Below are a couple of sayings from the Desert Fathers as collected by the Coptic Church:
Once two brothers came to a certain old man. It was his custom not to eat every day but when he saw them he received them joyfully and said, “A fast has its own reward, but he who eats for the sake of love fulfils two commandments: he leaves his own will and he refreshes his brothers.”
The saying above brings to mind a time when I heard a very judgmental woman say of a certain bishop that she had seen him eat chicken during Lent. But, it did also bring to mind a question that was addressed in my hearing to another bishop who was asked what a priest should do when a non-Lenten food is set before him when visiting someone’s house. The bishop said that this had happened to him, and he simply ate the food with thanksgiving, and thanked his host for the good food. Why, he said, should I insult my host, who in all innocence has prepared the best food in the larder? Better that I eat than I harm one of God’s flock. The food only tells me that perhaps I have not taught well enough. The fault is not my host’s, it is mine.
It was said of an old man that he dwelt in Syria on the way to the desert. This was his work: whenever a monk came from the desert, he gave him refreshment with all his heart. Now one day a hermit came and he offered him refreshment. The other did not want to accept it, saying he was fasting. Filled with sorrow, the old man said to him, “Do not despise your servant, I beg you, do not despise me, but let us pray together. Look at the tree which is here; we will follow the way of whichever of us causes it to bend when he kneels on the ground and prays.” So the hermit knelt down to pray and nothing happened. Then the hospitable one knelt down and at once the tree bent towards him. Taught by this, they gave thanks to God.
It is all too easy to use the rules of Lent to appear to be spiritual in the eyes of other. “I keep the full Lent,” we say with pride. Perhaps we need to keep the full hospitality to strangers first, and then look to the keeping of a full Lent, lest our hearts become as bare as our larder. Remember the purpose of Lent is to empty our larders so that we may fill our hearts, not to empty both heart and larder.
A hunter in the desert saw Abba Antony enjoying himself with the brothers, and he was shocked. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brothers, the old man said to him, “Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.” So he did. And the old man said, “Shoot another,” and he did so. Then the old man said, “Shoot yet again,” and the hunter replied, “If I bend my bow so much, I will break it.” Then the old man said to him, “It is the same with the work of God. If we stretch the brothers beyond measure, they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.”
When I first became Orthodox, I asked about the Great Fast of Lent. When one is a convert, it appears frightening to contemplate the full fast. Frankly, even after several years it can still appear frightening. But, the priest at the time advised me to do what I could that year, and not to worry about the rest. Then he asked me to slowly add one more item every year until I had reached the full fast, but to take my time. Since then, I have heard other priests give the same advise. In each case in which I have heard that advise given, the full fast was being kept without legalism within a few years. “Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.”
Some monks came to see Abba Poemen and said to him, “When we see brothers dozing in the church, should we rouse them so that they can be watchful?” He said, “For my part, when I see a brother dozing, I put his head on my knees and let him rest.”
Too many priests and too many lay people look about for those who are violating some rule or some rubric or some stricture. The Desert Fathers make it abundantly clear that there are disciples who do need to be reined in, like a horse under training. But, many times there are disciples who are in need of rest, or simply need some love and compassion. Reading the Desert Fathers reminds me that perhaps there are more of those than there are of those who need my correction, and that perhaps even my desire to correct is all too often a desire to show my superiority.
Given the Desert Fathers, is it any wonder that the famous sermon by St. John Chrysostom, which is read at every Pascha, before the Paschal Divine Liturgy says in part:
First and last alike, receive your reward.
Rich and poor, rejoice together!Conscientious and lazy, celebrate the day!
You who have kept the fast, and you who have not,
rejoice, this day, for the table is bountifully spread!Feast royally, for the calf is fatted.
Let no one go away hungry.
Partake, all, of the banquet of faith.
Enjoy the bounty of the Lord’s goodness!
Let us all be cautious how we handle Lent.
I think of the very wise (Catholic) mother of a friend, who, when her daughter — who tended toward scrupulosity — ask what she should “give up” for Lent replied “Give up your daily rosary.” She could see that her daughter was saying it in a superstitious way, and knew that the daughter would be better for seeing that God loved her whether or not she “performed.”