Meditations on the Holy Fast
This teaching addresses the meaning of the Great Fast as the holiest fast in the Church, emphasizing that it is not merely bodily abstinence from food, but a complete spiritual journey in which both body and soul participate, aiming at spiritual growth, self-control, and true transformation in a person’s life.
Fasting as Spiritual Nourishment
The teaching explains that true fasting cannot be separated from prayer, reading the Holy Bible, meditation, communion, and confession. Just as the body needs food, the soul needs its nourishment from the Word of God, because man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
The Importance of Hunger and Disciplining the Body
It stresses the value of hunger in fasting, as prayer while hungry is deeper and stronger. Hunger humbles the body and trains it to accept the word “no,” which later helps a person resist other desires and sins.
Practical Self-Control
The teaching focuses on training the body in discipline regarding meal timing, food type, quantity, and avoiding eating between meals, because this benefits both health and spirituality, and teaches the body to submit to spiritual will.
Controlling the Tongue
The teaching moves to controlling the tongue, explaining that silence is wisdom and that excessive speech is not free from sin. It encourages slowness in speaking, choosing words carefully, and not engaging in every topic, so that a person may escape the sins of the tongue.
Controlling the Mind and the Senses
It emphasizes the necessity of controlling thoughts and not following every idea, especially sinful ones, by replacing them with beneficial spiritual thoughts. It also connects the mind with the senses, explaining that sight and hearing are gates to the mind and must be guarded.
Purity of the Heart and Control of Emotions
It calls for purifying the heart from wrong emotions such as pride, judging others, revenge, and idle desires, because desires produce thoughts, and thoughts produce desires, and both lead to falling into sin.
Struggle and Forcing Oneself Toward Virtue
It encourages forcing oneself into prayer, reading, and good works, and not excusing negligence, because self-compulsion is the beginning of the spiritual path. The Great Fast is a period of spiritual training to change habits and acquire new virtues.
Continuity After the Fast
The teaching concludes by warning against losing what was gained during the fast after its end, urging the preservation of self-control and acquired virtues, so that the fast becomes a starting point for lasting change in a person’s life.
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