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From the Discourse on Fasting after Pentecost

The present feast, beloved, which the Holy Spirit sanctified by His descent, is usually followed by a solemn fast, beneficially established for the healing of soul and body, and therefore requiring that we observe it with due reverence. For we do not doubt that after the Apostles were filled with the promised Power from above (Luke 24:49), and the Spirit of truth dwelt in their hearts, among other mysteries of heavenly teaching, by the inspiration of the Comforter, the teaching of spiritual abstinence was also taught, so that the hearts, being purified by fasting, might become more capable of receiving the grace-filled gifts. Although the Almighty was inherent in the Disciples of Christ by His help, and the Leaders of the emerging Church were governed by God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, nevertheless they could not fight with the impending forces of the persecutors and the fierce threats of the wicked in pampered body and fattened flesh; For that which delights our outward man destroys the inward most destroys, and on the contrary, the rational soul is the more purified, the more mortified the flesh is.

For this reason, these Teachers, who by their example and instruction enlightened all the children of the Church, marked the beginning of the battle for Christ with holy fasting, so that, going out to battle against spiritual corruption, they would have for this purpose a weapon in abstinence, by which they could put to death sinful lusts; for our invisible adversaries and bodiless enemies shall not prevail against us, unless we give ourselves up to the lusts of the flesh. Though the desire to harm us is in the tempter constant and unchanging; but it will remain impotent and ineffective when he does not find in us a side from which he can make his attack. But who, being clothed with mortal flesh, and being in this dead body, who, even in the highest degree of perfection, can be so confident in his own strength as to consider himself safe from the danger of the deceptions of the flesh? True, Divine grace always makes His Saints victorious, but does not destroy the very feat of struggle. And this we must recognize as the mercy of our Providence, Who, wishing that we, through the inconstancy of our nature, should not become proud of the victory we have won, never deprives us of the opportunity to strive for new victories.

For this reason, it has been established that after the holy and joyous days which we celebrate in honor of the Lord, having risen from the dead and then ascended into heaven, and after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, we shall pass the course of fasting; In order to punish ourselves with pious abstinence for the fact that, perhaps through immoderate freedom and unbridled arbitrariness, we allowed ourselves amidst the joys of festivities. But this custom must be observed even more diligently for this purpose, so that those gifts which God has now communicated to the Church may abide in us. Since, having become the temple of the Holy Spirit, and having been watered with the divine waters more than ever, we must not submit to any lusts; should not serve any vices; that the habitation of virtue should not be defiled by anything unclean. With God's help and cooperation, we can all achieve this, if, cleansing ourselves by fasting and almsgiving, we strive to free ourselves from the defilements of sin and bring forth abundant fruits of love. The property which we depend on for food for the poor, for the healing of the sick, for the ransom of captives, and for other works of piety, is not diminished, but increased, and with God that which godly generosity has distributed will never perish; For we keep for ourselves as a reward what we give for the benefit of others. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall have mercy on God (Matt. 5:7). Amen.

Printed according to the edition: St. Leo the Great From the Discourse on Fasting after Pentecost. Journal "Christian Reading, Published at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy". — 1838 — Part II. — P. 313–317.

Homily I on the Nativity of Christ

I. Let us rejoice, beloved, for our Saviour is now being born! There should be no place for sorrow where Life is born, which, having destroyed the fear of death, gives us the joy of the promised eternity. No one is excluded from participation in this rejoicing, because the reason for joy is common to all. Our Lord, the overthrower of sin and death, not finding even one innocent man, came to make everyone free. Let the saint rejoice, for he draws near to glory. Let the sinner rejoice, for forgiveness is granted to him. Let the Gentile be encouraged, for he is called to life.

The Son of God in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4; Heb. 1:10), following the incomprehensible depth of the plan of the Divine Council (Rom. 11:33), took on the nature of the human race in order to return it to His Creator, so that the father of death, the devil (Wisdom 2:24), having gained victory through it, would be defeated by it. This battle, begun for our sake, was waged according to the great and astonishing law of justice: the Almighty Lord, not in His majesty, but in our humility, entered into battle with the fiercest enemy, opposing to him precisely this image and this nature, which is a partaker of our humility, but not involved in any sin. The Nativity of the Lord is alien to what is said about all people: no one is clean from defilement, not even a child who has lived on earth only one day (Job 14:4).

Nothing entered into this unparalleled Christmas from the lust of the flesh, nothing was poured from the law of sin. A Virgin is chosen from the tribe of King David, Who, having received the Holy Fruit, receives the divine-human offspring first with the soul, and then with the body. And so that (not knowing [the secret] of the supreme plan of such an extraordinary deed) She would not be seized with fear, from the angelic conversation She learned that the Holy Spirit was at work in Her. Therefore, the One Who will soon become the Mother of God does not consider it a loss of chastity. For why should one despair at the unusualness of the conception of the One Who is promised to act from the power of the Almighty? Moreover, the miraculous fertility granted to Elizabeth, by strengthening the faith [of the Virgin], served as further proof that He who gave conception to the barren woman would not hesitate to give it to the Virgin as well.

II. Therefore the Word of God, God, the Son of God, who was with God in the beginning, through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made (John 1:1-3), became man for the deliverance of man from eternal death, and so without diminishing majesty bowed Himself to the perception of our insignificance, that, [always] remaining what He was, and taking into Himself that, He combined in Himself the true image of a servant (Phil. 2:7) with the image in which He is equal to God the Father; and by such union He united the two natures, that just as glorification did not exhaust the lower of them, so the union did not diminish the higher. Thus, since the qualities of both natures, which are united in one Person, are not damaged, greatness takes on humility, strength with weakness, immortality with mortality, for the sake of our redemption, the indestructible nature is united with the nature subject to suffering, and the true God and true man are united in the unity of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He, the only Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5), healing us, could die as a man and rise again as God. Thus, the Birth of the Saviour did not in the least violate the purity of the Virgin, for the birth of the Truth became the guardian of chastity.

Such a Nativity, beloved, was befitting the power of God and the wisdom of God, Christ (1 Corinthians 1:24), and it corresponded to us both in human qualities and in divinity. For if there had not been a true God, He would not have given us redemption, and if there had not been a true man, He would not have given us an example. Therefore, when the Lord is born, the exultant Angels sing: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men! (Luke 2:14). For they see that the Heavenly Jerusalem is created from all the peoples of the world. How great rejoicing over this indescribable act of Divine love should be nourished by human humility, when the heavenly angels rejoice so much in it!

III. Therefore, beloved, through the Son, let us give thanks in the Holy Spirit to God the Father (Col. 1:12), who in His great mercy loved us (Eph. 2:4) and had compassion on us, and made us alive with Christ (Eph. 2:5), so that we might be in Him a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17) and a new image. Let us lay aside the old man with his works (Ephesians 4:22) and, having become partakers of the birth of Christ, let us deny the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19). Realize, O Christian, your knowledge, and, having become a partaker of the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), do not return to the old insignificance by an unworthy way of life. Remember Whose Head and Body you are a part of (1 Corinthians 6:15). Remember that, having been torn out of the power of darkness, thou hast been brought into the light and the kingdom of God (Col. 1:13). Through the Sacrament of Baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Do not cast out the Dweller from you by evil actions, and do not throw yourself back into slavery to the devil, for the price [of your redemption] is the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:20), and in truth you will be judged by the One Who in mercy saved you. He reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.