Saint Sofian of Antim: Homily for the beginning of Great Lent
Excerpt from a new book published by St. George Press and available soon: “Repentance and Resurrection: Homilies during the Triodion and Pentecostarion” by Venerable Confessor Sofian of Antim Monastery.
From “Homily on Cheesefare Sunday”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, a word about Lent. We give up cheese this evening, and tomorrow morning, with God’s help, we enter the fasting period before the Holy Resurrection. When someone departs on a long journey, he supplies himself with everything necessary so that he will be sure that during his journey he will not have obstacles or limitations to what he intends to do. We too, go on a long journey, and although it seems we stay in place—physically—we journey in spirit on a road that always goes uphill, a tiring road. The hill we go up on is Golgotha; there we will meet Jesus Christ—Jesus Who walks with the Cross on His back, covered by wounds, full of blood, continually mocked and blasphemed—He Who unbinds and takes away the sins of the world. We start to climb tomorrow morning towards this hill, this peak of ascetic struggles, on the road of Holy and Great Lent.
What is the fast period? In the first place, fasting means self-restraint. I wish to draw your attention to this: if you eat very good Lenten food and eat well, you transgress the fast. For example, a meal of potatoes, yet greasy with rich oil and cooked to taste good, makes fasting useless.
Similarly, I want to point out that the one who fasts from food fasts in vain if his fast is not accompanied by the other, spiritual fasting: fasting from evil. Fasting from evil, fasting from sins, is compulsory, especially the “fasting of the mouth.” For example, if you gossip, even if you don’t eat anything, you still go to hell. He who condemns another person is more guilty than he who does not fast because he infringes on God’s rights. Thus, the Fathers urge us to fast with the mouth especially, as the Psalmist says: “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth.”[1] You no longer have control over a word that has been said. It flies away from you and is constantly interpreted and gossiped in many ways. Thus, keep it in place, especially when it is a harmful word. Saint John Chrysostom says this is why there are lips and teeth in front of the tongue; if we only could restrain our tongue; Lord, O Lord, how much venom and deceit it is capable to spew! Read tonight the Epistle of St. James to see what he urges us to do to keep our tongue, which is full of evil, in check. A slanderous tongue stole the reward of many people’s struggles—it is good not to forget this.
Similarly, thoughts, images, and remembrance of sins attack our fasting as well and ruin it. Therefore, I urge you to be very attentive to fasting with the senses, that is, to close all of the doors through which sin can enter you, because this is the purpose of fasting, brothers and sisters in Christ: to close the doors through which sin enters, that is, to uproot all the evil within us.
And one more thing: today’s Gospel reading speaks to us about fasting.[2] Jesus says this, “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.”[3] Simple and precise—conditional. Fasting and all asceticism, all our labor for salvation, is received on this condition: we must be internally at peace—at peace with God, our neighbors, and ourselves. An elder from the mountains of Neamt[4] once told me: “Father, you cannot pray with malice.” That is, if instead of praying, you are constantly in dialogue with the one who wronged you, and you argue with him and hate him in your heart, then you pray in vain and fast in vain—you cannot receive forgiveness. In the prayer Our Father, we vow: “Lord, forgive us, as we forgive others.” And if we do not forgive, then God does not forgive us either; Jesus tells us this precisely. We must be at peace with everyone if we want our fast to be well-received by God and to be forgiven.
Only the present moment is ours, brothers and sisters. The future is unknown, and the past is gone. Only the present moment is ours. We do not know when our end will come. We can go outside and fall down dead from a heart attack. We all die, brothers and sisters. Let us reconcile with God while we are here because He will judge us. God forbid that we come to hear: “I do not know you.”[5] Think of Dismas, the thief on the cross, who humbled himself and was saved. We too need this sincere humility, this regret that we are so wicked, that we must do all we can to truly change. Let us also humble our body, putting it to work, praying, doing prostrations, and fasting because we also sin with the body, not only with the soul.
Some will begin a very harsh fast tomorrow; they will not eat anything for one, two, or three days. But be careful that prayer, moderation, and abstinence from every form of evil accompany your fast. If you fast but are angry or nervous, you gain nothing from fasting. Someone bumps into you on the subway, and you are instantly ready to slap him. Or someone in the tram steps on your foot by accident and you are very suspicious, mad, and reluctant to forgive.
Forgiveness is difficult to reach later if it does not occur immediately after an argument. An old grudge is like a chronic illness. The more time passes, the more anger and hostility deepen. When you are at odds with someone, it is good to reconcile immediately. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger,” the Holy Scripture tells us.[6] Forgiveness should not be on paper, but sincere, from the heart, otherwise it does not help with anything. But if people are far from God, address them kindly with everyday language, not Church language. Say, “Excuse me, dear,” because maybe they do not know about forgiveness, or it is difficult for them to understand. Apologize instead of asking for forgiveness; speak their language.
It is said that someone was carrying a stick on his shoulder on which he had tied two bags. In front, he had a bag filled with the sins of others, and behind was a bag of his own sins. And he would take the sins from the bag in front of him and scatter them everywhere—all were sinners, only he was not because his bag was behind him, and he could not see his sins. We must not forget that we all are lacking in spirit. The proud person preaches about himself (we all have faults, only he does not), but the humble person sees himself as worse than all the others because he only sees his own sins. We know what humility is, but only theoretically. Practically speaking, we fail this great exam of humility. Let us learn to be humble at heart—not bowing hypocritically and full of sweet words, falsity, and pride within—but humble at heart, gentle, authentically humble, and then your words will not be harsh and cutting. No one listens to you when you say something, even a word of advice, with an authoritative, commanding tone. God’s work is done with gentleness, humility, and polite requests.
While you wait your turn to be anointed with oil from the Holy Unction, or while you wait in other lines, do not waste your time, brothers. Think of what you heard here, and especially pray in the depth of your heart, because this is the only way time passes quickly and beneficially. Let us learn to pray more, because by praying, we enter into dialogue with Someone Who can truly help us. Say the prayers you know by heart, and especially say this short and comprehensive prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And at home, open the New Testament and start reading the Gospels to know the life and teachings of Jesus well. And not only to know them, but also to assimilate His teachings and commandments as principles, that is, to live them. Read, brothers and sisters in Christ, because a person also needs an intellectual foundation to know why he believes something, lives a certain way, and abstains from certain things.
As I was saying, there is a certain order to this fast. Fasting is recommended for all people, but usually, the elderly, the sick, and children are excused. However, those among them who wish to fast are not making a mistake; it is very good for them. They can have a dispensation, but if they are able to fast, they are not erring. Some people work in toxic environments and use certain foods, for example milk, as medicine.[7] It is better to have a spiritual father's blessing and drink milk than to get sick and complain. You can take these foods as a medicine that protects you from pulmonary disease or other illnesses.
Do these things, brothers and sisters in Christ, and God will truly provide everything else for our benefit.
[1] Ps 140:3
[2] Matt 18:23-35; The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
[3] Matt 6:14-21; Mk 11:26
[4] Ceahlău Massif, Neamț County, Romania
[5] Matt 25:12
[6] Eph 4:26
[7] In a journal entry on July 31, 1970, St. Sofian writes: “We are dizzy from both our difficult position on the dome and the solutions: turpentine, alcohol, ammonia, oil. The air from outside which smells like fir trees replaces, in our lungs, the poisonous fumes we have inhaled. Although it is Friday, tonight I will drink a glass of milk as an antidote for the toxins.” And in his journal entry on August 8, 1970, St. Sofian describes working on the scaffolding to restore the paintings in Agapia Monastery’s church: “We are working in a toxic environment: turpentine, alcohol, ammonia, oil, eggs; with great effort, much sweat, to which is added the heat from outside. After an hour of work, my shirt is soaking wet, sticks to my skin, and with the help of the wind coming through the permanently open doors, adds to my rheumatism. In order to avoid too many unpleasantries, we change our shirt each hour, and to combat the toxins we drink sweet milk, even though it is the [Dormition] fast”; Arhim. Sofian Boghiu, Journal (Bucharest: Editura Bizantina, 2019), 40, 44.