St. John Chrysostom on Fasting
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This was sent to members of St. Athanasius parish in Lexington by our priest. I guess he read it at vespers recently and was asked for a copy. Since I am not able to fast because I eat at the galley, I found it edifying, if very sobering since I am one who neither fasts physically nor spiritually. In one or two places I have paraphrased to preserve the meaning of St. John’s words for as many readers as possible.
Fasting is a medicine. But medicine, as beneficial as it is, can become useless through the inexperience of the user. He has to know the appropriate time that the medicine should be taken and the right amount of medicine and the condition of the body which is to take it, the weather conditions and the season of the year and the appropriate diet of the sick and many other things. If any of these things are overlooked, the medicine will do more harm than good. So, if one who is going to heal the body needs so much accuracy, when we care for the soul and are concerned about healing it from bad thoughts, it is necessary to examine and observe everything with every possible detail.
Fasting is the change of every part of our life, because the sacrifice of the fast is not the abstinence but the distancing from sins. Therefore, whoever limits the fast to the deprivation of food, he is the one who, in reality, abhors and ridicules the fast. Are you fasting? Show me your fast with your works. Which works? If you see someone who is poor, show him mercy. If you see an enemy, reconcile with him. If you see a friend who is becoming successful, do not be jealous of him! If you see a beautiful woman on the street, pass her by.
Read the rest of “St. John Chrysostom on Fasting”