Beloved, our preaching is aided by the custom now familiar to you, and the season commends the priest's office, that what both the precept of the law demands and the devotion of the will tempers may seem neither burdensome nor hard. When these two come together in one, by the help of God's grace, the letter does not kill, but the spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17), which fulfils the law not through fear, but through love. For obedience softens command, nor is one there enslaved by harsh necessity, where what is bidden is loved.
When therefore, beloved, we exhort you to certain things that were also instituted in the Old Testament, we do not subject you to the yoke of Jewish observance, nor impose upon you the custom of a carnal people. Christian self-restraint far surpasses their fastings; and if there is anything common between us and them in the seasons, it does not agree in manner. Let them have their walking barefoot, and let them display their idle fastings in the sadness of their faces; we, in no way unlike to the seemliness of our habit, nor abstaining from just and necessary works, restrain the license of eating by a simple frugality, so that in the use of foods a measure may be chosen, and the creature not condemned.
But although each of us is free to afflict his own body with voluntary chastisements, and now more moderately, now indeed more strictly to subdue the carnal desires that war against the spirit, yet on certain days a general fast ought to be observed by all together, and devotion is then more effective and more holy, when in the works of piety the whole Church has one mind and one purpose. For public things are to be preferred to private; and there the chief ground of profit is to be understood, where common care is on watch. Let therefore the diligence of each keep its own observance, and against the snares of the spiritual wickedness, having implored the aid of divine protection, let every one take up the heavenly arms.
But the soldier of the Church, even if in his individual battles he can act bravely, yet will fight more safely and more happily if he stands against the enemy openly in the battle-line: where he enters the contest not with his own strength alone, but, joined to fraternal ranks under the command of the invincible King, wages a universal war. For many contend with the enemy at less risk than single men; nor let him easily think of a wound whom, with the shield of faith set before him, the courage not only of himself but also of others defends: so that where the cause of all is one, the victory may be one.
Since therefore our adversary does not cease to lie in wait for us by the varied art of temptations, and this is one aim of his cunning devices, that he may lead away those redeemed by Christ's blood from the commandments of God, every diligence must be used lest we be wounded by any of the enemy's darts. For his weapons are not harsh to the body's senses, but they flatter the flesh too much, that they may harm the soul. They draw the eyes to various desires, so that from the beauty of the world either the fires of concupiscence may be kindled, or the errors of superstitions be begotten.
By treacherous sounds too the hearing is struck with soft blows, so that the firmness of the mind may be dissolved by seductive melody; and by the habits of deadly frivolities the incautious and scarcely sober hearts are captured. But the safeguards of divine grace and the precepts of the evangelical teaching make these deceits of the devil ineffective and void. For those who have received the Holy Spirit, and in whom the fear of the Lord has been conceived not from dread of punishment but from the love of God, with faith's foot unhurt tread down the snares of such entrapments, so that they use the beauty of all creatures for the glory and praise of their Author, and love above all things Him through whom all things were made (John 1:3). Beloved, to the admiration of Him let the affection of all the faithful reach out;
let devout self-restraint seek from Him delights not corruptible but eternal, and let unstained chastity burn with love of that Good without which no one is good. For to this end Christian exercises have been handed down to us, that, every unlawful pleasure being cut away, we may glow with holy and spiritual delights. And although we ought always to be zealous for the virtues, yet certain days are consecrated for the chastisement of common observance, so that the soul which is still entangled in earthly desires and hindered by worldly cares may at least at intervals breathe toward things divine; and, since it is a portion of the Lord's field, may bring forth fruits worthy of the heavenly granaries. For there is hope of reaping where there has been diligence in sowing.
Having briefly touched on these things, beloved, for your profit as the occasion of the season allows, we announce to you the fast of the seventh month, in which we admonish you not only concerning abstinence from foods, but also concerning works of piety: that what you withdraw from your own use by religious frugality you may transfer to the nourishment of the poor and to food for the weak; taking thought indeed for all the needy with general goodwill, but being especially mindful of those who are of the members of Christ's body and are joined to us by the unity of the catholic faith. For we owe more to our own for the fellowship of grace, than to strangers for the community of nature. Let therefore Christian kindness abound in you, beloved;
and as you desire that the returning seasons of the year should be full of fruits, so also let your hearts be fruitful for the feeding of the poor. To these indeed God, whose all things are, could have given the necessary substance, and bestowed on them such resources that they should in nothing need your bounties; but much matter of virtue would have been wanting both to them and to you, if want did not exercise them toward the crown of patience, nor abundance provoke you toward the glory of mercy.
But divine providence has wonderfully arranged that there should be in the Church both holy poor and good rich, who by that very diversity might mutually profit one another, since, to merit eternal and incorruptible rewards, the receivers gave thanks to God, and the givers gave thanks to God: for, as it is written, the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever (Ps. 9:19), and God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Therefore let us fast on the fourth and sixth day of the week;
but on the Sabbath let us celebrate the vigils at the most blessed Apostle Peter's, hoping that we shall so be aided by his prayers, that God of mercies, appeased by the sacrifice of our fast, may hear us: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.