I reason thus The Iewes did lawfully obserue foure seuerall set daies euery yeere for daies of fasting And therefore it is not alwayes superstitious and sinfull to obserue set fasting dayes Some againe answere that these Fasts were appointed vpon occasion of their present calamities in Babylon and ceased at their deliuerance My reply is that I see no proofe that these Fasts did cease to be obserued after the Iewes were deliuered out of captiuity The contrary may seeme more probable because in the (a) Calendan Hebraeorum edito à Genebrardo praefixo CoÌ„ment in Psalmos Kalender of the Iewes wherein their Feasts and Fasts are noted these foure dayes remaine still as beeing in vse among the Iewes And b Haec sunt festa quatuor ista communissima quibus Iudaei tempore Prophetae Zachariae ieiunaruÌ„t adhuc annis singulis ordinariè summarieque ieiunant Buxd. Synagog Iudaic. cap. 25. Buxdorfius a man well acquainted with the manners and customes of the Iewes telleth vs that the Iewes to this day do keepe those fasting dayes which are there mentioned by the Prophet But say that they ceased vpon the peoples deliuerance yet it is not true that they were appointed vpon occasion of their present miseries in Babylon for other dayes might haue beene as fit for that purpose and perhaps more conuenient then these but as the learned obserue by occasion of some miserable accidents which befalling them but once did moue them to fast the same daies that those accidents happened for many yeeres after And if those Fasts did last no longer then the time of their captiuity because all that while they had iust cause to humble themselues in remembrance of these euils yet thus much will follow from thence that therefore vpon occasion of a sorrowfull accident which hath once befalne vs we may for euer after fast that set day so long as we haue cause to be humbled in remembrance of it And hence againe it will follow that therefore Good-Friday may euery yeere constantly be kept for a fasting day because it was occasioned by the death of Christ for our sinnes and we shall neuer want iust cause to bee humbled in remembrance hereof so long as the world lasteth because besides our old sinnes we doe euery yeere commit many moe new ones which helped to nayle our Sauiour to the Crosse The like might be said of some other the like dayes And therefore there is warrant in Scriptures for set and standing times of fasting II. My second proofe is from approued examples of Gods Church both in the time of the Law and in the time of the Gospell For in the time of the Law the Iewish Church kept their set dayes of abstinence as besides the Fasts now mentioned out of the Prophet may further appeare by the words of the Gospell For there it is said that the Disciples of Iohn and of the Pharises did fast often and more particularly of the Pharises that they fasted twise a weeke Now as (a) Caluin in Dan. 6.10 Caluin concludeth that Daniel had his set prefixed houres of praying because it is said that hee prayed three times a day So may I hence inferre that the Pharises kept set dayes of fasting because it is said of them that they fasted twise euery weeke And (b) ExaÌ„ part 4. de Tempore Ieiun nu 54. pa. 95.1 Kemnitius gathereth from the ninth of Saint Mathew that both the Pharises and the Disciples of Iohn had certa stata tempora ieiuniorum set and standing times for their Fasts Now that this practice of theirs is an approued example for vs appeareth first because our Lord when he reproueth their errours in their Fast yet findeth no fault with this And secondly because he excused his Disciples for not fasting as the Pharises and Iohns Disciples did from the vnseasonablenes of the time and promised that after-ward when the time was fitting they should then fast And this sheweth that our Lord was so farre from condemning the Pharises and Iohns Disciples that he excuseth his Disciples for not doing the like Againe in the time of the Gospell the Christian Church hath still had her standing and set dayes for fasting as the time of Lent euery yeere and the Friday euery weeke and some others as is so apparent that it cannot be denyed nor needs not to be proued And these set times haue beene commended by many holy and learned Fathers of the Church but were neuer disliked by any of them that euer I could finde And so in conclusion in the iudgement of Gods Church both before and since Christs appearing in the flesh which heerein was neuer blamed by Christ or his Apostles or the learned Fathers it is no sinne to keepe set dayes of fasting III. The third proofe is taken from reason grounded on the authority of Scriptures And my reasons in that kinde shall be these two 1. Nothing is sinfull but that which is forbidden by Gods Law for (a) 1 Ioh. 3.4 Sinne is the transgression of the Law as the Apostle defineth it But to keep set dayes of fasting is no where forbidden by any Lawe of God It followeth And therefore to keepe such dayes is no sinne Against this Argument nothing can be excepted vnlesse some Text of Gods Law can be shewed which condemneth or forbiddeth the obseruation of such standing times And for that purpose some obiect the place of Saint Paul (a) Gal. 4.10 Yee obserue dayes and moneths and times and yeeres I am afraid of you lest I haue bestowed on you labour in vaine But to this the reply is easie and may be borrowed out of Beza for he expounding a like place in Saint Paul One man esteemeth one day aboue another another esteemeth euery day alike the Apostle heere saith this learned man b Agit non do quouis dierum discrimine sed de eo demum quod in Lege Mosis pracipitur vt apparet ex eo quod scriptum eâ—â— Coloss 2.16 Beza in Rom. 14.6 doth not speake of euery difference of dayes but of that only which is prescribed in Moses his Law as is apparent by that which is written Coloss 2.16 Let no man iudge you in meate or in drinke or in respect of an holy day or of the new moone or of the Sabbath dayes which are a shaddow of things to come c. And so I say The Apostle in the place alledged doth not speake of euery obseruing of dayes and times but such onely as was prescribed by Moses and is abolished by Christ And this exposition of this place is as directly prooued by that other to the Colossians as that whereof Beza speaketh The place then alledged doth not proue that standing times of fasting are forbidden by Gods Law Arg. 2. The keeping of set times for the doing of holy duties is a thing found to be profitable and vsefull in the life of a Christian because it may serue for the more constant performance
past and fit them for all holy duties for the yeere to come And this practice might bee of great vse for all those that should vse it accordingly and that in diuers respects 1. Because there may be some publike offences committed by the body of the Church either in the omission of some common duty or in their neglect of gouernment and discipline or in the mis-ordering of the publike State And for such sinnes as these it is very reasonable that as the whole body hath sinned so the whole body should sorrow and repent by their ioynt humiliation submission seeke reconciliation and pardon For which purpose we may reade that God did not onely appoint the Priest and the Prince the people to bring sinne-offerings for their errours but enioyned also an Oblation for the Community or body of the Church Leu. 4.13 14. c. If saith he the whole Congregation of Israel sinne through ignorance and the thing be hid from the eyes of the Assembly c. When the sinne which they haue sinned is knowne then the Congregation shall offer a young bullocke for the sinne In which passage wee may note two things 1. That besides the sinnes of particular men there might be some sinnes of the whole Community sinnes which were properly neither the sins of the Priest nor of the Prince nor of the people alone for of all these hee had spoken before and had appointed them their seuerall sacrifices and oblations for their atonement but sinnes they were of the whole Congregation As for example saith Tostatus when some Ceremonie or dutie was neglected by all and not noted or questioned by any Or 2. when the body representatiue they in whō the chief gouernment rested did commit some errour against Gods Law either in making or in executing or in neglecting of publike Lawes or in any other miscarriage about the publike state And such slips as these may easily be committed by the Congregation or Community of the Church at this day Secondly note that when such offence was committed God appointed that as the whole Congregation was guilty so the whole should ioyne in the sinne-offering And so it is requisite that for the common sins which escape the body of the Church the whole body should ioyne together in one and haue some appointed time in which by their ioynt repentance they may obtaine common forgiuenesse For which purpose the time of Lent might serue most conueniently it being the time in which the whole Christian Church in all countryes did vse publike humiliation and in which Kings and Nobles and people did ioyne in exercises of fasting and sorrow Which course of humiliation if Christian States and people did vse accordingly then I doubt not but many Churches and Common-wealths might haue stood firme and in a flourishing estate which now are ruinated or possessed by the Enemy because they did not preuent Gods Iustice by their open and publike repentance Secondly there might be good vse of this institution of Lent for the former purpose because in the compasse of a yeere there may happen many faults and distempers in our soules which are not discernable in the space of a day or a weeke or a moneth Euery man findeth by experience in his houses and dwellings that if he view them at the daies or weekes end hee shall many times perceiue but small difference but after a yeere or more he will spy some defects which at the beginning of the yeere they had not And so in his clothes and the vessell of his house after so much space of time he may see decay in the one and rust in the other though he could not obserue any such change in the euening from that which they were in the morning or at the end of the weeke from that which they were at the beginning And so euen religious minds though they fall not into some notorious sinne which sheweth it selfe at the first view yet they may decay in the feruour of their zeale a Quia dum carnis fragilitate austerior obseruantia relaxatur dumque per varias actiones vitae huius sollicitudo distenditur necesse est de mundano puluere etiam religiosa corda sordescere magnâ Diuinae institutionis salubritate prouisum est vt ad reparandam mentium puritatem quadraginta nobis dierum exercitatio mederetur c. Leo Ser. 4. de Quadrag p. 87. or gather some soyle or filth of worldlines or fleshly delights or such like distemper which is not to bee discerned till after some space of time And for amending of such insensible decay of holines this time would bee fit if it were vsed with that obseruance of discipline which in ancient time was vsuall 3. There may be vse also because in a matter of so great importance as is saluation and eternall happines besides the ordinary care for which a Christian hath opportunity liberty euery day some more speciall time to bee employed with more exact diligence may be very conuenient at the least if not altogether necessary For thus we see in trading and house-keeping men thinke it not inough to booke vp their expences and receipts euery day nor to take account of their successe at the weekes end but besides that ordinary care they vse once in the yeere to cast vp their shops and compare their bookes and take a generall view of all that hath past before in the yeere that so they may correct their errors and supply their defects and better their whole course of liuing for the time to come And the like care schoolemasters take with their schollers for besides their daily and weekely exercises and examinations once in the yeere they do lightly exact of their schollers an entire repetition of all their Grammer rules that by disuse they doe not decay in the grounds of their learning And thus in matters of the soule Leu. 16.29 34. God appointed the Iewes one speciall day or as some thinke two dayes in the yeere wherein ouer and aboue their ordinary exercises of Religion vsed at other times they should wholly intend the sifting of their soules and should in a more exact manner exercise the workes of repentance and humiliation and chastisement for their sinnes And so the Christian Church beside all their other instructions exercises for that purpose which happen euery day in one kinde or other hath moreouer appointed a set and solemne time in the yeere to celebrate the memory of Christs birth and circumcision and of his death and resurrection and ascension into heauen and such like other mysteries of saluation And so in like manner it will be a very profitable course for Christians if they haue a set and solemne time of the yeere for the more exact and perfect examination of their consciences and afflicting of their soules for sinne and the quickening of their zeale for Gods seruice And for this purpose the institution of Lent as it was vsed by the
of God were wont to doe For vpon ordinary occasions they vsed to fast one day from morning till night but vpon extraordinary for a longer space Thus Ester when a weighty businesse was in hand that concerned her life and the liues of her people she appoynted a Fast for three dayes and three nights And the men of Iabesh Gilead when they had a great cause of heauinesse by the death of Saul and the ouerthrow of the Army they fasted for seuen dayes space And Daniel when the Church was distressed and in great calamity hee fasted for three weekes together And so wee should extend our fast and keepe it with more strict obseruation and set more time apart for holy exercises when either we are about some weighty businesse or be in some great danger or haue fallen into some hainous sinne or haue a speciall cause to remember celebrate the pangs and passion of our Sauiour or happen vpon some other occasion of more than ordinary sorrow Thus what-euer our occasions be fasting is still of vse in the life of a Christian if the occasion be ordinary ordinary fasting is a fitting exercise eyther to auert euill or procure good and if the occasion be extraordinary then as the other exercises of Religion so this among the rest is to be vsed in a more than ordinary measure CHAP. VIII When a Christian may or should fast COncerning the Fast of our Sauiour it is recorded that hee then fasted when hee was to encounter with Satan and goe about his publique Ministery and to begin the great worke of our Redemption and vpon such vrgent occasions and when there is such extraordinary cause offered all men grant that then wee also may and ought to fast for the speedier procuring of Gods fauour But this example of Christ ministreth iust occasion to enquire further whether beside times of such vnusuall accidents a Christian also may not lawfully and profitably obserue set times of fasting And this is a question doubted of by some in our Church and disputed with arguments and reasons on both sides For clearing which doubt wee are first of all to declare the meaning of the question and that may appeare by these two notes 1. That some there be which commend fasting for a religious exercise if it bee vsed onely then when men shall vpon seuerall occasions see it to be conuenient but any standing dayes whether appoynted by publique authoritie or vndertaken by a mans owne priuate deuotion these they vtterly condemne as superstitious and Monkish For example When Ionas prophecied of iudgement against Nineueh (a) Ion. 3.6 7. the King proclaymed a fast and the people obserued it And this they approue of and allow our Magistrates vpon such an occasion to doe the like Againe when (b) Nehem. 1.3 4. Nehemiah heard that the Iewes were in great affliction and reproch and that the wall of Ierusalem was broken downe and the gates thereof burnt with fire he sate downe and wept and mourned certaine daies and fasted And this they approue of and allow euery priuate Christian by his example vpon such occasions as these to fast out of his owne deuotion But now further the ancient Christian Church in remembrance of Christs death on that day did appoynt euery Fryday to bee kept fasting-day and for the same and some other reasons they appoynted the time of Lent as often as it should happen to be obserued with abstinence and fasting And these and such like standing and set-times they allow not Secondly Wee must note that the obseruing and appoynting of these dayes may be meant and vnderstood two wayes eyther with opinion of necessitie or sanctitie in those times more than in other And this is not here questioned nor doe wee doubt but the Church as it appoynted the Fryday so if it had pleased might haue appointed any other day for this exercise nor do we thinke that there is any peculiar sanctitie in that day more than in others Or else the question may bee vnderstood of the lawfulnesse and conueniency of appoynting such set dayes and times for order sake and for the more constant performance of this worke And this is it which we meane in this question The question then is Whether it be lawfull for Authority to prescribe or for priuate men to vndertake set and standing dayes for fasting that it may be obserued the more ordetly and the more constantly And mine answere is That it is both lawfull and expedient for Gouernours to enioyne their Inferiours and for priuate men to prescribe vnto themselues such standing times so often as they shall fall either weekely or monethly or yeerely as they see it expedient And my proofes are some from Scriptures some from examples and some from reason grounded on Scripture I. From Scriptures And thence I alledge two places for this purpose 1. The first is Leuit. 16. For there God appointeth the tenth day of the seuenth moneth to bee kept for a fasting day and saith moreouer (a) Leu. 16.29 34 This shall be a statute for euer vnto you and againe This shall be an euerlasting statute vnto you to make atonement once a yeere Heere we see that God appointed vnto the Iewes a set fasting day to bee kept euery yeere as oft as it should happen And hence I argue thus Almighty God himself did appoint and thought it a profitable course for his people of the Iewes to obserue a set and standing day for a Fast euery yeere And therefore a set time of fasting may bee obserued without superstition and sinne Some answere that this was a Legall precept of Moses which is now abolished by Christ And I reply It is true that this precept in respect of that particular time was Legall and had its end in Christs death but it is no lesse true also that God in making and appointing that Legall precept did not command them any thing which in it selfe is superstitious and sinfull And therefore because God prescribed them a set time for that Fast it followeth that the appointing of a set time of fasting is not in it selfe superstitious and sinfull 2. The second place that may serue for proofe of this point is out of the Prophesie of Zacharie (a) Zach. 8.19 where we finde mention of foure seuerall fasting dayes obserued euery yeere by the Iewes in their knowne and appointed moneths Concerning which Fast thus much is first of al to be noted that they were (b) Hieron in Zach. 8.18 19. pag. 486. Buxd. Synag Iudaic. c. 25. Genebrar Calend. Hebr. Sept. 3. Dec. 10. Iun. 17 Iulij 9. occasioned by the calamities that befel the Iewes about the time when they were carried captiues into Babylon or before that time and were appointed as some thinke by some Prophet from heauen or as others by the authority or consent of the present Church and as the Learned generally doe confesse were allowed of and approued by almighty God himselfe And hence
death passion should bee celebrated with all thankfulnes about the same season in which he endured them a Ieiunandum orandum est Et quando potiùs quando instantiùs quà m propinquante Dominicae passionis solennitate quae celebritate anniuersariâ quodāmodo nobis eiusdē noctis memoriâ resculpitur ne obliuione deleatur Aug. de Diuer Serm. 74. c. 5. pag. 499. B. And the maner in which such sufferings of his may be most liuely represented and remembred by vs is if we passe those dayes in humiliation and sorrow whereby we may bee made conformable to his passion and death and by which wee may in a good sence be said to fulfill that which Christ did foretell when he said (b) Luk. 5.35 The dayes will come when the Bridegroome shall be taken away from them then shall they fast in those dayes And sure God himselfe by so obscuring the sunne that contrary to the course of nature it was darkened all the time that Christ was on the Crosse doth teach vs with what behauiour we should passe the time of his Sonnes sufferings and death And from hence I may conclude in St. Augustines words c c In qua parte anni congruentiùs obseruatio Quadragesimae constitueretur nisi confini atque continuà Dominicae passloni Aug. epist 119. ad Ianuar. cap. 15. pa. 195. f. In what part of the yeere could Lent haue bin more fitly placed then in that which is ioyned to our Lords passion and death Secondly because the Feast of Easter was now at hand and that was the day in which our Lord rose againe from his graue in which new Conuerts were baptized in great number and in which all sorts of men did come in flockes to the receiuing of the Lords Supper And therefore as the Euangelist saith of the Iewes Easter (a) Ioh. 19.31 that that was an high day so it may much more be said of the Christians Easter that it is an high day and to bee kept with all celebrity and in the most deuoutest manner And in respect heereof the Ancients were wont to keepe this Feast not for one day onely or for three dayes space as wee now doe but for a whole weeke together Yea and some festiuity and remembrance of it they kept for sixe weekes more euen till Whitsontide or the day of Pentecost Now that the great celebrity of this high day might be performed with better deuotion and more religious reioycing the ancient Fathers thought it necessarie that men should bee prepared aforehand for the performance of so weighty a seruice And therefore as the Iews (b) 2 Chron. 35.6 Ioh. 11.55 had their dayes of preparation before the Passeouer and as Christians haue their fasting eues to goe before their festiuall dayes that by their former dayes repentance they may be prepared for an holy reioycing the next day after so the Christian Church did thinke it necessary before this great Feast of Christs Resurrection to appoint some large and solemne time for humiliation and conuersion that men being prepared by a serious practice of al good duties they might be the more fit to pray for the new Conuerts and to receiue the blessed Sacrament and to praise God for his Sons Resurrection and to passe this holy day with an holy and heauenly reioycing And these I take it were the true reasons V. The fift and last question concerning Lent is What relation this Fast of fortie dayes in the Church hath to that of our Sauiour when he fasted forty dayes in the Wildernesse Answ To this question there bee three answeres 1. That our Lord as himselfe fasted fortie dayes in the manner declared so he appointed and ordained that his Disciples the whole Church after him should follow his example and fast once in the yeere so many dayes as he had done before in the wildernesse This seemeth to bee the opinion of (a) Enchitid lo. de Ieiun pag. 563. in solutione sextae oblectionis Coster and (b) de Quadr. cap. 1. pag. 392. seqq Filesacus and the (c) To. 2. Sabbatho post Cineres pag. 117 118. Author of the Booke called Antiquitates Liturgicae Answ 2. The second answere is that though Christ did not in words giue any such Law or appoint any such order yet his bare example doth tye Christians to the like obseruation practice Of this opinion some later Diuines in the Roman Church may seeme to bee who as (d) Quidam iuniores consent esse iure Diuino sancitum id probant quia aliqui veteres Ecclesia Patres videntur decuisse illud esse iuris Diuini quoniā Christus quadraginla diebus quadra ginta noctibus iejunium seruauit Azor. Instit part 1. l. 7. cap. 12. q. 1. pa. 566. col t. Azorius saith of them did thinke that Dent-Fast was by Diuine Law because some of the Fathers seeme to say that it was of Gods appoynting for that Christ did fast forty dayes and forty nights But these two answeres haue small shew of probability and no ground of certainety at all For all the reason that they alledge is so farre as I know only the authorities of some Fathers which haue not that meaning as Doctors of their owne Chruch haue endeuoured to declare Answ 3. The third answere is that neither Christs precept nor practice doth force or require Christians to keepe a Fast of fortie dayes or this which we call our Lent-Fast but yet the Church did appoint and doth obserue this number of daies in their Lent-Fast with respect and reference to the like number of dayes that Christ fasted in the wildernesse To this purpose Tostatus seemeth to speake when he saith that a Dicendū quòd hoc non prouenit ex alique mandato Christi sed ex solo Ecclesiae statuto Habuit tamen illud causas pendentes ex hoc facto Tostat in Mat. 4. q. 18. our fortie dayes Fast doth not proceede from any precept of Christ but onely from the constitution of the Church yet it had saith he reasons drawne from this Fast of Christ And Stapleton b Ieiunat igitur Ecclesia 40. diebus ad exemplum Christi non quide simpliciter quia Christus sic fecit sed quia eius exemplo sic faciendum esse in hac parte eius vesligia sequenda esse Ecclesia ab Apostolorū tempore docuit Stap. Prompt Cathol Dominic 1. Quadr. text 1. pag. 78. The Church saith he doth fast fortie dayes after the example of Christ not simply because Christ did so but because the Church hath taught vs by his example to doe so Which words may againe seeme to carrie the like meaning But it mattereth not what they mean (c) D. Field of the Church l. 3. cap. 19. pag. 105 106. A reuerend and learned Writer in our own Church hath deliuered the poynt in much more distinct maner Hee saith three things 1. That it is very fit there
said (a) Luk. 1.74 75. that being deliuered out of the hands of our enemies we might serue God without feare all the dayes of our life the name of dayes includeth the whole space till the end of the time mentioned because the seruice of God is such as may not be neglected either by night or day And so when it is said of Lazarus (b) Ioh. 11.39 that he had beene dead foure dayes the meaning is that he was dead all that while both by night and day because men that are dead by day doe not vse to liue by night and then dye the next day againe And so againe when it is said of Saul that hee was three dayes without sight the meaning is that hee was blinde for so many dayes and so many nights And the reason is the same because if a man be blind for so many dayes it cannot be conceiued that he had his sight in the night time In these such like cases the conditiō of the things is such that what is said of thē for the day must be taken for the night too And in such cases there is no neede to mention the nights But yet sometimes as when the speech is of such things which though they happen in the day yet are vsed to be intermitted in the night then the name of the dayes doth not include the night also As when it is said of Laban that he pursued after Iacob (c) Gen. 31.23 seuen dayes iourney the meaning is he followed so farre as a man may or doth vse to goe in the space of seuen dayes not counting the nights because men that trauell by day are supposed to take vp their lodging and rest in the night time And so if a man should hire an ordinary day-labourer to worke with him for two or three daies all men would vnderstand the bargaine to be made of working in the day and not in the night time but if a Mariner should bee hyred to labour in a ship by sea or a nurse to attend a sicke partie for the same number of dayes euery man would construe that both of day and night because such labours and paines as the mariner and nurse do take in such cases are to be continued aswell by night as by day Now when the speech is of such things as being done in the day may be intermitted or vse to be intermitted by night then the name of dayes doth not include or comprize the nights also And so it falleth out in this matter of fasting For when the Iewes were to fast for many dayes together their maner was to abstaine from meate all the day Chap. 1. p. 7 8. but at night to eate a sparing meale as I haue declared in another place already And hereupon the Learned doe obserue that the Iewes when they speake of many dayes Fast without mentioning the nights they vnderstand it commonly of fasting onely in the day time till euening and that when they meane that a Fast is continued for diuers dayes without eating any thing at night then for distinction sake and that their meaning may be plaine they adde the nights too as when Ester saith to the Iewes (a) Ester 4.16 Fast ye for me and neither eate nor drinke three dayes night or day And so in this place Saint Mathew saith that Christ fasted forty dayes and forty nights lest any man should conceiue that hee abstained all day for that space but did refresh himselfe in the euening II. The second question is Why our Lord made choyce of this number of fortie to determine his fasting by This question may admit two constructions and so receiue two answers accordingly For first it may be vnderstood of the precise number of fortie why iust so many dayes without missing either vnder or ouer Or secondly it may be meant of an extraordinary number of dayes and space of time that is why hee fasted so many dayes and nights as it exceedeth mans strength to endure without eating 1. If wee take it in the former sense then I thinke I may safely say as many of the Learned doe that our Lord did make choyce of this number of dayes that hee might therein conforme himselfe to the two great Prophets of the Old Testament Moses and Elias For Moses was the giuer of the Law and Elias was the restorer of the Law and both were in their kinde the most excellent Prophets that the old Church had and both of them for the confirmation of their calling and to gaine credit to their places did fast forty dayes and forty nights when they were to speake with God in the Mount as it is recorded of Moses Exod. 34.28 Deut. 9.9 and of Elias 1 King 19.8 a Quadragesima same ieiuniorum habet autoritatē in veteribus librie ex ieiunio Mosi Heliae et ex Euāgelio quia totidē diobus Dominus ieiunauit demonstrans Euangelium nō dissentire à Loge Prophetis In persona quippe Mosi Lex in persona Heliae Prophetae accipiuntur inter quos et in mōte gloriosus apparuit vt euidentius emineret quod de illo dicit Apostolus testimonium habens à Lege Prophetis August Epist 119. ad Ianuar. cap. 15. pag. 195. f. Now our Lord to shew that he was not inferior to either of these great Prophets and that they did consent and agree with him thought good to begin his Ministery as they did theirs with a miraculous Fast of forty dayes To which purpose wee likewise reade that when our Lord was transfigured in the Mount (a) Matt. 17.3 Luk. 9.30.31 Moses and Elias appeared vnto him and talked with him and spake of his death and passion And this did serue for a cleare confirmation of Christs calling and authority that these two speciall and principall Prophets did both concurre to beare witnesse of him and hereby it appeared that the Gospell had witnesse of the Law and the Prophets as the Apostle speaketh Rom. 3.21 But then the question may be further Why did Moses fast forty dayes and forty nights and that at two seuerall times when he was with God in the Mount And hereto I answere that many both ancient and moderne Writers especially those that be in the Church of Rome doe say that there was a mystery in this number and that that was the reason why both Moses and Elias and our Sauiour also did fast that space of time but eyther they say not what that mystery was or else they proue not what they say nay themselues cannot agree what to say For some interpret the mystery one way and some another as euery mans seuerall fancy doth leade him the relation of which sundry conceits would be more tedious than profitable But to the poynt it selfe for my part I haue onely two things to say 1. That though I will not peremptorily condemne their opinion who conceiue a mystery in the number b In