dear brothers and sisters, in preparing us for the great feast with the singing of the most holy theotokos, the church encourages us to spiritual work in the field of the dormition fast, and the tradition of fasting before the feast of the dormition has come down to us from ancient times of the christian church. so already in the middle of the 5th century, in the work of st. leo the great, we find a clear indication of the assumption fast, the final restoration of the assumption fast took place at

the council of constantinople in 1166, where it was confirmed that all orthodox christians, according to ancient lips, should keep the holy fast. from august 1 to august 15, according to the old style, his holiness the patriarch of the luke confirmed that, according to unwritten church tradition, christians should fast from the first day of august according to the old style, that is, already then the dormition fast acquired its two-week duration saint semyon of solon. he writes about the fact that fasting in august, that is, the assumption fast, was instituted in honor of the mother of god, who, having learned about her coming vision, as always labored and fasted for us, although being

holy and immaculate, she had no need for fasting. so, especially she prayed, when she intended to pass from the future life here and when her blessed soul was preparing to enter into eternity. therefore, we must also fast and sing to her, imitating her life and thus encouraging her to pray for us. the dormition fast reminds us, first of all, of the great image of the most holy theotokos . the mother of god became the ladder along which the incarnate god descended to earth.

virtues that should be characteristic of every christian precisely from this side. we need to look at the mother of god on the eve of the upcoming assumption lent. the feat of the mother of god of the virgin mary is a great unique service, for which god himself chose her to this service, we can only be amazed, but we can and should imitate the christian way of life of crime in need and poverty , not upset, not only not angry at those who offend her, but even does them good. welfare is short to the poor merciful and helps them, how and with what, can firmly stand for the faith of every christian.

she is a mentor, a teacher for every good deed, loves the humble most of all, because she herself is filled with humility, in order to come closer to the knowledge of what true humility is, she will see her weakness and the upcoming fast for us is not long, but very responsible for many people, fasting is not an easy task. . this is not surprising because fasting requires the right skill and intense self-improvement. how do we tame ourselves to fasting. for this before all it takes is gradual learning. some try hastily to take up the exploits of fasting and fast without any measure. such a fast is not durable and not only does not bring benefits, but it even harms. as they say, holy scripture tells us and based

on it. holy fathers are better. he does not have a small moderate feat, there is no price, but when a person is taken above his strength and for something thoughtlessly, then he upsets his health and becomes. they are impatient , irritable, dull. as a result, fasting becomes unbearable for him and the person leaves him. sometimes there is such a fast that seduces and upsets close people who are embarrassed that a person fasts, but behaves not quite correctly. of course, such moments of cases should be avoided and

we should fast in a balanced way during lent . the church prescribes us moderate consumption of food and drink. this is calculated with the aim of weakening us from the wrong movement of the flesh of the soul, often excited by the abundant nourishment of the body, but in such a way as not to completely relax our bodily nature, but, on the contrary, to make it light and strong. and capable of obeying the movements of the spirit to cheerfully fulfill its requirements. in order for our desire to fast to become strong, in order to love fasting, we need to accustom ourselves to fasting gradually, slowly, attentively, not suddenly, and not in big steps step by step, everyone who wants to master the virtue of fasting determines how much

food and drink he needs. here it is important to remember the rule given to us by the lord himself may your hearts not be cleansed by association and drunkenness. fasting is a necessary means for progress in the spiritual life, because he takes away the flesh, excess food and drink weakens the power of sinful temptations. if a person really diligently fasts, he very soon realizes that little and health are needed for his life. it does not depend on exquisite and plentiful food. a simple affordable healthy food and drink. also, fasting people are surprised to discover the passions and vices that dominate in him , to which he clung to his heart, but

which were not noticeable outside the fast as a result of this, the fasting person becomes capable of sincere and collected pain. prayer to repentant feelings of reflection. saint john zlatos spoke about god of spiritual life, whoever fasts with a good spirit prays in this way fasting is a powerful means of preparing for all good deeds. this has always been deeply felt by all prudent and god-loving people. saints. god fasted themselves and unanimously advised others to fast, moreover, they even went beyond fasting so much they were for themselves its fruitfulness and significance of maintaining spiritual life with the help of fasting.

dear brothers and sisters, as we prepare ourselves for on the great feast of the dormition of the most holy theotokos, let us approach the feat of fasting with sincere zeal and reason, urging ourselves to passive spiritual labor, and at the same time we will have in front of us the image of the virtue of the most holy theotokos, who was exalted by the lord above the ranks of the angels, but at the same time always remained a meek , merciful christian. i am in prayer and fasting with her prayers. may the lord strengthen us in the coming unsuccessful fast, so that we can spend this time favorably for ourselves. have a nice procession along the assumption post. i wish all of you and good fruits

with which your path will be crowned. good morning news live on belarus 1 and belarus 24 in the pavel zubik studio and watch in this episode a strong character, a bright game of the participants and a grand show at the minsk arena, the second games of the cis countries