E
Elizabeth3
Guest
I was reading the journal of Egeria, written approx. in the year 380, of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land and her description of how the early Christians celebrated the Liturgical Year.
I loved her description of the fast that the sect of people called apotactitae would keep during Lent and how each person did what they could without judgement from others. I thought I would share it here, just in case one worries about whether their Lenten sacrifices are too much or too little. It’s interesting to see how it was regarded way back in the year 380.
She writes
"For the custom here is that all who are apotactitae, as they call them here, whether men or women, eat only once a day on the day when they do eat, not only in Quadragesima, but throughout the whole year. But if any of the apotactitae cannot keep the entire week of fasting as described above, they take supper in the middle (of the week), on the fifth day, all through Quadragesima. And if any one cannot do even this, he keeps two days’ fast (in the week) all through Quadragesima, and they who cannot do even this, take a meal every evening.
I loved her description of the fast that the sect of people called apotactitae would keep during Lent and how each person did what they could without judgement from others. I thought I would share it here, just in case one worries about whether their Lenten sacrifices are too much or too little. It’s interesting to see how it was regarded way back in the year 380.
She writes
"For the custom here is that all who are apotactitae, as they call them here, whether men or women, eat only once a day on the day when they do eat, not only in Quadragesima, but throughout the whole year. But if any of the apotactitae cannot keep the entire week of fasting as described above, they take supper in the middle (of the week), on the fifth day, all through Quadragesima. And if any one cannot do even this, he keeps two days’ fast (in the week) all through Quadragesima, and they who cannot do even this, take a meal every evening.
- For no one exacts from any how much he should do, but each does what he can, nor is he praised who has done much, nor is he blamed who has done less; that is the custom here. For their food during the days of Quadragesima is as follows:–they taste neither bread which cannot be weighed, nor oil, nor anything that grows on trees, but only water and a little gruel made of flour. Quadragesima is kept thus, as we have said. "