St John Chrysostom
Once again the holy fast calls us, and once again it offers us grace.
Again it calls us to join the ranks of those who struggle. Again it wants us to become brave, trampling on the passions, to shine with greater spirituality, and to crown ourselves with a garland as the reward of our labour.
And indeed, what is fasting but the crown of valour, the foundation of reward and the way of salvation? By fasting we are delivered from slavery and gain freedom; we return to our homeland, having been captives in a foreign land. Fasting heals the wounds of the soul and renews the soul corrupted by sin. It strengthens the mind, inspires the fear of God, destroys the passions and tames the thoughts.
In the time of fasting the passions subside, the virtues rise up, chastity shines with greater purity, and the flesh becomes obedient to the spirit and serves it.
Enter upon the fast with joy, and do not be like those hypocrites who go about with gloomy faces to be seen by men. Because of this gloom they do not receive the reward that is given a man for fasting. The Saviour says: “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret” (Matt. 6:17–18).
Do not turn away from fasting, beloved, for it is the mother of the virtues, the foundation of good, the fount of chastity and the guardian of piety. It is the tutor of the saints, the companion of the angels, the adversary of the evil power, the friend of the Holy Spirit; through it the passions depart from us and the demons go away; because of it anger subsides, carnal lust is subdued, the virtues come alive and shine in us; by its favour the passions grow calm and the rebellion of the desires falls quiet; the mind finds itself as it were on a calm sea, fights successfully against the storm-tossed waves of evil deeds, and brings the ship into the harbour of the virtues. Fasting will win you an incorruptible reward; nothing will destroy its recompense, if you fulfil the commandments of the Holy Spirit, if, established in the fear of God, you renounce what is momentary and follow the words of Holy Scripture: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15). Do not love the pleasures of this world, which weigh upon our soul like a heavy burden and drag it to the bottom like a sunken ship. Do you not know that only the throat senses the taste of food, while the punishment that follows it makes us suffer cruel torment? Intemperance defiles those who do not keep the fast; it disfigures the beauty of the soul and makes a corpse of one full of life. It calls a man to wickedness, kindles pleasures, multiplies wars, fans enmity and, in the end, robs a man of the capacity for virtue; for when the body grows weak and the judgement is lost through excessive drinking of wine, a man no longer finds the strength to resist and becomes easy prey for his enemies. Then he is like a ship carried off by the wind, with no helmsman to battle the towering waves, lost without a course on the open sea and doomed to perish.
Therefore I beg you: after the fast do not give yourself up to a life of luxury, do not throw your labour into the water out of carelessness, but add deed to deed and hope that it will be repaid you. Let us not destroy the power of the fast, nor let our mind lose its judgement through worldly pleasures, lest we give the soul a taste of incurable evil. If after the fast you want to heal the body, treat it in its weakness with abstinence, so that the soul, like a lightly laden ship, may ride above the waves of vice, may govern the thoughts and be ready to withstand their assault, and so deliver the ship from danger.
Together with fasting, a man has one more ally in this struggle — prayer. Whether it be the hour of death or of some other trial, everything is overcome by fasting and prayer; at fasting the evil spirits tremble and flee, and the kingdom of the demonic powers is shattered; the power of fasting is especially great when it has prayer as its ally. Fasting and prayer raised the prophet Elijah to heaven and saved the Ninevites from destruction; fasting kept Daniel unharmed in the den full of lions; fasting saved the three youths unburnt in the fiery furnace; fasting clothed Moses in boundless glory; fasting made Elisha a prophet. What more can be said about fasting? If fasting were not the way to salvation and to the attainment of eternal life, God would not have established it from the beginning. If Adam had kept the fast, death would not have touched him; he would not have lost the dignity God had bestowed on him, would not have been driven out of paradise, and would not have been punished with a life of suffering. But because he obeyed the voice of the belly, he became the slave of death.
Fasting is the image of the angelic life. And, what is most important, the Saviour kept the fast; He fasted not because He needed it for healing, but in order to give men the example of fasting on the way of salvation.
Make fasting the companion of your life, so that it may guard you and save you from death, turn temptation away from you and bring you to the gates of the Kingdom.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us, to Whom is due glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
