Third Sermon for Lent: On the Manner of Keeping the Lenten Fast

“ Seek ye the Lord while He may be found ; call upon Him while He is near.’’—Isaias lv. 6.

I beseech you, most dearly beloved, to enter with all possible fervour upon this quadragesimal fast, which is commended to us not alone by the law of abstinence, but also and much more by the mystery it contains. If we have fasted devoutly during the rest of the year, with still greater devotion ought we to observe the fast of this holy season, And although the present fast is somewhat more rigorous than that which we‘are accustomed to keep at other times, surely it would be an unworthy thing were we to find that burden too heavy which the whole Church of God is bearing with us. Hitherto we have fasted alone until the ninth hour: henceforth all alike, kings and princes, clerics and laymen, high and low, “ both rich and poor together” (Ps. xlviii. 3) shall fast with us until evening. I remind you of this, my brethren, lest perchance some of you should be oppressed by “ pusillanimity of spirit” (Ps. liv. 9), and so should enter upon this sacred season with imperfect dispositions, being discouraged by the thought of the difficulty found in supporting the previous and lighter fast. For the adversary endeavours as much as he can to deprive our holocaust of the fatness of devotion (Ps. xix. 4), in order that it may be rendered less pleasing to God, and that our consciences may be less comforted with ea l spiritual joy, and that thus “ weakness of conscience ’ (x Cor. viii. 7) may result from weakness in endurance. Therefore, I entreat you, let us be on our guard against him with all solicitude, “ for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. ii. 11). And since “ God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Cor. ix. 7), and also for the sake of fortifying our consciences with an increase of holy confidence, let us try to render our fast more devout by keeping carefully before our minds the example of the universal Church.

But why do I speak of them who are associated with us in this Lenten observance as if we had no better models, as if the quadragesimal fast were consecrated by the participation of none more holy ? Oh, with what devotion ought we not to observe that which has been transmitted to us as an inheritance from the righteous Moses who, by a special privilege granted to no other prophet, spoke to the Lord face to face (Exod. xxxiv. 28; xxxiii. 11)! With what alacrity should we not embrace a practice commended to us by the example of Elias, who was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot (3 Kings xix. 8; 4 Kings ii. 11)! How many millions have been claimed by death since that assumption in accordance with the general law of mortality! And still Elias lives on, preserved from dissolution by the power of God. But if we are encouraged to undertake this fast by the example of Moses and Elias, who, however illustrious they may be, are still only our fellow-servants: how much greater encouragement should we not find in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ Who also fasted for forty days (Matt. iv. 2)! What manner of monk would he be, nay, what manner of Christian, who should only submit with reluctance to an observance delivered to him by Christ? Besides, we ought to imitate His example with all the more fervour because of the knowledge we have that He fasted not for His own sake but for ours. Let us fast, therefore, dearest brethren, and let us fast with devotion during this holy season of Lent. But let us also remember that the time of our Lent must not be limited to forty days: we are required to continue it all the days of this miserable existence, during which, with the help of divine grace—commended to us in the four Gospels—we have to fulfill the ten commandments of the law. They are manifestly in error who suppose that these few days are sufficient for the practice of penance, since it is obvious that the whole period of our earthly life is ordained for no other purpose. “Seek ye the Lord,” says the Prophet, and not only during forty days, but “ while He may be found ” (Is. lv. 6). “ Call upon Him while He is near” (ibid.). For the time of calling upon Him will then have gone by, when God shall be near to no one, but to some intimately present and from others far remote. From the fact that He is declared to be near, it is clear that He is not yet present, not yet possessed, but it is equally evident that He can be found and possessed without difficulty. ‘‘ Who seemeth to thee to have been neighbour to him that fell among the robbers ? ” Doubtless “‘ he that shewed mercy to him ” (Luke x. 36, 37). Therefore, since the Lord is near during all this time of mercy, “seek ye Him,” most dearly beloved, “seek ye Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” Nevertheless, we ought to seek Him with greater ardour during this quadragesimal Lent, which is not only a part, but the most sacred part of the whole season of mercy. If, then, at other times we have suffered our zeal to grow slack, it is fitting that our hearts should now be warmed with a renewal of spiritual fervour.* If the stomach alone has sinned, let the stomach alone fast, and that sufficeth. But if the other members have sinned also, why should not they be made to fast as well as the stomach? Therefore let the “ eye which hath wasted the soul” (Jer. Lam. iii. 51) be made to fast. Let the ear too be made to fast, and the tongue, and the hand, yea, and the soul herself. Let the eye fast from curious and wanton looks, so that, wholesomely humbled, it may now be kept in penitential restraint, which before made use of pernicious liberty

“ Although the whole life of a monk ought to be a continual Lent, yet, as only few are so virtuous, we exhort the brethren that, renewing their vigilance’and fervour,{theyjlead such pure and holy lives during this season as to make amends for all the negligences of the past year.’ —Holy Rule of St. Benedict, xlix. (Mt, Melleray Translation), to wander at large in sin. Let the prurient ear fast from news and idle tales and from all that is vain and worthless with regard to salvation. Let the tongue fast from detraction and murmuring, from unprofitable, vain and frivolous words, and—because of the great importance of silence—sometimes even from words that might seem necessary. Let the hand fast from useless signs, and from every work not sanctioned by obedience. But above all, let the soul fast from vice and the following of her own will. For without this kind of fasting, all the rest will have no value in the eyes of God. So we read in the Prophet that when the people said to the Lord: “ Why have we fasted and Thou hast not regarded ; have we humbled our souls and Thou hast not taken notice?” they received this answer : “‘ Behold in the day of your fast your own will is found ”’ (Is. lvii. 3).