August is the time when you want to catch the remnants of the short summer break. And on August the Dormition fast falls. As to experience it truly, do not miss the main thing? Responsible Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko.
Photo: VK / Simbirsk Archdiocese
- The Dormition fast in August: why?
- A sermon on how to spend the Dormition fast
- Dormition fast: food, history, sermons
- Dormition fast: go from the outside
- Below the Dormition fast is not passed in vain
Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko
I think the main thing during the Dormition fast — the tribute of love, reverent worship before the Mother of God, which we have to pay. First of all, She needs our prayer, our reverence, our faith, our pious Orthodox life, pleasing to Her divine Son.
As for the post — this is a very important spiritual force that we apply. After all, the spiritual is closely connected with the physical. Dormition fast is very severe, though brief, only two weeks, the limitations are very severe.
Connection strictly lean doing with reverent prayer corresponds to the state of the soul, which everyone should develop in order to manifest that reverential love towards the Mother of God, we need to educate.
When the world, not only in Russia was predominantly peasant way of life, then everyday life of people is very correlated with the ecclesiastical institutions. It was clear that the Church had in mind when he installed those or other rules relate to the life of the then people.
The modern pace of life, the present life, the dispensation of life do not coincide with the Church calendar. Now life has changed radically. Indeed, people who are on the road, traveling, on vacation, on vacation, on treatment is not easy to align your life with the ecclesiastical institutions. But still everyone should try to the best of their ability this post to bear. Because the Lord and the Mother of God is primarily a spiritual life.
Take any Northern people. They have in August and cold starts, and no fruit. They have a different diet, and it may not be organized in full rigor, according to Church requirements, which were established in the South and not for the people of the far North. This kind of problem, and each must decide her or his Confessor, or spiritual father if not, then independently, taking into account age, health condition, climate and natural conditions, the spiritual dispensation. It is not necessary to impose on myself the burden that you cannot bear.
On the other hand, lent is a time of some inner spiritual mobilization, and we shouldn’t give yourself concessions, citing the circumstances and conditions in which we find ourselves.
Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
A person can not fast during all the severity of the Church’s Charter? But you can put yourself installation would not disrupt the morning and evening usually add to it some additional prayers, penitential Canon, to read the Psalms, read some serious theological book. And then the passage of the post will be meaningful and thoughtful.
Post — it, the possibility of accelerated spiritual growth, and it is important that we spent this time usefully.
As for the fact that sometimes people all the attention focus on sanctification of apples and forget about the rest… We live in XXI century and most people far from agriculture. And all have education, a higher. But for an educated person weird to get hung up on irrelevant external things.
In fact, the question of the consecration of the harvest is thin enough. By August we have ripe apples, and, say, cherries and strawberries have moved away. However, people eat them without waiting for them to sanctify.
This is a serious establishment for people involved in agriculture. It is very important to the Lord, the mother of God consecrated the fruits of their labors. We, the inhabitants of the cities, should not manifest disobedience of the Church. Post — is a reasonable limitation. Can do without the apples before the Transfiguration? Treat. There is no way, for example, you live in the strip where the apples a lot already almost June, do the right thing, limit yourself to at least something. Coordinate with the priest who lives in the same climate and knows its features.
We have now often possible to observe a purely formal approach. The well-known story, at the beginning of last century, the robber killed the traveler, robbed him, and then fell into the hands of the police. They ask: “are You fat do not eat out of the bag?” “Well, it’s Wednesday,” replied the killer. That is a fast day to kill and Rob you, and the fat is — it is impossible.
Photo: tatmitropolia.ru
For our time is characterized by approximately the same pharisaical psychology can be irritated, gossiping, being lazy, not to fulfill a rule of prayer, but an Apple to eat ahead. That is, if the Apple you eat is a sin. And if you get angry at someone, hurt, nothing, nothing, it happens.
No need to bump in the opposite extreme, declare all the limitations of outdated, unusable. Efforts should be made and to consider in advance how you will hold the post, and not forgetting common sense, through the period of lent with spiritual benefit.