There is a
remarkable story in the book Everyday
Saints related to fasting. Russian monks came to the Caucasus during the
Chechen War to hear confessions of the local Orthodox flock and to give them
communion. The organizers of the trip decided to arrange a thank-you meal for
the priests. They cooked a fabulous meal with smoking hot heaps of roasted lamb
meat and other delicious dishes. When the monks learned about the “surprise”,
they were shocked. First, monks don’t eat meat at all. Secondly, it happened during
the Great Lent, or more precisely, during the stringent days of the Holy Week.
What could they do? The author writes that the monks immediately realized that
their refusal would be a horrendous insult for the hosts. So they ate meat and
drank wine, and that meal was the most joyful feast of love in their lives.
This story is
totally fine both spiritually and from the point of view of common sense. The
physical side of fasting can be disregarded even by monks if adherence to it
can hurt anybody’s feelings. There are quite a few cases like those in the
lives of the saints. We also face similar situation in our lives. However, the
principle of “not hurting” our neighbor is often misused. That’s what I would
like to delve into.
***
Sometimes I happen
to hear that if a person is surrounded by people who don’t fast, he should give
up fasting. The main argument in favor of this position is that you mustn’t
make a show of your fasting. Indeed, our Lord teaches, “Moreover when ye fast,
be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their
faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have
their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy
face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in
secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”
(Matthew 6:16-18)
The prohibition to
show off your fasting does not by any means imply that you should be bashful of
the physical side of the fast and observe it only when no one can see you.
Jesus says that it is wrong to appear fasting but He does not call us to stop
fasting arbitrarily every time we meet an unbeliever. “Not showing off” and
“concealing” are two different things. You mustn’t show off but it’s also wrong
to “masquerade” as someone who doesn’t fast. Otherwise, it will appear as if we
are lying. It sounds like, In fact, I
don’t eat meat during the fast but I’ll pretend that I do when I meet my
non-Christian colleagues. Why? It’s unclear.
It is also unclear
how we will hurt our neighbor if we eat Lenten foods or abstain from non-Lenten
dishes. With the sole exception of the case when our refusal to eat something
will actually offend a certain person, why can’t we simply say that we are Orthodox
and that we fast together with the entire Church? If the person you deal with
is a normal sane person, they will respect your decision. It is wrong to break
church commandments, even if they apply to a less important side of fasting,
i.e., physical abstinence.
The Lord lays out
the same principle with regard to alms-giving and prayer. Sure, you mustn’t
show off your charity and prayer. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make the
sign of the cross when you pass by a church or that you shouldn’t give a coin
to a beggar even if someone else can see you, does it? The Lord can see our
intentions. Likewise, showing off and boasting about your fasting achievements
is one thing, while obedience to the Church not only at home but also elsewhere
is another thing. Naturally, we have to examine any given situation wisely in
the spirit of Gospel-driven love.
***
The visibility and
matter-of-factness of our fasting is our mission and apostolate in the today’s
world. Many people regard mockery of the Church and Her rules as the norm
nowadays. Our testimony of staying loyal to the regulations of the Church can
be a living sermon and apology of Christianity. Of course, it is significantly
less convenient than hiding the fact of our fasting from the unbelievers and
pretending to be a person who does not fast. Perhaps, we choose the more
convenient model because we are afraid of defending our faith and don’t know
how to talk about it?
If we aren’t
Christians in name only, then our choice of a Lenten meal might prompt a
conversation about spiritual issues. Even if it doesn’t yield any tangible
result, at least the person you talked with will know that their colleague
believes in God and honors church fasts. If they have any questions related to
the Church and spiritual living in the future, they will contact us again.
***
We often forget
about the sin of people pleasing when we talk about fasting. However, the
Scripture tells us that God hath
scattered the bones of those who please people (Ps. 53:5), and, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts
5:29). Don’t we cross the red line that divides our desire to be at peace with
our neighbor and the sin of pleasing people, if we choose “not to fast openly”?
“The desire to
maintain friendly relations with our neighbors sometimes turns to us its ugly
side, i.e., the sin of people pleasing. As a matter of fact, the issue isn’t
about friendly ties and the like. The issue is our own halfheartedness and
reliance on someone else’s opinion. It is during the Great Lent that this
passion manifests itself most vividly,” Nun Eugenia (Senchukova) writes.
Interestingly
enough, a Jew or a Muslim wouldn’t even care what other people think about his
fasting. You won’t be able to talk an Orthodox Jew or a Muslim into breaking
the fast that millions of his brothers observe at the moment. They will never
think that their fasting can hurt anyone. Granted, we Christians have a
slightly different attitude to the fast but even in the Gospel, there is not a
hint at fasting privately and stopping the fast when we’re in a public place.
Apostle James warns us, “[K]now ye not that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy
of God.” (James 4:4)
***
The proponents of
giving up the fast to foreclose any discontentment of an unbelieving neighbor
also put forth the danger of vainglory. There is an even trickier passion,
though: being proud of not fasting. A publican who is proud that he isn’t a
Pharisee… Have you thought about the danger of this kind of vainglory?
Generally, conceit
and pride mingle with all virtues. St. John Climacus wrote, “Vainglory sticks
to everything: I’m proud of myself when I fast but I am proud of my wisdom when
I stop fasting to conceal my asceticism from other people; I am conquered by
vanity when I wear fancy clothes but I am equally proud of myself when I wear
bad clothes; when I open my mouth to talk, I am seized by pride, when I keep
silent, I am proud, too. Whichever way you throw this trident, its sharp point
will always look up.”
It doesn’t mean,
however, that we should stop exercising our virtues. No, we should continue
doing good but be extremely attentive to our inner disposition and repent of
any symptoms of vainglory.
***
The Orthodox
understanding of fast incorporates numerous components. For instance, it is
meaningless to fast without prayer. Fasting is also void without alms-giving.
It is no accident that the Sermon on the Mount lists three main Christian
virtues: charity, prayer, and fast. They go hand in hand. Of course, we must
remember the words of Prophet Isaiah, “Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a
day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and
to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an
acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose
the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go
free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest
the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own
flesh?” (Is. 58:5-7). We’ve got to remember all that. However, an attempt to
take physical fasting away from this scheme is like causing a wall to collapse
by taking a cornerstone out of it.
Certainly, physical
abstinence is merely a means to an end. It provides a background that facilitates
the acquisition of spiritual virtues. And yet, this practice is essential for
any kind of spiritual struggle. That is why the list of passions compiled by
the Holy Fathers mentions physical transgressions, namely gluttony and
fornication, first. How do we fight these passions if we don’t follow the
fasting rules prescribed by the Church, albeit abridged for lay folks?
“There is no
repentance without fasting,” St. John Chrysostom used to say. He meant the
simplest form of fasting, that is, abstaining from food. If we continue to
adapt our lifestyle to that of the unbelievers, what will remain of our fasts?
Jesus Christ fasted when necessary. The apostles fasted after the Ascension,
too. We won’t find any saint (apart from some martyrs) who didn’t observe
Church fasts. Do we expect to get saved by using a different approach?
***
I’m easily
triggered by all kinds of legalism and hypocrisy, and I’ve written a lot about
these issues. Unfortunately, I feel obliged to defend the physical side of the
fast in view of several articles I’ve read during the last couple of years,
especially by Greek authors. It seems to me that we often go too far in our
attempts to “not offend” our neighbors. I keep hearing the following words:
“Don’t pretend that you’re ascetics. Remember that you’re not monks; eat
everything that people offer you. Orthodoxy isn’t a food-centric religion. ‘The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink’ (Romans 14:17). Don’t be like Pharisees,”
etc.
Don’t even dare
mention the issue of sexual abstinence during the Great Lent, for heaven’s
sake! Ridiculing and sneering at people who observe fast is considered good
manners even in Christian circles. “Look at that simpleton who doesn’t know
that fast is mainly about not devouring
people.” Some Orthodox websites openly preach that physical asceticism was
invented by monks and isn’t grounded in the Gospel. Well, and of course, they
talk volumes about love and stuff. You can’t argue with that because you find
yourself on an uneven playing field: what are you, a legalist?
How far can we go
in our desire to excuse ourselves for being lazy and pleasing our bodies? We
turn our backs to the simplest pledge for God’s sake—physical abstinence—and
work hard to make it a thing of the past. As Saint Anatoly of Optina pointed
out, “Practice… tells us, Spill your
blood and receive the Spirit. Our reason tries to find a workaround so as
to get the Spirit without spilling blood.” He nailed it, didn’t he?
We should work to
find the perfect balance, always remembering the rule Spill your blood and receive the Spirit. May the Lord help everyone
who fasts to understand and follow the commandment expressed by the following
simple words that we find in the Gospel, “These ought ye to have done, and not
to leave the other undone.” (Matthew 23:23).
By Sergei Komarov
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravoslavie.fm/articles/postitsya-li-nahodyas-ryadom-s-neveruyushhimi/
CONVERSATION