De quadragesima
The Call to Lenten Observance
The Church initiates the Lenten season as a response to divine calling and a period of sacred abstinence.
Lent begins on the Sunday when the chant "He called to me" is sung, where the Church, having been pressed by so many tribulations, had cried out: "They have surrounded me, etc." And afterward, it found relief by calling for help, saying: "Arise, etc." And: "Be to me a protecting God, etc." Now it shows that it has been heard, saying: "He called to me." Etc. It should be noted, however, that Lent contains forty-two days when the Sundays are counted; when the six Sundays are subtracted from these, thirty-six days of abstinence remain, which are a tenth of the whole year. For the year has three hundred sixty-five days, of which thirty-six are a tenth, but the four preceding days are added so that the sacred number of forty days may be fulfilled, which the Savior consecrated by His own fast. However, there are three reasons why we observe the fast for this number of days. The first is Augustine's, since Matthew sets forth forty generations of Christ.
The Symbolism of Forty Days
The number forty is explored through the lenses of Christ's generations, the elements of the body, and the necessity of fulfilling the Law.
The Lord descended to us during this forty-day period so that we might ascend to Him in that same span of forty days. He provides another reason, saying: we add ten to the forty to reach fifty, because to arrive at blessed rest, we must labor throughout the entire time of this present life. This is why the Lord stayed with His disciples for forty days, and on the fiftieth day, He sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Master Praepositivus provides a third reason in his Summa on the Offices, saying: the world is divided into four parts, the year into four seasons, and this is built upon the four elements and the four temperaments; we have transgressed the new law, which consists of the four Gospels, and the old law, which is in the ten commandments. Therefore, the ten must be multiplied by the four so that we might make forty—that is, so that we might fulfill the commandments of the old and new law throughout the entire time of this life. Our body, as we have said, consists of four elements, which also have, as it were, four seats within us: fire rules in the eyes, air in the tongue and ears, water in the genitals, and earth in the hands and other limbs. Therefore, curiosity is in the eyes, scurrility in the tongue and ears, lust in the genitals, and cruelty in the hands and other limbs. The publican confesses these four; because he stands at a distance, he confesses his lust, which is foul, as if to say: 'I don't dare to approach, Lord, lest I stink in Your nostrils.' By not daring to lift his eyes to heaven, he confesses his curiosity; by striking his chest with his hand, he confesses his cruelty; by saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner,' he confesses his buffoonery, for sinners—or rather, gluttons—are accustomed to being called buffoons. That is what Praepositivus says. Gregory also poses three reasons in his homily, asking: why is the number forty kept in our abstinence, if not because the power of the Ten Commandments is fulfilled through the four books of the holy Gospel? In this mortal body, we consist of four elements, and through the pleasures of this same body, we oppose the Lord's commandments. Because, therefore, we have despised the commandments of the Ten Commandments through the desires of the flesh, it is fitting that we afflict that same flesh forty times. From today until Easter, there are six weeks—that is, forty-two days—and when you remove the six Sundays from the abstinence, thirty-six remain. They remain in abstinence, while in truth there are three hundred sixty-five. The year is reckoned by days, as if we are giving a tenth of our years to God.
The Purpose of Our Fasting
The timing of the Lenten fast is explained as a preparation for the Resurrection and a necessary purification before receiving the Eucharist.
So much for Gregory; but why don't we observe our fast at the same time Christ fasted, since He began His fast immediately after His baptism? But since we continue this fast until Easter, Master John Beleth provides a fourfold reason in his Summa on the Office. The first reason is that if we want to rise with Christ, we must remember that He suffered for us, and we ought to suffer with Him. The second reason is so that we might imitate the children of Israel, who left Egypt at that time, and later left Babylon at that same time—which is proven by the fact that both groups celebrated the Passover when they departed. So we, too, by imitating them, fast at this time so that we may deserve to enter from Egypt and Babylon—that is, from this world—into the land of our eternal inheritance. The third reason is that the heat of lust tends to inflame us more during the spring; therefore, we fast especially at this time to restrain the heat of the body. The fourth reason is that we must receive the Body of the Lord immediately after the fast. Just as the children of Israel were afflicted before they ate, and ate bitter wild lettuce, so we too must first be afflicted through penance, so that we may be worthy to eat the Lamb of Life.
Read the original Latin
Quadragesima incipit a dominica, qua cantatur: iuvocavit me, ubi ecclesia, quae tot tribulationibus pressa clamaverat: circumdederunt me ete. , et postmodum respiraverat invocando adjutorium dicens: exsurge etc. et esto mihi in Deum protectorem etc. , nunc ostendit se exauditam, dicens: invocavit me. ete. Notandum autem, quod quadragesima continet XLII dies, computatis dominicis diebus, ex quibus dum sex dies dominicales subtrahuntur, remanent XXXVI dies in abstinentia, quae sunt decima totius anni, Annus enim habet trecentos sexaginta quinque dies, quorum XXXVI sunt decima, sed quattuor dies praecedentes adduntur, ut sacer numerus quadraginta dierum impleatur, quem salvator suo jejunio consecravit. Quare autem in hoc numero jejunium observamus, triplex ratio assignari potest. Prima est Augustini, quoniam Matthaeus XL generationes Christi ponit.
Ad hoc igitar dominus suo quadragenario numero ad nos descendit, ut nos ad eum numero quadragenario adscendamus. Aliam assignat idem dicens: ad hoc ut habeamus quinquagenarium, quadragenario addendus est denarius, quia ad hoc ut veniamus, ad beatam requiem oportet nos toto praesentis vitae tempore laborare. Unde et dominus XL diebus cum discipulis mansit et post decima die spiritum sanctum Paracletum misit. Tertiam assignat magister Praepositivus in Summa de officiis dicens: mundus in quattuor partes et annus in quattuor tempora dividitur et hoc ex quattuor elementis et quattuor complexionibus constituitur et novam legem, quae in qualtuor evangeliis consistit, et veterem, quae in decem mandatis, transgressi sumus. Oportet igitur, ut denarius per quaternarium multiplicetur, ut sic XL faciamus, id est, mandata veteris et novae legis toto tempore vitae hujus impleamus. Consistit quidem corpus nostrum, sicut diximus, ex quattuor elementis, quae et quasi quattuor sedes in nobis habent, nam ignis in oculis, aër in lingua et auribus, aqua in genitalibus, terra in manibus et aliis membris dominatur. n oculis igitur curiositas, in lingua et auribus seurrilitas, in genitalibus voluptas, in manibus et in aliis membris est crudelitas. Haec quattuor confitetur publicanus, quia enim a longe stat, confitetur luxuriam , quae est foetida, quasi dicat: non audeo appropinquare domine, ne in naribus tuis foeteam.
Quod non audet oculos ad coelum levare, confitetur ca-riositatem ; quod manu percutit pectus, confitetur ) crudelitatem; quod dicit: propitius esto mihi peccatori, scurrilitatem, nam scurrae consueverunt vocari peccatores vel potius leccatores. Haec Praepositivus. Gregorius quoque in homilia tres ponit rationes dicens: cur in abstinentia quadragenarius munerus custoditur, nisi quia virtus decalogi per libros quattuor sancti evangelii impletur? In hoc etiam mortali corpore ex quattuor elementis subsistimus et per voluptates ejusdem corporis praeceptis dominicis contrariamur. Quia ergo per carnis desideria decalogi mandata contemsimus, dignum est, ut eandem carnem quaterdecies affligamus. A praesenti quoque die usque ad pascha sex hebdomadae, id est XLII dies veniunt, ex quibus dum sex dies dominici de abstinentia abstrahuntur, XXXVI. in abstinentia remanent, dum vero per trecenlos LXV. dies annus ducitur, quasi anni nostri decimas Deo damus.
Haec Gregorius, Quare autem non observamus nostrum jejunium eodem tempore, quo Ghristus jejunavit, qui statim post baptismum istud inchoavit? Sed cum pascha potius istud continuamus, quadruplex ratio assignatur in Summa de officio magistri Johannis Beleth. Prima est, ut si volumus cum Christo resurgere, pro nobis Christus est passus et uos cum eo pati debemus. Secunda causa est, ut filios Israel imitemur, qui primo eo tempore exierunt de Aegypto, postea eo tempore de Babylonia, quod inde probatur, quoniam tam isti quam illi, quando egressi sunt, celebrarunt pascha. Sic et nos imitantes eos hoc tempore jejunamus , ut de Aegypto et Babylonia, id est, hoc mundo in terram aelernáe hereditatis ingredi mereamur. Terlia causa est, quoniam fervor libidinis in tempore veris magis solet nos accendere; ut ergo refrenemus corporis aestum, in hoc tempore maxime jejunamus. (Quarta est, quia statim post jejunium debemus corpus domini accipere. — Sicut ergo filii Israel priusquam comederent, affligebantur et comedebant agrestes laetucas et amaras, ita et nos debemus per poenitentiam prius affligi, ut digui valeamus comedere agnum vitae.
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