17 FEB 08: GREAT FAST WEEK 2, Patristic Perspective

St. Ambrose: Jesus charged the paralytic to perform an action of which health was the necessary condition.

St. Augustine: One need not be paralyzed bodily, however, to be paralyzed inwardly.

St. Clement of Alexandria: The healing of body and soul occurs interconnectedly.

St. Ambrose: The ministry of forgiveness is not the exercise of an independent power or right but points to God's own saving work.

St. John Chrysostom: The administration of forgiveness, which according to the scribes is the office of God alone, acutely raised the question of Jesus' identity. Being God incarnate, of the same nature as God, he had authority on earth to act as God.

St. Irenaeus & Novation: If Christ forgives sins he must be truly God, for no one can forgive sins but God.

Mark 2:7a It Is Blasphemy!

St. John Chrysostom: THE SCRIBES' ENTANGLEMENT. They persecuted Jesus not only because he broke the Sabbath but also because he said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God, which is a far more drastic declaration. He confirmed this through his own actions.... The scribes themselves had devised this definition. They themselves had introduced the precept. They themselves had interpreted the law. But he proceeded to entangle them in their own words. In effect he said: It is you yourselves who have confessed that forgiveness of sins is given to God alone. THE PARALYTIC LET DOWN THROUGH THE ROOF 6.

Mark 2;7b Who Can Forgive Sins but God Alone?

St. IRAENEUS: ONLY GOD FORGIVES SIN. How can sins be rightly remitted unless the very One against whom one has sinned grants the pardon? AGAINST HERESIES 5.17.

NOVATION: THE IMPLICATION OF HIS ACT OF FORGIVING. If Christ forgives sins, Christ must be truly God because no one can forgive sins but God alone. THE TRINITY 13.

ST. AMBROSE: THE MINISTRY OF FORGIVENESS. In their ministry of the forgiveness of sin, pastors do not exercise the right of some independent power. For not in their own name but in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit do they forgive sins. They ask, the Godhead forgives. The service is enabled by humans, but the gift comes from the Power on high, THE HOLY SPIRIT 3.18.137.

Mark 2:8 Why Do YOU Question Thus in Your Hearts?

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: DISCERNING SECRETS OF THE HEART. The scribes asserted that only God could forgive sins, yet Jesus not only forgave sins, but showed that he had also another power that belongs to God alone: the power to disclose the secrets of the heart. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 29.1.

Mark 2:9 Which Is Easier to Say?

ST. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: HEALING THE WHOLE PERSON. The physician's art, according to Democritus, heals the diseases of the body; wisdom frees the soul from its obsessions. But the good Instructor, Wisdom, who is the Word of the Father who assumed human flesh, cares for the whole nature of his creature. The all-sufficient Physician of humanity, the Savior, heals both body and soul conjointly. "Stand up," he commanded the paralytic; "take the bed on which you lie, and go home"; and immediately the paralytic received strength. THE INSTRUCTOR 1.4.

Mark 2:10 Authority on Earth

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: ACTING UPON His OWN AUTHORITY. Whenever there was need to punish or to honor, to forgive sins or to make laws, Christ was fully authorized to do it. Whenever Christ had to do any of these much greater things, you will not characteristically find him praying or calling on his Father for assistance. All these things, as you discover in the text, he did on his own authority. ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD, HOMILY 10.19.

Mark 2:11 Take Up Your Pallet

ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: REVERSE YOUR RELATION WITH SICKNESS. Take up your bed. Carry the very mat that once carried you. Change places, so that what was the proof of your sickness may now give testimony to your soundness. Your bed of pain becomes the sign of healing, its very weight the measure of the strength that has been restored to you. ON THE HEALING OF THE PARALYTIC.

ST. AMBROSE: THE CHARGE TO PERFORM AN ACT OF WHICH HEALTH Is A NECESSARY CONDITION. He charged the man to perform an action of which health was the necessary condition, even while the patient was still praying for a remedy for his disease.... It was our Lord's custom to require of those whom he healed some response or duty to be done. OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 4.8.54-55.

ST. AUGUSTINE: INWARD PARALYSIS. You have been a paralytic inwardly. You did nor take charge of your bed. Your bed took charge of you. ON THE PSALMS 41.4.

PATRISTIC COMMENTARY ON MARK 2:1-12

St. Bede, the Venerable: Because the compassion of God deserts not even carnal persons, He accords to them the grace of His presence, by which even they may be made spiritual. After the desert, the Lord returns into the city; wherefore it is said, And again he entered into Capernaum, &c.

St. Augustine: But in Matthew writes this miracle as if it were done in the city of the Lord, whilst Mark places it in Capernaum, which would he more difficult of solution, if Matthew had also named Nazareth. But seeing that Galilee itself might be called the city of the Lord, who can doubt but that the Lord did these things in His own city, since He did them in Capernaum, a city of Galilee; particularly as Capernaum was of such importance in Galilee as to be called its metropolis? Or else, Matthew passed by the things which were done after He came into His own city, until He came to Capernaum, and so adds on the story of the paralytic healed, subjoining, And, behold, they presented to him a man sick of the palsy, after he had said that He came into His own city.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or else, Matthew called Capernaum His city because He went there frequently, and there did many miracles. It goes on: And it was noised that he was in the house, &c. For the desire of hearing Him was stronger than the toil of approaching Him.

After this, they introduce the paralytic, of whom Matthew and Luke speak; wherefore there follows: And they came unto him bearing one sick of the palsy, who was carried by four.

Finding the door blocked up by the crowd, they could not by any means enter that way. Those who carried him, however, hoping that he could merit the grace of being healed, raising the bed with their burden, and uncovering the roof, lay him with his bed before the face of the Savior. And thus is that which is added: And when they could not lay him before him, &c.

There follows: But when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins be forgiven you. He did not mean the faith of the sick man, but of his bearers; for it sometimes happens, that a man is healed by the faith of another.

St. Bede, the Venerable: It may indeed be seen, how much each person's own faith weighs with God, when that of another had such influence that the whole man at once rose up, healed body and soul, and by one man's merit, another should have his sins forgiven him.

St. Theophylos: He saw the faith of the sick man himself, since he would not have allowed himself to be carried, unless he lad had faith to be healed.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Moreover, the Lord being about to cure the man of the palsy, first loosed the chains of his sins, in order to show that he was condemned to the loosening of his joints, because of the bonds of his sins, and could not be healed to the recovery of his limbs, unless these were first loosened. But Christ's wonderful humility calls this man, despised, weak, with all the joints of his limbs unstrung, a son, when the priests did not deign to touch him. Or at least, He therefore calls him a son, because his sins are forgiven him. It goes on: But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man speak blasphemies?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now they accuse Him of blasphemy, anticipating the sentence of His death: for there was a command in the Law, that whosoever blasphemed should be put to death. And this charge they laid upon Him, because He claimed for Himself the divine power of remitting sins: wherefore it is added, Who can forgive sin, save God only? For the Judge of all alone has power to forgive sin.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Who remits sin by those also to whom he has assigned the power of remitting, and therefore Christ is proved to be very God, for He is able to remit sins as God. The Jews then are in error, who although they hold the Christ both to be God, and to be able to remit sins, do not however believe that Jesus is the Christ. But the Arians err much more madly, who although overwhelmed with the words of the Evangelist, so that they cannot deny that Jesus is the Christ, and can remit sin, nevertheless fear not to deny that He is God.

But He Himself, desiring to shame the traitors both by His knowledge of things hidden and by the virtue of His works, manifests Himself to be God. For there follows: And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned, he said to them, Why reason you these things in your hearts? In which He shows Himself to be God, since He can know the hidden things of the heart; and in a manner though silent He speaks thus, With the same power and majesty, by which I look upon your thoughts, I can forgive the sins of men.

St. Theophylos: But though their thoughts were laid bare, still they remain insensible, refusing to believe that He who knew their hearts could forgive sins, wherefore the Lord proves to them the cure of the soul by that of the hotly, showing time invisible by the visible, that which is more difficult by that which is easier, although they did not look upon it as such. For the Pharisees thought it more difficult to heal the body, as being more open to view; but the soul more easy to cure, because the cure is invisible; so that they reasoned thus, Lo, He does not now cure the body, but heals the unseen soul; if He had had more power, lie would at once have cured the body, and not have fled for refuge to the unseen world. The Savior, therefore, showing that He can do both, says, which is the easier? as if He said, I indeed by the healing of time body, which is in reality more easy, but appears to you more difficult, will prove to you the health of the soul, which is really more difficult.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: And because it is easier to say than to do, there was still manifestly something to say in opposition, for the work was not yet manifested; wherefore He subjoins, But that you may know, &c. as if He said, Since you doubt my word, I will bring on a work which will confirm what was unseen. But He says in a marked manner, On earth to forgive sins, that He might show that He has joined the power of the divinity to the human nature by an inseparable union, because although He was made man, yet He remained the Worth of God; and although by an economy He conversed on the earth with men, nevertheless He was not prevented from working miracles and from giving remission of sins. For his human nature did not in any thing take away from these things which essentially belonged to His Divinity, nor the Divinity hinder the Word of God from becoming on earth, according to the flesh, time Son of Man without change and in truth.

St. Theophylos: Again, He Says, Take up your bed, to prove the greater certainty of the miracle, showing that it is not a mere illusion; and at time same time to show that He not only healed, but gave strength; thus He not only turns away souls from sin, but gives them the power of working out the commandments.

St. Bede, the Venerable: A carnal sign therefore is given, that the spiritual sign may be proved, although it belongs to the same power to do away with the distempers of both soul and body, whence it follows: And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all.

St. John Chrysostom: Further, He first healed by the remission of sins that which He had come to seek, that is, a soul, so that when they faithlessly doubted, then He might bring forward a work before them, and in this way His word might be confirmed by the work, and a hidden sign be proved by an open one, that is, the health of the soul by the healing of the body.

St. Bede, the Venerable: We are also informed, that many sicknesses of body arise from sins, and therefore perhaps sins are first remitted, that the causes of sickness being taken away, health may be restored. For men are afflicted by fleshly troubles for five causes, in order to increase their merits, as Job and the Martyrs; or to preserve their lowliness, as Paul by the messenger of Satan; or that they may perceive amid correct their sins, as Miriam, the sister of Moses, and this paralytic; or for the glory of God, as the man born blind and Lazarus; or as the beginnings of the pains of damnation, as Herod and Antiochus. But wonderful is the virtue of the divine power, where without the least interval of time, by time command of the Savior, a speedy health accompanies His words. Wherefore there follows: Insomuch that they were all amazed. Leaving the greater thing, that is, the remission of sins, they only wonder at that which is apparent, that is, the health of the body.

St. Theophylos: This is not however the paralytic, whose cure is related by John, for he had no man with him , this one had four; he is cured in the pool of the sheep market, but this one in a house. It is the same man, however, whose cure is related by Matthew and Mark. But mystically, Christ is still in Capernaum, in the house of consolation.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Moreover, whilst the Lord is preaching in the house, there is not room for them , not even at the door, because whilst Christ is preaching in Judea, the Gentiles are not yet able to enter to hear Hum, to whom, however, though placed without, he directed the words of His doctrine by His preachers.

Pseudo-Jerome: Again, the palsy is a type of the torpor, in which man lies slothful in the softness of the flesh, though desiring health.

St. Theophylos: If therefore I, having the powers of my mind unstrung, remain, whenever I attempt any thing good without strength, as a palsied man, and if I be raised on high by the four Evangelists, and be brought to Christ, and there hear myself called son, then also are my sins quitted by me; for a man is called the son of God because he works the commandments.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Or else, because there are four virtues, by which a man is through an assured heart exalted so that he merits safety; which virtues some call prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. Again, they desire to bring the palsied man to Christ, but they are impeded on every side by the crowd which is between them, because often the soul desires to be renewed by the medicine of Divine grace, but through the sluggishness of the groveling body is held back by the hindrance of old custom. Oftentimes amidst the very sweetnesses of secret prayer, and, as it may be called, the pleasant converse with God, a crowd of thoughts, cutting off the clear vision of the mind, shuts out Christ from its sight. Let us not then remain in the lowest ground, where the crowds are bustling, but aim at the roof of the house, that is, the sublimity of the Holy Scripture, and meditate on the law of the Lord.

St. Theophylos: But how should I be borne to Christ, if the roof be not opened. For the roof is the intellect, which is set above all those things which are within us; here it has much earth about it in the tiles which are made of clay, I mean, earthly things: but if these be taken away, the virtue of the intellect within us is freed from its load. After this let it be let down, that is, humbled. For it does not teach us to be puffed up, because our intellect has its load cleared away, but to be humbled still more.

St. Bede, the Venerable: Or else, the sick man is let down after the roof is opened, because, when the Scriptures are laid open to us, we arrive at the knowledge of Christ, that is, we descend to His lowliness, by the dutifulness of faith. But by the sick man being let down with his bed, it is meant that Christ should be known by man, whilst yet in the flesh. But by rising from the bed is meant the soul's rousing itself from carnal desires, in which it was lying in sickness. To take up the bed is to bridle the flesh itself by the bands of continence, and to separate it from earthly pleasures, through the hope of heavenly rewards. But to take up the bed and to go home is to return to paradise. Or else the man, now healed, who had been sick carries back home his bed, when the soul, after receiving remission of sins, returns, even though encompassed with the body, to its internal watch over itself.

St. Theophylos: It is necessary to take up also one's bed, that is the body, to the working of good. For then shall we be able to arrive at contemplation, so that our thoughts should say within us, never have we seen in this way before, that is never understood as we have done since we have been cured of the palsy; for he who is cleansed from sin, sees more purely.

10 FEB 08: SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY: Restoration of the Veneration of Icons

Lenten Themes: The Veneration of Icons in the Eastern Tradition (From Byzantines.net)

"We venerate Your sacred image, O Lord, and we beg forgiveness of our sins."

There is a renewed interest and appreciation of iconography among Byzantine Catholics in the United States. It is an encouraging indication of a return to our centuries-old traditions. Out ancestors, accepted Christianity in the Byzantine Rite, also accepted the practice of venerating holy icons. Without them our liturgical worship becomes sorely mutilated and loses a great deal of its solemnity and splendor. Let us them become acquainted with the history, the meaning and the true spirit of the veneration of icons.

Strictly speaking, an icon (Gr. eikon-image, picture) is a portable sacred image, painted on a piece of wood according to the style and techniques of Byzantine art. But in its broader sense, as it will be considered here, an icon is any sacred image painted, or otherwise reproduced, for the purpose of veneration. The holy icon should not be considered as an object of art or decoration, but rather as a sacred object, fostering devotion and piety. Through the veneration of icons we should feel closer to God and to things divine.

Icons were used in the first centuries of Christianity, first as an object of decoration or private devotion, and later exposed in Christian churches for public veneration. Apocryphal writings of the second century relate that the icon of the Blessed Mother painted by St. Luke was the first icon. According to another legend, Jesus himself gave and "image of His sacred face," called the Icon Made Without Hands ("Nerukotvorennyj Obraz"), to the Apostle Thaddeus, who used it for miraculous healing and the conversion of the Chaldean King Abgar of Edessa (cf. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. I, 13). Although these are only legends, nevertheless they confirm an historical fact that in the East the veneration of icons originated in the Syro-Palestinian region, the cradle of Christianity.

It seems that the first icons were of the Holy Martyrs and their deeds which were painted in their oratories, as indicated by the homilies of St. Basil the Great (d. 379) and St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394). Only later, some time during the fifth century, were the icons of Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Mother introduced. By the sixth century Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, became a great center of sacred art. It was in Constantinople that a special style of icon painting was developed which became known as the Byzantine style, and eventually becoming the pride of Byzantine art.

The golden age of Byzantine art and iconography began in the middle of the ninth century and ended with the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. Unfortunately, due to the iconoclasm (violent opposition against the veneration of icons and sacred objects) of the eighth and ninth centuries, almost all primitive icons were destroyed. Today, the best collection of holy icons (the 6th-15th centuries) is preserved at the Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai, which was built by Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century.

The ancestors of the Ruthenians received Christianity at the end of the ninth century when Byzantine art was in its golden age and iconography became a generally understood language in the Byzantine Church. Byzantine art, reaching various peoples and cultures, necessarily became subject to some changes according to the needs and genius of the particular countries. Thus, throughout the centuries, we can recognize various schools of icon painting which constitute the national heritage of the given places.

In the Carpathian region we have holy icons dating from the sixteenth century when the Ruthenian local iconographers (educated mostly in Kiev and L'viv) started to "nationalize" their style in order to make them more "popular". The oldest icon, painted by an unknown local artist, is the icon of the Blessed Mother in the village of Izki, Volove County (end of the 16th c.). In the opinion of contemporary art-critics this icons is the "highest achievement of Carpathian painting."

An icon does not represent the Divinity. But, by its symbolic pictorial language, it testifies to the participation of Christians in the divine life. Thus, the icon becomes a "manifestation of divine life" among men, a "transfigured vision" of divine mysteries, a "vision of the invisible" (Hebr. 11: 1), - indeed, a true "theology in color." The icons representing the saints, also, to some extent share in their sanctity and glory. Consequently, they become "vessels of grace," present and working as in their relics. St. John Damascene offers the following explanation: "The Saints, during their earthly life, are filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. After their departure the same grace remains in their souls as in their bodies (relics-I Cor. 6:19). The very same grace is present and active in their sacred image and icons." (P.G. 94, 1249D).

Thus the holy icon becomes a means of communion with the Saints and a source of special graces and even of miracles. This explains the existence of many miraculous icons, through which Jesus Christ, the Blessed Mother and the Saints continue to bestow favors and to work miracles.
In the Subcarpathian region there are several miraculous icons of the Blessed Mother, the most important of which are in Klokochovo (from the middle of the 17th c.), in Mariapovch (by artist S. Papp, 1676), and in Krasnyj Brod (by the Basilian artist, M. Spalinskyj, 1769). The miraculous icon at the Basilian Monastery in Mukachevo is not of local origin. It was painted in Constantinople, 1453 and was donated by Pope Pius XI to the Eparchy of Mukachevo on 1926.

In the Old Testament, due to the danger of idolatry, God forbade the Jews to worship the "carved image or likeness" of any creature (Ex. 20:4-5; expl. Duet. 4:15-20). In the first centuries the Christians, too, in the face of paganism and idolatry, adhered to these Mosaic ordinances. The frescoes from the second and third centuries found in the catacombs served only as decoration. But after the victory of Christianity over paganism (313 A.D.), when Christianity theology was sufficiently developed, the Fathers of the Church gradually admitted the public veneration of icons. The iconoclastic fury of Emperor Leo the Isaurian (717-741), during which the leading defenders of the icons were St. Germanus of Constantinople (d. 733) and St. John Damascene (d. 749) made the Church define her teachings. In reply, at the seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicea (787), the Church's teaching concerning the veneration of icons was solemnly proclaimed.

The Fathers explained that the veneration of icons, theologically, was based on the mystery of incarnation, since in the person of Jesus Christ we received revelation not only of the "Word of God" (Jn. 1:1-14), but also of the "Image of God," as attested by St. Paul saying that Jesus is the "image (eikon) of the unseen God." (Col.1:15) Jesus Himself testified : " To have seen Me is to have seen the Father!" (Jn. 14:9)

The following is the teaching of the Church on holy icons:

1. The Mosaic Law (Gen 20:4-5) was a temporary provision against idolatry which, in time, lost its relevance.
2. Jesus, by taking human flesh (by His incarnation) revoked the prohibition of the Old Testament, since He became the "visible image (eikon) of God," manifesting "God's glory" on His face. (II Cor. 4:4-6)
3. Jesus Christ, by His glorious resurrection, also glorified His human nature, which reflected His divinity. (comp. Transfiguration, Mt. 17:2)
4. God created man to His own "image (eikon) and likeness" (Gen. 1:26) and, after the fall of Adam, our Savior Jesus Christ restored our human nature to its pristine glory. (II Cor. 3:18)
5. The honor given to an icon is only veneration (proskynesis) and not adoration (douleia), which is given to God only.
6. The honor extended to an icon by a bow, a prayer, a kiss, incense or the burning of a candle is relative, i.e. it "passes on to him who is represented on it (to its prototype)" (cf. St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit, 18).

Our ancestors venerated holy icons not in their churches, but also in their homes. These were called-devotional icons, believed to protect their homes and to secure for them the continuous flow of God's blessings. These icons usually occupied a prominent place in every home and were decorated with an embroidered cloth and flowers. A hanging vigil lamp or votive candle added to the spiritual atmosphere of the room. Any visitor entering the home was expected to take off his hat and to pay homage to the icon before he would greet the host.

The ancient rules of Christian house-keeping from the sixteenth century, entitled "Domostroj" (House-keeping), reminded our ancestors: "The Christian should have, in every room of his house, a holy and venerable icon or image, decorated with a veil (embroidery), and provided with a votive lamp (candle). The lamp should be burning as prayers are said as a sign of veneration and proper respect.."

This traditional and praiseworthy devotion to the home icon is being recommended in our religious education classes throughout the Metropolitan Province of Pittsburgh in the form of an "Icon Corner." Hopefully, it will win the support of parents and become a prayer shrine for the entire family.

FATHERS AND SPIRITUAL WRITERS ON HOLY ICONS

St. Gregory Palamos: On the Holy Icons
'You shall not make an image of anything in the heavens above, or in the earth below, or in the sea' (cf. Ex 20.4), in such a way that you worship these things and glorify them as gods. For all are the creations of the one God, created by Him in the Holy Spirit through His Son and Logos, who as Logos of God in these latter times took flesh from a virgin's womb, appeared on earth and associated with men, and who for the salvation of men suffered, died and rose again, ascended with His body into the heavens, and 'sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High' (Heb 1.3), and who will come again with His body to judge the living and the dead. Out of love for Him you should make, therefore, an icon of Him who became man for our sakes, and through His icon you should bring Him to mind and worship Him, elevating your intellect through it to the venerable body of the Saviour, that is set on the right hand of the Father in heaven.

In like manner you should also make icons of the saints and venerate them, not as gods --for this is forbidden-- but because of the attachment, inner affection and sense of surpassing honour that you feel for the saints when by means of their icons the intellect is raised up to them. It was in this spirit that Moses made icons of the Cherubim within the Holy of Holies (cf. Ex 25.18). The Holy of Holies itself was an image of things supercelestial (cf. Ex 25.40; Heb 8.5), while the Holy place was an image of the entire world. Moses called these things holy, not glorifying what is created, but through it glorifying God the Creator of the world. You must not, then, deify the icons of Christ and of the saints, but through them you should venerate Him who originally created us in His own image, and who subsequently consented in His ineffable compassion to assume the human image and to be circumscribed by it.

You should venerate not only the icon of Christ, but also the similitude of His cross. For the cross is Christ's great sign and trophy of victory over the devil and all his hostile hosts; for this reason they tremble and flee when they see the figuration of the cross. This figure, even prior to the crucifixion, was greatly glorified by the prophets and wrought great wonders; and when He who was hung upon it, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes again to judge the living and the dead, this His great and terrible sign will precede Him, full of power and glory (cf. Mt 24.30). So glorify the cross now, so that you may boldly look upon it then and be glorified with it. And you should venerate icons of the saints, for the saints have been crucified with the Lord; and you should make the sign of the cross upon your person before doing so, bringing to mind their communion in the sufferings of Christ. In the same way you should venerate their holy shrines and any relic of their bones; for God's grace is not sundered from these things, even as the divinity was not sundered from Christ's venerable body at the time of His life-quickening death. By doing this and by glorifying those who glorified God --for through their actions they showed themselves to be perfect in their love for God-- you too will be glorified together with them by God, and with David you will chant: 'I have held Thy friends in high honour, O Lord' (Ps 139.17 LXX).

Constantine Cavarnos: Introduction to Guide to Byzantine Iconography
...Just as words edify the ear, so also the image stimulates the eye. What the book is to the literate, the image is to the illiterate. Just as words speak to the ear, so the image speaks to the sight; it brings us understanding. For this reason God ordered the ark to be constructed of wood which would not decay, and to be gilded outside and in, and for the tablets to be placed inside, with Aaron's staff and the golden urn containing the manna, in order to provide a remembrance of the past, and an image of the future.

Who can say that these were not images, heralds sounding from far off? ...Obviously they were not adored for their own sake, but through them the people were led to remember the wonders of old and to worship God, the worker of wonders. They were images serving as memorials; they were not divine, but led to the remembrance of divine power. St. John of Damascus: On the Holy Images

A wise physician does not prescribe the same kind of medicine for all, or for the same patient at all times, but according to his condition. He distinguishes the place, the kind of sickness, the time and the age of the patient..." God, being "an excellent physician of souls," acts in the same manner. He forbade the making and veneration of images "to those who were spiritually in an infantile state and were suffering from the disease of idolatry, even considering the idols to be gods and worshipping them as gods, abandoning the worship of God and offering to creation the glory due to God." St. John of Damascus, quoted in Cavarnos, Guide to Byzantine Iconography

Byzantine iconography is a sacred art. It is an art that is spiritual in essence and aims. It has seven functions:

(1) To enhance the beauty of a church with a beauty that has the impress of holiness.
(2) To instruct us in matters pertaining to the Orthodox Christian faith.
(3) To remind us of this teaching.
(4) To lift us up to the prototypes, to the holy personages whom the icons depict.
(5) To arouse us to imitate the virtues of these personages.
(6) To help transform us, to sanctify us.
(7) To serve as a means of worshipping God and venerating His saints.

Bishop Theodosius, Extracts from the Acts of the 7th Ecumenical Council
For if the people go forth with lights and incense to meet the images of the Emperors when they are sent to cites or rural districts, they honor surely not the tablet covered over with wax, but the Emperor himself. How much more it is necessary that in the churches of Christ our God, the image of God our Saviour and of His spotless Mother and of all the holy and blessed fathers and ascetics should be painted. Even as also St. Basil says: 'Writers and painters set forth the great deeds of war; the one by word, the other by their pencils; and each stirs many to courage. How much pains have you ever taken that you might find one of the Saints who was willing to be your importunate intercessor to the Lord?'

St. John of Damascus: On the Holy Images
If you speak of pagan abuses, these abuses do not make our veneration of images loathsome. Blame the pagans, who made images into gods! Just because the pagans used them in a foul way, that is no reason to object to our pious practice. Sorcerers and magicians use incantations and the Church prays over catechumens; the former conjure up demons while the Church calls upon God to exorcise the demons. Pagans make images of demons which they address as gods, but we make images of God incarnate, and of His servants and friends, and with them we drive away the demonic hosts....If the Scripture says, The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands (Ps. 135:15), it is not forbidden to bow before inanimate things, or the handiwork of men, but only before those images which are the devil's work.

Lorenzo Scupoli (Unseen Warfare: Chapter 23)
In former times God, who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take His abode in matter; who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation! I honor it, but not as God. How could God be born out of things which have no existence in themselves? God's body is God because it is joined to His person by a union which shall never pass away. The divine nature remains the same; the flesh created in time is quickened by a reason endowed soul. Because of this I salute all remaining matter with reverence, because God has filled it with His grace and power. Through it my salvation has come to me. Was not the thrice-happy and thrice blessed wood of the Cross matter? What of the life bearing rock, the holy and life-giving tomb, the fountain of our resurrection, was it not matter? Is not the ink in the most holy Gospel-book matter? Is not the life-giving altar made of matter? From it we receive the bread of life! Are not gold and silver matter? From them we make crosses, patens, chalices! And over and above all these things, is not the Body and Blood of our Lord matter? Either do away with the honor and veneration these things deserve, or accept the tradition of the Church and the veneration of images... Let the icons of the saints bring to your mind how many intercessors you have always praying for you before God, and how many allies fighting for you in your unceasing battles. Having themselves courageously fought the enemies throughout their lives and overcome them, they have revealed and shown you the art of waging war. If, with their help, you are alert in fighting your battles, you will, like them, be crowned with victory in the eternal glory of heaven.

St. John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
Often, doubtless, when we have not the Lord's passion in mind and see the image of Christ's crucifixion, His saving passion is brought back to remembrance, and we fall down and worship not the material but that which is imaged: just as we do not worship the material of which the Gospels are made, nor the material of the Cross, but that which these typify. For wherein does the cross, that typifies the Lord, differ from a cross that does not do so? It is just the same also in the case of the Mother of the Lord. For the honor which we give to her is referred to Him Who was made of her incarnate. And similarly also the brave acts of holy men stir us up to be brave and to emulate and imitate their valor and to glorify God. For as we said, the honor that is given to the best of fellow-servants is a proof of good-will towards our common Lady, and the honor rendered to the image passes over to the prototype. But this is an unwritten tradition, just as is also the worshipping towards the East and the worship of the Cross, and very many other similar things.

St. John of Damascus, On the Divine Images
Since the invisible One became visible by taking on flesh, you can fashion the image of Him whom you saw. Since He who has neither body, nor form, nor quantity, nor quality, who goes beyond all grandeur by the excellence of His nature, He, being of divine nature, took on the condition of a slave and reduced Himself to quantity and to quality by clothing Himself in human features. Therefore, paint on wood and present for contemplation Him who desired to become visible.

Some would say: Make an image of Christ and of His Mother, the Theotokos, and let that be enough. What foolishness! Your own impious words prove that you utterly despise the saints. If you make an image of Christ, and not of the saints, it is evident that you do not forbid images, but refuse to honor the saints. You make images of Christ as one who is glorified, yet you deprive the saints of their rightful glory, and call truth falsehood. The Lord says, I will glorify those who glorify Me (1 Sam. 2:30)....The Scripture calls the saints gods, when it says, God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods He holds judgment (Ps. 82:1). St. Gregory interprets these words to mean that God takes His place in the assembly of the saints, determining the glory due to each. The saints during their earthly lives were filled with the Holy Spirit, and when they fulfill their course, His grace continues to abide with their spirits and with their bodies in the tombs, and also with their likenesses and holy images, not by the nature of these things, but by grace and power.

The holy Basil says: "Both painters of words and painters of pictures illustrate valor in battle; the former by the art of rhetoric; the latter by clever use of the brush, and both encourage everyone to be brave. A spoken account edifies the ear, while a silent picture induces imitation.

Things which have already taken place are remembered by means of images, whether for the purpose of inspiring wonder, or honor, or shame, or to encourage those who look upon them to practice good and avoid evil. These images are of two kinds: either they are words written in books, as when God had the law engraved on tablets and desired the lives of holy men to be recorded, or else they are material images, such as the jar of manna, or Aaron's staff, which were to be kept in the ark as a memorial. So when we record events and good deeds of the past, we use images ....

What more conspicuous proof do we need that images are the books of the illiterate, the never silent heralds of the honor due the saints, teaching without use of words those who gaze upon them, and sanctifying the sense of sight? Suppose I have few books, or little leisure for reading, but walk into the spiritual hospital--that is to say, a church -- with my soul choking from the prickles of thorny thoughts, and thus afflicted I see before me the brilliance of the icon. I am refreshed as if in a verdant meadow, and thus my soul is led to glorify God...

Constantine Cavarnos, Guide to Byzantine Iconography
Typically, only Christ, Moses, and Elias are shown with halos in icons that depict the Transfiguration. In some, the disciples, too, have halos. This, however, is not proper, for they are not yet at this stage Saints, persons filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, as is evinced plainly by the fact that they could not endure seeing the Divine light steadily, but were dazed and fell down to the ground. Moses and Elias, on the other hand, show themselves to have attained sainthood, because they could behold the Divine glory without being blinded by it and falling to the ground: they stand up on their feet in a peaceful, graceful and reverential attitude. What distinguishes stylistically the works of Byzantine iconography from those of classical art which also have these features [simplicity, clarity, measure, grace, symmetry] is above all the quality of `hieraticalness' - the spiritual solemnity, the sanctity which emanates from its figures. This is expressed not only by their halos, but also by their facial expression, their postures, their gestures, their garments. The hieratic manner in which they are depicted gives expression to the Christian virtues of purity, long-suffering, forgiveness, compassion, spiritual knowledge, and spiritual love.

9 FEB 08 - ALL SOULS SATURDAY

ALL SOULS SATURDAY

"The Holy Fathers were convinced that the commemoration of the departed by alms and sacrifices (Divine Liturgies) brings great comfort and benefit to them."
SYNAXARION FOR MEAT-FARE SATURDAY


One of the most venerable traditions in the Church, equally observed in the West as in the East, is the commemoration of the departed in our liturgical prayers. It is the constant teaching of the Church since Apostolic times (cf. Synaxarion) that our prayers, offerings and good deeds can help the departed. St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) in speaking of the faithful departed reminded his people;

…Let us assist them according to our power. Let us think of some advantage for them, small though it be, but let us assist them. How and in what way? By praying for them, by asking others to pray for them, and by constantly giving (alms) to the poor in their behalf! (HOMILY ON PHILL. 3, 4)

It is of great consolation for us, the surviving friends and relatives of our faithful departed, to be able to help them and thus remain united to them by a bond of everlasting love. St. Ambrose (d. 397), preaching at the commemoration of Emperor Theodosius on the fortieth day after his death in 395, consoled his survivors with the words:

... I love the man (Emperor) and I will not abandon him until, by my tears and prayers, I shall lead him into the Holy Mountain of God (Ps. 2:6), where there is life eternal!

(FUNERAL ORATION ON THEODOSIUS, 37)

The custom of offering prayers and sacrifices for the departed comes to us from the Old Testament. Holy Scripture praises the custom as holy and wholesome or pious, as is written in the II Maccabees 12:45: "It is therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins." In the Catholic Church, the commemoration of the dead is considered as one of the main works of mercy. St. Paul prayed for his devoted friend Onesiphorus that the Lord "grant him mercy" as he stands before God’s judgment seat. (II Tim. 1:18)

All the early Liturgies of the Church, including the most ancient one, the Liturgy of St. James, contain a prayer for the departed. In the Liturgies of St. Basil the Great (d. 379) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) prayers for the deceased are also included. St. John Chrysostom interprets this in these words:

…Not in vain did the Apostles order that remembrance should be made of the dead in the awesome Mysteries (i.e. the Liturgy). They knew that great gain resulted to them (the deceased), and great benefit. For when the whole assembly (of the people) stands with uplifted hands and that awesome Sacrifice lies displayed, how shall we not prevail with God by our entreaty for them? And this we do for those who have departed in faith!

(HOMILY ON PHILL. 3, 4)

The Apostolic Constitutions (IV c.) prescribed that during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the deacon should remind the faithful to pray for the deceased, saying:

Let us pray for our brethren that are fallen asleep in Christ, that God, the Lover of mankind, Who has received their souls, may forgive them every voluntary and involuntary sin, and may be merciful and gracious to them, placing them in the land of righteousness . . . where there is no pain, sorrow or lamentation. (APOST. CONST., VIII, 41)

Therefore, the Fathers of Vatican II rightly decreed that the Church "from the very first centuries of Christianity has cultivated the memory of the dead with great piety" and "offered prayers for them." (cf. Constitution on the Church, n. 50.)

In the Byzantine Rite, we commemorate the deceased every day at the Divine Liturgy immediately after the Consecration with the petition: "Remember, 0 Lord, all those who have departed in the hope of resurrection unto eternal life N.N…and grant them rest where the light of Your face shines." (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

In our liturgical calendar, Saturdays are dedicated, in a special way, to prayer for the deceased. Following St. John Damascene, the Synaxarion supplies us with this reason: "The Sabbath (Saturday) in Hebrew means rest, since on that day God rested from His work. (Gen. 2:2-3) We make a remembrance of the deceased on that ‘day of rest’ for they are ‘resting’ from all their earthly cares." When commemorating our departed, we constantly implore God to give them eternal rest (O. Sl. Vichnyj pokoj) since, according to the Scriptures, to enter into God’s rest means to join Him in an eternal life of happiness. (Heb. 4:3-11; Apoc. 14:13) St. Ambrose explains this by saying: "It is a great rest which fulfills the prayer of the living, a most glorious promise." (Or. on Theodosius, 37)

In accord with this, the Byzantine Church has, since the ninth century, established a special day of prayer for the departed popularly known as "Zadushna Subota" (Gr. Psycho-sabbaton; psyche-soul) which literally translated means Souls Saturday. Since the Synaxarion calls for the "universal commemoration" and prayer for "all the souls departed in the faith," fitingly then, in English, we call these Saturdays—All Souls Saturdays.

In the Byzantine Liturgical Year there are five All Souls Saturdays namely, Meat Fare Saturday, the Second, Third and Fourth Saturdays of the Great Lent, and Pentecost Saturday.

Meat-Fare Saturday as a special day of prayer for the deceased can be traced down to the sixth and seventh century, the time when the Typikon of St. Saba, known as the Jerusalem Typikon, had developed. The Synaxarion, which is the liturgical description of the feast or commemoration, of this day is based on the oratory treatise, On Those Who Died in Faith, which is ascribed to St. John Damascene. (cf. Migne, PG. 95, 247-278) On Meat-Fare Sunday we liturgically commemorate the Last Judgment (Mt. 25:31-46). Therefore, on the previous day, we, in our charity, intercede with the merciful Judge for the deceased that they be placed at His right hand when He will come to judge the living and the dead.

When the Triodion, the liturgical book for the Easter cycle, was basically compiled during the ninth century, the Second, Third and Fourth Saturdays of Lent were also dedicated to the commemoration of the dead. The reasons for designating these days were: 1. to make up for the a-liturgical days of the Great Lent since in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which is prescribed for Lent, there is no commemoration of the dead; 2. to remind us of our own death and make our penitential exercises during Lent more meaningful; and 3. to give us an opportunity to practice good deeds in behalf of our faithful departed and renew our love for them.

On Pentecost Saturday we commemorate "all the departed souls since Adam" (cf. Pentecostanon). By the Descent of the Holy Spirit, commemorated on Pentecost Sunday, the economy of our salvation was completed. Since the will of God is that "all men be saved" (I Tim. 2:4), therefore the day preceding this Feast is set aside as a day of prayer for all the deceased so that they be included in the salutary work of Christ.

From the beginning of Christianity, local churches kept registers of their living members as well as those who departed. These registers were folding tablets made of wood, ivory, or precious metals artistically decorated with carvings and bound together by rings. They are known as diptychs, taken from the Greek word diptychon, which means anything folded in two. These were used in Church to commemorate the living and the dead at the Divine Liturgy since the fourth century.

In the Byzantine Church, these diptychs played an important role since the names of the heretics and the excommunicated were removed from them and, by the same token, these were excluded from the liturgical prayers. They came into disuse sometime during the fourteenth century and, eventually, they were replaced by official lists of the deceased members of individual families issued by the pastor. These were called Hramoty, from the Greek: grammata, meaning a written letter or document. The list of the deceased members of a family made in booklet form was called a Pom janik, taken from the Old Slavonic: pomjanuti, meaning to remember, and was used at the services for the deceased.

The custom of announcing the names of the deceased during the liturgical services, as stated above, can be traced back to the first centuries of Christianity. Already in the fourth century, the practice was strongly defended by St. Epiphanius (d. 403) as a "firmly established tradition" in the Church. In his Panarios, he writes:

…Concerning the ritual of reading the names of the deceased, what can be more useful or suitable; what can be more worthy of admiration? (PANARIOS 75, 8)

Our ancestors as a part of our beautiful spiritual heritage transmitted this venerable custom to us. Every year, just before Meat-Fare Saturday, the families give the lists of their departed loved ones (Hramoty) to the pastor with the request that they be mentioned at the services held for the deceased on the All Souls Saturday. And St. John Chrysostom assures us that: "It is a great honor to be worthy of mention, while the celebration of the Holy Mysteries is going on." (Homily on the Acts 21, 4) Members of the family are encouraged to attend these services on the All Souls Saturdays for by their presence and by their personal prayers and receiving Holy Communion they strengthen the bond of love with their departed loved ones and indeed keep their memory everlasting!

St. Gregory of Nazianz (d. 390), after celebrating the funeral services for his brother Caesarius, concluded his eulogy with the following words: "Part of my funeral gift is now completed. The remainder we will pay by offering every year, as long as we live, our honors and memorials for him!" (Oration VII, 17) We also should emulate St. Gregory by remembering our departed loved ones, especially during the All Souls Saturdays, as long as we live, and point out to those coming after us the wholesomeness of this beautiful and praiseworthy custom of praying for and remembering our departed loved ones.

In the burial service according to the Byzantine Rite, the Church places the following words on the lips of the deceased, as we sing the hymns prescribed in bidding our departed loved one our final farewell:

…Come all you that love me and bid me farewell, for I shall no longer walk with you nor talk with you, since I am going to my Judge, Who shows no favors and rewards or punishes everyone according to his deeds. Therefore, I beg and implore all of you, pray for me continually to Christ our God that, on account of my sins, I may not be doomed into the place of affliction, but rather be granted a place where the light of life is shining!

PRAYER FOR THE DECEASED

(Ascribed to St. John Chrysostom)

O God of all spiritual and corporeal beings, You trampled death, broke the power of Satan and granted life to the whole world; now, O Lord, grant also rest to the soul of Your departed servant N. in a place of light, freshness, and peace, where there is no pain, sorrow, or mourning. As a gracious God and loving mankind, forgive him (her) every transgression committed by him (her) in word, deed, or thought, since there is no man alive who has not sinned. You alone are without sin and Your justice is everlasting justice, and Your word is always the truth.

For You are the resurrection, the life and the rest of Your departed servant N., O Christ our God, and we render glory to You, together with Your Eternal Father, and Your most Holy, gracious, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever. Amen.

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"He (the Priest) acts as an ambassador on behalf of the whole city—even on behalf of the whole world—and prays that God would be merciful and forgive the sins of all, not only of the living, but also of the departed."

(St. John Chrysostom, ON THE PRIESTHOOD VI, 4)
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = == =
ALL SOULS SATURDAY
Praying for the dead
We believe that the souls of men who have fallen into mortal sins and at death have not despaired, but have still repented before parting with the present life, who only have not managed to offer any fruits of repentance (such fruits could be their prayers, tears, kneelings during prayer vigils, contrition, consoling the poor and actions expressing love for God and neighbor) - the souls of such men go down to Hades and endure punishments for the sins committed by them, not being deprived, however, of hope for relief. They receive relief according to God's endless goodness through the prayers of the priests and the benefactions performed for the dead, and especially by virtue of the Bloodless Sacrifice, which, in particular, a sacred minister offers for each Christian and for his close ones, and in general the Catholic and Apostolic Church offers it daily for all.
Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs

Nothing unreasonable, nothing useless has been handed down from Christ's preachers and disciples and accepted successively by God's Church; to perform the commemoration of those fallen asleep in the right faith at the divine and most glorious Mystery is a deed very pleasing to God and beneficial.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa

The priest humbly entreats God's goodness, that He remit the transgressions of the dead man which have happened through human weakness, that He accept him into the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, "from whence pain, sorrow and sighing have fled," disregarding, in His love for man, every sin committed by him who has departed from life. For no one is pure of sin, as say the prophets.
Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite

When the names of those who have fallen asleep are remembered in prayers, what can be more beneficial for them this? The living believe that the dead also are not deprived of existence, but live with God. Just as the Holy church teaches us to pray for brethren who with faith and hope are traveling, that the prayers performed for them are beneficial, in such a way ought one to understand also the prayers performed for those who have departed from this world.

Hierarch Epiphanius of Cyprus

Pro-Life Prayers

Special petitions to be inserted in the Litany of Supplication after the Gospel

O God, our heavenly Father, Creator of all human life, we adore You and worship You. You create all people in Your image and likeness. May we, Your people, dedicate ourselves to defending the pre-born, the terminally ill, the disabled and all those threatened by the culture of death from all seen and unseen evil, we pray you hear us and have mercy.

Lord, have mercy. (3x)

O God, our heavenly Father, Author of all life, help us to always respect all human life, from conception to natural death. Let your Most Holy Spirit enlighten the minds and open the hearts of those who do not fully respect all human life according to Your will. Reveal Your loving presence to expectant mothers who experience fear, doubt, isolation and confusion. Lighten their burdens. Grant them guidance, reassurance and peace by Your grace, we pray you hear us and have mercy.

Lord, have mercy. (3x)

We also pray for those who are despondent because of age or illness; especially for those tempted to end their lives; for all who are alone and afraid: for those who sit on death row; for single mothers feeling abandoned by all: that our heavenly Father would grant them the patient endurance to do His will, we pray You, hear us and graciously have mercy.


Lord, have mercy. (3x)

3 FEB 08: CHEESEFARE: (Farewell to Cheese) Prelude to the Great Fast

"Cheesefare Sunday" also called "Forgiveness Sunday," marks the beginning of Great Lent beginning at Sundown. The prelude to Great Lent begins with the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee; during that week, fasting is "not" permitted, including on the usual Wednesday-and-Friday fast. On the Sunday of the Prodigal Son the usual fasting schedule continues. On Meatfare Sunday or the "Sunday of the Last Judgment" (last Sunday), is traditionally the last day that observant Eastern Catholic & Orthodox Christians are to eat meat, before Pascha (Easter). This week, we could eat fish and dairy, but not meat. On Cheesefare Sunday, at sun down, we bid farewell to dairy as well; hence, "Cheesefare." This includes wine and for some, all alcoholic beverages, and, for some, foods cooked in oil (olive oil, for some; for others, any cooking oil). We bid these things farewell until Pascha (Easter).

Now comes the question: "Why do we fast?" Well... I'll leave that to the Fathers... read on...

Fasting
There is both a physical and a spiritual fast. In the physical fast the body abstains from food and drink. In the spiritual fast, the faster abstains from evil intentions, words and deeds. One who truly fasts abstains from anger, rage, malice, and vengeance. One who truly fasts abstains from idle and foul talk, empty rhetoric, slander, condemnation, flattery, lying and all manner of spiteful talk. In a word, a real faster is one who withdraws from all evil.
As much as you subtract from the body, so much will you add to the strength of the soul.
* * *
By fasting it is possible both to be delivered from future evils and to enjoy the good things to come. We fell into disease through sin; let us receive healing through repentance, which is not fruitful without fasting.
* * *
True fasting lies is rejecting evil, holding one's tongue, suppressing one's hatred, and banishing one's lust, evil words, lying, and betrayal of vows.
Holy Hierarch Basil the Great

Do you fast? Then feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the imprisoned, have pity on the tortured, comfort those who grieve and who weep, be merciful, humble, kind, calm, patient, sympathetic, forgiving, reverent, truthful and pious, so that God might accept your fasting and might plentifully grant you the fruits of repentance.
Fasting of the body is food for the soul.
* * *
It is necessary most of all for one who is fasting to curb anger, to accustom himself to meekness and condescension, to have a contrite heart, to repulse impure thoughts and desires, to examine his conscience, to put his mind to the test and to verify what good has been done by us in this or any other week, and which deficiency we have corrected in ourself in the present week. This is true fasting.
* * *
As bodily food fattens the body, so fasting strengthens the soul; imparting it an easy flight, it makes it able to ascend on high, to contemplate lofty things and to put the heavenly higher than the pleasant and pleasurable things of life.
* * *
The point is not only that we should come to church each day, that we should continually listen to one and the same thing, and that we should fast for the whole Forty Days. No! If we, from continually coming here and listening to the teaching, do not acquire anything and do not derive any good for our soul from the time of the fast ­ all this does not procure for us any benefit, but rather serves for our greater condemnation, when despite such concern for us by the Church we remain just the same as before. Do not say to me that I fasted for so many days, that I did not eat this or that, that I did not drink wine, that I endured want; but show me if thou from an angry man hast become gentle, if thou from a cruel man hast become benevolent. If thou art filled with anger, why oppress thy flesh? If hatred and avarice are within thee, of what benefit is it that thou drinkest water? Do not show forth a useless fast: for fasting alone does not ascend to heaven.
* * *
Fasting is wonderful, because it tramples our sins like a dirty weed, while it cultivates and raises truth like a flower.
Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom

Whosoever rejects the fasts, deprives himself and others of weapons against his own much-suffering flesh and against the devil, who have power over us especially as the result of our intemperance.
* * *
We are told: It is no big deal to eat non-Lenten food during Lent. It is no big deal if you wear expensive beautiful outfits, go to the theater, to parties, to masquerade balls, use beautiful expensive china, furniture, expensive carriages and dashing steeds, amass and hoard things, etc. Yet what is it that turns our heart away from God, away from the Fountain of Life? Because of what do we lose eternal life? Is it not because of gluttony, of expensive clothing like that of the rich man of the Gospel story, is it not because of theaters and masquerades? What turns us hard-hearted toward the poor and even toward our relatives? Is it not our passion for sweets, for satisfying the belly in general, for clothing, for expensive dishes, furniture, carriages, for money and other things? Is it possible to serve God and mammon, to be a friend to the world and a friend to God, to serve Christ and Belial? That is impossible.
Why did Adam and Eve lose paradise, why did they fall into sin and death? Was it not because of one evil? Let us attentively consider why we do not care about the salvation of our soul, which cost the Son of God so dearly. Why do we compound sin upon sin, fall endlessly into opposing to God, into a life of vanity? Is it not because of a passion for earthly things and especially for earthly pleasures? What makes our hearts become crude? Why do we become flesh and not spirit, perverting our moral nature? Is it not because of a passion for food, drink, and other earthly comforts? How after this can one say that it does not matter whether you eat non-Lenten food during Lent? The fact that we talk this way is in fact pride, idle thought, disobedience, refusal to submit to God, and separation from Him.
Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt

The greatest of the virtues is prayer, while their foundation is fasting.
* * *
The reason that fasting has an effect on the spirits of evil rests in its powerful effect on our own spirit. A body subdued by fasting brings the human spirit freedom, strength, sobriety, purity, and keen discernment.
Holy Hierarch Ignaty Brianchaninov

If thou, O man, dost not forgive everyone who has sinned against thee, then do not trouble thyself with fasting. If thou dost not forgive the debt of thy brother, with whom thou art angry for some reason, then thou dost fast in vain ­ God will not accept thee. Fasting will not help thee, until thou wilt become accomplished in love and in the hope of faith. Whoever fasts and becomes angry, and harbors enmity in his heart, such a one hates God and salvation is far from him.
Venerable Ephraim the Syrian

A excellent faster is he who restrains himself from every impurity, who imposes abstinence on his tongue and restrains it from idle talk, foul language, slander, condemnation, flattery and all manner of evil­speaking, who abstains from anger, rage, malice and vengeance and withdraws from every evil.
* * *
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.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk

Seest thou what fasting does: it heals illnesses, drives out demons, removes wicked thoughts, makes the heart pure. If someone has even been seized by an impure spirit, let him know that this kind, according to the word of the Lord, "goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21).
Saint Athanasius the Great

The strictness of the Quadragesima [the Forty Days] mortifies the passions, extinguishes anger and rage, cools and calms every agitation springing up from gluttony. And just as in the summer, when the burning heat of the sun spreads over the earth, the northern wind renders a benefaction to those who are scorched, by dispersing the sultriness with a tender coolness: so fasting also provides the same, by driving out of bodies the burning which is the result of overeating.
Saint Asterius of Amasia

Fasting is the mother of health; the friend of chastity; the partner of humble-mindedness (illnesses are frequently born in many from a disorderly and irregular diet).
Venerable Simeon, the New Theologian

Give the body as much food as it needs, and thou shalt receive no harm, even if thou shouldest eat three times a day. If a man eats but once a day, but undiscerningly, what benefit is there to him from that. The warfare of fornication follows excess in eating - and after this the enemy weighs down the body with sleep in order to defile it.
Saints Barsanuphius and John
As a flame of fire in dry wood, so too is a body with a full belly.
Venerable Isaac the Syrian

Always establish one and the same hour for taking food, and take it for fortifying the body and not for enjoyment.

Venerable Anthony the Great

Do not neglect the Forty Days; it constitutes an imitation of Christ's way of life.
Saint Ignatius the God­bearer

The holy fasters did not approach strict fasting suddenly, but little by little they became capable of being satisfied by the most meagre food. Despite all this they did not know weakness, but were always hale and ready for action. Among them sickness was rare, and their life was extraordinarily lengthy.
To the extent that the flesh of the faster becomes thin and light, spiritual life arrives at perfection and reveals itself through wondrous manifestations, and the spirit performs its actions as if in a bodiless body. External feelings are shut off, and the mind that renounces the earth is raised up to heaven and is wholly immersed in the contemplation of the spiritual world.
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov

The more days of fasting there are, the better the healing is; the longer the period of abstinence, the more abundant the gain of salvation is.
Blessed Augustine

Fasts do not shorten a man's life. Venerable Symeon the Stylite lived for 103 years, Saint Cyril the Anchorite lived 108 years, Saint Alypius the Stylite ­ 118, Venerable John the Silent ­ 104 years, Anthony and Theodosius the Great ­ for 105 years, Venerable Paul of Thebes ­ 113, Paul of Komel ­ 112, Venerable Macarius of Alexandria ­ 100, Venerable Sergius of Radonezh ­ 78, Venerable Cyril Belozersky ­ 90, Macarius Zheltovodsky ­ 95.