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Importance of Fasting
Lent is a time of
preparation. We prepare by fasting and engaging in intense prayer and
reflection in anticipation of several feasts in our church, the most
important being the preparation for Christmas and Pascha. Fasting
allows us to receive the full experience of the celebration of each of
these feasts. It prepares us just as we do each Sunday and as we should
do all our lives preparing for the second and glorious coming of our
Savior. At the start of the Lenten fast on Monday of the first week
during Matins we sing: "Armed with fasting, Elijah the wonderful was
taken up in a chariot of fire; through fasting Moses received a vision
of secret mysteries; and if we also fast like them, we shall see
Christ." Later in this same Matins service we sing: "On Mount Horeb
Elijah was cleansed by fasting and saw God. Let us also cleanse our
hearts by fasting and we shall see Christ." Just as it is impossible to
be sent into heaven with no preparation, so is it impossible to
experience Pascha without fasting and prayer.
Below are articles on the web which discuss the importance of
fasting:
Orthodox Guide to Great Lent and Pascha
Lessons
from
the Fathers: On Fasting
The
Discipline of Fasting, by Bishop Kallistos (Ware)
Some Reflections on Fasting, by Dr. John L. Boojamra
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