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De jejunio, dominica quinta jejuniorum

On fasting; on the 5th Sunday of the fasts. 62.731 The time has come, brethren, for us to reap the fruits of repentance through fasting. For summer and autumn are suitable for the gathering of fruits, and winter and spring for sowing; but for fasting and prayer every season is suitable. For the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. If therefore on other days this work has escaped us, yet behold, now is an acceptable time for us to work the field. And I call fasting a field, since it contains us all for the labor and the sowing; it does not push away a woman, nor an old man, nor a younger person, nor little children; it opens its doors to all, and receives all, that it may save all, like the Ninevites. Good is the seed of fasting, because it pulls up our sins like thorns, and raises up and makes righteousness blossom like a flower; good is the labor of fasting, because it lightens the soul from the weight of sins, and bestows the light burden of Christ’s commandments. For take my yoke upon you; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. The yoke is the faith laid upon all; the burden, the works of the commandments, borne on the shoulders of the soul in deeds, revealed in the heavens. Through fasting the lawgiver Moses became glorious; remaining without food for forty days and nights, he saw God speaking to his face, a cloud overshadowing, and through it God speaking to him what was profitable, a pillar of fire shining in the night as a guide for the camp of Israel, the gates of heaven being opened, angelic bread coming down upon the earth, man partaking of the manna of God, a rock being split by a rod, and bringing forth waters, the sea producing a strange food, quail, and feeding the people. Moses saw many and other signs because he attended to fasting. Fasting is the overthrow of death. The Savior said: This kind of demon does not go out by anything, except by prayer and fasting. And nothing is worse than demons; the demon is a mountain difficult to move; the demon is a more grievous wound than all evils, a mockery in the marketplaces, a humiliation in homes, a perversion in churches, a consumption of the flesh, a weakness of the soul, a daily pain, an impediment to the mind, one hindrance to works. Great is the insolence of the demon. But fasting and prayer overcome all these things. David, praying and playing the psaltery, drove out the demon of King Saul; For the Spirit of God departed from Saul, and he was choked by the spirit of an evil demon; and when David played the psaltery, the king was refreshed. And that King David fasted, hear him writing in the Psalms: My knees have grown weak from fasting, and my flesh is changed for want of oil. If Adam had fasted from the tree, he would not have lost para 62.732 dise; if Eve had not eaten, having been deceived by the serpent, she would not have brought death into the world; if Esau had inclined to fasting, he would not have lost his birthright; for one meal he lost his glory, and became a slave to his brother. Do you wish to see the strength of fasting? Run to the Ninevites who used it for a common achievement. For when God wished to destroy Nineveh because of their sins, he sends Jonah the prophet, and says to them: Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. And the philanthropy of God trumpets what he is about to do, and to the debtors

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De jejunio, dominica quinta jejuniorum

Περὶ νηστείας· Κυριακῇ εʹ τῶν νηστειῶν. 62.731 Ἥκει καιρὸς, ἀδελφοὶ, πρὸς τὸ διὰ νηστείας ἡμᾶς δρέψασθαι τοὺς τῆς μετανοίας καρπούς. Καὶ γὰρ πρὸς τὴν τῶν καρπῶν συλλογὴν ἐπιτήδειον τὸ θέρος καὶ τὸ μετόπωρον, πρὸς δὲ τὸν σπόρον χειμὼν καὶ τὸ ἔαρ· πρὸς δὲ νηστείαν καὶ προσευχὴν πᾶς καιρὸς ἐπιτήδειος. Ἀρθήσεται γὰρ ἀπ' αὐτῶν ὁ νυμφίος. καὶ τότε νηστεύσουσιν. Εἰ οὖν πρὸς ταῖς λοιπαῖς ἡμέραις τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον παρέφυγεν ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ νῦν καιρὸς εὐπρόσδεκτος ἐργάσασθαι ἡμᾶς τὸ χωρίον. Χωρίον δὲ λέγω τὴν νηστείαν, ἐπειδὴ χωρεῖ πάντας ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὸν κάματον καὶ τὸν σπόρον· οὐ γυναῖκα ἀπωθεῖται, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ γέροντα, οὐ νεώτερον, οὐ παιδάρια μικρά· πᾶσιν ἀνοίγει τὰς θύρας, καὶ πάντας εἰσδέχεται, ἵνα πάντας σώσῃ, ὡς τοὺς Νινευΐτας. Καλὸς τῆς νηστείας ὁ σπόρος, ὅτι καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ὡς ἀκάνθας ἀνασπᾷ, καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ὡς ἄνθος ἀνιστᾷ καὶ βλαστάνει· καλὸς τῆς νηστείας ὁ κάματος, ὅτι κουφίζει τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ βάρους τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ φορτίον ἐλαφρὸν τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ χαρίζεται. Ἄρατε γὰρ τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς· ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστός ἐστι, καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν. Ζυγὸς ἡ πίστις ἐστὶ πᾶσιν ἐπικειμένη· φορτίον, τῶν ἐντολῶν τὰ ποιήματα, ὤμοις ψυχῆς βασταζόμενα ἐν ἔργοις, ἐν οὐρανοῖς φανερούμενα. ∆ιὰ νηστείας ὁ νομοθέτης Μωϋσῆς ἐγένετο ἔνδοξος· νυχθήμερα τεσσαράκοντα ἄσιτος διαμείνας, εἶδε Θεὸν εἰς πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὁμιλοῦντα, νεφέλην ἐπισκιάζουσαν, καὶ δι' αὐτὴν τὸν Θεὸν λαλοῦντα αὐτῷ τὰ συμφέροντα, στῦλον πυρὸς λάμποντα ἐν νυκτὶ καθοδηγὸν παρεμβολῆς Ἰσραὴλ, οὐρανοῦ πύλας ἀνοιγομένας, ἀγγελικὸν ἐπὶ γῆς καταβαίνοντα ἄρτον, μάννα Θεοῦ μεταλαμβάνοντα ἄνθρωπον, πέτραν σχιζομένην ἐν ῥάβδῳ, καὶ προφέρουσαν ὕδατα, θάλασσαν γεννῶσαν ξένον βρῶμα, ὀρτυγομήτραν, καὶ τρέφουσαν τὸν λαόν. Πολλὰ καὶ ἕτερα σημεῖα εἶδε Μωϋσῆς διὰ τὸ προσέχειν νηστείᾳ. Ἀνατροπὴ θανάτου ἡ νηστεία. Εἶπεν ὁ Σωτήρ· Τοῦτο τὸ γένος τῶν δαιμόνων ἐν οὐδενὶ ἐξέρχεται, εἰ μὴ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ νηστείᾳ. Καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων χειρότερον οὐδέν· δυσμετάθετον ὄρος ὁ δαίμων· ὁ δαίμων ἁπάντων κακῶν χαλεπώτερον τραῦμα, ἐν ἀγοραῖς κατάγελως, ἐν οἴκοις ταπείνωσις, ἐν ἐκκλησίαις διατροπὴ, σαρκῶν κατάβρωμα, ψυχῆς ἀσθένεια, καθημερινὴ ὀδύνη, νοὸς ἐμπόδιον, ἔργων ἓν κώλυμα. Πολλὴ ἡ τοῦ δαίμονος ἐπήρεια. Ἀλλὰ τούτων πάντων περιγίνεται ἡ νηστεία καὶ ἡ προσευχή. Εὐχόμενος καὶ ψάλλων ὁ ∆αυῒδ, τὸν δαίμονα Σαοὺλ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπήλασεν· Ἀπέστη γὰρ Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἀπὸ Σαοὺλ, καὶ ἐπνίγετο πνεύματι δαιμονίου πονηροῦ· καὶ ψάλλοντος τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, ἀνέψυξεν ὁ βασιλεύς. Ὅτι δὲ ἐνήστευσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ∆αυῒδ, ἄκουε αὐτοῦ γράφοντος ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς· Τὰ γόνατά μου ἠσθένησαν ἀπὸ νηστείας, καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου ἠλλοιώθη δι' ἔλαιον. Εἰ ἐνήστευσεν ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, οὐκ ἂν τὸν παρά 62.732 δεισον ἀπώλεσεν· εἰ μὴ ἔφαγεν ἡ Εὔα ἀπατηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως, οὐκ ἂν θάνατον τῷ κόσμῳ ἐπήγαγεν· εἰ πρὸς νηστείαν ἔκλινεν Ἡσαῦ, οὐκ ἂν τὰ πρωτοτόκια ἀπώλεσε, διὰ μίαν βρῶσιν δόξαν ἀπώλεσε, καὶ δοῦλος ἐγένετο τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ. Θέλεις ἰδεῖν τῆς νηστείας τὴν ἰσχύν; δράμε πρὸς Νινευΐτας τοὺς χρησαμένους αὐτῇ εἰς κοινὸν κατόρθωμα. Ὅτε γὰρ ἠβουλήθη ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καταστρέψαι τὴν Νινευῒν, πέμπει Ἰωνᾶν τὸν προφήτην, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἔτι τρεῖς ἡμέραι, καὶ Νινευὶ καταστραφήσεται. Καὶ φιλανθρωπία Θεοῦ ὃ μέλλει ποιεῖν σαλπίζει, καὶ τοῖς χρεώσταις