted - and was kept alive in a den with wild lions!
Saints fasted for their sins - how much more sinful are we than them!
One cannot be a Christian without following Christ. One cannot be a servant of God - without fulfilling His will. Christ, sinless, fasted for 40 days from food and water in the desert. You, human, - are you more sinless than Christ - if you think you don’t need to fast? Do not deceive yourself - there is no salvation without fasting!
I’m not telling you, brothers and sisters, to not eat or drink at all during the fast - few can endure this, and the Lord does not require this from everyone. Let’s at least abstain from meat, milk, eggs, fish, and fasting oil during the 7 forthcoming weeks of Lent. Vegetable oil is allowed only on Saturdays and Sundays of Great Lent (sometimes, on certain holidays, we can eat oil during the week as well - this can be checked in the church Calendar). Fish is eaten only twice during the Fast: on the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday.
The first and last week of the Fast should be observed more strictly. On the first day or two of the fast, it is advisable not to eat or drink at all. The same applies to the last day or two before Pascha. For children and the severely ill, food is given daily.
Eating is allowed once a day from Monday to Friday, and twice on Saturdays and Sundays (and on the Annunciation).
Some say: I’m ill, doctors don’t allow me to fast! I answer: doctors won’t save us from eternal torment for our sins. They can’t even save us from bodily death. And they can’t really heal us. God saves us from hell and diseases - the true Physician of our souls and bodies. And He commands us through the holy Apostles and fathers to fast. Fasting cleanses both body and soul. Fasting heals the body, not destroys it.
Church regulations state that a priest can make concessions for the severely ill (bedridden, for example) - allow them to consume vegetable oil or fish during fasting days. But - not dairy, not meat and milk! It is written in the Nomocanon: if even at death a sick person asks for meat - only fish can be given! For us, not so infirm, we need to zealously strive in fasting, not look for reasons to violate it. As the saying goes, he who does not want to do something will find a reason, and he who wants will find a way. Do not deceive yourselves, brothers and sisters, - it’s not illnesses that prevent fasting, but spiritual laziness. Let us then shake off the shackles of this laziness and briskly follow Christ in the fasting arena!
All our ancestors fasted - in health and in sickness. Our ancestors worked hard physically and did not abandon the fasting endeavor. Those engaged in heavy labor - let them taste not once a day, but twice, - but fasting food, not lavish.
It’s not enough to merely abstain from food. One must abstain from sins, from entertainment. Let’s refrain from quarrels and conflicts, from hatred towards our neighbors. Let’s refrain from judging and gossiping. Let’s also refrain from laziness.
But even that’s not enough. Our soul has two wings: fasting and prayer. With one wing, a bird cannot fly. So the soul - if it fasts but does not pray to God - cannot rise to the Heavens. And if it prays without fasting - it won’t fly to God.
And let’s add alms from our righteous labors to fasting and prayer. And may Christ God save us all, to Him be glory forever. Amen!
Priest Vadim Korovin, 2013