Photo: Galina Egorenkova
Today begins the Nativity Fast. Its forty days is a journey that leads us to the Bethlehem cave, to the God Who incarnated for our salvation. We just have to take this journey seriously, without straying from the path, without settling down for a long rest, without returning to our starting point.
How are we to walk this path? How can we truly reach Bethlehem and experience the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in all its fulness and power? To begin with, we actually have to set out on the journey, get moving from a standstill. In our fasting hymns (from Great Lent, admittedly, but still) we find these wonderful words: “Let the first day of the fast be for us the beginning of a new life.” This is what we should think about today as we enter the fast.
Determine your tasks for the fast. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself four questions: “Where am I headed? Why am I headed there? Who am I going with? What am I carrying with me?”
I’m headed to the Incarnate God.
I’m going to meet Him in my heart. I’m walking with those whom the Lord has given me as companions—with family and friends.
Of course, I’m bringing gifts. On New Year’s and Nativity we give and receive gifts, but do we really have nothing for Christ? The Lord has already told us exactly what He wants from us: My son, give Me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways (Prov. 23:26). Let’s try to work on our hearts during this fast.
There are some poignant words in one English novel of the twentieth century. The main character exclaims: “Just think, I’m a Christian believer, but I ask myself: ‘In my whole life, have I ever acted one way or another for the simple reason that Christ wants me to do so? And the answer is no, not once.’”
Let’s try to think about what place the words of Christ, His desires, His commandments occupy in our reality, in our consciousness, in our will and intentions? Do we strive to live by constantly comparing our internal and external lives with the Gospel?
Or to put it more simply, let these words of Fr. Rodion Putyatin become a kind of guide, a roadmap for the Nativity Fast:
So, when an evil thought comes to our mind, let us say: “I’m not going to do that, because Jesus Christ doesn’t like it.” When a good thought comes to our mind, let us say: “I will do this, because Jesus Christ loves it.”
After all, we’re dedicating the next forty days to Him! If we spend these days in a manner worthy of God, doing what He expects from us, that’s how we’ll be able to reach Bethlehem.
And to make the journey easier, let’s follow some milestones along the way. Let’s take one spiritual-moral exercise for each of the forty days. This will focus our attention and direct our efforts to a single point.
And also, let us read one of the texts of the forefeast of the Nativity of Christ every day (in the first week—the texts of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple).
Yes, we won’t hear them in church until January 2, but the theological and spiritual content of these texts is so rich that it’s better to start them in advance.
St. Paisios the Athonite, when asked how to experience and feel the Nativity event in our hearts, replied:
In order for us to experience and feel these Divine events, the mind must be focused on Divine thoughts. Then we’ll change. “A great and glorious miracle is wrought today,” we sing. If our mind abides there, in the “glorious,” in the unknown, then we’ll experience the great mystery of the Nativity of Christ with our heart. And I’ll be praying for your heart to become a Bethlehem manger, and that the Divine Infant may grant you all His blessings.
And what an amazing text we’ll hear on December 12, at the All-Night Vigil for the feast of St. Andrew the First-Called:
Open thy gates, O Eden, and you Magi, come to see Salvation wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
Let’s travel together with the Magi!
May we all have a blessed fast!
A spiritual-moral exercise for the day:
Today I will focus specially on reading and hearing the Word of God. I will try to receive today’s passage as though Christ Himself were speaking personally to me. Throughout the day I will return to it mentally and measure my actions, words and thoughts against it, so that this word might bear fruit within me.
Text from the Feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos Into the Temple:
Behold, today a joyful spring has dawned for the ends of the earth, illuminating our soul, our thoughts, and our mind with grace. Let us mystically partake in the feast of the Theotokos this day.
