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Fathers and Brethren: The present days of the holy fast are, among the other periods of the year, a calm haven to which all gather and find spiritual serenity; not only monastics, but laymen as well, the small and the great, those in authority and those in submission, kings and priests; for this period is beneficial and salvific for every country and age of mankind. At this time every disruption and disorder comes to a halt, and doxology and hymnody are multiplied, charities and prayer by means of which our good God is moved to compassion and is propitiated to grant peace to our souls and forgiveness of sins; if only we shall sincerely turn to Him with all our heart, falling down before Him with fear and trembling, and promising to cease from every bad habit which we might have. But Christians living in the world have their teachers, that is, their bishops and pastors who guide and instruct them. For even as warriors and soldiers need stimulation, so do festers require the encouragement and consolation of teachers. And since I find myself desired among you in the place of leadership and abbacy, then it is my obligation to say unto you a few words concerning this soul-saving fast.
Brethren, fasting is the renewal of the soul, for the Apostle
says insofar as the body weakens and withers from the podvig
(ascetic labor) of fasting, then so much is the soul renewed day
by day and is made beauteous and shines in the beauty which God
originally bestowed upon it. And when it is purified and adorned
with fasting and repentance, then God loves it and will live in
it as the Lord has said: "I and the Father will come and
make Our abode with him" (John 14.23). Thus if there is such
value and grace in fasting that it makes us into habitations of
God, then ought we to greet it with great rejoicing and gladness,
and not despond because of the meagerness of the food, knowing
that when our Lord Jesus Christ blessed the five loaves in the
wilderness He fed five thousand people with bread and water. He
could, if He so desired, command all sorts of manifestations to
appear; but He gave us an example of restraint, so that we might
be concerned only for that which is necessary.
Now at the
beginning the fast seems to us a difficult labor, but if we shall
apply ourselves from day to day with ardor and discipline, then
with the help of God it will be made easier. At the same time, if
we desire that the fast be for us a true one and acceptable unto
God, then together with abstaining from food, let us restrain
ourselves from every sin of soul and body, as the sticheron
instructs us in which it is said, "Let us keep the Fast not
only by refraining from food, but by becoming strangers to all
sinful passions" (First sticheron of the Aposticha, Tuesday
Vespers of the First Week of Lent). Let us guard ourselves from
sloth and carelessness concerning our cell rule and church
services, and even more from vainglory and envious zeal, from
malice out of spite, and from enmity, and secret passions such as
these, which kill the soul; let us guard against ill temper and
self-assertion, that is, let us not appropriate things for
ourselves and indulge our self-will. For nothing is so loved of
the devil as to find a person who has not forgiven another and
has not taken advice from those able to instruct him in virtue;
then the enemy easily deludes the self-assertive and traps him in
all that he does and reckons as good. Let us vigilantly attend to ourselves, especially in regard to
the desires of the flesh; for it is just now, when we fast, that
the chameleon serpent-devil fights us with bad thoughts.
Beauteous in appearance and pleasant to the taste is the fruit of
sin, but in reality it is not so. Thus sometimes the outside of
the apple seems nice, but when it is cut open rot is found
within; so the desires of the flesh seem to have within them
delights, yet when a sin has been committed, it is bitter to the
stomach like a two-edged sword. Our forefather Adam suffered this
when he was deceived by the devil and tasted of the fruit of
disobedience and hoped to receive life from it, but found death.
Thus do all from that time to this suffer who are deceived by the
ancient serpent with bad desires of the fleshly passions. For the
devil is darkness that takes the semblance and appearance of an
angel of light. So the inventor of evil, Satan, makes evil to
appear as good; and bitter to appear as sweet; and dark, as
light; and the ugly, beautiful; and he represents death as life,
and thus deludes the world and tortures it. But let us, Brethren,
pay special heed so that he will not trap us with his many and
evil snares and we suffer like birds that fall from the bait into
the nooses and nets. Let us be careful to scrutinize our mind for
the craftiness of evil, and in eve~y instance be aware of evil,
where it is concealed, and shun it. Above all, let us be ardent
and careful in the chanting of the psalms and services of the
Church; let us strive to keep our minds attentive to what is
being read. For as the body, when nourished by bread, grows
stronger, so also does the soul when fed by the word of God. Let
us every hour of the day do prostrations, each according to his
strength and as much as he is required; let us be occupied with
our handiwork; for he that does nothing, according to the word of
the Apostle, is not worthy even of food (II Thess. 3:10). Let us
be helpful to one another, for one alone is weak, while another
is strong; let us not be quarrelsome, but do only what is good;
let us be gentle of speech, peaceful, gracious, kind, meek,
subm~ssive, filled with mercy and good fruit. And may the peace
of God preserve our hearts and minds, and may He vouchsafe us the
heavenly kingdom of Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom is due glory
and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever,
and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servants
Patrick, the Deacon John, and the translator.