[../../Contains/Banner1.htm]
[../../Contains/Left3.htm]

[../../Contains/GoogleSq_Ad.htm]

[../../Contains/Orthodoxy.htm]

The Holy Lent

Day 12 - Second Friday of the The Holy Lent

by Prince Mathew

Preface for Meditation:

Fasting is the root by which all the fruits of sanctity are sustained and on this same root grows purity and rejoices patience. Fasting dispels immodesty, controls the lust and offers the body as a holy temple of God. Therefore, the Church exhorts the faithful to love and practice this highly acceptable form of Christian life so that it may lead them to the great eternal fast which is going to happen in the eternal bride chamber of life. Through it, the strength of the soul is confirmed, the riches of the body are increased and good aspirations aroused in the heart.

The prayers of the The Holy Lent highlight Moses, Elijah and Jesus as the great champions of fasting. According to the scripture they observed fasting for forty days and it was these three who are seen in unusually bright light on the transfiguration mount. When the Jews under captivity in Babylon were released and were about to go back to Jerusalem around two and half millennia ago, they declared a fasting to ensure God’s protection in their journey. (Ezra 8: 21&22) It is recorded in the book of Ezra that they did not ask the King to send soldiers to ensure their security so that the gentiles could not laugh at the shallow nature of their faith.

In our transient journey in this planet to eternity our ultimate trust and security is to be in God who strengthens us to conquer all kinds of evil and to progress. Through fasting we humble ourselves and surrender fully to God who empowers us to face all challenges and sinful tendencies. Fasting must be undertaken voluntarily and it must be of divine dispensation’. This is the primary teaching of our Church on Fasting. Fast is of free will and it is the voluntary fast which is accessible and permanent. Fasting becomes highly acceptable when it is joined with humility of hearts, charity towards all men and continuous prayers. The Lenten prayers and liturgy of our Church extols this kind of fasting by giving the Old Testament figures as good examples (Moses, Daniel, Elijah etc.).

Bible Reading Passages:
Second Friday of The Holy Lent

Evening
* St. Matthew 16: 21-28

Morning
* Exodus21: 20-27
* Job 25: 1-6
* Acts 11:1-18
* Romans 1:16-25
* St. Matthew 5: 38-48

Bible Verse for the day:

"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds." St. Matthew 16:27

The Holy Lent Archives | Yesterday | Tomorrow

 

[../../Contains/footer.htm]