A fruitful treatise of fasting wherin is declared what ye Christen fast is, how we ought to fast, [and] what ye true vse of fastyng is. Newlye made by Thomas Becon.
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Title
A fruitful treatise of fasting wherin is declared what ye Christen fast is, how we ought to fast, [and] what ye true vse of fastyng is. Newlye made by Thomas Becon.
Author
Becon, Thomas, 1512-1567.
Publication
[Imprynted at London :: By Ihon Day, dwellyng ouer Aldersgate. These bookes are to bee solde at the shop at the lyttle Cundyte in Chepesyde,
[1551?]]
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Subject terms
Fasting -- Early works to 1800.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A06783.0001.001
Cite this Item
"A fruitful treatise of fasting wherin is declared what ye Christen fast is, how we ought to fast, [and] what ye true vse of fastyng is. Newlye made by Thomas Becon." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A06783.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed October 6, 2024.
Pages
☞Howe we oughte to Faste.The .xii. Chapter
IN declarynge howe we ought
to faste, whome shoulde I ra∣ther
followe then oure sauiour
Iesus Christe the teacher of all
truthe,* 1.1 whyche saithe: When ye
faste be not sad as the hipocrites
are. For they disfigure theyr fa∣ces,
that they myghte be seene
of menne to faste. Uerelye I saye
vnto you, they haue their reward
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
But thou when thou fastest an∣nointe
thy heade, and washe thy
face, that it appeare not vnto
men, that thou fastest, but to thy
father, whyche is in secrete, and
thy father whyche seeth in secrete
shal rewarde the openlye, Christ
oure sauioure in thys place doth
not only rebuke the hipocriticall
and supersticious manner of the
vngodlye fasters, but hee also
teacheth the true manner of fa∣stynge.
Of these hys woordes wee
learne, that who so euer enten∣deth
to faste a ryghte, hee muste
obserue three thynges.* 1.2 The fyrst
is, that hee annoynte his heade.
The seconde that hee washe hys
face. The thyrde that he faste in
secrete. These Phrases annoin∣tynge
of the heade, and washing
of the face with many other seme
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
verye straunge manners of spea¦king
to such as are not perfectly
exercised in the ••••ading of y• ho∣ly
sc••iptu••es and of the auncient
wrighters, it is conuenient ther∣fore,
that we learn to know what
is meante by them. And no man
in this behalf can satisfy our de∣sire
better then our golden mou¦thed
Doctoure. S. Iohn Chriso¦stome,* 1.3
whose wordes are these.
In the annointing o•• the heade,
saith he, we knowe that mercy is
signified.* 1.4 Therfore to annoynte
the heade, is to shewe mercye to
our neighbour. For that mercye
that is done vnto a pore man, is
referred vnto God, which is the
heade of the man, as the Apostle
and the lord him self saith.* 1.5 What
soeuer ye haue done to one of my
lessest brothers,* 1.6 ye haue done it
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
vnto me. In the stede of y• which
mercye wyth the diuine retribuci¦on
as with a certayne he auenlye
oyle, we ar poured and shed ouer
by hym▪* 1.7 which saith. Blessed are
the mercifull for God shall haue
mercye on them.* 1.8 Holy Dauid al∣so
did knowe the vnccion and a∣nointinge
of the celestial oyle in
the heade, when he sayde, as in y•
ointmente, whiche came down in
to the bearde.
But in washinge the face, the
puritie of a cleane bodye and of
a sincere conscience is knowen to* 1.9
be signified so that to washe the
face, is to make cleane the face of
our hart from al filthines of sin,
& from the vncomelines of tres∣pas,
and to haue a very pure con¦science,
that we may truly haue in
vs the gladnes of celestiall ioye.
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
and the familiaritie and cheare¦fulnes
of the holye ghoste.
Hitherto haue I rehearsed the
wordes of .S. Ihon Chrisostome
whereby we maye learne, that to
annoynte oure heade is none o∣ther
thynge, then to shewe oure
selues beneficial to the pore mem¦bers
of Christe. Againe, to washe
oure face is to make cleane both
bodye and soule from synne and
wyckednes. If we therefore wyll
fast a right after the mind of .S.
Iohn Chrisostome, we must first
annoint our head, y• is to say, com¦fort
the pore people wt such good
as god hath committed vnto vs.
For the ritches that we haue bee
not ours, but they be gods, as he
saith by ye Prophet,* 1.10 gold is mine,
siluer is mine.* 1.11 The psalmograph
also saith, the earth is the lords 〈◊〉〈◊〉