ADVENT TWICE
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.
ADVENT is not really known as an official fasting time. Lent, Yes, but Advent, not so. The memory of fasting before Christmas faded away from Western Christianity.
However, according to different traditions there is a fasting, right before Christmas or before the festivity of the Epiphany. This fasting should last for 4 weeks for 40 days or 6 weeks before Christmas or January 6, the Epiphany.
The Advent is actually enveloping this fasting and eventually, this fasting established the Advent season originally, but it used the start in the middle of November, like in the Byzantine rite, which is most Greek Orthodox Church in the East, as they have the Advent fasting from November 15 to December 25, according to the Gregorian calendar, which amounts to a 40 day fasting.
In America this time frame is usually not assigned to fasting, but quite the opposite, it is dedicated to feasting, as the end of November has also the Thanksgiving, as a High Holliday, which grew almost over the real Christmas, as Christmas also became a secular Hollywood fairy tale about the Santa Claus, the reindeer, the elves, the toy factory in the North Pole, where even the Christmas Tree is coming from an ancient pagan German ritual.
Nonetheless, if Christmas is supposedly a very joyful High Holiday, why fasting was scheduled by the ancient church as a pivotal preparation for the High Holiday?
The Christmas, whatever is the chronology or tradition behind the date, is a REMEMBRANCE the DAY of meeting the King, when the King comes and visit the Earth, our homes on Earth, worship and other human places. Before the King’s visit, we have to clean up the place, churches, homes, our hearts.
Cleaning is not easy, as according to the ancient tradition, seven mortals sins keep the world and the human hearts entrapped. These seven so called, deadly sins are the following:
Pride, impersonated with a demon, Lucifer. Then, Greed, impersonated with a demon, Mammon. Then, Lust impersonated by and annotated with a demon, Asmodeus.
Then, Envy, impersonated by and annotated with a demon, Leviathan. Then, Gluttony, impersonated by and annotated with a demon, Beelzebub. Then, Wrath, impersonated by and annotated with a demon, Satan. Then, Sloth, impersonated by and annotated with a demon, Belphegor.
Tradition says, when we are fighting, or at least trying to fight these so called mortal sins, we fight demons, attacking us from the external, and attacking us from inside. As Jesus warned his disciples about the inside born sins, or the demons inside us, by saying in the Gospel of Mark, chapter seven:
“Hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing from outside of the man that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?”
He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.
Practically Jesus listed to them, the deadly sins, which are connotated by demons according to the tradition.
Thus, practically, the Advent is a pivotal season in the Church Year, when we have to fight our inner demons in order to prepare for the celebration of the coming of the King, of the coming of the Christmas child.
Fighting demons are not easy for sure, and even the disciples of Jesus were often flabbergasted regarding methods, practices, powers. It happened once that the disicples were not able to heal a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. They were just returned from a mission journey, they were sent by Jesus, and they heralded to Jesus, that they had a very successful journey, wherever they went they went, in the name of Jesus, they were able to heal the desperate sick and cast out demons from possessed people.
Still they were not able to heal the boy, to cast out of the demon from the boy.
The father had to go to Jesus, to ask him explicitly, that please Lord, come and heal my son.
Jesus healed the boy within seconds, but the disciples got offended, that they should have done the same, but no avail.
Jesus told the them, that the method here differs a bit, because this kind of demons will not be cast away but by fasting and prayer. Thus, fighting mortal sins and dangerous demons within and in the world has to major weapons.
Fasting and prayer. We used to say that not everyone can fast, from a lot of reasons, one of them is certainly a medical one, etc., and not even everybody’s prayer is that powerful.
Regarding prayer, some people think, that they can pray at home alone. Good luck with that, but the tradition says, in order to make it sure that our prayers reach Heaven, the best is, when ten praying people gather for common prayer.
This wisdom is derived from the Bible Story, where Abraham bargains with the Angel of the Lord, that God should spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorra, if there were at least ten righteous found in them. God promised that if there are at least ten righteous people in the city, he will withhold the wrath from Heaven, and the cities will be spared.
Regarding fasting, it looks like that the self denial strengthens prayers enormously, thus fasting in battle with the inner and external demons, is like flanking the enemy troops by an unstoppable cavalry to rout them. Exactly, that is why Jesus himself fasted in the desert, fighting inner and external demons.
Of course we R responsible for the whole world, for the community, and for our own souls
to strive for cleaning and preparation for the coming of the King, who is the Christmas Child we must fast and pray, if nobody else in the community or in the city, but we should be found among the ten righteous, who pray and fast, (if you can) and obey the commandments of God. May our Christmas preparations be blessed, AMEN.
