It behooves us, the lovers of all things pure, the lovers of the word of God, yea – even Christians, to love the present time, which our holy church has set apart for a special opportunity of obtaining greater grace in the sight of God. We should hail with joy such an opportunity! The time I refer to is … (Great) Lent. We should love this fast as the teacher of sobriety, the mother of virtue, the educator of the children of God, the guardian of the unruly, the quiet of the soul, the staff of life, the peace that is firm and serene. Its importance and strictness pacifies the passions, puts out the fire of anger and wrath, cools and quiets the agitation produced by over-eating. And, as in summer-time, when the sweltering heat of the sun hangs over the ground, the northern breeze probes a blessing to the sufferers, scattering the closeness by its pleasant coolness, so does likewise the fast, destroying the overabundance of heat in the body which is caused by gluttony. Proving to be of so much benefit to the soul, Lent brings the body no less benefit. It refines the coarseness of matter, releases the body of part of its burden, lightens the blood vessels that are often ready to burst with an overflow of blood, and prevents them from becoming clogged, which may happen as easily as it occurs with a water pipe, that, when being forced to maintain the abundance of water pressed into it by a powerful machine, bursts from the pressure. And the head feels light and clear when the blood-vessels do not nervously beat, and the brain does not become clouded by the spreading of evaporations. Abstinence gives the stomach ease, which relieves it from a forced condition of slavery, and from boiling like a boiler, working with a sickly effort to cook the food it contains. The eyes look clear and undimmed, without the haze that generally shadows the vision of a glutton. The activity of the limbs is stable, that of the hand firm; the breath is regular and even, and not burdened by pent-up organs. The speech of him who fasts is plain and distinct; the mind is pure, and then it is that the mind shows forth its true image of God, when, as if in an immaterial body, it quietly and undisturbedly exercises the functions belonging to it. The sleep is quiet and free from all apparitions, not to extend unnecessarily. We may sum up by saying that the fast is the common peace of the soul and body. Such are the beneficent results of a temperate life, and such are the precepts of a Christian life. It is a law of the Holy Church, which prescribes that we should fast during the Lenten season.
Do you not know that angels are the constant watchers and guardians of those that fast, just as the demons, those very friends of greasy stuffs, those lovers of blood and companions of drunkards, as the associates of those that give themselves up to debauchery and orgies during such a holy time as lent. The angels and saints, as also the evil spirits ally themselves with those they love, they become related with that, which is pleasing to them. … It behooves us Christians to zealously watch every step we take, to be sure that we are walking in the path that our Holy Church not only pointed out, but as it were even cut out for us by the streams of martyr’s blood, by the wisdom of the Holy Ghost abiding in the sainted bishops of the universal councils, the night labor of praying and fasting fathers, and a host of pure self-sacrificing, obedient women such as Mary, Thekla, Barbara and Makrina. The church says that in the time of Lent we must fast and we should not disobey, because our Holy Church is the Church of God and tells us what God Himself wills that we should do.