But do not let fasting keep you away from Holy Communion. These things were not established only for monks—they were given for everyone.
Before Holy Communion, the priest reads a prayer asking that the Holy Mysteries may bring spiritual awakening to those who receive them, that their souls may be enlightened, and that the Kingdom of Heaven may be filled with Christians who partake of Christ.
Yet some people choose not to receive Communion because they have not fasted. They say, "I did not fast, so I will not receive." Do you see how the devil disguises himself? He appears reasonable. He even makes this seem like a virtue.
Do not confuse these things. All the saints kept the Church's fasting rules and also received Holy Communion frequently—Saint Gregory Palamas, Saint Nectarios, Saint Paisios, and Elder Ephraim of Arizona.
Some people insist that because they inherited a custom of fasting for several days before Holy Communion, they must always keep it. They say, "This is our tradition."
But what tradition is it? The speaker argues that any tradition that separates a person from Holy Communion is not God's tradition, but one that keeps people away from Christ.
Christ warned, "You leave the commandment of God and hold to the traditions of men."
Many people reply, "That is how my grandmother, my grandfather, or my family taught me."
When Elder Ephraim of Philotheou became widely known after leaving the caves and hermitages of Mount Athos, many people visited his monastery. I remember one occasion when a group of respected monks from Crete came. They were admirable ascetics, but I noticed they looked uneasy.
Someone explained that they thought the monks at the monastery received Holy Communion too often.
Do you understand what had happened?
The Mount Athos people know today is not the same Mount Athos I first knew. Today, frequent Holy Communion is common there because many have come to recognize its importance. Beginning in the nineteen seventies, after Elder Ephraim left the hermitages and revitalized monasteries on Mount Athos, a new spiritual era began.
Previously, many monks received Communion only on major feast days, as though the feast itself made someone worthy.
The Mount Athos of today emphasizes both frequent Holy Communion and the continual prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me," taught by Elder Joseph the Hesychast.
It is this spirit that continues to resist secularization, modernism, and everything that distances people from Christ, even when it appears attractive.
That is why those who wish to weaken Mount Athos often criticize Joseph the Hesychast, Elder Ephraim of Arizona, and those who followed their spiritual teaching.
The devil knows what he fears. He does not fear fasting by itself. He fears Holy Communion.
One elderly monk once remarked, "They are good monks, but they receive Communion too often."
Because of this, some even compared those who practiced frequent Communion with controversial figures from the past.
Be careful. Any virtue that ultimately distances you from Christ becomes spiritually dangerous.
The devil possesses many things that resemble virtues. He has no body, so he never commits bodily sins. He never eats, so in one sense he "fasts" continually.
No matter how much we fast or practice self-control, we will never surpass him in these external things alone.
What destroyed him was pride.
Therefore, humility is greater than outward asceticism.
Do what the Church teaches with humility. Sometimes the fasting rules may seem difficult or even puzzling, but the purpose of fasting is to humble our pride, something the devil can never do.
Christ humbled Himself, descended from heaven, became man, and was obedient even unto death on the Cross.
The devil chose pride.
We should imitate Christ's humility rather than merely imitate the devil's outward abstinence.
Holy Communion is both medicine and a weapon.
Christ said, "Without Me you can do nothing."
Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite explains that when we struggle against anger, pride, gluttony, or lust by ourselves, we fight alone. But after receiving Holy Communion and becoming united with Christ, Christ Himself fights these battles within us.
That is why the devil would rather see someone fasting while remaining separated from Christ than united with Him through Holy Communion.
When the priest comes out with the Holy Gifts, he proclaims, "With the fear of God, with faith and love, draw near."
He does not say, "Come only if you have not eaten yogurt."
How foolish it is to turn away from meeting Christ because of such reasoning.
It would be better to eat something for a serious reason and still receive Holy Communion than to fast while staying away from Christ.
This does not mean fasting should be abolished. Fasting is a great virtue when united with Holy Communion.
Saint Paisios once explained this to me.
I asked him how people could receive Communion regularly if they believed they had to fast for several days beforehand. If someone wished to receive every Sunday, such a rule would require fasting almost the entire week.
I asked where this custom had come from.
He replied that over time, violations had become traditions, while true traditions had come to be treated as violations.
A practice that was never required gradually became accepted as obligatory, while receiving Holy Communion every Sunday—the ancient tradition of the Church—began to be viewed as strange.
We should keep the practices handed down by the saints. We should not abolish fasting.
Christ Himself fasted, and we should fast as well.
But the same Christ also taught that the Pharisee was not justified simply because he fasted.
The problem is reducing fasting to food alone.
Nowhere does the Church define fasting before Holy Communion only in terms of particular foods. Fasting is important, but it should never become an obstacle to receiving Christ.
A priest once told me about a woman with an advanced pregnancy.
Because the baby was drawing calcium from her body to develop its skeleton, her doctor instructed her to eat cheese, yogurt, and drink milk to protect her own health.
She felt troubled because these foods were not fasting foods.
She asked her priest.
He replied, "You are not setting fasting aside out of contempt. You are doing this because your health and your baby's health require it. Eat what the doctor prescribed. You have my blessing to receive Holy Communion."
She left, but later ignored the advice because she wanted to keep fasting.
Her condition became so serious that both she and the baby were in danger.
When the priest learned what had happened, he firmly instructed her that for as long as necessary, she was to eat the foods required for her health and then receive Holy Communion.
Only afterward could she return to the normal fasting discipline.
Some people mocked her for eating cheese, eggs, and yogurt while still going to Communion.
She lowered her head, said nothing, and continued.
Now she was truly fasting—not from food, but from her pride and her own self-will.
That is a kind of fasting the devil can never imitate.
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