tollatur c. Ambros de Elia Ieiun ca. 11. pag. 533. Delicate fare and pampering of the bodie saith he is pleasing to nature and fasting is as vnpleasing but things which are most pleasant to the taste are not alwayes most profitable for health Nay Corpora dulcibus frequenter inflantur sweet things doe puffe vp the body melle iecur tenditur and the eating of honey maketh the liuer to swell but bitter things doe bring it to its temper againe And so it is in the gouernment of the soule Pleasant meats and full feeding puffe vp and swell the slesh but abstinence taketh it downe and bringeth it to a right disposition and temper In regard of all which as also out of the experience that my selfe haue had I dare bee bold to say that whosoeuer shall make triall of this course shall finde the like effect when he humbleth himselfe by fasting that Dauid did when God humbled him by his correction Dauid saith of himselfe Psal 119.71 It is good for me that I haue beene afflicted that I might learne thy Statutes Vpon which words Saint Augustine commenteth in this manner (a) August in Psalm 42. pag. 139. C. Didicerā elatus iniquitates meas discam humiliatus iustificationes tuas When I was lifted vp in prosperity I learned to obey mine owne lusts but now beeing once humbled I shall learne to obey thy Lawes And so the contrite soule that hath chastened himselfe by this discipline may haue iust occasion I am perswaded to say after tryall It is good for mee that I haue beene thus afflicted for my sinnes For by this holy reuenge vpon my selfe I shall learne to serue my God better Thus I haue declared the holy vses of this discipline such as I could thinke on for the present Others that are not strangers from this exercise may peraduēture either adde mo or enlarge these In the meane time it will not be vnseasonable to aduertise the Reader of two things concerning the premises 1. If any man haue need of these or any of these helpes and vses then hee may not say or thinke that an holy Fast is superfluous and needlesse for him For example if hee finde that hee hath any disordered lusts or fleshly thoughts that are not wholly subdued and tamed but that eyther they prouoke him to euill or hinder him from that which is good then he may make vse of fasting because it will serue him to beat downe his body and to bring it into subiection that hee may serue God the more freely Or if hee finde that his prayers and meditations and other diuine exercises bee not wholly spirituall without all mixture or fainting then hee may make vse of fasting because it will serue to eleuate his thoughts and to carry his prayers with full wing into heauen And lastly if hee finde that hee haue any sinnes not fully sorrowed for and wholly done away but that hee hath need of some more repentance then hee may make vse of fasting hecause it will serue him to humble his soule and to increase godly sorrow that hee may obtaine pardon But if any man be so spirituall and so perfect and so past all frailty of mankinde that hee neyther needes any more mortifying of his flesh nor any more sharpning of his deuotion nor any more repentance for his sinne I will not say that such a man hath any further need of fasting No nor can I say that hee hath any more neede of Christ or his death and bloud-shed For he that is so perfect what more neede hath hee of a Sauiour But one thing I dare and will say that God doth accept and Iesus Christ doth acknowledge and the holy Angels doe reioyce more for one sinner that by fasting and mourning doth repent for his sinnes than ninety and nine of the most perfect men in the world that thinke they haue no need of repentance 2. If any man shall please to make tryall of this exercise and after his fasting doe not finde these holy vses of it then hee should examine himselfe how hee carryed and demeaned himselfe in the performance of this seruice whether he haue not erred in the manner or swarued from the right end or neglected some necessary and substantiall condition that is required for this purpose And if after due examination it doe appeare that he haue not miscarried in some weighty and materiall poynt I will not say nay but hee may condemne mee for being too lauish in commending the vertues of this worke But if it doe appeare that he haue so erred then let him blame himselfe that it hath succeeded no better For the Pharises fasted to an ill end and lost thier reward and the Iewes fasted in an ill manner and were reproued for their labour And so if any Christian erre in the same or the like sort hee may not thinke by such a fast to obtaine Gods fauour or to purchase the blessings already spoken of Now if any shall aske as perhaps some will what those necessary conditions be that by fulfilling of them hee may attaine the promises annexed to them this question I shall labour God willing to satisfie in the next ensuing Chapter CHAP. IIII. What conditions are required of vs in our fasting that it may be accepted with God FAsting hath many good vses in Religion as hath beene already said But it is not euery Fast that hath these vertues nor euery Fast that can cōmend vs to God For as I began to say we reade of some mens Fasts that haue beene like themselues and both of them abominable a Ieiunauerunt Nineuitae Dei misericordiā clicuerunt ieiunauerunt Iudaei nihil profecorunt sed culpati abierunt Igitur ieiunij leges discamus ne in incertum curramus c. Chrys Homil. 3. ad pop Ancioch pag. 49. The Nineuites fasted and obtayned mercy saith Saint Chrysostome but the Iewes fasted and gayned reproofe for their paynes Therefore that we may learne how to fast that so we may please God and not both punish our bodies and not profit our soules it will be necessary in the next place to consider what things are required of vs when wee doe fast that we may profit by it I. First then it is required in our fasting that it be a moderate afflicting of our selues I say two things 1. That there must be a kinde of affliction and chastening in it 2. That this chastening must be moderate and within compasse 1. That there must be a kinde of afflicting in our fasting And so the Scriptures say For the Lord himselfe speaking of the yeerely fast which he had appoynted saith of it (b) Leuit. 16.9 31. In the seuenth moneth on the tenth day of the moneth yee shall afflict your soules by a statute for euer and (a) Leuit. 23.29 whatsoeuer soule it be that shall not be afflicted that day he shall be cut off from among this people And the Angell saith of
had adiured them saying 1 Sam. 14.24 Cursed be the man that eateth any foode vntill Euening that I may be auenged on mine enemies Where we see the reason of this fast was because the King would not allow them any time of eating for that they might bestow all the time in pursuing of the Enemie And so in like sort a man may fast for his health that he may cōcoct his vndigested humors for his gaine that he may spare his purse for the publike good that he may preserue the breede of Cattell a Non laudatur in illo ieiunium qui ad luxuriosā coenā seruat ventrem suum Aug. in Psal 43. pag. 142. E. Ieiunant quidā ait Augustin ne ventrem vilia praeoccupent non possent intrare pretiosa Daneus Isagog p. 3. de vita hominis Ca. 32. yea and for very luxurie and of a gluttonous disposition that he may keepe his stomach for better cheere When men fast for these or any such like other ends their Fasts are worldly and prophane and therfore haue no place among religious exercises The second sort are holy and religious Fasts And so I call those which are intended and doe serue for some speciall vse which concerneth Gods glory and the good of a mans soule To this purpose is that which wee reade in the Prophet where GOD speakes thus to the people (b) Zach. 7.5 6. When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seuenth moneth euen those seuentie yeeres did ye at all fast vnto mee euen to me And when ye did eate and when ye did drinke did ye not eate for your selues and drinke for your selues In which words wee may note how God doth reiect the Fasts of this people because they were not vndertaken for GOD and his seruice but for themselues and to serue their owne turnes And this sheweth that the Fasts which please God must be such as may serue for his glory And therefore these Fasts doe only belong to this place And consequently wee may fitly define a religious Fast as a learned man hath done c Ieiunium religiosum est voluntaria abstinentia à cibo potu religionis causà Fest Hommius Disput 69. nu 2. pag. 467. That it is a voluntary abstinence from meate and drinke for Religion sake But heere a question may bee asked which it will bee requisite to resolue before I goe on For it may be demanded If the end of our fasting bee that which maketh the difference between religious and prophane Fasts what if both these ends doe concurre and meete together in one and the same act of fasting As for example I may fast for my bodily health and for preuenting of some distemper that fulnesse would breed and yet at the same time and by the same act I my beate downe my body and make it more seruiceable to the soule and I may withall preuent pride and wantonnesse which full-feeding might procure Or which is all to one purpose I may fast to tame the pride of the flesh and to humble my selfe for my sinnes and withall by the same meanes I may both saue my purse and further my health and preuent sicknesse in my body And when both these ends doe in this maner concurre what a Fast shall I call this Is it a worldly Fast because it hath a worldly vse or is it a religious Fast because it hath a religious vse or is it both because it hath both ends Ans Either the one of these ends is directly intēded and the other doth accidentally follow besides the mans intendment purpose or else both of them are intended by him that keepeth the fast If the one onely be intended then as the rule is Denominatio sequitur praestantiorem partem The denomination followeth the preuailing side so we must say that the end which is intended giueth the denomination to the fast and not that which accidentally concurreth As for example if a man onely aime at a spirituall end though another vse follow vpon it yet the fast is religious still And if he haue onely a worldly purpose though a spirituall vse doe accompany it befides his intention yet the fast is worldly and prophane notwithstanding But if his intention be mixt and hee at once and in the same fast doe propose to himselfe both a worldly and a spirituall vse together then concerning such a fast I say three things First That so farre forth it partaketh of eyther kinde as eyther of the vses are intended that is the Fast is so farre forth to be called Religious as a religious vse is intended in it and so farre forth worldly as the end is worldly Secondly That so much as is mixed of the one end is diminished of the other As for example if a man fast partly that hee may humble himselfe by sorrow for his sinne and partly that by concocting raw humours hee may gayne the better health this latter respect doth so much diminish of the worth of the former as it selfe is herein intended And the reason is because the intentions of a mans minde cannot entirely and perfectly be imployed vpon two contrary or diuers obiects at once And therefore so much of his intention as a man bestoweth vpon himselfe so much hee taketh away from God Thirdly It is not safe to mingle a worldly and spirituall respect together in one the same Fast if wee may with conueniency separate and diuide them My reason is because wee such is our corruption are apt to flatter our selues and thinke better of our workes than they doe deserue and if one action may both make for Gods honor and our owne profit wee are ready to thinke wee doe all for God when the greatest part is for our selues And therefore the safest way will bee to seuer and disioyne thesevses if with conueniency wee may doe it that so while we fast for God we may not haue any worldly respect that may moue vs vnto it at the same time And because the especiall respects of the world that doe most vsually intermingle themselues with our holy Fasts are one of the two eyther respect of gayne by sauing the charges of dyet or preseruing of health by concocting of raw humours Wee may for direction in these cases take these two Rules 1. Rule That if fasting be necessary for our health wee first vse it so long and so much as is needfull for that purpose and then at other times vndertake our religious Fasts that so wee may ayme onely at a spirituall vse 2. Rule That when by fasting we saue charges we then giue away our sauings to the poore without diminishing any other part of our almes And so doing wee shall not onely free our religious Fasts from the tincture of worldly thrift but shall also exercise another holy duety of mercifulnesse and charity A thing which the ancient Fathers haue thought most necessary at the times of our fasting and therefore haue
prayers night and day In which sentence wee may consider two things for this purpose first that this holy woman made a dayly practice of fasting shee serued God in this manner night and day which sheweth that she fasted ordinarily and for an ordinary exercise of deuotion Secondly That by this kinde of fasting she serued God And if shee serued God by her fasting we need not feare lest wee dishonour him by the like practice Reason second from the vses Secondly That ordinary fasts are lawfull and vseful may be proued because ordinary fasts may and doe serue for those profitable vses for which religious fasts were ordayned For those vses are to testifie and helpe forward our humiliation and repentance to sharpen and whet on our attention in holy dueties and to subdue and tame the vnruly pride of the flesh and such like the respect whereof is the onely thing that maketh fasting so much commended to vs in the Scriptures But all these holy ends and vses may be attayned or furthered no lesse by ordinary than by extraordinary fasts For not onely our fastings when wee keepe them for some speciall and extraordinary occasion but euen those also which wee vse in an ordinary and vsuall course of Christianity may tame the flesh by subtracting its food may eleuate the minde towards God by estranging it from the sence of worldly things and may both shew and beget our humiliation and sorrow by chastening the body for the sinnes of our soules as is apparent in common reason nor is it needlesse in an ordinary course of life to vse such eyther helpes or signes of humiliation deuotion and mortification For our infirmities in all these kindes are many and great and had need of helpe euery day and our sinnes and transgressions happen dayly nay hourely and doe require euery day humiliation and sorrow and hence it followeth that this ordinary course of fasting vpon the common and vsuall occasions of our life are neither needlesse nor fruitlesse Thus in conclusion it appeareth that all religious Fasts be they priuate or publike and whether for ordinary or extraordinary occasions haue allowance from God and are of good vse in the life of a Christian CHAP. III. What holy vse there is of Fasting and how it may further vs for holy duties and workes of GODS seruice THese religious Fasts as they haue good proofe from Gods Word so they haue great vse in the life of a Christian More particularly and especially they may serue for these vses I. They may serue as outward acts to declare our reuerence toward God and his sacred ordinances For as at all times wee should vse reuerence toward God in our hearts which is nothing else but an acknowledging of his excellencie for which hee is to bee hououred so it is very requisite that when wee come into his presence or haue any more then ordinary entercourse with him wee should by some fitting behauiour declare it For which purpose (a) Exod. 3.5 God commanded Moses and the (b) Iosh 5.15 Angell commanded Ioshua Put off thy shooes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground The meaning of which ceremonie was for this end that thereby they might shewe reuerence in the place where God did manifest his presence And the like vse there may be of fasting also and that in two respects 1. Because we doe by such demeanour humble our selues before the Diuine Maiestie as vnworthy not only to enioy his presence but to make vse of any of his creatures Which is a testimony as of our owne basenesse so of Gods excellencie and greatnesse 2. We may by our abstinence shew reuerence to God because by forbearing our meate when wee are about his workes we declare that we preferre his seruice before the seruing of our owne turnes as deeming it most iust that his seruice should haue the first place in all our thoughts This vse of fasting (c) Hooker Eccles polit l. 5. nu 72. pa. 207. some thinke it is not vnlikely that the Iewes made in fasting on holy dayes till the publike Seruice was ended and that their complaint against Christs Disciples (d) Luke 6.1 2. for rubbing the eares of corne on the Sabbath day doth imply so much For their meaning was say they to finde fault with them meaning was say they to finde fault with them for breaking not the rest but the fast of the Sabbath e Hebraeorum illa fuit à maioribus tradita vsu recipta ac tanquam lege probata consuetudo vt von siceret diebus festis cuiquā ante sextā borā prandere Baron tō 1. ann 34. nu 243. pag. 250. which by their custome was to be obserued till dinner time or after the Diuine Seruice And for this interpretation there may bee giuen this reason that the rubbing of corne for staying of hunger was so small a worke that in reason it cannot be thought to offend any no not a Pharisee it beeing lesse labour then euery man doth vse at his ordinary meale on the Sabbath day For the furnishing of the Table the dishing out of the meate the drawing of drinke and caruing that which is necessary for euery mans vse which no Pharisee would reproue on the Sabbath day will require as much both time labour as that which the Disciples here did bestow But let this goe for a coniecture as I will not vrge it for any point of faith thus much is certaine that the Christian Church hath still bin accustomed to forbeare all foode when they were to receiue the holy Communion till the whole worke and seruice of God were ended whereof (f) Aug. Epist 118. c. 6. pag. 191. B. Saint Augustine and (g) Isidor de Offic. l. 1. ca 8. others after him doe giue vs this reason vt in honorem tanti Sacramenti in os Christiani priùs Dominicum corpus intraret quà m caeteri cibi that for the honour of that great Sacrament our Lords bodie should first be receiued before all other foode And so we may say that it is for reuerence to GOD and for the honour of his Ordinance if wee first performe those holy dueties before wee partake our necessary food And sure it was respect vnto his Master that made Abrahams seruant say (h) Genes 24.33 I will not eate till I haue told mine errand And respect it was to his heauenly Father that made our Sauiour to (i) Ioh. 4.34 refuse his owne meate till he had done his Fathers will and finished his Worke. And so it was respect vnto God that (k) 1 Sam. 16.11 Samuel would not sit downe till Dauid was sent for that hee might anoynt him as God had appoynted For otherwise the seruices which they did doe before meat might for any thing that doth appeare by the text haue bin as conueniently performed after it And so we shall declare our respect to God and reuerence to his holy
with chaffe I will pull thee downe with hunger and thirst I will lade thee with heauie weight and hunt thee through heate and cold that thou maist minde meate rather then lust This or such like was the Discipline that Saint Paul vsed which is the first thing that I noted in his words The second thing considerable in his speech is the reason why or the end for which hee vndertooke so hard a course and as one of vs would thinke was so vnmercifull and cruell toward himselfe and that was Lest saith hee when I haue preached to others my selfe should be a cast-away But what Is there such danger in a pampered body such perill in delicate dyet such necessity of beating keeping vnder the body that without such straitnes the soule is in danger to be lost Yes surely or else the blessed Apostle did speake and doe hee knew not what nor wherefore The consideration whereof may yeeld vs two good meditations for our vse 1. That the world is surely much awrie now a dayes men be so crosse to the Apostles course For we may see men and women feeking the markets for the best Cates and the Vintners cellars for the best Wine and the Confectioners shops for the best banketting-stuffe a thing not vnlawfull if it be done moderately and in season but amidst all this care for pampering of the flesh where is hee or shee that once thinketh of beating down the body or taming of the flesh or vsing any discipline of mortificatiō Nay would God there were not some among them who would be esteemed religious Christians who conceit all such austerity to be Monkish superstitious vngodly 2. That all euen the best of vs if wee doe not thinke our selues more spirituall than Saint Paul must confesse and resolue that wee haue neede to pull downe by deedes of humiliation the luxuriant pride of the flesh and that it is a rule deriued from the nature of man that Mens repleta spinas germinat libidinum a full fed soule sprouts forth weedes of vnlawfull lusts Nor will this seeme any wonder if we weigh things well For the best ground abroad if it haue nothing but warme showres and faire Sun-shine all the yeere long if there be no frost no snow no winter-stormes that may kil the vermin and keepe downe the weedes nay if besides there be not a Plough to cut vp the furrowes and an harrow to breake the clods all men know there will bee small hope of a good haruest Of such a piece of ground wee may say as Salomon doth of (a) Prou. 24.31 the field of the sluggard It was all growne ouer with thornes and nettles had couered the face of it b Sicut redditum vberiorem capit qui frequentiùs vexando exercet campum ita maiorem gratiam percipit qui exercet corporis sui campum saepiùs ieiunando Ambros tom 5. Serm. 40. in feria 3. post Domin 2. Quadrag pag. 57. C. and in the same Sermon after Germinat mihi terra mea spinas si me corporalia libidinis titillatione compungit Generat mihi tribulos quum me diuitiarum secularium cupiditate discruciat c. His ergo nisi vigilando ieiunando carere non possumus And so we may say of the heart and soule of man the ground where the good seed should grow that if it haue nothing but feeding and pampering ease all the weeke and all the yeere and all the life long no frost nor storme of affliction no plough nor harrow of mortification that may by discipline and hardnesse tame and subdue it it will bring forth but a little good fruit of true piety and obedience but thornes and briers and vermin and weeds of vnruly lusts these will spring and grow apace till they haue couered the whole face of it Let Pauls practice then be euery Christians patterne If wee would be freed from feare of being castawayes we must keepe vnder the body and bring it into subiection and by wholesome discipline teach it due obedience III. A third vse of fasting may bee that it will serue for cleuation of the minde and to make a man more attentiue about holy dueties And this it will doe for diuers reasons and in diuers respects 1. Because it cleareth the braine of vapors and the body of humours and setteth the spirits at liberty for voluntary imployments and the vse of contemplation For reason telleth vs that bodily food sendeth fumes into the head and findeth worke for the spirits and imployeth them about the worke of nature that they are not so free for meditation and study And Schollers doe finde it true in experience that times after dinner and supper are not so fit for inuention and study and others may obserue that in the afternoone themselues are not so fit to heare or reade or pray as in the morning when they are fasting And consequently in most men especially in such as are still at a full table fasting may serue for eleuation and to carry the thoughts vpward toward heauen 2. Fasting may helpe to eleuate the minde because by afflicting the body it bringeth a man to the sense and feeling of his wants and the sense of his wants will spurre him forward to the means that may relieue them And so it will make men more attentiue to Gods Word when he teacheth and admonisheth them and more attentiue to their owne words when they pray vnto him and prayse him and euer and anon to sigh towards heauen in the middest of their other cares To giue some proofe of this first Elihu in the Book of Iob speaking of the afflictions which God layeth on his Children If righteous men saith he be bound in fetters and holden in cords of affliction then God sheweth them their worke and their transgressions that they haue exceeded Hee openeth also their eare to discipline Iob 36.8 9 10. and v. 15. Hee deliuereth the poore in his affliction and openeth their eares in oppression It is as if hee should say In time of prosperity and peace men stoppe their eares against wholesome admonitions and are heauy spirited as the Prophet speaketh of Ierusalem (a) Zachar. 7.7 11 12. When it was inhabited and was in prosperitie they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare yea they made their hearts as an Adamant stone lest they should heare the Law But when the rod of God is vpon them then by the smart which they feele God doth vnstop their eares and maketh them attend to euery word that may concerne them for their ease And so if we chasten our selues with our owne rodde with fasting and hard discipline by which wee amerce our selues for our sinnes the sense of this smart will open our eares to listen and enlarge our hearts to attend to euery word that may help to discharge vs of this burden of sinne Let who will marke and obserue it and he
repent that we haue expressed so little repentance hitherto Surely if wee must try the tree by its fruite and iudge of our repenting by our fasting wee shall finde but little store of this vertue in the world so that we may iustly complaine D. King on Ionas Lecture 36. page 491. as sometime an eloquent and learned Preacher did Where is the Repentance of our times Whither is it fled Where hath it hid her selfe c. It is not for the Angels to repent because they sinne not Nor for the Deuils of hell for their iudgement is sealed It is onely for the sonnes of men and wee onely know it not The people of Nineuch sinned and would not eate sinned and would not drinke sinned and would not be cloathed nay sinned and would not giue leaue to their beasts to feede we sinne and yet we eate nay we sinne in eating c. we sinne and yet we drinke nay we sinne in drinking c. and we sinne and cloath our selues or rather we cloath our selues and sinne by cloathing vs c. But if any man notwithstanding all this can perswade himselfe that he may repent well inough within in his heart though he shew it not without by deedes of the body I will onely reply vpon him as Saint Iames did in a like case Shew me thy faith by thy workes saith he And so say I Shew me thy repentance by thy workes or if thou canst not shew it I am not bound to beleeue it And this shall suffice to shew how fasting doth follow and flowe from Repentance 2. Secondly fasting is necessary to repentance as an Vsher that goeth before it and maketh way for it I meane because it is a meanes to beget and increase it And surely the lesse vse we haue made of it in the former respect as a fruit springing out of our repentance the more need we haue of it in this latter that it may bee a helper to forward our repentance And that it may doe two wayes or for two causes 1. Because the outward acts and behauiour of the body as they come first from the heart a Orantes de mebris sui corporis faciunt quod supplicantibus congruit quum genua figunt quum extendum manus c. Aug. com 4. de cura pro mort cap 5. pag. 257. A. so they reflect vpon the heart againe and there they doe increase and confirme that affection from which they sprang This Saint Augustine obserued long agoe in the outward gestures of prayer When a man prayeth saith he and kneeleth him downe vpon his knees and spreadeth his hands toward heauen be vseth that gesture of body which becommeth a suppliant to vse in his prayers And hee addeth I know not how but so it is that these motions of the body as they had their first beeing from the affection of the soule so they doe againe stirre vp the affection that bred them ac per hoc cordis affectus qui vt fierent ista praecessit quia facta sunt crescit and hereby the affection of the heart that caused them is afterward increased by them For deuotion in the heart doth cast downe the body on the earth and lifteth vp the hands and eyes toward heauen and this prostration of the body and eleuation of the hands and eyes doe blowe the coales of deuotion and maketh them burne the more brightly And so it is repentance in the heart that maketh men to exercise discipline vpon the body but this outward discipline in fasting and watching and hard lodging they confirme increase the repentance from whence they came For if the minde should relent and begin to forget what it is about as (a) Quintilian Instit l. 6. c. 1. pag. 345. nihil faciliùs inarescit quà m lachrymae sorrow for sinne doth soone begin to cease yet these visible signes will euer and anon be calling it backe againe and bring to remembrance the former thoughts Adde hereto that euery vertue or habit of the soule the more it exerciseth it selfe by outward deeds the stronger it groweth for confirmed habits are bred by often iterated actions 2. Fasting may breede or increase repentance because it is a penall chastisement which the penitent doth inflict on himselfe and by which he doth chasten and as it were amerce himselfe for his folly for the vse of corrections and punishments is this (a) Hooker Eccles Polit. l. 5. nu 72. pa. 213. that as all offences doe vse to seduce by pleasing so all punishments endeuour by vexing to reforme transgressions And for this cause it is that when God would reclaime men he layeth his rod vpon them and so bringeth them backe by weeping Crosse Proofes are many but take one instance for all When Ionas was sent to Nineueh he turned his backe and fled to Tarshish a contrarie way and so long as wind and tide serued him he went on with full sayle but when God had sent his messenger to apprehend him a tempestuous storme and a raging sea and by this meanes had cast him into the deepe and clozed him in a Fishes bellie as in a prison-house then Ionas relented and amended and prayed for mercy and went the right way whither hee was sent Vpon which passage (b) Ep. 25. pag. 203. C. St. Hierom speaking in Gods person giueth vs this note Fugerat animosus Propheta sed in profundo maris meus fuit The stomachfull Prophet like a fugiuiue seruant ran away from me but in the bottome of the sea I caught him and he became a good seruant euer after And as GOD by making men to smart doth also make them to repent so if we by fasting and other penall inflictions doe amerce and chasten our selues for our sinnes this correction also may serue to reforme vs. Nay in some sense I may say that the chastisemēts which we inflict vpon our selues are most times more effectuall then those which God doth lay vpon vs partly because our selues doe know more distinctly why and wherefore we suffer and especially because wee are by our owne thoughts afore-hand prepared to receiue the correction before we feele it which helps in Gods corrections are most times wanting vnto vs. And from hence Saint Basil commendeth fasting as being (a) De Ieiun Hom. 1. pa. 321. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a medicine that taketh away the maladie of sinne Which point he yet declareth further by a most liuely similitude b Quemadmodū vermes qui in puerorum intestinis germinant pharmacis quibusdā acribus et amaris excutiuntur ita peccatum c. ibid. As wormes saith he which are bred in childrens entralls are expelled by worme-wood and bitter medicines so if sinne bee engendred in a mans soule there is no speedier way to expell it then by letting downe this bitter potion of fasting and humiliation And to like purpose Saint Ambrose c Dulcis voluptas videtur amarum ieiuniū Hoc umaio illud dulce
Daniels fast (b) Dan. 10.12 When thou didst set thy heart to chasten thy selfe before thy God And Dauid saith of his owne fasting (c) Psal 35.13 I humbled or afflicted my soule with fasting And the people of the Iewes (d) Is 58.3 Wherefore say they haue wee fasted and thou seest not Wherefore haue we afflicted our soule and thou takest no knowledge But most plaine to this purpose is that of Ezrah (c) Esr 8.21 I proclaymed a Fast saith hee that wee might afflict our selues before our God Where wee may note that the afflicting of our selues is the very end of our fasting Thus in the language of the holy Ghost fasting doth imply a kinde of afflicting And indeed if it be rightly vsed it may be said to afflict a man for three respects First because it doth naturally breed a kinde of paine to the body For when nature wanteth her ordinary nourishment she feedeth vpon the body it selfe and sucketh and draweth from it its naturall moysture and consumeth the iuyce of it Which action of nature vpon it selfe if it be long and great doth breed vnsufferable paynes which maketh men to eat their owne flesh rather than endure it and if it be but moderate yet if it be continued aboue the ordinary and fit time of refreshing it will more or lesse breed some sence of paine Secondly fasting may be said to afflict because it depriueth a man of his vsuall and accustomed refreshing and comfort And that without any reall and positiue payne is a kinde of affliction to nature For if a man that hath beene in place of authority and respect be onely depriued of this honour and dignity that priuation alone will be a corrasiue to his soule And if a man that hath beene accustomed to liue at his liberty be commanded to keepe his house though hee lodge as soft and fare as well and be attended as carefully as euer he was wont yet this restraint in his owne house will be a punishment vnto him because it is an abridging of his wonted liberty And so abstinence from meat at the vsuall time is an affliction to nature because shee misseth her wonted comfort and refreshing Thirdly fasting may further be said to afflict because it is a memoriall that representeth vnto vs the iust causes of the greatest sorrow For as when a wife weareth mourning weeds for her Husbands death if any other occasion should draw her to sporting and mirth yet the sight of her owne clothes would re-call her because they are testimonies that put her in minde of her husbands decease and her owne widdow-hood so out fasting being vndertaken for humiliation and repentance is an outward token that calleth our sinnes to remembrance that telleth vs how vnworthy we are of the least of Gods mercies and how obnoxious to damnation if by repentance wee doe not obtaine pardon In which case though wee should otherwise forget our selues yet the very want of our wonted food will cause a sight and breed a sense of our wofull estate And this is thought to bee one reason why the Nineuites caused their children and cattell to fast from all food who notwithstanding were neither guilty of the sin nor capable of repentance because the ruefull sight of their miseries and the mourning sound of their cry might serue to increase the Nineuites sorrow whose sinnes had beene the cause of all Thus fasting is in diuers respects a kinde of affliction and in the religious vse of it was intended by Almighty God for that purpose 2. The second thing is that this chastening must be moderate and not exceed the proportion of euery mans strength and ability And then it exceedeth this proportion when it eyther destroyeth nature or disableth a man for Gods seruice and the dueties of his calling And thus far if a man goe he goeth beyond the rule of a religious fast The reasons are First God doth not desire the hurt of his creature while hee is about his seruice nay hee will rather forbeare some part of his seruice than an Oxe or an Asse shall want necessary food as is euident by our Sauiours own words related by the Euangelist (a) Luke 13.15 14.5 And if he will not haue a beast to want food much lesse would he haue a man to endanger his life or health for such an exercise though tending to his seruice And therefore if any deny necessary refreshing to the body when need doth require that they may vse the more austerity against the flesh (b) Audiant qui ea quae necessaria sunt corpori subtrahūt illud quod per Prophetam Dominus loquitur Ego Dominus odio habens rapinam holocaustorū De rapina verò holocaustum offert qui temporalium bonorum siue ciborum nimiâ egestate vel manducandi vel somni penuriá corpus suum immoderatè affligit De Consecrat distinct 5. cap. 24. Non mediocriter Let them heare saith the Canon Law what God saith by the Prophet c Isa 61.8 I the Lord loue iudgement I hate robbery for burnt offering Now hee offereth God an offering of robbery saith the Canon that defraudeth his body of necessary food for religions sake And let such a one take with him also the rule of Saint Ambrose (a) Ambros ser 31. p. 44. G. Satis diu ieiunat qui cum Christi voluntate se resicit He fasteth long enough that breaketh Fast with Christs liking and approbation Secondly Fasting is appoynted of God for an helpe that may enable vs to serue God the better as to make the flesh seruiceable to the soule to lift vp the minde in holy and heauenly meditations and to further our repentance and obedience as hath beene formerly declared But when it exceedeth the proportion of a mans strength as it casteth downe the body so it disableth the soule also For (b) Epist 7. ad Laetam pag. 59. F. experience telleth vs saith Saint Hierome Asellum in via quum lassus fuerit diuerticula quaerere that a beast when it is ouer-laden and wearied will turne a side at euery corner and euer and anon seeketh how to lye downe vnder the burden And so if the body be ouer-burdened and enfeebled with too-much abstinence it cannot be seruiceable to the soule nor affoord her strength spirits for holy exercises but will euer be ready to sleepe or rest or faint so that the soule at such times cannot heare nor reade not pray nor meditate as at other times she is vsed to doe And for this cause the Apostle giueth Timothy this rule (c) 1 Tim. 5.23 Drinke no longer water but vse a little wine for thy stomachs sake and thine often infirmities And Saint Hierome giueth the like counsell to a religious friend of his a Sic debes iciunare vt non palpites respirare vix possis comitum tuarum vel porteris vel traharis manibus sed vt fracto corporis appetitu nec in
lectione nec in Psalmis nec in vigilijs solito quid mimis facias Ieiuniū non perfecta virtus sed caeterarum virtutum fundamentū est c. Hieron ad Demetriad Ep. 8. pag. 72. C You should so fast saith he that you doe not faint and breathe short and haue neede of some body to beare you vp for falling but that subduing the bodily appetite you do not diminish spirituall exercises nor reade or sing or watch or pray lesse then you are wont For Fasting is not a perfect vertue to bee desired for it selfe but an helpe and ground of other vertues The want of this moderatiō Ionathā did rightly reproue in Saul his father who by enioyning too strait abstinence did hinder the people in the pursuit of the enemies (b) 1. Sam. 14.29 My Father hath troubled the Land See I pray you how mine eyes haue bin enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey How much more if the people had eaten freely to day of the spoile of their enemies which they found For had there not bin now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines And so by the same reason if any man doe exceed measure in his religious abstinence we may say of him Hee troubleth his soule and hindreth the worke of Religion and maketh himselfe vnable to doe good duties But this Caueat was necessary in times past now a dayes few men offend that way And therfore I will presse this poynt no further Only out of the former part of this Note where I shewed that fasting is an Afflicting I will draw some short conclusions for our further vse 1. Concl. If a true Fast bee a chastening of the body then Papists haue little cause for their great outcryes and much boasting of their Fasts For as the Pharises said to Christ (c) Mark 2 1◠Luk. 5.33 Why doe the Disciples of Iohn of the Pharises fast often but thine eate and drinke so the Pharises of our time say that they and their disciples fast often but Protestants and their Schollers eate and drinke and feast But all this lowd cry is but an empty sound For say they fast often as they call fasting yet what is it that they call a Fast and which they enioyne their disciples to vse Why it is forsooth that at dinner they eate no flesh and that at supper they make not a set and standing meale But at dinner they may take their fill of the best fish and the strongest wines and the daintiest iunkets and what they will beside of rootes and white-meats or any such like And at night they may haue a drinking and eate something beside more or lesse according to the custome of the place and people And they may drinke at any time of the day and any drinke they list Yea and which is abominable to conceiue if a man drinke intemperately and be drunke on their fasting day yet if hee obserue the former rules a Contra temperantiam peccatū erit contra ieiunium non item Azor. par 1. l. 7. ca. 10. q. 7. hee offendeth not against the Law of their Fast This is the scrictnes and hard discipline that the Church of Rome doth lay vpon her children in their frequent and meritorious Fasts Nor may we thinke that the practice can be much better then their precepts are Sure I reade that (b) Polyc. Lyserus praefat praefixâ Hassenmull de ieiunio Iesuit the Princes of Germanie at the times of their publike meetings in the Empire were wont to obserue the knowne fasting-dayes of the Church and then they would goe dyne with the Bishops For as they vsed to say they neuer had greater variety of good cheere nor more dainties then at such times But some perhaps may say that he that reporteth this was an aduersary to their Church Be it so yet that is no reason to discredit the report of a thing so openly knowne And though Lyserus who reporteth this from the Princes mouthes were an aduersary yet Lindanus was their friend and he saith no lesse of their loose fastings a Ieiunia nostra quae et vini copia natant abundantiaque redundant et piscium varietate carnium superant delitias adeoque cum Deo ludere videntur dum pro intercepto qui ex ouis oritur calore olei flammas vini aestum omnisque aromatū generis ignes helluoni infarciunt stomacho veteribus Christianis omnino fuisse non modo incognita sed et intolerabilia atque adeò abominanda pijs omnibus vetera cogitantibus arbitramur notius quà m vt ea de re vlla sint verba profund ēda Lindan Panop lib. 3. cap. 11 pa. 89. That our Fasts saith he which swimme with store of wine and abound with superfluities and outstrip the delicates of flesh with variety of fish insomuch that they may seem to dallie with God while for cutting off the warmth that is caused by eggs they cramme into their gluttonous stomach the flames of oyle the burning heate of wine and the fire of all kinde of spices were not only vnknowne to the ancient Christians but were intolerable and abominable is a thing more euident to them that consider the ancient customes then that we should waste words about it And in the margin he addeth this note b Ietunium Catholicorū passim Epicurea The Fasts of Catholikes all abroad like the feeding of Epicures And this may serue to shew what sore penance our popish people doe vndergoe by their often fasting But if a true Fast be an afflicting of the body as I haue proued and themselues will not deny then though they haue many Fasts in name yet they haue few or none in deed Let them then looke homeward reforme these mock-fasts of their own Church and then let them complaine of the rare Fasts in ours 2. Concl. They make but a friuolous excuse who to free themselues from fasting alledge that they finde hurt by it meaning that it is some paine to endure two or three houres hunger and some trouble to passe ouer the vsuall time of refection Some paine and some trouble Why that is the very cause why we should fast that by chastening the body wee may cherish the soule Nor is it so great a matter now and then to endure such a paine For we reade that Esau was so long in hunting that he fainted and was ready to dye for hunger (a) Gen. 25.29 30 32. as himselfe complained And we may see it now among men that if it bee for pleasure to follow our sports or for profit to increase our wealth or for preferment to aduance our estates there is no man but would finde himselfe able inough to forbeare a meales meate And if the sauing of our soules bee as deare vnto vs as these worldly vanities we will not repine at so small a labour in so necessary a case 3. Concl. They be poore fasters who glut themselues aforehand that so they
may fast with full stomachs Saint Basil met with some such in his dayes whom he warneth and threatneth for it Praua est cogitatio c. It is a gracelesse thought saith he to say with our selues (b) Hom. 2. de Ieiun pag. 336. A. Now the fasting dayes are bidden 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let vs therefore now drowne our selues in swilling excesse For will any man saith he when he is to marry a chaste Matrone make an introduction to such a marriage by bringing Strumpets into his house And in the places of Popish ignorance it is a most vsuall practice c Conamur per crapulam lasciuiam vlcisci dieâ—â—etunij quasique de ieiunioa enturo sumere poeâ—as â—â—lesa de Quaâ—â—â— cap. 12. 〈◊〉 70. to make way for Lent Fast by surfeting at Shrouetide But a religious Christian should consider that if he meane to fast rightly he must make his abstinence to be a chastening to nature which cannot be if his fasting be but a forbearing of meate till his former gluttonie be concocted II. Secondly there is required in a true Fast that our other carriage and behauiour be suteable to this of our fasting My meaning is that as wee chasten and afflict the body by abstinence from meate so we should doe by refraining from the other delights and comforts of nature For else the other pleasure would vndoe that which by fasting we seeke to effect because they will hinder our humiliation and repentance Nor is it seemely to ioyne gay clothes and sweet perfumes and pleasant musicke and frolike behauiour with this exercise of humiliation and sorrow no more then it is for him that weareth a mourning gowne for his friends death to flaunt it in a white hat and a gay feather and a coloured suite at the same time And for this cause it is that in Scriptures where fasting is spoken of there is mention also of sackcloth and ashes and hard lodging and forbearing of perfumes As for example (a) Dan. 10.3 Daniel forbore sweet oyntments And (b) 2. Sam. 12.16 Dauid lay all night vpon the earth And (c) Ester 4.1 Mordecai put on sackcloth and besprent himselfe with ashes And the (d) Ionas 3.6 King of Nineueh layed off his robe and couered himselfe with sack-cloth and sate in ashes And (e) Ioel 2.16 Ioel requireth Let the Bridegroome goe foorth of his Chamber and the Bride out of her Closet And our (f) Mar. 2.19 Luk. 5.34 Lord saith The children of the Bride-chamber cannot fast while the Bridegroome is with them The meaning is that Marriage-mirth is vnseasonable in a time of fasting And therefore if a Fast must be kept let the Bridegroome goe foorth of his wedding Chamber as Ioel speaketh or if Marriage-mirth bee necessary let the humiliation of fasting be deferred till an other time as our Sauiour implyeth And because of this disproportion between mirth and fasting God reiecteth the Fast of the Iewes for this cause among others because in the day of their Fast they found pleasure And from the consideration of these things it is that the Hebrewes were wont in their Fasts (a) Ainsw on Leu. 16.29 to abstaine from foure things that import mirth and reioycing from washing themselues from anoynting from fine apparell and from the vse of the marriage bed And so when wee fast all our behauiour must bee such as beseeme mourning the condition of a deiected suppliant b An putatis illuÌ„ ieiunare qui primo diluculo non ad Ecclesiam vigilat sed surgens congregat seruulos disponit retia cánes producit saltus syluasque per lustrat Ambros to 5. ser 4â— pag. 58. v. Aug. de Diuers Ser. 74. cap. 8. At least thus much is necessary that we abstaine from all delights of the world that be disproportionable to the state of a mournfull penitent III. Thirdly there is required in a true Fast that the inward affection of the heart be answerable to the outward behauiour of the body that is that as by abstaining from the comforts of this life we chasten the body so by a godly sorrow and vnfained repentance we humble our soules for our sinnes And because true repentance includeth or implyeth amendment of life and an heartie practice of all good duties therfore it is to be vnderstood that with a true Fast there is necessarily required an holy life And the reason hereof is plaine because God doth not care for the opus operatum the bare worke done nor doth fasting please him because it is an abstinence from meat but because it is a signe of repentance and an help to true deuotion and an holy life To this purpose we finde God speaking to the Iewes (a) Zach. 7.5 When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seuenth moneth did ye at all fast vnto mee euen to mee As if he should say Ye did it not for my sake and I owe you no thankes for it nor doe I take it as a part of my seruice But why was it not done for Gods sake and to his seruice The reason is intimated in the words following (b) vers 9 10.11 12. The Lord said Execute true iudgement and shew mercy and compassion euery man to his brother and oppresse not the widdow c. But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder c. And to like purpose but more plainely in another place (c) Isa 58.4 Yee fast saith God for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickednes Ye shall not fast as ye doe this day to make your voyce to be heard on high Is it such a Fast that I haue chosen Wilt thou call this a Fast and an acceptable day to the Lord Hee meaneth that they fasted as if they repented for their sinne and meant to serue God but they while they kept their Fast continued in their sinnes and that this was not a true Fast that God euer did require or would accept But if this bee not the true Fast what then is Why It followeth in the next words (d) vers 6 7. Is not this the Fast that I haue chosen to loose the hands of wickednes to vndoe the heauie burdens and to let the oppressed goe free that ye breake euery yoke Is it not to deale thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poore that are cast out to thy house When thou seest the naked that thou couer him c The summe and intent of which words is that a true Fast such as God doth require and will requite is to be ioyned with the practice of good workes For the manner of speech is like to that of Saint Iames where he saith Iames 2.27 that pure religion and vndefiled is this to visit the fatherlesse and widdowes in their affliction and keepe himselfe vnspotted of the world Where hee meaneth not that religion which is a dutie toward GOD doth formally consist
that may make all our prayers the more effectuall is if they be feruent and with feeling and one condition on which God doth grant some petitions is if they proceede from a soule humbled with fasting For as our Lord saith that there is a kinde of Diuels that cannot bee driuen out but by prayer and fasting so I may say that some sinnes may be pardoned and some iudgements auerted and some blessings obtained by prayer ioyned with ordinary humiliation and repentance for it cannot be expected that wee should fast so often as we may and ought to pray yet some sinnes there may be of so deepe a dye that ordinary sorrow may not be admitted for their expiation and some blessings there may be of that worth and of that importance that they may seeme too lightly esteemed if they were too easily obtayned And of such I may say these kinds of sinnes are not pardoned and these kinds of blessings are not obtayned but by prayer and fasting And if the pardon of greater sinnes and the purchase of greater gifts bee to be sought for by prayer and fasting then in the lesser of them we shall speede the sooner if we come in the same manner If then wee desire to make our prayers powerfull and to pierce the heauens we must help to list them vp with this wing of fasting as the Fathers call it 3. We may hence gather how necessary fasting is for all sorts and at all times and in speciall for our selues in these dayes For to say nothing of the spirituall helps that it hath for increase of grace and deuotion which alone consideration should moue any Christian if not to be in loue with it yet at least to giue way to it and to insist only in the further blessings now mentioned who is there that is not priuie to himselfe of some sinne which without pardon may be his ruine And who is there that either doth not now suffer or may not iustly feare some iudgement hereafter which hee would gladly preuent or auoyd And againe who is there that doth not want and desire some blessing gift of God that may greatly concerne his body or his soule or his estate But if any man be so happy as to haue need of none of these mercies or rather so vnhappy as not to feele know that he hath need of them all or at least many of them yet if wee looke abroad vpon the face of the Christian world wee may see many of our brethren that serue the same Lord robbed of their goods depriued of their liberty butchered in their own dwellings yea and many houses burned downe Townes laid waste fields left vntilled and streets and high-wayes swimming in bloud and enduring al other miseries which the cruelty of bloody warres and insolency of proud Conquerers doe vse to bring with them And beside all this who can tell whose turne is next and at whose doore the Trumpet may blow Quis talia fando temperet à lachrymis A compassionate Christian cannot thinke on this without watery eyes and a bleeding heart And therefore if wee should haue no present cause of our owne yet if there bee any bowels within vs we haue great cause to weepe and wish with Ieremie that our eyes were a fountaine of teares to bemone the miseries of our brethren and the distresse of Gods Church And how much greater cause then haue wee with Ezrah and Nehemiah Daniel to humble our selues before our God and with fasting and weeping and sorrow to intreate Gods fauour for his Church that he will be gracious to his people will spare his owne inheritance and will at length turne againe the captiuity of his Zion that wee may reioyce in his saluation and giue him thankes in the great Congregation Surely if in such cases any man can thinke that there is no neede of fasting I must needes say I cannot but thinke that hee hath no feeling CHAP. VI. Why Christ fasted at this time HItherto I haue spoken of Fasting in abstracto as it may be considered in by it selfe It followeth now to say something of it in subiecto as it was vsed by our Sauiour And hereof the Euangelist saith Hee fasted forty dayes and forty nights which words being ioyned with that which is said in the first verse that then hee was led into the wildernesse and fasted meaning after hee was baptized and as it were now consecrated for his publique ministery doe giue vs occasion to enquire into and to consider of these fiue poynts 1. Why Christ fasted at this time 2. Why hee fasted so long 3. When wee should or may lawfully fast 4. How long wee should continue our fasts 5. What wee are to thinke of the forty dayes Fast commonly called Lent-fast And first Why our Lord did fast at this time I finde nothing expresly said in the Text but by considering the circumstances of Christs fast and by comparing other Scriptures with this Text wee may conceiue diuers reasons of his so doing which will be profitable for vs to take notice of which so far as I do now apprehend may be these I. First wee may well thinke that he fasted that hereby he might performe a part of that humiliation and those sufferings which hee voluntarily vndertooke for our sakes For our Lord beeing equall with God and farre aboue the infirmities of our nature (a) Philip. 2.6 7 8. tooke vpon him the forme of a seruant and humbled himselfe euen vnto death In which his humiliation there be diuers steps and degrees For the last and greatest and that which is the perfection of all was his death and passion vpon the Crosse and yet his meane birth his poore estate his reproches in the world his want of things necessary his debilities of nature and other such infirmities and wants were all of them as preparatiues to his death and parts of those sufferings which hee sustained for our sinnes For which cause it is that the Apostle doth not onely say that (b) Rom. 5.8 hee dyed for vs but saith also that (c) 2 Cor. 8.9 hee beeing rich became poore for our sakes And so by the same reason wee may say that he being God became man for our sakes and being strong became weake for our sakes and being glorious became contemptible for our sakes and beeing Lord of all became destitute of all things for our sakes And so in like sort hee sweat and feared and fasted and thirsted and hungred and all for our sakes And therefore of his fasting the thing that is proper to this place the Church speaketh thus in her prayers (a) Collect on the first Sunday in Lent O Lord which for our sakes didst fast forty dayes and forty nights This then I take to be one reason He therefore fasted in this manner and the rather perhaps at this time when he was in more speciall manner to goe about the worke of our saluation because it
will set downe mine opinion with submission to better iudgements in three seuerall propositions 1. The precise time and distinct houres how long a Fast must be continued is not any where that I know of peremptorily defined or commanded eyther in the holy Scriptures or in any Writings of the Ancients For as for the Scriptures wee finde examples of some that haue fasted for three dayes and many that haue fasted till night but where eyther that space or any other is commanded for my part I confesse I know not And for the ancient Church it is a cleare case that they vsed to fast somtime till euening and many times but till three a clocke in the afternoone Which sheweth that they thought no set space of time absolutely necessary 2. In euery religious Fast the abstinence must be continued so long as that the body by wanting his ordinary food may bee in some sort chastened and afflicted For so the Scriptures set out a Fast vnto vs as accompanied with chastening and humiliation Thus Dauid speaketh (a) Psal 69.10 I wept and chastened my soule with fasting And the Angell speaking of Daniels Fast (b) Dan. 10.12 When thou didst set thine heart saith hee to vnderstand and to chasten thy selfe before thy God And Ezrah (c) Ezrah 8.21 I proclaymed a Fast that wee might afflict our selues before God By all which and other moe sayings to like purpose it is apparant that in euery true Fast there is an afflicting of the body Which how it is to be vnderstood I haue declared (d) Cap. 4. pa. 49 c. elsewhere 3. The longer our abstinence is so it bee with moderation and regard to a mans strength such as heretofore I described the more perfect the Fast is and the more auaileable for the good which we intend by it My reasons are First because fasting is ordained for humiliation and chastening of our selues before God which the more sensible it is the more effectuall it proueth but the longer the abstinence is the greater is the humiliation or chastening that is wrought by it And therefore the longer the abstinence the perfiter the Fast is Secondly Vpon extraordinary occasions and when greater need required then Gods seruants haue been accustomed to enlarge the time of their fasting as I haue shewed before in Ester and the men of labesh c. And this sheweth that the longer the abstinence is the more powerfull the Fast is Thirdly The ancient Church did vse longer abstinence in Lent time than on other Fasting-dayes intending therein as in all the other religious duties to shew more piety than at other times they vsed And this sheweth that the longer the abstinence is the more perfit they thought the Fast to be Fourthly this conclusion is acknowledged by our Aduersaries of the Romish Church For though they defend the loosenesse of their Church which permitteth them on Fasting-dayes to take their dinner at the vsuall time yet they confesse a Quò quis tardiùs distulerit cò meliùs ieiunare iudicandus est Valer. Reginald prax fori poenit l. 4. c. 13. num 158. Quanto plus tardâ horâ comeditur meliùs ieiunatur Caietan v. Ieiun pag. 120. Neque ignorant Catholici ieiunium tantò esse perfectius quantò diutius refectio siue Coena differtur Bellar. de bon oper in particl l. 2. cap. 2. pag. 1072. B. that by how much later the houre of our eating is by so much our Fast is the better and that they know well enough that the Fast is so much the more perfit by how much the refection after it is the longer protracted 4. The vsuall time of abstinence mentioned in Scriptures in an vsuall and ordinary Fast is the space of one day from morning till night Thus it is said of the children of Israel (b) Iudg. 20.26 that they wept and sate before the Lord and fasted that day vntill euen and of Dauid and his men (c) 2. Sam. 1.12 that they fasted vntill euen for Saul and for Ionathan c. and of Dauid when hee mourned for Abuer that hee would not be perswaded by the people to eate meat while it was yet day but sware saying (d) 2. Sam. 3.35 So doe God to mee and more also if I taste bread or ought else till the Sunne bee downe And so elsewhere And according to this custome it is obserued of the Iewes that euer since they haue kept their Fast (e) Buxdorf Synag Iudaic. cap. 25. pag. 458. Tostat in Matth. 4. q. 11. Azor. part 1. l. 7. cap. 11. q. 1. pag. 563. col 2. till the Starres appeare in the Firmament And lesse time of abstinence then this I no where finde vsed in Scriptures 5. In the Primitiue Church I finde that in the beginning they fasted till sixe of the clocke in the afternoone or till sun setting which in common estimation is about sixe of the clocke For that is the most indifferent time to measure the euening by the most proportionable to the whole yeer and most answerable to the custome of Gods people in the old Testament For there was not such difference betweene the day and the night among the Iewes as is among vs. For in Iurie the shortest day had tenne houres and the longest night but foureteene Whence it followeth that for the greatest part of the yeere the sun did set much what about sixe either not long after or not long before it And when the greatest inequality was as in the depth of winter it did set at fiue of the clocke and in the height of summer at seuen And therefore the most equall time to measure the end of the day or the sunne setting by for all the yeer is sixe of the clocke And that I take to haue bin the vsuall time when both the Iewes and the ancient Christians did breake off their Fasts But afterward Christians began to abridge the time of the abstinence and to cease their Fasts at least many of them about three of the clocke in the afternoone Which Azorius a Tepescente sensim vetere illo feruore coeptum est solui ieiunium primò quidem antequam sol occidcret deinde verò etiā paucis heris ante solis abscessum Azo par 1. l. 7. c. 11. q. 1. pag. 563 564. imputeth to decay of zeale euen in those better times and I wil not deny but it might be so in some part albeit perhaps another reason may be conceiued thereof besides namely the multitude of their Fasts which at that time were frequent especially among the religious sort who gaue themselues to deuotion For they sauing Sundayes and festiuall times were vsed to fast euery day and it might seeme perhaps too much strictnes in such continuall sort to endure so long abstinence and therefore though in Lent time and vpon other dayes of more straite discipline they vsed to fast till night yet ordinarily they broke off their Fasts three houres sooner
Dubit 5. nu 31. pa. 723. Filliuc Moral quaest Tract 27. part 2. cap. 5. nu 78. pag. 285. Writers of the Roman Church say the like of other Fathers and conclude that their sayings doe not proue this to be any Diuine precept but that when they say that Lent-Fast was of Gods appoynting wee must vnderstand their words thus that they meant to say that it had some ground in Scriptures in that Moses and Elias and Christ did fast forty dayes or to like purpose And if this be all then the Fathers doe not say that Lent was of Christs institution or was appoynted by any command of his And other proofe than this there is none that I know of so much as tendered vnto vs. The conclusion then of all is that this Fast of Lent is of very ancient obseruation but not of Diuine or Apostolicall institution for ought that yet hath beene proued II. The second particular to be inquired into is How and in what sort Lent was kept in the ancient Church And for answere hereto my meaning is not neyther is it necessary to enquire into all the seuerall customes and orders that were vsed among them which were an endlesse and needlesse piece of worke but onely to note the extraordinary zeale and deuotion which they vsed at this time more than at other And that may be seene in foure things especially 1. In the length and continuance of their Fasts For whereas at other times in the yeere they fasted one or two or three dayes in one weeke and seldome oftner or more in the time of Lent for the most part they vsed to fast eyther sixe or fiue dayes together and that for diuers weekes one after another without intermission (a) Antiquit. Liturg. to 2. in seriam 6. post Cineres p. 104. And secondly those which at other times did breake off their Fast at three of the Clocke after noone in the time of Lent continued their abstinence till euening or Sunne-set 2. In the hardnesse or meanenesse of their fare when they did eate For on those dayes (b) v. Antiqu. Liturg. to 2. in feriam 6. post Cineres p. 106. when they did not fast as on Sundayes and Saturdayes they did take both their dinner and supper and on their fasting-dayes after abstinence all day they refreshed themselues at night but still their dyet was both sparing and course such as Daniel vsed in his Fast of three weekes For as he saith of that time * Dan. 10.3 I ate no pleasant bread neyther came flesh nor wine in my mouth c. So these ancient Christians during the time of Lent did forbeare flesh and wine and strong drinkes and all nourishing and pleasant food Yea sometimes they contented themselues with a dry feeding of bread and salt and some few hearbes or dryed rootes 3. In c Solenne tempus aduenit quod ampliùs quà m per anni caetera spatia nos orationibus atque ieiunijs animam humiliare corpus castigare commoneat Aug. de diuers Serm. 74. cap. 1. pa 498. B. cap. 6. Exhortor ut quotidianis ieiunijs largioribus eleemosynis feruentioribus orationibus Deum propitietis the strictnesse of discipline and seueritie of punishment which then they exercised for correcting of sinne (d) Antiq. Litâ—â— to 2. in feria 4. CineruÌ„ p. 49. seqq Filesac de Quadr. cap. 12. 15. Booke of CoÌ„mon Prayer in the beginning of the Commination For if a man had fallen into some foule crimes they vsed on the first day of Lent which they called Caput ieiunij the beginning of the Fast to enioyne him publique penance such as the fault did seeme to require and then after his penance ended their manner was vpon the humiliation and submission of the penitent on Maundy-Thursday to receiue him into the peace and communion of the Church againe And as for other Christians whose life was not spotted with any noted and open sinne yet they also exercised themselues in the practice of strict discipline as in examining their consciences and amercing themselues for their sinnes and refraining their vsuall delights and recreations and all with more strictnesse and seuerity than at other times they were accustomed to vse 4. In the exactnes and plenty of all good dueties eyther of piety toward God or of mercy towards the poore or of charity towards all men They were now more frequent in prayer and more abundant in Almes-deedes and more diligent in hearing and reading of Gods Word and more plentifull in all good exercises that might profit their soules or helpe forward their saluations a Omne vitae nostrae tempus stadium quoddam debemus putare virtutum ad coeleste brauium totâ virtute contendere Sed hoc praecipuè in Quadragesimae diebus implendum est qui abstiuentiae et ieiunijs dedicati tantum nobis ad virtutem animi conferunt quantum de corpore voluptatem decerpunt Aug. de Temp. Ser. 64. Dom. 1. Quad. pa. 231. D. so that at once while they famished the body they fatted the soule and while they estranged themselues from earthly pleasures they solaced their soules with heauenly delights and spirtituall ioy And hereupon Leo said that b Parùm religiosus alio tempore demonstratur qui in his diebus religiosior non inuenitur Leo Ser. 2. de Quadr. p. 82. Ser. 3. in princ hee shewed himselfe to haue little religion at other times that in these dayes was not found to be more religious than was or dinary This was their manner of spending their Lent-time The proofe of which particulars out of the ancient Writers I haue forborne to set downe at large because I thought it would but trouble the ordinary Reader and if any list to see the seuerall testimonies for confirmation heereof I haue in the margin poynted him to such Authors as haue gathered them to his hand and where the learned Reader may finde them if he please In the mean while we may take notice of the holy vse that the Ancients made of this time of humiliation which practice of theirs if it had bin continued among them who boast themselues of Abraham to bee their Father and make claime to bee the children of the Catholike Church they had not brought such a scandall vpon this holy discipline as in these latter dayes they haue III. The third thing to be enquired concerning Lent-Fast is What good vses it had among those Ancients and might haue among vs if wee did follow their example And heereto mine answer is that the generall vse of this institution was that the people of God might haue a solemne and speciall time of the yeere wherein they might in a more speciall and more exact and deuouter manner take account of their liues and reckon with their soules for the yeere past and amend whatsoeuer defects they had incurred and performe all such seruices as might both correct the errors of the yeere
into the contrary or might seeme to fall into it euen as Husbandmen in streightening a crooked sprigge doe many times bend it too farre the contrary way And thus saith hee St. Austin writing against the Pelagians did goe so farre in defence of Gods grace that hee seemeth to doe some wrong to mans free-will And on the contrary fide Saint Chrysostome defending free-will against the Manichees did extoll it too farre with some wrong to Gods grace And so it is no vnpardonable errour if some learned men among vs or in our Churches haue in hatred to the superstitions of Rome spoken too harshly of the deuotions of elder times And this shall suffice for answere to this accusation or calumnie rather of the Romish Doctors IIII. The fourth question concerning this time of Lent is Why this time of the yeere was made choyce of for this purpose Answ I finde many reasons giuen by diuers men But of those many the greater part may seeme to haue beene inuented after the institution of Lent to shew the congruity and fitnesse of it The true reasons which I thinke did moue the Church at the beginning to ordaine this time of humiliation were onely but two of them Of the former sort were these and such like 1. The first is a politique reason and it is because this time of the yeere is a time of breed and of the increase of creatures and the sparing of the increase by abstinence and slender diet might cause plenty and store in the Common-wealth for all the yeere after 2. The second is a physicall reason which is because (a) Filliuc Tractat. 27. cap. 5. part 2. q. 8. num 97. pag. 287. at this time of the yeere there is most increase of bloud in a mans body and the heate thereof might breed Feuers and hot diseases but spare diet especially consisting of fish and hearbes and rootes c. will serue to qualifie the bloud and to bring it to a right temper 3. The third is a reason of allusion to the season of the yeere For b Hāc Quadragesimam largitue est nobis Dōmnus vt buius temporis spatio in morem totius creaturae nunc concipiamus virtutū germina Terra indictâ Quadragesimâ asperitatē deponit hiemis ego indictâ Quadragesimâ asperitatem reijcio delictorum Illa terra aratris scinditur vt mundanis sit cōgrua frugibus mea terra ieiunijs exaratur vt coelestibus sit apta seminibus Herba segetum reuiuiscit in messem surculus arboris conatur in fruticem palmes vineae pubescit in gemmam c. Ambros Serm. 40. in feria 3. post Dominic 2. Quadrag pag. 57. C.F. now fields and gardens trees and hearbes and all vegetables doe sprowt and flourish and grow and so with the season of the yeere Christians should haue their spring of grace and be now more plentifull in all good dueties and offices of Religion Againe now is the seed-time of the world Men plow and harrow and breake the clods of the ground that it may be fit to receiue seed and to bring forth a plentifull increase and so men being admonished by the course of nature should now take occasion to ransack their consciences and humble their soules and chasten the whole man that they may be the more fit to receiue the seedes of grace and to bring forth the fruits of righteousnesse 4. The fourth is a reason drawne from the necessity of mortification at this time For now bloud doth most increase and is most hot and stirring (a) Iansen in Concord cap. 15. pag. 124. col 2. E. Filliuc Tractat. 27. cap. 5. part 2. q. 8. num 97. Aliique and the heat of nature is apt to produce increase of lust And therefore as men in the spring-time doe abstaine from Wine and strong drinkes lest they should breed Feuers and hot distempers in the body so it is requisite that they should forbeare nourishing meates and vse abstinence lest full feeding should breed youthfull lusts and distempers in the soule These and such like are the reasons of congruitie which vnder correction I thinke men did afterward inuent to shew the reasonablenesse and fitnesse of this constitution but now the proper reasons which did as I take it induce the Church to appoynt this Fast were these two 1. Because the time going before Easter was the time of Christs sufferings and passion and death In those dayes it was that he was betrayed by his Disciple and sweat bloud in the Garden and was accused and condemned and crucified and buried for our sinnes which sufferings of Christ are still to be remembred with thankefulnesse by euery Christian And because the most expresse remembrance of things past is at the same time when they were done therefore this time of the yeere in which Christ did vndergoe his sufferings was thought the fittest season in which Christians should celebrate the memory of them For to this purpose it is that God himselfe speaking of the day in which hee destroyed the Egyptians and passed by the Israelites houses without hurt saith of it (a) Exod. 12.14 This day shall bee vnto you for a memoriall and yee shall keepe it a Feast vnto the Lord throughout your generations And a little after (b) Vers 17. Yee shall obserue the Feast of vnleauened bread for in this selfe-same day haue I brought your armies out of the Land of Egypt Therefore shall yee obserue this day in your generations by an Ordinance for euer And againe (c) Exod. 13.3 ◠9 10. Remember this day in which yee came out from Egypt out of the house of bondage c. And when the Lord shall bring thee into the Land of the Canaanites c. thou shalt keepe this seruice in this moneth c. And it shall bee for a signe vnto thee vpon thine hand and for a memoriall betweene thine eyes that the Lords Law may bee in thy mouth Thou shalt therefore keepe this Ordinance in his season from yeere to yeere Where we may note what God requireth and why hee requireth it First What and that is that they should keepe this day of that moneth from yeere to yeere for a Festiuall day vnto the Lord. Secondly Why they should doe this at this time and that is because at this time God did deliuer them and the keeping of this time would be for a signe of remembrance and for a memoriall of that mercy And for like purpose (d) Ester 9.21 22. Ester and Mordecai commanded the same dayes to bee celebrated euery yeere in which God had deliuered them from their danger And so the Church of Christ hath euer thought it fit that the Acts and workes of our Sauiour which tend to our Redemption such as were his Conception Birth Resurrection Ascension into heauen c. should be celebrated among Christians about the same time of the yeere in which he performed them And so no lesse fit is it that his sufferings and
to abolish all times of fasting and humiliation for the superstition that some men haue placed in them 3. Coroll That while there is no publique order for restoring the old Discipline men should doe well each one for himselfe apart to renew so much of it as he may conueniently in his priuate practice And if any mans eyther great infirmities or iust occasions doe let him from so doing For infirmities of body and occasions of necessary dueties haue euer beene dispensed with yet then hee should in desire follow after that which indeed he cannot aspire vnto and by his inward humiliation repentance labour to recompence what is wanting in his outward fasting and abstinence And thus I haue done with this poynt of Lent and consequently haue by Gods mercy now finished that which in the second place I proposed concerning our Sauiours fasting and other things of our practice occasioned thereby CHAP. XI Of Christs hungring HAuing hitherto spoken of our Sauiours fasting it remaineth to adde a word or two of the consequent thereof which is his hungring and thereof the Euangelist saith Hee was afterward an hungred which words may haue two senses The first is this Hee was afterward an hungred that is he now first began to feel the want of meat and nature began to craue some supply And this interpretation implyeth that for the whole space of forty dayes hee had no hunger nor felt no want of meate or no affliction of body for lacke of it but that during that whole space the Deitie did support the humane nature that his naturall heat did not worke vpon the nourishment according to natures course as the (a) Dan. 3.25 fire of the Furnace did not worke vpon the three men that were cast into the middest of it Secondly the words may be expounded thus Hee was afterward an hungred that is he was now pinched with hunger and being not well able to endure any longer did manifest his hunger by seeking after meate And this interpretation implyeth that in the time of his forty dayes Fast he felt some hunger though not such as afterward he did nor such but that he might endure it and expect a longer time before need made him to breake off his purpose of fasting And this I take to be the fitter and more probable exposition of the words But which way soeuer wee take it yet thus much is apparent by the Text that at the end of forty dayes Christ through long abstinence was in some distresse for want of something to refresh nature and yet had not so much as a piece of bread to satisfie his hunger or to allay the crauing appetite of his stomach For that our Lords hunger in this place was not ordinary such as a man when he hath fasted beyond his time may haue and yet continue without any notable offence vnto nature but rather that it was a pinching and a biting hunger and such as bred grieuance and molestation to nature in a greater measure than is vsuall may appeare by two things First because the Deuill tooke occasion by this hunger to tempt him with turning stones into bread which had beene too silly a deuice for the old Serpent to vse against our Sauiour if hee had not seene him to bee in some extremity for want of food Secondly because when the Deuill had done his tentation for which Christ did make way by his hunger GOD sent Angels from heauen to (a) Matt. 4.11 minister vnto him that is to bring him meat for his refreshing Which kind of prouidence God doth not vse to shew but in cases of extremity and when ordinary meanes doe fayle vs. The summe of all is that Christ by his long abstinence did endure extreme hunger by which his body was afflicted and nature was molested And hence wee haue this note that our Lord did for our sakes submit himselfe to the afflictions and miseries of this life The Prophet calleth him (b) Is 53.3 a man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefe And the Euangelists doe shew how his whole life was a Tragedie of many sufferings Hee was persecuted from his cradle to his Crosse and afflicted from the wombe to the graue but that which in this place wee are to take especiall notice of is the pinching hunger which hee willingly endured because it tended to the working of our Redemption and the furthering of our saluation To which purpose Saint Iohn doth further note that our Lord (c) Ioh. 4.6 being wearied with his iourney sate thus on Iacobs Well And giueth vs withall to vnderstand that hee was both hungry and thirsty when hee telleth vs that (d) Vers 8. his Disciples were gone away vnto the Citie to buy meate and that himselfe did (e) Vers 7 9. aske water of the woman to drinke And yet notwithstanding his present want of food at this time hee refused to eate when it was brought him because he had a more necessary worke in hand which he preferred before it that is (f) Vers 34. to doe the will of him that sent him and to finish his worke implying in that speech the preaching of the Gospel and his labouring to saue the soules of men And in this place the extreme hunger that hee suffered was for the preparing of himselfe for his office and for the finishing of the worke of our Redemption Thus our Lord was contented to endure hunger and thirst and any thing for the redeeming and sauing of our soules so that as he sometimes said of the Iewes after hee had vsed all good meanes to worke grace in them (a) Isai 5.4 What could haue beene done more to my Vineyard that I haue not done in it so considering his meane birth and poore life and bitter death c. he may as truely say What could I haue suffered more for my Church which I haue not suffered for her And now if any man perish it is his owne fault who refuseth so great saluation wrought by his Sauiour and if any man be saued it is Christs merits who hath purchased so great Redemption for him when he had deserued damnation and death And this may afford vs diuers good lessons at which I will onely poynt in this place 1. It teacheth vs what a thankefull remembrance wee should keepe of our Sauiours paynes for vs at all times But especially at this time of Lent ordayned of purpose for a memoriall of Christs sufferings wee should often meditate on our Sauiours great loue vnto vs and consider from poynt to poynt how being Lord of all hee made himselfe the basest of all borne in a stable lodged in a Manger pinched with hunger followed with contempt accused condemned crucified and entombed in the earth for our sakes 2. It yeeldeth vs comfort in all distresses For the poore soule when he is pinched with famine may thus thinke with himselfe My case is poore and miserable but so was my Lord and Sauiours before mee hee suffered