وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

A student, for instance, may study while fasting and have God join him. He studies while God grants him the power to understand and to remember the information learnt in memory. This student says to God: "O Lord, I cannot understand all this by myself. You stay with me and make me understand and I shall thank you for it. I study, O Lord, neither for the sake of knowledge nor for my future, but for You so that all may know that Your children are successful, that they are faithful in all the deeds they undertake, and that the Lord is with them and assists them. Thus people give praise "

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

You say to God: It is for You that I eat, and for You that I fast.
It is for You that I eat to gain strength to stand up and pray, to sit up late and contemplate. To use for the service of Your children, and for others to know that Your children are faithful in their responsibilities.
I fast so that my soul comes to You, unhindered by my body. In this way, God will be with you in everything you do.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

You also partake with Jesus Christ who fasted.
Join Him in fasting to the extent that your weak nature can stand. He fasted for you, therefore at least fast for yourself. He who rejected the wordily food, and you too partake with him in rejecting the perishing food. He, who is nourished by the love and companionship of His Father, likewise do the same. He, who gained victory over the devil whilst fasting, plead with Him to guide you to victory.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Fasting in this way, becomes nourishment for your spirit.
The most hazardous thing that exhausts those who fast is that neither the body nor the soul is nourished. Fasting becomes a period of deprivation and torture. This is not the intention of a spiritual fast. Moreover, deprivation of the body only, gives fasting a negative image while leaving out the positive nourishment of the soul.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Nourishment of the soul is: prayer, meditation, reading the Holy Bible, spiritual readings such as the sayings of Fathers and biographies of Saints, hymns and psalms, spiritual meetings and prostration etc.
Nourishment of the soul also includes spiritual feelings, God's love and all matters relating to eternity.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

The soul that is nourished is able to support the body.
This is clearly seen during Passion Week when asceticism becomes intense, with long periods of abstinence. Nevertheless, the body endures without becoming tired because the soul is nourished by the memories of Christ's suffering by on Passion Week. Bible readings, hymns, and rites all focus the mind on Passion Week and the suffering of our Lord.
There are times when a person may be so absorbed by the satisfaction and pleasure of what he reads that he may forget about his craving for food so that he can proceed with his readings. The soul becomes nourished to the extent that it sustains the body, which does not feel any hunger.
Therefore, give the soul its nourishment during a fast and rest assured that nourishment of the soul gives the body the strength it needs to endure the fast. Moreover, fasting of the body empower the soul, for the spiritual action is intermingled with the bodily and mental asceticism. Prayers and masses during a fast are more profoundduring fasts for they emanate from a body, which has submitted to the soul. Your prayer becomes powerful since they emanate from a heart abstained from materialistic things and a soul abstained from the worldly lusts. Such as the vespers and midnight prayers performed with a light body abstaining from food.
During the fasts, our Fathers concerned themselves with the work of the soul.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Even while eating, they were also interested in nourishing their souls.
They used to take it in turn while they ate, to read aloud a Saint's biography or “Sayings of the Fathers”. This helped withdraw their minds away from food and materialistic issues, and at the same time be nourished spiritually while they ate their food. They avoided being fully occupied with the body and became accustomed to the discipline of the soul over every bodily act.
The commandments oblige us to fast, but our Fathers did not fast because of them.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

They fasted for the love and not for obedience to the commandment.
Obedience is for the novice, but love is for the mature and the perfect.
Our fathers fasted, not to fulfil a commandment, an imposition, or a rite, but for the spiritual pleasure in which they found spiritual satisfaction and comfort for their souls and bodies.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Our fathers did not stop fasting at the limits of obedience to the commandment, but they delved into its spirituality.
The spirituality of the commandment requires us to fast for our own good. Otherwise, God would not have ordered it.
In addition to what we have said, we shall, God willing, explain this matter in detail in the following chapter titled "The virtues that accompany fasting".
However, for now we shall talk about Lent, as the holiest fast of the year.

[Mary Naeem]

أبنى الغالى .. بنتي الغالية
أنا أشفي قلوبكم المنكسرة وأرممها وأعيد لها الحياة
فلمسة واحدة مني لأرواحكم العطشى أحولها الى جنة
فصلوا وتواصلوا دائما معي لأروي حياتكم من نهر حبي
لتذوقوا طعم محبتي القادرة على تحلية كل مرارة ايامكم