Faith. Family. Food 😉

  Dear readers, I suggest you to take part in the marathon. We have two weeks in April to prepare our souls for the celebration of Easter. I want to come on Easter to the temple with my soul being changed, sanctified, illuminated. The gospel can do this to us. Therefore - a marathon for April: choose one Gospel and read it in full in 14 days so that in the last days before the holiday we have already read about the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the resurrection. I choose the Gospel of Matthew for myself and once a week I will publish reflections on the verses I have read. I will begin today with the Our Father prayer in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus taught people, “Pray, 'Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be thy name; let thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliv...

Jesus said about fasting: " Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; that you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly"  (Matthew 6: 16-18). If you are fasting, you do not get pleasure and energy from food. You control what  to put into your mouth and turn your heart to the Creator. Fasting is a crying out to God, the same as prayer, but the whole body participates in this prayer. Fasting and prayer are intimate things between you and God.  Sometimes you reach such a mental and physical strain that you can no longer move. Something upsets you so much that you can't talk about it calmly, but only with tears and screams - and that is a true cause for fasting. People around should not ...

We read in Matthew 6th chapter : “ 5. And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.  6 But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.  7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  8 Be not you therefore like to them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him.” Our prayer should promote the integrity of the soul. Therefore, if we have any other motives in our souls, such as:  I pray, because everyone does so; because I was asked to do it; from habit; by tradition, etc., then all these motives must be rejected. You need to pray only because you want...