There is one substance called amianthus, which is not destroyed by fire; when placed in a flame, it is apparently charred, but taken out of the fire, as if washed in water, it becomes purer. Such were the bodies of the three youths in Babylon, which had received the attribute of amiant from fasting. In the great flame of the sand, as if cast of gold, they were inaccessible to damage from the fire. Truly, they appeared stronger than gold itself, because the fire did not melt them, but kept them inviolable, when nothing could stand against this flame, which was so kindled by naffa and pitch... and Khvrastius,[11] so that it spread over forty-nine cubits, and devouring all that was around, it destroyed many of the Chaldeans (Dan. 3:46-48). And it was this flame that was trampled down by the youths, who entered it, strengthened by fasting; In such a strong fire, they breathed in thin and irrigated air. The fire did not dare to touch the hair that had been returned by fasting.

And Daniel, the man of desire, who had not eaten bread or drunk water for three weeks, taught the lions to fast, having come down to them in the pit. For the lions could not sink their teeth into him, as if he were made of stone, or of brass, or of any other solid substance. As iron is tempered by immersion, so fasting, having tempered the body of Daniel, made it impregnable to lions; and they did not open their mouths against the saint. Fasting extinguished the fiery force, blocked the mouths of lions.

Fasting sends prayer to heaven, becoming like wings for it, when the mountain is ascending. Fasting is the growth of houses, the mother of health, the educator of youth, the adornment of the elderly, a good companion to travelers, a reliable cohabitant to spouses. The husband does not suspect adultery of marital fidelity, seeing that his wife has become accustomed to fasting. The wife is not consumed with jealousy, noticing that her husband has loved fasting. Who exhausted his house during the fast? Consider what is in him now; consider what will happen after; nothing will be lost in the house from fasting. No animal complains of death; there is no blood anywhere; nowhere does the implacable womb pronounce judgment on animals; the cooks' knife is inactive; The table is content with what does not require preparations.

The Sabbath was given to the Jews: let thy servant and thy ass rest, it is said, (cf. Deuteronomy 5:14). Let fasting be a comfort from unceasing labor to the servants who serve you throughout the whole year. Give rest to your cook, give freedom to the gatherer on the table, stop the cupbearer's hand; let him who makes various biscuits rest someday; Let the house also rest from a thousand anxieties, from smoke and stench, from running up and down, serving the belly as an implacable master. Of course, even tax collectors sometimes allow those who are in their hands to enjoy their freedom for a short time. Let him give some part to his lips, let him conclude a five-day truce with them, and this belly, which always demands and stops at nothing, receives today and forgets tomorrow; when it is full, he inquires about abstinence, and when it becomes emaciated, he does not remember those rules.

Fasting does not know what a loan is taken: the meal of a fasting person does not smell of growth [12]. A son who is fasting even in orphanhood is not strangled by his father's debts, like coiled snakes.

But on the other hand, fasting is also an occasion for rejoicing. Just as thirst gives sweetness to drink, and the preceding hunger makes the meal delicious, so fasting makes it pleasant to eat food. When it occupies the middle between pleasures, interrupting their continuity, then it will cause the eating of food, as if it were separated from you, to you to desire it. Therefore, if you want to make your table attractive, allow the fasting to alternate. And you, by the very fact that you love pleasure too much, imperceptibly weaken it for yourself and destroy sweetness by voluptuousness. No matter how much is desired, the continuity of pleasure makes it contemptible; and what you have in your own rarity, enjoyment is all the more desirable. In the same way, He Who created us arranged us so that the pleasantness of His gifts would not diminish, because one thing is replaced by another in life. Do you not notice that the sun is brighter after the night, and wakefulness is more pleasant after sleep, and health is more desirable after the contrary? That is why the meal after Lent is more pleasant both for the rich who have a good table, and for ordinary people who are satisfied with hastily prepared food.

Fear the example of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). He was consigned to the fire by a luxurious life; for accused not of injustice, but of sensuality, he was tormented in the flames of the sand. Therefore, in order to extinguish this fire, we need water. And fasting is not only useful for the future; it is precious to the flesh as well. The strongest health is subject to change and upheaval; because nature is exhausted and cannot bear the burden of health. See to it that you, now abhorring water, do not ask for a drop of it later, as the rich man asked. No one got drunk from the water; no one had a headache because he was burdened with water; no one, accustomed to drinking water, had need of someone else's feet; no one's legs were paralyzed, no one's hands ceased to function because they were saturated with water. For disorder in digestion, which necessarily accompanies sensualists, produces cruel diseases in the body. The fasting person also has a venerable complexion; it does not turn into shameless crimson, but is adorned with chaste pallor; his eyes are meek, his gait is sedate, his face is meaningful, not disfigured by immoderate laughter; He has moderation in speech, purity in his heart.

Bring to remembrance the saints who were from the beginning of the world, whom the world is not worthy of, who came in m'ilotech, in goatskins, destitute, sorrowful, embittered (Hebrews 11:38, 37). Imitate their way of life if you covet a part with them. What put Lazarus to rest in the bosom of Abraham? Isn't it fasting? And the life of Ioannov was a single fast. He had neither a bed, nor a table, nor cultivated land, nor a farmer's ox, nor bread, nor bread-baker, nor anything else necessary for life. Therefore the b'olia [13] of John the Baptist did not arise in those born of women (Matt. 11:11). And Paul, by the way, also raised up the fast, which he also mentions, boasting of his sorrows, to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:1-5).

But most important of all that has been said is that our Lord, having strengthened the flesh which He had taken for us by fasting, took upon Himself in it the attachments of the devil, both teaching us by fasting to anoint and accustom ourselves to ascetic labors in temptations, and giving the adversary convenience by His hunger to approach Him. In terms of the height of the Divinity, He would have been unapproachable to the adversary, if through hunger He had not descended to human weakness.

He, ascending to heaven, ate food in order to confirm the nature of the resurrected body; but you do not cease to fatten yourself and tax yourself with the flesh, and do not care in the least that you exhaust your mind, not nourishing it with salvific and life-giving teachings. Or do you not know that just as in battle the struggle of one overcomes the other, so he who goes over to the side of the flesh overcomes the spirit, and he who goes over to the side of the spirit enslaves the flesh? For they are in opposition to each other. Therefore, if you want to make your mind strong, bridle the flesh by fasting. This is the very thing that the Apostle said: to the extent that the outer man decays, to that extent the inner man is renewed; and again: "When I am weak, then I am" (2 Cor. 4:16; 12:10). Do you not despise perishable food? Do you not desire a meal in the Kingdom, which, without a doubt, is prepared by this fast? Or do you not know that by immoderation in gluttony you are preparing for yourself a well-fed tormentor — a worm? For who, with abundant food and unceasing luxury, has received any communion in spiritual gifts? Moses, in order to accept the second law, had need of a second fast. If the dumb had not fasted with the Ninevites, they would not have escaped the foretold ruin. Whose bones fell in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:17)? Were they not those who desired meat-eating? As long as they were content with manna and water from the stone, they defeated the Egyptians, traveled on the sea, and there was no pain in their tribes [15] (Psalm 104:37). And when they remembered the cauldrons of meat and returned to Egypt with their lust, then they did not see the land of promise. Are you not afraid of this example? Are you not afraid that gluttony may prevent you from reaching the desired blessings? And the wise Daniel would not have seen the visions if he had not enlightened his soul by fasting. From the fat food, like a thick cloud, smoky vapors come out, as it were, and block the way to the illuminations of the Holy Spirit that illuminate the mind. If the angels also have any food, then is it bread, as the prophet says: "Angelic bread is poison for man" (Psalm 77:25), and not meat, not wine, not anything to which the slaves of the womb are addicted. Fasting is a weapon for the army against demons, because this generation does not proceed except by prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:21). And there are so many benefits from fasting!

And satiety is the beginning of all harm. For together with luxury, drunkenness, and all kinds of delicacies, all kinds of bestial intemperance immediately arise. For this reason, as soon as luxury plunges its sting into the soul, people become horses of misogynism [16] (Jeremiah 5:8). In those who are drunk, their nature is also transformed [17]: in the masculine nature they lust after the feminine, and in the feminine the masculine. But fasting also indicates the measure in marital affairs, restraining from immoderation even in what is permitted by the law: by agreement it sets aside time for this, so that they may continue in prayer (1 Cor. 7:5).

However, do not limit the benefits of fasting to abstaining from food, because true fasting is the removal from evil deeds. Loose every bond of unrighteousness (Isaiah 58:4). Forgive your neighbor's offense; Forgive his debts. Do not fast in judgment or in cooking" (Isaiah 58:6). You do not eat meat, but you eat your brother. You abstain from wine, but you do not restrain yourself from resentment. You wait until evening to eat food, but you spend the day in the courts.

Woe to you, who drink not of wine (Isaiah 28:1). Irritation is the ecstasy of the soul; it takes her out of the mind as much as wine. And sorrow is also ecstasy; it drowns the mind. Fear is a new rapture, when there is something from which it should not be. For it is said: "Out of fear of the enemy, cleanse my soul" (Psalm 63:1). And in general, any passion that drives the mind out of itself can rightly be called rapture. Imagine an angry man: how intoxicated he is with passion; He is not his own master, he does not recognize himself, he does not recognize those present, as in a night battle he touches everyone, attacks everyone, says what comes to mind: he is uncontrollable, scolds, beats, threatens, swears, shouts, breaks.

Flee from this intoxication, and do not cling to the intoxication of wine. Do not precede drinking water with much drinking. It is not drunkenness that should secretly guide you to fasting. It is not through drunkenness that one enters into fasting, nor through covetousness into justice, nor through intemperance into chastity, and in short, not through vice, into virtue. Another door to the post. Drunkenness leads to intemperance, and sobriety leads to fasting. The wrestler exercises the body beforehand; The fasting person preliminarily abstains. Do not let drunkenness precede these five days, so that you may reward yourself for them beforehand, or outwit the Lawgiver. For you work in vain; you crush the body, but you do not prevent hunger. This pantry is unreliable; You pour it into a leaky barrel. Wine flows out, going its own way, but sin remains. A servant flees from the master who strikes; and you do not leave the wine that hits you daily in the head. The best measure in the use of wine is bodily need. And if you go beyond the limits, you will walk tomorrow with a sore head, suffering from yawning and dizziness, emitting the smell of rotten wine; it will seem to you that everything is going around, that everything is fluctuating. Rapture produces sleep, which is the brother of death, and awakening, which is like a dream.