And again post. He encourages each of us not only to eat less, go to church more often, take better care of ourselves, pray more, but also read deeper... Undoubtedly, the first thing worth reading in fasting is the Gospel, it must be put "at the forefront of the book corner ". However, I would like to advise our reader a few more books, which, in my opinion, can help prepare inwardly for the meeting of the Nativity of Christ.

Refresh what is forgotten

One of the first on my list of books for the Advent is the work of a Christian apologist and writer C. S. Lewis "Mere Christianity". Today, this author is known to many for the cycle of children's books The Chronicles of Narnia, and not everyone knows that he has many books for adults filled with theological and philosophical reflections.

C. S. Lewis himself is an Anglican by religion, but in his work he consciously does not touch on confessional differences, emphasizing that the most important thing in Christianity is Christ Himself. Since Lewis became a Christian, the best thing he thought he could do for his unbelieving neighbors was "to explain and defend the faith that has been common and uniform to almost all Christians throughout time."

The book is truly captivating. Its language, on the one hand, is simple and accessible. And this is no coincidence, because it is based on a series of religious radio conversations of the author, which he conducted on the BBC during the Second World War. On the other hand, the book is so full of deep reflections and precise remarks that I took it as a real miracle. "Mere Christianity" will help refresh what you once knew but have forgotten.

Basically, the author addresses people who are searching, those who are at a crossroads. With his logical arguments and reflections, Lewis tries to captivate them for Christ. But even church-going people will read the book with close attention and the liveliest interest and will find in it a lot of interesting things for themselves. In addition, this work is also apologetic, so it will help anyone who wants to simply, deeply and clearly tell others about Christ.

Set to seriousness

After this easy but useful book, it is worth starting to master what will help set the soul for serious work on yourself and your shortcomings. That is, to fight with what you so want to get rid of during fasting. For this purpose, my choice fell on the book of St. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet "A Guide to Spiritual Life in Answers to Students' Questions."

Starting to read this book, you need to stock up on sobriety and attention. This work is one of the most important manuals for Christians on practical asceticism. Of course, real spiritual warfare is first of all familiar to monks, but the laity are also called to struggle with their passions. So, the book of the Reverend Fathers is for them too.

In order to read it to the end, I advise you to treat it not as an ordinary book, but as a textbook that must be studied within a set period. Read every day a little, but considering each new word and each new thought.

This book is the answers of the saints to the questions of their disciples. Almost all of it is dotted with quotations from the Holy Scriptures, references, names - it is with them that the saints are guided when answering questions. I confess that it is difficult for me to read it, the language of narration is complicated, but as soon as you master the first 10-15 answers, you are drawn into this style, plunging into this serious, truly fasting atmosphere. You feel how the book comes towards you, bringing benefits.

From the writings of many saints (St. Theodore the Studite, Simeon the New Theologian, etc.), we learn that this text was known to many Orthodox ascetics who lived in a later time.

At the beginning of the book, we get acquainted with the life of the "God-bearing, Christ-bearing and Spirit-bearing" Syrian ascetics of the 5th-6th centuries, the Monks Barsanuphius and John. From a young age, Saint Barsanuphius led an ascetic life. Having arranged a small cell near the monastery of Abba Serida, he spent 50 years in it in labors and deeds, moving away from people, silently, eating only bread and water. Saint John was a disciple of Saint Barsanuphius. He imitated his teacher in exploits and the assimilation of virtues. For the gift of clairvoyance, the Monk John was called the Prophet.

In his seclusion, completely surrendering to prayer, the Monk Barsanuphius reached a high degree of spiritual perfection. Then he began to serve people, instructing them on the path of salvation. Little evidence has been preserved of the life and deeds of the saints, and all of them were gleaned from their handwritten answers. The publication of these manuscripts, as well as the translation into Russian, was carried out in the 19th century by the elders of the Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage.

Different people turned to the monks for advice and instructions: monastics and laity, newcomers and those who had succeeded in spiritual life. And they all received grace-filled and spiritually reasoned responses. Saint Barsanuphius speaks of the book thus: “I write all this not of my own will, but at the command of the Holy Spirit, for the correction and benefit of the soul and conscience of the inner man.”

The monks knew human thoughts and heart dispositions. Reading this book, you can find answers to many questions that we have throughout life: from advice on food to the topic of deification. The authors also talk about prayer, sins, silence, gratitude to God, talk about demons, temptations, illnesses, think about our neighbors, elders, and much more. Reading this work, one feels that these words are indeed filled with the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.

About love

The next book, which I will gladly share with the reader, was written by the abbot of the monastery Reverend Mary Egyptian in New York by Schema-Archimandrite Joachim (Parr). Father Joachim more than 60 years ago took monastic vows in the Benedictine order, was engaged in missionary service among the poor inhabitants of Calcutta, taught at Catholic theological schools in Brazil and the USA. Under the influence of the life and preaching of St. John of Shanghai, he converted to Orthodoxy and lived on Mount Athos for eight years in the 1970s. With the blessing of the Russian hierarchy Orthodox Church He moved abroad to the United States, where he actively engaged in organizing work with the homeless in New York.

Quite recently, before his serious illness, Father Joachim traveled to the monasteries of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, communicating with monks and laity. These conversations formed the basis of his book " Conversations on Russian soil" with which I would like to introduce you.

The book is read easily and naturally - like modern and interesting fiction. But how the priest himself strikes the reader! His words are simple and familiar to everyone, but at the same time so forgotten and heavy. Talking with his listeners, he talks about what he saw - about America, about Mount Athos. An attentive person, constantly feeling the hand of the Lord over him, he tries to share his experience.

But the main thing that this book is so memorable for is simplicity and love. Father Joachim reminds us that for an Orthodox Christian there are only two possible responses to any life situation. First, we must have boundless love and gratitude to God for salvation, for His Son, for His love for us. The second is unceasing contrition for our sins and repentance. Then a Christian will never have any problems and questions. It is love - for God and neighbor - that is imbued with the lines of the Conversations. How difficult it is, but necessary - to love. Be gentle with others, but be strict with yourself. Each of his little stories that happened to him or were told to him softens our callous hearts, reveals to us the very essence of Christianity.

I will finish with a quote from the book of Schema-Archimandrite Joachim: “We cannot change what will happen to us, but we will be responsible for how we reacted to what is happening. This is where our faith is shown, this is where our love is shown if we live in the presence of God.”

On the eve of Christmas

On the eve of the bright holiday, I would advise you to read the Christmas stories of N. S. Leskov. People who love Russian classics will appreciate the book. The Russian style, style, joyful, bright ending in almost all stories will warm you up on a winter evening on the eve of Christmas. The stories are full of descriptions of national heroes and characters, realistic pictures of peasant and landowner life.

The stories are not devoid of mystery, sometimes mystical - all that is inherent in Christmas stories. The riddle and mystery especially attracts children, but it will always be supported by morality, philosophical reflection, which is given in such mysterious everyday situations. “Evil will give birth to other evil and is defeated only by good, which, according to the Gospel, makes our eyes and hearts pure,” Leskov tells us in the story “Scarecrow”. The story “Christ visiting a peasant” tells about the forgiveness of offenders and the understanding that every person is Christ. In the short story “The Unchangeable Ruble,” the protagonist draws the following conclusion: “In this deprivation of myself of small pleasures for the benefit of others, I first experienced what people call a fascinating word - complete happiness, in which you don’t want anything else.”

In each story, the reader is sure to find something that he will like, which will prepare him for the miracle that happens every year on Christmas night.

Julia Hiteva

The Advent 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 St. Theophan the Recluse says, during this fast we must partake of the Body and Blood of the Lord in such a way that we feel with our whole being that the Word has become flesh, and the Lord has partake 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, it nevertheless requires a reasonable attitude.

First of all, we must observe it, but, as St. Isaac the Syrian says, there is a measure of fasting. It must be understood that all church institutions must correspond to the measure of a particular person, depending on his bodily strength, age, health and other characteristics.

Reverend 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 ascend very high, having great abstinence, not balanced by their internal state. Why is excessive fasting more harmful than not fasting? Because, says the Reverend, a person can still, out of non-observance of fasting, out of ignorance of how one can live spiritually correctly, come to a correct dispensation, and as a result of the distortions that arise from immoderate fasting, such a spiritual disorder can occur, which is already much more difficult to correct.

Fasting as a spiritual phenomenon always exposes our perception of both good and evil, therefore each of us must remember that during fasting, special temptations naturally arise, and we can approach God, and we can especially move away from Him due to the fact that the perception of good and evil is heightened. Therefore, St. Synclitikia says that external fasting, which does not correspond to the measure of our spiritual work, is more harmful than useful, since it first of all arouses in us vanity, in which all sins are taken together, and exaltation over other people. That is, the mere external observance of fasting does not bring us closer to God and to another person, but, on the contrary, removes us from them. And all other passions - irritation, anger, and everything that is peculiar to us, can flare up especially brightly during fasting.

So, the most important thing is that the Church reminds us of fasting: when we perform bodily abstinence, our body, the fleshy veil that separates us from the invisible world, becomes thinner, as it were, 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 connected, 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 exact opposite of what it should be. The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles describes what a fast can be like when more than forty Jews swore not to eat or drink anything, that is, to keep the strictest abstinence until they kill the Apostle Paul. They were sincerely convinced that they were doing the work of God, and in order to maintain the fire of hatred for this person in themselves, they kept their terrible fast.

Both fasting and self-denial can be dark and disastrous. We know examples of such false spirituality in other religions, when asceticism, abstinence is kept precisely to nourish imaginary spirituality, to maintain an alien fire in the Soul of a person. Exactly the same property can be self-denial, and human heroism. 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-denial, this abstinence and this self-giving can reach especially terrible painful states. But in all the tragic cases that can be observed even 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 captives false religion to people who do not know God, but are capable of fatal heroism and selflessness, the true God was revealed, then they would not be so lukewarm, which we often are. The Savior warns about this danger, as the most serious one that threatens us in recent times. And it will be in the Church.

Let's think about it with you. From year to year we have become accustomed to fasting too outwardly, too formally, often reducing it to keeping one diet, without adding prayer and without delving 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 external formal observance of fasting. Let us try from the very beginning (not at the end, as happens when at a 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 reading the Psalter and prayers (this is mandatory) and more frequent visits to the temple (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 to the convenience of homeopathic treatment. “Homeopathy can help in all sorts of diseases, but you have to guess the right medicine. You can guess by the symptoms or by how the disease manifests itself. Homeopathy can be treated without seeing a doctor - through correspondence. And in our time and through the phone.

Before the revolution in St. Petersburg there was a very strong community of homeopaths. They produced handbooks suitable for home treatment. Anyone can use these guides. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt recommended homeopathy as an affordable treatment for poor people.

Many new methods for the treatment of diseases are being developed and proposed. Methods convenient for independent home use. Someone is engaged in cleansing the body, someone is treated with a mono-diet, someone drinks cinquefoil tincture, someone does breathing exercises, someone is delighted with aromatherapy. And great! If cinquefoil helps you, drink cinquefoil, if it's good from gymnastics, 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 medicines, methods of treatment, instruments for examination. The doctor treated, basically, with a word. By the way, the very word "doctor" comes from "to lie", that is, to tell, to speak. In the ancient world, priests healed using various spells. At that time it was impossible for a Christian to consult a pagan or Jewish doctor. It was an appeal for help to mysticism alien to Christianity. But today we use practical medicine, medicines and treatments designed for each person, regardless of his worldview. We can add a mystical, that is, a mysterious, spiritual component to the treatment ourselves with the help of the Church.

Our Orthodoxy should not be an obstacle either to communication or to cooperation with a doctor. And who knows, perhaps, by accepting help and trusting the doctor, who, not without the will of God, was by our side 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 believing doctors whose clericalism was influenced by their patients.

Spiritual component

“Just as one should not completely avoid medical art, it is so incongruous to put 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 spoken about confession and communion during illness. About prayer. But there are also spiritual means.

It is, of course, holy water. Epiphany in the morning on an empty stomach and water from a prayer service that your relatives can order. For example, from a prayer service to the great martyr and healer Panteleimon. Or the unmercenary doctors Kosma and Damian. Water from a prayer service in illness can be drunk both during the day and after meals. Some use water taken from holy springs. And she, if drunk with reverence, also benefits.

Don't forget prosphora. And there is also a shrine that the Orthodox keep on purpose in case of illness - artos. A piece of blessed bread, which is distributed after Easter, on Saturday of Bright Week, in the church. Grains of arthos with epiphany or baptismal water are consumed, like prosphora, on an empty stomach. Use in the disease and holy oil. This oil is consecrated at holy icons or at relics. There are many cases when the sick received healing by anointing themselves with this oil. It can also be taken orally. One young man had a thyroid disease. The confessor gave him holy oil brought from Jerusalem. The patient daily anointed himself with a cross-shaped throat with the prayers "Our Father" and "Hail Virgin Mary" and went on the mend. He also did not avoid doctors, but the case was difficult, and, as he believes, without the Jerusalem oil, he would hardly have recovered. Not only oil or water, but also sand taken from a holy place, with our faith, can have a beneficial effect.

“An Orthodox Christian turns his face to the holy icons - the Savior, the Mother of God, angels and saints of God - in order to clearly show his faith in their presence, in their closeness to himself; holy icons realize, carry out our Orthodox faith, and without holy icons, we seemed to be hanging in the air, not knowing to whom we pray.

Wonderful words of St. rights. John of Kronstadt soon! Spiritual life requires both image and action.

Thus, holy temples, monasteries and places of deeds of the saints of God can also be icons. Many pilgrims travel annually to see the shrine and pray at the holy place. God, of course, is one everywhere, and you can pray to His saints anywhere. Rev. Seraphim of Sarov is prayed to in Moscow, and in Kamchatka, and in America, and in China, and in Antarctica, but with what a warm feeling they eat crackers dried in the Reverend's cauldron, brought from Diveevo! They are like a personal blessing of the saint.

At miraculous icons, at holy relics, in the places of life of saints, they collect and record cases miraculous help. In other places, such records are collected entire volumes.

Here are some testimonies about the miraculous help of St. rights. Simeon of Verkhotursky.

From a letter from the police chief of the city of Petropavlovsk, Nikolai Alekseevich Protopopov, dated November 14, 1878: “My wife had a toothache, no medicine helped, but when she rubbed her gums and teeth with earth taken from the saint’s grave, the disease stopped.” From the message of the girl 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 a lot. The pain further and further multiplied more, and this disease is rarely seen; I tied a towel around my leg ... and I 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. I got up in the morning - my swelling was gone, and my leg was not exactly sore. Our contemporaries testify. Zaitsev Vladimir Alexandrovich, a resident of the city of Buzuluk, having heard about St. rights. Simeon 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 had osteochondrosis, which Vladimir Aleksandrovich had been ill with since 1974, before that he had been giving himself painkillers every day.

Priest Mikhail Kudrin said that his youngest daughter Catherine had a severe strabismus. After the prayer of St. rights. Simeon of Verkhotursky, her parents anointed her eyes with oil from the lamp over the tomb, and then did the same several times, until it suddenly turned out that her eyes were no longer squinting, but were looking straight ahead.

Petrukhina Nina Grigoryevna from Moscow reported: “A cancerous tumor appeared, the doctors wanted to remove it. I read a prayer to St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, anointed my forehead and sore spots with oil, applied earth to my head, and once drank water (probably from a tomb). A month later, the result of the analysis came: there are no cancer cells. The operation was canceled, but the risk of the disease remained. Apparently, it is necessary to be treated and pray right. Simeon…".

There are illnesses that cannot be cured or alleviated by drugs or the efforts of medicine. When only spiritual remedies can improve the condition.

Among the letters of Rev. Macarius of Optina is the answer to the father of a sick daughter. “I already wrote to you that this disease is not subject to physical cures, but one must seek healing in faith, ask God and His saints to send her healing from this disease.” The monk advises at home to serve a moleben with an akathist to St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, and then visit his relics: “How many healings there were and are there by the prayers of the holy saint of God who resort to him, and God, through his prayers, will heal your daughter too. To the believer, all things are possible."

Another Optina Elder, Rev. Ambrose, who is sick, suffering from a headache and not expecting help from a doctor, advises him to go to the Athos chapel, serve a prayer service for St. Great Martyr Panteleimon, take oil from the lamp and smear it on his head at night. “At the same time, at home, turn to the healing Panteleimon more often and ask for his help. The Lord will give - and it will pass.

In difficult illnesses, it is not uncommon practice to make vows to visit this or that Holy place, go to the relics of the saint. The Orenburg priest Philip Ivanovsky, who lived in the middle of the 19th century, told about himself that when he studied at the seminary, after a bad cold, he had some kind of incomprehensible neuropsychiatric illness. “Some kind of stupidity came over me, combined with incredible, unbearable anguish, unbelief and blasphemous thoughts.” He did not tell 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 medicine 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 the Lord imposes a ban, when he sees that the disease is more necessary for salvation than health. I cannot say that this did not take place in relation to me,” wrote St. Theophan the Recluse. It happens to see people sick, as if incurable. Moreover, it is not always a disease from birth, from nature. But something in the nature of a person's character is such that illness, like some kind of bridle, 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 come to naught and God is no longer so needed.

Church life, which consists of prayer, fasting, attending Sunday and holiday services, regular participation in the Church Sacraments (that is, Confession and Communion), makes any illness more tolerable, alleviates. This is especially noticeable in relation to neuropsychiatric diseases. Even heavy, hereditary.

A case comes to mind when a young man came to church with a strange illness. He looked sullenly from under his brows, his movements were constrained and cheeky at the same time. He seemed to have no control over his motor skills. The shoulders are brought together, the head is lowered, the speech is similar to croaking. A jerky, not always appropriate laugh. It seemed that this congenital ill health could not be overcome.

But time passed. The young man visited church services, he carefully confessed, often took communion. To the extent possible, he participated in the affairs of the parish. Gradually, his appearance changed, his 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 the temple, his illness again intensified. When the church rhythm of life was firmly established, the young man, one might say, simply flourished. His subsequent life went well.

And this is not the only, not a rare case, such stories will be told to you in any parish.

The Gospel mentions a woman who had a spirit of weakness for eighteen years: she was crouched and could not straighten up (Luke 13:11). The devil was named the cause of the disease: “Satan has bound for eighteen years now,” and liberation from the “spirit of weakness” came from the Savior. Thus, from Christ, from union with Him, together with church life, with the Church Sacraments, comes liberation to many people.

On the eve of Christmas

On the twenty-eighth of November, Advent begins. It continues for 40 days, until the great feast of the Nativity of Christ.

The Christmas postThe Holy Scripture tells us about the Nativity of Christ as follows: the Roman Emperor Augustus commanded to announce a nationwide census and to enroll everyone in the city from which his family originated. Righteous Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary came from the house of David, and therefore they went from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David. There was no place for Joseph the Betrothed and the Blessed Virgin Mary in any of the hotels in the city - the city of David was great, many came to the census; in a cave where cattle were driven, they took refuge. There the Blessed Virgin gave birth to her Son, the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. She swaddled Him and laid Him in a manger... The shepherds were the first to know about it, they guarded their flock, and the Angel of the Lord appeared before them, and heavenly light shone on them. "Do not be afraid," the Angel announced to them, "today a Savior has been born to you in the city of David. Who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11). "And suddenly there appeared with an angel a numerous host of heaven, glorifying God and crying out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men." (Luke 2, 13-14)... The shepherds were the first to bow to the Divine Infant, followed by the magicians, they were led to the Lord by a wonderful star, and they brought gifts: gold (as to a king), incense (as to God) and myrrh (as person)...

Christ came to earth - the source of love and life, came to save us, atone for our sins, enlighten us with the light of the gospel; came to reconcile man with God the Father, to save people from eternal death and to show the way to salvation, to the Kingdom of Heaven...

This event is joyful, and therefore the fast is joyful, not strict: on those days when the polyline service is performed, the fish is blessed.

The soul of a fasting person is like a flying bird, it freely rises to the Lord, the soul of a non-fasting person is like a bird with broken wings: it would like to fly, but cannot, therefore it lives on earth and becomes a frequent prey of predators - evil spirits.

When a person fasts for the sake of the Lord (that is, he observes a fast blessed by the Church, and not just starves), his soul calms down, pacifies, and if during bodily fasting a person leads a clean life, prays, he feels the Lord next to him and is firmly convinced that that the Lord exists.

The person who does not feel the Lord and says that there is no God does not lie, he can be trusted. Why? Because he does not live according to the commandments of Christ: his conscience is unclean, his soul is also unclean, it is stained with sins: pride, fornication, gluttony, greed, irritation, evil, we are not talking about murders - abortions, betrayal of spouses, not walking to church... - in such a soul there is no God and cannot be - a dirty vessel cannot be a receptacle for the Holy Spirit.

The dead soul does not feel God, it does not need good deeds, prayer, love for God and neighbors. And an evil spirit lives in such a soul, it demands food for itself and waits for its evil will to be fulfilled. And when a person becomes an obedient slave of evil spirits, his soul suffers, falls into despondency, despair, and the person thinks about suicide. And whatever such a person has, even if the whole world were given to him and made king, he cannot find rest in anything, he cannot be satisfied with anything. And only if he goes to the Church, repents, remembers all the sins from his youth itself, prays, fasts, only then can his soul feel the Lord, calm down - the soul has found what it has been looking for all its life.

Christ said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). For this, fasting is given to us, so that we stop, look around us, look into our souls: who lives there, an evil spirit or a good one? If evil, it is necessary to expel him, cleanse the soul with repentance, prepare a place in the soul for the Newborn God-Infant.

Two thousand years ago, when the Egyptian sages learned about the Nativity of Jesus Christ, they brought gifts to the Divine Infant: gold, myrrh and frankincense, and we must come to this great event with gifts worthy of our Lord. Let these gifts be repentance, humility, prayer, good deeds and love.

Christmas post is joyful, it anticipates great holiday of the Nativity of Christ and therefore not strict, the fish is blessed (except Wednesday and Friday). This post lasts 40 days - from November 28 to January 7. Strict fasting - on Christmas Eve - the eve of the Nativity of Christ, is blessed to eat kolivo after the evening star.

Why was the Advent Post established?

The Advent fast is a winter fast, it serves for us to consecrate the last part of the year as a mysterious renewal of spiritual unity with God and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.

Leo the Great writes: “The very preservation of abstinence is sealed by four times, so that during the year we would know that we constantly need purification and that when life is scattered, we should always try to exterminate sin by fasting and alms, 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 has generousd us with the fruits of the earth,” writes the saint, “so during this fast we should be generous to the poor.”

According to Simeon of Thessaloniki, “the fast of the Nativity of Forty Days depicts the fast of Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the inscription of the words of God 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 begotten, and partake of His divine flesh."

The Advent fast was established so that by the day of the Nativity of Christ we cleansed ourselves by repentance, prayer and fasting, so that with a pure heart, soul and body we could reverently meet the Son of God who appeared in the world and, in addition to the usual gifts and sacrifices, offer Him our pure heart and a desire to follow His teachings.

How the Advent was established

The establishment of the Nativity Fast, as well as other multi-day fasts, dates back to the ancient times of Christianity. Since the fourth century, St. Ambrose of Mediodalan, Philastrius, and Blessed Augustine mention the Nativity Fast in their works. In the fifth century, Leo the Great wrote about the antiquity of the Nativity Fast.

Initially, the Advent fast lasted seven days for some Christians, and a few more for others. At the council of 1166, which was under the Patriarch Luke of Constantinople and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel, all Christians were supposed to keep fasting before the great feast of the Nativity of Christ for forty days.

Patriarch Balsamon of Antioch wrote that "the most holy patriarch himself said that although the days of these fasts (of the Dormition and Christmas. - Ed.) are not determined by the rule, we are forced, however, to follow the unwritten church tradition and must fast ... from the 15th day of November" .

The Advent Fast is the last multi-day fast of the year. It begins on November 15 (28 - according to the new style) of November and lasts until December 25 (January 7), lasts forty days and therefore is called the Forty Day in the Church Charter, just like great post. Since the conspiracy for fasting falls on the day of remembrance of St. Apostle Philip (November 14 old style), then this post is called Filippov.

How to eat on Christmas Day

The charter of the Church teaches what should be abstained from during fasts - "all pious fasting must strictly observe the charters on the quality of food, that is, abstain in fasting from certain brushes [that is, food, food. - Ed.], not as bad (yes this will not happen), but as from indecent fasting and forbidden by the Church. Brasna, from which one must refrain from fasting, are: meat, cheese, butter, milk, eggs, and sometimes fish, depending on the difference of holy fasts.

The rules of abstinence prescribed by the Church during the Nativity Fast are just as strict as the Peter's Fast. In addition, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the Nativity Fast, fish, wine and oil are forbidden by the charter and it is allowed to eat food without oil (dry eating) only after Vespers. On the other days - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday - it is allowed to eat with vegetable oil. Fish during the Nativity Fast is allowed on Saturdays and Sundays and great holidays, for example, on the Feast of the Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God, on temple holidays and on the days of the great saints, if these days fall on a Tuesday or Thursday. If the holidays fall on Wednesday or Friday, then fasting is allowed only for wine and oil.

From December 20 to December 25 (old style), fasting is intensified, and these days, even on Saturday and Sunday, the fish is not blessed. Meanwhile, it is on these days that the celebration of the civil New Year falls, and we, Orthodox Christians, need to be especially collected so that we do not violate the severity of fasting with fun, drinking wine and eating food.

While fasting bodily, at the same time we need to fast spiritually. "Fasting, brethren, bodily, let us fast also spiritually, let us resolve every union of unrighteousness," commanded the Holy Church.

Bodily fasting, without spiritual fasting, brings nothing for the salvation of the soul, on the contrary, it can be spiritually harmful if a person, abstaining from food, is imbued with the consciousness of his own superiority from the consciousness that he is fasting. True fasting is associated with prayer, repentance, abstinence from passions and vices, eradication of evil deeds, forgiveness of insults, abstinence from married life, with the exclusion of entertainment and entertainment events, watching TV. Fasting is not a goal, but a means - a means to humble your flesh and cleanse yourself from sins. Without prayer and repentance, fasting becomes just a diet.

The essence of fasting is expressed in the following church song: “Fasting from fasts, my soul, and not being cleansed of passions, we console ourselves in vain by non-eating: for if fasting does not bring you correction, then you will be hated by God as false, and become like evil demons, never eat."

Some people think that given the current plight in Russia, when salaries are not paid, when many people have no money, the post is not a topic for conversation. Let us recall the words of the Optina Elders: "If they don't want to fast voluntarily, they will fast involuntarily..."

How to Eat on Christmas Eve

The last day of Advent is called Christmas Eve, because according to the charter, it is supposed to eat juicy on this day. Sochivo is made from grains of wheat and rice. There is a sochivo taken, apparently, in imitation of the fast of Daniel and the three youths, who are remembered before the feast of the Nativity of Christ, who ate from the seeds of the earth, so as not to be defiled by a pagan meal (Dan. 1.8), - and in accordance with the words of the Gospel: the Kingdom of Heaven is like mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which, although smaller than all seeds, but when it grows, is larger than all cereals and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches (Mt. 13:31-36 ).

About food restrictions and allowable indulgences

Question: Can you please tell me what dry eating is? And which posts are strict and which are not.

Answer: Dry eating is the eating of food without oil, i.e. oils. Strict posts - Great and Assumption. But one should think about fasting only if one already has some spiritual experience. Today, many people who are drawn to faith decide to enter the Christian life by starting to fast, and especially during Great Lent. At the same time, they do not go to the temple and do not read prayers, and from such a fast one continuous diet is obtained. Fasting makes sense as abstinence for Christ's sake both in bodily pleasures and in spiritual entertainment. And the essence of fasting is not in abstinence as such, but in the fact that we do this for the sake of obedience to the Church and fidelity to Christ. We not only do not eat meat and dairy and fish products during fasting, but by cultivating our will in small things, we show fidelity to God and readiness for trials that can befall us in big things. At the same time, of course, if a person fasts, he must remember that it is very important to use the forces released from him (since less time is spent at the dinner table and watching TV) for the spiritual life and for the benefit of other people. After all, if he does not watch TV, but simply idly basks on the couch, then there will be no benefit from such abstinence.

Question: Is it true that everyone chooses a post according to their ability? I know a man who, by striving for strict fasting, brought himself to the hospital and undermined his health. Is this somehow wrong?

Answer: The Church Charter clearly depicts both the time of consumption and the quality of Lenten food. Fasting is softened in relation to the sick, pregnant, lactating, traveling. In any case, if you want to observe fasting and know its measure for yourself, consult your confessor, tell him about your spiritual and physical condition and ask for blessings for fasting.

Question: I am 12 years old, I heard that until the age of 14 on Wednesday and Friday (and during any other fast, except for Wednesday and Friday in Great Lent) you can eat dairy food. Is it so?

Answer: The question of the measure of fasting discipline is established by each believer together with his confessor. This discipline depends on many circumstances: age, state of health, degree of our dependence on others, and much more. Indeed, in many cases, students of secondary and higher educational institutions are given an indulgence in dairy food on Wednesday and Friday, or in other cases, and on many days of fasting by confessors. But this indulgence cannot be given by me via the Internet, but must be decided by you specifically with your confessor.

Question: I need to undergo an ultrasound examination of the stomach, eating the so-called "trial breakfast" of two eggs - is this allowed in fasting?

Answer: Medicines are not actually food. And if for a medical examination it is necessary to fill the stomach with egg protein, then it is worth filling the stomach with this protein, perceiving it in this case not as food, but as a necessary medicine.

Question: I do bodybuilding. I use sports nutrition: protein, amino acids. Let me tell you right now, these are not steroids. Is it permissible to consume sports nutrition during Lent?

Answer: If we are talking about lenten food, it is permissible. And if about steaks with blood, then, of course, it would be rather strange to eat them on Great Fiver.

Question: Is it possible to fast only the first and last week? And is it possible to eat bread during fasting?

Answer: Regarding the second part of your question, the answer is simple: you can eat bread, ordinary, not sieve rolls and not cooked in butter, not rich pies, - ordinary simple bread.

As for fasting only in the first and last week, if we are talking about a person who is seriously ill, suffering from diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis in the third degree, dystonia, anemia, then, of course, for such, the Church knows the mitigation of the discipline of fasting. But from others who recognize themselves as Orthodox Christians, he expects the fulfillment of the fast not selectively, but whenever it is prescribed by the Church Charter.

Question: I have a friend who is deeply religious and strictly observes all fasts. However, she is seriously ill, severely malnourished, and her doctors urge her to eat well. All her relatives and friends are trying to convince her that by refusing meat and dairy food, she is actually committing suicide, and this is a terrible sin. Please advise what can be done in this situation.

Answer: The Church, of course, establishes bodily fasting as a measure of abstinence for healthy people, or at least relatively healthy people, meaning that it is a means, first of all, educating us spiritually, and, secondly, in some way humbles our bodily passions. A person who is seriously ill to a large extent is already humble by the infirmities of his nature, therefore, of course, in the case of a severe or chronic or sudden illness, the measure of bodily fasting by the Church and church canons has always been softened and softened. Therefore, you can recommend your friend not to refuse at least certain types of food that doctors recommend to her, but instead to aggravate her spiritual fast. Or, suppose, to refuse those types of food that are not medically necessary for her, but to which she has an addiction.

About other restrictions

Question: Can you please tell me if you can cut your hair while fasting?

Answer: Everything is good in moderation, so if the hair splits or there is no time long hair long wash and comb thoroughly, then of course, it is better to cut. But to induce some special beauty for the sake of attracting people of the opposite sex to fasting, perhaps, it should not have been.

Question: The fact that you can’t watch TV and listen to the radio in the post does not raise any questions, but is it possible to watch only one short news release a day on TV?

Answer: Dear Andrei, there was such a case in the life of the Monk Elder Siluan of Athos: one monk told something he had read in the newspaper and, turning to Elder Siluan, asked: “And you, Father Siluan, what do you say about this?” “I, father, do not like newspapers and newspaper news,” he replied. - "Why is that?" - "Because reading newspapers darkens the mind and interferes with pure prayer." “Strange,” says the monk. - In my opinion, on the contrary, newspapers help to pray. We live here in the desert, we don’t see anything, and so the soul gradually forgets about the world, closes in on itself, and prayer weakens because of this ... When I read newspapers, I see how the world lives and how people suffer, and this makes me there is a desire to pray. Then whether I serve the liturgy, whether I pray in my cell, I ask God from the bottom of my heart for people and for the world.” - "The soul, when it prays for peace, without newspapers knows better how the whole earth mourns, it knows what needs people have and pities them." “How can the soul know from itself what is going on in the world?” the monk asked. - “Newspapers do not write about people, but about events, and that is wrong; they confuse the mind, and you still don’t know the truth from them, but prayer clears the mind, and it sees everything better.” These words of St. Silouan can be boldly cited as an answer to your question.

On Reading During Lent

Question: This year I decided to start fasting. Could you tell me what prayers and texts from the Bible should be read daily during fasting?

Answer: With regard to daily readings in fasting, I would refer you to the site site where such readings regularly appear, located on the days of fasting, in the same place, or on the site zavet.ru, or days.ru to find those passages from the Holy Scriptures that are offered to us Church for reading during Lent.

There is also such a good pious custom - for those who do not have the skill to read regularly New Testament, to do this by fasting - one chapter of the Gospel and two chapters of the Apostle. If you start doing this during Great Lent or Christmas Lent, then you will read almost the entire Gospel in one post.

"Food" controversy

Question: I live in a student hostel. With a roommate, we always cook a meal for two. Previously, she also fasted, but this year she decided that she would not. I feel that tension has begun to appear in our relationship due to the “menu” issues. How not to lose tolerance for each other in "food" disagreements?

Answer: However, fasting must be observed. However, in no way should your observance of the fast be imposed on a neighbor living next to you. Show the utmost tolerance in relation to her reproaches and remarks, because the meaning of fasting is also to strive to develop in oneself the virtue of patience and non-judgment of one's neighbors. Let us thank God that through food restrictions He gives us a reason for a more serious exercise of the soul. Therefore, if a neighbor asks you to go to the store on the way and buy her sausages, then go in and buy it, nothing bad will happen. But keep the fast yourself - this shows our loyalty to Christ.

Question: What to do if my mother's anniversary falls on fasting, and I am the only one in our family who observes it. The holiday will be noisy, I have a lot of relatives. You can’t leave either, the offense will be serious. I don’t want to have fun in fasting, but I don’t know what to do.

Answer: Anniversaries are different, and the days of fasting are also different. On Good Friday, at least the centennial anniversary cannot be celebrated. But on one of the ordinary Saturdays or Sundays During the Great Lent, to meet your mother on the day of her anniversary, to rejoice (but not to have fun), to be with loved ones without puffing up on them, but at the same time it is quite possible to observe the fast. Therefore, there is still a lot of time, try to prepare in a reasonable way, and, thinking about the benefits of your mother’s soul, take part in her celebration.

What if it's difficult?

Question: For the first time, I took the post seriously. I feel very weak, completely empty and unable to lead my usual active lifestyle. I try to pray, but the prayer doesn't really go. I had a hard time reading the rules. It seems that someone sucked all the strength. Advise how to be?

Answer: One piece of advice can be given here - do not give up. And how did you think that you would start fasting for the first time, and immediately your Lenten path would be strewn with roses? Potatoes and rice will seem like ambrosia and nectar? Will the bones not hurt from bowing to the ground and standing up during Lenten services? A sinful habit needs to be overcome: for example, a person quits smoking, do you think it's just given to him? Others almost bang their heads against the wall. A person knows that this is not good, a sinful habit, from which it is necessary to get rid of for Christ's sake, and he holds on. The Gospel says that “by their fruits you will know them”, and not by the state that we are experiencing. Let us endure, let us suffer, let us force ourselves to a pious life, and the Lord will give a comforting fruit; if we look for one pleasant thing, we know where the path of those who live cool ends.

New Year and Christmas

Question: If the chronology comes from the Nativity of Christ, then why is Christmas and the New Year (including the old one) in different days?

Answer: Christmas is the birthday of Christ. And the New Year is a very conditional date. You can take any point in time from three hundred and sixty-five days and say: here the year ends and the new year begins. But now, with the introduction of a new style, it seems providentially, the New Year is right before Christmas. What use can this be? Such that now, when the New Year falls on the Nativity Fast and it is definitely pointless for an Orthodox person to engage in firecrackers and other entertainments, we can celebrate the New Year quite as befits a believing person, that is, give an account to our conscience and God, how we spent these three hundred sixty five days of the year. And lead this repentant report to the Sacrament of Confession, then Christmas itself will be a joyful and uncomplicated holiday for us. So it's very good that the New Year was moved ahead of Christmas.

Advent is a time of spiritual growth and cleansing from sins. Prayers at the beginning of the fast will help every believer to properly prepare for Christmas.

Human life is short, so it is necessary to make efforts for moral development and adhere to a righteous life. Great fasts serve as an occasion for a person to guard his virtue and not allow negative influences to touch his soul. You can clear your thoughts and open your heart to the Lord with the help of prayers on the day the Nativity Fast begins.

Prayers at the Beginning of Lent

The first day of Advent should be spent in humility and prayer to the Lord. It will help you overcome the difficulties of fasting and embark on the path of renewal.

“Lord, merciful, accept a prayer from Your servant (name) and do not leave me on the path to enlightenment. Forgive my sins, voluntary and involuntary, help with your instructions and give me the strength to endure all the trials given for my enlightenment and fight against evil forces.

The first one to offer a prayer is the Mother of God. She is preparing to give birth to God's baby and experiences twofold feelings of pride and fear of the upcoming sacrament. Orthodox Christians need to support her by praying for her health and the health of the baby.

“Mother of God, heed the words of your servant (name) and accept help from all those who pray in your torment. May your birth pass easily, may You grant us sinners our Lord. Protect him and protect him until the last day, so that we will not be afraid of terrible torments. All-forgiving and all-understanding, protect us with your hand, do not leave us in your care and guide us on the true path. Amen".

Do not forget the main prayer of all Christians - "Our Father". Read it every evening after the last meal and ask the Lord for mercy to endure the hardships of fasting.

The morning before breakfast should also begin with praise to the Lord.

“Our Merciful Father. Bless the meal given by you, save me from the thoughts of the unfaithful and cleanse my soul from the unclean.

Daily prayers lead each person along the righteous path and do not let them stumble. The Nativity fast calls believers to solitude and praise the works of the Lord. In faith and piety lies the meaning of our life. Do not leave prayers, and the Higher powers will not leave you without support and help. We wish you happiness and prosperity. Love your neighbors, pray for them and do not forget to press the buttons and

28.11.2016 01:20

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Fasting on the eve of the main holiday of all Christians of the Birth of Christ is called the Nativity Fast (November 28 - January 6).

It originates from ancient times. One of the most important fasts has been mentioned in church writings since the fourth century AD. Initially, there were several versions of fasting: from 6 to 10 days. Since the 12th century, all Christians have observed this fast for six weeks - 40 days, namely from November 28 to January 6 according to the new style. Before the beginning of the fast, on its eve on November 27, they celebrate the day of memory of the Apostle Philip, therefore the fast is also called Filippov.

The Advent fast is one of the strictest. There is a certain list of products that are forbidden to be consumed during this period: meat, dairy products, eggs. Preference should be given to vegetables in any form, cereals, fruits and bread. Not so categorical rules for the use of fish and seafood: they can be eaten almost all days, but except for Wednesday and Friday. The use of wine is also limited, it is allowed to drink it occasionally on Sundays and major holidays that fall during fasting. These are the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is celebrated on December 4, or the Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which falls on December 19.

The last day before Christmas is called Christmas Eve. It is a tribute to the memory of the prophet Daniel and the three youths. On this day, a special dish is prepared from grains of wheat, lentils or rice - sochivo, which is eaten on the evening of January 6th. It is sweetened with honey, raisins, nuts or poppy seeds are also added there. Prior to this, it is necessary to refrain from any food throughout the day.

The Nativity fast is a time of repentance, a change of one's soul for noble purposes. Lent is an hour of strict attention to the spiritual principle. It is needed not only to fight the sins of the body: gluttony, drunkenness, carnal uncleanness, but also to help Christians achieve the main goal of their earthly life - the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. During fasting, the soul of a person becomes open: there you can see all the sins. And a person is obliged not only to expel all these sins, but also to stand guard over his soul, trying to prevent enemy thoughts from entering it: hatred, anger, sadness, malevolence, pride, and so on. The result of purification should be a feeling of repentance. And if a person aspires to the Lord with all his thoughts and actions, then he himself will protect his heart and soul.

Abstinence during fasting, both spiritual and physical, is like reading prayers. After all, without prayers and repentance, fasting turns into a regular diet. The Bible reveals many prayers, most of which are suitable for the time before Christmas. During the Nativity Fast, one should make a bias towards morning and evening prayers. An important condition for morning prayers is remembrance and thanksgiving. Be sure to pray for peace and health, a spiritual mentor, relatives and friends, or just acquaintances who are connected with you in one way or another. It is recommended to read the Gospel, for example, the one that is read that day in the temple, which can be learned from church calendar. Christians who regularly perform morning and evening prayers often read the Gospel, it is worth reading the Psalter. Prayer is a kind of conversation with the Lord. And no matter what prayer you choose, the main thing is to say it from a pure heart, which is the main rule during the Nativity Fast.

The main purpose of the Nativity Fast is to adequately meet the birth of the Son of God, to set the believing soul for honest communication, first of all with oneself, to purify both spiritually and physically.