Our Holy Father Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (638)
Great Fast Day 17. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
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Proverbs 9:12-18
When reflecting on today’s reading St. Augustine recognized that the text was speaking to him about his own failures. He was seduced by a wanton woman who knew no shame, who said to him, “stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” He fell into worldly seduction because of his own doing: “This woman seduced me, because she found my soul outside its own door, dwelling externally in the eyes of my flesh and ruminating within myself on such food as I had swallowed through my physical senses. (Confessions 3.6.11). We are reminded today that the strength of worldly allurement is something that depends on us. Where we place our value and attention will determine what we are drawn to. If we give more attention to the externals of life then we will be drawn more and more to worldly lies, anxieties and temptations that seem sweet, but are bitter and lead to Sheol, which is the place of the dead.