In mediam hebdomadam jejuniorum

On the Middle Week of the Fasts. Blessed is God, who has granted to the contestants of the fast even to behold the middle prize of continence. For behold, we stand at the gates of the middle contests of the fast; behold, the midpoint of the struggle lies before us. Come then, taking courage in Christ the umpire, let us dare even the second wrestling-matches of the fast. We have already, by the grace of the Lord, ascended halfway up the ladder that leads to heaven; let us consume not only half of our sins, but the whole. We have now drawn near to the prizes; let us therefore persevere in the contests. For the rewards of the contests of continence already shine, the crowns of the athletic sweats gleam, the prizes of the struggles are set forth from heaven, which Christ the umpire awards to the victory of the contestants. From heaven he nerves us for the vigor of the fast, and from heaven he promises to give gifts to the athletes of the fast. Let us not, then, be faint-hearted toward the struggles, so that we may reach the city of the crowned victors of the fast. For the nurslings of the fast traverse heaven, heaven embraces the imitators of the angels, since the polity of those who fast is heavenly. For fasting transfers men from earth to heaven, leads them up to the order of the angels, makes easy the journey from earth to heaven, and sets them before the heavenly king himself, supplying the enjoyment of immortal goods. For the marvel of our contest, brothers, is strange.

For children are anointed alongside men, women contend with men, and the weak nature of females is emboldened for the contest. The arena of the fast is free for all who wish. For Christ sits as a bountiful judge of the contest. Let us hasten also to the middle contest of the fast; let no one disgrace this spiritual contest; let no one desert these spiritual contests. For the enemy has been stripped of his boldness, the greater part of the battle has been taken away, he has been conquered by the judgment of God, he has been enslaved in defeat, he has been driven out through fasting, he has been cast to the ground, laughed at by infants, receiving from them a reproach as a funeral song of shame. Therefore, let no one falter, beloved, upon reaching the middle of the fast; let no one be negligent of the middle contests; for our valor is his downfall. If anyone competes sluggishly, he strengthens that enemy; if any of you fights weakly, he gives nerve to that enemy. Let us therefore stand for the contest bravely, so that the adversary may fall more greatly. Let us flee the desire for foods; let us endure for a short time, so that we may receive an immortal grace. For Adam ate, and was condemned to death; Elijah fasted, and was entrusted with the keys of heaven; Noah drank, and his mind was changed; Enoch exercised, and was translated by angels; Pharaoh was sated, and was drowned in the sea with his chariots; Moses fasted, and crossed the sea, becoming a builder of new walls from the liquid substance of the waters, and having prepared the people to travel on a strange land, he led them across the sea with a plastered foot.

Eve partook of forbidden food, and all from her are handed over to death. The Lord born of Mary abstained from lawful food, and freed all from the condemnation of death. The tree in paradise was a taste of death. For on the day you eat from it, God says, you will die by death. The tree of the cross is a flight from death; for from there immortal life flowed. From the cross to paradise the thief passed, exchanging death for life. The fruit of the tree of envy in paradise was the eating; and the abolition of envy is the partaking of the fruit of the cross. If Adam had fasted, he would not have been condemned to death, he would not have been exiled from untiring delight, he would not have been subjected to corruption. For divine Scripture says that God created man for incorruption; but through the envy of the devil death entered the world. But Christ came, our peace, and having dissolved the partition wall of the fence, he nailed the enmity in his flesh, the record of sin, to the cross, invalidating the death warrant against us. And Paul cries out: Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us. Let us therefore, as far as we are able, repay the benefactor, beloved; let us serve the one rich in mercy with small coins.

Our Master was crucified for us; let us nourish the poor man created in his image. He communed with death to free us from death; let us, for his sake, snatch our fellow men from deadly famine with small coins. For it is he, he himself, who receives what is given through the poor. Do not, then, O man, pass by the poor man stretching out his hand, looking away to the Master who receives through him; but let the poor man's hand be for you a censer set out in the marketplace. For it has, instead of fire, the coals of famine that melt away. Let us therefore throw in two obols instead of incense, and fill heaven with fragrance, so that we may hear from the heavens: "Inasmuch as you did to one of these little ones, you did to me," Christ crying out. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.