January: Day 28: Teaching 2:*
Venerable James the Faster
(The Benefit of Bodily Fasting)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Venerable James the Faster
(The Benefit of Bodily Fasting)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Venerable James, an ascetic of the sixth century, lived for fifteen years in a single cave in Phoenicia. For his God-pleasing life he received from God the gift of working miracles, so that not only believers but also pagans came to him seeking healing from illnesses, and through this many pagans of that region were converted to Christianity.
One of the Venerable one’s miracles is especially noteworthy. Once a severe drought came upon all Phoenicia, and famine began to threaten the inhabitants. Together with their bishop, the people fervently prayed to God to grant rain. Then, in a vision, the bishop was commanded to go to the cave where Venerable James was struggling in ascetic labor and to ask him to pray for rain. The bishop, gathering the clergy and accompanied by the people, went with supplicatory chanting to James, asking his intercession before God. At first James, considering himself unworthy of God’s mercy, refused them; but after persistent entreaties he began to pray, and during the prayer rain fell.
Venerable James was buried in the cave where he had labored. After some time his relics were found to be incorrupt and were transferred to a church built near the cave in honor of Saint James.
II. Venerable James the Faster, who for the strictness of his life was deemed worthy of the gift of miracles, teaches us, brethren, how pleasing to God and beneficial for the soul fasting and self-restraint are.
When objections against fasting are raised, defenders of the Church’s rule hasten to remark that true fasting does not consist in deprivation of food or in its poor quality, but in the restraint of passions and in God-pleasing deeds. There is a certain one-sidedness in such a defense. It is true that the Church exhorts us: “While fasting bodily, brethren, let us also fast spiritually” (Wednesday of the first week of Great Lent, Vespers, sticheron). Yet this reminder does not diminish the significance of strict fasting, by which one must understand either complete abstinence from food for a fairly long time, or very restrained consumption of dry and low-nourishment foods. Such fasting, taken literally, is important both as a direct sacrifice to God and as an aid in pleasing Him through other holy deeds.
a) A faithful soldier endures exhausting labors, is ready for all kinds of deprivation, sometimes does not drink or eat for whole days, especially if he sees that his commander shares with him the hardships of military service. All this is done out of duty to an earthly king. Does not the same apply to all of us Christians, who are enrolled in the service of the heavenly King? The best testimony of our faithfulness to Him is our labors and deprivations, if we undertake them in obedience to His commandments and example. He Himself fasted for forty days, and He commanded us: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with gluttony” (Luke 21:34). Although He ate with His disciples, He nevertheless gave an instruction binding on His followers: “When the Bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast” (Matt. 9:15). When is a person more capable of remembering God — when hungry, or when overfilled? At least in Scripture we find a direct reproach against the pleasure-loving Jewish people, who, blindly and greedily surrendering themselves to gluttony, forgot God their Provider: “Jacob ate and was filled; then the beloved grew fat… and he forsook God who made him, and scorned the God of his salvation” (Deut. 32:15). The same is foretold of the last times, when there will be people who are, among other things, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1ff.). According to the 69th Apostolic Canon, one who does not fast during the Holy Forty Days is subject to excommunication. Consequently, one who does not observe the fast out of self-will rather than bodily weakness is not fully an Orthodox Christian in the strict sense of the word.
b) Someone may say: “One can eat much even of fasting food, and one can observe moderation even at a non-fasting table.”
And what of that? The Church, in establishing fasting, does not encourage gluttony; rather, by appointing plant-based and dry food, it points to its low nutritive value as having a twofold benefit — namely, the taming of passions and assistance in spiritual pursuits.
The Holy Fathers give a fine comparison. When a military commander wishes to take an enemy fortress, he first seeks to cut off water and food supplies, and the enemy, driven by hunger, surrenders more quickly. So it is with carnal passions: when fasting is observed, they weaken and fall silent. On the contrary, one who fills his belly yet imagines he can conquer sensual passions is like a man who wants to extinguish a fire with oil (The Ladder, 14, 20). The glutton is like a heavily laden boat sitting deep in the water - he is close to the danger of perishing in the waves of sin. A faster may also have subtle passions, but only when he does not understand the meaning of fasting and imposes it upon himself with self-confidence. Nevertheless, it remains indisputable that one who fasts is freed from slavish dependence on sensual desires and therefore is more capable of pure and God-pleasing deeds.
Let us take a simple example. Why do judges and officials, as well as scholars and students, come to their work in the morning and, sometimes working until late hours, remain without food? The answer is not difficult: every important, complex task requiring mental effort is better undertaken before lunch, not after. Blessed Jerome said: “Do not expect a pure mind from a full stomach.” And if this is so in civil service and scholarly activity, are our Christian labors and church obligations so insignificant that for their successful fulfillment we need not resort to self-restraint? When is it easier to pray, and when is prayer purer — when fullness inclines one to sleep, or when the lightness of the stomach and the calm, unheated movement of the blood quiet the imagination and even help the soul to feel the sweetness of sacred compunction? He who humbles his body by voluntary abstinence can, from his own experience, better judge how difficult it is for the poor to endure hunger against their will. And while the overfed person does not understand the hungry, the one who fasts lavishly gives alms to the poor.
III. Thus, through fasting, we learn to serve and please God by good works. Amen.
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Notes:
* In the Slavic calendar Venerable James is known as "the Faster" and commemorated on March 4th, which is where today's reading can be found in the original text. In the Greek calendar he is known as "the Ascetic" and is commemorated on January 28th, which is why the translation of the text is placed under January 28th.
* In the Slavic calendar Venerable James is known as "the Faster" and commemorated on March 4th, which is where today's reading can be found in the original text. In the Greek calendar he is known as "the Ascetic" and is commemorated on January 28th, which is why the translation of the text is placed under January 28th.
