21/02/2026
Now I will tell you something terrible. If you are going to start this fast, the most ideal faster is Satan.
Think about it, the devil never eats at all, neither meat, nor milk, nor bread. He never sleeps, he is awake 24 hours a day. And, forgive the details, he is a virgin, he does not engage in fornication. He is a perfect ascetic, but he is in darkness. Do you know why? Because there is not a drop of love in him and not a gram of humility. This is the trap. Fasting without love is simply a demonic diet. If you gave up the cutlets, but you ate your daughter-in-law with reproaches, you are not fasting, you sin more seriously than the drunkard under the fence. If you read all the prayers, but you did not call your lonely mother, your fast is not worth a cent. God does not look at your plate as carefully as you think. He looks at your heart. I know that many of you who are listening to me now are elderly, some have gastritis, some have diabetes, your blood pressure is jumping and you are crying:
My dears, wipe away your tears. I tell you as a priest:
The illness is already a fast. Your humility in the face of weakness is a feat higher than refusing food. Better eat this chicken if you have no strength, but find the strength in yourself to smile at your husband who has come home tired from work. Better drink milk, but do not drink the blood of your children with your grumbling: "Son, you are not living right! Daughter, you are raising wrong!" Shut your mouth for condemnation. This is what Great Lent will be.
Try this simple experiment this week. Forget about the list of prohibited products. Make a list of people you have offended. Who haven't you called for half a year, for whom do you hold an evil? Call, say: "Forgive me." It is harder than giving up salami. Pride will scream, it will resist, but if you do this, Heaven will rejoice. Therefore, I bless you, my angels, not for hunger, but for humanity. Be full, but be good. Do not turn into evil saints. Let your house smell of pancakes, but let peace reign, not curses according to the charter.