CHAPTER I. — How much religious fastings avail, beloved, to entreat the mercy of God and to renew the state of human frailty, we learn from the preaching of the holy prophets, who declare that the stirring of divine justice, into which the people of Israel had frequently fallen by the desert of their iniquity, can be appeased by nothing but fasting. Whence also the prophet Joel admonishes, saying: 'Thus says the Lord your God: Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for He is merciful, and patient, and magnanimous, and of great mercy' (Joel ii, 12, 13); and again:
'Sanctify a fast, proclaim a healing, gather the people, sanctify the Church' (Ibid., 15). This exhortation, beloved, is to be embraced also in our times, because the remedies of this healing must also of necessity be preached by us, so that in the observance of the ancient sanctification, what Jewish transgression lost, Christian devotion may acquire. CHAPTER II. — But the reverence of the divine sanctions has always its own privilege among whatever pursuits of spontaneous observance: so that what is celebrated by public law is more sacred than what is discharged by private institution. For the exercise of continence, which each one enjoins upon himself by his own judgement, pertains to the utility of a certain portion;
but the fast which the whole Church undertakes separates no one from the general purification; and then the people of God becomes most powerful, when in the unity of holy obedience the hearts of all the faithful come together, and in the camp of Christian warfare there is on every side a like preparation, and everywhere the same fortification. Let the sleepless fury of the bloody enemy rage though it will, and on all sides stretch out its lurking snares, yet it will be able to capture no one, to wound no one, if it finds none unarmed, none idle, none devoid of the work of piety. CHAPTER III. — To the power, therefore, of this invincible unity, beloved, this solemn fast of the seventh month also invites us:
that, free from secular cares and earthly acts, we may raise our minds to the Lord. And because we cannot all keep this intention, always necessary, perpetually, and rather often through human frailty we fall back from things above into things earthly, let us at least on these days, which are appointed for us as most salutary remedies, withdraw ourselves from mundane occupations, and steal away some portion of time which may profit unto eternal goods. For in many things, as it is written, we all offend (James iii, 2). And although by the daily gift of God we are cleansed from divers defilements, yet there frequently cling to unwary souls the grosser stains, which it is fitting be washed away with more diligent care and blotted out with greater expense.
But the fullest abolition of sins is obtained when the whole Church has one prayer and one confession. For if the Lord promises that to the holy and pious agreement of two or three all things whatsoever they shall have asked will be granted (Matt. xviii, 20), what will be denied to a people of many thousands together performing one observance, and through one spirit concordantly supplicating? CHAPTER IV. — It is a great thing in the sight of the Lord, beloved, and exceedingly precious, when the whole people of Christ presses at once upon the same duties, and in both sexes all degrees and all orders cooperate with the same affection; when in declining evil and doing good there is one sentiment of all;
when in the works of His servants God is glorified, and the Author of all piety is blessed with much thanksgiving. The hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, the sick are visited, and no one seeks what is his own, but what is another's (1 Cor. x, 24), while for the relieving of another's misery each one's own measure suffices, and it is easy to find a cheerful giver where the reckoning of means tempers the measure of the work. And through this grace of God, which works all things in all (1 Cor. xii, 6), the fruit of the faithful becomes common and the merit common. Since indeed the soul of those whose income is unequal can be equal, and, when one rejoices in another's liberality, to whom he could not be equalled in expenditure, he is equalled in affection.
Nothing in such a people is disordered, nothing diverse, where unto the one vigour of piety all the members of the whole body consent; nor is he confounded by his own slenderness who glories in the opulence of others. For the glory of an excellent portion is the ornament of the whole; and since we are all led by the Spirit of God, not only are those things ours which we ourselves perform, but also those over which we rejoice in the action of others. CHAPTER V. — Let us therefore embrace, beloved, that blessed solidity of the most sacred unity, and enter upon the solemn fast with the concordant purpose of good will. Nothing arduous is sought from anyone, nothing harsh, nor is anything enjoined upon us that would exceed our strength, whether in the chastisement of abstinence or in almsgiving;
in generosity. Individuals know what they can and what they cannot do. Let each weigh his own measure, let each assess himself with a just and reasonable reckoning, so that the sacrifice of mercy may not be offered with sadness, nor counted among losses. Let this be spent upon that devout work which justifies the heart, which washes the conscience, which in the end profits both the receiver and the giver. Happy indeed and greatly to be admired is that soul which does not fear the failing of its resources through love of doing good, and does not distrust that He will give it things to bestow, from whom it received what it might bestow.
But since greatness of soul belongs to few, and it is also full of piety that each should not neglect the care of his own household, we, without prejudging those who are more perfect, exhort you all by this general rule, that you may work the commandment of God according to the measure of your ability. For that goodwill ought to be cheerful which so tempers its generosity that both the refreshment of the poor may rejoice in it, and one's household sufficiency may not be strained. Now He who ministers seed to the sower will also supply bread to eat, and will multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the fruits of your righteousness (2 Cor. 9:10).
Therefore let us fast on the fourth and sixth day of the week, and on the Sabbath let us together celebrate the vigils at the most blessed Apostle Peter's, by whose merits and prayers we trust that the mercy of our God will in all things be granted to us: through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.