Dear brothers and sisters, good strength as we begin the first day of the Nativity Fast!
Our winter Lent is not reduced to the twenty four chocolate-promise days of the consumerist, western Advent calendar, but forty days of fasting and prayer, not of treats and commercial predation; forty days in which we should endeavour to eat and cook less, and pray and spend more time on ‘food’ for the soul through scriptures and spiritual reading; forty days of fasting rather than seasonal fare; forty days of seeking to maximise silence and look for seclusion, rather than succumbing to and immersing ourselves in seasonal entertainment and noise.
Mirroring the days of Great Lent, these days are the Church’s period of preparation for the Nativity, but unlike Great Lent, we have no dedicated book of hymns and services, as we do in the Lenten Triodion. With its canons and hymns providing for the special Sundays of the Great Fast, the Triodion gives a great sense of direction for the Great Fast, concentrating on repentance and holding up great teachers of the spiritual life: St Gregory Palamas, St John of the Ladder, St Mary of Egypt.
The Nativity Fast, has no such provision other than the Sundays of the Holy Fathers and Forefathers preceding the Nativity, so that there a temptation and risk for us to lose the impetus and inner-unity of this winter fast unless we make the conscious effort to ensure that we maintain and concentrate on keeping its momentum, ensuring that we have a firm rule of prayer and spiritual reading.
- Beyond strictly fulfilling your rule of prayer, offer additional prayers and hymns to focus on preparing for the feast of the Nativity. See the Russian Akafistnik: https://akafistnik.ru – English Akathists: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/akathists.htm
- Pray before the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, with the Christ-child within the womb of the Mother of God – the advent of His coming in the flesh.
- Try to read the scriptural readings of the day, and the life of one of the saints of the day: English – https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/orthodox-calendar/ and Russian https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/ru/pravoslavnyi-kalendar/
- Have time away from television, limit news consumption, and try to keep surroundings quiet, using time away from entertainment for daily spiritual reading, whether on paper or online… but ensure that on-line time is only for specified reading and not a safari of distraction and tangents.
- Cut down on trips to cafés and pubs, reduce socialising and give more time to the Lord!
- Stick to only one cooked meal a day and avoid snacking and treats – though mindful that halva, dried fruits and some sweet things can be useful in the fast re: sugar levels and energy.
- Eat simple foods and do NOT think that forty days of expensive meat and dairy substitutes are an honest fast.
- Ensure that charitable alms giving is part of the forty days, which should save money that can help others.
- Remember that wilfully rejecting the Fast is to reject the Lord Himself and to trample on the lives and teachings of the saints, the Holy Councils and the Sacred Tradition which the Holy Spirit has established as the life of the Church. If there are issues speak to the clergy!
- Pray the the troparion of the Forefeast as you begin and end each day, reminding yourself that this is our spiritual journey to Bethlehem to adore and worship the Word Made Flesh.
Troparion of the Forefeast, Tone IV: Make ready, O Bethlehem!/ Open unto all, O Eden!/ Adorn thyself, O Ephratha!/ For the Tree of life hath blossomed forth from the Virgin in the cave./ Her womb is shown to be a noetic paradise,/ wherein lieth a divine garden,/ eating from whence we live,/ not dying like Adam.// Christ is born to raise up His image which before was fallen.
Предпразднство Рождества Христова. Тропарь, глас 4: Гото́вися, Вифлее́ме,/ отве́рзися всем, Еде́ме,/ красу́йся, Евфра́фо,/ я́ко дре́во живота́ в верте́пе процвете́ от Де́вы:/ рай бо Óноя чре́во яви́ся мы́сленный,/ в не́мже Боже́ственный сад,/ от него́же я́дше, жи́ви бу́дем,/ не я́коже Áдам у́мрем./ Христо́с ражда́ется пре́жде па́дший возста́вити о́браз.
