The
Nativity fast has begun and our Orthodox Church calls upon us to renew
our spiritual struggle. So let us remind ourselves of the benefits of
fasting.
Fasting
from foods is intended as spiritual preparation for an experience of
deeper communion with God. Each person is a unity of body and soul. A
right spiritual diet and a discipline of fasting go together and
strengthen each other. Just as prayer benefits not only the soul but
also the body so also fasting from foods benefits not only the body but
also the soul. Fasting and prayer make us more sensitive to God’s
personal presence. At important times of their lives the Prophets fasted
and prayed. So did Jesus, the Apostles, Saints and Church Fathers.
Fasting
must be undertaken willingly and not by compulsion. God doesn’t need
our fasting. We don’t fast as a kind of personal punishment for our
sins. We cannot pay God back for sins but we can only confess them to
Him to receive forgiveness. Fasting with a willing spirit and not just
with an attitude of fulfilling a religious obligation means that we keep
the purposes of fasting always before us which is to develop
self-control and to remember God and His Kingdom. That way we fast not
only in what we eat but also in how much we eat. Fasting is simplicity
of eating. We leave the table not with loaded stomachs. Being a little
hungry during the day becomes a constant reminder of God, of our
dependence on Him, and of the fact that the Lord alone can give us “food
that lasts for eternal life” (Jn 6:27). In fasting and prayer, he
reveals Himself to us as our true food and drink.
Let us now listen to what the fathers of the Church have to say about fasting.
Abba
John the Dwarf said, “If a king wanted to take possession of his
enemy’s city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and
so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same
with the passions of the flesh; if a man goes about fasting and hungry
the enemies of his soul grow weak.”
Sr. Benedicta Ward, “The Sayings of the Desert Fathers,” (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1975), pp. 85-89
According to St. Gregory the Sinaite there are three degrees in eating: temperance, sufficiency, and satiety.
Temperance is when someone wants to eat some more food but abstains, rising from the table still somewhat hungry.
Sufficiency is when someone eats what is needed and sufficient for normal nourishment.
Satiety is when someone eats more than enough and is more than satisfied.
Now
if you cannot keep the first two degrees and you proceed to the third,
then, at least, do not become a glutton, remembering the words of the
lord: “Woe unto you that are full now, for you shall hunger” (Lk. 6:25).
Remember also that rich man who ate in this present life sumptuously
every day, but who was deprived of the desired bosom of Abraham in the
next life, simply because of this sumptuous eating.
St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain, A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel
http://www.pantanassamonastery.org/
http://www.orthodoxpath.org/spiritual-life/on-fasting/
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