“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). Adam ate and (spiritually) died. “We are what we eat” (L. Feuerbach). Food, what ever it is, affects our spirituality. We will see in this book how this mysterious thing happens.

(…) The spiritual death entered the soul through the body. “You will die on the day that you eat” (Gen. 2:17), God said to Adam and Eve. They ate and spiritual death entered the soul. The body ate and the soul died, “your brother was dead” the Lord said about the prodigal son who had been en-slaved by bodily pleasures (Lk. 15:32). (…). And Life (Jesus Christ) enters the soul through the body, through corporeal hardships. (…). “I am about to starve” (Lk. 5:17) said the prodigal son, and this hunger led him to repentance, to Christ!). (Pg. 25,26)

PROLOGUE 

“You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day” (Gen. 2: 16-17). Adam ate and (spiritually) died. “We are what we eat” (L. Feuerbach).  Food, whatever it is, affects our spirituality. 

 We will see in this book how this mysterious thing happens.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. Belly & Heart

2. Cuisine and the Banquet

SECTION   Ι

MAN & ANIMAL

1. The Difference

2. Our Mind is Our Manager

3. When Our Mind Follows Our Passions

SECTION ΙΙ

OUR BODY & SPIRITUAL LIFE

1. Our Body is a Holy Temple

2. “Body of Death”

3. The Three-Storey House

SECTION ΙΙΙ

GLUTΤONY

1. Meat and Wine

2. Gluttony * Health * Deprivation
3. Gluttony & Orthodox Spirituality

4. Gluttony * Sexuality * Devil

SECTION IV

HOW WE FAST

1. Fasting: An Undesirable Thing

2. Fasting in the Church Tradition

SECTION V

WHEN DO WE FAST?

1. All-Day Fasts

2. Great Lent

3. Holy Week

4. Other Fasts

5. Fasting for Special Circumstances

SECTION VI

FASTING AND HOLY COMMUNION

1. Our Elders and Holy Communion

4. Great Lent & Holy Communion
5. The Pan-Orthodox Tradition
6. “When I observe all the fasts”

7. “There is no Sacred Canon”
8. Holy Communion without fasting

SECTION VII

THE BENEFITS OF FASTING

Fasting: The mother of health

Fasting: The Queen of Virtues

Fasting and Demons

Fasting and Forgiveness of Sin

Fasting and Sanctification

The Priest & Fasting

SECTION VII

WHEN WE BREAK THE FAST

1. Consumption of Oil and Fish
2. Consuption of Everything

3. The Sick

4. The Widow’s Two Copper Coins

SECTION VII

WHEN DON’T WE FAST?

”That Applies to Monks…!”

“Enemies of the Cross”

Fasting in Our Times

***

1st English Edition. 2020. All rights reserved

Translated by Stavros Raptis

Cover design:

Chrysostomos Tromboukis, BA

www.chrysostomo.wordpress.com

Publisher: Archangels Publications

https://archangelsbooks.com/

ORDERS:

wholesale: archangelspublications@gmail.com or phone 314 614 0843

retail: www.amazon.com

***

The Greek author, the Archimandrite Vassilios Bakoyiannis was born in 1953. He is a graduate of the Theological Academy of Athens and of the Theological School of the University of Belgrade. He received his M.A. in Theology from St. Vladimir’s Seminary and his Ph.D. from the Atlantic International University (U.S.A.). In 1974 he began writing and since then has written over 50 spiritual books. The publication of his books in Greece has been exclusively undertaken by “Thavor” publications, which have been exclusively established for this purpose and for which he exclusively writes. Several of his books have been translated from the Greek language into English, German, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Arabic, Serbian, Bulgarian, Indonesian, Swahili. He was ordained in 1980 and serves the Holy Metropolis of Patras in Greece.

ΟΤΗΕR BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR PUBLISHED BY THE SAME PUBLICATIONS

1. Tearful Eyes 2. Christian or an Actor? 3. The world’s Final call 4. A Monk’s Adventure 5. Confronting the Devil 6. After Death 7. Great Christian Feasts 8. Forty Stormy Years 9. Battles & Passions. Anger, Hatred, Envy 10. Confession 11. JESUS His Unknown Side 12. Highly Favored One. The Life of Mariam (The Virgin Mary) 13. St. John Chrysostom. Holy Communion. How & when 14. Lion Tamer: On Taming the Tongue 15. Heresy in One