throughout the year, "except the Friday on which Christmas Day may fall, and on the Sundays in Lent, unless leave be given to eat meat on them." Those who, by reason of their age, or for any other cause, are not bound to fast, are yet required, unless they are otherwise dispensed, to abstain on all fasting-days during the year on which flesh-meat is not allowed.

CHAP. LXXIII. On Fasting.

FASTING is more frequently inculcated in Holy Scripture than abstinence, and it has been more diligently practised by the servants of God. Thus fasting is commanded as a part of the penance we should perform for our sins: "Be converted to Me," saith the Lord, "with all your heart in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning" (Joel ii. 12). Our Blessed Lord Himself foretold that His disciples would fast after His departure from them: "The days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast" (St. Matt. ix. 15). He also lays down rules which we should observe when we fast: "When thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, will repay thee" (St. Matt. vi. 17, 18). We are told of the greatest servants of God that they fasted. Thus Moses and Elias fasted forty days, as, indeed, our Lord Himself did. The royal prophet frequently makes mention of his fasting (Ps. xxxiv. 13, lxviii. 11, cviii. 24); Esdras (2 Esdras i. 4), Daniel (ix. 3), Esther (xiv. 2), and the prophetess Anna (St. Luke ii. 37), were remarkable for their fasting. The faithful of Antioch "were ministering to the Lord and fasting when the Holy Ghost said to them: Separate Me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have taken them. Then they, fasting and praying, and imposing their hands upon them, sent them away" (Acts xiii. 2, 3). And when the Apostles ordained priests, they fasted and prayed (Acts xiv. 22). Fasting moves God to show mercy. Thus the Ninivites pro

claimed a fast and were pardoned (Jonas iii. 7-10). It makes prayer more efficacious (Tobias xii. 8; Judith iv. 12; Dan. ix. x.; St. Mark ix. 28). It also obtains temporal benefits. "We fasted and besought our God," says Esdras (viii. 23), "and it fell out prosperously unto us." (See also 2 Chron. xx. ; 2 Esdras i. 4; Esther iv. 16.)

The holy fathers also frequently inculcate the duty of fasting, and enforce its observance by the teaching and practice of Holy Scripture, and by the consideration of how necessary it is for our fallen nature. They tell us that fasting is a part of the penance which is required of us if we have sinned; and if happily we have preserved our innocence, it is necessary as a discipline to strengthen us against the danger of falling. "Fast," says St. Basil, “because thou hast sinned, and fast also to prevent the danger of sinning."

Times of fasting. Though the sacred Scripture clearly inculcates the obligation, and sets forth the advantages of fasting, it nowhere lays down any precise rule as to the time and manner of fasting. One of the reasons for this silence is no doubt owing to the fact, that the same regulations are not equally well adapted to all times and circumstances. Yet, on the other hand, if the duty of fasting were left to each one's discretion, it is much to be feared many would neglect it altogether. The Church has therefore received power to determine the times and rules of fasting, and to modify them as the necessities of each age or country may require.

Lent. The fasting-days which we are commanded to observe are, "the forty days of Lent, certain vigils, the Ember-days, and, in England, the Wednesdays and Fridays in Advent." The fast of Lent is frequently spoken of by the ancient fathers as of apostolic institution. It is the most solemn season of penance throughout the year. In imitation of our Blessed Lord's fast of forty days, and in order to prepare her children for the solemn commemoration of His sufferings and death on the cross, the Church commands them to fast during Lent. This penitential season begins on Ash-Wednesday, and continues during the six following weeks, till Easter Sunday, and

P

thus embraces a period of forty days, exclusive of the Sundays.

Vigils. It was formerly the custom of the faithful to spend the day preceding the great festivals of the Church in prayer and fasting. In particular, they passed the night in watching and in exercises of devotion, as a preparation for the solemnity they were to observe on the following day. From this custom of watching, or keeping vigil during the night, the eves of these festivals were called Vigils. In course of time, the meeting of the faithful during the night, for purposes of devotion, gave rise to disorder and inconveniences, and therefore it fell into disuse; but we have a remnant of the ancient practice in the fasting-days or vigils which precede the festivals of Whit-Sunday, or Pentecost, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, All Saints', and Christmas Day.

The

Ember-days. Each quarter of the year is consecrated to God by the observance of a three days' fast. weeks appointed for this purpose are, the first week of Lent for the spring season; the week of Pentecost for the summer; the week following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14th, for the autumn; and the third week of Advent for the winter. From very ancient times these weeks have been called Ember-weeks, and the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays occurring in them-the days on which the fast is kept-are called the Ember-days. The date of the institution of the fast of the Ember-days cannot be clearly ascertained. They are mentioned in a decree ascribed to the Holy Pope St. Urban in the year 224, and are reckoned by St. Leo the Great as of apostolic origin. The object of the institution of the Ember-days was to consecrate each season of the year by acts of penance and mortification; to beg God's blessing on the fruits of the earth, and to thank Him for those which had been gathered in; and likewise, as the Emberweeks are the times specially appointed for the ordination of the ministers of the Church, to pray for a zealous priesthood, and for the abundance of the Divine blessing to descend on those who are chosen as the spiritual fathers of the faithful, and their guides in the way of salvation.

Advent. What the vigils are to ordinary festivals, or what Lent is to Easter, Advent is to Christmas. It is a time of penance and devotion to prepare the faithful to celebrate in a fitting manner the Advent, or coming of our Lord, by His birth into this world. Its institution seems as ancient as Christmas itself; though its duration, as well as the manner of its observance, have varied at different times and in different places. Like Lent, it for some time comprised a period of six weeks or forty days, part of which was kept as a strict fast. It now begins with the Sunday nearest the festival of St. Andrew, November 30th; so that the earliest day on which it can commence is the 27th of November, and the latest the 3d of December. It thus embraces four Sundays and three full weeks, together with part of a fourth. As the Catechism states, we are bound in England to fast on the Wednesdays and Fridays during Advent.

CHAP. LXXIV. The Rules of Fasting.

IT has been already said that the essence of the fast consists in taking only one full meal on the same day, and that not before mid-day. Formerly it was the custom to take nothing on fasting-days till the evening. In process of time, however, the single meal began to be taken at an earlier hour in the day, and this practice prepared the way for the further relaxation, by which a little was taken in the evening in addition to the full meal. The regulation which is enforced at the present day allows those who are bound to fast, to take a full meal any time after mid-day, and a small supper, or, as it is called, a collation, in the evening. The Church has nowhere defined the quantity which may be taken at the evening collation, but the general custom, which, in the absence of any authoritative declaration, may be considered the best interpreter of her laws, fixes the quantity at not more than about eight ounces. Besides this restriction as to the quantity allowed for collation, it is necessary to bear in mind that we are also bound to the strictest abstinence. Not only is all

kind of flesh-meat forbidden at collation, but also eggs, butter, cheese, and milk. The collation will therefore generally consist of bread and fruit; and, in virtue of the Rescript of our Holy Father, to which reference has already been made, the use of dripping and lard is permitted on all days except Good Friday. It is also customary to take a very small quantity in the morning, but this should never exceed two ounces.

At one time it was forbidden to drink wine on fastingdays, but this prohibition no longer exists; and, as a rule, liquids, such as beer, water, tea, or coffee, do not break the fast. Such liquids, however, as soups, milk, and generally those of a nourishing kind, are not allowed, except at the principal meal. All fasting-days are also abstinence-days, unless leave is expressly given to the contrary. When meat is allowed on fasting-days, whether by a general dispensation granted to all, as is commonly done in Lent, or by a particular dispensation granted to one or more, fish and meat are not allowed at the same meal. This prohibition of the joint use of fish and flesh-meat extends also to the Sundays of Lent, but not to any of the other abstinence-days throughout the year.

The proper order to follow on fasting-days is to take the principal meal about mid-day or after, and the collation in the evening; but, according to a declaration of the Congregation of the Sacred Penitentiary, those are not to be disturbed who for any reasonable cause invert the order, and take the collation after ten in the morning, and the dinner in the evening.

Each Bishop has power to modify to a certain extent the Lenten dispensations in his own diocese; but as the observances are for the most part uniform throughout England, it will be well to enumerate those which prevail at the present day. The list of dispensations which follows is taken from the Lenten Indult of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster for the year 1861.

"1. Flesh-meat is allowed at the single meal of those who are bound to fast, and at the discretion of those who are not so bound, on all days except Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Ember-Saturday, and the four last