Homily on Fasting · §4 · Hesychius of Jerusalem

Fasting's fruits, Moses' vision, and a closing exhortation

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Hesychius is closing his homily, having just shown how fasting gave Samuel to Hannah; he now sums up fasting's power, holds up Moses' fast and vision of God as its crowning gift, and urges the congregation to fast from all evils, not only foods.

You have seen what fruits it produces for those who ask of it: how it dries up the springs of fornication, opens wombs that barrenness had dried shut, cuts out the thorns of sin that grow from our thoughts, and no longer allows the fruits of impiety to appear. Fasting according to God can do all this, and more: it makes the harsh gentle, turns the pitiless toward compassion, and softens the hard metal of the unyielding as it works bronze.

This fasting is useful not only for sinners but also, at the right time, for the righteous, as we have already shown. Moses fasted forty days and forty nights, entered that darkness, and saw God as has happened to no one among human beings, according to the testimony of God himself about him, saying: “If there is a prophet among you who belongs to the Lord, I will make myself known to him in a vision and speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; mouth to mouth, face to face, as one speaks to his own friend” (Numbers 12:6-8). Fasting brought this extraordinary sight to the prophet as a gift, changed the face of the one who fasted into a kind of divine lightning-flash of unapproachable light, and gave the prophet tablets written by the finger of God.

Let us therefore approach fasting with a bright face. Let us greet it with joyful souls, and let us not abstain from foods while holding fast to sins. Let us not show ourselves humble in appearance before people while appearing arrogant in soul before the Master. Let us not give to the poor while robbing others. Let us not flatter God with words while slaughtering our brothers and sisters in deed, remembering always the apostle saying: “Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). But fasting from all evils along with foods, let us say to him: “You have mercy on all, because you can do all things, and you overlook the sins of human beings for repentance” (Wisdom of Solomon 11:23). For to you belongs all glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Greek

Εἶδες οἵους τοῖς αὐτῆς δεομένοις βλαστάνει καρπούς, πῶς τὰς μὲν πηγὰς τῆς πορνείας ξηραίνει, τὰς δὲ ξηρανθείσας τῇ στειρώσει μήτρας ἀνοίγει καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν λογισμῶν δὲ φυομένας ἀκάνθας τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐκκόπτει καὶ

τοὺς τῆς ἀσεβείας οὐκέτι δίδωσιν καρπούς. Οὐ μόνον δὲ δύναται ταῦτα ἡ κατὰ θεὸν νηστεία, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμέρους τοὺς ἀπηνεῖς ἀπεργάζεται καὶ εἰς συμπάθειαν τοὺς ἀσυμπαθεῖς μεταβάλλει, τὸ σκληρὸν τῶν ἀνενδότων μαλάσσει χαλκεύουσα. 9 Αὕτη οὐ μόνον ἁμαρτωλοῖς χρήσιμος, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ δικαίοις εἰς καιρὸν ἐπιτήδειος, ὡς προεδείξαμεν. Νηστεύσας Μωυσῆς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας εἰς ἐκεῖνον εἰσῆλθεν τὸν γνόφον, καὶ εἶδεν θεὸν ὡς οὐδενὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐγγέγονεν, κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίαν λέγοντος· «Ἐὰν γένηται προφήτης ἐν ὑμῖν τῷ κυρίῳ, ἐν ὁράματι αὐτῷ γνωσθήσομαι καὶ ἐν ὕπνῳ λαλήσω αὐτῷ. Οὐχ ὣς ὁ θεράπων μου Μωυσῆς, στόμα κατὰ στόμα», πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον, «ὡς ἐάν τις λαλήσῃ πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον.» Ταύτην ἐξαίρετον θέαν ἡ νηστεία τῷ προφήτῃ κεκόμικεν δῶρον καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ νηστεύσαντος εἰς θειοτέραν τινὰ φωτὸς ἀπροσίτου ἀστραπὴν μετέθηκεν καὶ δέδωκεν τῷ προφήτῃ δέλτους δακτύλῳ θεοῦ γεγραμμένας 10 Προσερχώμεθα τοίνυν αὐτῇ μετὰ φαιδροῦ τοῦ προσώπου, ἱλαροὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτὴν ἀσπασώμεθα καὶ μὴ βρωμάτων μὲν ἀπεχώμεθα, ἁμαρτημάτων δὲ 2 ἀντεχώμεθα· μηδὲ ταπεινοὶ τῷ προσώπῳ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δεικνύμενοι, ὑπερήφανοι τῇ ψυχῇ τῷ δεσπότῃ φανῶμεν· καὶ πένησιν διδόντες, μὴ ἄλλους ἁρπάσωμεν· καὶ θεὸν κολακεύοντες λόγοις, μὴ ἔργῳ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν κατασφάξωμεν, μνημονεύοντες ἀεὶ τοῦ ἀποστόλου λέγοντος· «Εἰρήνην διώκετε μετὰ πάντων καὶ τὸν ἁγιασμόν, οὗ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν κύριον.» Ἀλλ' ἐκ πάντων τῶν κακῶν μετὰ βρωμάτων νηστεύοντες, λέγωμεν πρὸς αὐτόν· «Ἐλεεῖς δὲ πάντας, ὅτι πάντα δύνασαι, καὶ παρορᾷς ἁμαρτήματα ἀνθρώπων εἰς μετάνοιαν»· ὅτι σοι πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 3

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About this text

Hesychius teaches that true fasting means abstaining from evil, joined to prayer and almsgiving, with good and bad fasts from Nineveh to Moses.

Hesychius of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450) was a presbyter of the church in Jerusalem, active during the first half of the fifth century. He was known as a biblical commentator and preacher, and he opposed Nestorius during the period of the Third Ecumenical Council. This homily is addressed to a Christian congregation, whom he calls 'beloved,' to exhort them to practice a true, God-pleasing fast.

The homily was probably delivered in connection with a fasting season or commemoration. It survives in a manuscript from Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai. Hesychius urges his hearers to understand fasting not as mere abstinence from bread and water but as a practice joined with reverence, holy prayers, and almsgiving, because God desires abstinence from evil deeds.

The homily contrasts a praiseworthy fast with a blameworthy fast through biblical examples. The Ninevites were saved by fasting, while Jezebel and the Jews used fasting to commit murder. Hesychius then presents a long catalogue of biblical figures whose fasting brought deliverance, healing, or divine favor, culminating in Moses, whose fast granted him the unique vision of God. The homily closes by urging the congregation to embrace fasting with joy, to combine it with mercy and peace, and to fast from all evils, not only from foods.

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Translated from PG 93 (Greek)

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