SC - Fast Days

[mermayde at juno.com]

Ok, I looked up in "Fast and Feast" by Henisch, and here is what she says
about fast days:
"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
Wednesday 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 Wednesdays 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 5th Century AD,
the Church had added a fourth occasion, in February or March.  The days
always retained 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 harvsting.  
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
betweent he 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 plants shoot up, men fast 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 in re-reading this while typing, that these concepts ring
true for me today.  I work in a health food store, and we sell colon and
system cleanses.  The company that makes the best one recommends doing it
4 times a year.  To me, it makes sense to do it right after Christmas,
right after pollen season (early summer) and sometime in September.  I
had never imagined that here I was, falling into a routine that is not
only Period, but agricultural as well.  My, my.  
Christianna
amazed at the way the world comes round in circles, again and again
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