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The Egyptian people have always revered the relationship with God. They have striven to root it in their lives throughout time.<\/strong><\/span> Fasting and Love<\/strong><\/span> General Bishop<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Egyptian people have always revered the relationship with God. They have striven to root it in their lives throughout time. Fasting is an important doctrine in all religions. Should we trace fasting, we shall find that it dates back to Adam and Eve when the Lord forbade them from eating the fruit of one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[250,299],"class_list":["post-19478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-250","tag-299"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42656,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19478\/revisions\/42656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFasting is an important doctrine in all religions. Should we trace fasting, we shall find that it dates back to Adam and Eve when the Lord forbade them from eating the fruit of one of paradise trees.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThese days, Christians start their Christmas Fasting. In fact, the Coptic Church celebrates Christmas on Kiahk 29 of the Coptic calendar which coincides January 7 of the Gregorian calendar.<\/strong><\/span>
\nOn that very day, we celebrate Christ\u2019s birth of St. Mary who angel Gabriel foretold the conception and birth to a child who she would call Jesus. We read, \u201cGod sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin\u2019s name was Mary\u2026 the angel said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob\u2019s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Duration of Christmas Fasting\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
\nChristmas Fasting lasts for 43 days: 40 of which represent Moses\u2019 fasting to get ready for receiving the Commandments on Mount Sinai. The three extra days were added to commemorate the miracle of moving Mount Muqattam , whereby Pope Ibram bin Zar\u2019a, the sixty-third patriarch, fasted for three days.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Concept of Fasting<\/strong><\/span>
\nTraining for the Body<\/strong><\/span>
\nContrary to what some people think, fasting does not torture the flesh. Rather, it controls man\u2019s relish for food, especially the types of food he desires. Human nature, in fact, is a composite of three elements: the body, soul, and spirit. If flesh controls man, he becomes an animalistic being. Yet, should he overcome the demands of flesh, he becomes a spiritual being.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting helps man train his will through refraining from food and drink for a while, after which he eats food that he does not relish. Thus, he overcomes bodily and material demands, giving more attention to his spirit. In effect, fasting becomes a spiritual tool through which man gets ready to elevate his body to a lofty spiritual level. One of our holy fathers maintains that fasting qualifies the soul for spiritual revival, communion with God, and fills the heart with love for God.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting Gives Strength<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting strengthens both soul and spirit. Man\u2019s success in abandoning something his desires strengthens him on both the spiritual and psychological levels. The soul which is able to refrain from its desired food and drink can surely abandon its most relished sin. It offers the needy money, and time to whoever needs help. Thus, fasting is a training which qualifies man for more good doing.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting Makes You Sympathize with Others<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhoever fasts experiences hunger and thirst, which makes him feel the pain of the needy. Such a person hurries to help whoever needs him. Here, it is worthy to recount the story of the rich man who used to train himself on experiencing what the poor feel. So, he used to wear rags and stand in the rain for hours. When he was asked why he did so. He said he was doing what would make him sympathize with the needy and, thus, offer them whatever they need.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting Helps You Refrain from Evil<\/strong><\/span>
\nNot only does fasting help you refrain from food. It also strengthens your will and encourages you to refrain from evil: be it gossip, hatred, envy, sinful habits\u2026etc. Without reaching this stage, fasting would be good for nothing. One of our fathers says that whoever refrains from food, but not from envy and hatred, and his tongue speaks falsehoods, his fasting is null and void: for the tongue\u2019s fasting is better than the mouth\u2019s. The heart\u2019s fasting is better than both. Another father says that true fasting means refraining from bad deeds, that is, controlling one\u2019s tongue, restraining anger, and overcoming desires. Yet, if man fails to refrain from sin, he should not abandon fasting: for this makes it necessary that he increase fasting and prayers to overcome his sins.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting and Prayer<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting is accompanied by other practices, namely, prayer, reading the word of God and saints\u2019 biographies to make them one\u2019s role models, austerity, meditation, and being charitable to everybody. Such deeds constitute the food of the spirit which strengthens it. One of the beautiful phrases said about fasting is, \u201cFasting is always associated with prayers. This means that fasting without prayers is deprivation. Yet, if it is accompanied by prayers, it releases the soul.\u201d So, link your fasting with prayers that you might encounter God, and your life become full of blessings and strength with which you can correct your flaws toward God and people.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFasting and Humbleness<\/strong><\/span>
\nOne of our fathers maintains that fasting humiliates flesh: for through fasting man realizes how weak he is, and how much he needs to refrain from pride and self-conceit. The more humble man becomes, the more he seeks God\u2019s help and the more merciful he grows. He refrains from judging people\u2019s weakness, realizing that all of us need God\u2019s help in order to help one another.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nFasting is an expression of man\u2019s love for God: for he prioritizes God\u2019s commandments over his will and rest, thus, declaring his love for God. Fasting starts with refraining from food and drink, followed by abstaining from the evil deeds rejected by God. Thus, man shows his true love for God. So, make your fasting a training on loving God. At the same time, train yourself on loving others through sympathizing with and helping them, not only on the material level, but on the psychological one also. A word of encouragement to frustrated person is a kind of help. So is time dedicated to helping someone, and an honest piece of advice given to anyone.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Physical Benefits of Fasting<\/strong><\/span>
\nSome people justify their not fasting by claiming that it harms the body. Yet, this is totally wrong. Fasting helps the body function quite efficiently. Moreover, developed countries continuously warn against eating lots of greasy food which harm the body and cause diseases.<\/strong><\/span>
\nA Story<\/strong><\/span>
\nIt is said that an ascetic used to abstain for 21 consecutive days! Then, one day, he saw a novice who was quite weary after he had fasted for one day. The ascetic was astonished at the novice\u2019s inability to endure fasting. So, an angel appeared to the ascetic and told him that he was granted the grace of being able to abstain for twenty-one days, whereas his brother was granted the grace of abstaining for one day. Thus, he should not think that the ability to abstain from eating is his, but is owing to God\u2019s grace that supports him.<\/strong><\/span>
\nIn Egypt whose people love and share one another, occasions have a unique flavor. May God protect Egypt and her children from evil, and\u2026 Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHead of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n