I just came across the term "fasting cannibals" and it is so descriptive that I could not resist mentioning it, although it is still more than a month before Great Lent begins. The context is not really that important – just some arguing about prospective candidates for Patriarch in Russia. For some, this is a full contact sport. Of those who are "fasting cannibals" is was said that that "although they themselves lead ascetic lives, they
show unrestrained pitilessness toward those under them". In other words, they may be ascetic, but they do not act like Christians,
This reminds me of a saying I heard attributed to Archbishop John (of Chicago, OCA) years ago. In referring to the imminent start of Great Lent, He said "This is the time when we stop eating meat, and start eating each other".
Brethren, we should not be "fasting cannibals". Fasting starts with the heart. May God preserve us from outward acts of piety and inward acts of hatred, malice, judgment and other depravities.