Christ is in our midst,

We, for those who are Orthodox Christian, are in the season of Great Lent. We are now in the latter part of it. Each year the time it starts varies; this year it started a bit early.

During this time, fasting tends to be very strict. How strict one does it varies from person to person for various reasons such as health issues or certain life events may impact us. This is something to discuss with a spiritual father for guidance, not me. I am just a messenger to guide you with ideas. 😇

I personally love this time of year, as does my husband. We both believe that it goes by so fast. I love that it this is a time of going within to reflect and contemplate the state of our souls and how we can improve, a time for using prayer more, and a time to ask God to help us more with our struggles. Prayer and fasting seem easier to me this time of year too than the rest of the year. It is kind of hard to explain why I love it so much… I just love this journey of going within and doing a spring cleaning of the soul. Out with the old, in with the new! Out with the passions, in with the virtues! This is a great time to grow, progress more deeply, and get closer to God! 🙂

The only way I can describe this time to others about this journey that we as Orthodox Christians embark on for 40 days is giving the imagery of a plant.

So you start with a seed, not a plant thats been in the nursery. Now before you can even plant that seed, first you need to make sure the ground is ready. Imagine clearing the ground of leaves and roots, weeding what needs to be cleared away, making sure you have the right soil for what you are planting; this is the process of the first three weeks; it is called the Triodion period. You get the garden ready before you do any planting. To help with the transition into the strict fast during Great Lent, we have a fast free week before we start fasting from meat and dairy over a period of time preparing for Great Lent; it helps us to ease into it slowly. We start with fasting from meat, then the next week is from cheese; we are completely vegan moving forward, with some exceptions of certain feast days, for this entire Great Lent period. However not only are we preparing ourselves physically, but spiritually as well. We tend to the garden of our heart by attending the Sunday liturgies during the Triodion period. These liturgies are doing the spiritual weeding and clearing of the ground to prepare our hearts to plant the seed of repentance.

The day before Great Lent, Forgiveness Sunday, one of my all time favorite days of the year (Holy Saturday and Pascha are the other two), is when the seed is finally planted into the ground. To outsiders, it may seem dreadful to have to fast from meat, dairy, even olive oil and alcohol at times. On top of it, fast from indulgences that would take away our attention from repentance; this varies from person to person. The vegan diet without olive oil and alcohol. “Yikes. No alcohol, no olive oil, no meat, no cheese? That sounds hard”, you might say. For many it is, for some maybe not.

Personally —now this is just my experience (and maybe other veggie lovers out there! Comment below if you are one like me!)— I feel as if I am feasting during this time. Somehow vegetables taste so much better during this time than on a daily basis. I will cook the same things and somehow taste better during the fasting time. What? Why?? Even having an apple, a small loaf of bread and peanut butter that was distributed to us, the faithful, by the fathers at St. Nektarios Monastery after the Salutations to the Theotokos service feels like a feast. An apple, sweet or not, is somehow a pleasant remedy from God after crying tears of repentance that have lead the heart to breaking open, and realizing who the Theotokos, the Mother of our God, is, and what she does for us. I don’t deserve this sweet tasting apple for the bitter sins I have committed. Something so simple as an apple with bread and peanut butter feels so remedial to my aching, weeping, and repenting soul. It’s a personal bias I have since I easily love vegetables already. The atmosphere of repentance during this time is probably the secret hush-hush ingredient—the umami if you will—that makes me feel this way. To feel ever grateful for a meal. To feel more grateful for having food on the table. To be grateful for breathing. To be grateful for sunshine. To be grateful for rain. To be grateful (insert what we, as individuals, take granted for on a daily basis). Okay, yeah, so? What is the big deal? The big deal is, my beloveds… that breakthroughs during this time happen more easily than other times of the year. The little things to be more grateful for become clearer. It makes one realize… God truly provides. God truly loves us. God is truly merciful. I am alive and here another day.

During the Great Lent season, you weed your heart’s desires and temptations with prayer. You water your soul with the tears of repentance. This is the maintenance of the “garden in our hearts”. Going to services during the week like Presanctified liturgy and Salutations to the Theotokos helps, using gardening terms here, clear the pests, clean the weeds coming up, and water the garden.

The image above was taken by me on one of my Vermont trips. It reminds me what these services do to my thirsting heart. If I forget my water or tea on my endless long hikes (And I mean hours! 4 hours at a time with a lunch break at the lodge and then hiking back on the mountain until I-need-to-bring-out-my-headlamp-kinda hike), God provides water for me in the form of snow on the evergreen trees. I see this as a reference to water in a desert. We are walking spiritually through the desert during this time and these services help nourish our souls. When the Lord is resurrected, on Pascha, the seed that we started with has now turned into a beautiful blossoming plant. Each year, the Paschal homily of St. John Chrysostom is read to us. It reminds us that no matter how much or how little we fasted or how well or how poorly we fasted, we are still called to partake in the celebration. We each do our best during this time. God knows our hearts. We judge by external appearances, but God sees our hearts. He sees our struggles. Our Lord, the Theotokos, the angels, our own personal guardian angels, the saints…they are all cheering us on and encouraging us to do good. Even if we fall short, we are encouraged to get back up again. It matters not so much what our sin is but what we confess and how we repent. To change our ways. To keep trying. We are all a work in progress. Progress being the key word.

Remember the famous phrase from the movie “Nemo”? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

So…

Just keep getting up. Just keep getting up.

Keep on growing. Keep on growing.

Don’t give up. Don’t give up.

For God is always with us.

Planning for the years ahead

So, every year, like I do for major feast days and holidays, I look up recipes to make and serve for my family, my parish and friends. God willing, this year, I have planned better for the years ahead. I looked through the cookbooks I know well enough and chose recipes that are healthy, have no oil or can be made without oil, and don’t take too much time to make. I selected the cookbooks I want to work with, wrote out the titles and then I typed the titles of the cookbooks and recipe titles in my Google Docs, which is what I normally do for holidays, feast days, and weddings anyway. Why I have not done this before for Great Lent is beyond me!!! But now I have and I am prepared for the years to come.

Moving forward, I can add more complex dishes to my list. I like this approach because it gives an opportunity to expand what I would like to make for my husband and I, for my parish and friends. In my own experience, the dishes that may seem complex to me in the present moment will not be so in the future with practice.

Below I provide for you a guide that will help plan your Great Lent cooking which can be used for Dormition fast, Apostles fast, the Nativity fast and for strict fasting days during the year like Wednesdays and Fridays. Whether you are a newbie or advanced cook, I hope that my guide will help be a basis for your Lenten journey.

Spiritual Nourishment 😇

Physical nourishment is not enough to sustain us. I believe spiritual nourishment to be very important in order for us to be healthy wholesomely. Below are prayers I am sharing with you to include not just during this time but to use on a daily basis.

What you are getting in this guide: Vegetables, Fruit, Legumes & Grains, Nuts, Seeds, Herbs & Spices, Flour, Condiments & Pantry Staples, Sweeteners, and Vegan Specialty items. Not only that, but also cookbooks that will help if you need inspiration. These are cookbooks that I heavily rely on. Last but not least, prayers. It is important to not only fast physically and care for being fed the right nutrients during the fasts with the lack of animal products but to be fed spiritually. Simply put: We can look at the lives of the Saints to be reminded that they put aside the feeding of their bodies and fed their souls moreso with prayers and fasting. When reading their lives, we see that God honored them in different ways with different gifts and strength; a strength that allowed many faithful to endure martyrdom with cruel tortures. You could only be sustained with such faith in God and by being graced by God. I hope to feed you both physically and spiritually. 😇🙏🏻My hope is for you is to be wholesome nourished by this post. For this Lenten period (and for the future when you come back to this post whichever fast you are reading this blog post from) may God strengthen your endeavors. 😊☺️😇

A shout out to my spiritual father: thank you for guiding me with your immense wisdom, as always, in this blog post.

— with sincere peace and love to you wherever you are,

Anastasia

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I try to eat seasonally as much as possible. Do what you can with what is at your local market. What is local and in season for me may not be for you. Just do your best. Use this guide to fill in the gaps of filling your pantry of fast friendly staples to have on hand.😊

Vegetables 

• Artichokes
• Arugula
• Asparagus: green, purple, white,
• Baby shoots 
• Beets
• Bok choy
• Borage 
• Cabbage, Green
• Cabbage, Napa
• Cabbage, Red
• Carrots 
• Cauliflower
• Chard, Rainbow
• Chard, Red
• Chard, Swiss 
• Chervil 
• Chicory 
• Chives, garlic 
• Cucumber 
• Dandelion greens
• Eggplant
• Eggplant, Japanese
• Endive, Belgian
• Endive, curly
• Escarole 
• Fennel 
• Fennel pollen
• Fiddlehead ferns 
• Garlic, green
• Green beans
• Greens, beets
• Greens, collard
• Greens, dandelion
• Greens, mizuna
• Greens, mustard
• Jicama 
• Kale
• Leeks
• Lettuces 
• Lettuce, Lamb’s
• Lettuce, oak leaf
• Lettuce, romaine
• Lovage
• Mache 
• Mint 
• Mizuna
• Mushrooms, Chanterelle
• Mushrooms, Morel
• Mushrooms, Shiitake 
• Nettles 
• Onions , spring 
• Onions, Vidalia (peak May)
• Oranges, blood
• Oranges, navel (peak March)
• Peas, (peak May)
• Peas, english
• Peas, Snow
• Peas, Sugar snap peas 
• Peas, sweet
• Potatoes; fingerling, Sweet, Red, Idaho, Russet, Yukon Gold, Purple
• Radicchio
• Radishes 
• Ramps 
• Rhubarb 
• Shoots, bamboo
• Shoots, garlic 
• Shoots, pea
• Sorrel
• Sprouts, alfalfa
• Sprouts, bean
• Sprouts, clover
• Sprouts, daikon
• Sprouts, lentil
• Sprouts, mung beans
• Sprouts, pea
• Sprouts, radish
• Sprouts, sunflower seed
• Squash; Acorn, Buttercup, Butternut, Chayote, Delicate, Hubbard, Kabocha, Pattypan, Spaghetti, Summer, Zucchini,
• Sunchokes
• Tomatillos 
• Tomatoes, heirloom
• Turnips
• Watercress
• Yams
• Yuka
• Zucchini blossoms 

Fruit

• Acai (I buy this in frozen packets and use for smoothies)
• Apples
• Avocado
• Bananas
• Blueberries 
• Boysenberries 
• Cherries
• Citrus fruit
• Cranberries
• Currants, red
• Dates
• Figs
• Grapes
• Huckleberries
• Jackfruit (I have found these in fresh form at Whole Foods. You can also buy these in the can. Wash them before using.)
• Kiwi
• Lemons
• Limes
• Loquats
• Mangoes
• Pears
• Plantains
• Pomegranate
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes

Legumes & Grains 

• Black beans 
• Great northern beans 
• Pinto beans
• Red kidney beans
• Fava beans
• White beans (aka Cannellini)
• Mung beans
• Navy beans
• String beans
• Chickpeas 
• Red lentils 
• Black lentils 
• Green lentils 
• Quinoa
• Brown rice 
• Basmati rice 
• Forbidden rice
• Jasmine rice
• Short grain rice (for sushi)
• Wild rice
• Arborio rice
• Sorghum
• Amaranth 
• Freekeh 
• Farro
• Green split peas
• Yellow split peas 
• Kasha (buckwheat)
• Barley
• Bulgur
• Couscous
• Millet
• Rye berries
• Spelt berries
• Teff
• Triticale

Nuts

• Cashews
• Almonds 
• Brazil  
• Pine nuts 
• Walnuts
• Tigernuts 
• Pecans
• Hazelnuts
• Macadamia 
• Chestnuts 
• Pistachio 
• Peanuts 

You can make nut butters from the nuts simply blending them. I find that food processors work best when making homemade nut butters. Be patient when making them. Soaking the seeds and nuts helps not only with processing but with digesting them.

Seeds

• Pumpkin
• Sunflower 
• Chia 
• Hemp
• Poppy
• Sesame
• Flaxseeds 
• Seeds from many squashes are edible such as acorn, butternut, and delicata.
  • I simply toss in olive oil/coconut oil/ avocado oil, salt, optional to add spices, and roast them. You need to keep a close eye on them so they do not burn since they have a short cooking time. They are great to snack on or top on soups, pastas, or rice/quinoa/grain bowls.

Herbs & Spices 

• Rosemary
• Thyme 
• Sage
• Basil
• Oregano
• Chives
• Bay leaf
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Ginger 
• Turmeric 
• Dulse flakes 
• Cumin 
• Maca
• Lucuma 
• Kelp granules 
• Sumac 
• Paprika 
• Red pepper flakes 
• Fennel seeds
• Celery seeds
• Caraway seeds
• Anise
• Old bay seasoning 
• Adobo
• Sofrito
• Cayenne
• Garlic and onion powder
• Cinnamon 
• Ras el hanout
• Za’atar 
• Cardamom 
• Coriander
• Herbes de Provence
• Coriander
• Juniper berries
• Lemongrass
• Maca
• Mace
• Marjoram
• Specialty spices I buy from home goods

Flour

• King Arthur’s Gluten Free flour
• All purpose flour
• Buckwheat flour
• Chickpea flour
• Brown rice flour
• Spelt flour
• Tapioca flour

Pantry Staples

This section is an array of oils, sauces, bases for making sauces, adds ons or garnishes to stir fry, soups, salads, pastas, oatmeals, or for baking. Add what your health allows. Everyone’s body is different.

• Avocado oil
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Molasses 
• Soy sauce 
• Balsamic vinegar
• Champagne vinegar
• Rice vinegar 
• Red wine vinegar 
• Apple cider vinegar 
• White vinegar
• Ume plum vinegar 
• Hoisin 
• Mirin 
• Miso, white, red (there are a variety of miso depending on the brand. I have seen chickpea yellow miso from one brand).
• Nori sheets
• Wakame (seaweed)
• Hijiki
• Tahini
• Sun dried tomatoes 
• Capers
• Mustard 
• Coconut shreds
• Cocoa butter
• Cacao 
• Cacao nibs 
• Diced tomatoes 
• Chipotle in adobo sauce 
• Hot sauces like Sriracha, Tapatio, Valentino are some of my favorites to have on hand
• Kombu
• Vegetable Bouillon for soup 
• Panko crumbs (I believe there are gf versions available)
• Bread crumbs (there are gf versions available)
• Adobo sauce
• Bragg liquid aminos
• Tamari
• Coconut water

Sweeteners

• Agave nectar
• Brown sugar
• Date sugar
• Honey
• Maple sugar
• Maple syrup
• Muscovado sugar
• Sucanat (Sugar Cane Natural)

Vegan specialty items

• Tofu 
• Tempeh
• Vegan yogurt such as Foragers, Silk, or homemade
• Vegan butter such as Miyoko’s or homemade
• Vegan cream cheese such as Tofutti, Kite Hill, or homemade
• Coconut milk
• Cashew milk
• Rice milk
• Almond milk
• Soy milk
• Pistachio milk
• Lentil milk
• Chestnut milk
• Agar agar
• Cream of tartar 
• Nutritional yeast 
• Liquid smoke
• Vital Wheat gluten
• Seitan

About the milks listed above, some you may not find in supermarkets such as lentil or chestnut milk. I use my AlmondCow machine for this. The company AlmondCow has recipes on their website. You can get lost with creativity. I find that the AlmondCow to be so HELPFUL when making homemade milk. I highly recommend it. I do not need to squeeze the milk through a cheesecloth to separate the pulp from the liquid. My arthritic hands are very happy 😂 Easy peasy, lemon squeezey! or in this case… Easy peasy, no milk squeezey!

Cookbooks I use for fasting periods

• America’s Test Kitchen- Foolproof Preserving: A Guide to Small Batch Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Condiments & More
• America’s Test Kitchen- The Plant based Cookbook: 500 Inspired, Flexible Recipes for Eating Well Without Meat
• America’s Test Kitchen: Vegetables Illustrated An Inspiring Guide with 700+ Kitchen-Tested recipes
  • You cannot go wrong with America’s Test Kitchen recipes. They test a recipe many times. Try to figure out the science why a recipe works and doesn’t work. They are pretty much foolproof. What I love about this cookbook in particular is that you are taught the history, how to shop, store, vegetable prep, revive, and a little bit of science and or behind the ingredient. So helpful!!!!!
• The Byzimom’s Guide to Great Fast Meals: A Whole-Foods, Plant-based Approach to Eastern Christian Fasting by Lynne Wardach
  • I definitely recommend getting this cookbook for any Orthodox Christian out there!!! First off, if youre not a great cook, these recipes are very simple and straightforward. Secondly, the most exciting part for me, she has recipes that relate to feast days or people we celebrate from the Bible. She has a recipe called Willow treats, celebrating Palm Sunday. These are to resemble pussy willows but an edible version! St. Lazarus Sweet buns in honor of St. Lazarus being raised from the dead. St. David’s Almond bites in honor of St. David of Thessaloniki and his life. Father Zosimas’ Lion Cupcakes; this is a real cute one. This is in honor of Fr. Zosimas and St. Mary of Egypt. Fr. Zosimas didn’t have a shovel to properly bury St. Mary. he prayed for assistance… it came in the form of a lion! He asked the lion for his assistance and the lion did it! I believe the lion even mourned over St. Mary of Egypt. This treat is a great one for children. 😊
• Change Your Sauce, Change Your Life: Easy Plant Based Sauces to Blend, Whisk, and Shake by Kim Miles
• Eggless Possibilities: The Must Have Cookbook for Every Vegan Kitchen, Revealing the Ultimate way to Bind Any Food Easily like No One has Before by Bat-el Gerschowitch from Batel’s Kitchen
• Forks Over Knives magazines
  • FOK contains recipes that are vegan and oil free. Perfect for those strict days of fasting!
• Grain Bowls: Bulgur wheat, quinoa, barley, rice, spelt and more by Anna Shillinglaw Hampton
• The Greek Vegetarian Cookbook by Heather Thomas
  • You can not go wrong with Greek recipes! Cheese and eggs have to be omitted from the recipes but thats easy for me to do. I replace eggs with aquafaba in baked goods. Fasting times don’t last long. So i just pick recipes that are nourishing and refreshing, which this cookbook definitely has! It has great salad and salad dressing recipes, for anyone who loves a good salad!
• The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples by Miyoko Schinner
• Jadłonomia: Kuchnia Roślinna by Marta Dymek
• The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
  • a lot of her recipes include seed oils. I replace them with avocado, coconut or extra virgin olive oil.
• Keep It Seasonal by Annie Wayte
  • a lot of her recipes need to be veganized for Great Lent and fasting times. I do the best I can or just wait for times when we don’t need to fast so I can enjoy it. She has a great open sandwich that has cheese and apple that just sounds like pure enjoyment and feasting so I save it for those days so I don’t feel gluttonous. Good food is a weakness for me 😅
• The Lyme disease 30 Day Plan: Healthy Recipes and Lifestyle Tips to Easy Symptoms by Lindsay Christensen, M.S.
  • For those who have Lyme disease, like me, or have chronic illness that makes them eat very clean, this is a helpful book to have.
• Plant Based Dips N’ Dressings: Raw, Vegan, Oil and Grain Free Dips, Dressings, Condiments, and Sauces by Melissa Raimondi
• Thrive Energy Cookbook: 150 Plant-Based Whole Food Recipes by Brendan Brazier
• Thrive Fitness: The Program for Peak Mental and Physical Strength Fueled by Clean, Plant-BAsed Whole Food Recipes by Brendan Brazier
  • This is a great book to help for fast friendly recipes for fitness during Great Lent
• Superfood Kitchen by Julie Morris
  • These Superfood series of cookbooks are my favorite! They are already vegan, very healthy, and delicious!!! You cant go wrong trying Julie’s recipes. Pick ones that call out or speak to you. For me, warm, creamy, broth soups call out to me over raw or cold.
• Superfood Juices by Julie Morris
• Superfood Soups by Julie Morris
• Superfood Smoothies by Julie Morris
• Superfood Snacks by Julie Morris
• Pure Vegan by Joseph Shuldiner
• The Vegetarian Bible by Karen Page
  • If you need a creative boost or need to know what items pair well with each other, this is a very helpful resource to have on hand, no matter what time of the year it is.
• Vegan Christmas by Gas Oakley
  • I know… Christmas has passed. But for winter sides that are whole food and not processed, he’s got some great recipe for when Great Lent starts in the midst of winter.
• The Vegan Dairy by Catherine Atkinson
  • This is a great cookbook to have on hand. Butter is made from coconut oil and turmeric. Many would say thats not butter… but it is in its own way. It’s an alternative? Its modern take on it? It’s not processed as much as the commercial brands out there that have a vegan version of butter. Her butter is two or three ingredients. Of course, it will not taste like butter!!! But at least it’s something to smear on toast. 😜
• The Vegan Ketogenic Diet Cookbook: 75 Satisfying High-Fat, Low-Carb, Dairy-Free Recipes by Nicole Derseweh and Whitney Lauritsen
• Wegan Nerd: Moja Roślinna Kuchnia by Alicja Rokicka
• Williams Sonoma: Entertaining with the Seasons
  • I use some of the recipes from winter and spring; I veganized and made recipes oil free when I could. I chose one that are easy to make in a short amount of time (and veganized, if needed).

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Prayers

Grace before Meals

from Orthodox Book of Hours

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Our Father prayer. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. Christ our God, bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for you are holy, always, now and ever unto the ages of ages. Amen

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(Vegetarian) Hymn of Grace before Meals

by Prudential, 5th Century

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Grace after Meals

from Orthodox Book of Hours

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We give You thanks, O Christ our God, for You have filled us with these good things of the earth. Do not deprive us of Your Heavenly Kingdom, but as You were present among Your disciples, O Savior, and gave them peace, so also come among us and save our souls. Amen.

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Hymn Of Repentance

by St. Mesrob Mashtots of Armenia (ca. 404)

Christ my true God have mercy on me. In iniquity was I conceived, and so my Savior, have mercy on me. Do not cast me aside. But have mercy on me. By his heartfelt sighing the tax collector was heard and received forgiveness in the temple. Using his words I too cry out: Lord, my God, have mercy on me. The thief cried out upon his cross: “Remember me Lord.” Using his words I too cry out: Lord, my God, have mercy on me. The prodigal son beseeched You with the words: “Father I have sinned before heaven and before You.” Using his words I too cry out: Lord, my God, have mercy on me.

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Lord, Bless My Enemies prayer

by St Nikolai of Velmirovich

I have chosen to include this prayer since fasting times are times for us, as Christians, to ask for forgiveness from our Lord and to forgive others as He showers us with mercy. Asking forgiveness from God and to be merciful to others is the spirit of Great Lent afterall.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into Thy embrace more than friends have. 

Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world. 

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. 

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Thy tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul. 

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. 

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. 

They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. 

They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. 

They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance. 

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. 

Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a dwarf. 

Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background. 

Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand. 

Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep. 

Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life,they have demolished it and driven me out. 

Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of Thy garment. 

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me: 

so that my fleeing to Thee may have no return; 

so that all hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; 

so that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; 

so that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger; 

so that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; 

ah, so that I may for once be freed from self deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life. 

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. 

One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends. 

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. 

Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. 

A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. 

But a son blesses them, for he understands. For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. 

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. 

Amen.

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