Fasting

Fasting is abstinence, a voluntary renunciation of certain foods and of amusements; it is a sacrifice of thanksgiving that we offer to the Lord in return for the great redeeming Sacrifice that Jesus Christ offered for our salvation.

Remember what state the soul is in after abundant, rich food, when sloth and languor take hold of the whole body, the head grows heavy, the mind grows dim, when the instinct of the animal passions wakes in the soul — where then is the possibility of thinking of God, of repenting of one's sins, or of praying?! The surfeited flesh becomes the complete master of the man and opens the door to a whole multitude of unclean passions. Fasting is the weapon that breaks the flesh that has gained dominion over us; it is a possibility granted by God for man's spiritual world to be freed by the restraint of the flesh. Holy Scripture too bears witness to fasting as one of the means of the soul's salvation. Because of the sins that reigned in the city of Nineveh, the Lord decided to destroy that city, as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord sent the renowned prophet Jonah to Nineveh to make His decision known to the Ninevites. Then the king of Nineveh: ...arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed in Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast... taste any thing... nor drink water... cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands... Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not (Jonah 3:6–10).

From this example we see that fasting, as a means of repentance for sins and of contrition, turns away from us the wrath of God that has come upon us. But it does not exist for this alone. Here is what St John of the Ladder says of it: “Fasting is a forcing of nature and the rejection of everything that pleases the palate; it quenches the heat of the body, destroys evil thoughts, frees from foul dreams; it is purity of prayer, the light of the soul, the guarding of the mind, the destruction of insensibility of heart, the door of compunction, humble sighing, joyful contrition, restraint of much speaking, the cause of dispassion, the guardian of obedience, the lightening of sleep, health of the body, deliverance from sins, the gate of paradise and heavenly delight” (The Ladder, Step 14, 13).

In a word, fasting is one of the most important means of saving the soul. At the same time its essence lies by no means only in abstaining from certain foods. If you do not eat meat but sit glued to the television for hours and go round various places of entertainment, that is not a fast.

If you abstain from rich food and amusements but judge others for their careless lives, that can still less be a fast.

Fasting is abstinence from everything that can stand between God and you. During a fast Christians abstain even from marital intimacy; fasting is going deep into oneself and being there face to face with the Lord; it is a time of self-examination, of looking attentively over one's life, a period of more or less active spiritual struggle, serving to correct one's failings, root out the passions and purify body and soul.

During a fast a person should give most of his time to being in church, to prayer at home, to helping his neighbour and to works of mercy.

The holy fathers call fasting and prayer the two wings on which the soul of a Christian rises to heaven.

The Church has laid down a whole system of fasts, and by keeping it a Christian is able to carry out the spiritual struggle successfully and to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Some fear that if they do not eat meat they will grow weak and be unable to work. Let us remind them that the largest and strongest animals on earth — the elephant, the ox and the buffalo — feed on grass. So too a person during a fast not only does not lose physical strength and capacity for work, but, thanks to the cleansing of the body of excess proteins and fats, feels lightness in the body, and his mental and physical activity improves noticeably.

The Lord has given man no commandment that would not bring him good. In our time doctors note that fasting has a beneficial effect on the body, and some consider the system of fasts the optimal form of diet. For pregnant women, the elderly and the sick, according to the rule of the Church, the fast is somewhat relaxed.