laudable Practice

At the Eucharist of Ash Wednesday, 18.2.26 Matthew 6.16 “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting.” [1] On Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, it is difficult not to recognise that this day begins a season of fasting. We heard it in the introduction to our liturgy: “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Lord to observe a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial …” [2] We heard it in the first reading from the prophet Joel: “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting …” [3] And we will hear it again in our final hymn, referring to our Lord’s time in the wilderness: “Forty days and forty nights, thou was fasting in the wild …” [4] Lent is a time for fasting. Depending on our age, health, and circumstances, this may mean abstaining from one of the day’s meals throughout Lent; or it may mean simplifying our diet in Lent; or...

Wherefore, laying aside these shifts and excuses, let us all set ourselves in good earnest to resist all manner of temptations: let us putout all the strength which we naturally have to this purpose, and beg of God super naturally to supply us with what we have not. Especially at this solemn time, set apart to commemorate the great conflict of our Saviour with the tempter in the wilderness, and to prepare and qualify us for such spiritual encounters. Let us lookup to the example of Christ, and remember how victorious he was over those fierce assaults of Satan; and what assurance he hath given us, that they who tread in his steps, and resolutely fight the good fight, shall be alike victorious. And whilst we resist as he did, let us be sure to use the same means of resistance, that he used, fasting and prayer: for there is no kind of temptation, but may, by the joint force of these, be cast out. To these, therefore, let us fly. These let us lay hold of, bending our knees often in private...

Confession must be always accompanied with great sorrow for our sins, considering the great dishonour we have brought to God, and the danger into which we have brought our selves; I will declare mine iniquity, (says David,) and I will be sorry for my sin. And this Sorrow must be proportionable to the degree of our Sin. If we have been very wicked, and have sinned greatly against the Lord, and have multiplied our transgressions, and continued long in an evil course, have neglected God, and forgotten him days without number, the measure of our sorrow, must bear some proportion to the degree of our Sins; if they have been as Scarlet and Crimson, (as the Prophet expresseth it) that is, of a deeper dye than ordinary, our Sorrow must be as deep as our Guilt; for it is not a slight trouble and a few tears that will wash out such stains. Not that tears are absolutely necessary, tho' they do very well become, and most commonly accompany a sincere Repentance. All tempers are not in this alik...