The Prophets Fasted
Moses: When
I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone...I was in
the mountain forty days and forty nights, I ate no bread and drank no
water. Deuteronomy 9:9 (LXX)
Prophet Jonah: It was by fasting among other things that the people of Nineveh were saved from his prediction of peril. Jonah 3:7 (LXX)
Prophet Joel: “Now, says the Lord your God, turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting and with wailing, and with mourning. Joel 2:12 (LXX)
Prophet Daniel: And
I set my face toward the Lord God, to seek him diligently by prayer and
supplication, with fastings and sackcloth. And I Prayed to the Lord my
God, and confessed... Daniel 9:3-4 (LXX)
Jesus Fasted:
Immediately after His Baptism, what did He do?
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.
What was His instruction for Apostles in the case of the epileptic boy whose demon the Apostles could not cast out?
This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
When challenged by Pharisees about His disciples what did He say?
Can
the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is
with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken
from them, and then shall they fast.
The Lord Himself gave instructions for fasting:
But
you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; That you
appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret.
Matthew. 6:17-18
Why did he say this?
Apostles fasted:
In the Acts of the Apostles we read: As
they ministered (liturgical rite) to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy
Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where unto I
have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their
hands on them, they sent them away.
They coupled fasting with liturgical acts:
Paul: Apostle Paul describes his own spiritual life as one of sacrifice, vigils, thirst, and fasting lived “in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
He
also refers to fasting in the context of marriage saying that by mutual
consent husband and wife abstain from marital relations periodically
while fasting and prayer.
The first century - Didache:
“The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”
“The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”
Your
fasts must not be identical with those of the hypocrites. They fast on
Mondays and Thursdays; but you should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The fasting referred to here was a complete abstention from both food and drink until sundown.
Church Fathers fasted:
Ecclesiastical writer Tertullian (220) notes that spiritual growth requires confession and prayer fed by “fasting, ...not for the stomach’s sake, ...but for the soul’s.
St. Gregory (391) - practice of receiving the Eucharist after fasting.
Saint Basil (379) wrote much on fasting.
St. John Cassian (435): Therefore,
fastings, vigils, meditation on the Scriptures, self-denial, and the
abnegation of all possessions are not perfection, but aids to
perfection: because the end of that science does not lie in these, but
by means of these we arrive at the end.
St. Athanasius (373) - Fasting is more than just food. ...let
us vie with each other in observing the purity of the fast by
watchfulness in prayers, by study of the Scriptures, by distributing to
the poor, and let us be at peace with our enemies. Let us bind up those
who are scattered abroad, banish pride, and return to lowliness of mind,
being at peace with all men, and urging the brethren unto love. Letter XIV.
St. Athanasius describes the benefits of fasting:
It “...cures ills and dries up bodily humors, casts out demons and turns away evil thoughts; it makes the mind brighter, the heart clean, and the body holy; and it presents man before the Throne of God.”
It “...cures ills and dries up bodily humors, casts out demons and turns away evil thoughts; it makes the mind brighter, the heart clean, and the body holy; and it presents man before the Throne of God.”
Modern Saints Fasted:
St. Nectarios of Aegina (1920) Fasting
is an ordinance of the church, obliging the Christian to observe it on
specific days. ...He who fasts for the uplifting of his mind and heart
towards God shall be rewarded by God, Who is a most liberal bestower of
divine gifts, for his devotion.
...unless one lifts his mind and heart towards God through Christian--not Pharisaic--fasting and through prayer, he cannot attain a consciousness of his sinful state and earnestly seek the forgiveness of sins.. Prayer and fasting--Christian fasting-- serve as means of self-study, of discernment of our true moral state, of an accurate estimation of our sins and of a knowledge of their true character. (Vol 7 of Modern Orthodox Saints, 2nd ed., p 178)
...unless one lifts his mind and heart towards God through Christian--not Pharisaic--fasting and through prayer, he cannot attain a consciousness of his sinful state and earnestly seek the forgiveness of sins.. Prayer and fasting--Christian fasting-- serve as means of self-study, of discernment of our true moral state, of an accurate estimation of our sins and of a knowledge of their true character. (Vol 7 of Modern Orthodox Saints, 2nd ed., p 178)
The
purpose of fasting is chiefly spiritual: to provide an opportunity and
preparation for spiritual works of prayer and meditation on the Divine
through the complete abstinence from food, or the eating of uncooked
food or frugal fare.
However,
fasting is no less valuable for physical health, since self-control and
simplicity of life are necessary conditions of health and longevity, as
dietetics tells us.
Canons of Church require fasting:
If you do not honor the Wednesday and Friday fast you are to be excommunicated.
Must fast prior to taking Communion.
Strict fast during entire Lenten period.
Do not fast on Sunday and Saturday.
If ill or weak relaxation of guidelines appropriate.
Always been essential part of Orthodox Christian Life.
Necessary discipline to combat the passions and open the door to the renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Why don’t you fast?
Fasting foods should be simple and plain and not extravagant.
The more effort that goes into their creativity and preparation, the more its value is reduced.
They should not be prepared to satisfy our craving for certain tastes.
• Break from our automatic response to food,
• Give thanks to our Lord,
• Increase our self-control.
• Break from our automatic response to food,
• Give thanks to our Lord,
• Increase our self-control.
