Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Joel:2:12.
As we (Syrriac Orthodox Church) prepare to observe the Three Day Lent (Saumo / Ninweh) and thereafter the Forty Day Lent (Great Lent / Saumo Rabo) and the Holy Passion Week, it is vital to think about the effects and implications of fasting and special prayers on our spiritual and physical life. When God the Father warned Adam and Eve from eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He set a precedent for lent; a life that warranted certain requisites which was fully in consistence with the Image and Likeness of God.
And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gen:2:16 & 17. It is a guidance that is looked at as a way of proper nurturing and an inevitable part of a Spiritual Being. To be in line with this instruction for restraint and self-discipline, is certainly a part and parcel of a full human; a human who is in full unity with God, his/her Creator.
Abstention from all or certain types of food, especially as an act of religious observance; this is the word meaning of Fasting per the thesaurus. But Fasting is not abstinence from certain type of food alone; it is a significant component. By observing Lent, the faithful willfully denies all that are dear to him/her for a spiritual cause and with special prayers during the season, one becomes spiritually uplifted and draws himself closer to the Lord.
When Adam and Eve violated the Divine Will, He expelled them from the Paradise. Since that time onwards the flawed creation has been struggling to regain the lost glory and to become in full unity with God. The merciful Lord renewed His promise to the righteous and to the god fearing who were found worthy. We see the righteous and chosen Noah who lived a life of discipline and obedience. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Gen:6:9. God gave Noah many instructions during the deluge that wiped out the sinful humankind from the face of the Earth. The life of Noah was very self-disciplined and orderly.
Fasting is one significant step to tune up our spiritual being. Moses became spiritually uplifted and strong through fasting. Exodus 24:18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. The days Moses was at the presence of the Lord on the Mountain, he abstained from worldly pleasures, including food. Elijah observed fasting fervently that strengthened him to overpower evil natured Kings and ungodly leaders. So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 1 Kings 19:8.
Jesus also observed fasting before His public ministry that obviously began with a great blow to the archenemy (Satan) of mankind. Matthew 4:2, 10&11. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. 'Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Through fasting and prayers a faithful becomes spiritually enlightened and physically strong. Modern Medical Science acknowledges the positive effects of fasting. Here, in the United States, obesity has become a great health issue and people are frantically resorting to all kinds of diet pills and vegetable dishes etc. It is a proven fact that minimizing or avoiding meat and other fatty foods highly contribute to good health.
Fasting gives us spiritual power to fight the evil one, who incessantly lures us to fall into sins of all kinds. The ascetic Life of St. John, The Baptist is a perfect example of gaining spiritual power through abstinence from the worldly pleasures. Now in the modern times even fasting has become an act of showoff. If the fasting and observance of Lent is not bringing spiritual requisites out of us, it would bring only negative aspects and vainglory. Isaiah 58:4-6 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Jesus Christ our Lord instructed; "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matt: 6:15-17.
Annas fasting and prayerful life at the Great Temple of Jerusalem is an all time example of the observance of Lent in the New Testament. There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Luke 2:36&37. Disciples also fasted and received Divine guidance at many occasions; which is evident in Acts 13:2 &3.While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
The Syrian Orthodox Church observes the following Lents.
1) Christmas (Yeldho) Lent Dec. 15-25
2) Ninweh Lent - 3days Dates vary
3) Great Lent 40 days followed by the Passion Week Dates vary
4) Apostles Lent (Sleehe) 3 days June 26-29
5) St. Marys Assumption Lent (Shoonoyo)5 days from Aug. 10-15
Now the Eight Day Lent, in celebration of the birth of St. Mary (Theotokos), is very popular in Malankara, though it is not a Canonical lent. The Clergy and the Faithful observe fasting at many other occasions of special concerns, worries and distresses or at the time of persecutions and tribulations of various kinds. It is one of the seven Commandments of Holy Church that we observe Lent on all Wednesdays and Fridays, except for the days between Easter and Pentecost (Whit Sunday). It is very significant that especially in the past, the faithful observed the Lent and set apart a portion of food grain (Rice) during the time of fasting and took that (Upavasa Ari) to the Church for the Glory of God. This shows how our forefathers observed Lent and Fasting for the benefit their spiritual growth and promoted the causes of the Holy Church.
The modification in the number of days and the relaxation of meal restrictions from the old lent pattern came to existence through the Apostolic Bull of the Late Lamented Patriarch of Antioch H.H. Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem I in the years 1946 and 1952. It is very clear from the Apostolic Bulls that these modifications are decided upon at the Universal Synod, after careful perusal of the continuous requests from Malankara. It is also noteworthy that there are many faithful still observing the Lents as per the original pattern.
The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.-- When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. Jonah 3: 5 &10. This is how a faithful has to observe Lent with fasting and prayers. If we decide to break the yoke and bondage of sin through a meaningful Lent, The Lord will be pleased with us and He will safeguard the communities, the Holy Church and the world at large.
Our Lent should bring about mercy and compassion from the Lord, who is diligently waiting for our willingness to bring Him in (to our lives). Rev. 3: 20-22. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Let this Lenten season be a catalyst to all of us to bring us closer to our Lord.
Praise be to The Lord Jesus Christ who came down for our eternal salvation and who will come again to gather all who belongs to Him.
by Fr. Mathai Varkey Puthukkunnathua
Source: www socdigest org
