HOW TO FAST versus HOW NOT TO FAST. The Desert Fathers on fasting, obedience and humility.

Summary

The video script discusses the spiritual and religious significance of fasting, emphasizing its connection to obedience and humility rather than a mere diet. It warns against creating personal fasting rules, as this can lead to pride and displease God. The speaker cites the Desert Fathers, highlighting the importance of adhering to the Church's fasting rules to avoid spiritual pitfalls and maintain a humble and obedient heart.

Takeaways

• 🍃 Fasting in a spiritual and religious context is not about dieting or physical health but is a form of obedience and humility.
• 🚫 Fasting should not be an individual's personal choice but must be based on the rules and traditions of the Church to avoid serving pride rather than God.
• 📜 The script emphasizes the importance of adhering to the guidance of the Desert Fathers and the Church for proper fasting practices.
• 👵 Amma Syncletica warns of a type of fasting that is pleasing to demons due to pride and advises living according to the rules of fasting to discern the right path.
• 🙏 Obedience to the Church's fasting rules is a safeguard against pride and aligns one with the spiritual struggles of the Fathers and Mothers over 2000 years.
• 👹 Pride is identified as a dangerous poison in spiritual life, which can corrupt even the most extreme fasting practices if they are self-imposed.
• 🙇‍♂️ Humility is key in fasting; even if one must eat meat due to humility, it is preferable to fasting with pride, as per Abba Isidore the Priest.
• 🛑 If fasting begins to feed one's pride or sense of self-importance, it is advised to stop and confess this to a spiritual father to combat it.
• 🎭 The Orthodox tradition includes the role of 'Fools-for-Christ' who would publicly break fasts to fight against the sin of pride.
• 🌳 The script uses the story of Adam and Eve to illustrate the importance of obedience in fasting, as they were commanded by God, not choosing their own path.
• 🙌 The ultimate goal of fasting is to strengthen one's obedience to God and nurture humility, not to achieve personal satisfaction or recognition.

Q & A

What is the main message of the video about fasting?

The main message is that fasting should be an act of obedience and humility, not a personal choice or a means to achieve physical health or self-satisfaction.

Why does the speaker compare self-decided fasting to Adam and Eve's disobedience in the garden?

The comparison is made to illustrate that just as Adam and Eve's disobedience was a form of pride, self-decided fasting is also a form of pride and disobedience to God's commandments.

What does the speaker mean by 'fasting in its proper meaning'?

The speaker means that fasting should be understood in its spiritual and religious context, not as a diet for physical health or personal choice.

What is the role of obedience in fasting according to the video?

Obedience is crucial in fasting because it aligns the individual with the rules and traditions of the Church, ensuring humility and preventing pride.

What does the speaker warn against in the context of fasting?

The speaker warns against fasting that is done for self-gratification, pride, or without adherence to the Church's rules and traditions.

What is the significance of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers in the video?

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers are used to provide wisdom and guidance on the proper approach to fasting, emphasizing obedience and humility.

What does Amma Syncletica advise regarding fasting?

Amma Syncletica advises to live according to the rules of fasting and warns against fasting that is planned by demons and serves pride rather than God.

What is the danger of fasting that is pleasing to demons according to the video?

The danger is that such fasting, driven by pride, can lead to spiritual harm and destruction, as it is not in line with God's will and the teachings of the Church.

Why does the speaker mention the story of the man called the Faster?

The story illustrates the potential for pride and self-deception in fasting, showing that even those who are admired for their fasting can fall into the trap of self-satisfaction.

What advice does Abba Xenon give to the Faster in the story?

Abba Xenon advises the Faster to eat once a day like everyone else and to do any additional fasting in secret, to avoid the sin of pride and self-admiration.

What does Abba Isidore the Priest say about the relationship between fasting and pride?

Abba Isidore warns that even those who fast according to the Church's rules can fall into pride, and in such cases, it is better to eat meat than to fast and be spiritually harmed by pride.

What is the ultimate purpose of fasting as discussed in the video?

The ultimate purpose of fasting is to strengthen obedience to God and to nurture humility, serving as a spiritual tool rather than an end in itself.

Outlines

00:00

🙏 The Essence of Fasting and Obedience

This paragraph delves into the spiritual and religious significance of fasting, emphasizing its distinction from dieting and the necessity of obedience in its practice. The speaker warns against creating personal fasting rules, likening it to Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. The importance of humility and obedience in fasting is highlighted, with the Desert Fathers' teachings used to stress that fasting should be an act of submission to the Church's guidance rather than a self-imposed regimen. The potential for pride in self-devised fasting is critiqued, suggesting it serves demons rather than God.

05:05

📜 Discerning Demonic from Divine Fasting

The speaker continues the discussion on fasting by referencing Amma Syncletica, one of the Holy Mothers of the desert, to illustrate the discernment between fasting that pleases God and that which serves demons. Syncletica's advice is to live by the 'good measure' or discernment, following the Church's fasting rules to maintain obedience and humility. The paragraph warns against the pride that can arise from self-imposed fasting and the dangers of serving the demon of pride instead of God, as exemplified by the story of the Faster who sought admiration for his fasting.

10:09

🚫 The Dangers of Pride in Fasting

This paragraph further explores the perils of fasting when it is not grounded in obedience and humility. The speaker recounts a story from Saint Xenon about a man known as the 'Faster,' who, despite his rigorous fasting, was reprimanded for seeking admiration and thus feeding his pride. The story serves as a caution against the self-satisfaction that can accompany fasting when it is not an act of obedience to the Church's guidance. The importance of fasting as a means to strengthen humility and obedience, rather than a display of personal piety, is underscored.

15:13

⛪️ Fasting and the Preservation of Humility

The speaker discusses the potential for pride even among those who follow the Church's fasting rules, citing the words of Abba Isidore the Priest. The paragraph emphasizes that fasting should not lead to a sense of superiority or self-righteousness but should instead be a tool for nurturing obedience and humility. It suggests that breaking the fast might be more beneficial for one's spiritual life if it prevents pride, as the ultimate goal of fasting is to strengthen the believer's submission to God and humility, not to earn recognition or self-aggrandizement.

20:15

🙌 Embracing the Wisdom of the Church's Fasting Rules

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker calls for humility in adhering to the fasting rules established by the Church and the wisdom of the Fathers and Mothers of the faith. The paragraph reinforces the idea that fasting is not about personal choice but about obedience to God's commandments as interpreted by the Church. It encourages believers to follow the guidance of the Church in fasting to avoid the pitfalls of pride and to ensure that their fasting is a practice that pleases God and supports their spiritual growth.

Keywords

💡Fasting

Fasting, in the context of the video, refers to the abstention from food and drink, particularly as a spiritual discipline within religious traditions. It is not about dieting for health or physical appearance but is a form of obedience and humility before God. The video emphasizes that fasting should follow the rules set by the Church and not be a personal choice, as it is meant to strengthen one's spiritual connection and submission to divine will, as illustrated by the story of Adam and Eve.

💡Obedience

Obedience in the video is portrayed as a fundamental aspect of fasting, signifying the act of following rules or commands given by a higher authority, in this case, the Church. It is linked to the idea of submitting one's will to God's, as opposed to creating one's own rules, which can lead to pride. The video uses the metaphor of Adam and Eve to illustrate the importance of obedience in fasting, highlighting that their disobedience led to dire consequences.

💡Humility

Humility is presented as a core virtue in the spiritual practice of fasting. It is the quality of being humble and not prideful, which is nurtured through obedience to the Church's fasting rules. The video warns against the danger of pride that can arise from personal fasting choices, emphasizing that true fasting should be devoid of self-satisfaction and instead foster a spirit of humility and submission to God's guidance.

💡Pride

Pride is depicted as a spiritual obstacle in the video, particularly in the context of fasting. It is the root of self-admiration and self-satisfaction that can arise from one's own fasting rules or achievements. The speaker cautions against the dangers of pride, stating that it can lead to serving demons rather than God, and uses examples from the Desert Fathers to illustrate the negative outcomes of prideful fasting.

💡Desert Fathers

The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits, monks, and ascetics who lived in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. Their teachings and sayings, as mentioned in the video, provide wisdom and guidance on spiritual matters, including fasting. The video references their teachings to emphasize the importance of obedience, humility, and the avoidance of pride in fasting practices.

💡Asceticism

Asceticism, in the video, refers to a lifestyle characterized by rigorous self-discipline and abstention from bodily pleasures, often for spiritual purposes. The term is used to describe the practice of fasting as a form of spiritual struggle and discipline, which, when properly conducted, is meant to please God rather than demons, as per the teachings of the Desert Fathers.

💡Demons

In the context of the video, demons symbolize negative spiritual forces or temptations, particularly the temptation of pride. The speaker warns that fasting not grounded in obedience and humility can lead to serving demons instead of God, highlighting the spiritual dangers of prideful fasting practices.

💡Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve are used in the video as a biblical reference to illustrate the consequences of disobedience. Their story in the Garden of Eden serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of following God's commandments, including in the context of fasting, where personal choices can lead to spiritual downfall.

💡Fools-for-Christ

Fools-for-Christ is a term used in Orthodox tradition to describe individuals who, in order to combat pride, may act in ways that seem foolish to others, such as eating non-fasting foods publicly during fasting periods. The video mentions this tradition as an example of how some monks would fight against the sin of pride that could arise from their fasting practices.

💡Abba

Abba is an Aramaic term used in the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches to refer to a spiritual father or elder, often a monk or priest who is highly respected for their wisdom and spiritual insight. In the video, Abba Xenon and Abba Isidore are mentioned as examples of such spiritual elders who provide guidance on the proper approach to fasting.

💡Self-admiration

Self-admiration is discussed in the video as a form of pride that can arise from one's own fasting achievements or rules. It is considered a spiritual danger because it can lead to a focus on self rather than on God, thus undermining the true purpose of fasting as a means of obedience and humility.

Highlights

The concept of fasting is distinct from dieting and is not about maintaining physical health.

Fasting must be based on obedience and not on personal choice to be truly meaningful in a spiritual context.

Fasting outside the Church's rules is likened to Adam and Eve's disobedience in the garden.

Fasting is an act of obedience to God's commandments, as illustrated by the story of Adam and Eve.

The importance of discernment in fasting to avoid serving demons instead of God, as taught by the Desert Fathers.

Amma Syncletica warns of a type of fasting that is pleasing to demons due to pride and lack of discernment.

The necessity of following the Church's fasting rules to maintain humility and avoid the sin of pride.

The spiritual danger of self-imposed fasting rules that can lead to pride and away from God's grace.

The story of the Faster who, despite his frequent fasting, fell into despondency due to the lack of external admiration.

Abba Xenon's advice to the Faster to eat like everyone else and avoid pride that comes from fasting for recognition.

Abba Isidore's warning that even when following the Church's fasting rules, one must be vigilant against falling into pride.

The paradoxical advice that it is more useful for a monk to eat meat than to fast and fall into pride.

The purpose of fasting is to strengthen obedience to God and humility, not to serve personal satisfaction.

The Orthodox tradition of Fools-for-Christ who would publicly break fast to combat the sin of pride.

The importance of confessing and fighting against pride when it arises during fasting.

The collective wisdom of the Church's fasting rules, gathered over 2000 years, as a guide for believers.

The call to humility in fasting by bowing to the wisdom of the Fathers and Mothers of the Church.

The closing message of hope for a better, healthier, and more pleasing-to-God world after enduring the current difficulties.

Transcripts

To decide yourself what are the  rules of your fasting is like  

Adam and Eve in the garden telling God, after God  has told them do not touch that particular fruit,  

and they show up and they say Well in  fact I don't quite crave for that fruit,  

I crave more for the food next to it, so  instead of doing what you told me to do,  

I am going to eat that fruit that you've forbidden  me to eat, but I am going to be a very good faster  

and I'm going to abstain from eating three  other fruits that I have chosen for myself.  

Now I don't think that this scenario would end  up with a very positive result for Adam, Eve  

and ourselves as their children, spiritual  children. Hello, my dear ones, I pray you are all  

safe and healthy wherever you are. We are  recording in the chapel today because it's getting  

very windy outside and it's quite dark  as well but in the chapel is all right.

Um... everyone is all right at the monastery  by the grace of God and through your prayers,  

thank you so much for your prayers and thank  you also for your support, your continuous  

support that makes it possible for us to be here  and to keep on praying and to keep on working.  

Today I want to talk to you, but very briefly,  about fasting. This will only be an introductory  

video about fasting: why do we fast, how do we  fast, what is the meaning of fasting, and so  

on---and then based on the comments you will leave  to this video we shall continue with a few other  

brief videos in the future over the weeks  to come; Christmas is coming so we have to  

start preparing for the Great Feast and before  the very Feast, we have 40 days of fasting.

Fasting in its proper meaning, in the spiritual,  religious meaning of the word has nothing to do  

with a diet: I think that's something very  important that needs to be clarified---this  

is not about keeping your body healthy.  In some ways, it's quite the opposite, so  

the fast, fasting of someone who keeps a diet in  order to look better or in order to be healthier  

is not the fasting that we are talking about and  it's not the fasting that the Saints or the Church  

has been talking about for 2000 years, that's  one thing that needs to be absolutely clear  

from the very beginning; the other thing which  is equally important is that fasting can only be  

based on obedience, fasting is not something that  we, we willingly give up in order to sacrifice  

something for the Lord, fasting has to  do with obeying someone else's rules;  

if fasting is not based on obedience then  again it is not the sort of fasting that  

God requires or expects of us. To fast outside the  rules of the Church, to fast outside the tradition  

of the Church to pretty-much come up with your  own rules is in some ways just the opposite  

of what fasting is all about and the Fathers  have advised against that for centuries now.  

Let's try to talk for about a minute about what  do I mean by that, what do I mean when I say that  

fasting has to be essentially an act of  obedience and that it has to be founded  

on humility. Be warned that today I've  brought the Sayings of the Desert Fathers  

with me because my memory is just so bad I  remember their teachings I remember their words  

but I definitely do not remember who said what, so  today I've brought the book with me, one of the,  

I think, six or seven versions that we  have, and I will try to quote from them.  

Look for instance at what Amma Syncletica---I  don't know how to pronounce it in English,  

that's the way you would pronounce the  name in English [Romanian, he meant]---Amma  

Syncletica is one of the Holy Mothers of the  desert and look what she's saying: she says  

there is an ascetical struggle, there is a  type of fasting which is planned by the demons  

and the disciples of this practice do not know  that they are serving the demons rather than God  

by doing it, therefore how can we discern between  ascetical struggles that are pleasing to God,  

fasting that is pleasing to God and ascetical  struggles that are pleasing to the demons  

and she says obviously the answer is the good  measure ---when she says, when the Fathers  

and the Mothers talk about a good measure they  actually imply discernment---'live all your life  

according to the rules of fasting', and then she  goes on to say do not fast for four days and then  

try to eat a lot, do not fast for a week or a  month and then try to---she's just giving all  

sorts of bad examples of how not to fast, but the  rule for her is live your entire life according  

to the rules of fasting. Now of course unless you  are Orthodox you are going to say 'Well, whose rules?' 

And the only answer is the rules of the Fathers  the rules of the Church the rules of tradition.

The worst, the most negative  detrimental rule for us to follow  

when we fast or indeed when we do anything  in our spiritual life is our own rule;

just think about it, it's not, it's not  difficult to see it if you just allow  

your eyes to see it and your ears to hear this: if  you follow a rule of fasting which is imposed upon  

you by someone else, by someone from the outside,  in this case the Church which is non-personal  

and which has 2,000 years of good experiences  and bad experiences to draw upon if you follow  

that rule of fasting then you are in obedience to  the Church you are in obedience to those Fathers  

and Mothers who've struggled in those 2000 years  before you and that safeguards you against pride;

on the other hand if you follow your own rule, even  if you starve yourself to death you are going to  

do exactly what Mother Syncletica is saying you  are serving the demon of pride because you have  

selected the rule for yourself and it really  doesn't matter what you sacrifice, it really  

doesn't matter how extreme your fasting or your  prayer or whatever it is, because underneath it all  

is the poison of pride, you are building on poison  you are building on sand which will be taken away  

from underneath your foot, underneath your feet as  soon, as soon as the demon has an opportunity; the  

only safe way to do anything in the spiritual  life and this applies particularly to fasting  

is by obeying to the rules of the Church. That  takes away all the pleasure in fasting, that  

takes away all the self-satisfaction, that  self-fulfilment of 'Oh I have decided that  

I am going to sacrifice this because this is  what I feel is the best thing to do'; that is  

an ode to pride, a hymn to the demon of pride, to  decide yourself what are the rules of your fasting  

is like Adam and Eve in the garden  telling God, after God has told them  

do not touch that particular fruit, and they show  up and they say 'well, in fact I don't quite crave  

for that fruit, I crave more for the fruit next to  it, so instead of doing what you told me to do, I  

am going to eat that fruit that you've forbidden  me to eat but I am going to be a very good faster  

and I'm going to abstain from eating three  other fruits that I have chosen for myself.'

Now I don't think that this scenario would end  up with a very positive result for Adam, Eve  

and ourselves as their children, spiritual  children from the very beginning

fasting and obedience have gone hand in  hand, Adam and Eve are not abstaining or  

they are not supposed to abstain from that  particular tree because they decided to do so,

God tells them to do so: it is an act of  obedience on their side to God's commandment.

So fasting and obedience go again  hand in hand from the very beginning.

Adam and Eve do not get to choose the tree that  they are not supposed to eat from, they are being  

told precisely which is that forbidden tree, and  also from the very beginning, if you pay attention  

how the snake, how the devil approaches  them, you'll see pride immediately:

the devil doesn't tell them 'Oh unless you eat  from that tree something absolutely horrible  

will happen to you', he's not trying to frighten  them, he's not trying to approach them in any other  

way except by means of pride. 'God forbade you from  eating from the tree because if you eat from that  

tree you are going to be like God', in other words,  translating it in the words that Adam heard and  

that all of us hear, 'if you eat from that tree you  will become like God', and there it is, the poison of  

pride and we all know what happened when obedience  to God was broken and Adam and Eve decided for  

themselves how to approach fasting, this is why the  Fathers and the Mothers of the desert speak about  

a type of fasting which in fact is pleasing not to  God but to the devils, in fact the danger of this  

is so great that there are other stories as for  instance Saint Xenon---I've marked the story here---

hear this: there is a story that in one of the  villages around the desert there lived a man who  

fasted very frequently and people appreciated and  admired him so much that he was called the Faster.

Now when Abba Xenon heard of the Faster, he called  him to come and visit; the Faster was very pleased  

that the old man called him and he went into the  desert; once they were alone in the Abbas cell,  

the Abba just sat down and continued  with his daily work and his daily prayer;

having no one around with whom to speak and having  no one around to admire his ascetical struggle,  

the Faster very soon fell into despondency and  in a matter of [an] hour he pleaded with the old man:  

Please pray for me, Holy Father, because I need  to go home; to which Abba Xenon answered, Why?  

And the Faster responded, I don't know what is  happening, but since I entered your cell my heart  

burns inside; in my village I could fast for a day  or two or three and this never happened to me;  

to which the old man, the Desert Father  answered, This is because in the village  

you were feeding yourself not through your  mouth but through your ears, and by that he  

means you are feeding yourself through that  feeling of satisfaction and self-admiration  

that one has when other people speak highly  of ourselves. Go home, he advised the Faster,  

eat once a day like everyone else and everything  you do above that, do without [anyone] else knowing.

If fasting is cut away from obedience,  it no longer serves God it no longer  

pleases, God it pleases the demons, to the  point that the damage that this sort of  

fasting can do to us is so great that  the Fathers tell us to stop our fasting  .

There is another striking story  from Abba Isidore the Priest  

that warns against this danger of fasting which  feeds once pride rather than one's humility,

and this is particularly striking because it does  not apply to people who choose their own ways of  

fasting, this applies to people who do follow the  rules but because they follow the rules, because of  

their very obedience they fall into pride and so  Abba Isidore the priest says 'If you fast according  

to the rules of the Church, do not fall into pride  because you will be losing more than your fasting  

it is better to eat meat than to fall into pride  because you are fasting according to the rules  

it is more useful for a monk to eat meat than  to fast according to the rules and to fall into  

pride'; and mind you the idea of a monastic eating  meat in the desert in the 300s-400s was something  

absolutely unthinkable and yet he says not that it  is safer but that it is more useful for a monastic  

to eat meat than to fast according to the  rules and fall into pride---what does he mean by  

it is more useful? He means precisely what we've  been trying to understand since we've started this  

video: that fasting is just a tool and the purpose  of fasting is to strengthen our obedience to God  

while at the same time feeding,  strengthening our humility.

A monastic that fasts according to the rules  and then feels very pleased about himself  

or then is spoken very highly of by  people who see him following the rules  

a monastic doing that is in danger of falling into  pride and then his fasting instead of serving him  

and being pleasing to God does him a great  disservice and is pleasing to demons, not God  

a monastic who on the other hand for whatever  reason is forced to eat meat because he knows how  

long, how difficult, how far he's fallen from what  a monastic should do and what the behaviour of a  

monastic should be, that monastic has a better  chance of feeding his humility and therefore  

non-fasting, breaking the fast serves him  better than actually keeping the fast.  

The point of fasting is that it strengthens our  obedience to God and that it feeds our humility  

if you notice or if your spiritual father  notices that fasting does not do that, then it is  

better for you to stop fasting and indeed  it is better for you to publicly eat  

non-fasting foods; sometimes if you fast and  you feel very good about yourself, 'Oh I'm doing  

everything I'm supposed to be doing I am now a  saint any minute now I'm going to float on a cloud';  

if that happens in the background, if you notice  any sign of this demon, of this poison in yourself,  

confess it immediately and fight  it any way you can; this is why  

in the Orthodox tradition we have the wonderful,  wonderful traditions of the Fools-for-Christ,  

people who in the middle of Lent or in the fasting  period before Christmas on a Wednesday or a Friday  

outside a major fasting period would go  in the public markets eating a sausage,  

the minute that they felt pride entering their  conscience they fought it any possible way,  

because they understood that fasting is merely  a tool and through this tool you need to feed  

your obedience and your humility, if you take  away this foundation of obedience and humility,  

if your fasting is not built on these two  and does not feed these two, then your fasting  

is not fasting according to the wisdom of the  Church and it is not a fasting that is pleasing to  

God and it most definitely is not a fasting that  serves or benefits your spiritual life in any way.  

This is why we do not choose our own rules when  it comes to fasting, this is why we humbly bow down  

to the wisdom of those Fathers and Mothers  who have struggled before us for 2000 years  

whose collective wisdom has been gathered, tried,  selected and put before us in these collections of  

pure wisdom by the Church, and in obeying to them  we do what Adam and Eve should have done in Eden , 

we allow God through the voice of His Church to  tell us how to fast, when to fast, for how long  

to fast and so on, we do not get to pick the tree  or the fruit that we are supposed to abstain from  

just like Adam and Eve did not have a  choice in Eden, they were told precisely  

which tree is off limits. I wanted to tell  you more today but I think we'll just  

wait and see what your comments and reactions are  and then we'll see what is more useful for you  

I think that is a better more productive  more useful way of recording these videos.  

Be blessed, dear ones, and keep me and  keep our monastery in your prayers.  

Slowly, slowly, day after day we shall survive  this difficult period, and at the end of it all,  

may we get to see, not the world we saw before, but  a much better, healthier, more pleasing-to-God  

world. Be blessed, dear ones. Amen, amen, amen.