On the Pentecost Fast, First Sermon

Today’s festival, dearly beloved, made holy by the coming down of the Holy Spirit, is followed, as you know, by a solemn fast. It is a healthful institution for the healing of soul and body, and we must keep it with devout observance. For when the apostles had been filled with the promised power, and the Spirit of truth had entered their hearts, we do not doubt that among the other mysteries of heavenly teaching this discipline of spiritual self-restraint was first thought of at the prompting of the Paraclete, so that minds made holy by fasting might be better fitted for the chrism that was to be given them. The disciples of Christ had the protection of the Almighty’s help, and the leaders of the newborn church were guarded by the whole Godhead of the Father and the Son through the presence of the Holy Spirit. But against the threatened attacks of persecutors and against the terrifying shouts of the ungodly they could not fight with bodily strength or with pampered flesh. For what delights the outer man does the most harm to the inner man, and the more the substance of the flesh is kept in subjection, the more the reasoning soul is purified. [a]

And so those teachers, who have instructed all the sons of the church by their examples and their traditions, began the first lessons of the Christian warfare with holy fasts, so that, having to fight against spiritual wickedness, they might take up the armor of abstinence, with which to kill the incitements to vice. For invisible foes and bodiless enemies will have no strength against us if we are not entangled in any cravings of the flesh. The desire to hurt us is always active in the tempter, but he will be disarmed and powerless if he finds no foothold within us from which to attack us. But who, surrounded by this frail flesh and placed in this body of death, can be so sure of his safety, even if he has made very marked progress, as to believe himself free from the danger of every enticement? Although divine grace gives his saints the victory every day, he does not take away the occasion for fighting. For this very thing is part of the mercy of our Protector, who has always arranged that something should remain for our ever-changing nature to win, so that it would not boast as though the battle were over.

So after the days of holy gladness, which we have given to the honor of the Lord rising from the dead and then ascending into heaven, and after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, a fast is appointed as a wholesome and necessary practice. This is so that, if perhaps through neglect or disorder any undue license has broken out even among the joys of the festival, it may be corrected by the remedy of strict abstinence. This must be kept all the more carefully so that what God gave the church on this day may remain in us. For since we have been made the temple of the Holy Spirit and watered with a greater supply than ever of the divine stream, we ought not to be conquered by any cravings or held in possession by any vices, so that the dwelling place of divine power may be stained by no defilement.

And this is certainly within reach of all, with God helping and guiding us, if through the cleansing of fasting and through merciful generosity we take pains to be set free from the filth of sins and to be rich in the fruits of love. For whatever is spent in feeding the poor, in healing the sick, in ransoming prisoners, or in any other works of piety is not lessened but increased. Nor will anything that the loving-kindness of the faithful has spent ever be lost in the sight of God, since whatever a person gives in relief he lays up for his own reward. For “blessed are the merciful, since God will have mercy on them,” and failings will not be remembered where the presence of true religion has been proven. So let us fast on Wednesday and Friday, and on Saturday let us keep vigil in the presence of the most blessed apostle Peter, by whose prayers we confidently trust to be set free from both spiritual foes and bodily enemies; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. [c]