Dearly beloved, I am about to preach to you the holiest and greatest of fasts, and what more suitable preface may I use, than if I begin with the words of the Apostle, in whom Christ spoke, and repeat to you what has been read: Here is the time ofpardon: the day of salvation has come already2? For although there is no season which is not full of divine gifts, and access to the mercy of God is ever granted to us by his grace, yet at this time the minds of all should be urged with greater earnestness towards spiritual progress, and should be animated with fuller confidence, when the return of that day, on which we were redeemed, invites us to every work of piety: so that, cleansed in heart and body, we may celebrate that mystery which excels all others, the Passion of the Lord.
Such great mysteries should
truly have given rise to an unending devotion and abiding reverence, so that we
might ever remain in the sight of God, as we ought to be found on the feast of
the Pasch itself. But there are few who have the strength for this ; and
because through the frailty of the flesh the full severity of discipline is
relaxed, and moreover the attention is divided among the many actions of this
life, the hearts even of religious men must of necessity become defiled by the dust
of worldly things. Hence this most wholesome institution, divinely appointed,
provides that, in order to restore the purity of our souls, we should be
corrected by the discipline of these forty days ; and thus the faults of other
times may be redeemed by works of piety and be purified by holy fastings.
And therefore, dearly beloved, as we are about to enter upon these mystic days, appointed in a most hallowed manner for the purification of both soul and body, let us take care to obey the apostolic commandments, and cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit: that the struggles between our two natures being restrained, the soul which, under the guidance of God, should govern the body, may maintain the dignity of its function; so that, giving no offence to any man, we may not be exposed to the reproaches of those who revile us. For we shall be justly blamed by unbelievers, whose wicked tongues will find in our misdeeds a weapon of attack against religion, if the conduct of those who keep the fast is not in accordance with the spirit of perfect continence. For our fasting does not consist principally in abstinence from food; it will not profit us to deprive the body of food, if the mind be not recalled from wickedness.
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