Epistle of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine for the Nativity Fast.
To the God-beloved Pastors, the Honourable Monastics, and All Faithful Children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora and in Ukraine.
“Fasting heals illnesses, drives away the devil, removes evil thoughts, clears the mind, purifies the body, and raises up a person to the Throne of God.”
— St. Athanasius the Great
Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers! Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Every year with great joy our Orthodox Church prepares Her faithful for the great feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Holy Hierarch of Christ’s Church, St. John Chrysostom, says:
”The day of the Nativity of Christ is the most important of all the feasts, because it is the mother of all feasts. If there was no Nativity, there would be no Resurrection”.
In accordance with the typicon of the church, the Nativity of Christ is preceded by a forty-day fast, known among our people as “Pylypiwka” (“St. Philip’s Fast”). Thus the church typicon regards the Nativity of Christ as a second Pascha, and as the faithful prepare themselves for Pascha by prayer and fasting, so the Nativity Fast is for us Christians a time of preparation for the coming of our Saviour into the world.
St. Simeon of Thessalonica writes:
“This 40-day fast is similar to the fast of Moses, who fasted 40 days and nights and received the tablets with God’s Commandments. We fast 40 days and receive the living Word of God, incarnated from the Virgin, and we commune of His Body”.
The Holy Nativity Fast in our Orthodox Church begins on the 28th of November, on the day after the commemoration of the Holy Apostle Philip, and so has the name “Pylypiwka” (“Philip’s Fast”). Venerable Anastasius of Sinai in his writings says that the Nativity Fast is of apostolic origin, and relates the following tradition about the Holy Apostle Philip:
“The Holy Apostle Philip, before his martyric death, asked God to punish his tormentors. Because of this it was revealed to him that he himself, as punishment for this request, would not be able to enter paradise until forty days had passed following his death. And so St. Philip entreated the other apostles to fast on his behalf for forty days, and the apostles instructed all the faithful to fast for forty days”.
The Nativity Fast for us Christians and for all the faithful of the Church of Christ is a symbol of the prayer and fasting of the old-testament patriarchs and prophets, who with great longing awaited the advent on earth of the Messiah — Christ.
The Nativity Fast has at its foundation deep spiritual meaning, because it prepares us Christians for the appearance of God on earth. And in general fasting, as means of spiritual perfection, was known to humanity from the time of the first people who lived on earth. The prohibition to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the earthly paradise of Eden – this was a spiritual foreshadowing of our Christian fasting, where, by means of the taming of the flesh, a person may attain their own spiritual perfection. The Fast is a promise of spiritual growth for a Christian. We can say with confidence that mankind always obtained benefit from fasting and from the most ancient times had consciousness of the fact that a pure fast brings a person great physical and spiritual benefit.
In accordance with the teaching of the Church, bodily fasting should absolutely be accompanied by spiritual fasting. Let us remember that the time of the Nativity Fast which we are now entering is a time of spiritual warfare for each one of us, in which both the soul and the body participate.
The soul takes part by way of more zealous prayer, sincere repentance, and the true fulfillment of the Christian virtues. There can be no spiritual fast without the mortification of the flesh.
St. Basil the Great writes:
“As much as you deprive the flesh, this is how much you add luster and spiritual health to your soul. For it is not by the increase of physical strength in our bodies, but through the endurance of the soul and patience in difficult circumstances that we gain strength against the unseen enemies”.
As well, a true fast strengthens our health, constrains the flesh, cleanses our soul, and leads us to God. Fasting gives us spiritual wings, by means of which we Christians are victorious over Satan’s wiles and spiritually rise up to the heavens. The Lord speaks to us through fasting, He teaches us humility and holiness.
May Love to our Lord, Jesus Christ, be an inspiring power, so that this year we might in a proper way observe this Nativity Fast and prepare our souls and hearts to worthily greet the feast of the Nativity of Christ.
With Archpastoral Blessings,
† YURIJ, Metropolitan
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
† ANTONY, Metropolitan
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora
† IOAN, Archbishop
Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora
† JEREMIAH, Archbishop
Ukrainian Orthodox Eparchy of Brazil and South America
† ILARION, Bishop
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
† ANDRIY, Bishop
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
† DANIEL, Bishop
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA