His Beatitude: Fast is abstaining from all evil things
Having broken the fast, a person was left without heavenly life and can return to paradise only by keeping the fast, His Beatitude noted.
On February 26, 2023, during a sermon at the Transfiguration Cathedral of Zhytomyr, His Beatitude Onuphry said that because of the fast violation, a person was deprived of paradise life, and only by keeping the fast he/she can return to paradise, reports news.church.ua.
The Primate of the UOC drew attention to the fact that the forefathers Adam and Eve when they ate the forbidden fruit, "showed unfaithfulness to God”.
"God, who created and loves man, said: "Do not do this." And they were to obey God and through this obedience to be spiritually perfected," His Beatitude noted.
According to him, the first people did not repent so they became unable to live in Paradise: "As God does not force the human will, the Lord led them out of Paradise."
"The Church reminds the man of this sad story not by chance before the Great Lent. Because, as the holy fathers say, over the fast violation the man was left without Paradise life, and he can return to Paradise only by keeping fast," the Primate of the UOC stressed.
His Beatitude noted that "fasting is not only abstinence from food. It is only one element of fasting. Fasting is abstaining from all evil things."
"If I steal, I must especially take care not to do so during the Great Lent. If I have another evil habit, either of foul language or of going out to party in places that are not very decent, during Lent I should make every effort not to do so. Lent is about the whole person: from food to evil thoughts, evil feelings and evil desires," he explained.
"The man must always resist evil, but by fasting this struggle must be subdued, that is, even greater... when a person keeps such a fast, it becomes a treasure for him/her," His Beatitude added.
"Fast is a good thing that we should do with regard to ourselves, a heavenly treasure. There are earthly treasures that moths eat and rust destroys, which thieves sneak up to, undermine and steal. And there are spiritual treasures, these are good deeds, which neither moth nor rust destroys, which thieves do not steal. This is the feast to which the Church calls us before the Holy Great Lent," said His Beatitude.
"May the Lord help us, dear brothers and sisters, that we may spend the time of the Holy and Great Lent in repentance, in struggling with ourselves, in doing good works, so that we may gather the treasures that go with man into eternity, that God's blessing will be with us in this earthly life, that God blesses our earth with peace, that people understand that they are God's creations and they should go to God. In the earthly life, we should follow the way of good deeds and then we will receive salvation in Heaven in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom we give glory, honour and worship now and forever. Amen!" resumed the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
As reported, on Forgiveness Sunday the Primate led the liturgy at the Zhytomyr Cathedral.
