had so well deserved at the hands of God by his Righteousness and severity of Life that if he had been so minded he could have Redeemed all the Men and Women that should be born after him from the everlasting Wrath of God and if his Son Eleazer should but join the Merits of his Righteousness with his they might go near to save the whole World from being condemned in the last day This is Bedlam-talk and yet it were to be wish'd that the Church of Rome did not participate of this madness when they talk of the Treasury of their Church the Merits of their Saints and their Works of Super-errogation whereby they free many Souls out of Purgatory and how such a wicked Man wrapt up in a Monks Habit at his death hath been immediately transported into Heaven c. One would admire how men in their Wits can talk at this Rate but that I see even David could feign himself mad at the Court of Achish for his Interest and then no marvel if these Men finding what grist this Doctrine of Merits brings to their Mill venture to be extravagant in their expressions concerning it II. Whenever these severities are used they must not be used to give God satisfaction for the sins we have committed To give God satisfaction by any thing but the Cross and death of Christ is an expression which should sound harsh in a Christian Ear and be banish'd from the confines of Divinity Here the Church of Rome exceeds and deviates again from the Primitive Rule and while they look upon these severities as satisfactions given to God for the guilt of the temporal punishment that remains after remission of sins they seem to follow no Rule but that of their own fancy for the Scripture is a Stranger to this notion of satisfaction and though David and other Saints have used these severities yet we never read that they intended them as satisfactions to God whom they had offended but had other ends in them such as we shall name as we go along It 's not to be denied but that the Fathers use the word satisfaction often when they discourse of such mortifications but by those satisfactions they do not mean satisfactions given to an offended God but to the Church and the People of God as signs whereby our fellow-Christians may conclude that our Repentance is real and free from Hypocrisie Nor III. Must they be used in hopes that God will dispence with our sins for the future much less that he will pass by those that we have committed without sincere repentance meerly for these severities Alas it's easier to punish the Body than to leave a sin and while the Sinner can enjoy his Lusts what need he care if for a day or two he is a little rigid and unkind to his Flesh that unkindness will quickly wear out again and the body fitted for commission of new offences God doth not value these severities at this rate a penitent heart is more pleasing to him than a thousand Lashes and a Soul that grieves for offending a Gracious God looks lovelier in his eyes than a bloody Side or the imaginary Wounds of S t Francis He that thinks that God will let him sin because he whipt himself on such a day takes God for some Heathen Deity and indeed to lay a greater stress upon afflicting the Body then upon forsaking of sin is to contradict that notion the Holy Ghost delivers of God that he must be worship'd in spirit and in truth Nor IV. Must they be used with an unwilling mind where the inward repentance of the Soul makes the Will resolute in the use of them they may pass for excellent Offerings but being performed by force or meerly because a Superiour commands them this evacuates the virtue of the affliction Hence those among the Papists that either suffer themselves to be hired to perform the Ceremony of Self-affliction on Good-Friday or being once engaged in such an Order use them not out of any sense of Sin within but because the Rule of their Order doth oblige them to it whatever Conceits they may entertain of the Opus operatum or Work it self God still looking to the spring from which all these mortifications flow they prevail no more than the Indians going to Church meerly because their Masters force them prevail with him to send his Spirit into their Hearts crying Abba Father Nor V. Is it fit that weak or sickly persons should use them Though many Christians in the Primitive times would thus afflict themselves notwithstanding their bodily infirmities yet we find 1 Tim. 5. 23. that in these cases men must use moderation The Body being disabled I do not see how the Soul can perform those noble Operations she is other wise capable of no more than a Workman whose tools are nought can promise you an excellent piece of Manufacture The Body is a Servant of the Soul and we know if our Servants be out of order our Work must be left undone Strong and healthy Bodies will bear it better and if they loose something of their florid complexion there is no great hurt done Mortification to some Bodies would be a preservative of health and such voluntary afflictions would spend many of those superfluous humours that disorder them In all these severities men must be their own Physitians and consider what their Bodies are able to bear and what they are not And yet lazmess and softness of life and love to Carnal ease must not make us pretend that our Bodies will not bear them This is best known after we have had experience and when we foresee a signal danger it will then be time to forbear them Our Bodies are able to endure a great deal more than we are willing to believe and the reason why people are weary of any thing that 's irksome to Flesh and Blood is because they lie buried in Lust and Sensuality He that is weak already had not need make himself weaker than he is and Sickness is for the present severity enough to subdue in us all disorderly Affections and in these Cases it 's infallibly true what the Apostle saith that bodily exercise prosits little 1 Tim. 4. 8. And as these severities are not fit to be used by sickly and weakly persons so neither must they be used by the Strong to the distervice of their Souls In a word the Body must not be used so coursly as to make it useless to the Soul and therefore the Saints of old observ'd most truly that our Bodies are like Garments if you take care of them they will last a great while but if they be totally neglected they will wear out in a very short time To mortifie the Body is one thing to kill it is another and he that would not be guilty of Self-murder must not be too lavish in these severities It was a good answer of S t Anthony the Hermit to a Huntsman that had
my time in idleness Have I taken care to spend it for Eternity As for the Mind Have I endeavour'd to disposses my Mind of Evil thoughts to day Have I called in Pious and Spiritual Reflections Have I resisted Wandring thoughts in Prayer Have not I suffered worldy thoughts to eat out the virtue of my Prayers Have I in my supplications represented to my Mind Gods Greatness Goodness Majesty and Holiness And was I sensible of my Spiritual Wants and Necessities all the time Have I been much in holy Ejaculations to day Was God first and last in my thoughts when I Waked this morning and went to Rest last night As for the Conscience Have I made Conscience of the least Sins to day Have I conscientiously discharged the Duties of my several Relations Have I done as a person in such a Relation would and should have done Have I made Conscience of doing a thing which I have either known or feared to be a Sin Have not I made light of Sin Have not I laught at those Sins I should have Mourned at Have I been concern'd at other Mens Sins as well as at mine own As for the Passions and Affections Have not I given way to the Workings of Pride and Anger to day Have not I been angry with my Neighbor without a Cause Have not I in a Passion given men ill Language Have not I said that in my Wrath which now I wish I had not Have not I been fiery and hot upon very slight and trivial occasions Have not I mistrusted Gods Providence Have not I been more careful about making provision for the Flesh than about enriching of my Soul Have not I found greater joy in temporal than in spiritual Blessings Hath not such a vanity such a Present such a Gift affected and ravished me more than the news of Gods Grace and Pardon and the influences of the Holy Ghost Have I watcht against Wrath and Envy and Malice and immoderate Grief and carnal Mirth Have I got ground of such a corruption Have I been better to day than yesterday Have I serv'd God without distraction more to day than I have done formerly Such questions as these you may put to your Hearts if you mean to take your outward and inward man into consideration But then 2. If you had rather make the Ten Commandments your Rule the Account may be taken in this manner As to the First Commandment Have not I this day confided in the Creature more than in the Creator Have not I been wilfully ignorant of some Truth that hath been brought to my Ears Have not I despised God by rejecting some motions of his Holy Spirit Have not I lived to day like a Man that doth not believe the Promises and threatnings of God Have not I doubted of some Truth revealed in the Word of God or lived as if I had doubted of his Providence Hath my Faith been lively this day Did not I sink into carnal Security Have I exercised my Hope in God Have I expressed my love to God to day Have not I loved some outward thing more than God Hath not my love to God been in words only Hath it discover'd it self in actions Have I desired to be at peace with God and to be united unto him more Have I done nothing that hath savour'd of hatred or contempt of God As to the Second Commandment Have I feared God to day and have I feared him more than all the men I have had to do with Have I been very cautions of offending him Have I abhorred the motion when I have been tempted to any Evil Have I obeyed God in sincerity Hath there been any known Sin that I have not shunn'd or hath there been any known Duty which I was not more forward to perform than to omit Have not I exalted my self or thought my self better than my Neighbours Have I given God all the Glory and have I spoke very modestly of my self Have not I been peevish and impatient under such a Providence that hath crossed my Designs Have not I indulged my self in Hypocrisie Have I been more desirous to be than to seem good Have I given God that Worship to day which is due to him Have I prayed to him in Truth and praised him with joyful Lips As to the Third Commandment Have not I this day neglected an opportunity of giving good Counsel and Advice to men related to me Have not I shunn'd discourses of God and Holiness Have I admired and adored Gods Holy Attributes Have not I broke forth into rash Oaths Have not I been ashamed of standing up for the Glory of Gods name Have I trembled to see God abused Have I shew'd Courage and Resolution when I have seen or heard my God dishonour'd Have not I scandalized some Persons by my Actions Have not I abused my Christian Liberty Have I magnified Gods Mercies and dared to own God in the Blessings I have received Have not I extenuated or denied Gods Mercies Have not I neglected the Gifts of God that are in me Have not I by my lukewarmness betray'd Christ's Cause Have not I neglected my Duty of Prayer upon the account of some Wordly Interest Have not I begg'd of God things contrary to the Will of God As to the Fourth Commandment which doth in a special manner respect the Lords day Have I gone this day with joy into the House of God Have I heard the Word and treasured it up in my Heart Have not I aimed more at the information of my Judgment than at warming my Affections Was it Curiosity or Piety that led me to the Temple Have I gathered my thoughts together in the publick Prayers of the Church and hath my Heart and Desires gone along with the Supplications the Minister of God put up to Heaven Have not I thought of my Trade and Farms and Oxen while I have been repeating the words after Gods Minister Have I meditated and bid my thoughts fly up to Heaven to take a view of my Eternal rest Have I Read in private Have I called my Family together read to them instructed them made them give me an account of what they remember Have not I preferred my Worldly profit to day before my Duty Have not I stayed away from the publick Worship of God for wordly Gain When I received the Holy Sacrament to day were my thoughts fixed on the Cross of Christ Was my Soul affected with the Mystery of Gods love Did my Sins grieve me when I beheld Christ Crucified Did the sight of Christs Crucifixion fill me with indignation against my Sins Did it fill me with serious deliberate Resolutions to watch against them Did it fill me with Praises and Adorations of the stupendious Humiliation of the Son of God Did it make me resolve to imitate him in his Holiness Have I according to the Apostles Command laid in store as God hath prospered me the foregoing week Have I laid aside somewhat of my Gain for Pious uses
to all that converse with me and I must learn to be meek even to those which I have power over to those which are under my Charge and whom I could by stripes and threatnings force into respect and obedience and when justice and conscience oblige me to punish even in that punishment my mildness must be seen I must learn to be a Lamb and to imitate the softness of Wool for nothing appeases the angry Elephant as the meekness of the former and nothing resists the fury of Cannon-shot like the softness of the other I must not give over till I have brought my self to a temper whereby my passions may be calm and quiet and serene while those about me and who chide me and are angry with me make a fearful noise and are transported with indignation My Self-resignation may possibly serve me to leave my self to the Will and Direction of God in the enjoyment of moderate Prosperity but here I must not rest but advance this Virtue to a far higher pitch that come what will whether Weakness Feebleness or Lameness or Agues or Fevers or Consumptions or Falling-sickness or the Stone or the Gout or Poverty or Nakedness or contempt or loss of Friends or loss of Father Mother Children Sisters Brothers Relations Benefactors Money Lands Houses c. I may conform entirely to the Will of God My Obedience may lead me to do several things God hath commanded but I must drive it farther and learn to obey God readily humbly chearfully universally indefatigably learn to obey him in things that cross my inclination my temper my sensual appetite that are against my profit my temporal Interest my honour and my natural desires without disputing evading or perverting his Commands and though I apprehend not the reason of his Commands My Modesty may oblige me to bashfulness in asking but I must exercise it into greater perfection till I hate detraction shun contention avoid boasting keep secrets committed to my breast fly idleness watch against imprudence strive against irreverence and leave all affectedness My Temperance may make me cautious and afraid of eating or drinking more than nature requires but this is not the only effect it must work in me but it must teach and oblige me to go on and avoid curiosity in Diet Cloaths and Furniture and bring me to Self-denial in Sleep Recreations Words Gestures to ruling of my Affections and to purifying of my Thoughts and Imaginations My Moderation is not come yet to its full growth while I do no more but fear overvaluing sublunary comforts beyond their intrinsick worth and the end for which God doth allow them but I must make the virtue larger it must grow in me like the Lillies and spread its branches as the Cedars of Lebanon I must learn to keep my delight and mirth in outward enjoyments within bounds I must learn to moderate my grief when they are taken away in a word weep as if I wept not rejoice as though I rejoiced not and buy as though I possessed not and use the World as if I used it not I must learn to be moderate in my contests with my Neighbour moderate in my censures moderate in my passions moderate in my principles moderate in my judgment moderate in disputes about Religion My Love to God is but weak if I only stand up to vindicate his Word and holy Oracles assert their Divinity and their Truth but I must blow the fire into flames learn to embrace mean and painful things for God to bear incommodities in duties with patience to be undiscouraged in succesless Labours root out Vice and plant Virtue in all that depend upon me My love must be so exercised till God becomes the life of my Soul the light of mine eyes and till I can say Lord Here I am send me give me Grace to do what thou dost command and command what thou wilt I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine Let him kiss me with the kisses of his lips for his love is better than Wine O my love my life my desire my delight my riches my treasure my all my happiness my hope my comfort my beginning my end too late have I known thee too late have I loved thee O that I had loved thee sooner My Charity to my neighbour is but in its infancy while I am only civil and respectful to him without prejudicing my self but it must be exercised and it will grow large and lovely extend to his Soul as well as to his body teach me to be tender of his credit compassionate to his calamities helpful in his distress to rejoice at his prosperity to admonish him to holiness to encourage him to good Works and to forgive him even as I hope to be forgiven in the day of our Lord Jesus My Repentance must not only fill me with melancholy thoughts about another life nor teach me only to suppress the sins I have been guilty of but I must learn to strike at the root of sin it must elevate my Soul and make it fruitful in all good works and I must learn to hate sin as much as I loved it before and to answer my degrees of sin with my degrees of contrition and my measure of vanity with my measure of sanctification and righteousness My Redeeming the time must not only make me spend some hours in private devotion but I must learn to improve opportunities whereby my better part may be exalted not to allow my self in idleness to do that which is worth spending my time in not to spend it in sin or satisfactions of the Flesh to part with vain thoughts and projects to rise early if my strength will permit to be industrious in my Calling to season my natural and civil acts and the Works of my Profession with holy contemplations to remember what will stand me in most stead after death and so to number my days that I may apply my heart unto wisdom even unto that wisdom which consists in Knowing and doing the Will of God in procuring Peace and Pardon in mortification of our Lusts and in conformity to Christ's example Then I exercise all these Graces when I work them into greater solidity of seeble make them lusty and vigorous and of fickle and uncertain make them fixed constant and immoveable till I come to abound in the work of the Lord Jesus and into this strength and glory they may be wrought by the assistance of Gods Free and Generous Spirit who is nigh unto them that call upon him unto all such as call upon him in truth I dislike not the practice of some Christians that do exercise some particular Grace more than the rest and render themselves eminent in it and make it their chief business to be ready prompt and accurate in it as Gregory the Great whose excellency lay in entertaining Strangers as the pious Lucius of France who took great delight in visiting Hospitals and serving the sick with his own hands as
Burning of the Temple and of the whole City of Jerusalem Jer. 52. 13. The Third in the Seventh Month or September in memory of the Murther'd Gedaliah upon whose Death followed the DISPERSION of the Jews Jer. 41. 1 2. The Fourth in December or the Tenth Month in Memory of Nebucadnezzar's besieging the City of Jerusalem 2 Kings 25. 1. And these yearly Fasts they did punctually observe not only in their First Captivity or Exile but after that Cyrus had given them leave to return into their own Country even unto the time of Darius Hystaspes And two of these Fasts the Prophet Zachary takes particularly notice of as most remarkable viz. that of the Fifth and Seventh Month Zach. 7. 5. This Devotion as Men among the Jews began to separate themselves from their Neighbours into Societies and Orders and undertook to lead a stricter life then the Croud so it increas'd signally and Fasting became a Characteristick Note of Men eminently Religious which makes the Pharisee afterwards Luc. 18. 12. say That he Fasted twice in the week i. e. Mundays and Thursdays because that on the fifth day of the Week Moses ascended to the Mount of God and on the second he returned from thence a Custom which the Son of God doth not mishke though it was a voluntary Institution but finds fault only with their insisting on these outward observations while they neglected the greater Works of Charity The Christians having learn'd this piece of Devotion among the Jews soon improved it and because they would not be outdone by the Pharisees in Fasting resolved to Fast two days in the week as well as they but changed the days and pitch'd upon Wednesdays and Frydays because that on Wednesday the Jews took Counsel together how to Murther Christ and on Friday the Saviour of the World died And these two standing Fasts the Christians in Tertullians time used to call Stations because they went to Church on those days and stay'd there till the Ninth hour or Three of the Clock in the Afternoon and some as Montanus his Disciples till Night which makes Tertullian when he became a Montanist call the Fasts of those that Fasted only till Three of the Clock Stationum semijejunia half Fasts or half Stations and though the word Station seems to import standing yet they did not so much stand in Prayer on those days as lie prostrate upon the Ground and because they spent those dayes in Mourning and Confessing their Sins they call'd them Stations from the Toyl and Hardship of Souldiers which stand Centry in Cold and Frosty Nights and undergo the various storms of Wind and Weather And indeed about this time the Discipline of Fasting became so rigorous that Men brake into Schisms and divided from the Church not about Points of Doctrine as they do now but about strictness of Life and Vied one with the other in Fasting and Abstinence and I am apt to believe that while these disputes about Fasting were very hot that the Christians here and there might begin to bethink themselves of an imitation of Christ's Fast and began to practice the Quadragesimal or Lent-Fast for being jcer'd by Montanus his Disciples that they fasted only forty hours i. e. on Good-fryday and the Saturday before Easter during the time that the Bridegroom was taken away from them and continued in the Grave they unwilling to be outdone by Schismaticks might think of enlarging their days of Abstinence and by degrees from two days came to four from four to six from six to fourteen and from fourteen to forty for as in St Austin's Judgment the Apostles left no certain Rules for fasting Days so it seems more than probable from Irenaeus his Testimony in Eusebius that before this time the Christians some fasted but one some two some more days some forty hours only before Easter What we read of the Fasts of Christians in the following Centuries especially the Third Fourth and Fifth is very stupendous for S t Basil S t Jerom and S t Austin assure us that not a few Christians in those days would fast three days together and neither eat nor drink any thing till the third day at night not to eat or drink at all or to fast every day till night was a very common thing then and no man counted that Abstinence any great matter Of Hilarion saith S t Jerome that from the one and twentieth to the seven and twentieth year of his Age he lived for three years upon a sort of Pulse called Lentiles soften'd only in cold water and the three other years upon dry bread and salt and water from seven and twenty to thirty he sustain'd himself only with Herbs and raw Roots that grew wild in the Field from 30 to 35 his Dyet was a little Barley Bread and Colworts without any Sauce but finding his Eye-sight decay upon that Self-denial he added Oyl by way of Sauce to his Herbs and so run on in his Race till he was 63 tasting of neither Apples nor Pulse nor any other thing from 63 to 83 his Diet was no more but Sops made of Meal and Herbs and yet as slender as this dyet was he never eat till Sun-ser Thus far S t Jerom and he protests and appeals to Jesus and his Holy Angels as Witnesses of the truth of what he saith that about Syria he hath seen persons of whom one having shut himself up in a Cave for thirty years together lived upon nothing but Barley-Bread and muddy Water and another in another Cottage made his Meal a days of nothing else but five dry Figs. To that height of maceration and crucifying of the Flesh did Fasting come in those Ages and though I am not bound to believe all that Antiquity hath written about the miraculous Fasts of Men how Ammonius did never eat any thing that was boyled or baked or roasted how Conon for thirty years together did eat but once a week how Eusebius liv'd upon fifteen dry Figgs forty days how one John was supported without Food ten years how Maria Aegyptica had nothing to feed upon for seventeen years together but three Loaves of Bread how Pityrion did eat but twice a week how Polychronius hath been known to fast seven days together how Posidonius eat no Bread in forty years c. Though I say I am not bound to believe all these and such like passages Antiquity hath left upon Record yet without controversie the Abstinence of Men in those times was wondrous great voluntary Abstinence I mean for nothing put them upon it but Religion and a desire of a more endearing converse with the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning And though it would be in vain and next to ridiculous to desire any of my Readers to tread in the steps of these Gyants in Fasting yet I must with very great seriousness exhort you that are not ashamed of being Christians to make Religious Abstinence
day long he abstain'd from Meat and drink and being hungry at night would not suffer his Servants to set either Bread or Wine or any curious dishes upon his Table but caused some Coleworts and common Herbs of the Field macerated for some days in Vinegar to be brought up to him and of these he did eat and his drink was water nor did he eat of this Food to satiety but having tasted a little would give over again scarce taking so much as would suffice nature 3. And having laid down these Rules my Reader will suppose that I would not have mentioned them but with an intent to exhort him to the frequent use of this holy Abstinence the third particular I promised to offer to your consideration The Grecians at this day scarce take us who call our selves Protestants for Christians because we fast so little thinking it impossible to be followers of the Primitive Church and not to imitate them in this Exercise The truth is it is a thing so â—iâ—tle practised among us except it be now and then when we are put upon 't by the Magistrate in some imminent danger that he that knows any thing of the antient Church may wonder how we come to leave out so considerable a part of devotion Fasting hath got so ill a reputation among us because the Roman Church hath miserably perverted the use of it that the generality are afraid to venture upon it for fear they should be guilty with Lot's Wife of looking back towards Sodom from which they are escaped But most certainly this Exercise is a Christian Exercise in despight of all those abuses and was practised in the antient Church as surely as the present Church of Rome is departed from that antient way of holiness Go through the whole Nation you will not see one Family in twenty set themselves to seek the Lord by a solemn Fast through the whole year and I dare say there are thousands that never heard or considered that it was their duty Gluttony and Luxury and Eating and Drinking heartily are made such necessary attendants of Mens lives that they think should they fast one whole day and spend the whole day in Confessions and Prayers they should certainly die at night It 's a sign they have a high esteem for Religion all this while sure they do not think their Souls worth any thing that do not or will not refresh them now and then by such Abstinence for the Soul never feeds better than when the Body fasts Hear this ye drowsie lazy careless Christians what do you call your selves Christians for if you will not do as the antient Christians did What made the first Planters of the Christian Religion fast so often if they had not apprehended it exceeding necessary Were they Fools for doing so or if they had not judged it highly expedient would they have been so weak as to have made it their most frequent Exercise Can you think that Gods Spirit will ever visit you while you mind nothing so much as your Belly Is fullness of Bread the way to be fill'd with the Holy Ghost Do you ever hope to overcome the Lusts of the Flesh without this Exercise Do you think your evil desires will ever die without you chastise them by fasting into better manners Do you think the World and its Glories will ever become contemptible in your eyes if by such Abstinence now and then you do not learn to despise it Do you think you will ever become eminent Saints while you are all for eating and drinking Hath God denied himself so far as to deliver up his Son for you and cannot you deny your selves in a little Meat and drink for his sake that you may take his death and passion into greater consideration Do you think God is so fond of you that he 'll make you partakers of the Divine Nature while you know not what denying the Body means Do you think you will ever get any great portion of Grace while you think much of attending the Lord in such mortifications Do you think your minds will ever pierce into the Mysteries of Gods love without such Humiliations Do you think you will ever be admitted to those high degrees of Gods favour that the Saints of old arriv'd to without such abasement Do you think your eyes will ever be as clear as theirs while your Fasts are not as strict as theirs Do you think you will ever feel that joy they felt without such preparatives To add some other Motives and encouraging Arguments 1. By eating we were lost and by fasting we must recover Had Eve fasted and abstained from the forbidden Tree fasting would have been needless and superfluous now and if fasting was necessary in Paradice shall it not be more needful now Of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat said God Gen. 2. 17. If the Medicine was wholesome before we were sick how much more wholesome must it be now we are so Was it expedient before our Lusts were in Rebellion against our Reason And shall it not be more expedient now that they war against the Soul Had Adam hearkn'd to this Voice of God he had never heard that more dreadful word Earth thou art and to Earth shalt thou return It was want of fasting brought death and trouble and anguish into the World and if things are cured by contraries hot things by cold and cold by hot that first Luxury had need be expiated and cured by Abstinence 2. Fasting thus we imitate the Holy Angels they eat not they drink not and yet they praise God day and night they have indeed Bread to eat but that Bread is no other but the light of Gods countenance which continually feeds and nourishes them into the highest happiness When I say we imitate them I press no such imitation as that Monk pretended to that would needs live like the Angels of God and went into a barren Wilderness taking no provision with him believing that God would feed him without a Metaphor with Angels Food but finding after a few days that for want of convenient Food he was ready to faint and die away he returned to his friends again and one of them hearing him knock and calling open the door for I am such a one It 's impossible said his friend for such a one is become an Angel if thou art an Angel what dost thou stand knocking here for But he continued knocking confested his weakness and begg'd of him to let him in and give him somewhat to support nature and that he might recover strength I mean no such imitation but as fasting makes our Souls fly up more vigorously to Heaven and fits us for divine contemplations and heavenly meditations so far we may be said in this Exercise to imitate those blessed Spirits whose contemplations of the divine goodness are always sprightly and ravishing 3. Frequent fasting is that which will preserve health and life better than