SC - Fast Days

[mermayde at juno.com]

Ok, I looked up fast days in "Fast and Feast" by Henisch, and here is
what she has to say:
"In each week, there were three fast days, of which the most strictly
observed was Friday, in memory of the Crucifixion.  To this were added
Wenesday and Saturday; Wenesday because it was the day when Judas
accepted money for his promise to betray Jesus; Saturday because it was
the day consecrated to Mary and the celebration of her virginity. 
Society was encouraged to observe these days,  although, as with all
fasts, the very old, the very young, the very sick, and the very poor
were held excused.  There were of course exceptions.  St. Nicholas showed
his holiness early in life by refusing to take his mother's milk more
than once on Wenesdays and Fridays:  'Seint Nicholas... so  yong to Crist
did reverence'.  
Four times a year these ordinary weekday fasts on Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday were observed with special seriousness;  early in Lent, just
after Pentecost, in September, and in December during Advent.  At these
punctuation points in the year, the days were called Ember Days.  The
Church took over and adapted the Roman practice of holding ceremonies to
ask the gods for help with the farm year.  In June the Romans prayed for
a good harvest; in September for a good vintage, and in December for a
good seed-time.  By the fifth century A.D., the Church had added a fourth
occasion, in February or March.  The days always retain their links with
the farm cycle, and in the services designed for them the lessons are
shot through with the imagery of sowing, reaping, and harvesting.  
The Church, however, was only partially concerned with the fruits of the
earth.  Its principal interest was in the fruits of the soul, and so the
idea of harvest in the field became overlaid with that of spiritual
harvest.  An early fifteenth century sermon by John Myrc, commenting on
the significance of the Ember Days, draws the necessary parallels between
the seasons of the earth and the soul.  In March, cutting winds dry up
the sodden soil and make it workable;  the fast will cleanse and ready
the soul.   In summer, as the plants shoot up, men fst to make their
virtues grow.  In September, men hope to gather in a harvest of good
works;  in December, as the shriveling cold kills off the earth's weeds,
the fast kills off the weeds of vice. " 

It strikes me as I sit here typing this in, that this holds true for me
today.  I work in a health food store, and we sell many colon and system
cleanses.  The company that makes the best one recommends doing a
cleanse/fast 4 times a year.  For me, that works out best (roughly 3
times a year) as right after Christmas, right after pollen season (early
summer), and sometime in September.  Little did I know that I have fallen
into a pattern that is not only in period, but tied in with the
agricultural seasons as well. My, my. 
Christianna
who is constantly amazed at the way things come around in circles, again
and again
___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================