The basis of all spiritual work.
home The Nativity fast begins on November 28 (from Monday) and ends on January 6, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ. If you have not fasted since the first day of fasting, you can start from today. Fasting was established so that on the day of the Nativity of Christ we purify ourselves through 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. During Lent don't eat meat butter, milk, cheese and eggs. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, fish and wine are not blessed by the charter. From January 2 to January 6, fasting is intensified - on these days, even on Saturday and Sunday, fish are not blessed. There are relaxations in fasting for infants, pregnant women and seriously ill people. It is better to consult a priest about your measure of fasting: tell him about your spiritual and physical condition and ask for a blessing for certain indulgences. How to spend your fasting time Physical fasting, without spiritual fasting, brings nothing to the salvation of the soul; on the contrary, it can be spiritually harmful if a person, abstaining from food, becomes imbued with the consciousness of his own superiority. True fasting is associated with prayer, repentance, abstinence from passions and vices, the eradication of evil deeds, forgiveness of insults, abstinence from married life, the exclusion of entertainment and entertainment events, and watching television. Fasting is not a goal, but a means - a means to humble your flesh and cleanse yourself of sins. Without prayer and repentance, fasting becomes just a diet. While we fast physically, at the same time we need to fast spiritually. How to train yourself to fast Everyone must balance the rules for observing fasts with their own strengths, with the degree of their preparation for fasting. It is necessary to enter fasting gradually , step by step, starting with at least abstaining from fast food on Wednesday and Friday throughout the year. Everyone must determine for themselves how much food and drink they need per day. During fasting, you need to gradually reduce the amount of food you eat and bring it to the point where you can no longer reduce your diet, so as not to be weakened, exhausted, and incapable of doing anything. Here is the main rule given by the Lord Himself:
Let not your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness.
Holy Fathers about the Nativity Fast Fasting is an ancient gift, undecaying, ageless, but constantly renewed and blooming in all its beauty. The more you take from the body, the more you give to the soul. Fasting sends prayer to heaven, becoming like wings for it. Saint John Chrysostom Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, don't forget the prisoners. Comfort the mourning and crying; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, unforgettable, reverent, true, pious, so that God will accept your fast and give you the fruits of repentance in abundance. Fasting derives its firmness from almsgiving. 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, as much as cruelty is worse than luxury. Fasting also keeps the body healthy: not being burdened with food, it does not accept diseases, but, becoming light, it is strengthened to accept gifts. Saint Simeon, Archbishop of Thessaloniki The Fast of the Nativity Pentecost depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the words of God inscribed on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living Word from the Virgin - not inscribed on stones, but incarnate and born, and we partake of His Divine flesh. Venerable Paisiy Velichkovsky Some people fast for a while and then indulge in sweet foods. The fact is that many begin fasting beyond their strength and other severe feats, and then weaken from immoderation and unevenness, and seek sweet foods and rest to strengthen the body. To do this is the same as creating, and then destroying again, since the body, through poverty from fasting, is forced to desire sweets and seeks consolation, and sweets kindle passions. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk True and direct fasting is abstinence from all evil. Let the memory fast from rancor. Let your will fast from evil desire. Let your eyes fast from evil vision: “turn away your eyes, so as not to see vanity” (Ps. 119:37). May your ears be kept from vile songs and slanderous whispers. May your tongue fast from condemnation, lies, flattery, foul language, and every idle and rotten word. May your hands fast from beating and stealing other people's property. Let 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, abstaining from every evil word, deed and thought, learn every virtue, and you will always fast before God. Saint Theophan the RecluseAbstinence starves demons.
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O. Dmitry Smirnov. What is the Nativity Fast for? Sermon from November 26, 2016.
Two 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 angel's gospel. These people believed that the Savior could be born not in the royal palace, but in a cave where sheep were sheltered from bad weather.
These people saw the One for whom the whole world was waiting, 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 reasons. They do not suspect that the darkness of everyday life can only be illuminated by love in their souls. But to find it, you need to cleanse your heart.
Days of fasting take a person out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life and require him to live a pure life for God. This is another, unworldly time. IN Old Testament was required to bring a tenth of their income to the Temple. Fasting is the New Testament sacrifice of Christians to God.
Leo the Great teaches: “The very maintenance of abstinence is sealed in four times, so that throughout the year we learn that we are in constant need of cleansing and that when life is scattered, we must always try by fasting and alms to destroy sin, which is multiplied by the frailty of the flesh and impurity of desires.”
According to Leo the Great, the Nativity Fast is a sacrifice to God for the harvested fruits. “Just as the Lord generously provided us with the fruits of the earth,” the saint writes, “so during this fast we should be generous to the poor.”
According to Saint Simeon of Thessaloniki, “the fast of the Nativity Pentecost depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted forty days and forty nights, received the words of God inscribed on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living Word from the Virgin, not inscribed on stones, but incarnate and born, and we partake of His Divine flesh.”
The Nativity Fast was established so that on the day of the Nativity of Christ we purify ourselves with 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 so that, in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, we can offer him pure heart and the desire to follow his teachings.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk reasons: “As we see, there is physical fasting, and there is also mental fasting. Bodily fasting is when the womb fasts from food and drink. Mental fasting is when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds and words.
A fair faster is one who refrains himself from fornication, adultery and all uncleanness.
A fair faster is one who abstains from anger, rage, malice and revenge.
A fair faster is one who has imposed abstinence on his tongue and keeps it from idle talk, foul language, madness, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all slander.
A fair faster is one who keeps his hands from theft, embezzlement, robbery
running, and your heart is from the desire of other people's things. In a word, a good faster is one who shuns all evil.
You see, Christian, spiritual fasting. Physical fasting is useful for us, since it serves to mortify our passions. But mental fasting is absolutely necessary, because physical 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 does it do them?
Many fast every other day, two or more, but out of anger, rancor and revenge they do not want to fast.
Many abstain from wine, meat, fish, but with their tongue they bite people like themselves - and what good does it do them? Some often do not touch food with their hands, but extend them to bribery, theft and robbery of other people's property - and what benefit does it do them?
True and direct fasting is abstinence from all evil. If, Christian, you want fasting to be useful to you, then, while fasting physically, fast also mentally, and fast always. Just as you impose a fast on your belly, so impose a fast on your evil thoughts and whims.
Let your mind fast from vain thoughts.
Let the memory fast from rancor.
Let your will fast from evil desire.
Let your eyes fast from evil vision: turn away your eyes so as not to see vanity(See Ps. CXVIII. 37).
May your ears be kept from vile songs and slanderous whispers.
Let 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 other people's property.
Let your feet fast from going to evil deeds. Avoid evil and do good(Ps. XXXIII, 15, 1; Peter III, 11).
This is the Christian fast that God requires of us. Repent, and, abstaining 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 now, so that your voice can be heard? I have not chosen such a fast as the day on which a person will humble his soul, when he bends his neck like a sickle and covers himself with rags and ashes. This is not the kind of fast you would call a pleasant fast, this is not the kind I have chosen,” says the Lord. - But resolve every alliance of unrighteousness, destroy all debts written down by force, set the brokenhearted free, tear apart every unrighteous scripture, split your bread with the hungry, and bring the poor who have no shelter into the house; When you see a naked person, clothe him, and do not hide from your half-blood.
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will follow 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 among you, stop raising your finger and speaking offensively, and give your soul to the hungry and feedsoul of the sufferer: then your light will rise in darkness, and your darkness will be like noon(Isa. LVIII, 4-10).”
Nativity Fast (Filippov Fast, in common parlance in Filippovka) - established in honor of the Nativity of Christ. Observed from November 15 (28) to December 24 (January 6).
IN Orthodox churches Byzantine tradition, the Nativity fast is one of four multi-day fasts church year and serves as a 40-day preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.
Observed from November 15 (28) to December 24 (January 6) inclusive and ends with the holiday of the Nativity of Christ. The fast (the eve of fasting) - November 14 (27) - falls on the day of remembrance of the holy Apostle Philip, therefore the fast is also called Philip's fast. If the plot falls on one-day fasts, Wednesday or Friday, then it moves to November 13 (26).
Instructions of the Holy Fathers on fasting
“Do not limit the benefits of fasting to abstinence in food, because true fasting is elimination of evil deeds... Forgive your neighbor’s insult, forgive him his debts. You do not eat meat, but you offend your brother... True fasting is the removal of evil, abstinence of the tongue, suppression of anger, excommunication of lusts, slander, lies and perjury. Abstinence from this is true fasting."
“Abstinence from food, observed for show, is hated by the soul of the Lord; but abstinence, used to enslave carnal wisdom, is loved by the Lord, because through exhaustion of the flesh it brings about sanctification.”
“One must fast moderately and provide the body with the most necessary help, but in such a way that it is not voluptuousness that guides the choice of food, but reason with all severity in determining the need. For with such a spiritual disposition, the one who eats food turns out to be in no way inferior in wisdom to the one who does not eat, and by intention he observes not only unceasing fasting, but also non-eating, and by caring for the body he deserves praise as the best steward.”
“We must pay attention so that, through excessive abstinence, weakening bodily strength, we do not make the body lazy and inactive for most important activities... I think that a sign of the best stewardship is to follow the established regulations"
“Fasting is an ancient gift; fasting is the treasure of fathers. He is contemporary with humanity. Fasting is legal in heaven. Adam accepted this first commandment: “You shall not tear down the tree which you understand is good and evil” (Gen. 2:17). And this: don’t take it down is the legalization of fasting and abstinence.”
“If Eve had fasted and not eaten of the tree, then we would not now have the need to fast. “For they do not require the health of a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12). We are damaged by sin; Let us be healed by repentance, and repentance without fasting is not effective. “Cursed is the ground...thorns and thistles will grow for you” (Genesis 3:17-18). It is ordered to be contrite in spirit, and not to indulge in luxury. By fasting, be justified before God."
“Fasting is the mother of humility, the source of all wisdom; fasting is the mother of all blessings, the teacher of chastity and all virtues"
“Fasting from alms takes its firmness... If you fast without alms, then your fast is not fasting, and such a person is worse than a glutton and a drunkard, and, moreover, as much as cruelty is worse than luxury.”
“Just as a bird cannot fly without the help of wings, so fasting cannot flow without its two wings - prayer and alms. Look at Cornelius, how he, along with fasting, also possessed these wings. That’s why he heard a voice come to him from heaven: “Cornelius, your prayers and your alms have risen” (Acts 10:3-4).”
“Prayer should always be combined with fasting... And prayers are performed with attention, especially during fasting, because then the soul is lighter, not burdened by anything, and not suppressed by the disastrous burden of pleasures.”
“A person who fasts must abstain from food, but first of all from sins... I would call the one who eats a thousand times more blessed than the one who fasts and commits untruths. I say this not to destroy fasting, but to call for piety. It’s not food that’s evil, it’s sin that’s evil.”
“Let there be no excess; This greatly contributes to the health and strength of our body. Do you not see that countless diseases arise from luxurious tables and excessive satiation? Where do the diseases in the legs come from? Where do head diseases come from? Where does the multiplication of spoiled phlegm come from? Where do countless other diseases come from? Is it not from immoderation? Just as an overcrowded ship soon sinks and sinks, so a person, having given himself over to gluttony and drunkenness, rushes into the abyss, drowns his mind, and finally lies like a living corpse, often still able to do something bad, but no more capable of good than the dead. »
“The purpose of fasting is pure communion. For this reason, the fathers extended the field of fasting and gave us a time of repentance, so that we, having cleansed and washed ourselves, would thus proceed to the Sacrament. That’s why I am now calling out with a loud voice, testifying, asking and begging - not with an unclean, not with a vicious conscience to approach this sacred meal, because otherwise it will not be communion... but condemnation, torment and increased punishment.”
“There are many people who, preparing to fight fasting, seem to wild beast, protect themselves with gluttony, and, having burdened and darkened themselves to the extreme, very unwisely greet the quiet and meek face of fasting. And if I ask you: why are you going to the bathhouse today? - you will say: in order to meet the post with a clean body. And if I ask: why are you drunk? - you will say again: because I am preparing to enter into fasting. But isn’t it strange to meet this most beautiful fast with a clean body, but with an unclean and intoxicated soul?”
“We should do this: not just go through the weeks of fasting, but examine our conscience, test our thoughts, and notice what we managed to do this week, what the next, what new things we tried to achieve the next, and what passions we have corrected from. If we do not correct ourselves in this way and show such concern for our soul, then we will not benefit from the fasting and abstinence to which we subject ourselves.”
“Besides abstaining from food, there are many ways that can open the doors of boldness before God. He who eats food and cannot fast, let him give abundant alms, let him say fervent prayers, let him show intense zeal for listening to the word of God - here bodily weakness does not hinder us in the least - let him make peace with his enemies, let him expel from his soul all memory of malice . If he does this, he will commit a true fast, the kind that the Lord requires of us. After all, He commands abstinence from food itself so that we, curbing the lusts of the flesh, make it obedient in fulfilling the commandments.”
“Fasting, like a doctor of our souls, humbles the flesh of one Christian, and tames the anger of another; drives away sleep from one, stimulates another to greater good deeds; for one it cleanses the mind and makes it free from evil thoughts, for another it binds the uncontrollable tongue and with the fear of God, like a bridle, restrains it, not allowing it to speak idle and rotten words; and for others it does not allow the eyes to look here and there and be curious about what one or the other is doing, but it forces everyone to listen to himself.”
“Fasting is the beginning and foundation of every spiritual work. Whatever virtues you create on the basis of fasting, they will all be unshakable and unshakable, like those written on solid stone. And when you accept this foundation, that is, fasting, and in its place you put satiation of the belly and other inappropriate desires, then all the virtues will be shaken and blown away from bad thoughts and from the flow of passions, like sand blown by the wind, and the entire edifice of virtue collapses.”
“It is written in the law that God commanded the children of Israel to tithe every year of all that they acquired, and by doing so they were blessed in all their deeds. Knowing this, St. The apostles established... that we separate the tithe from the very days of our life and dedicate it to God: so that we, too, may thus receive a blessing on all our deeds, and annually cleanse the sins we have committed during the year. Having reasoned this way, they consecrated to us the seven weeks of Lent.”
“There are two types of gluttony: laryngeal madness and gluttony. The first type is when a person seeks the pleasures of food; he does not always want to eat a lot, but he desires something tasty and is overcome by its pleasant taste. Gluttony is polyeating, when a person does not care about the taste of food, but strives to fill his belly.”
“Whoever fasts out of vanity or believing that he is performing virtue fasts unreasonably and therefore begins to reproach his brother afterwards, considering himself to be someone significant. But whoever fasts wisely does not think that he is doing a good deed wisely, and does not want to be praised as a faster.”
“Concerning the image of fasting, it cannot be conveniently observed same rule... - the time, method and quality of nutrition must be different, precisely due to the unequal condition of the bodies, or according to age and gender; but everyone should have one rule for taming the flesh to control the heart and strengthen the spirit.”
“Strict fasts become in vain when they are followed by excessive consumption of food, which soon leads to the vice of gluttony.”
“One should be considered a suicide who does not change the strict rules of abstinence even when it is necessary to strengthen weakened strength by eating food.”
“Tighten your belly with abstinence, and thereby stop your mouth; for the tongue takes strength from many foods"
“The living memory of death prevents intemperance in food; and when intemperance in food is stopped with humility, then other passions are cut off at the same time.”
“When we are full, the spirit of gluttony departs and sends the spirit of prodigalness upon us, informing it in what state we are in, and saying: “Go and stir up such and such; his belly is full, and therefore you will labor a little.” This one, having come, smiles and, having tied our hands and feet to sleep, does whatever he wants with us.”
“Whoever serves his own belly, and yet wants to overcome the spirit of fornication, is like someone who extinguishes a fire with oil.”
“Just as healthy eyes are characterized by a desire for light, so a fast observed with prudence is characterized by a desire for prayer.”
“He who is clothed in the weapon of fasting is at all times inflamed with jealousy. For even the zealot Elijah, when he was zealous for the law of God, remained in this matter - in fasting"
“From the meal of those who fast... borrow for yourself the medicine of life, and awaken your soul from deadness. For among them, sanctifying them, the Beloved reclines, and the labor of fasting and their deeds transforms them into His inscrutable sweetness; and His heavenly servants overshadow them and their holy dishes. I know one of the brothers who clearly saw this with his own eyes."
“There is physical fasting, and there is mental fasting. Bodily fasting is when the belly fasts from food and drink; spiritual fasting is when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds and words. A good faster is one who shuns all evil. If you, Christian, want fasting to be useful to you, then, while fasting physically, fast also mentally, and fast always.”
“It is proper to proportion the way of bodily nutrition to the state of strength and strength of the body: when it is healthy, oppress it as much as necessary, and when it is weak, relax it a little. The ascetic should not relax his body, but be as strong as is required for the ascetic endeavor, so that even though bodily labors the soul is also properly cleansed.”
St. Asterius of Amasia
“Fasting is the teacher of moderation, the mother of virtue, the educator of the children of God, the leader of the disorderly, the calm of souls, the support of life, the peace of lasting and unperturbed; its severity and importance pacifies passions, extinguishes anger and rage, cools and calms all sorts of unrest that arise from overeating.”
Rev. Macarius of Optina
“We must be, according to the teaching of the holy fathers, not body-killers, but passion-killers, that is, destroy the passions in ourselves.”
holy Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow
“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 examination, for peace of conscience (1 Cor. 10:27) - for the sake of the person who welcomed you cordially.”
“Irrational people are jealous of the fasting and labors of saints with wrong understanding and intention and think that they are passing through virtue. The devil, guarding them as his prey, plunges into them the seed of a joyful opinion about himself, from which the inner Pharisee is born and nurtured and betrays such to complete pride.”
What is blessed at meals during the Nativity (Philippov) Fast?
Instructions for the Nativity Fast meal
According to the rules of abstinence, the Nativity Fast is close to Peter's Fast. According to the church charter, meat, dairy products and eggs are excluded on all days of fasting. In addition, it is prescribed:
- on Tuesdays, Thursdays - hot food with vegetable oil;
- on Saturdays and Sundays - hot vegetable food with vegetable oil, fish, wine;
- November 21 (December 4), the Feast of the Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God- hot vegetable food with vegetable oil, fish, wine;
From December 20 (January 2) to December 23 (January 5) inclusive (the period of the pre-celebration of the Nativity of Christ):
- on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - dry eating;
- on Tuesdays and Thursdays, on Saturdays and Sundays - hot food with vegetable oil;
- December 24 (January 6), on Christmas Eve - hot food with vegetable oil (according to the Charter); In addition, according to custom, they eat sochivo (kolivo) - a sweet porridge made from wheat, rice or other cereals, usually only after Vespers.
On those days when wine is allowed, it is meant to be consumed in moderation.
The Nativity Fast continues, and we thank God that we are again preparing to take part in the mystery of the coming of our Savior into the world. As Saint Theophan the Recluse says, during this Lent we must partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord so as to feel with our whole being that the Word became flesh, and the Lord partook of our flesh and blood, becoming one of us.Today, when the Church reminds us of the need for fasting and prayer, I would like to say that, although The Nativity Fast is not so strict in terms of external requirements, however, it requires a judicious attitude.
First of all, we must observe it, but, as Saint Isaac the Syrian says, there is a measure of fasting. We must understand that all church institutions must comply with the measure specific person depending on his physical strength, age, health and other characteristics.
St. 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 rise very high, having great abstinence that is not balanced by their internal state. Why is excessive fasting more harmful than not fasting? Because, says the Reverend, a person can still, from non-observance of fasting, from ignorance of how one can live correctly spiritually, come to the correct dispensation, and due to the distortions that arise from immoderate fasting, a spiritual disorder can occur that is much more difficult to correct.
Post-how a spiritual phenomenon always reveals 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 becomes more acute. Therefore, the Venerable Syncletikia says that external fasting, which does not correspond to the measure of our spiritual activity, is more harmful than beneficial, since first of all it arouses in us vanity, which includes all sins taken together and exaltation over other people. That is, the external observance of fasting alone does not bring us closer to God and to another person, but, on the contrary, moves us away from them. And all other passions - irritation, anger and everything that is characteristic of us, can flare up especially brightly during fasting.
So, the most important thing is that the Church reminds us about fasting: when we commit bodily abstinence, our body, the fleshy veil separating us from the invisible world, seems to become thinner, 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 associated, 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 direct opposite of what it should be. The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles describes what fasting could be like when more than forty Jews swore not to eat or drink anything, that is, to maintain the strictest abstinence until they kill the Apostle Paul. They were sincerely convinced that they were doing God’s work, and in order to maintain the fire of hatred for this man in themselves, they kept their terrible fast.
Both fasting and self-sacrifice can be dark and disastrous. We know examples of such false spirituality in other religions, when asceticism and abstinence are preserved precisely to feed an imaginary spirituality, to maintain an alien fire in the human Soul. Self-sacrifice and human heroism can have exactly the same properties. 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-sacrifice, this abstinence and this giving of oneself can reach especially terrible painful states. But in all the tragic cases that can be observed 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 the people captivated by false religion, those who know God, but capable of disastrous heroism and selflessness, the true God was revealed, then they would not be as lukewarm as you and I often are. About this danger, as the most serious one that threatens us in last times, warns the Savior. And it will be in the Church.
Let's think about this. From year to year, we are accustomed to keeping fast too externally, too formally, often reducing it to observing one diet, without adding prayer and without deepening 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 the external formal observance of fasting. Let's try from the very beginning (not at the end, as happens when 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 by reading the Psalter and prayers (this is obligatory) and by visiting church more often (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 out the convenience of homeopathy treatment. “Homeopathy can help in all sorts of diseases, but you have to find the right medicine. You can guess by the symptoms or by how the disease manifests itself. You can be treated with homeopathy without seeing a doctor - through correspondence". And in our time and through the telephone.
Before the revolution, there was a very strong society of homeopaths in St. Petersburg. They published reference books convenient for home treatment. Anyone could use these reference books. Saint righteous John Kronstadtsky recommended homeopathy as an affordable treatment for poor people.
Many new techniques are now being developed and proposed for the treatment of diseases. Methods convenient for independent home use. Some are engaged in cleansing the body, some are treated with a mono-diet, some drink cinquefoil tincture, some do breathing exercises, someone is delighted with aromatherapy. And great! If cinquefoil helps you, drink cinquefoil; if exercise makes you feel good, 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 drugs, treatment methods, or examination tools. The doctor treated mainly with words. By the way, the word “doctor” itself comes from “to lie,” that is, to tell, to speak. IN ancient world priests treated them using various spells. Then it was impossible for a Christian to see a pagan or Jew doctor. This was an appeal for help to a mysticism alien to Christianity. But today we use practical medicine, drugs and treatments designed for each person, regardless of his worldview. We can add a mystical, that is, mysterious, spiritual component to treatment ourselves with the help of the Church.
Our Orthodoxy should not be an obstacle to either communication or cooperation with a doctor. And who knows, maybe by accepting help and trusting the doctor, who, not without the will of God, was next to us 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 religious doctors whose churchliness was influenced by their patients.
Spiritual component
“Just as one should not completely avoid the art of medicine, it is also incongruous to place all one’s hope in it.”(St. Basil the Great).
A believer has something to add to the art of a doctor. We have already talked about confession and communion during illness. About prayer. But there are also spiritual means.
This is, of course, holy water. Epiphany in the morning on an empty stomach and water from the prayer service, which your relatives can order. For example, with a prayer service to the great martyr and healer Panteleimon. Or the unmercenary doctors Kosma and Damian. If you are sick, you can drink water from the prayer service both during the day and after meals. Some drink water taken from holy springs. And it, if drunk with reverence, also brings benefits.
Don't forget about the prosphora. And there is another shrine that Orthodox Christians keep specifically in case of illness - artos. A piece of blessed bread, which is distributed after Easter, on Saturday of Bright Week, in the church. Artos grains from Epiphany or Epiphany water Consume, like prosphora - on an empty stomach. Holy oil is also used when sick. This oil is consecrated at holy icons or at relics. There are many cases where patients received healing by anointing themselves with such oil. It can also be taken orally. One young man there was an illness thyroid gland. The confessor gave him holy oil brought from Jerusalem. The patient daily anointed his throat with a cross with the prayers “Our Father” and "Virgin Mother of God, rejoice" and got better. He also did not avoid doctors, but the case was serious, and, as he believes, without Jerusalem oil he would hardly have recovered. Not only oil or water, but also sand, taken from a holy place, can have a beneficial effect with our faith.
“An Orthodox Christian turns his face to the holy icons - the Savior, Mother of God, angels and saints of God - in order to clearly show your faith in their presence, in their closeness to you; Holy icons realize and fulfill our Orthodox faith, but without holy icons we seemed to be hanging in the air, not knowing to whom we were praying.”.
Wonderful words from St. right John of Kronstadt soon! Spiritual life requires both image and action.
Thus, holy churches, monasteries and places of exploits of the saints of God can also be icons. Many pilgrims travel every year to see the shrine and pray at the holy place. God, of course, is the same everywhere, and you can pray to His saints in every place. Rev. They pray to Seraphim of Sarov in Moscow, and in Kamchatka, and in America, and in China, and in Antarctica, but with what warm feeling they eat the crackers dried in the Venerable’s cauldron, brought from Diveevo! They are like a personal blessing from a saint.
Incidents are collected and recorded from miraculous icons, from holy relics, from places where saints lived. wonderful help. In other places, entire volumes of such records are collected.
I will give several testimonies about the miraculous help of St. right Simeon of Verkhoturye.
From a letter from the chief of police of Petropavlovsk, Nikolai Alekseevich Protopopov, dated November 14, 1878: “My wife had toothache, no medicine helped, but when she rubbed her gums and teeth with earth taken from the saint’s grave, the disease stopped.” From a message from the maiden 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 badly. The pain continued to multiply more and more, and this disease is rarely encountered; I tied a towel around my leg... and could barely 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. In the morning I got up - my swelling was gone, and my leg didn’t hurt at all.” Our contemporaries also testify. Zaitsev Vladimir Aleksandrovich, a resident of the city of Buzuluk, having heard about St. right Simeone 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 recovered from osteochondrosis, which Vladimir Alexandrovich had been ill with since 1974; before that, he gave himself painkilling injections every day.
Priest Mikhail Kudrin said that his youngest daughter Ekaterina had severe squint. After the prayer service to St. right For Simeon of Verkhoturye, her parents anointed her eyes with oil from the lamp above the tomb, and then did the same several times, until it was unexpectedly discovered that her eyes were no longer squinting, but looking straight.
Petrukhina Nina Grigorievna from Moscow reported: “A cancerous tumor appeared, the doctors wanted to remove it. I read a prayer to Saint Simeon of Verkhoturye, anointed my forehead and sore spots with oil, applied earth to my head, and drank water once (apparently from the tomb). A month later the test result came: cancer cells No. The operation was cancelled, but the risk of disease remained. Apparently, we need to be treated and pray for rights. Simeon..."
There are diseases that cannot be cured or alleviated by drugs or medical efforts. When spiritual remedies alone can improve the condition.
Among the letters of Rev. Macarius of Optina is the answer to the father of his sick daughter. “I have already written to you that this disease cannot be cured physically, but one must seek healing in faith, ask God and His saints to send her healing from this disease.” The monk advises to serve a prayer service at home with an akathist to St. Mitrophan of Voronezh, and then visit his relics: “How many healings there were and are happening there through the prayers of the holy saint of God who resort to him, and God, with his prayers, will heal your daughter too. To him who believes, all things are possible.”
Another Optina elder, Rev. Ambrose, a patient suffering from a headache and not expecting help from a doctor, advises him to go to the Athos Chapel and serve a prayer service to St. Great Martyr Panteleimon, take oil from the lamp and anoint his head with it at night. “At the same time, at home, turn more often to the healing Panteleimon and ask for his help. The Lord will give and it will pass".
In difficult illnesses, it is not uncommon to make vows to visit this or that Holy place, go to the saint’s relics. Orenburg priest Philip Ivanovsky, who lived in the middle of the 19th century, told about himself that when he was studying at the seminary, after a severe cold, he developed some incomprehensible illness of a neuropsychic nature. “A kind of stupor came over me, combined with incredible, unbearable melancholy, disbelief and blasphemous thoughts.” He did not tell either 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 healing 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 is prohibited by the Lord, when he sees that illness is more necessary for salvation than health. I cannot say that this did not happen in relation to me,” wrote St. Theophan the Recluse. It happens to see people who are sick, as if there is no cure. Moreover, this is not always a disease from birth, from nature. But there is something in the nature of a person’s character that illness, like some kind of rein, 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 fade away and God no longer becomes so needed.
Church life, which consists of prayer, fasting, attending Sunday and holiday services, regular participation in church Sacraments (that is, Confession and Communion), makes any illness more tolerable and easier. This is especially noticeable in relation to neuropsychiatric diseases. Even severe, hereditary ones.
A case comes to mind when a young man with a strange illness came to church. He looked gloomily from under his brows, his movements were constrained and free at the same time. It was as if he had no control over his motor skills. The shoulders are brought together, the head is lowered, the speech is similar to a croak. 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 confessed carefully, and often took communion. To the best of his ability, he participated in the affairs of the parish. Gradually his appearance changed, his facial 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 church, his illness intensified again. When the church rhythm of life was firmly established, the young man, one might say, simply blossomed. His further life turned out well.
And this is not the only, not rare case; such stories will be told to you at any parish.
The Gospel mentions a woman who had a spirit of weakness for eighteen years: she was bent over and could not straighten up (Luke 13:11). The cause of the disease was named the devil: “Satan has bound him for eighteen years now,” and liberation from the “spirit of infirmity” came from the Savior. So from Christ, from unity with Him, together with church life, with Church Sacraments, liberation comes to many people.
Two 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 angel's gospel.
These people believed that the Savior could be born not in the royal palace, but in a cave where sheep were sheltered from bad weather. These people saw the One for whom the whole world was waiting, 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 reasons. They do not suspect that the darkness of everyday life can only be illuminated by love in their souls. But to find it, you need to cleanse your heart.
Days of fasting take a person out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life and require him to live a pure life for God. This is another, unworldly time. In the Old Testament, people were required to bring a tenth of their income to the Temple. Fasting is the New Testament sacrifice of Christians to God.
The Nativity Fast is a winter fast; it serves for us to consecrate the last part of the year with a mysterious renewal of spiritual unity with God and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.
Leo the Great writes:
“The very maintenance of abstinence is sealed in four times, so that throughout the year we may learn that we are in constant need of cleansing and that when life is scattered, we must always try by fasting and almsgiving to destroy sin, 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 generously provided us with the fruits of the earth,” the saint writes, “so during this fast we should be generous to the poor.”
According to St. Simeon of Thessalonica, “the fast of the Nativity Pentecost depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the words of God inscribed on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, contemplate and accept the living Word from the Virgin, not inscribed on stones, but incarnate and born, and we partake of His Divine flesh.”
The Nativity Fast was established so that on the day of the Nativity of Christ we purify ourselves with repentance, prayer and fasting, so that with a pure heart, soul and body we can reverently meet the Son of God who appeared in the world, and so that, in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, we bring him a pure heart and desire follow his teachings.
Venerable Paisiy Velichkovsky
I call fasting eating a little one day during the day, while still being greedy, getting up from the meal; food to have bread and salt, and drink to have water, which the springs themselves supply. Here royal way taking food, that is, many were saved this way, as the Holy Fathers said. A person cannot always abstain from food for a day, two, three, four, five and a week, but he can always do so in order to eat bread and drink water every day. Only after eating, one should be a little greedy, so that the body is submissive to the spirit, and capable of work, and smart movement sensitively, and bodily passions will be conquered; fasting cannot mortify bodily passions as much as meager food mortifies. 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 foods and rest to strengthen the body. To do this is the same as creating, and then destroying again, since the body, through poverty from fasting, is forced to desire sweets and seeks consolation, and sweets kindle passions.
If anyone sets a certain limit for himself, how much meager food to take per day, he receives great benefit. However, regarding the amount of food, it must be established how much is needed to strengthen strength<…>such a one can accomplish every spiritual work. If someone fasts more than that, then at another time he indulges in peace. Moderate feat has no price. For some of the great Fathers took food by measure and had measure in everything - in exploits, in bodily needs and in cell supplies, and they used everything in due time and every thing according to a certain moderate rule. Therefore, the Holy Fathers do not command to begin to fast beyond one’s strength and to weaken oneself. Make it a rule to eat every day - this way you can abstain more firmly; If someone fasts more, how can he then resist satiety and gluttony? No way. Such an immoderate undertaking arises either from vanity or from recklessness; whereas abstinence is one of the virtues that contributes to the curbing of the flesh; Hunger and thirst are given to man to cleanse the body, to preserve him from evil thoughts and lust; Eating sparingly every day is a means to perfection, as some say; and the one who eats every day at a certain hour will not humiliate himself morally and will not suffer spiritual harm; Saint Theodore of Studite praises these 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 what we should do. The Lord endured a long fast; equally Moses and Elijah, but one day. And some others, sometimes, asking something from the Creator, imposed on themselves some burden of fasting, but in accordance with natural laws and the teaching of Divine Scripture. From the activities of the saints, from the life of our Savior and from the rules of life for those who live decently, it is clear that it is wonderful and useful to always be ready and to be in asceticism, work and patience; however, do not weaken yourself by excessive fasting and do not render your body inactive. If the flesh is inflamed in youth, then much must be abstained; if she is weak, then you need to eat enough to be full, regardless of other ascetics - whether many or few people fast; look and reason according to your weakness, as much as you can accommodate: for each there is a measure and an inner teacher - his own conscience.
It is impossible for everyone to have one rule and one feat, because some are strong, others are weak; some are like iron, others are like copper, others are like wax. So, having well known your measure, take food once every day, except Saturdays, weeks and sovereign holidays. Moderate and reasonable fasting is the foundation and head of all virtues. Just as you fight a lion and a fierce serpent, so you must fight the enemy in bodily weakness and spiritual poverty. If anyone wants to have a strong mind from evil thoughts, let him refine his flesh by fasting. It is impossible to serve as a priest without fasting; Just as breathing is necessary, so is fasting. Fasting, entering the soul, kills the sin lying in its depths.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
As we see, there is physical fasting, and there is mental fasting. Bodily fasting is when the womb fasts from food and drink. Mental fasting is when the soul abstains from evil thoughts, deeds and words.
A fair faster is one who refrains himself from fornication, adultery and all uncleanness.
A fair faster is one who abstains from anger, rage, malice and revenge
A fair faster is one who has imposed abstinence on his tongue and keeps it from idle talk, foul language, madness, slander, condemnation, flattery, lies and all slander.
A fair faster is one who keeps his hands from theft, theft, and robbery, and his heart from coveting other people's things. In a word, a good faster is one who shuns all evil.
You see, Christian, spiritual fasting. Physical fasting is useful for us, since it serves to mortify our passions. But mental fasting is absolutely necessary, because physical 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 does it do them?
Many fast every other day, two or more, but out of anger, rancor and revenge they do not want to fast.
Many abstain from wine, meat, fish, but with their tongue they bite people like themselves - and what good does it do them? Some often do not touch food with their hands, but extend them to bribery, theft and robbery of other people's property - and what benefit does it do them?
True and direct fasting is abstinence from all evil. If, Christian, you want fasting to be useful to you, then, while fasting physically, fast also mentally, and fast always. Just as you impose a fast on your belly, so impose a fast on your evil thoughts and whims.
Let your mind fast from vain thoughts.
Let the memory fast from rancor.
Let your will fast from evil desire.
Let your eyes fast from evil vision: “turn away your eyes, so as not to see vanity” (See Ps 119:37).
May your ears be kept from vile songs and slanderous whispers.
Let 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 other people's property.
Let 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, abstaining 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 now, so that your voice can be heard? I have not chosen such a fast as the day on which a person will humble his soul, when he bends his neck like a sickle and covers himself with rags and ashes. This is not the kind of fast you would call a pleasant fast, this is not the kind I have chosen,” says the Lord. - But resolve every alliance of unrighteousness, destroy all debts written down by force, set the brokenhearted free, tear apart every unrighteous scripture, split your bread with the hungry, and bring the poor who have no shelter into the house; When you see a naked person, clothe him, and do not hide from your half-blood.
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly increase, and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will follow 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 among you, stop raising your finger and speaking offensively, and give your soul to the hungry and feed the soul of the sufferer: then your light will arise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like the noonday” (Isa. 58: 4-10).
It’s not just the mouth that should fast; no, let the eye, the ear, the hands, and our whole body fast.
(St. John Chrysostom)
True fasting is elimination of evil deeds. Forgive your neighbor's 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 restrain yourself from taking offense. You wait until evening to eat food, but you spend the day in court.
(St. Basil the Great)
Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the prisoners. Comfort the mourning and crying; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, unforgiving, reverent, true, pious, so that God will accept your fast and bestow the fruits of repentance in abundance.
(St. John Chrysostom)
In the coming days of Holy Lent, put yourself in order, make peace with people and with God. Contrite and cry about your unworthiness and your death, then you will receive forgiveness and find hope of salvation. God will not despise a contrite and humble heart, and without this, no sacrifices and alms will help you.
(From letters of abbot Nikon (Vorobiev))