DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ST. JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF SHANGHAI AND SAN FRANCISCO

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ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS (USPS 412-260)
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DECEMBER, 2003, Vol. XXXVII, No. 12 (1531)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Nativity Encyclical of Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston.

2. Canonical Churches: what does it mean?

3. On the Bearing of Grudges

4. Watchfulness: Keeping Your Focus by St. John Maximovich

5. Prayer, Feasts and Fasts by St. Philaret, Metropolitan of New York

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1. Nativity Encyclical of Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston.

The Holy Orthodox Metropolis of Boston

His Eminence, Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston

 

NATIVITY ENCYCLICAL

of

His Eminence, Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston

 

From Abraham's loins, for our sakes He is come forth,

To raise up as sons all them banefully fallen

Into the darkness of sins that bowed them under;

Though dwelling in light, He is pleased to dwell

in a manger,

Spurning dignity, for the salvation of mortals.

 

Troparion of the 6^th Ode

of the Iambic Canon,

Matins of our Saviour's Nativity

My beloved brethren and sisters in Christ,

I remember reading about a popular American satirist who paid $50 to discover his family's genealogy. When, finally, he was presented with the list of his ancestors, he decided to pay $100 to have the family archives destroyed.

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ might have done the same.

Although He had many notable and illustrious ancestors according to the flesh, Christ also had some people in His genealogy who could have raised Jewish eyebrows.

Unlike our American satirist, however, our Saviour did not seek to destroy the embarrassing evidence. To the contrary, His apostles and disciples proclaimed His genealogy to the ends of the world, blazoning it abroad for everyone to see and to hear. Indeed, He not only had such people in His genealogy, but even during His years on earth He drew to Himself people of similar unsavory reputations ─ thieves, adulterers, harlots, public cheats (the tax-collectors). Even the incurably sick, such as the lepers, were not repugnant to Him. Not even those in the delusion of error ─ the Samaritans and the pagans ─ were turned away. All were received and embraced by Him, provided only that they came to Him with a contrite and broken heart, showing Him their wounds, and asking to be healed of their spiritual and physical maladies. Indeed, as the holy Apostle Paul writes of our Saviour, "Both Christ Who sanctifies and they who are sanctified are" ─ through our Saviour's incarnation ─ "all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11).

In his Second Spiritual Discourse, Saint Symeon the New Theologian speaks about those whom our Saviour and Liberator gathered to Himself:

Nearly all men reject the weak and the poor as objects of disgust: an earthly king cannot bear the sight of them, rulers turn away from them with loathing, while the rich ignore them and pass them by when they meet them as though they did not exist; nobody thinks it desirable to associate with them. But the supremely good God left the powerful, the wise and the rich of the world, and chose the weak, the ignorant and the poor out of His great and ineffable goodness. Indeed, only for this, who is able to thank Him in a fitting manner? This is the God Who is served by myriads of angelic powers without number, Who "sustains all things by the word of His power" (Heb. 1:3), Whose majesty is beyond anyone's endurance, and He has not disdained to become the father, the friend, the brother of those rejected ones. He willed to become incarnate so that He might become "like unto us in all things except for sin" (Heb. 4:15) and have us share in His glory and His Kingdom. How abundant and great are His riches! How ineffable is our Master and God's condescension!

My beloved, our Saviour has established a hospital here on earth. This hospital treats physical, spiritual, and mental diseases, and even death itself. The name of this hospital is The Church ─ the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. If you think (or rather, if you are so self-deluded as to think) that you are not physically, and spiritually, and mentally ailing, and that you are not dying, then you don't need this hospital. But if you do understand that you are ailing in soul and body, and in your thoughts, and you suspect that your actions or thoughts could ─ like the lives of some of Christ's ancestors ─ raise the eyebrows of your friends and kinsmen, then rejoice and leap for joy, and give glory to God in the highest: for your Physician, your Benefactor, your Father, and Friend and Brother is now born in Bethlehem. In His hospital, you will find what St. Ignatius the Godbearer of Antioch calls "the medicine of immortality and the antidote to death" (Letter to the Ephesians). If you tearfully show Him your wounds and ask for His healing, His divine grace will descend upon you and will cleanse and cure the injury. If you were conceived in iniquities, you will be re-born in Holy Baptism and Holy Confession. If you are poor, you will become rich in God. If you are stricken with grief, you will be given hope. If you are defiled, you will be washed and rejuvenated. If you are disgraced, you will rise in honor. If you are old and stricken with years, His Life-creating Body and Blood shall renew your youth.

When our Saviour considered the record of His genealogy according to the flesh, He did not destroy it. Instead, He rent asunder the manuscript of the sins that condemned us. He was "not ashamed to call us His brethren," nor was He "ashamed to be called our God" (cf. Heb. 11:16).

For this cause, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rejoice that, as the hymnologist writes, Christ "spurned His dignity for the salvation of mortals."

Christ is born!  Glorify Him!

+Ephraim, Metropolitan of Boston

Nativity of Our Saviour, 2003

Protocol Number 2313

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2. Canonical Churches: what does it mean?

       A new definition has crept into World Orthodoxy in recent years. World Orthodoxy has begun to recognize Orthodox Churches on the basis of their being “canonical”. By this newly accepted definition, to be canonical a church must be in full communion with Constantinople. Constantinople has become World Orthodoxy’s touchstone. In fact, occasionally there are press releases that describe the Patriarchate of Constantinople as an Eastern Papacy or “the leader of World Orthodoxy”.  The late Patriarch Demetrius described the Ecumenical Patriarch as the foremost bishop of Orthodoxy. If a church falls away from communion with him, it is no longer “canonical”.

But how did the understanding of the term canonical change. Canonical had meant observing the Holy Canons of the Church, especially those that relate to the beliefs and practices of the church.

Because of wars and political turmoil in the 20^th century, the administrative structure of the Church became disorganized, most especially in the Diaspora. “Mother” Churches or ethnic churches sought to preserve Orthodoxy by preserving its “canonical” organization, i.e., the organization described by the holy canons for dioceses and synods. Unfortunately, in the organizational struggle for external order, the canons relating to the doctrines were overlooked, aided by a syncretistic and anti-dogmatic spirit prevalent at the time. An external administrative union was imposed in order to preserve the church’s unity, with all parishes bonded under one headquarters. Parish Council members taking their pledge in Greek Archdiocese churches promise to be obedient to the canons and traditions of the Orthodox Church. Generally, these are viewed as abstract principles, which are not defined or clarified by the priest administering the pledge. This pledge is usually interpreted as complete obedience to he ruling hierarch. The canons are presented as “laws” which are to be interpreted by the ruling hierarch and he decides what is canonical and what is not. The traditional understanding of the canons is set aside. A former bishop of the Greek Archdiocese who taught at Holy Cross shared his thoughts with his students about the Holy Canons. He remarked that over the years he had carefully studied the canons and came to one conclusion: there was only one canon, which needed to be obeyed in the church. He declared that the canons, which spoke of hierarchal authority and obedience to the bishop, needed to be obeyed. All other canons could be ignored. This militaristic or papal interpretation of the canons allowed individual patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops and bishops to be the interpreters of the Holy Canons, and they were free to ignore any and all of them. Their interpretations could be in accordance with the spirit of the age. In fact this is very similar to the current Supreme Court decisions in the United States. The Supreme Court is free to change laws on the basis of the contemporary understanding and interpretation of moral values. For example, abortion may have been wrong at one time and condemned by the Supreme Court but the Roe-Wade decision defined that there were other value systems which needed to be acknowledged. Morality becomes a relative value and is never absolute. There are never absolutes. There is no Divine Authority on which to base any decisions. God has been dethroned and in His place is the Supreme Court. The interpretation of the Holy Canons has thus become a selective response predicated by the contemporary moral and irreligious scene. Ecumenism is in. The canons forbidding joint prayer with non-Orthodox are declared “old fashioned”, are completely condemned, and accounted as of no meaning.  There is no hesitation in having non-Orthodox Christian ministers participate in the wedding services, vesper services, Theophany services and even Divine Liturgies. And this has happened often enough over the past 40 years that it has become a standard practice and Orthodox Christians are not surprised or disturbed when such con-celebrations take place. . The Sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches are now acknowledged as “grace filled”, while the Mysteries of the traditional Orthodox Christians are deemed as invalid.

When parish council members are sworn in they promise to be obedient to the canons and traditions of the Orthodox Church. No one ever bothers to explain to them what these canons and traditions are that they are called to obey. What the interpretation of these canons usually means is that one is obedient to the ruling hierarch. The canons are “laws” which are to be interpreted by the hierarchs and they decide on what is “canonical” and what is not. The traditional understanding of the canons is usually set aside. A former bishop of the Greek Archdiocese, who taught at Hoy Cross, shared his thoughts with his students about the Holy Canons. He remarked that over the years he had studied all the canons and came to one conclusion: there was only one canon, which must be obeyed in the church, the canon that called for obedience to the ruling bishop. All other canons could be ignored. It became a militarist interpretation of the canons. Individual patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops and bishops were the interpreters of the Holy Canons and they were free to ignore any and all of them. Their interpretations could be in accordance with the spirit of the age. This is very much like the Supreme Court decisions of the United States. The Supreme Court is free to change laws on the basis of the contemporary understanding and interpretation of moral values. For example, abortion may have been wrong at one time and condemned by the supreme court but the Roe-Wade decision validated the concept that there were other value systems which needed to be recognized. Morality became a relative value and is not considered an absolute. The interpretation of the Holy Canons has thus become a selective response predicated by the contemporary moral and irreligious scene. Ecumenism is in. The canons forbidding joint prayer with non-Orthodox are “old fashioned” are completely condemned and accounted of no meaning. There is no hesitation in having non-Orthodox Christian ministers participate in the wedding services, vesper services, Theophany services and even Divine Liturgies. And this has happened often enough over the past 40 years that it has become a standard practice. Many Orthodox Christians are confident that the union of the churches has already occurred. The Sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches are now recognized by all the “Canonical” jurisdictions. What is ignored is that the Church has always said that outside of the church there are no valid mysteries. Some clergy of the Greek Archdiocese have declared that the union has already occurred. The Antiochian jurisdiction’s blasé attitude has allowed Moslems to be godparents, and priests to concelebrate in religious processions with Roman Catholic clergy. The O.C.A. has allowed a Monastery that openly recognizes Roman Catholic saints as Orthodox Saints and whose abbot has said that there is no theological difference between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism to remain uncorrected by OCA hierarchy. Greek Archdiocese clergy have been scandalized by the fact that the monastery does not keep the fast of Great Lent but allows the eating of meat during Great Lent. The hierarchs of SCOBA (Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America) have forbidden their clergy to baptize Roman Catholics and Protestants because they already have baptismal grace!

The canons are clear in that heretical baptism is not valid. The “One baptism” referred to in the Nicene Creed has always been understood as the Orthodox Church’s baptism. If one recognizes the non-Orthodox baptisms then why shouldn’t one recognize the other non-Orthodox sacraments: chrismation, Holy Communion, etc? Actually, many of the clergy of the “canonical” jurisdictions have already done so.

            What makes one “canonical”? Is it not the adherence to what has been taught everywhere, at all times and has been believed by everyone? If we cannot confess our faith and identify it with the faith of the Church’s confessors and saints, then indeed we are not confessing the Orthodox Christian faith but we are in reality mocking our ancient Orthodox Faith. It is necessary to pray that we may not be lead astray by the “sirens of ecumenism”. We need to be bonded to the spiritual ark of the church and not give in to the compromised faith of those who have rejected the Orthodox Faith and accepted a new adulterated faith, which no longer represents the faith confessed by the Holy Fathers.

And one final point: Not one canon of the Orthodox Church teaches that the one has to be in communion with Constantinople (or any other “ancient see”) in order to be canonical or Orthodox!

______________________________________________________________________________

3. On the Bearing of Grudges

by St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

     Your Honor, Mr. I. V., my most beloved brother in Christ!

     I heard that you had a court case against Captain F. L., in which he was accused of having dishonored you by some words of his, and that this L. is already long dead. I also heard that the deceased had sent to ask your forgiveness, and that not forgiving him, you now seek to dishonor his son. If this be true, I ask you to listen patiently and to act according to my advice.

     First, remember that the keeping of grudges is the first gain in a person for the devil, who does not rejoice over anything so much as over a heart that harbors grudges. For the person who keeps grudges does not receive forgiveness from God, because he himself does not forgive. So Christ teaches in the Gospel: "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:15). And how will you pray to God: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" if you yourself do not forgive? Our brother is the same as we are; by his words he dishonored us; insulted us. But we are worms, earth, ashes, stinking filth. How many times each day we anger God, our Creator, the great and terrible Lord, before Whom the heavenly hosts are terrified and tremble! What kind of forgiveness do we hope to receive from God, when we do not forgive those who are like us? We sin against one another; we ought to forgive one another. Read the account in the 18th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew; what is written at the end of the chapter is frightening for those who do not forgive their fellowmen.

     Now you also know that you will die, and you do not know when; maybe today or tomorrow. And what if death finds you holding this grudge? L. showed his humility, and thus rewarded your dishonor by asking your forgiveness, and by this was he freed from his obligation to you; what more do you want now? You have the obligation to forgive your brother. If you do not forgive him, you will die with this obligation unfulfilled; then what mercy can you hope to receive from God? In what way is the son of L. guilty before you? Were you seeking a financial debt, then the son would have to pay for the father, because he inherited the father's estate. But the father made the insult, and you seek to dishonor his son, as if the son were an accomplice in his father's insulting you, as if he taught his father -- which is impossible! I sincerely beg you to cut the whole knot of keeping grudges; forgive the brother his sin, release the deceased from his obligation, or rather, fulfill your obligation and do not remain indebted until death. And be reconciled to his son, for God's sake.

     Believe me, that all of this comes about because of the demon who tempts people into enmity. Therefore, spit on this whispering, inimical spirit that stirs up the thought of revenge, and obey Christ our Savior, the Creator of the world, Who even prayed to the heavenly Father for those who crucified Him, and commanded us to do likewise, saying, "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you" (Luke 6:27). Forgive your fellow man in order to receive forgiveness from Christ; and what kind of forgiveness can you hope for, if you do not practise forgiveness yourself? He, against whom you have turned your anger, the son of a deceased father, is coming to you and will ask your forgiveness. Your friends will rejoice over your reconciliation; your servants will love you; your other neighbors will bless you; Satan will be tormented (for Christian love torments him terribly, just as enmity makes him merry). This is what will be pleasing to Christ, the Son of God, the lover of peace. I, your unworthy pastor, on hearing of this, will be grateful and will rejoice in spirit, and will write your merciful name in my memory. Do this act of mercy; first for your own sake, that you might receive mercy from God in this way; and then for your brother's sake, who comes to you with humility, that he might be set at ease. And you will be doing a favor for me, for you will be fulfilling my wish. May the merciful God, the giver of peace, soften and so dispose your heart.

     I have written this to you as an official duty. May each one receive the mercy he seeks!

     Now I am sending you also a most holy icon of the Savior of both you and me; it is in His name that I appeal to you. This name is marvelous to the angels, beloved of the apostles, martyrs, hierarchs and monks, and sweet to us sinners; because in it alone is our hope and expectation. Cease keeping grudges; I ask you again for this according to my duty. And when you do this, let me know, for it will be beneficial for me, when you are reconciled.

     Finally, I conclude with this: this my wretched and unworthy writing will be my witness and your accuser at the terrible judgment of Christ. And when someone advises you contrary to this, do not pay heed to him: that is from the spirit of the Evil One. Read the whole Gospel and you can see this. Until your reply, I remain

     Your honor, my merciful Sire's humble servant, unworthy intercessor,

                                  the most unworthy bishop of Voronezh,

TIKHON

December 4, 1764

Voronezh

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4. Watchfulness: Keeping Your Focus by St. John Maximovich

Translated from Pravoslavnaya Rus and taken from Orthodox America, Vol. XIV, No. 2-3. Sept – Oct. 1993

   St. John Maximovich

There was a king who had a wicked son. Having no hope that he would change for the better, the father condemned the son to death. He gave him a month to prepare.

The month went by, and the father summoned the son. To his surprise he saw that the young man was noticeably changed: his face was thin and drawn, and his whole body looked as if it had suffered.

"How is it that such a transformation has come over you, my son?" the father asked.

"My father and my lord," replied the son, "how could I not change when each passing day brought me closer to death?"

"Good, my son," remarked the king. "Since you have evidently come to your senses, I shall pardon you. However, you must maintain this vigilant disposition of soul for the rest of your life."

"Father," replied the son, "that's impossible. How can I withstand the countless seductions and temptations?"

Then the king ordered that a vessel be brought, full of oil, and he told his son: "Take this vessel and carry it along all the streets of the city. Following you will be two soldiers with sharp swords. If you spill so much as a single drop they will cut off your head."

The son obeyed. With light, careful steps, he walked along all the streets, the soldiers accompanying him, and he did not spill a drop.

When he returned to the castle, the father asked, "My son, what did you see as you were walking through the city?"

"I saw nothing."

"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" said the king.

"Today is a holiday; you must have seen the booths with all kinds of trinkets, many carriages, people, animals ..."

"I didn't notice any of that," said the son. "All my attention was focused on the oil in the vessel. I was afraid to spill a drop and thereby lose my life."

"Quite right, my son," said the king. "Keep this lesson in mind for the rest of you life. Be as vigilant over your soul as you were today over the oil in the vessel. Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away, and keep them focused on what is eternal. You will be followed not by armed soldiers but by death to which we are brought closer by every day. Be very careful to guard your soul from all ruinous temptations."

The son obeyed his father, and lived happily.

Focus on the Eternal

Just as a basic concern is to be careful of anything that might be harmful to our physical health, so our spiritual concern should watch out for anything that might harm our spiritual life and the work of faith and salvation.

Therefore, carefully and attentively assess your inner impulses: are they from God or from the spirit of evil? Beware of temptations from this world and from worldly people; beware of hidden inner temptations that come from the spirit of indifference and carelessness in prayer, from the waning of Christian love.

If we turn our attention to our mind, we notice a torrent of successive thoughts and ideas. This torrent is uninterrupted; it is racing everywhere and at all times: at home, in church, at work, when we read, when we converse.

"It is usually called thinking," writes Bishop Theophan the Recluse, "But in fact it is a disturbance of the mind, a scattering, a lack of concentration and attention."

The same happens with the heart. Have you ever observed the life of the heart? Try it even for a short time and see what you find. Something unpleasant happens, and you get irritated; some misfortune occurs, and you pity yourself; you see someone whom you dislike, and animosity wells up within you; you meet one of your equals who has now outdistanced you on the social scale, and you begin to envy him; you think of your talents and capabilities, and you begin to grow proud.

And all of this can pass through the heart in a matter of minutes. For this reason one ascetic, who was extremely attentive to himself, was quite right in saying that "man's heart is filled with poisonous serpents. Only the hearts of saints are free from these serpents, the passions."

But such freedom is attained only through a long and difficult process of self-knowledge, working on oneself and being vigilant towards one's inner life, i.e., the soul.

Be careful. Watch out for your soul! Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away and turn them toward what is eternal. Here you will find the happiness that your soul seeks, that your heart thirsts for.

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5. PRAYER, FEASTS AND FASTS

by St. Philaret,  Metropolitan of New York

We all understand how important prayer is for the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian. But how are we to pray? Two forms of prayer are evident in the Orthodox Christian life: private prayers said at home and unified Church prayer. Each has certain special characteristics. Our Saviour gave instructions in the Gospel about private prayer: "When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father Who is in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Mt.6:6). Of course, home prayers are basic to us. Prayer is deeply intimate and heartfelt. Everyone who has sincerely searched for heartfelt and moving prayer, knows well how easy and natural it is to pray in solitude, in silence and peace. Moreover, our Lord firmly warns us against hypocritical prayer done for show, to elicit praise from people.

When a Christian prays to God, he must strive to contemplate the words of the prayers which he reads, and to concentrate his thought on the content of the prayers. Everyone knows how difficult it is to struggle against the pressure of outside thoughts and images which tiresomely besiege the person who is praying. This comes to us both from our personal distraction and from the indirect action of the evil-one. The task of a Christian is to apply all his powers to persistently shake off all these side thoughts (which are sometimes impure) that torment him, and to pray piously and with concentration. One should remember that an extra pressure of thoughts and images—often vile and blasphemous—comes to us directly from Satan, and the struggle of resisting these thoughts is a direct struggle against evil. Consequently, one receives great benefit from such a struggle.

Usually, we pray with Church prayers which we learn from childhood. This is necessary, because they lead us into that prayerful atmosphere by which the Church breathes. In this, one must beware not to slide into an automatic, mechanical reading of prayers without attention and penetration into the sense and meaning of the words of the prayer. To this end, a full reverence and concentration of attention is demanded, so that one actually prays—converses with God.

According to the harmonious testimonies of the great ascetics of prayer, in addition to reading the Church prayers, one must add their own prayers in their own words, praying for one's own spiritual needs, and for neighbours and enemies. Often, a Christian cannot fully express his feelings and afflictions in the words of the written prayers. In this case,, a living, sincere prayer in one's own words is more appropriate, together with a confession of one's daily sins and an expressed determination to struggle, with God's help, against those daily sins. Such a prayer will come from the depth of the human soul.

Only a person who has developed sincere, penetrating and constant home prayer can fully participate in the public prayers in church. This participation is a firm necessity for every Christian. The Lord Himself said, "Where two or three [members of the Church] are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." The great preacher and teacher of prayer St John Chrysostom says, "One can, of course, pray at home also: but you cannot pray there as you do in church where so many people are gathered, where a harmonious voice is raised to God: for here is something greater than individual prayer: one-mindedness, a union of love, the prayers of the priest. During public prayers, not only do the people send up their own voices to God, but together with them, the angels and archangels glorify the Master." Thus, church prayer has a preeminently sacred character and it is given this nature by the grace of the Holy Spirit which, as we I know, enlivens our spiritual life, cooperating with our personal spiritual efforts.

A priest serves in church; he is not a priest because he receives a theological education, or has a calling to serve the Church. All this only prepares him for pastoral service. He is a priest only because he was consecrated to it by ordination, and enters through the mystery of priesthood into the pastorship, of the Church. So it is that our church is a consecrated temple, with a specially consecrated Holy Table. According to the word of the Holy Scripture, our church is a house of prayer. The Lord gave us an example of the honour due to God's house when, during His earthly sojourn, He twice cleansed it of all disorder and indecency. At the divine services, we repeatedly hear the Holy Church exclaim the petition, "For this holy house and for all those who with faith, reverence and fear of God enter herein, let us pray to the Lord." Each of us must enter a church in this disposition, remembering that here, one stands before the face of the Lord Himself.

One of the greatest and most painfully evident deficiencies of our contemporary life is our inability to celebrate our feasts in a Christian manner. Our lives are ordered in such a way that interests of a purely worldly character dominate them. Jobs, worry over income and shallow considerations and impressions of each day—all this fills our time and man does not have time to simply think about his soul, and its demands and needs. Our feasts are windows in our colourless lives of vanity and worldly cares. They teach us that this world is not so empty and impoverished as it seems to us, for above it, there is a different world giving our souls joy and ineffable peace. Who does not know what joy fills the heart of an Orthodox Christian in the days of the greatest feast, Pascha, the Radiant Resurrection of the Lord?

How often, though, do days of Christian commemoration and festivity turn out to be days of even greater emptiness and senseless idleness. A feast is a special day of God and should be dedicated as fully as possible to prayer and deeds of Christian mercy. In our tunes though, the feasts are often treated as any other day, and sometimes people even use them as excuses for drunkenness and unseemly partying. How often do we see that people, or even whole clubs, "societies", "institutes" and, God forbid, even parishes and diocesan centres, organize their "balls", dances and entertainments on the eves of major feasts and on the feastdays themselves. How do such persons differ from pagans and atheists?

Yet more reprehensible is the way many people view the fasts which the Holy Church has given us. We have many fasts: four lengthy ones, the Great Fast (Great Lent), the Apostles' Fast, the Dormition Fast and the Nativity Fast; and a number of shorter ones.

What an amazing and un-Christian relationship so many people now have to these fasts. The fasts are violated by people without a qualm of conscience, as if the matter was about some nonsense which had no significance. The Church, on the other hand, takes a very serious view of the matter, and excludes from Holy Communion those who refuse to keep the fasts without cause. Indeed, St Seraphim of Sarov very pointedly said, "One who does not observe the fasts is not a Christian, no matter what he considers or calls himself ... and you should not pay attention to him, no matter what he says."

Fasting is absolutely indispensable for man. From the external aspect, it is a struggle of filial obedience to God, Who has given us the rules of fasting through His Holy Spirit. From the inner aspect, fasting is a struggle of restraint and self-limitation. In this lies the great value and sense of fasting, since a strict observance of fasts tempers one's will and perfects the character of one who is firm in his religious convictions and actions. Let us not forget that Christ Himself fasted, and foretold that His apostles would also fast.

We hear people claiming that fasting is harmful to the health. But strict fasting is not required of people who are ill, and they fast only according to their strength. Most important, one should remember that it is only those people who do not fast who speak about the "harm to health" of fasting. But those who do observe fasting will never say this, for they know from personal experience that not only is fasting not harmful, but it is positively beneficial to bodily health.

Fasting is not merely a restraining from food. During the days of the fasts, the Church sings, "While fasting bodily, let us also fast spiritually..." True fasting includes deeds of Christian mercy. It is an alienation of the evil-one, a restraint of the tongue, a laying aside of anger, a cutting off of vices and an exposure of falsehood... Thus, for a Christian, fasting is a time of restraint and self-education in all respects, and a real Christian fast gives believers a great moral satisfaction. The great teacher of Christian asceticism Bishop Theophan the Recluse says of fasting:

"Fasting appears gloomy until one steps into its arena. But begin and you will see what light it brings after darkness, what freedom from bonds, what release after a burdensome life...."

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