“Devils take great delight in fullness, and drunkenness and bodily
comfort. Fasting possesses great power and it works glorious things. To fast is
to banquet with angels.”
+ St. Athanasius the Great
“Let
thy mind fast from vain thoughts; let thy memory fast from remembering evil;
let thy will fast from evil desire; let thine eyes fast from bad sights: turn
away thine eyes that thou mayest not see vanity; let thine ears fast from vile
songs and slanderous whispers; let thy tongue fast from slander, condemnation,
blasphemy, falsehood, deception, foul language and every idle and rotten word;
let thy hands fast from killing and from stealing another’s goods; let thy legs
fast from going to evil deeds: Turn away from evil, and do good.”
+ St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
“One should not think about the doings of God when
one’s stomach is full; on a full stomach there can be no vision of the Divine
mysteries.”
+ St. Seraphim of Sarov, “The Spiritual Instructions
to Laymen and Monks”
“Fasting, prayer, alms, and every other good Christian deed is good in
itself, but the purpose of the Christian life consists not only in the
fulfillment of one or another of them. The true purpose of our Christian life
is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. But fasting, prayer, alms and
every good deed done for the sake of Christ is a means to the attainment of the
Holy Spirit. Note that only good deeds done for the sake of Christ bear the
fruit of the Holy Spirit. Everything else that is not done for the sake of
Christ, even if it is good, does not bring us a reward in the life to come, not
does it bring the grace of God in this life. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ
said, ‘Whoever gathereth not with me scattereth’ (Matt. 12:30).
+ St. Seraphim of Sarov, Conversation on the Goal of the Christian Life
“Many human activities, good in themselves, are not good because of the
motive for which they are done. For example, fasting and vigils, prayer and
psalmody, acts of charity and hospitality are by nature good, but when
performed for the sake of self-esteem they are not good.”
+ St. Maximos the
Confessor, Four Hundred Texts on Love 2.35, The Philokalia: The Complete Text
(Vol. 2)
“This kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting.” [Matthew 17:14-23]
If this kind goes out by the prayer and fasting
of another person, then it is even less able to enter one who fasts and prays.
What protection!
Although there are a slew of demons and all the
air is packed with them, they cannot do anything to one who is protected by
prayer and fasting.
Fasting is universal temperance, prayer is
universal communication with God; the former defends from the outside, whereas
the latter from within directs a fiery weapon against the enemies. The demons
can sense a faster and man of prayer from a distance, and they run far away
from him so as avoid a painful blow.
Is it feasible to think that where there is no
fasting and prayer, there already is a demon? Yes, it is.
The demons lodging in a person, do not always
reveal their presence, but lurk there, stealthily teaching their host every
evil and turning him away from every good thing; so this person is certain that
he is doing everything on his own, but meanwhile he is only fulfilling the will
of his enemy.
Just commence prayer and fasting and the enemy
will immediately depart, then wait on the side for an opportunity to somehow
return again. And he truly will return, as soon as prayer and fasting are
abandoned.
+ St. Theophan the Recluse, Thoughts for Each Day of the Year: According to
the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
“The
soul that really loves God and Christ, though it may do ten thousand
righteousnesses, esteems itself as having wrought nothing, by reason of its
insatiable aspiration after God.
Though it should
exhaust the body with fastings, with watchings, its attitude towards the
virtues is as if it had not yet even begun to labour for them.”
+ St. Macarius
the Great
“It is necessary for a Christian to fast, in order to clear his mind, to
rouse and develop his feelings, and to stimulate his will to useful activity.
These three human capabilities we darken and stifle above all by ‘surfeiting,
and drunkenness, and cares of this life’ (Lk. 21:34).”
+ St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ
“… Adam chose the treason of the serpent, the originator of evil, in
preference to God’s commandment and counsel, and broke the decreed fast.
Instead of eternal life he received death and instead of the place of unsullied
joy he received this sinful place full of passions and misfortunes, or rather,
he was sentenced to Hades and nether darkness. Our nature would have stayed in
the infernal regions below the lurking places of the serpent who initially
beguiled it, had not Christ come. He started off by fasting (cf. Mk. 1:13) and
in the end abolished the serpent’s tyranny, set us free and brought us back to
life.”
+ St. Gregory Palamas, The Homilies Vol. II
Source: http://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.com
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