Our Holy Father Metrophanes, Patriarch of Constantinople (312-37)
Romans 5:17-6:2; Matthew 9:14-17
Apostles’ Fast. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read Matthew 9:14-17
How should we fast? We should fast in two ways. We must fast joyfully and we must fast humbly. If these two dispositions are lacking our prayer and therefore our spiritual life will not bear as rich a harvest of spiritual fruits as we desire. The spiritual life is nurtured by fasting. This seems contradictory to us as we inhabit a materialist world. “Fasting nourishes me? But won’t I starve?” Yes, you will starve a little and that’s a good thing, because to starve the passions that are constantly assailing us: lust, anger, and gluttony, which are very much passions of the appetite, and also envy, vainglory, and pride, is essential if we are to no longer be mastered by them. But fasting is not enough in itself. It is a means to deeper prayer. It is in that deeper prayer that we gain the strength to continually call out to God to help us in our struggles with passions and to ask Him to grant us a joyful heart. It is in giving ourselves more fully to God in our prayer and desiring to participate in the life of the Most Holy Trinity that we are truly fed.