Fast day

“ Behold, in the day of your fast you find your own pleasure, and exact all your labors. 58:4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don't fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. 58:5 Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh? ”

“ Abstinence from meat, however, is quite a different thing from fasting, and Friday is a day of abstinence and not of fast. The fast days come at certain periods of the year, as in Advent and Lent, and certain days which are specially designated. The keeping of Lent, during which for forty days people are expected to eat one third less than they have been accustomed to, is a very valuable institution. ”

“ Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon and St. Jude, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, All Saints. And if any of these feasts fall upon a Monday, then the vigil or fast day shall be kept upon the Saturday, and not upon the Sunday, next before it.” (See Fasting.)
That fasting or abstinence from our usual sustenance is a proper means to express sorrow and grief, and a fit method to dispose our minds towards the consideration of anything that is serious, nature seems to suggest; and therefore all nations, from ancient times, have used fasting as a part of repentance, and as a means to avert the anger of God. ”

“ There is never anything gained by straining for revelation.
Two days and nights is the limit for the Novitiate of the spiritual discipline; after that, sleep and eat to your heart’s content. The Illuminati fast should come at the end of the ten-day fast. If it is taken alone without preparation, it will not do the work that is done at the close of an ordinary fast. Eat at night on the eighth day and then neither eat, sleep nor drink until twelve or three o’clock the morning of the eleventh day. Twelve o’clock is for those who feel unable to go farther. ”

“ Then ʿOmar said, "O Apostle of God, how is it with the man who fasts the whole of the time?" The Apostle of God replied, "There is (for him) neither fast nor breaking of fast," or he said, "He has neither fasted nor broken the fast." ʿOmar said, "How is it with the man who fasts two days, and breaks the fast one day?" He replied, "Is anyone able to do that?" He said, "How is it with the man who fasts one day, and breaks the fast one day?" He replied, "That was the fast of David." He said, "How is it with the man who fasts one day, and abstains from fasting two days?" ”

“ The fast is observed between the hours of four a.m. and sunset. Others less fortunate, who must work through the day, have a hard time. Not a sup of water nor bite of bread will pass their lips until dusk.
It follows that the work suffers. The chairs and tables in my bungalow are thick with dust: the house is untidy and uncomfortable. My servants are fasting. At sundown they come to life, and, after prayer, break their fast. ”

“ And if the fast serve no other purpose than to distinguish the day from ordinary days, by "eating no pleasant bread," yet even this degree of fasting, where no other is admissible, can be, and has been, blessed by God. The rules which I would recommend to one commencing the observance of the church's fasts would be:—1. To abstain, as far as possible, from all mixed society at meals on those days, both as likely to be inconsistent with the frame of mind, which it is the object of the fast to cherish, and as tempting us (were it but to escape notice) to break our rule. ”

“ The great point of achievement during a fast lies in thinking high thoughts and forgetting the demands of the flesh. Don't think of your fast. If you do think say to yourself "this is to develop my will." Breathe plenty of fresh air. Exercise gently and walk. I have seen educated men afraid to go out for a walk during a day's religious fast "lest they should feel hungry." O shame! You can't control a little hunger! You should bathe daily thoroughly early in the morning, fast or no fast. ”

“ A fast of a day or two will be found of great aid, and usually when the first meal is eaten after this fast but little will remain of the cold. Rubbing the skin until the circulation is thoroughly accelerated will be found of advantage. ”

“ Concerning the Watching All the Night of the Great Sabbath, and Concerning the Day of the Resurrection.
XIX. Wherefore we exhort you to fast on those days, as we also fasted till the evening, when He was taken away from us; but on the rest of the days, before the day of the preparation, let every one eat at the ninth hour, or at the evening, or as every one is able. ”

“ In most languages the name given to this fast signifies the number of days—forty; but our word Lent signifies the Spring Fast, for Lenten-tide in the Anglo-Saxon language was the Season of Spring, in German, Lenz.
The six Sundays in the Lenten-tide of forty-six days are not counted in the fast, as all Sundays in the year are reckoned as feast days, because our Saviour arose from the dead on the first day of the week. ”

“ If you have never observed a fast begin with a 24 hour fast. Drink at least 5, if possible, 8 tumblers of pure water at frequent intervals slowly. Keep yourself gently active and occupied the whole day, mentally and physically. ”

“ So here the 14th of Nisan was for the first-born the day of danger, the following night the season of deliverance. Hence the fasting during the day and the feasting in the evening. The day suggests thoughts like the following: Our forefathers were saved from danger: should we deserve to be saved if danger threatened us? Such reflections may have been the origin of the fast of the first-born on the eve of Passover. Some also fast on this day, or at least abstain on it from a full meal, in order to do honour to the festive meal in the evening and approach it with appetite (‏לתיאבון‎) . ”

“ No fasting!”—The people generally pass a great part of this night (when the fast has been proclaimed as commencing on the morrow) in eating and drinking and smoking; and seem as merry as they usually do when released from the misery of the day’s fast. ”

“ The practice of fasting, and of other corporal austerities, is also inculcated; and while in the 102nd and 106th strophes, Sundays and festivals are exempted from the law of fasting, the fast of Lent (strophes 105, 109, and following) , of Advent (strophe 111) , of two fasting days in each week, (strophe 110) , and of the Quarter Tense (strophe 114) , are specially mentioned. We also find an enumeration of the festivals as they are celebrated by the Church even at our day; the Sundays, festivals of the apostles, of noble martyrs, and of all the saints ”

“ The average person imagines that he becomes weak even after missing a meal, and a fast of one day, is supposed to take away all strength. There was never greater error.
On the fourth day of the fast after testing my strength, I concluded to use a fifty pound dumb bell in illustrating my strength on the seventh day of the fast. ”

“ We mustn’t take the easiest day to fast, but the hardest—and that’s Sunday, because, as you say, we mostly have roast beef that day instead of cold ditto. It wouldn’t be much punishment to fast from ditto. ”

“ And when these people fast, as they are supposed to for a whole month, they do not really go without food, but each day at sunset they begin to eat in larger quantity than usual!—because they think by such fasting to gain favour with God and do not know that to fast from sin and evil habits is the fast God wants. ”

“ Morning drew on apace; the air became more sharp and piercing, as its first dull hue—the death of night rather than the birth of day—glimmered faintly in the sky. The objects which had looked dim and terrible in the darkness grew more and more defined, and gradually resolved into their familiar shapes. The rain came down thick and fast, and pattered noisily among the leafless bushes. ”

“ Again, the habit of fasting would naturally be accompanied by some degree of corresponding change in our other habits, which might tend to make it lighter; as of old, when men, e.g., on fast-days, abstained from all unnecessary exercise or fatigue, which might incapacitate the soul from performing its duties aright, unless the body had its usual refreshment. ”

“ Peter’s fast our factory lads would have fish soup, while I would sit a little apart from them and suck a dry crust. Different people have different powers, of course, but I can say of myself I did not find fast days hard, and, indeed, the greater the zeal the easier it seems. You are only hungry on the first days of the fast, and then you get used to it; it goes on getting easier, and by the end of a week you don’t mind it at all, and there is a numb feeling in your legs as though you were not on earth, but in the clouds. ”

“ The Jews observe their passover by juster rules; the day for the celebration of it taking place on different days of the week: but the Christians having fixed on Friday for the celebration of the fast on the death of our saviour, the Easter-day, on the following Sunday, was accommodated to it, and both were so fixed, that there could not be a full moon on the Easter-day, nor for some weeks after it. ”

“ Let the days in excess of the months be placed before the month of fasting. #1628. We have ordained that these ... shall be the manifestations of the letter Há #1629. these days of giving that precede the season of restraint #1630. The traveller ... not bound by the Fast #1631. The traveller, the ailing, those who are with child or giving suck, are not bound by the Fast; they have been exempted by God as a token of His grace. #1632. Abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sundown #1733. It hath been ordained that every believer in God ... shall, each day ... ”

“ From the fact that on Maunday Thursday public sinners were reconciled to the church this week was known as "The Week of Indulgence." But it is most commonly called The Holy Week on account of the holiness of the mysteries celebrated.
2. Observance.—In the early church Holy Week was distinguished by the increased severity of the fast. St. Epiphanius tells us that some Christians observed a strict fast from Monday morning to the dawn of Easter. Many observed this severe fast for two, three and four days. The general practice was to fast from all food from Maunday Thursday to Easter morning. ”

“ Fasting.—Going without food of any kind as a religious discipline and as a help to the spiritual life, especially on the great Fasts of the Church. The Homily on Fasting says: "Fasting is found to be of two sorts; the one outward, pertaining to the body; the other inward, in the heart and mind. The outward fast is an abstinence from meat, drink and all natural food, for the determined time of fasting ”

“ At one o’clock I always make a short halt with Robert and Rehim Ali to read the meteorological instruments. The journal is kept by Robert with the greatest care. I draw a panorama and take bearings, while our horses stray about grazing. We take no food at that time, for we eat only twice a day—at eight o’clock in the morning and six in the evening. Yet the short mid-day rest is very welcome. 143 We are by that time thoroughly frozen; we can more easily keep ourselves warm on the ground than in the saddle, where we are fully exposed to the wind. ”

“ INSTRUCTION ON LENT.
What is the origin of fasting?
Under the Old Law the Jews fasted by the command of God; thus Moses fasted forty days and forty nights, on Mount Sinai, when God gave him the Ten Commandments; Elias, in like manner, fasted in the desert. Jesus also fasted, and commanded His apostles to fast also. The Catholic Church, says St. Leo, from the time of the apostles, has enjoined fasting upon all the faithful. ”

“ When seven days are past, from the beginning of the fast, then they often do either go to their churches or keep themselves at home and use often prayer; and for that seven nights they eat nothing but herbs; but after that seven night fast is once past, then they return to their old intemperance of drinking, for they are notable toss-pots. As for the keeping of their fasting days, they do it very straitly, neither do they eat anything besides herbs and salt fish as long as those fasting days do endure; but upon every Wednesday and Friday, in every week throughout the year, they fast. ”

“ Every hour differs from the last. There is a time just between three o’clock and five when all the vibrations of the earth change. It seems the good-bye of the night and the awakening of the day. Day holds night in some subtle, lingering embrace that will not let go until the very gray of the dawn drives the reluctant darkness from the earth. ”

“ The only time that one could get a breath was about five o’clock in the morning; in the middle of the day the sun’s rays are white-hot needles,—this is the only way that I can express it; and even if one carries an umbrella, the heat pierces directly through. ”

“ When we assemble in the morning at breakfast, we make daily a fresh start. Any dreams, amusing or peculiar, are related and laughed over. Theories as to whether we shall eventually drift northeast or northwest are brought forward and discussed. Seals’ livers as a change of diet are pronounced a success. The temperature of the morning watch is inquired into, the direction and velocity of the wind, and if it is snowing (as it generally is) we call it a ‘fine summer day.’ After breakfast, we smoke. Chipp gets a sounding and announces a drift east-southeast or southeast, as the case may be. ”

“ After one has taken many fasts, our several bodies become accustomed to the new action and reaction, and the new demands made upon them cannot throw them out of harmony or allow them to over-intensify in any of their sensations.
The Illuminati Fast is fast from food, water, emotional stimulus (sex) and sleep.
There are many who learn to fast from food more easily than from drink or sleep. It is as important to fast from drinking as it is to fast from food. All the fluids of the body must be withdrawn and the blood current depleted as far as possible. ”