On the Lenten Fast II

Of him, that is, of the holy Mar Jacob. A memra, the second, on the holy fast of forty days. The sweet fruits of the fast I have plucked from the teaching. The Lord of the Church, accept my offering upon your altar. Distinct signs of humility have come to my knowledge. And behold, I distribute them to her near ones, that they may be arranged by you. The fast, in its love, has given leave to the discourse to speak concerning it. For your glory, Jesus, all my words, while I worship, I come. The sacrifice that follows me, I will speak of it righteously. Let my word be a sweet garland in the house of mercy. Because the fast is the beauty of righteousness. It has moved the tongue to be transformed by you into your praise. Give me audience, lovers of the life of its statutes, That before you I may introduce the account of all that life. Many have been wearied by spiritual virtues; Run now, lest poverty overtake you. Many have been deprived of good things because they were not adorned; Be aroused now and open the door to beauties. Many have heaped up excessive foods; Fast days that are not dipped in filth are for you. Many have run with the body in its old age; Seek now the life of the soul, that it may be called to come. Many have loved bodily things to their harm; In spiritual things, a little blood is found.

Very sweet from the food of all the feast it is. But now in the light fast, it is not honored. Behold, the foods and tastes have been given over to corruption. To where do the runners run diligently, when there is no contest? The whole race of the belly has taken her and she has been corrupted in it. Sheol it is that devours all the delights that are given to her. The whole year she gives the body all its labor. But now give the soul something that will be chosen in it. The tastes of the body have increased and have been corrupted and become a feast. But now taste the fast, which is never corrupted. If the body is a partner to the soul, to where does it overcome her? And the whole race of diligence, it is that takes it. Clothing that is soft, bread that is fine, and wine that is pleasant, meat and oil and tastes that are excessive. O desire of the house of the body, standing before the soul: Rise, show us that you divide in righteousness. Two partners seek from you their portions. Divide, judge in righteousness, if you are just. You have given all the leisure to the body with its pleasures, and the soul is left and has no portion in the midst of the divisions. To the body you have increased all beginnings, all refreshments, all delicacies, all foods of delights. With pleasant, joyful, sweet, and pleasant scents the whole year, and the soul is oppressed, and though she is a partner, she is not considered.

O divider, who has given much to the body, what do you do, O man? Give to the soul its own portion, so that it too may live. The whole year has oppressed it and deprived it of the virtues. Righteous fasting, give to the soul its provisions. For even now it is the month of Lent, which is separated from the entrances. It is not with the soul, which has a work that is indestructible. In this time without bonds and without reapers, establish it, weary one, in the fast that enriches the poor through it. On the day when the time ceases for bodily labors, establish the soul upon the good deeds that it may perform. On the day when all laborers rest from work, arise, repentant ones, and enter the entrances of righteousness. Come, O will, divide and equalize between the two brothers, and as to the body, give to the soul what is fitting for it. In summer, both of them run to the field diligently; set for the soul its portion, that it may receive from the entrances. The portion of the soul, give to the ascetics and the solitaries, and satisfy the hungers, so that you may be upright, O man, when you divide. It is not fitting that the work of the soul be with its partner, that it be oppressed by the necessities that are sought for it. To the spiritual ones, it desires to clothe itself in completeness with it; from the expenditures of the body, spare and let go, that it may perform. The soul rejoices that the body is restrained from its foods, and from its drink it is satisfied by its fast for all the ascetics.

O body, bend your neck and labor with her, the soul that desires to preserve life for you and for her. Cast her yoke upon your neck and work all good deeds. It is fitting that her labor, all of it, should not be wasted. Not only does the soul desire wealth for her companion, for within her her course is swift, hastening through the virtues. O soul, resist your companion, run with her, do not give her rest, which is accustomed to pleasures. The teacher is harsh with the child who must learn what is necessary for him, and when he loves him, he does not let him go astray. Subdue your disciple so that he does not wander from your teaching, so that when he falls from discipline, he does not also drag you down. Do not give him pleasures for the body that do not benefit him, let him be enslaved, so that he may gain a good reputation. This is love, that you do not let him be idle in pleasures, give him labor so that through struggles he may find life. For because of his love, the teacher guides the child who must learn, and he chastises him while loving him so that he may become wise. If he is merciful and cherishes him and does not teach him, the one who helps him will do him harm while loving him. The child desires to eat and drink and be merry, and if the teacher gives him his desire, it will be a loss. The body desires to take pleasures with delights, do not give it its desire to indulge, lest it be destroyed.

Give it fasting, and deprive it of its pleasant indulgences. For it is better than bread; hunger is profitable and restrains it. O body, bend your neck towards the soul, and listen to her good counsels and act upon them. Go after the soul that loves beautiful things. If you listen to her, your beauty will flourish in the abode of the angels. Walk with her who loves the heights, to the firmament. Ascend from the dust of her who desires to dwell in heaven. Your clay is heavy; if you give your hand to the soul, it is easy for her to raise you from the pit to the kingdom. Your body is a help; if it obeys you, she will come with you. In a ruined garment, both you and she are destroyed. Have mercy on the beauty of the prayerful one, that it not be destroyed, and go with her in beautiful things, and take counsel with her. If she gives you fasting to eat, do not reject it; accept and rejoice, for the crown that you can obtain through it is great. If she withholds food from you, do not be distressed, for your invitation is to the king's table through her self-denial. If she wearies you with great vigil and prayers, be vigilant, so that you may be a companion to the heavenly ones. In all the labors of righteousness, give her your hand, so that you may find with her all spiritual beauties. O will of soul and body, through which they are commanded, you are sovereign over good things and over evil things.

Body and soul, listen to me, obedient in their ways. You, O one, see that they perform beautiful works. Arise, O will, command like a king over the forces. Body and soul hear you and do not resist you. If you wish, the partners triumph in their deeds. And if you delay, the entire body is left to ruin. O fasting, your will is what guides you. Love victory, and in all things you can attain it. While there is time, give a hand to righteousness. Work good deeds that will be found for you like treasures. It is yours to love fasting and abstinence. And if you wish, you can uproot all debauchery. It is easy for you to eat, and easy to fast, if you desire. Desire fasting with humility, and behold, it is pleasant to you. Nature is pliable and gives way to all changes. And the more you constrain it, the more strength it has to receive. It can even ascend to heaven if it is purified. And it can descend to the abyss if it is prepared. As you follow it, it has the power to perform beautiful works. And if it is healed, it stands and sleeps beside the supports. If you awaken it, behold, it has become a companion to the heavens. And if you provoke it, it lies down on the dust and is consumed by its earth. O fasting, awaken your soul righteously, so that as you desire, you may work for righteousness.

Very easy is righteousness for him who loves her. And from small deeds he gathers and heaps her up. Quickly he extends bread to hunger and satisfies it. Quickly he supports the one who is in need and helps him. He hastens to have mercy on the poor and is justified by it. And again he is grieved for the stranger and does not rest. There is also a time when he acts for the one who is in need. And without anything he looses his desire by means of his gift. Quickly he separates the one who guards his soul from foods. And when he does not lack, he sees wine and does not drink it. He guards his soul from oaths, and it is easy for him. It is a habit for you, and without labor it would be true. He restrains his mouth from the cravings of his limbs. And a vain word is not used by his lips. He binds his love to the gate of the house of divinity. And every day he seeks healing from the physician who heals him. He fears greatly from spiritual stumbling-blocks. And he seeks profit in his petitions and his revelations. A small sin is for him a great stumbling-block if it befalls him. And he flees from it as from a pit of snakes. And every small profit that he can seize, he seizes for himself. And as if it were something great, he rejoices when he gains it. He who loves righteousness, thus he is zealous, that even the wink of an eye he guards from stumbling-blocks. By small things he heaps up and does righteousness, until it becomes a high mountain that rises from the earth.

Also the bee, little by little from the flowers, gathers and makes a sweet honey that fills the comb. She does not delay, for even from thorns and from shoots she collects and takes what is needed for her task. Every day she toils so that each day she may add to her surplus. And from the petals, little by little, she builds up her own self. Not from a great treasure does she take and fill her store, but by labor from the scattered blossoms of all the flowers. A little today, a little the next day, small from small, and what she has gathered becomes much through her diligence. Righteousness resembles the bee in its manner: little by little she gathers a person from deeds. If idleness took the bee, so that it might feed on thorns and not find shoots, and its work would be cut short because there is labor in its tasks, and it would feed on honey that scatters over the fields, and seek rest instead of the fruits of the regions, it would not be gathering that sweetness which it gathers. (The bee is the image of righteousness.) And whoever is diligent, like the bee, gathers it. He knows how to make use of small things when they are available, and to this one he gives, and to that one he distributes, and to that one he warms. And when a needy person who goes around meets him, he leaves him and passes on, and from what he has, he gives to the passerby and does not turn him away.

Also the bee, little by little from the flowers, gathers and makes a sweet honey that fills the comb. She does not delay, for even from thorns and from shoots she collects and takes what is needed for her task. Every day she works without fear, and without deceit she does not consider it a sin to rest. And she begins her fast with all kinds of reasons, acting wisely, and for the sake of her friends she drinks wine out of love for them. And the boundaries of her fast she loosens in her simplicity, and she sleeps and is at ease, and it is no sin for her, as she supposed. And with a small excess she is angry and does not cease, and from that great one her love is cut off and she does not desire it. Little by little all righteousness is spread out, and no one who is angry at her deeds can stop it. She is not gathered like the bee that gathered herself, with small things, and behold she is praised in a great assembly. Righteousness stands in truth, and no one who is angry can flee from it and not overtake it. Behold, the days for righteousness are for the faster, that you may find and gather that sweetness which fills the life. The good news is fearful, and the workers rejoice in their divisions, and the revelation of the face follows the fear of the great day. Run in the fast like a diligent one who seeks his life, so that when the resurrection shows itself, joy may be. Fast for the sinner, so that in his drunkenness he may rejoice with him, so that for the fasters it may come and shine in their crowns. On his great day, when the revelation of the face is sought, how can he rejoice except he be mourned with the fasters?

In that season which makes glad the faces of all who are fasting, what more can you find in it, that you are now rejoicing? When all the pleasures are given to all the fasters, what do you take, if not from the day of fasting itself? For the feast comes in its order to the place where it is not, but it does not come to rest with the fasters. If the pain of the solitary one does not pain you, neither does his feast give you cause to be glad in it. The great day that comes to gladden all the fasters, what gladness will it bring you, if fasting does not fill you? When the Gospel gives the reward of the virtues, what will it give you, unless you have kept yourself righteous? Give to fasting the labors and the strivings of righteousness, so that you may go and find at its completion a great crown. The crown of fasting is its completion, that of the solitary one, and unless you fast, you are also a stranger to the crown. Fasting and vigil and prayers, together with alms, like spears enter the sinner when he is armed. Fasting goes and comes with the resurrection of the solitary one, what will it cast at him, unless you fast righteously? While there is fasting, gather from it all the spears, so that when the sinner sees you on his day, he will rejoice at your way. Like the bee, gather flowers from your alms, so that at the feast you may bring a basket with you.

Righteousness is a sweet taste in the great feast. Go with it, and if not, sin will not rejoice in you. When the fasters enter before him in their ranks, and each one forgets his month and his fast and his abstinence. When the alms in his feast shine like stars, you, how will you enter if darkness is in your deeds? When the virgins are purified for his tomb in their whites, and the disciples in their good scents and their branches. On the great morning of the lights, the faces of all the fasters, with open faces, he is first to follow his reward. Run to the gospel like John the swift, and see the resurrection while you are not yet separated from sorrow. Put on the resurrection, a garment woven from righteousness, that you may be beautiful like the angels in their whites. Prepare and make ready for yourself glorious waters for the great feast: a pure fast and righteousness full of beauties. Who gives you to rejoice spiritually in the feast, if you are not with the fast physically? Rise, be adorned with prayers and with alms, and with the virtues that follow the fast from the fasters. In his rank, each one should guard himself from the stumblings, for the fast of the interior is what each one seeks in the good things. Fast, O shepherd, for your flock and for yourself, and through prayers bear the burden of the whole church.

Also the poor enter into the fast, and the whole multitude of the streets; and in idleness they keep the seasons from the proud. The covenant of the ascetic runs after holiness; for without her he cannot see the Lord, for he has not the strength. The fast of the old man who has bent and diminished the measure of his years; the remnants of life that remain to him are pleasing to the Lord. The fast of the youth who has grown weary of youth and seeks rest; and for the downfall he is very ready, you will see his self. The young men, fast, for the hardness of the yoke of youth is severe; and if the fast does not bend her, the error of her excess will not. The old men, in the fast, prepare your ranks; and in purity, adorn God and your elders. Beautiful is the fast for virgins and for the humble; for it gives to Esther beauty that she may conquer among the beautiful. Also the widow who has buried her husband, the fast will have mercy on her; for it brings her near to God, that he may be her husband. The fast of the orphan who has lost his father, while he is afflicted; for the father of orphans who will fill his lack. The fast of the farmer for his field and for himself; that the entrance may be guarded and the self from the proud. The fast helps also the merchant who travels the road; that with his merchandise he may acquire all the spiritual gains. The fast profits also the rich in alms; that they may open the doors of mercy that receive them in their shadows.

The fast is fitting also for the poor man whose belly is hungry, for his hunger is by his own will, and he fasts for his God. Many solitaries fast in the kingdoms, for whom the table is fair and the banquet also is splendid. The sinner fasts, whose debt is great and beyond his strength, so that he may be able to pay a little of his bond. The righteous man fasts, that he may add beauty to his righteousness, for as he ascends, he is on a step to the height above. The penitent fasts, who offers up what pains the tormentors, and he becomes one who cares for all his wounds, which are healed in him. In this fast, also the virgins and the saints fast, for in it the Son of the Virgin fasted for our sakes. Married couples fast, and with alms they come together, and when the pure one is good, they honor the bed of partnership. Also the strong man, if he fasts, is not overcome, for he repels pain by fasting and grows strong from it. It would not be lacking if also the harlot fasted, for the fast can humble the impudence of the shameless. All ranks, in their orders and in their degrees, every man honors the fast, full of benefits, in its ordinance. Much beloved is righteousness among many, and it has the power to take up all its demands every day. Blessed are the rains, each one of them, and the blessings from them, and what is gathered becomes a treasure that cannot be exhausted.

From many fasts a great fast is gathered, and through the prayers of the whole people the fast is fitting. The bride of light asks for mercy from all her children, that from every mouth prayer may increase and be heard. As though the fasts were saying from the cloud, and it becomes a custom that cannot be passed over because of its greatness. In the multitude of eloquent mouths there is one doxology, and it asks and receives and is not hindered by the judge. In all fasts and in all vigils the fast acts, and in every mouth it calls its Lord richly. To the fast of every person it gathers and makes a great fast, which resembles that river which was gathered from the fasts. Come, fasters, gather and complete your portions, that the great fast may be in the gathering of the daughter of the lights. The beauty of the bride is the fast, splendid from many, and her benefit and her vigil and her prayers are like pains. Her soul guards itself from food in the virginity of light, that at the end of the fast the gluttonous sinner may eat. All the tasters are washed and satisfied and made drunk by her, but unless he eats, the daughter of the day is not refreshed. On account of this she fasts and diminishes her soul, the daughter of the refections, that what she eats may be kept from vanity. By the fast the bride leads the gluttonous sinner to forgetfulness, and behold she makes him dwell with peoples and worlds that he may eat.

The fast in its love and upon the ladder of its ascent from it, it eats. Its error is the bread in its desire of the sinner who is hostile to it. Where have you seen the bride who eats the sinner at any time? Or the virgin who has set her dowry upon the table? Desire, mercy, she fasted, she hungered, she drew near, she ate. She delighted, she heard, she entered, she inherited the treasure of the father. In the fast she saw him when he was contending with the archangel. She fasted with him, and the sacrifice became the portion of her limbs. His desire in the wilderness over her replacement was contending. And behold, she is beseeching that she may eat and be satisfied from the beautiful one. The fast is pleasant for the Church, the dowry of the Only-begotten. And at its conclusion she sees the sinner in great glory. Behold, the fasters for your feast, O son of God, are in need, that you may bring your abundance from your treasure house to the forty days. Accept our fast and make your abundance to be upon our lands. Glory to the mercies that sent you to the earth that we may be watered by you. The end of the second memra on the fast.