Staunch ally
6 September 2021
Through fasting, we overcome and bind one of the giants of perversion- gluttony- a staunch ally of nature and the devil. The latter takes most of his victims prisoner through it. Our Lord demonstrated just how necessary the practice is when he undertook to remake us through his presence, after his divine baptism in the River Jordan. Who now can doubt that this is the foundation of repentance, of refashioning, of resurrection and of salvation? If the Lord, who was without sin or the passions, fasted- and, indeed, extensively- who can feign incapacity or denial? Not to mention the practice of withstanding thirst, which those who are experienced in self-restraint promote as being the greatest feat in the struggle against irrational appetites.
Elder Iosif Vatopaidinos
