in these good workes the doing of which is a dutie toward man but that true and sound Religion is necessarily and by consequence ioyned with these workes And so when God saith that the Fast which he requireth is to loose bands of wickednes c. and to deale bread to the hungry c. Hee meaneth not that a true Fast doth essentially and formally consist in these workes but that it is euer ioyned with them And the good workes which God requireth to accompany a religious Fast are of two sorts some are workes of iustice which are to loose the bands of wickednesse to vndoe the heauie burdens c. that is to surcease and leaue off their oppressing and wronging of their brethren And some againe are workes of mercy which are to deale ones bread to the hungry to cloathe the naked c. By all which it doth appeare that God maketh no account of fasting if it be not ioyned with charity toward the poore and iust dealing towards all men The ancient Fathers agreeably to Scriptures are eloquent and plentifull in this argument Saint Ambrose a Illi qui ieiunant à cibo non se abstinent à malo similes sunt diabolo qui non manducat tamen à malo non cessat Ambros Serm. 43. p. 61. Hee that fasteth from meat and abstaineth not from sinne is like the Deuill who doth not eat and yet ceaseth not from sinne And againe the same Father b Qui abstinemus prandia nostra pauperibus praerogemus Sie tu pro delictia tuis ieiunus Dominum roges ille pro te satiatus exoret vtrumque tibi proficiens tua fames saturitas mendicorum Serm. 41. pag. 59. Wee that fast saith he let vs giue our dinners to the poore So thou fasting shalt aske God pardon for thy sinnes and hee beeing filled shall obtaine it for thee and both of them shall be for thy good both thy fasting and the poore mans eating To the same purpose speaketh Saint Augustin c Tum gratae sunt Deo nostrae ieiunia si illi qui necessitate ieiunant reficiantur à nobis August de Temp. Ser. 64. pag. 231. G. Then are our fasts accepted with God saith hee if they which fast because they want meat be relieued by vs. And againe the same Father and in the same Sermon d Dum à licitit abstinemus magis ac magis admonemur illicita vitare Qui enim abstinemus nos à carnibus quibus alijs diebus vti licet c. imprimis peccata fugiamas quae omninò nunquā licent Itaque si volumus bene ieiunare à cibis ante omnia ieiunemus à vitijs Augustin de Temp. Serm. 64. Dominic 1. Quadrages p. 231. E. While wee abstaine from lawfull things wee are admonished more and more to eschew vnlanifull things For wee that abstaine from flesh which at other times wee may vse ought especially to auoyd sinnes which may neuer be vsed And therefore if woe will fast rightly from meat wee must aboue all fast from sinne But Saint Basil most fully and fitly to this purpose e Caue ne ieinnij vtilitatem sola escarum abstinentia metiaris Verum enim ieiunium est ab omnibus vitijs esse alienum c. Bafil de Ieiunio Homil. 1. pag. 331. Doe not place saith he the good of fasting in the abstinence of meat for true fasting consisteth in abstayning from sinne For eatest thou not flesh but thou deuourest thy brother Forbearest thou to drinke wine but thou forbearest not to offer wrong to thy brother And thou stayest till night before thou breake thy fast but thou spendest all the day in Law-suites and quarrelling And doest thou think to please God with such a godlesse fast No no Woe to them that are drunke and not with wine And who be they They are all such saith he as are ouercome and haled away with vnruly lusts of sinne as of anger and enuy and reuenge and ambition and carnall pleasures For all such vnmortified lusts are as so many kindes of drunkennesse For hee that is led and possessed with these hee is not his owne man hee cannot see and discerne the way of reason much lesse of religion no more than a drunken man can find his way in the street And if a man doe abstaine from wine and yet be drunke with these vices or if a man forbeare the flesh of beasts and feed on the bloud of his brother this is no truer a fast in Gods sight than if he should abstaine from a weaker wine and ouerwhelme himselfe with a stronger or should fast from swines flesh and glut himselfe with Partridge and Pheasant The summe of all is A true Fast cannot be separated from an holy life IIII. Fourthly it is required that the soule doe consider of and put in practice such holy duties as a Fast doth by the outward behauiour make profession of Some doe require that euery Fasting-day bee kept as an Holy-day without doing of any worldly worke and with performing of such religious workes as belong to a Sabbath day And their reason for this is because God doth command the Iewes that on their day of expiation in which they were to afflict themselues with fasting they should doe no worke but that they should keepe it for a Sabbath of rest But this I take to be an errour at least I dare not charge it as a necessary duety in any mans conscience because I know no reason to enforce it For to mine vnderstanding the onely place of Scripture which seemeth to incline this way and vpon which they onely rest doth make nothing for it at all The place is in the sixteenth of Leuiticus but especially in the three and twentieth of the same Booke where the same words are repeated and the poynt more fully declared And therefore I will set downe the words there recorded that the Christian Reader may the better consider of the meaning and the more clearely see what to iudge of the reason The words then are these (a) Leuitic 23 27 28 29 30 31 32. On the tenth day of this moneth there shall be a day of Atonement it shall be an holy conuocation vnto you and yee shall afflict your soules and offer an offering made by fire vnto the Lord. And yee shall doe no worke in that same day for it is a day of Atonement to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God c. For better conceiuing of this Text we must note first that the summe and intention of this Chapter is to set downe the Feasts and the Holy-dayes of the Iewes which are heere reckoned vp to be the weekely Sabbath the Passeouer the Offering of the first fruits Pentecost the Feast of the Trumpets the day of Expiation and the feast of Tabernacles And concerning these it is said by way of preface in the beginning (b) Vers 2. Say vnto the children of Israel Concerning the
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
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
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
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
of them This I declare thus Dauid in the Psalmes saith (c) Psal 55.17 Euening and morning and at noone will I pray and cry alond And Caluin commenting on that place giueth vs this note We may gather from hence saith he statas fuisse pijs horas ad precandum istis temporibus that the godly had their set houres for prayer at those times (a) Exod. 29.38 which they obserued the rather in their priuate deuotions because God had appoynted them to be obserued in the publike seruice of the Temple For a morning and euening euery day the Priests offered the daily sacrifice and the mid-day as that learned Writer noteth was allotted for other sacrifices And the reason hereof saith he is this b Quia sumus aequo tardiores ad orandum nisi quisque seipsum sollicitet vrgeat praecipuum hoc pietatis officium apud nos frigebit adeoque obrepet peccandi obliuio nisi nos freno aliquo retineamus Deus ergo certas boras praefigens infirmitati nostrae mederi voluit quae eadem ratio transferri debet ad priuatas preces sicut patet ex hoc loco cui etiam respondet Danielis exemplum Caluin in Psa 55.18 Because we are dull and backward in prayer vnlesse we bee spurred on this worthy seruice would soone decay we would quickly forget it vnlesse wee had some bridle to keepe vs in He addeth And therefore God to help our infirmity hath set vs certain houres to remeÌ„ber vs of our dutie And the same reason may as instly bee applyed to our priuate prayers at home Againe where it is said of Daniel that he kneeled vpon his knees three times a day and prayed and gaue thankes as hee did aforetime the same learned Writer commenteth thus vpon that place Hoc quoque obseruatu dignum est this also is worth the noting that Daniel prayed three times a day c Quia nisi quisque nostrûm praefigat sibi certas horas ad precandum facilè nobis excidet memoriâ Daniel ergo quaÌ„quam assiduus erat in precibus fundendis tamen solennem bune ritum sibi iniunxit vt ter quotidie sose prosterneret coram Deo Caluin in DaÌ„ 6.10 because vnlesse euery one of vs doe prescribe himselfe set houres for prayer wee shall easily forget it And therefore Daniel though he were frequent in powring out his prayers yet did impose vpon himselfe this solemne taske that he would prostrate himselfe before God three times euery day In which discourses of this learned and iudicious Interpreter I note two things 1. That as God did prescribe certaine and set houres for his publike seruice so in imitation hereof good men did doe the like in their priuate and domesticke prayers 2. That the reason of both was because if men be left to their liberty they quickly forget their duty and neglect the performance of that at all times which they thinke they may doe as well at any other time The like is noted by PolaÌ„us also For first he moueth a doubt concerning Daniels practice a Aanon superstitiosum fuerit quod Daniel preces suas certis horis quasi alliga uit peâ—nde ac si Deus non exaudiret quocunque tempore inuocantes Resp Certum est tam sanciuÌ„ Prophetam nunquam non de Deo sâ—o cogitasse etià quuÌ„ negotia Regat tractauit destinauit tamen sibi certa ad precandum tempora quae à politicis negotijs vacua esse poterant solebant vt citra vlla impedimentacoram Deo suo sâ—se sisteret alsque vlla opimone vel sanctitatis aâ—â—uius quae temporibus illis inesset vel cultûs vel meriti vel necessitatis quasi ebseruatio stricta trium illorum temporum praeâ—aliis Deo grata esset aliquid mercretur neressaria esset Polan in Dan 6.11 pag 277. Whether it were not superstitious that Daniel did thus as it were tye his prayers to certain houres as if God would not heare men at what time soeuer they called vpon him And then he answeteth that the holy Prophet though he minded God at all times yet set apart to himselfe certaine houres for prayer most free for this businesse without any opinion of sanctity or merit or necessity in those times as if the strict obseruation of those three times were more acceptable to God then other times or had merit and necessitie in it In which answere he defendeth Daniel from all tincture of superstition because though he prescribed himselfe set times yet hee had no opinion of sanctity or necessity in those times more then in other and by consequence doth allow vs to vse set times for holy duties so we place not holines or necessity in those precise times And againe not long after b Adoratio Dei assidua quidem esse debet c. Sed tamen quis nostra infirmitas sit ingens ad prâ—â—andam obliuio nimia dum huius vitae negotia curamus vt infirmitati nostrae memoriae consulatur necessarium est vt quisque nostrûm certa sibi tempora destinet precibus concipiendis c. Polan in Dan. 6.11 loco de Adorat aphoris 6. pag. 284. Prayer vnto God saith he should be continuall and without intermission but yet seeing our infirmity is great and our forgetfulnes to pray is too too much for helping of our infirmitie and memory it is necessary that euery one of vs should destinate vnto himselfe certaine times for making of his prayers Now out of these obseruations of theirs concerning prayer I inferre three conclusions concerning fasting 1. If it be lawfull and religious to prescribe set houres for prayer then it cannot be sinfull and superstitious to obserue set daies for fasting For the fault in these set dayes if there bee any is not because they are dayes or houres but because they are set and standing times And that exception is as iust against houres as dayes Nor is the exception against fasting only but against feasting too and all other such exercises if they be tied to fixed times If set houres then be allowed for praying set dayes cannot be condemned in fasting 2. If set times for prayer bee so helpefull for the due performing of that worke then set times of humiliation cannot bee so hurtfull as to marre and corrupt that good worke 3. If to be left at liberty for the times of our praying bee so dangerous to breed an vtter neglect of it then to leaue times of fasting to each mans present choyce will not be so safe nor without feare of neglecting this necessary duety For there is much more feare of neglect in fasting than in praying because it is more painefull to the flesh and therefore men will be more ready to shift it off vpon euery sleight and idle occasion Which would God it were but a surmise of mine and that experience had not proued it to be most true For wee all confesse that there is great vse of
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
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
greater hunger than this and yet he had no bread to refresh him nor no eye of man to pitty him but the onely company and comfort that he had for the time was the yelling of wilde beasts about him and the tentations and batteries of the Deuill against him And the like meditation of cōfort may be drawne from other parts of Christs sufferings to cheare all them that be in like distresse For if Christ suffered such great things without grudging a Christian may be content to indure lesser things with patience and comfort 3. It cryeth shame vpon our nicenesse and tendernesse who repine to endure any paynes eyther for Christs sake or our owne For if hee fasted so long and hungred so much for vs is it not much more reason that when occasion serueth wee should fast for our selues And yet see the difference He fasted forty dayes and forty nights and wee thinke it too much to fast one day without adding any night vnto it hee fasted till hee fainted and we thinke it too much to fast till we haue concocted the crudities of the former meale hee fasted when hunger pinched his body and molested nature and yet would endure it still till hee had finished the worke which hee intended in his Fast we think it too much to endure the least paine though the mortifying of our sinnes doe require a great deale more Nay Christ was betrayed apprehended condemned and crucified for our sinnes and wee thinke it too much to passe these dayes of his sufferings in a sad and mournefull remembrance of them But wee should learne to checke our dulnesse by comparing it with our Sauiours forwardnesse and zeale And hereunto wee may further adde that if the Physician doe taste of the potion which hee prescribeth the Patient may be sure that there is no poyson in it and so seeing our Lord the Physician of our soules hath drunke so deepe of this Cup of humiliation wee may be sure it is no way hurtfull to our soules And therefore if we cannot equall him in fasting forty dayes at least let vs not repine to follow him in fasting at conuenient times and as hee passed not for a pinching hunger that he might worke our Redemption so let not vs sticke at a little hunger that wee may attaine the saluation that hee hath purchased for vs. The Conclusion touching the physicall vse of Fasting HItherto I haue exhorted men to Fasting out of the grounds of Diuinity and I hope my labours will not altogether want effect in religious mindes but yet it may be that some who are well affected toward this exercise for the spirituall good that they heare to be in it may bee deterred from the practice of it by reason of some corporall hurt which they feare to receiue from it For my selfe haue met with some who say that fasting breedeth winde in the stomach griping in the bowels giddinesse in the head and faintnesse through the whole body and by reason hereof they thinke themselues priuiledged and exempted from this taske of abstinence And true indeed it is that some such infirmities there may be as cannot beare this want of food without manifest hurt or inconuenience in which cases God dispenseth with them whom himselfe hath not made able to endure it But it is no lesse true that most times men except against fasting as an hinderance to their health when it would be the onely helpe eyther to recouer or preserue it Surely for mine owne part I can truely say that though before tryall I feared hurt by reason of my sickly and weake temper yet after tryall I haue found the quite contrary my body more at ease my spirits more free and all my sences more fresh and liuely And (a) Tractat. de vitae sobriae commodis Cornarus an Italian Gentleman reporteth of himselfe that hee recouered himselfe out of a desperate sicknesse and preserued himselfe in perfect health long after onely by the helpe of a thin and spare dyet And (b) In his book intituled Hygiasticon or Vera ratio conseruandae valetudinis num 35. seqq Lessius hath gathered many examples of former time by which it may appeare that fasting hath lengthened mens liues beyond the vsuall time To all which experiments hee ioyneth both reasons of his owne and testimonies of sundry learned Physicians and it were easie if that were requisit to adde moe But because this is a thing beside my profession I am not willing to wade too farre in it Onely for conclusion and to giue some satisfaction to such as conceit hurt without cause I haue thought good to acquaint the Reader with the iudgement of Eernelius a most learned and renowned Physician who hath exactly set downe his minde concerning the physicall vse of fasting in the words following (a) (a) Method medendi l. 2. cap. 20. EOrum quae per summa corpus exhauriūt vacuantque alia sudores cōspicuè cient alia halitum tenuémque substantiam perspiratu digerunt Hoc genere continentur inedia vnctio et frictio illo exercitatio balneum laconicum Phlebotomiae vires proximè imitatur Inedia sensim ac pedetentim sanguinem absumens quem semel ac repente phlebotomia vacuat praetereà verò crudos humores aliósque complures dissipat omnisque generis excremēta propellit Etenim natura libera nec impedita salutaria quaeque nobis continenter procurat Quū igitur consuetus corpori cibus aut subducitur aut ex toto circumciditur huiúsque penuria inest insitus nobis calor omnium naturalium functionum author per omnia diffusus ac insertus noui cibi copiâ minimè implicatus vbique vim suam exerens inualescit Ac primùm quidem vtilem succum sanguinem in corporis partiúmque substantiā mutat absumitque nutritione tenues verò humores ac superuacuos in halitum digerit ac sine sensu dissipat crudos concoquit mutatque in sanguinem alendo corpori idoneum ex superuacuis autem crassos attenuat lentósque detergit ac proindè strenuè expedit obstructiones Adhaec quicquid concoquere non potest id saltem praeparat viásque omnes corporis quibus excludatur patentiores expeditioresque facit Tum etiam expultrix facultas quaecūque praeparata fuerint in expurgationis vias adducit expellitque for as Hinc plerumque aluus sponte soluitur vomitiones erumpunt vrina profunditur vberior cerebri excrementa defluunt quae à purgationis via longiùs absunt perspiratione dissipantur His corpus vniuersum sublato quasi onere leuatur respiratio libera fit ac facilis mens sensusque omnes expeditiores alacrioresque euadunt Haec dum confert Inedia impuro quidem corpori plerumque ventriculum vitiosis implet humoribus vndè stomachi erosiones vigiliae corporis perturbationes vertigines quòd scilicet insitus calor perinde ac medicamentum noxios humores exagitet in alimenti penuria At verò perturbatos ea demùm subigit