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may the things now read be spoken of: I have not chosen this fast, says the Lord. Why do you mix the unmixable? What fellowship has fasting with drunkenness? What communion has wine-bibbing with self-control? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For they are the temple of God, in whom the Spirit of God dwells; but a temple of idols are they who through drunkenness receive a disorderly crowd, a surfeit of licentiousness.

Today is the vestibule of the fasts; and surely he who is defiled in the entrance-hall is not worthy to enter into the holy places. No servant, wishing to appease his own master, uses his enemy as a patron and reconciler. Drunkenness is enmity towards God; but fasting is the beginning of repentance. If, therefore, you wish to return to God through confession, flee drunkenness, lest it make your estrangement more grievous. However, abstinence from foods is not sufficient in itself for a praiseworthy fast, but let us fast an acceptable fast, well-pleasing to God. A true fast is estrangement from evils, continence of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood, and perjury; to be without these things is a true fast. In these things, then, fasting is good. Let us delight in the Lord in the study of the oracles of the Spirit, and in the taking up of the salutary laws, and in all the doctrines that correct our souls. However, let us beware of the hidden fast, concerning which the prophet also prays, saying: The Lord will not famish the soul of the righteous; and this, I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. For he would not have spoken about material bread, knowing that the children of the patriarch Jacob went down to Egypt for the sake of bread, but he speaks of spiritual food, by which the inner man is perfected. May the fast threatened to the Jews not come upon us also; For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will send a famine on this land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord; which the righteous judge brought for this reason, because He saw their mind being choked by famine in the atrophy of the teachings of truth, while their outward man was being over-fattened and made fleshy. Therefore, on all the succeeding days the Holy Spirit will feast you with morning and evening delights. Let no one voluntarily be absent from the spiritual banquet; let us all partake of the soberness of the pastries, practicing. Let the house at last be quiet from the countless noises, and the smoke and the smell of cooking, and from those running up and down, and serving, as it were, an inexorable mistress, the belly. Surely tax-collectors sometimes permit their subjects to be free for a little while. Let the belly also give some opportunity to the mouth, let it give; let her who is always demanding and never ceasing, who receives today and forgets tomorrow, make a five-day truce with us. When she is filled, she philosophizes about self-control; when she is emptied, she forgets her doctrines. Fasting knows not the nature of a loan, the table of one who fasts does not reek of interest, the ancestral usuries that breed do not strangle the orphan of the faster, twisting around like serpents. And in another way, fasting is an occasion for cheerfulness. For as 59.677 thirst prepares a sweet drink, and a preceding hunger makes the table pleasant, so also fasting brightens the enjoyment of foods.

For having inserted itself in the middle and interrupted the continuity of luxury, it will make the partaking appear desirable to you, as if it had been away on a journey. 2. So if you wish to make the table desirable for yourself, accept the change that comes from fasting. You, by being so completely enveloped in luxury, have unwittingly dimmed the luxury for yourself, and by love of pleasure you destroy pleasure. For nothing is so desirable that it does not become contemptible by the continuity of its enjoyment; but of those things which

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νῦν ἀναγνωσθέντα λεχθῇ· Οὐ ταύτην τὴν νηστείαν ἐξελεξάμην, λέγει Κύριος. Τί μιγνύεις τὰ ἄμικτα; τίς μετοχὴ νηστείας πρὸς μέθην; τίς κοινωνία τῆς οἰνοφλυγίας πρὸς τὴν ἐγκράτειαν; Τίς συγκατάθεσις ναῷ Θεοῦ μετὰ εἰδώλων; Ναὸς μὲν γὰρ Θεοῦ εἰσιν, οἷς τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνοικεῖ· ναὸς δὲ εἰδώλων, οἱ διὰ τῆς μέθης τὸν συρφετὸν, τῆς ἀκολασίας κόρον ὑποδεχόμενοι.

Ἡ σήμερον ἡμέρα προπύλαιόν ἐστι τῶν νηστειῶν· οὐ δήπου δὲ ὁ ἐν τοῖς προθύροις βεβηλωθεὶς ἄξιός ἐστιν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὰ ἅγια. Οὐδεὶς οἰκέτης ἐξευμενίσασθαι θέλων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ δεσπότην, τῷ ἐχθρῷ αὐτοῦ προστάτῃ καὶ διαλλακτῇ κέχρηται. Μέθη ἔχθρα ἐστὶν εἰς Θεόν· νηστεία δὲ ἀρχὴ μετανοίας. Εἰ οὖν βούλει διὰ τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως ἐπανελθεῖν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, φεῦγε τὴν μέθην, μή σοι χαλεπωτέραν κατασκευάσῃ τὴν ἀλλοτρίωσιν. Οὐ μέντοι ἐξαρκεῖ καθ' ἑαυτὴν ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν βρωμάτων πρὸς τὴν ἐπαινετὴν νηστείαν, ἀλλὰ νηστεύσωμεν νηστείαν δεκτὴν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ. Ἀληθὴς νηστεία ἡ τῶν κακῶν ἀλλοτρίωσις, ἐγκράτεια γλώσσης, θυμοῦ ἀποχὴ, ἐπιθυμιῶν χωρισμὸς, καταλαλιᾶς, ψεύδους καὶ ἐπιορκίας· ἡ τούτων ἔνδεια, νηστεία ἐστὶν ἀληθής. Ἐν τούτοις μὲν οὖν ἡ νηστεία καλόν. Κατατρυφήσωμεν δὲ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν λογίων τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀναλήψει τῶν σωτηρίων νομίμων, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς διορθωτικοῖς τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν δόγμασιν. Ἀπὸ μέντοι τῆς ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ νηστείας φυλαξώμεθα, περὶ ἧς καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἐπεύχεται λέγων· Οὐ λιμοκτονήσει Κύριος ψυχὴν δικαίου· καὶ τὸ, Οὐκ εἶδον δίκαιον ἐγκαταλελειμμένον, οὐδὲ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ζητοῦν ἄρτους. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν περὶ αἰσθητῶν ἄρτων εἶπεν, ὁ εἰδὼς τοὺς παῖδας τοῦ πατριάρχου Ἰακὼβ ἄρτων ἕνεκεν καταβάντας εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς πνευματικῆς λέγει τροφῆς, καθ' ἣν ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος τελειοῦται. Μὴ ἔλθῃ καὶ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἡ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἀπειληθεῖσα νηστεία· Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ ἐπάξω ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ταύτην λιμὸν, οὐ λιμὸν ἄρτου, οὐ δίψαν ὕδατος, ἀλλὰ λιμὸν τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λόγον Κυρίου· ὃν διὰ τοῦτο ἐπήγαγεν ὁ δίκαιος κριτὴς, ἐπειδὴ ἑώρα αὐτῶν τὸν μὲν νοῦν ἐν τῇ ἀτροφίᾳ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας διδαγμάτων λιμαγχονούμενον, ὑπερπιαινόμενον δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ κατασαρκούμενον τὸν ἕξω ἄνθρωπον. Πάσας τοίνυν τὰς ἐφεξῆς ἡμέρας ἑστιάσει ὑμᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἑωθιναῖς τε καὶ ἑσπεριναῖς εὐφροσύναις. Μηδεὶς ἑκουσίως ἀπολειπέσθω τῆς πνευματικῆς εὐωχίας, πάντες μετάσχωμεν τοῦ νηφαλίου τῶν πεμμάτων ἐπιτηδεύων. Ἡσυχασάτω ποτὲ καὶ ὁ οἶκος ἀπὸ τῶν μυρίων θορύβων, καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τῆς κνίσης, καὶ τῶν ἄνω καὶ κάτω διατρεχόντων, καὶ οἱονεὶ ἀπαραιτήτῳ δεσποίνῃ τῇ γαστρὶ λειτουργούντων. Πάντως ποτὲ καὶ οἱ φορολόγοι τοῖς ὑποχειρίοις ἐλευθεριάσαι μικρὸν ἐπιτρέπουσι. ∆ότω τινὰ εὐκαιρίαν καὶ ἡ γαστὴρ τῷ στόματι, δότω· σπεισάσθω πενθημέρους σπονδὰς ἡμῖν ἡ ἀεὶ ἀπαιτοῦσα καὶ οὐδέποτε λήγουσα, ἡ λαμβάνουσα σήμερον, καὶ αὔριον ἐπιλανθανομένη. Ὅταν ἐμπλησθῇ, περὶ ἐγκρατείας φιλοσοφεῖ· ὅταν διαπνευσθῇ, ἐπιλανθάνεται τῶν δογμάτων. Νηστεία δανείου φύσιν οὐκ οἶδεν, οὐκ ὄζει τόκων τράπεζα τοῦ νηστεύοντος, οὐκ ἄγχουσιν ὀρφανὸν νηστευτοῦ παιδοτόκοι πατρῷοι, ὥσπερ ὄφεις περιπλεκόμενοι. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ, ἀφορμὴ εἰς εὐφροσύνην ἐστὶ τὸ νηστεύειν. Ὡς γὰρ ἡ 59.677 δίψα ἡδὺν τὸν πότον εὐτρεπίζει, καὶ λιμὸς προηγησάμενος ἡδεῖαν παρασκευάζει τὴν τράπεζαν, οὕτω καὶ τὴν τῶν βρωμάτων ἀπόλαυσιν ἡ νηστεία φαιδρύνει.

Μέσην γὰρ ἑαυτὴν παρενθεῖσα καὶ τὸ συνεχὲς τῆς τρυφῆς διακόψασα, ποθεινήν σοι τὴν μετάληψιν ποιήσει φανῆναι, ὥσπερ ἀπόδημον. βʹ. Ὥστε εἰ βούλει σεαυτῷ ἐπιθυμητὴν κατασκευάσαι τὴν τράπεζαν, δέξαι τὴν ἐκ τῆς νηστείας μεταβολήν. Σὺ ὑπὸ τοῦ σφόδρα τῆς τρυφῆς περιέχεσθαι λέληθας σεαυτῷ ἀμαυρῶν τὴν τρυφὴν, καὶ ὑπὸ φιληδονίας τὴν ἡδονὴν ἀφανίζων. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἐπιθυμητὸν, ὡς μὴ τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῆς ἀπολαύσεως εὐκαταφρόνητον γίνεσθαι· ὧν δὲ