Fasting from Iniquities and Foods
“Let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood perjury. Privation of these is true fasting.” A Hymn of First Monday of Lent By St. Basil the Great “I am the Lord that healeth […]
On fasting
Fasting, in our days, has become one of the most neglected spiritual values. Because of misunderstandings regarding the nature of fasting, because of confused and reversed priorities in its use, many of today’s Orthodox Christians fast very little, or disregard fasting altogether. The Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church which is scheduled to […]
About Fasting, Sermon 2, by Saint Basil the Great
About Fasting, Sermon 2. “Exhort the people, priests,” it says; “speak into the ears of Jerusalem.” The nature of that word “exhort” is enough to intensify the desires of the earnest, but also to stir to readiness those who are idle and careless. That’s how commanders operate. They marshal the army into place, and […]
About Fasting, Sermon 1, by Saint Basil the Great
Our Holy Father Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia. About Fasting (De jejunio), Sermon 1. [31.164] 1. “Sound the trumpet,” he declares, “in the new moon, on the high day of your feast.” This command is from the prophets. But it’s for us, too. The reading indicates the beginning of the feast days, and to […]
THE FAST OF THE DORMITION OF THE HOLY THEOTOKOS
For the first fourteen days of August during each year, the Holy Orthodox Church enters into a strict fast period in honor of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. The eminent Orthodox theologian, Father Sergei Bulgakov, beautifully expresses the high regard which the Orthodox Christians have for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of […]