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.
About this Item
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?]]
Rights/Permissions
To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
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
¶The .ii. Chapter.
THis abstinence or forbearing
of meates dyd alwayes con∣tinewe
at the least one whole
day withoute receiuinge of anye
corporal sustenance,* 1.1 many times
ii. or .iii, daies, as the historyes of
the holye scripture teach vs. The
Israelits, whē they sawe so great
a multitude of their people slain
of the Beniamites in the battell,
wente vp and came vnto Bethel
where the arke of the appoynte∣ment
of God was in those dayes,
wepte, sate there praying before
the lord, and fasted the same day
vnto euen, and offered burntoffe
ringes and peace offeringes be∣fore
the Lorde. Again,* 1.2 when the
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
Israelites gathered together a••
Mizpha, lamentiug their sinnes
and prayinge vnto the Lorde for
healpe againste the Philistines,
they fasted the whole daye. So
likewise did Dauid and thei that
were with him, when they heard,
that Saule and his sonnes were
slaine in battell.* 1.3 Nehemiah fa∣sted
two dayes together or moo.
For hee saide, as it is written of
hym.* 1.4 I sate me downe and wept,
and mourned certaine daies and
fasted and praied before the god
of heauē. We reade that Quene
Esther* 1.5 and her Maidens wyth
all the Iewes that were founde
at Susan, fasted thre dayes and
three nightes together, and dyd
neyther eate nor dryncke. Mo∣ses,
Elias and Christe fasted for∣tye
dayes aud as manye nightes
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
wythoute receiuinge of anye cor∣porall
foode, but suche fastes are
not to be practised, for asmuch as
they are maruelous and past the
boūdes of mens nature, and are
done onlye by the vnsearcheable
power and mightie worcking of
God in few of his creatures. But
the common manner of fastinge
among the true godly was, when
they did faste, to abstaine from al
meate the whole daie til nighte,
that they mighte the more frelye
gyue theyr minde to spiritual ex∣ercises,
and at night to take some
refeccion moderatli yea and that
with thanckes geuing. And on
thys manner as some fasted but
one or .ii. dayes together, so some
fasted manye, euerye one as they
were moued by the spirit of God,
and as occasyon requyred.
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
We reade that the Prophete
Daniel* 1.6 fasted thus thre weekes
together. Hys wordes are these:
I Daniel mourned for the space
of thre weekes, so that I had no
liste to eate breade, as for fleshe
and wine there came none wyth∣in
my mouthe. No, I did not once
annoynte myselfe, till the whole
thre wekes were oute. The scrip¦ture
testifieth, that the vertuous
womā Iudith* 1.7 fasted al the daies
of her lyfe, excepte the sabbothes
and new moanes & the solempne
dayes, that the people of Israell
kepte. Likewise reade we of An∣na
the Daughter of Phanuell,
whych departed not from the tem¦ple,
but serued god with fastings
and praiers night and daye.* 1.8 On
this maner did the Apo••tles after
Christes ascension & many other
descriptionPage [unnumbered]
godlye menne in the primatyue
church fast, So that their custom
was on that daye that they dyd
fast, to eat nothing til night, but
to occupy them selues about such
godlye exersyes, as here to fore
are mencioned.