Fasting

The man who during his whole life loves the conversation of this yoke-mate fasting is a friend of chastity. Just as the satisfaction of the belly is the source of all evils, and as the slackness of sleep kindles the lust of fornication, so fasting, vigil, and wakefulness in God’s service by withstanding the sweetness of sleep through crucifying the …

By His Eminence Bishop Maximos, former Metropolitan of Pittsburgh 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 …

“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 thee” Man is created as …

*1. A certain demoniac once went to Sketis. He was not cured, however, even though he spent a long time there, since the Fathers declined, out of extreme humility, to heal him. But one of the Elders, taking pity on him, made the sign of the Cross over the demoniac and at once the man was healed. When the demon …

Introduction The role played by the discipline of fasting  has figured prominently within the spiritual life of Christianity, and has remained integral to the Orthodox Church. Its purpose and meaning is multifaceted, to which entire treatises have been written on the subject. For this reason, we will not labour the point by providing an exhaustive exposition on the subject, since …