About Great Lent - folk wisdom and holy fathers. Holy Fathers on fasting
Two thousand years ago mankind waited with hope for the Savior. However, the majority imagined Him as an earthly king and therefore did not notice the day of His Nativity. Bethlehem slept peacefully, and only a handful of shepherds heard the angelic gospel.
These people believed that the Savior could be born not in the royal palace, but in a cave where sheep are sheltered from bad weather. These people saw the One Whom the whole world was waiting for, because they were pure in heart. And as a reward for everything, the secret of the Embodiment of Love was revealed to them. How often do people hope that life will improve due to external causes. They do not suspect that the darkness of everyday life can only illuminate the love in their souls. But in order to find it, you need to cleanse your heart.
Fasting days pull a person out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, demand from him a pure life for God. This is a different, non-peaceful time. In the Old Testament, you were required to bring a tenth of your income to the Temple. Fasting is the New Testament sacrifice of Christians to God.
The Advent fast is a winter fast, it serves for us to consecrate the last part of the year as a mysterious renewal of spiritual unity with God and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.
Leo the Great writes:
“The very preservation of abstinence is sealed by four times, so that during the year we would know that we constantly need purification and that when life is scattered, we should always try to exterminate sin by fasting and alms, which is multiplied by the frailty of the flesh and the impurity of desires.”
According to Leo the Great, the Nativity fast is a sacrifice to God for the harvested fruits. “Just as the Lord has generousd us with the fruits of the earth,” writes the saint, “so we must be generous to the poor during this fast.”
According to St. Simeon of Thessaloniki, “The fast of the Christmas Fortecost depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the inscription of the words of God on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living Word from the Virgin, not inscribed on stones, but incarnated and born, and partake of His Divine flesh.
The Advent fast is established so that by the day of the Nativity of Christ we cleanse ourselves by repentance, prayer and fasting, so that with a pure heart, soul and body we can reverently meet the Son of God who has appeared in the world, and in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, bring him a pure heart and desire follow his teachings.
Rev. Paisius Velichkovsky
By fasting I call eating one day a little, - while still being greedy to get up from the meal; to have bread and salt for food, and water for drink, which springs themselves bring. This is the royal way of eating, that is, many were saved by this way, as the Holy Fathers said. It is not always possible for a person to abstain from food for a day, two, three, four, five, and a week, but in order to eat bread and drink water every day, it is always possible. Only after eating, one should be a little greedy, so that the body is both obedient to the spirit, and capable of labor, and sensitive to intelligent movement, and bodily passions will be defeated; fasting cannot kill bodily passions as much as meager food does. Some fast for a while, and then indulge in sweet foods; for many begin fasting beyond their strength and other severe deeds, and then weaken from immoderation and unevenness, and seek sweet food and rest to strengthen the body. To do the same means to create, and then to destroy again, since the body, through poverty from fasting, is forced to sweetness and seeks consolation, and sweetness kindles passions.
If, however, one sets a certain measure for himself, how much to take meager food a day, he receives great benefit. However, regarding the amount of food, it should be established how much is needed to strengthen the strength<…>such a person can accomplish any spiritual work. If someone fasts more than that, then at another time he surrenders to rest. There is no price for a moderate feat. For some of the great Fathers took food in moderation and had a measure in everything - in exploits, in bodily needs and in cell accessories, and they used everything in due time and every thing according to a certain moderate charter. Therefore, the Holy Fathers do not command to start fasting beyond your strength and bring yourself into weakness. Make it a rule to eat every day, so you can more firmly abstain; but if someone fasts more, how can he then refrain from being full and overeating? No way. Such an immoderate undertaking comes either from vanity or from recklessness; while temperance is one of the virtues, conducive to the curbing of the flesh; Hunger and thirst are given to man for the purification of the body, preservation from bad thoughts and fornication; for every day, eating with poverty is a means to perfection, as some say; and will not in the least be humiliated morally and will not suffer spiritual harm, who eats every day at a certain hour; such are praised by Saint Theodore of Studite in his teaching on the heels of the first week of Great Lent, where he cites in confirmation the words of the holy God-bearing Fathers and the Lord Himself. This is how we should do it. The Lord endured a long fast; Equally Moses and Elijah, but once. And some others, sometimes, asking for something from the Creator, imposed on themselves a certain burden of fasting, but in accordance with natural laws and the teaching of divine Scripture. From the activity of the saints, from the life of our Savior, and from the rules of the life of those who live decently, it is clear that it is wonderful and useful to always be ready and be in feat, work and patience; however, do not weaken yourself by excessive fasting and do not bring the body into inactivity. If the flesh is inflamed in youth, much must be abstained from; if she is weak, then you need to eat enough to satiety, regardless of other ascetics - many or few people fast; look and reason according to your weakness, as much as you can accommodate: each has a measure and an inner teacher is his own conscience.
It is impossible for everyone to have one rule and one feat, because some are strong, others are weak; some like iron, others like copper, others like wax. So, knowing well your measure, take food once every day, except for Saturdays, weeks and sovereign holidays. Moderate and reasonable fasting is the foundation and head of all virtues. As with a lion and a fierce serpent to fight, so it should be with the enemy in bodily weakness and spiritual poverty. If anyone wants to have a firm mind from bad thoughts, let him refine his flesh with fasting. It is impossible to be a priest without fasting; as breathing is necessary, so is fasting. Fasting, having entered the soul, kills the sin lying in the depths of it.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
As you can see, there is a bodily fast, and there is a spiritual fast. Bodily fasting - when the womb fasts from food and drink. Soul fasting - when the soul refrains from evil thoughts, deeds and words.
A good faster is one who keeps himself from fornication, adultery and all uncleanness.
A fair fasting person is one who restrains himself from anger, rage, malice and revenge
A fair faster is one who has imposed his abstinence on the tongue and keeps it from idle talk, foul language, madness, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all kinds of slander.
A fair faster is one who keeps his hands from theft, theft, robbery, and his heart from the desire of other people's things. In a word, a good faster is one who shuns all evil.
You see, Christian, fasting of the soul. Bodily fasting is useful to us, as it serves to mortify our passions. But spiritual fasting is absolutely necessary, because bodily fasting is nothing without it.
Many fast with the body, but do not fast with the soul.
Many fast from food and drink, but do not fast from evil thoughts, deeds and words - and what good is it for them?
Many fast every other day, two or more, but they do not want to fast because of anger, rancor and vengeance.
Many abstain from wine, meat, fish, but with their tongue they bite people like themselves - and what good is it for them? Some often do not touch food with their hands, but extend them to bribery, theft and robbery of other people's goods - and what good is it for them?
True and direct fasting is abstinence from all evil. If you want, Christian, that fasting be useful to you, then fasting bodily, fast spiritually, and always fast. As you impose fasting on your belly, so impose your evil thoughts and whims.
May your mind fast from vain thoughts.
May the memory fast from rancor.
May your will fast from evil desire.
May your eyes fast from evil vision: “Turn away your eyes, so that you do not see vanity” (See Ps 118, 37).
May your ears fast from bad songs and slanderous whispers.
May your tongue fast from slander, condemnation, blasphemy, lies, flattery, foul language, and every idle and rotten word.
May your hands fast from beating and stealing someone else's goods.
May your feet fast from going to evil deeds. Turn away from evil and do good (Ps. 33:15:1; Peter 3:11).
This is the Christian fast that God requires of us. Repent, and, refraining from every evil word, deed, and thought, learn every virtue, and you will always fast before God.
If you fast in quarrels and strife, and strike with the hand of the humble, why do you fast before Me, as you do today, that your voice may be heard? Nor have I chosen such a fast as the day on which a man humbles his soul, when he bends his neck like a sickle and spreads sackcloth and ashes under him. You will not call such a fast a pleasant fast, not such a fast I have chosen, says the Lord. - But resolve every union of unrighteousness, destroy all debts written down by force, set the broken ones free, tear every unrighteous scripture, crush your bread with the hungry, and bring the poor who have no shelter into the house; when you see a naked man, clothe him, and do not hide yourself from your kindred.
Then your light will open like the dawn, and your healing will soon increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will accompany you. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; you will cry out, and He will say: “Here I am! When you remove the yoke from your midst, stop lifting your finger and speaking insulting things, and give your soul to the hungry and feed the soul of the sufferer: then your light will rise in darkness, and your darkness will be like noon” (Is. 58, 4-10).
Not only the mouth should fast, but let the eye, and the ear, and the hands, and our whole body fast.
(St. John Chrysostom)
True fasting is the removal from evil deeds. Forgive your neighbor an insult, forgive him his debts. “Do not fast in courts and quarrels.” You do not eat meat, but you eat your brother. You abstain from wine, but you do not keep yourself from resentment. You wait for the evening to taste your food, but you spend the day in court places.
(St. Basil the Great)
Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, don't forget the prisoners. Comfort those who mourn and weep; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, unforgiving, reverent, true, pious, so that God will accept your fast and give the fruits of repentance in abundance.
(St. John Chrysostom)
In the coming days of Holy Lent, put yourself in order, reconcile yourself with people and with God. Lament and weep over your unworthiness and your death, then you will receive forgiveness and gain the hope of salvation. A contrite and humble heart God will not humiliate, and without this, no sacrifices and alms will help you.
(From the letters of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev))
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Holy Fathers on fasting
D ve thousand years ago, humanity waited with hope for the Savior. However, the majority imagined Him as an earthly king and therefore did not notice the day of His Nativity.
Bethlehem slept peacefully, and only a handful of shepherds heard the angelic gospel.
These people believed that the Savior could be born not in the royal palace, but in a cave where sheep are sheltered from bad weather. These people saw the One Whom the whole world was waiting for, because they were pure in heart. And as a reward for everything, the secret of the Embodiment of Love was revealed to them.
How often do people hope that life will improve due to external causes. They do not suspect that the darkness of everyday life can only illuminate the love in their souls. But in order to find it, you need to cleanse your heart.
D no fasting pulls a person out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, demands from him a pure life for God. This is a different, non-peaceful time. In the Old Testament, you were required to bring a tenth of your income to the Temple. Fasting is the New Testament sacrifice of Christians to God.
Leo the Great writes:
“The very preservation of temperance is sealed by four times, so that during the year we would know that we constantly need purification and that when life is scattered, we should always try to exterminate sin by fasting and alms, which is multiplied by the frailty of the flesh and the impurity of desires.”
According to Leo the Great, the Nativity fast is a sacrifice to God for the harvested fruits. “Just as the Lord has generousd us with the fruits of the earth,” writes the saint, “so during this fast we should be generous to the poor.”
According to St. Simeon of Thessaloniki, "The fast of the Nativity of Forty Days depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the inscription of the words of God on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living Word from the Virgin, not inscribed on stones, but incarnated and born, and partake of His divine flesh".
The Advent fast is established so that by the day of the Nativity of Christ we cleanse ourselves by repentance, prayer and fasting, so that with a pure heart, soul and body we can reverently meet the Son of God who has appeared in the world, and in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, bring him a pure heart and desire follow his teachings.
Rev. Paisius Velichkovsky
By fasting I call eating one day a little, - while still being greedy to get up from the meal; to have bread and salt for food, and water for drink, which springs themselves bring. This is the royal way of eating, that is, many were saved by this way, as the Holy Fathers said. It is not always possible for a person to abstain from food for a day, two, three, four, five, and a week, but in order to eat bread and drink water every day, it is always possible. Only after eating, one should be a little greedy, so that the body is both obedient to the spirit, and capable of labor, and sensitive to intelligent movement, and bodily passions will be defeated; fasting cannot kill bodily passions as much as meager food does. Some fast for a while, and then indulge in sweet foods; for many begin fasting beyond their strength and other severe feats, and then weaken from immoderation and unevenness, and seek sweet food and rest to strengthen the body. To do the same means to create, and then to destroy again, since the body, through poverty from fasting, is forced to sweetness and seeks consolation, and sweetness kindles passions.
If, however, one sets a certain measure for himself, how much to take meager food a day, he receives great benefit. However, regarding the amount of food, it should be established how much is needed to strengthen the strength<...>such a person can accomplish any spiritual work. If someone fasts more than that, then at another time he surrenders to rest. There is no price for a moderate feat. For some of the great Fathers took food in moderation and had a measure in everything - in exploits, in bodily needs and in cell accessories, and they used everything in due time and every thing according to a certain moderate charter. Therefore, the Holy Fathers do not command to start fasting beyond your strength and bring yourself into weakness. Make it a rule to eat every day, so you can more firmly abstain; but if someone fasts more, how can he then refrain from being full and overeating? No way. Such an immoderate undertaking comes either from vanity or from recklessness; while temperance is one of the virtues, conducive to the curbing of the flesh; Hunger and thirst are given to man for the purification of the body, preservation from bad thoughts and fornication; for every day, eating with poverty is a means to perfection, as some say; and will not in the least be humiliated morally and will not suffer spiritual harm, who eats every day at a certain hour; such are praised by Saint Theodore of Studite in his teaching on the heels of the first week of Great Lent, where he cites in confirmation the words of the holy God-bearing Fathers and the Lord Himself. This is how we should do it. The Lord endured a long fast; Equally Moses and Elijah, but once. And some others, sometimes, asking for something from the Creator, imposed on themselves a certain burden of fasting, but in accordance with natural laws and the teaching of divine Scripture. From the activity of the saints, from the life of our Savior, and from the rules of the life of those who live decently, it is clear that it is wonderful and useful to always be ready and be in feat, work and patience; however, do not weaken yourself by excessive fasting and do not bring the body into inactivity. If the flesh is inflamed in youth, much must be abstained from; if she is weak, then you need to eat enough to satiety, regardless of other ascetics - many or few people fast; look and reason according to your weakness, as much as you can accommodate: each has a measure and an inner teacher is his own conscience.
It is impossible for everyone to have one rule and one feat, because some are strong, others are weak; some like iron, others like copper, others like wax. So, knowing well your measure, take food once every day, except for Saturdays, weeks and sovereign holidays. Moderate and reasonable fasting is the foundation and head of all virtues. As with a lion and a fierce serpent to fight, so it should be with the enemy in bodily weakness and spiritual poverty. If anyone wants to have a firm mind from bad thoughts, let him refine his flesh with fasting. It is impossible to be a priest without fasting; as breathing is necessary, so is fasting. Fasting, having entered the soul, kills the sin lying in the depths of it.
Archimandrite Alexander (Globa), doctor of theology, doctor-specialist in the field of healthcare organization, cleric of the Gorodnitsky St. George's Monastery, answers questions from viewers. Transfer from Moscow.
- The topic of our show today is Christmas Post. Why was it established and what is its main purpose?
The Nativity Fast was established by the Church 40 days before the celebration of the Nativity of Christ in honor of this great event. He is called, first of all, to ensure that people with dignity, in purity of body, soul and spirit, meet the newborn Christ Child. This fast prepares us spiritually, mentally and physically for this greatest event in the whole world.
- Why is the Nativity Fast sometimes called the Philippine Fast?
The fact is that on the eve of Lent, they celebrate a feast in honor of the holy Apostle Philip, who suffered from the pagans when he preached the Kingdom of Heaven and Christ. If you look at the ancient sources that describe the life of the holy Apostle Philip, then you can see in them an interesting story related to his afterlife, which teaches both about the Kingdom of Heaven and about the kindness in which a person should live not only on earth, but also after death. We will not go into the history of the holiday itself, although it is really very interesting, but it does not have a theological meaning, and this fast is more correctly called Christmas, and Philip's fast is a rudimentary name, because the fast begins after the feast in honor of St. Philip .
- How to spend the time of fasting?
The time of fasting should be favorable for some reasons: a person must be cleansed of sin, must become ready and fit to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, which is inside every person, as Christ says. And in order for this great work to be accomplished, we need to follow certain rules and instructions of the Holy Mother of the Church, which bequeaths to all Orthodox Christians a certain rhythm of life, type of food, pace of prayer, a certain spiritual state, this can change our inner person, revive the spiritual in us. man, cleanse our body from sinful filth, make it more refined, lighter, and make our soul more sensitive to accepting the greatest event - the Nativity of Christ.
You said that you need a certain pace of life. It is known that the modern pace of life is very high. How and by what means should the pace of life be changed during the Nativity Fast?
We must separate certain social strata, which really each live their own lives. The fact is that in monasteries monastics live at the pace of a special, intense prayer, intensified divine services and remembrances of the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos. If we talk about the parish, then special emphasis is also placed on our inner state: the services do not become longer and more mournful, as during Great Lent, but at the same time this time itself is imbued with the spirit of the meeting of the born Christ. And so the liturgical tempo in the parish church itself becomes one that is able to remind of this greatest event. A sermon is also heard from the church ambos on how to spend this time: to refrain from amusements, to adhere to the rules of our Holy Church, to refrain from drunkenness, fornication, from what defiles our heart, mind, soul, so that our prayer at home will be imbued with the spirit of love, gratitude, creation, so that during Lent we remember all our sins and transgressions, do not forget to come at this time to the temple of God to repent and make ourselves involved in the Eucharistic meal that is celebrated in every temple, to become such a person who would satisfy requirements and blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- What is the meaning of avoiding entertainment and the meaning of limiting incoming information?
If we take various groups of the population, then, probably, we should devote less time to the “yellow” press or refuse it altogether, refuse to watch entertainment programs. At this time, an Orthodox Christian will not be able to go to any club or theater to divert his soul from remembering such great and saving events of our Christian life as the Nativity of Christ. It is necessary to abandon condemnation, from what makes our soul heavier and more capable of perceiving sin in itself, therefore the Church recommends people to revive a spiritual person in themselves: to engage in divine thinking, domestic mental prayer. It would be good for all family members to gather together for evening and morning prayers, to prepare together for the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, in order to remember all those sinful states and deeds that they committed towards each other, and ask for forgiveness in order to make peace with their neighbors, relatives and friends to fulfill the commandment of Christ. In order to make a sacrifice to God, you must first be reconciled with everyone, and then come with a pure heart and soul and bring this sacrifice to the throne of God, lay it down and partake of this great blessed shrine - the Holy Mysteries of Christ, purify your soul. This is what the Church calls for, and this state is called fasting, when a person gathers all the strength of his body and soul in order to become different in relation to everything that happens in the ordinary sinful world.
- Christmas post is not the most strict post. What are the strictest posts?
There are five types of fasting according to severity: strict fasting, fasting with dry eating, fasting with the blessing of oil, with the blessing of wine, with the blessing of eating fish. We know that the strictest is Great Lent. Christmas, like Petrov, is also strict, but at the same time it is blessed on Saturday, Sunday and holidays, if they do not fall on Wednesday and Friday, to eat fish. Soon there will be a feast of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, it falls on Friday, therefore food with oil is blessed, wine is blessed according to the Church Charter, which is the governing document of the Lenten table: it spells out what foods should be consumed during Lenten time. Based on the natural conditions in which a person lives, he can diversify his Lenten table, especially now in big cities there are supermarkets with a lot of Lenten products. But it is clear that the Lenten table is not the main thing at this time. Fasting is primarily a state of prayer: a special mental and spiritual state, which is designed to change our sinful style and behavior.
A question from a TV viewer from Sarov: “I heard from a priest on the Soyuz channel that the Christmas fast was not as long as the fast before Easter. This confuses me, and the duration of the fast for me is a heavy obstacle in order to fully fulfill it. I have a suggestion, maybe it is stupid, that the Advent fast should be from January 1 to January 6, so as not to embarrass many people with the fact that they have to break the fast on New Year's holidays. What do you think about it?"
Indeed, an interesting proposal, but at the same time, people are afraid of fasting because they see them only as a gastronomic limitation: if you don’t eat a piece of sausage, then the light of God is not sweet either. No one forces people who cannot bear the strictness of fasting to observe a gastronomic fast. For those who have chronic diseases, suffer from diabetes, some genetic pathologies, when the digestive tract cannot cope with certain foods, fasting is relaxed and the prayer side is strengthened. Such people are advised to refrain from everything sinful that distracts us with sight, hearing, smell, touch and defiles our soul. Fasting is not a goal, it is a means of salvation, it is like a peg that straightens a crooked growing tree and helps us cope with passions.
If you look at a purely physiological level, fasting is useful for a person, because when you do not fast and eat various foods, a lot of harmful substances accumulate in the body, and now we have a bad environment and the quality of products, so fasting is a fertile time when you can cleanse your body. But we should not go into the gastronomic component of fasting, we should see fasting as a special time when we must become fit for the Kingdom of Heaven - fit for spiritual life, so that our prayer can more easily “fly up” to God, and this happens when our soul becomes subtler, when our spirit is not delighted with sinful thoughts, is not tempted by various sinful deeds.
Question from a viewer from the Belgorod region: “The Gospel says that when the Pharisees reproached Christ: “Why don’t your disciples fast?” He answered them: “How can they fast when the Bridegroom is with them; when it is taken away, then they will fast.” Here we get a discrepancy with the words of Christ: that is, we meet the Bridegroom, while we ourselves fast with sad faces. And second: since when was the Advent fast introduced?
The Advent fast has been introduced since the first centuries of Christianity. There is a very large layer of theological literature that has not yet been revived and is poorly studied by many church people. A lot of people look into superficial reference literature (like Wikipedia on the Internet) and refer to that seven-day fast before Christmas, which was in the first centuries and later, but it speaks of a special state of fasting, when there was no special differentiation. Still, it’s easier to live when there is such a differentiation: you know when to start and when to finish, but in those days it was only prescribed to observe this strict weekly fast, but this absolutely does not mean that people did not prepare themselves for a certain state of prayer even before that . The fast of Wednesday and Friday was always observed, people always abstained from various mental and spiritual filth and always prepared for the sacred event in a certain way and way.
Now there is normative documentation, and this post itself dates back to the 11th century, when its boundaries were prescribed - 40 days. This figure has a sacred meaning, is of a biblical and theological nature: 40 days of the temptation of Christ, 40 days of preparation, purification. This is the time when a person is able to be reborn or get rid of something sinful that bothers him. Probably, the holy fathers came to this empirically, felt it for themselves and recommend preparing for 40 days in a certain way.
As for the first question of the viewer, there is no contradiction here. The Gospel should be read more carefully, and it says that the Pharisees came to Christ when they wanted to reproach those apostles who at a given time and in a given place violated the fast established by the elders. The fast that the Pharisees established for themselves was not in the Old Testament, it was such a mythologeme, and Christ as God did not obey these human mythologemes. Christ, as God, knew the Holy Scripture, which people used, He Himself gave it to Moses, the prophets - would He really begin to violate what He gave? Therefore, He tells the Pharisees that those fasts that they imposed are difficult to fulfill and are not needed, do not bring benefits as such: when the Bridegroom is at the wedding feast, you do not need to make gloomy faces, impose on yourself burdens that are unbearable, without any sacred or theological necessity. For example, some teacher or rabbi wanted to stand out - and he brings a bouquet of theological statements, writes a theological treatise and shows the benefits and necessity of a certain event. Then a group of followers of this rabbi gathers, and they agree among themselves that they will observe such a fast. And Christ says that this is not necessary, and accordingly shows that He is not a hostage to these invented rules.
The fact is that the Gospel speaks of that specific event, and Christ gave such an answer in that place and at that time. The fast that the Jews observed was special: they had to put on sackcloth (a shirt made of hard material), take off all comfortable clothes, do not wash, do not shave, fall to the ground, sprinkle ashes on their heads and cry out: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Therefore, Christ says that His disciples do not need to do this, because they are with Him, that is, with God, they do not need these invented institutions now. And when He is gone and the disciples will remember the sacred events associated with Him, with His Mother, the apostles and saints who preach His name, then they will impose a fast on themselves, that is, stay in a certain prayerful and spiritual state. At the same time, the Lord emphasizes that one should not make one's faces dull during fasting. That is, to us, Orthodox Christians, Christ directly commands not to make our faces dull, to comb our heads, in contrast to how the Jews observed the fast. They were disheveled, covered themselves with ashes and dirt, threw handfuls of ashes into the sky, and over their heads there were a kind of ash clouds - so they attracted attention. It was such a theatrical action that caused someone to laugh, someone to be sad, and someone to cry, but people saw that such fasting people were performing some important ritual. Christ was against this, He said that these rituals do not need to replace the change in the inner person and the state of one's soul: Christ called to be cleansed.
In support of what has been said, I will cite the words from the Old Testament, where the prophet Isaiah asks: “Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man torments his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads sackcloth and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?” And the Lord answers him: “This is the fast that I have chosen: loosen the shackles of iniquity, loosen the bands of the yoke, and set the oppressed free, and break every yoke"(Isaiah 58:5-6). That is, the Lord remembers what he said then to the prophet, and here, in this passage from the Gospel, it is emphasized that the rules about fasting invented by the Jews have no force and are not a law for the God-man.
Question of a TV viewer from Voronezh: “How to get rid of depression? I have been suffering for two years and I can’t do anything: I change one pill for another - and they don’t help. ”
I want to call you to change your inner person, and you can change it with the word of God - Holy Scripture, better than which there is no better means. If a person says that he changes one pill for another and they do not help, then this is not a mental, but a spiritual problem. I recommend reading the Psalter in the adapted Russian language, because a lot of people begin to earnestly read the Holy Scripture in Church Slavonic and do not understand the words and images that are embedded in this sacred text. For beginners, I recommend reading the Holy Scripture in adapted Russian: there is a synodal translation, and there is a new Russian translation. When a person begins to occupy his mind and soul with reading useful spiritual literature, then the Holy Spirit begins to work in him (within us, in addition to our will and our consciousness) - God Himself knows how He works and what needs to be changed in us.
Second: you need to remember all the sins that you have, write them down on paper, come to your confessor and confess well with tears and everything that hurts in your soul, get permission for sins, if necessary, suffer a certain penance and come to the Chalice of Christ more often. We have forgotten that we have a very important, saving and powerful spiritual means - the acceptance of the Holy Mysteries. Very few people today resort to this sacrament. Some consider themselves unworthy, others believe that they take communion too often, having read some fables about this in dubious sources of information - all this has no canonical basis. Christ said, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." At the Last Supper, when Christ instituted this sacrament, He said: "Take My Body and My Blood; do this in remembrance of Me." We must remember that these saving sacraments are able to change us, help us, are able to make us not physical, but spiritual people already here on this earth.
In addition, during fasting, the sacrament of the Unction is held in the church, when the priests fulfill the apostolic covenant of Christ: “Is any of you sick, call the elders of the church, and let them pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of salvation, and you will be healthy.” The Church has many different spiritual means that can already heal a person from mental and spiritual illness.
- Tell us more about reading the Psalter: what should you pay special attention to when reading?
It is necessary to pay attention to the history of the one who wrote it, to read the preface. It would be good to start reading the Psalter with reading the Law of God, because people often rush at very serious spiritual literature, not knowing the basics of Christianity. If we do not know the basics of Christianity, then we will not succeed. There are many authors, but the most popular is Seraphim Slobodskoy, his book "The Law of God" is a classic of the spiritual genre; All Orthodox Christians should have this book at home and read it from beginning to end. Then people will have an idea about the Church, about the temple, about prayer, about the soul, about God, about the meaning and purpose of our human life. When a person has an idea of the meaning and purpose of his life, then there will be no depression. A person will know that every day, getting out of bed, you need to thank the Lord, doing some work, you need to call on the name of God, every evening before going to bed you need to pray and thank God for the past day, ask Him for forgiveness, help, blessings and that Divine, spiritual recharging, which is called Divine grace, so that He preserves, strengthens and gives strength for tomorrow, and you also need to remember to prepare for the Divine Liturgy on the weekend. When a person has such small goals, they help to achieve the main goal of our Christian work - salvation in Christ.
What do the holy fathers say about fasting?
The holy fathers only say about fasting that fasting has always been beneficial for a person in all its manifestations. The main idea of the fathers is that fasting, first of all, should not be gastronomic, but sincere and spiritual. In addition, the holy fathers have always said that fasting should be aimed at correcting the inner man. This is what the Apostle Paul is talking about, and the Fathers appeal to him. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom speak of the benefits of fasting. John Chrysostom says that fasting is the mother of humility, the source of all wisdom, the mother of all blessings, the teacher of chastity and all virtue. He also says that fasting borrows its firmness from almsgiving, that is, when a person fasts, is engaged in correcting himself, he should not forget about his loved ones, should do both physical and spiritual alms. “If you fast without alms, then your fast is not a fast, and such a person is worse than a glutton and a drunkard, and, moreover, to the extent that cruelty is worse than luxury,” says John Chrysostom. These are very serious words, serious thoughts, which we must recognize in fasting and try to change ourselves, our inner person.
Other holy fathers also speak of fasting. Basil the Great says that the purpose of fasting is primarily a reminder of the sin that was committed by our forefathers in paradise: "Fasting is an ancient gift." Let people not think that the clergy invented fasting in order to torment people. The Church did not invent anything, it stands guard over the spiritual and physical health of our nation. “Fasting is the treasure of the fathers,” says Basil the Great. “He is contemporary to humanity, and this contemporary will always be: in our generation, in previous generations, and in future ones.” Fasting is legal in Paradise because Adam accepted the first commandment - not to touch the fruit that God commanded. The first man had to restrain his lust, his curiosity, his passion - he had to restrain himself and ask God. Today, a reflection of interrogation with God is questions to the priest, how best to act in this or that situation. Therefore, each person is called in a special, personal way to change his inner Adam in such a way that the Lord sees this desire to be worthy in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The post does a lot. In the post, I see one good thing. As for the spiritual state, during fasting, thoughts and attitudes towards the world around us change. You see everything with different eyes and talk about what is happening in different words, because you read more spiritual literature during fasting. In fasting, for example, I set the task of rereading the entire Holy Scripture from the Old to the New Testament (from Genesis to Revelation), and ours, Orthodox, with non-canonical texts, and, if possible, the interpretations of the holy fathers.
As for the state of mind, I refrain from watching TV, entertainment programs and even the news, because they confuse me and direct me into some kind of false spiritual channel: I begin to worry, draw wrong conclusions, and this distracts me from prayer. Why should an Orthodox person worry? Christ said that there would be famines, and plagues, and earthquakes, and murders. What surprises me? Christ said that all this will be, so it will be. There was a tragedy - so we must change. When a tower collapsed near the Siloam font and crushed 18 people, Christ said that they were not the most sinful, but this happened so that those who learn about this event learn to live differently, so that they remember their sins and cry out to God : "Father, save us, we are unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, for we are sinners." Therefore, we must draw such a spiritual conclusion: everything that happens is done by God's permission, and we must change so that this does not happen to us.
And at the physical (medical) level, fasting is a restriction of the intake of those substances that destroy the body. In fasting, a person selectively relates to food. Food containing animal fat in its composition is ballast: a person who consumes a large number of calories cannot cope with them, and they begin to be deposited in adipose tissue, in blood vessels, and begin to change metabolism. At a certain point in time, a person must decide: is he ready to destroy himself or ready to save himself on a physical level in order to feel better, sleep better, act better.
For people who are obese or overweight, before fasting, it is better to go to the doctor and get tested for glycated hemoglobin, because the epidemic of our century is diabetes, you need to see if there are markers of diabetes. It is better to know in advance, at a preventive level, rather than meet the problem when it is already on the threshold. During fasting, the diet changes: we refuse animal, fatty and sweet foods, because fasting also encourages a person to give up sweets, alcohol and everything that changes consciousness. Fasting is able to purify a person on a physical level, and if at the same time a person begins to pray, correct himself spiritually and morally, then this is generally one continuous benefit.
- How to fast in the case when one of the spouses is a believer and fasts, and the other does not?
This is a very common problem. I recommend that such people first of all calm down and pray for the unbelieving half. If the spouse wants meat borscht, cook it, because forceful methods only cause a rebuff reaction: the person will start to strike and do it out of spite. In such cases, it is necessary to intensify prayer, because prayer can really give a lot. This is a special energy that connects man with God and God with man. You have to pray incessantly. The apostle says, "Pray without ceasing." We must pray all the time, and especially during fasting. And when one of the spouses begins to pray for the unbelieving half, begins to correct himself, then he is transformed, becomes more beautiful both inside and out. And when the unbelieving spouse sees this, he will ask how it happened, and he will want to try it himself. The main thing is to believe. The Apostle James directly says: "If you want something from God, ask - and He will surely give you, the main thing - believe, do not doubt, and you will receive it." That is, there must be a strong, deep faith. And fasting is a means to strengthen faith, to strengthen this spiritual strength.
- How to fast children?
Also a valid question. Children have a growing body. At the physiological level, they should receive the full composition of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, nonessential and essential amino acids, that is, food should be varied, so children should not be limited even in meat food - they should have a complete diet. But children need to be torn away from the computer, from what distracts them from development, torn away from deeds that discredit youth, from bad company, accustomed to church service and prayer, so that they are full members of Orthodox society. Lent is a very good time not to take away the substances necessary from a physical point of view, but, on the contrary, to focus on his mental and spiritual development.
Host Denis Beresnev
Transcript: Elena Kuzoro
The holy fathers spoke a lot about fasting, for this feat was familiar to each of them. Today we have a great opportunity, after reading the quotes of the holy fathers about fasting, to be encouraged and also try to give up something to which we are attached.
Let's not forget what St. Anthony the Great said: "There is no virtue higher than reasoning." This means that when entering a fast, one should take into account the state of one's health, age, and many other factors. If a layman has some serious illness, then it is worth consulting with the priest personally in order to find the measure of fasting that will be within his power and will not harm the body.
The essence of fasting is to learn how to control your nature, learn to curb your desires, be able to subjugate your gut, and not be led by it ...
Holy Fathers about fasting:
Blessed Augustine on fasting:
The more days of fasting, the better the treatment; the longer the race of temperance, the richer the acquisition of salvation.
Saint John Kolov about fasting:
When the king is about to take an enemy city, he first of all stops the delivery of food supplies to it. Then the citizens, oppressed by hunger, submit to the king. The same happens with carnal desires: if a person spends his life in fasting and hunger, then disorderly desires will be exhausted.
Saint John Chrysostom about fasting:
Are you fasting? Keep your tongue from evil and your mouth from flattery and deceit. Are you fasting? Avoid slander, slander, lies, enmity, blasphemy and any excess. Are you fasting? Flee covetousness, robbery, quarrels and soul-destroying envy. If you fast for God, run away from every deed that God hates, and He will accept your repentance as Merciful and Humanitarian.
In addition to abstaining from food, there are many ways that can open for us the doors of boldness before God. Whoever eats food and cannot fast, let him give the most abundant alms, let him make fervent prayers, let him show intense zeal for hearing the word of God - here bodily weakness does not hinder us in the least - let him reconcile with enemies, let him banish all remembrance of malice from his soul . If he does this, he will make a true fast, such as the Lord requires of us. After all, the very abstinence from food He commands so that we, curbing the desires of the flesh, make it obedient in fulfilling the commandments.
Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, don't forget the prisoners. Comfort those who mourn and weep; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, unforgiving, reverent, true, pious, so that God will accept your fast and give the fruits of repentance in abundance.
Fasting is an ancient gift; fasting is the jewel of the fathers. It is contemporary to humanity. Fasting is legal in paradise. This was the first commandment Adam received: from the tree, if you understand good and evil, you will not tear down"(Gen. 2:17). And this: don't take it down- there is the legalization of fasting and abstinence.
If Eve had fasted and had not eaten from the tree, then we would not have needed to fast now. Do not limit the benefits of fasting to mere abstinence in food, because true fasting is the elimination of evil deeds ... Forgive your neighbor an insult, forgive him his debts. You do not eat meat, but you offend your brother... True fasting is the removal of evil, the abstinence of the tongue, the suppression of anger in oneself, the excommunication of lusts, slander, lies and perjury.
Beware of measuring fasting by simply abstaining from food. Those who abstain from food, and behave inappropriately, are likened to the devil, who, although he does not eat anything, nevertheless does not cease to sin.
Saint John Cassian the Roman about fasting:
Strict fasts become futile when they are followed by excessive eating, which soon reaches the vice of gluttony.
One should be counted as a suicide who does not change the strict rules of abstinence even when it is necessary to reinforce weakened forces by eating.
Saint Theophan the Recluse about fasting:
Fasting is not to eat your fill, but to leave yourself a little hungry, so that neither thoughts nor heart are burdened.
Look around and consider: what are all people doing, why are they so busy, who do they work for? Every single one works for the stomach and all the trouble to meet its requirements: give me food, give me drink. How great a blessing is promised in the future by the mere promise of the abolition of this tyrant of ours! Stand now on this point and decide: where will the indefatigable thirst for activity, which belongs to this age, be directed in another age, when there will be no need to bother about the stomach or about worldly things in general? We must resolve this now in order to prepare for what awaits us in the infinite future.
Holy Mother Superior Arsenia (Srebryakova) about fasting:
Many scholars of our age say that fasting and all church orders are empty rituals, outward appearances leading to nothing. And the more I live, the more I am convinced that all the legal provisions established by the holy fathers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are the greatest blessing given to us by the Lord, that all of them are extraordinarily saving by the grace present in them. Scientists say: "All this is trifles, only the truths of the Gospel are important." - I will say that it is impossible to directly comprehend, to stand on the gospel truths, bypassing and neglecting the statutes of the Church. They, only they lead us to the highest truths of the teachings of Christ.
Now we are talking about fasting, that is, about refraining from overeating and from excesses, in general, in order to make our body lighter and thinner, more capable of spiritual sensations. And the Lord Jesus Christ sanctified this establishment of the Church with a forty-day fast, and the fast became saving for us, although we, due to our weakness, do not spend it at all as we should. But we must believe that our nature, through the forty-day fast of the Lord Jesus Christ, has been cleansed and made capable of spiritual sensations. We must believe that fasting saves us not for our deeds, but by the grace inherent in it, as a church institution. One church bell brings us salvation, reminding us with its funeral tone of the mortality of everything earthly. Abstaining from food teaches us to abstain from passionate thoughts and feelings.
Temperance is the first step in all virtues... The Lord Jesus Christ says: Love your enemies that is, those who slander and reproach you. – How to do it? He curses you to your face, can't you suddenly love him now? First, refrain from answering you with abuse too. Further, refrain your thought from a bad thought about this person, and so on. So the first step to love is abstinence. It also leads to the help of God. And then God's help will become necessary for you when you begin to abstain from anything. Then you will see that your own strength is too small, that you need God's help and you will begin to ask for it with all your being. This is how true prayer is acquired. Then, during fasting, our usual fasting, confession of sins and communion of the Holy Mysteries, in addition to those gifts of grace that are given to us in the performance of all this, remind and move us to that greatest repentance, to which we must come in life. They remind of the confession that a person must bring directly to the Lord, in the deepest knowledge of his fall and the greatest sinfulness of his nature, which must be followed by eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are the blessings. which come from fasting. Let us not be afraid of him and the fact that we will spend him in a wrong way, but let us rejoice that he is so saving!
Rev. Abba Dorotheos on fasting:
But we must not only observe the measure in food, but also refrain from every other sin, so that, as we fast with the belly, we also fast with the tongue. We should also fast with our eyes, that is, not look at vain things, not give our eyes freedom, not look at anyone shamelessly and without fear. Likewise, the hands and feet must be restrained from every evil deed. By fasting, as St. Basil the Great, with favorable fasting, moving away from every sin committed by all our senses, we will reach the holy day of the Resurrection, having become, as we said, new, pure and worthy of communion of the Holy Mysteries.
Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow on fasting:
The Apostle Paul said: if one of the unbelievers calls you and you want to go, then eat everything that is offered to you without any research, for peace of mind (1 Cor. 10, 27) - for the sake of the person who welcomed you cordially.
Foolish people are jealous of fasting and the labors of the saints with wrong understanding and intention, and think that they are passing through virtue. The devil, guarding them as his prey, casts into them the seed of a joyful opinion of himself, from which the inner Pharisee is born and nurtured and betrays them to perfect pride.
Rev. Isaac the Syrian about fasting:
The spirit does not submit to the cross unless the body first submits to it.
Saint John of the Ladder on fasting:
It is better to eat and give thanks to the Lord than not to eat and condemn those who eat and thank the Lord.
Related articles:
- How to fast correctly? >>
- About fasters (From the stories of St. Basil of Kineshma) >>
Today, when the Church reminds us of the need for fasting and prayer, I would like to say that, although Advent and not so strict in terms of external requirements, however, it requires a judicious attitude.
First of all, we must observe it, but, as St. Isaac the Syrian says, there is a measure of fasting. It must be understood that all church institutions must correspond to the measure of a particular person, depending on his bodily strength, age, health and other characteristics.
Reverend Isaac says that excessive fasting is more harmful than not fasting at all. This applies, first of all, to those lovers of fasting who want to immediately ascend very high, having great abstinence, not balanced by their internal state. Why is excessive fasting more harmful than not fasting? Because, says the Reverend, a person can still, out of non-observance of fasting, out of ignorance of how one can live correctly spiritually, come to a correct dispensation, and as a result of the distortions that arise from immoderate fasting, such a spiritual disorder can occur, which is already much more difficult to correct.
A post-as-spiritual phenomenon always exposes our perception of both good and evil Therefore, each of us must remember that during fasting, special temptations naturally arise, and we can draw closer to God, or we can especially move away from Him due to the fact that the perception of good and evil is aggravated. Therefore, St. Synclitikia says that external fasting, which does not correspond to the measure of our spiritual work, is more harmful than useful, since it first of all arouses in us vanity, in which all sins are taken together, and exaltation over other people. That is, the mere external observance of fasting does not bring us closer to God and to another person, but, on the contrary, removes us from them. And all other passions - irritation, anger, and everything that is peculiar to us, can flare up especially brightly during fasting.
So, the most important thing is that the Church reminds us of fasting: when we perform bodily abstinence, our body, the fleshy veil that separates us from the invisible world, becomes thinner, as it were, and we become more receptive to the spiritual world. And if our heart is not cleansed, then it is natural that contacts in this invisible world are connected, first of all, with dark forces. Hence all the temptations and passions, which can only increase during Lent.
We know from Holy Scripture, from the history of the Church, that fasting can be so graceless that it can become the exact opposite of what it should be. The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles describes what a fast can be like, when more than forty Jews swore not to eat or drink anything, that is, to keep the strictest abstinence until they kill the Apostle Paul. They were sincerely convinced that they were doing the work of God, and in order to maintain the fire of hatred for this man in themselves, they kept their terrible fast.
Both fasting and self-denial can be dark and disastrous. We know examples of such false spirituality in other religions, when asceticism, abstinence is kept precisely to nourish imaginary spirituality, to maintain an alien fire in the Soul of a person. Exactly the same property can be self-denial, and human heroism. Everyone knows that non-believers are capable of great selflessness and heroism when they are inspired by some false ideology, and are even ready to give their lives for it. In any false religion, this self-denial, this abstinence and this giving of oneself can reach especially terrible painful states. But in all the tragic cases that can be observed even today (say, in totalitarian sects, where young people come who know nothing about God and are ready to keep any strict fast and sacrifice everything and everyone), we see one feature: if all captives false religion to people who do not know God, but are capable of fatal heroism and selflessness, the true God was revealed, then they would not be so lukewarm, which we often are. The Savior warns about this danger, as the most serious one that threatens us in recent times. And it will be in the Church.
Let's think about it with you. From year to year, we have become accustomed to fasting too outwardly, too formally, often reducing it to observing one diet, without adding prayer and without delving into the awareness of our path to Christ, into the awareness of the mystery that is revealed to us at this time. Christ is actually approaching each of us, so we realize once again that the worst thing that can happen to us is lukewarmness, this is external formal fasting. Let us try from the very beginning (not at the end, as happens when at the general confession we remember everything at the end of the fast, naming this sin first of all) to deepen our fast, drawing closer to Christ not only by reading the Holy Scriptures (especially the prophets), not only reading the Psalms and prayers (this is obligatory) and more frequent visits to the temple (this is essential and necessary), but precisely by communion with the most important thing that is in Christ - His love. His involvement in the suffering and fate of every living person, so that the mystery of Christ's Incarnation becomes our living knowledge during Lent.
The same Saint Theophan the Recluse also points to the convenience of homeopathic treatment. “Homeopathy can help in all sorts of diseases, but you have to guess the right medicine. You can guess by the symptoms or by how the disease manifests itself. Homeopathy can be treated without seeing a doctor - through correspondence.. And in our time and through the phone.
Before the revolution in St. Petersburg there was a very strong community of homeopaths. They produced handbooks suitable for home treatment. Anyone can use these guides. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt recommended homeopathy as an affordable treatment for poor people.
Many new methods for the treatment of diseases are being developed and proposed. Methods convenient for independent home use. Someone is engaged in cleansing the body, someone is treated with a mono-diet, someone drinks tincture of cinquefoil, someone does breathing exercises, someone is delighted with aromatherapy. And great! If cinquefoil helps you, drink cinquefoil, if it's good from gymnastics, do gymnastics. And if you feel better, don't forget to thank God.
Once upon a time, the practical component of medicine was negligible. There were few medicines, methods of treatment, instruments for examination. The doctor treated, basically, with a word. By the way, the very word "doctor" comes from "to lie", that is, to tell, to speak. In the ancient world, priests healed using various spells. At that time it was impossible for a Christian to consult a pagan or Jewish doctor. It was an appeal for help to mysticism alien to Christianity. But today we use practical medicine, medicines and treatments designed for each person, regardless of his worldview. We can add a mystical, that is, a mysterious, spiritual component to the treatment ourselves with the help of the Church.
Our Orthodoxy should not be an obstacle either to communication or to cooperation with a doctor. And who knows, perhaps, by accepting help and trusting the doctor, who, not without the will of God, was by our side in a difficult time for us, we ourselves will somehow influence his fate, we will lead him to faith. And there were such cases. I know believing doctors whose clericalism was influenced by their patients.
Spiritual component
“Just as medical art should not be completely avoided, it is so incongruous to put all your hope in it”(St. Basil the Great).
A believer has something to add to the art of a doctor. We have already spoken about confession and communion during illness. About prayer. But there are also spiritual means.
It is, of course, holy water. Epiphany in the morning on an empty stomach and water from a prayer service that your relatives can order. For example, from a prayer service to the great martyr and healer Panteleimon. Or the unmercenary doctors Kosma and Damian. Water from a prayer service in illness can be drunk both during the day and after meals. Some use water taken from holy springs. And she, if drunk with reverence, also benefits.
Don't forget prosphora. And there is also a shrine that the Orthodox keep on purpose in case of illness - artos. A piece of blessed bread, which is distributed after Easter, on Saturday of Bright Week, in the church. Grains of arthos with epiphany or baptismal water are consumed, like prosphora, on an empty stomach. Use in the disease and holy oil. This oil is consecrated at holy icons or at relics. There are many cases when the sick received healing by anointing themselves with this oil. It can also be taken orally. One young man had a thyroid disease. The confessor gave him holy oil brought from Jerusalem. The patient daily anointed himself with a cross-shaped throat with the prayers "Our Father" and "Virgin Mother of God, rejoice" and went on the mend. He also did not avoid doctors, but the case was difficult, and, as he believes, without the Jerusalem oil, he would hardly have recovered. Not only oil or water, but also sand taken from a holy place, with our faith, can have a beneficial effect.
“An Orthodox Christian turns his face to the holy icons - the Savior, the Mother of God, angels and saints of God - in order to clearly show his faith in their presence, in their closeness to himself; holy icons realize, carry out our Orthodox faith, and without holy icons, we seemed to be hanging in the air, not knowing who we were praying to.”.
Wonderful words of St. rights. John of Kronstadt soon! Spiritual life requires both image and action.
Thus, holy temples, monasteries and places of deeds of the saints of God can also be icons. Many pilgrims travel annually to see the shrine and pray at the holy place. God, of course, is one everywhere, and you can pray to His saints anywhere. Rev. They pray to Seraphim of Sarov in Moscow, and in Kamchatka, and in America, and in China, and in Antarctica, but with what a warm feeling do they eat crackers dried in the Reverend's cauldron, brought from Diveevo! They are like a personal blessing of the saint.
At miraculous icons, at holy relics, in the places of life of saints, they collect and record cases of miraculous help. In other places, such records are collected entire volumes.
Here are some testimonies about the miraculous help of St. rights. Simeon of Verkhotursky.
From a letter from the police chief of the city of Petropavlovsk, Nikolai Alekseevich Protopopov, dated November 14, 1878: “My wife had a toothache, no medicine helped, but when she rubbed her gums and teeth with earth taken from the saint’s grave, the disease stopped.” From the message of the girl Melnikova, received in 1880: “1874, on April 28, I went to Verkhoturye to the relics of St. righteous Simeon. At that time, my leg hurt a lot. The pain further and further multiplied more, and this disease is rarely seen; I tied a towel around my leg ... and I could hardly walk on two crutches ... In the morning I got up with great difficulty and went to the village of Merkushinskoye, went to Vespers and prepared to receive the Holy Mysteries, and God allowed it - I took communion. I shed a lot of tears here. I got up in the morning - my swelling was gone, and my leg was not exactly sore. Our contemporaries testify. Zaitsev Vladimir Alexandrovich, a resident of the city of Buzuluk, having heard about St. rights. Simeon of Verkhoturye, in 1997 visited Verkhoturye and the village of Merkushino, drank water from the tomb and, taking it with him, drank it on the road. He had osteochondrosis, which Vladimir Aleksandrovich had been ill with since 1974, before that he gave himself painkillers injections every day.
Priest Mikhail Kudrin said that his youngest daughter Catherine had a severe strabismus. After the prayer of St. rights. Simeon of Verkhotursky, her parents anointed her eyes with oil from the lamp over the tomb, and then did the same several times, until it suddenly turned out that her eyes were no longer squinting, but were looking straight ahead.
Petrukhina Nina Grigoryevna from Moscow reported: “A cancerous tumor appeared, the doctors wanted to remove it. I read a prayer to St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, anointed my forehead and sore spots with oil, applied earth to my head, and once drank water (probably from a tomb). A month later, the result of the analysis came: there are no cancer cells. The operation was canceled, but the risk of the disease remained. Apparently, it is necessary to be treated and pray right. Simeon..."
There are illnesses that cannot be cured or alleviated by drugs or the efforts of medicine. When only spiritual remedies can improve the condition.
Among the letters of Rev. Macarius of Optina is the answer to the father of a sick daughter. “I already wrote to you that this disease is not subject to physical cures, but one must seek healing in faith, ask God and His saints to send her healing from this disease.” The monk advises at home to serve a moleben with an akathist to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, and then to visit his relics: “How many healings there were and are there by the prayers of the holy saint of God who resort to him, and God, through his prayers, will heal your daughter too. To the believer, all things are possible."
Another Optina Elder, Rev. Ambrose, who is sick, suffering from a headache and not expecting help from a doctor, advises him to go to the Athos chapel, serve a prayer service for St. Great Martyr Panteleimon, take oil from the lamp and smear it on his head at night. “At the same time, at home, turn to the healing Panteleimon more often and ask for his help. The Lord will give - and it will pass".
In difficult illnesses, it is not uncommon practice to make vows to visit this or that holy place, to go to the relics of the saint. The Orenburg priest Philip Ivanovsky, who lived in the middle of the 19th century, told about himself that when he studied at the seminary, after a severe cold, he had some kind of incomprehensible neuropsychiatric illness. “Some kind of stupidity came over me, combined with incredible, unbearable anguish, unbelief and blasphemous thoughts.” He did not tell the doctor or his comrades about his illness, for fear that he would be expelled from the seminary. “All my consolation, all hope and all medicine consisted solely in the vows I made at the end of the course to go to some miraculous icons and in Verkhoturye.” And what? At the end of the course, when the promises were fulfilled, the disease receded. “There are diseases, the cure of which the Lord imposes a ban, when he sees that the disease is more necessary for salvation than health. I cannot say that this did not take place in relation to me,” wrote St. Theophan the Recluse. It happens to see people sick, as if incurable. Moreover, it is not always a disease from birth, from nature. But something in the nature of a person's character is such that illness, like some kind of bridle, is necessary for him. Another, having fallen ill, remembers God, begins to lead a church life, struggles with his sinful habits; but as soon as he recovers, his efforts gradually come to naught and God is no longer so needed.
Church life, which consists of prayer, fasting, attending Sunday and holiday services, regular participation in the Church Sacraments (that is, Confession and Communion), makes any illness more tolerable, alleviates. This is especially noticeable in relation to neuropsychiatric diseases. Even heavy, hereditary.
A case comes to mind when a young man came to church with a strange illness. He looked sullenly from under his brows, his movements were constrained and cheeky at the same time. He seemed to have no control over his motor skills. The shoulders are brought together, the head is lowered, the speech is similar to croaking. A jerky, not always appropriate laugh. It seemed that this congenital ill health could not be overcome.
But time passed. The young man attended church services, he carefully confessed, often took communion. To the extent possible, he participated in the affairs of the parish. Gradually, his appearance changed, his expression became softer, his shoulders straightened, his speech became intelligible.
And it was noticeable that during periods when for some reason he could not attend the temple, his illness again intensified. When the church rhythm of life was firmly established, the young man, one might say, simply flourished. His subsequent life went well.
And this is not the only, not a rare case, such stories will be told to you in any parish.
The Gospel mentions a woman who had a spirit of weakness for eighteen years: she was crouched and could not straighten up (Luke 13:11). The devil was named the cause of the disease: “Satan has bound for eighteen years now,” and liberation from the “spirit of weakness” came from the Savior. Thus, from Christ, from union with Him, together with church life, with the Church Sacraments, comes liberation to many people.