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Brookline Carmel Bulletin                         J M J T

March 13, 1960

 

 

Cogitatio Sancta

(Holy Meditation)

 

Thoughts on the Fast

 

“Prayer is good with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures of gold.” (Tob. 12:8)

 

“To foster the spirit of penance and of reparation for sin, to encourage self-denial and mortification, and to guide her children in the footsteps of Our Divine Savior, Holy Mother Church imposes by law the observance of fast and abstinence…We earnestly exhort the faithful during the periods of fast and abstinence to attend daily Mass; to receive Holy Communion often; to take part more frequently in exercises of piety; to give generously to works of religion and charity; to perform acts of kindness toward the sick, the aged and the poor; to practice voluntary self-denial especially regarding alcoholic drink and worldly amusements; and to pray more fervently, particularly for the intentions of the Holy Father.”  (Lenten Regulations of the Archdiocese of Boston – 1960)

 

“Since the fruit of fasting, by which the mind is nourished, is very rich, it is fitting that our Brethren, with a view to greater (spiritual) progress, add to the fasts of the Church other and longer ones.”  (Constitutions of the Discalced Carmelite Friars)

 

“All Tertiaries should be exact in the observance of the fasts and abstinences prescribed by the Church, and never seek to be dispensed without grave and sufficient causes…  It is to be noted, however, that in accordance with the tenor of the Rule of St. Albert for the First and Second Orders, those afflicted with weakness or infirmity (even though not seriously) have a just reason for being dispensed from the fasting and abstinence from flesh meat prescribed by the present Rule.”  (Discalced Carmelite Third Order Rule)

 

“Know ye that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you continue with perseverance in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord.”  (Jdth. 4:11)

 

“Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, to be tempted by the devil.  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.’  But he answered and said, ‘It is written, not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” (Mt. 4:2-4)

 

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, who disfigure their faces in order to appear to men as fasting.  Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thy head and wash thy face, so that thou mayest not be seen fasting by men, but by thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, will reward thee.”  (Mt. 6:16-18)

 

“And when he had come to the crowd, a man approached him and threw himself on his knees before him, saying, ‘Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffers severely; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.  And I brought him to thy disciples, but they could not cure him.’  Jesus answered and said, ‘O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I put up with you?  Bring him here to me.’  And Jesus rebuked him; and the devil went out of him; and from that moment the boy was cured.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could not we cast it out?’  He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith; for amen I say to you, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Remove from here’; and it will remove.  And nothing will be impossible to you.  But this kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting.’”  (Mt. 17:14-20)

 

“Let us conduct ourselves in all circumstances as God’s ministers, in much patience; in tribulations, in hardships, in distresses; in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults; in labors, in sleepless nights, in fastings; in innocence, in knowledge, in long-sufferings; in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unaffected love; in the word of truth, in the power of God…”  (II Cor. 6:4-7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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