fasting and prophecy in pagan and christian antiquity

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FASTING AND PROPHECY IN PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITY

Author(s): RUDOLPH ARBESMANNSource: Traditio, Vol. 7 (1949-1951), pp. 1-71Published by: Fordham University

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FASTING

AND

PROPHECY IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

By RUDOLPH ARBESMANN, O.S.A.

Fasting

as

a

religious

practice

is

a

world-wide

phenomenon,

and

can

be

found

in

the

religions

of almost all the

peoples

on

earth.

It

cannot

be

traced

back

to

one

common

motive. Nor did

it

come

into existence within

one

single

people

or

religion,

and

spread

from

there to the rest

of

mankind,

but

it

sprang

up

independently

among

completely

different

peoples

and

religions.

Of

course,

as

has

happened

in

every

field

of cultural

life,

transmissions

of

individual

prac

tices

of

fasting

from

one

people

to

another,

from

one

religion

to

another,

took

place.

It is the purpose of this paper to study the literary sources of pagan and

Christian

antiquity

which

deal

with

the

part

played by fasting

in

preparation

for

prophetic

activity,

and

to

determine

the

motives

underlying

the fast

of

the

pagan

and

Christian

prophets.

For

obvious

and

practical

reasons

our

investiga

tion is divided into

two

parts,

the

first

being

concerned with

pagan,

the

second

with

Christian

antiquity.

Since

the

practice

of

fasting

also

occurs

in

other

spheres

of

religious activity,

itwill

not be

superfluous

to

consider

the

role

fast

ing played

in

the

different

religions

as a

whole.

I. Pagan

Antiquity

1.

The

Practice

of

Fasting

in

General

and

Its

Motives1

There

seems

to be

some

difficulty

in

defining

the

limits within which

we

may

still

speak

of

'fasting/

The

technical

terms for

fasting

are,

in

Greek,

,

e e

,

e

a,

in

Latin,

ieiunus,

ieiunare,

ieiunium.2 The

etymology

of

<

IE

*ne~ed-t-is

leaves

no

doubt

that,

in

the

strict

acceptance

of

the

term,

e a

means

a

complete

abstention

from

food

and drink.

Though

the

ety

mology

of

ieiunus,

etc.,

has

not

yet

been

explained

satisfactorily,3

the

identical

meaning

of

e e

and

ieiunare

is

well

established because

Arnobius4

trans

lates the well-known synthema in the ritual

of

the Eleusinian mysteries, pre

1

In addition

to

the

conventional

sigla,

abridged

references

will

be used

for

the

following

publications:

AAA=.4c?a

Apostolorum

Apocrypha,

ed.

R. A.

Lipsius

and

M.

Bonnet,

2

vols.

Leipzig

1891-1903.

?

BKV=zBibliothek

der

Kirchenv?ter,

ed.

O.

Bardenhewer,

Th.

Schermann

(since

1918

J.

Zellinger),

and

.

Weyman

(since

1933

J.

Martin),

Kempten

and

Munich;

first

series

(1911-1928):

61

vols

and

2

vols of

indices;

second series

(since

1932):

20

vols

;

since

1935

(death

of

Bardenhewer)

ed. Martin

and

Zellinger.

?

Kock=C'omicorum

Atticorum

Fragmenta,

ed.

Th.

Kock,

3

vols,

Leipzig

1880-88.

?

RVV=Religionsgeschicht

liche Versuche und

Vorarbeiten,

founded

by

A. Dieterich

and

R.

W?nsch,

ed. L.

Malten

and

O.

Weinreich,

Glessen

1903-.

2

Cf. R.

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

bei

den Gnechen

und

R?mern,

RVV

21.1

(Glessen

1929)

3ff.;L. Ziehen, ea, PWK 17.1 (1936) 88f.

3

Cf.

A.

Walde,

Lateinisches

etymologisches

W?rterbuch,

3rd

edit,

by

J.

.

Hofmann,

1

(Heidelberg

1938)

674f.

4

Adversus nationes

5.26

(ed.

A.

Reifferscheid,

CSEL

4.198).

1







2

TRADITIO

served

by

Clement

of

Alexandria:5

e

e

a,

e

r?v

e

a,

by:

'ieiunavi

atque

ebibi

cyceonem.'

Since, however,

such

a

complete

abstention

for

an

extended

period

of time is

not

possible

for

human

nature,

it is

replaced

by

partial

abstention. As

a

result,

both Greek

and

Latin

terms

can

also be used

in

a

less

strict

sense,

and

some

times

signify

not

a

complete

abstention

from food

and

drink

but

the act

by

which

man

diminishes

the

total

quantity

of

food consumed

or

denies

himself

certain

customary

kinds

of

food.

Both

pagan

and Christian

writers

mention

especially

bread,

meat

and wine.

Thus

Cornutus6

uses

the verb

e e

for

the

abstaining

from

the

'gifts'

of

Demeter: e o* e . . . a a e a a e e

a

a

w'a

.

Christian

writers also

employ

e e

in

a

less

strict

sense.

St.

Cyril

of Jerusalem7

addresses his

catechumens:

e

e

y?p

re

a

e

a

e

e

.

In

the

apocryphal

Acts of

Thomas,8

the

apostle's

ascetic

mode

of

life

IS

described

as

follows:

e

y?p

e

e

a

e

e a

,

a

a

e

e

e

a

a

a

,

a

a

.

In

prescribing

the

practice

of

xerophagy9

for

the whole

season

of

Lent,

canon

50

of

the

Council

of Lao

dicea10

applies

the

verb

e e

to

this

particular

kind

of

partial

fasting:

e

a

a

e a

a

e e

$

a a

.

In

his

treatise

On

Fasting,

?

-

tuUian

mentions

practices

of

partial

fasting

together

with

those

of

complete

abstention,

for instance:

'gulae

frenos imbuentem

per

nullas interdum vel seras

vei ?ridas

esc?s'

or:

'sublati

vel

deminuti

vel demorati

cibi

officia';

and

calls

abstinence

from

certain kinds

of

food

{exceptio

eduliorum

quorundam)

a

partial

fast

(portionale

ieiunium)

.n

That

the

original meaning

of

e e

became less

strict

can

also be

seen

from

the fact

that sometimes

(though

rarely)

it

is

construed

with

a

or

genitive

of

Separation:

e e

Sc

?irb

a

a a

e

a

a

?

a

a

.

2

Similarly

a

genitive

of

qualification

is

sometimes

added

to

ieiunium:

'maxime

cum

apud

illos

[the worshippers

of

Cybele]

ieiunium

pa?is

sagina

carnium

compensetur.'13

5

Protrepticus

2.212

(ed.

O.

St?hlin,

GCS,

Clemens Alexandrinus 1

[2nd

ed.]

16).

6

Theologiae

Graecae

compendium

28

(ed.

C.

Lang, Lipsiae

1881,

p.

55).

I

Cat?ch?ses

4.27

(PG 33.489).

8

Acta

Thomae

20

(AAA 2.2.131).

9

In

Montanism,

the word

'xerophagy'

(<?i7p?s

-f

(pay?v)

became

a

technical

religious

term,

denoting

a

particular

kind of

partial fasting

which consisted in

eating only dry

food.

According

to

Tertullian,

De ieiunio

1

(ed.

A.

Reifferscheid

nd

G.

Wissowa,

CSEL

20.275),

the

xerophagiae,

or

'dry

meals/

of the Montanists

excluded

all

kinds of

meat

and succulent

fruit,

verything

uicy

and with the flavor

of

wine. Cf.

J.

Sch?mmer,

Die altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

mit besonderer

Ber?cksichtigung

der

Schriften

Tertullians

(Liturgiegeschicht

liche

Quellen

und Forschungen 27 [M?nster 1933] 35ff.).

10

Th.

Bruns,

Ca?ones

apostolorum

et

conciliorum

saeculorum

IV.V.VI.VII.

(Berlin 1839)

1.78.

II

De

ieiun.

1;2;9

(274;276;284

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

12

Nilus of

Ancyra,

Ep.

45

(PG 79.552).

13

Hieronymus,

Adversus

Jovinianum

2.17

(PL

23326).







FASTING AND PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

3

Finally,

attention

must

be called

to

the fact that

practices

of

partial fasting

show

the

same

characteristic feature

as

those of

complete

abstention.

In

both

cases

the

emphasis

rests

on

the

very

act

of

eating.

In

the

background

there

always

looms

the

vision of

an

ideal world

in which

man

would

be able

to

live

without

any

earthly

food. Witness the

stories

relating

the wondrous fasts of

men

like

Abaris, Epimenides

and

Pythagoras. According

to

Herodotus

(4.36),

Abaris,

a

legendary

figure

in

Apollo's

company,

carried

the

god's

arrow

about

in

different

countries,

ovSev

e

e

.

Iamblichus

14

likewise

tells

us

that 'he

[Abaris]

was

never

seen

drinking

or

eating anything.'

According

to

a

tradition,

preserved

by Diogenes Laertius,15

Epimenides,

the most

famous of

these

early

seers, purificatory priests and miracle-workers, rec?ived a special kind of food

from the

nymphs,

which made

him

independent

of all

earthly

food.

As

a

result,

he

was

never

seen

to eat.

It is

the

Neo-Platonist

Porphyrius, however,

who

gives

the

most

vivid

expression

to

this

ideal

of

a

permanent

e

a.

According

to

him,

the

philosopher's

goal

of

life

is

god-likeness.

For

this

reason

he

has

no

wants;

it

is

in

the absence of

wants

that his

god-likeness

consists.16

Man,

therefore,

should

not

be

too

greatly

concerned

about

food which

benefits the

body

but

leaves the

soul

to

perish.

If it

were

possible,

man

should

deny

himself

even

the

eating

of

fruit. In

his

all-embracing

spiritualistic

zeal,

Porphyrius

wishes to

be

like the immortal

gods

of

Homer,

who

eat

not

bread

nor

drink

wine.17 In order to

gain

this

end,

he would like to be in

possession

of the

wondrous

a

and

a

^

.18

According

to

the

same

Porphyrius,19 Pythagoras

was

equipped

with

these

powerful

agencies

when

he

entered the

a

a

of the

gods

to

stay

there

as

long

as

possible.

Complete

abstention

was

also

the ideal

present

to

the

minds of

early

Chris

tian

ascetics.

Hagiographers

delight

in

relating

the

long

fasts

of

the

Fathers

of

the

Desert. St. Jerome20 remembers

a

monk who

lived

for

thirty

years

on

barley

bread

and

muddy

water,

and

another who

kept

himself alive

on

five

figs

a

day.

Evagrius

Scholasticus21

mentions ardent

ascetics

whose

food

consisted

of vegetables only, and at that they ate no more than was absolutely necessary

14

De

vita

Pythagorica

141

(ed.

A.

Nauck,

Petropoli

1884,

p. 103).

15

De clarorum

philosophorum

vitis

1.10.114

(ed.

C.

G.

Cobet,

Parisiis

1850,

p.

29f.)

;

cf.

Plutarch, Septem

sapientium

convivium

157D

(ed.

G.

N.

Bernardakis

1.385)

;

De

facie

in

orbe

lunae

490C

(5.457 Bernardakis)

;

E.

Rohde,

Der

griechische

Roman

und

seine

Vor

l?ufer

Leipzig

1876)

256f.;

Psyche

(9th

and

10th

ed.

T?bingen

1925)

2.96

n.3;

W.

Capelle,

'Altgriechische

skese/

Neue Jahrb?cher

f?r

das

klassische

Altertum 25

(1910)

683.

16

Porphyrius,

De

abstinentia 3.27

(ed.

A.

Nauck,

2nd

ed.

Leipzig

1886,

pp.

225f.).

17

Ibid.

4.20

(265

Nauck)

;

cf. liad

5.341.

18

De

abst.

4.20

(266

Nauck).

19Vita

Pythagorae

34 (35 Nauck).

20

Vita S.

Pauli

Primi

Eremitae

6

(PL 23.21f.).

21

Historia

ecclesiastica

1.21

(ed.

J. Bidez

and L.

Parmentier,

London

1898,

pp. 29f.)

;

cf.

the

similar

idea in

Johannes

Mandakuni,

Unterweisung

?ber die

Tugend?bung

des

Fastens

?li.

(Ausgew?hlte

Schriften

der

armenischen

Kirchenv?ter

aus

dem

Armenischen

?bersetzt

von

S.

Weber,

BKV

58

[1927]

75f.).







4

TRADITIO

to

sustain

life.

In

his

metrical

homily

on

Simeon

Sty

lites,

James

of

Sarugh22

praises

this saint as the

champion

of all fasters. At all

times,

he

says,

the

just

have fasted

a

certain

number

of

days

or

weeks,

each

one

to

the best of his

ability.

Moses

and

Elias

fasted

forty

days

each.

But

Simeon broke

the

record

of

both combined. James

continues his

praises:

'What

shall

I

say

about

the

fast of this

faster?

I

am

not

able

to

draw

a

picture

because

its

beauty

over

whelms

me.'

In

this connection it is

interesting

to

note

that

the

idea of the

wondrous

a

which

enables

Pythagoras

to forsake

ordinary

earthly

food,

has

its

parallel

in that of

heaven-sent food

by

which,

in

the

early legends

of

monks

and

hermits,

these

holy

people

are

sustained

during

their

long periods

of total abstention from food.23

On the basis of

what

we

have

said,

there

seems

to

be

no

objection

to

taking

the

term

'fasting'

in

a

wider

sense

and

applying

it

also

to

practices

of

partial

abstinence,

as we

have

described them

above.

However,

observances of

special

food

taboos demand

a

different evaluation

because here the

emphasis

does

not

rest

so

much

on

the

very

act

of

eating

as

on

the

particular

kind

of

food

which

is

forbidden.

This

striking

difference between

practices

of

fasting

and ob

servances

of

food

taboos

can

clearly

be

seen

in

the

Attic festival of

the Haloa

where,

in

spite

of

a

long

list of

forbidden

articles of

food,

'much

wine

is served'

during

the

mystic

meal,

and

'the tables

are

richly

furnished

with

all kinds of

food which earth and sea

produce.'24

Such observances and similar ones can

hardly

be

called

practices

of

fasting,

and

though

in

many

cases

both

may

ultimately

go

back to

the

same

motive,

namely,

fear

of demoniac

infection,

a

distinction

must be

made

between

practices

of

complete

or

partial

fasting

on

the

one

hand,

and

mere

dietary

observances

on

the

other.

There

are

still

some

other

points

which

may

prove

helpful

to

our

investiga

tion. What

part

did

fasting play

in

Greek and Roman

religion

as

a

whole? Was

it

a

wide-spread phenomenon

and of

great

importance?

What

can

we

learn

about

the motives

underlying

practices

of

fasting

in

general?

To

begin with,

the material

in the

sphere

of cult

doubtlessly

looks

impressive

at first

sight

and

seems

to

lead

to the

conclusion that

fasting

played

an

im

portant

part

in

the

rituals of

a

number

of cults.

However,

if

we

begin

to sift

the material

and

exclude

all Oriental

and

semi-Oriental

deities,

the

size

of

the

material

decreases

considerably.

As

a

matter

of

fact,

e

a

in

the

strict

sense

of

the

word,

that

is,

complete

abstention from food

and

drink

for

a

fixed

22

Lobgedicht

auf

Simeon

den

Styliten

(Ausgew?hlte

Schriften

der

syrischen

ichter

aus

dem

Syrischen

?bersetzt

von

S. Landersdorf

r,

BKV

6

[1912]

400.).

23

Cf.

P.

Toldo,

'Leben

und

Wunder

der

Heiligen

im

Mittelalter/

Studien

zur

verglei

chenden

Litteraturgeschichte

(Berlin

1902)

90;

R.

Reitzenstein,

Historia Monachorum

und

Historia Lausiaca

(G?ttingen

1916)

121f.;

L. Bieler, E ANHP: Das Bild des

'g?ttlichen

Menschen'

in

Sp?tantike

und

Fr?hchristentum

1

(Wien

1935)

62f.

24

Luci?n,

Sehol.

dial,

meretr.

7.4

(ed.

.

Rabe, Leipzig 1906,

p.

280)

:

E

a a

olv?s

re

tto\?s

e a a

a

e a. ,

a

$

yijs

a a

a

^

a

?

a

a

e

?v

,

potas

<t>Wl

a

a

a a a a a

Tp?yXqs,

,

*\a*

,

a

a?

,

yakeoO.







FASTING

AND PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

5

period,

is found

in

only

one

old, genuinely

Greek

cult,

that

of

Demeter,

where

it

was

prescribed

in

the

ritual of

the

Eleusinian

mysteries25

and the

festival of

the

Thesmophoria.26

To this

we

must add the fast

on

two

festivals

of

Ceres

(-Demeter)

in

Rome,

the

sacrum

anniversanum Cereris

and the

ieiunium

Cereris,

both introduced

at

a

late

date and

in

conformity

with the Greek

ritual.27 Another

striking

fact is

that Greek and Roman

priests

were

not

held

to

any

fast

as

preparation

for

liturgical

functions,

even

sacrifices.

Herodotus

(2.40)

evidently

considers

the

fast

of

the

Egyptian priests

before

offering

a

sacrifice

(

e a

a

Sc

)

a

peculiarity

of that

country.

More

over,

there

is

but

one

established

instance

that

a

Greek

priesthood?that

of

Idaean Zeus inCrete?observed a permanent abstention frommeat,28 and even

in

this

case

foreign,

Egyptian

or

Oriental,

influence

must

be

reckoned with.

In

another

passage,

the

same

Porphyrius29

seems

to

suggest

that

there

were

still

more

priesthoods

where

this rule

was

in

force:

toU

toLvw

?cpc?W

toU

ph

a

,

e

a

a

a

a

?

a

.

However,

Porphyrius'

own

additional remark:

a

tc

^

c0os

?v

re

?a

?a

,

cautions

us

against drawing

hasty conclusions,

let alone the

fact

that

Por

phyrius

wrote

in

a

period

when

Oriental

elements

had

long

since

invaded Greek

religion.

Ziehen30

has also

called

attention

to the fact that

a

sifting

of the

relatively

richmaterial

dealing

with observances of food taboos leads to similar

striking

results.

Of the

Greek and Roman

priesthoods,

only

the

priests

of Poseidon

in

Leptis

and

Megara,

the

priestesses

of Hera

in

Argos

and

Athena

Polias in

Athens,

and the Roman flamen

Dialis

were

subject

to

such taboos.31

The

same

holds

true

regarding

similar

observances

prescribed

for

lay

worshippers

en

tering

sacred

precincts.

If

we

eliminate

all shrines

of Oriental

and

semi

Oriental

deities,

there

remain

only

a

few

inscriptions

from

Delos;

and

here,

too,

as

in the

case

of

Crete,

we

have

to

take

into

account

possible

Eastern

influences.32

No

less

important

is the fact that

the other

inscriptions dealing

with purificatory regulations in old, genuinely Greek cults do not mention one

single

purificatory

prescription

concerning

food, although

they lay

great

stress

on

the

ritual

purity

of the

worshippers,

which

consisted

in their

being

free

from

any

defilement contracted

by

birth, death,

or

sexual intercourse.

Taking

into account

all

the

material

available,

we seem

to

be

justified

in

concluding

that,

at

least

during

the

period immediately preceding

the

age

of

Hellenism,

practices

of

fasting

and observances

of

food

taboos

had

lost

much

of their im

portance

in

the ritual

concerned

with

the

cult of

the

gods,

and

were

revived

25

Cf.

Arbesmann,

Das

Fasten 77ff.

2?

Cf. ibid.

90ff.

27 Cf. ibid. 94f.

28

Euripides

ap.

Porph.

De abst. 4.19

(262

Nauck).

29

Ibid.

4.5

(236

Nauck).

30

PWK

S.V.

e

a.

31

Cf.

the

entire

source

material collected

by

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten 72ff.

32

Cf.

the

source

material ibid. 96f.

;

127.







6

TRADITIO

again

during

the

Hellenistic

period

when

Eastern cults and

mystery-religions

invaded

theWest. Witness

especially

the

mysteries

of

Cybele

and Isis in both

of

which

practices

of

fasting

and observances of food taboos

played

an

im

portant part.33

Next

we

must mention the

a

with

all

its offshoots

and

ramifica

tions

which

were

the

result of

an

uninterrupted

growth

of

many

centuries'

duration.

As

we

shall

see

in

the

course

of

our

investigation,

it

was

in

this

sphere

especially

that

the

practice

of

fasting

was

well established

at

an

early

time

and

never

lost its

importance.

The

same

is

true

concerning

the

a

e

a,

a

field

closely

allied

to

some

types

of

the

a

**

Finally,

fasting

became

a

factor of

considerable importance in some religious movements inwhich it formed a part

of

the

a

,

the latter

meaning

the fixed

and

permanent

mode of

life

required

of

their

followers.

In

this

sense,

it is found in the

? ,35

he

0a

?

9

?

,3*

nd

in

Neo-Platonic circles.37

Turning

to

the

motives

of

fasting,

there

seems

to be

no

doubt

that,

as

among

other

peoples,

there

once

existed

also

in

primitive

Greece the

belief

that the

act

of

taking

food

was

dangerous

because

of

the

fact

that

demoniac forces

could

use

this

opportunity

to

enter into the

human

body

and

produce

destruc

tive

effects.

As

a

precautionary

measure,

primitive

man

employed fasting

or

the

avoidance of

certain

kinds

of food which

were

considered

especially

dan

gerous

or attractive to such

pernicious

forces. In some ancient writers we still

find

the

original

meaning

of

such

fasting

practices

which aimed

at

the

a

a

a

38

This,

at

the

beginning,

merely negative-apotropaeic

aim

could

in

a

further, quite

natural

development

of

the

same

idea,

easily

be

changed

into

a

positive

one.

To

be free from

disturbing

demoniac influences

means

also

to

be

in

the state

of

?yvtia,

'ritual

purity/

which

seems

to

be

necessary

for

a

person

who

wants to

enter

into communion

with

supernatural

forces.

This

purity

is

supposed

to

bring

man nearer

to the

divine,

to endow

him

with

extraordinary,

superhuman powers.39

It

is,

therefore,

required

in

33

For

the

source

material

see

ibid.

83ff.

34

Cf.

ibid.

63ff.

35

Cf. J.

Haussleiter,

Der

Vegetarismus

in

der

Antike,

RW

24

(Berlin 1935)

79-96;

Arbesmann,

Das

Fasten

33;

107f.

36

Cf.

Haussleiter,

Der

Vegetarismus

97-157;

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

33f.;36f.;50f.;

53f.;

59; 103ff.;

. J.

D?lger,

:

Der

heilige

Fisch

in

den antiken

Religionen

und

im

Christentum

2

(M?nster

1922)

342ff.

37

Cf.

Haussleiter,

Der

Vegetarismus

315-56;

Arbesmann,

Das

Fasten

108ff.

38

Cf.

A.

Dieterich,

Eine

Mithrasliturgie

(3rd

ed.

Leipzig

and Berlin

1923)

98f?.;

W.

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus und

die

phrygischen

Kulte:

Eine

religionsgeschichtliche

Untersuchung

(T?bingen

1929)

138f.;

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

21ff.

39Cf. F.

Pfister,

Die

Religion

der Griechen und R?mer

(Leipzig

1930) 121. It is note

worthy,

however,

that in

spite

of

this

positive

element,

the

original

negative

idea,

accord

ing

to

which

pernicious

demoniac forces

are

supposed

to be

kept

off,

appears

again

and

again,

even

in

later writers.

Similarly,

the

use

of

?yv?s,

?yveveiv

with

a

or

genitive

of

separation

(for

instances,

see

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

10)

seems

to

emphasize

not

so

much

the

positive element,

the

strengthening

of

power,

as

the

negative

element,

the

abstention







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

7

preparation

for

magical

intercourse with

supernatural

forces.40

The

magic

papyri,

for

instance,

lay

the

greatest

stress

on

the ritual

purity

of the

magician,

his

assistants,

and

mediums,

and

promise

success

only

if the

magic

action is

per

formed

in

this

state.41

The

prescriptions

dealing

with ritual

purity

in

magic

usually

require

a

longer

or

shorter

period

either

of

complete abstention,

of

abstinence from

certain

customary

articles

of

food

and

drink,

or

at

least

a

fasting

condition.

Very

often

also,

abstention

is

required

from certain

species

of animals

and

plants

which,

according

to

the

doctrine

of

sympathy

and anti

pathy

in

magic,

were

disliked

by

the

gods

because

demons,

belonging

to the

'series'

of

wicked and

impure

divinities,

resided

in

them.42

Also the ea at the festival of the Thesmophoria was a simple and old

fashioned

fertility

magic.

By

sitting

on

the

beds of

willow

twigs

which

were

supposed

to call

into life

the

mysterious

power

of

reproduction

slumbering

in

the womb

of 'Mother

Earth'

and the

women

themselves,43

and

by

keeping

a

day

of

strict

fast,

the

Thesmophoriazusae

aimed

at

warding

off

dangerous

demoniac

influences

and,

at

the

same

time,

intended

to

facilitate

the

entrance

of

the

good

demons of

fertility

into

the

womb

of the earth and

their

own

wombs.44 Likewise

the

e

a

practiced

at

Eleusis

must have been

originally

a

similar

fertility

magic.

This conclusion does

not

seem

to

be

too

far-fetched

if

we

keep

in mind

that the basis of

the

Eleusinian

mysteries

was an

old

agrarian

cult

closely

akin to the

Thesmophoria.45

Both festivals were cele

brated

in autumn

and

aimed

at the

promoting

of

fertility expected

to

issue

from 'Mother

Earth'

who took

the seed

and let it

develop

in her

womb.

It

is

this

simple

idea which

gives

us

the

key

to

an

explanation

of

both festivals

and

their rites.

To

be

sure,

in

a

further

development,

the

Eleusinian

rites

took

on

a

new

significance,

holding

out

to

the initiates

the

hope

of

immortality

and

from,

and

consequently,

the freedom

from

disturbing

influences.

Cf.

F.

Schwenn,

Rev.

of

Arbesmann,

Das

Fasten,

in

Gnomon

6

(1930)

662: 'Neben dem

positiven

Bewusstsein,

durch

Fasten

der

Gottheit

unmittelbar

?hnlich

zu

werden,

findet

sich noch in den

sp?ten

Nachrichten immer

wieder eine

Erinnerung daran,

dass

Fasten

zun?chst

nur

Hemmungen

ausschaltet und

erst

dadurch,

also

auf

einem

Umwege,

zur

Gottheit

f?hrt/

40

Cf.

Arbesmann,

'Fasten

im antiken

Zauber/

Bl?tter

zur

bayrischen

Volkskunde

11

(1927)

48ff.;

as

Fasten 63ff.

41

Cf.

Th.

Hopfner,

Griechisch-?gyptischer

Offenbarungszauber

1

(Leipzig

1921)

?840;

'Mageia/

PWK

14.1

(1928)

359.

42

Cf.

ibid.

361f.;

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus

141;

Hopfner,


Offenbarungszauber

1

??849ff.

opfner

(ibid. ?849)

calls

attention

to

the influence

which

Pythagorean-Orphic

doctrines,

Oriental,

and

especially

Egyptian

ideas exercised

on

the

dietary

rules

found

in Greek

magic papyri.

43

To

the

primitive

mind

the

ideas

of

sowing

and the

shooting

forth

of

the

seed

on

the

one

hand,

and

begetting

and

giving

birth

on

the other

hand,

were

closely

related,

and

women seemed tobe

especially

fittedforthe

performance

of fertility agic. Cf. A. Dieterich,

Mutter

Erde

(3rd

ed.

Leipzig

and

Berlin

1925)

46f. M.

P.

Nilsson,

Greek

Popular

Religion

(New

York

1940)

26.

44

Cf.

Arbesmann,

'Thesmophoria/

PWK,

Zweite

Reihe,

6

(1936)

18ff.

4*

Cf.

Nilsson,

Greek

Popular

Religion

42ff.;

A

History

of

Greek

Religion

(Oxford

1925)

211.







8

TRADITIO

providing

them

with

an

understanding

of

how

life should be ordered

in

a

peaceful

brotherhood

of

man.

These

new

ideas

were

capable

of

making

the

religion

of

Eleusis

the most

venerable

in

ancient

Greece

but

they

were

developed

on

the

foundation

of

the

old

agrarian

cult. As

a

result,

the

time-honored,

old

fashioned

rites

were

preserved

in

their

original

shape

though

the

magical

motive

was

forgotten

by

a

later,

more

enlightened

age,

incapable

of

recapturing

the

naive

state

of mind

of

a

more

primitive civilization,

and

were

elevated into

a

command

of

the

gods

who above all

required

purity

from

their

worshippers.

In the

course

of

time,

aetiological

tales

were

invented

to account for

sacred

rites

the

original significance

of which

was

no

longer

understood.46

The

earliest

example of this exegetical method is the Homeric Hymn toDemeter. We are

told

that,

while

Kore

was

playing

with

her

companions

in

a

meadow

strewn with

flowers,

the

earth

opened

and

Pluto,

the

god

of the

nether

world,

appeared

and

abducted

the Maiden in

his chariot

to

his

subterranean

realm. Her

mother,

Demeter,

wandered for nine

days,

inconsolable and

abstaining

from

food

and

drink,

until she

came

to the

house

of

King

Keleos

in Eleusis. This

fasting

of

the

goddess

is

represented

by

the

poet

as

the

prototype

of

the

e

which

was

prescribed

for

the

candidates

who

aspired

to

initiation into

the Eleusinian

mysteries.47

The train of

thought just explained

is

certainly

applicable

to

a

great

number

of observances

concerning

fasting

and abstinence from certain kinds of food

and

drink.

However,

it

is

by

no means

a

key

fit

for

every

lock.

In

each

case

we

must

ask

ourselves

whether and

to

what

extent

motives

of

another

nature

could have

been

active in

starting

such

an

observance.

Sometimes

we even

have

to

take into consideration

accidental and

more

or

less

arbitrary

motives.

Such

an

observance

seems

to

be the abstinence of the

priestess

of Athena Polias

from homemade cheese whereas she

was

allowed

to

eat

the

imported

type.48

We

cannot offer

an

explanation

for

this

practice

since

exactly

the

opposite

rule also

existed,

namely,

that all

the

foods

imported

from

abroad

were

for

bidden.49 To give one more instance, Aelian50 tells us that, during the siege

of

Tarentum

by

the

Athenians,

the Tarentines

were

in

difficulties

because

of

their

dwindling

food

supplies.

Thereupon

the

inhabitants

of

Rhegium

decided

to fast

every

tenth

day

and

to let the Tarentines have

the food

saved

by

this

4?

Cf.

ibid.

97;

Greek

Popular Religion

63f.

47

Cf.

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten 16.

48

Strabo,

Geographica

9.395

(ed.

A.

Meineke,

2

[ed.

stereot.

Leipzig

1907]

558).

49

Porphyrius,

e abst. 4.7

(238

Nauck),

tells

us

that

the

Egyptian

priests

were

forbidden

to

use

any

articles

of

food

and drink from

outside

Egypt.

That

this

rule

was

in

effect

for

all

the

Egyptian priests

may

be

doubted.

The

description

of the

ascetic

way

of

life

of

the

Egyptian

priests,

which

Porphyrius gives

us

through

the mouth of

the

Stoic

philosopher

Chaeremon

(1st

century

A.D.),

is

highly

idealized.

However,

there

may

perhaps

have

existed

a

brotherhood within the

Egyptian priesthood

whose

members,

spurningworldly

occupations,

lived

such

an

ascetic

life.

Cf. W.

Otto,

Priester

und

Tempel

im

hellenistischen

?gypten

2

(Leipzig

and

Berlin

1908)

167f.

60

Varia historia

5.20.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

9

ingenious plan.

The

Athenians

were

compelled

to

raise

the

siege,

and the

Tarentines,

in

commemoration of

their

trial and

deliverance,

introduced

a

feast which

they

called

e

a.

The

story

of

Aelian,

who

obviously

does not

know the

true

origin

of the

feast,

has all

the

earmarks of

an

aetiological story.

Since,

however,

there

exists

no

other information about

the

feast,

we

have

no

clue

to

the

original

motive

of

the

e

a

of

Tarentum,

and

are even

left

in

the

dark

as

to

whether the

festival

had

a

religious

significance

at

all. Some

times

we are

confronted with

not

only

one

but

several

motives

and must at

tempt

to

arrange

them

according

to

their

relative

strength.

In

the

a

e

?

,

for

instance,

the chief

(religious) motive,

no

doubt,

was

the

Pythagoreans' high esteem formanticism. To this we must add, as the second

(religio-philosophical)

motive,

their belief in

metempsychosis,

while ethical

and

hygienic

motives

were

only

of

secondary

importance.51 However,

the

task

of

finding

the

true

motives

and

arranging

them

according

to their

relative

strength

is

not

always

as

easy

as

in

the

case

just

cited.

In this

connection,

F.

Schwenn52

rightly

warns

against

too

much

dogmatizing:

'Erscheinungen,

die

aus

einem

komplizierteren

Seelenleben

heraus

Form

gewinnen,

haben in

ihrer

Begr?ndung

wie in

ihren Zielen

h?ufig

etwas

Unbestimmtes,

Flackerndes

an

sich

und

beugen

sich

nicht

immer

willig

einer

streng

begrifflichen

Klassifi

zierung.'

2.

Fasting

in

Preparation for

Mantic

Activity

Divination

was

an

acknowledged

part

of

Greek and

Roman

religion.

Its

object

was

extremely

broad

not

only

because it

satisfied man's

always

com

pelling

desire

to cast

a

glance

into

the

future,

but

also answered

his

questions

regarding

the

causes

of

present

calamities,

such

as

diseases, deaths,

droughts,

and

offered him

advice

as

to

what

he

should

do

in

a

given

case.

In

the

course

of

time

a

great

number

of methods

had

been

developed.

Cicero,

following

Stoic

sources

(Posidonius),

divided them into two main

classes,

the divinatio

ar

tificiosa and naturalis:1

Duo

sunt

enim divinandi

genera,

quorum

alterum

artis

est,

alterum

naturae.

Quae

est

autem

gens

aut

quae

civitas,

quae

non

aut

extispicum

aut monstra

aut

fulgora

interpretan

tium

aut

augurum

aut

astrologorum

aut

sortium

(ea

enim

fere

artis

sunt)

aut

somniorum

aut

vaticinationum

(haec

enim

duo

naturalia

putantur)

praedictione

moveatur?

Essentially

the

same

division

is

found

in Plato2

who

distinguished

between

'sane'

and

'insane'

methods

of divination.

The

methods of

the

first

class

were

based

on

a

rational,

cool, and,

as

it

were,

scientific

investigation,

the diviner

interpreting

certain

signs according

to

fixed rules

of

interpretation.

To

the

second

class

there

belonged

the method

used

by

the

prophet

who

became

pos

51

Cf.

H.

Strathmann,

Geschichte der

fr?hchristlichen

skese

bis

zur

Entstehung

des

M?nchtums

1

(Leipzig

1914)

310ff.;

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

103f.;Haussleiter,

Der

Vege

tarismus 127ff.

52

Gnomon

6

(1930)

662.

1

De

divinatione

1.6.1'lf.;

cf.

t?id.

2.11.26f.

2

Phaedrus

244A-D.







10

TRADITIO

sessed

by

the

god

and,

in

a

state

of

ecstasy,

uttered disconnected

and

garbled

words which

were

considered the

message

of

the

god

;

and the methods of

dream

divination,

the

dreams

being

obtained

by

means

either

of incubatio

(?y

),

or

magic practices.

All

the methods

of the

second

type,

which

are

'artless and

unlearnable,3

have

one

essential

trait in

common:

the

direct

communion

with

the

divine. It

is in

them that

we

find,

as

a

preparatory

rite,

a

longer

or

shorter

period

of either

total

abstention,

or

partial

abstinence,

or

at

least

a

fasting

condition.

We

begin

with

ecstatic

oracular

prophecy

because it ranked first

in

the

estimation of

the

pious

Greek.

Though

the

seers

could

practice

their

art

every

where, itwas especially in certain places that the gods through the mouths of

their

'prophets*

or

'prophetesses'

were

supposed

to

reveal

the

future,

make

known

their

will,

and

give

advice

to

those

who

approached

them

on

occasions

which

were

of

some

importance

to

them.

From

the

seventh

to

the fifth centuries

B.C.,

Greece

was a

land

teeming

with

oracles.

Though

their

prestige

rapidly

declined

during

the

following

age,

their

loss

in

authority

and

popularity

was

due

to

other

circumstances rather

than

simply

the

decay

of belief in mantic

power

itself. This

is evident from

the fact that

the

Greeks continued

to

consult

oracles

though they

now

turned

to

shrines

which,

being

at

a

greater distance,

were

regarded

with

more

respect.

For

example,

we

have the

oracle of

Apollo

Philesius at

Didyma

inAsia

Minor,

which still continued to

enjoy

an extra

ordinary

reputation

during

the

first centuries

of the Christian

era,

and

was

consulted

on

such

questions

as

to whether

Christ

was

God

or

man.4

It

also

gave

the

signal

for the

last

great

persecution

of

the

Church,

for,

questioned

by

Diocletian,

who

was

inclined to

moderation, Apollo

Philesius

was

claimed to

have

answered

'ut divinae

religionis

inimicus.'5

Licinius

consulted

the

same

oracle

at the

beginning

of his

second

campaign against

Constantine.6

Julian

3

Pseudo-Plutarch,

De

vita

et

poesi

Eomeri

2.212

(7.456

Bernardakis)

:

t?

'

a

e

a

a

a

[rrjs

a

],

evvirvia /cat

a

.

Concerning

the division of

divination

into

two

classes,

the 'artful'

(

)

and

'artless'

(a

e

$)

divination,

cf.

Rohde,

Psyche

2.56f.

4

Lactantius,

Divinae

institutiones

4.3.11

(ed.

S.

Brandt,

CSEL

19.319).

5

Lactantius,

De mortibus

persecutorum

11.7

(ed.

S. Brandt

and G.

Laubmann,

CSEL

27.186).

An

edict

of

Constantine,

in

Eusebius,

Vita

Constantini

2.54

(ed.

I. A.

Heikel, GCS,

Eusebius

Werke

1.63)

mentions

not

the

Didymaean

but

the

Pythian

(Delphic)

oracle

as

having

exercised

a

delusive

power

over

the

persecutors.

However,

the

testimony

of

Lactantius

seems

to

carry

more

weight.

Cf. V.

Schultze,

Altchristliche

St?dte

und Land

schajten

22

(G?tersloh

1926)

78

n.l.

6

Sozomenus,

Historia ecclesiastica

1.7

(PG 67.873ff.).

In

the

Vita

Constantini

2.4

(42

Heikel),

the behavior

of

Constantine

who

prepared

himself

for

the

war

by

prayer,

is

con

trasted

with that

of Licinius who

applied

to

'oracles

everywhere.'

In

elegant

verses

they

held out to him theprospect of victorywhile defeat and ruinwere in store forhim. It is

interesting

o

note

that

it

was

during

the last

and

decisive

contest

between

paganism

and

Christianity

that

divination,

and

with

it the

oracle,

once more

came

to

the front n

political

life.

Of the

last

pagan

emperors

not

only

Diocletian

and Licinius

trusted

in

the

power

of

mantic

art

and

sought

the favor

of

the

gods

from

the oracles of

pagan

religion,

but

also

Maximinus

Daia did

not venture

to

undertake

any

important

political

move

'without sooth







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY IN PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

11

the

Apostate

was,

according

to

one

of his

letters,7

himself

a

prophet

of

Didy

maean

Apollo.

As

a

rule,

history

has

preserved

only

the

names

of

the more

important petitioners

and the

questions

put

by

them

to the oracles.

That

there

was

also

a

large

number of

people

among

the

masses

who

still

turned

to

the

oracles for

advice

in

matters

concerning

their

individual

lives,

can

safely

be

concluded

from

the

relentless

war

waged by

ecclesiastical

writers

against

every

kind

of

mantic

art,

including

oracular

activity,

which

they

considered

the

work

of

the

demons.

'By

their

[the demons*]

suggestive

power/

Minucius

Felix8

says,

'they acquire

the

authority

of

a

present

divinity,

while

at

one

time

they inspire prophets

or

linger

around

temples,

at

another

they

animate

the

fibres of a sacrificial animal's entrails, or direct the flights of birds, ormanage

the

drawing

of

lots,

or

produce

oracles

cloaked in

plenty

of

falsehoods/ Such

examples

can

easily

be

multiplied.9

It

was

not

until the

middle

of

the

fifth

century

A.D. that

Theodoretus,10

Bishop

of

Cyrus,

could

make

the

triumphant

statement

that

the

great

oracles of

the

Greek world

had

lost

their voice.

Iamblichus

devotes

a

whole

chapter

of

his

work

De

mysteriis

Aegyptiorum11

to ecstatic

prophecy

as

it

was

practiced

in

numerous

oracles of

the

Greek world.

For

this

purpose

he

singles

out

three

oracles

because,

according

to

him,

they

far

surpass

all the

others

in

renown,

and

impart

sufficient

knowledge

concerning

the

method

by

which

the

gods

(officially

through

the

mouths

of

their

prophets

and

prophetesses)

reveal the future to man. All three are shrines of

Apollo

who,

because of

the

new,

ecstatic method of divination introduced

by

him,

had

become

preeminently

the

oracle-god. They

are

the oracle

of

Claros,

a

place

near

Colophon

in

Ionia;

the

oracle of

Delphi;

and the

Branchidae oracle

at

Didyma

near

Miletus.

Speaking

of

the

means

employed

to

produce

the sacred

e

a

,

Iam

blichus also

mentions the

fasting

(a a)

observed

by

the

prophet

of the

Ciar?an

oracle

and

the

prophetess

at

Didyma.

The

former

had to

abstain from

all food

for

a

whole

day

and

night

before he

drank

of the

water drawn from

sayers

and oracles'

(Eusebius,

Historia

ecclesiastica

8.14.9

ed.

E.

Schwartz,

GCS,

Eusebius

Werke

2.782;

cf.

Schultze,

Altchristliche

St?dte

2.2.77f.).

7

Ep.

88

(ed.

J. Bidez

1.2

[Paris 1924]

151).

8

Octavius

27.1

(ed

J. P.

Waltzing,

ed.

stereot.

Lipsiae

1931,

p.

46).

9For

instance,

Clem. Al. Protr.

2.11.1ff.

(UOf.

St?hlin);

Tert. De anima 46.12

(ed.

J.

H.

Waszink,

Amsterdam

1947,

p.

65);

Apologeticum

22.9f.

(ed.

H.

Hoppe,

CSEL

69.62);

Cyprian,

Quod

idola dix

non

sint

7

(ed.

G.

H?rtel,

CSEL

3.1.24)

;

Lact. Div. inst.

2.16.13?.

(170 Brandt) ;

Epitome

div. inst.

23.6f.

(696

Brandt) ;

cf. A.

Bouch?-Leclercq,

Histoire de

la

divination dans

l'antiquit?

1

(Paris

1879)

92ff.;

H.

Leclercq,

'Divination/

DACL 4.1

(1920)

1202ff.;

opfner, Griechisch-?gyptischerOffenbarungszauber

2

(Leipzig

1924)

?62;

E.

Fascher,

: Eine

sprach-

und


Untersuchung

(Glessen

1927)

216fi\;

Waszink's

edition

of

Tert.

De

anima,

p.

498f.

10

Graecarum

affectionum

curatio,

sermo

10

(PG 83.1076).

11

3.11

(ed.

G.

Parthey,

Berlin

1857,

pp.

123ff.).

Cf.

Th.

Hopfner's

German

translation of

the

work,

with

commentary:

?ber die Geheimlehren

von

Iamblichus

(Quellenschriften

er

griechischen

Mystik

1,

Leipzig

1921)

81ff.







12

TRADITIO

a

spring

in

a cave or

underground

chamber

of the

sanctuary.12

From

the

ac

count of Iamblichus it

is

clear

that the

ceremony

of

drinking

from

the

spring

water which

was

filled

with mantic

power,

belonged

to the

last

stage

of

rites

preceding

the

utterance

of the

oracle

itself.

The author is

explicit

in

stating

that,

before the

god

took

full

possession

of

his

prophet

and,

through

the

latter's

mouth,

gave

his

message,

'many

sacred ceremonies' had

to be

performed.

In

the

course

of

his

discussion, however,

he

mentions

only

three

rites,

evidently

because

of

the

great importance

attached

to

them: the

drinking

from

the

sacred

well;

the fast

immediately preceding

the

draught;

and the

practice

of

retiring

to

certain sacred and secluded

chambers

of the

sanctuary

to which

the

common

crowd of pilgrims had no access. The context leaves no doubt that what Iambli

chus

says

concerning

the retirement and

seclusion of

the

prophet

from all

human

affairs

also

applies

to

the rite

of

fasting.

Both aimed

at

preparing

him for

the

reception

of

the

god

and

the

consequent

inspiration

by

making

his soul free

from

any

possible

obstruction

and

fitting

it

for

the

ecstasy,

thus

rendering

the

presence

of the

god

in

his soul free and

unhampered.13

Iamblichus

must

have

attached

some

importance

to the

three ceremonies

singled

out

by

him

from

the

ritual

of

the

Ciar?an

prophet,

because he mentions

them

again

in the section

on

the Branchidae

oracle. Variations

occurring

in

these ceremonies

only

relate to accidental details. Thus it

appears

that

at

the

Branchidae oracle the

prophetess

was not

inspired by drinking

of thewater but

by

inhaling

the

vapor

of the well and

wetting

her

feet

or

the

hem

of

her

gar

ment

with

the sacred

water.14

Moreover,

the fast

of

the

prophetess

lasted not

one

but three full

days.15

We

may

reasonably

assume

that

her

withdrawal to

a

solitary

place

within the

sanctuary16

was

in

force for the

same

length

of time.

Nor

can

there be

any

doubt that

the

specific

purpose

of the

prophetess*

fast

and

seclusion

was

the

same as

in the

case

of the Ciar?an

prophet.

Purification

and

ecstatic

prophecy

were

closely

associated

in

the

religion

of

Apollo,

the

oracle-god.

The

god

could

take

full

and

unhampered possession

of his

proph

etess

only

if her

?yvda

was

perfect.

The

soul had

to be

made

independent

of

12

Kc?

e

e

$

a

e

a

'

a

a

(125

Parthey).

13

'

iepo?s

a?a

e a

'

ea

a

a e

e

. .

.

a a

a

a

e

a

?iraWayrjs

a

a

a

&

a ea

els

e

a

a

e

a

e

-

??

els

a

a

a

e

a

ttjs

ea

^

e

a

a

e

e a

,

a

a

Te a

a e

a a

a a a

e

e a a

a

e

(125?.

Parthey).

Concerning

the seclusion of

the

prophet,

cf.

0.

Casel,

De

philosophorum

graecorum

silentio

mystico,

RVV

16.2

(Giessen

1919)

145f.;

.

.

homo

qui

ad

rerum

divinarum

cognitionem

tendit,

solo silentio mentis

et

corporis

ad

earn

pervenit

et,

nisi

pace

et

quiete compositus

est,

vulgi

consortium, occupationes cottidianas,

mentis

opiniones

et affectiones

fluctuantes

fugit,

divini luminis

expers

est';

ibid. 128f. where he refers

to

the

passage

from Iamblichus

cited

above.

14

Tohs

?

as a

e

a a

e

a

os

a

e a

e

(127

Parthey).

On

this,

Iamblichus

does not

agree

with Luc?an

(Bis

accusatus

1)

who

says

that the

prophetess

drank of the

sacred

water.

15

e

a

a

(127

Parthey).

16

?v

a

a

*

a

?

(127

Parthey).








IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

13

the

physical

in

order

to

be

capable

of

being

lifted

up

into

the

spiritual,

and

to

surmount the barrier

separating

man

from

god.

Witness

again

the

prophetic

figure

of

Pythagoras.

It

was

for

mantic

reasons

that

he retired

to

the

a

a

of

the

gods

wThere,

detached from

the

world and

unmolested

by

the

wants

of

life

because of

the

wondrous

food,

a

,

he entered into

communion

with

the

divine.17

How

intimate

a

relationship

the ancients

thought

to

exist

between

an

ascetic

mode of life

in

general

and

spiritual revelation,

is well

illustrated

by

a

story

in the

Apophthegmata

Patrum.1*

A

pagan

priest

(

e

e

E

)

came

to

the desert

of Scetis

(e

)

and

stayed

overnight

in the

cell

of

one

of

the monks

(

a

e e

e

a

).

Observing

the

austere

way

of

life of the monks, he asked his host whether, by such a life, they did not

receive revelations

from

their

god

(

a

e

e

e

e

e

a

a

e

]).

When

the monk answered

in the

negative,

the

priest

was

astonished

and

said:

As

long

as

we

perform

the sacred

rites

to

our

god,

he

conceals

nothing

from

us

but reveals

his

mysteries

to

us.

And

you,

undergoing

so

many

bodily

penances,

vigils

(a

a

),

periods

of silent seclusion

(

a

),

and

ascetic

exercises,

say

that

you

have

no

revelations?'

Iamblichus'

list of the

rites

observed

by

the

Branchidae

prophetess

is

some

what

longer

than

the

one

he offers for the

Ciar?an

prophet.

To

those

discussed

above

he

adds 'the

many

sacrifices' and

'the

bath

of the

prophetess.'

To

the

rest he refers

by using

the

summary

expression

'the code of the entire sacred

ritual,

and whatever

is

done in

a manner

pleasing

to the

god

before the

utter

ance

of

the

oracle.'19 The

fact

that

he

has

no

intention of

giving

an

exhaustive

list

may

explain

why,

in

the

section

on

the

Delphic

oracle,

he does

not

mention

any

rite of

fasting

in

the

ritual

of

the

Pythian

priestess.

Nor

do

we

possess any

other

testimony

to

this

effect.

However,

after

what

has

been

said,

we

may

safely

assume

such

a

fast

at

Delphi

as

well

as

at

the

other

oracles of

Apollo

where,

just

as

at

Claros

and

Didyma,20

water

or

similar

means

were

the

source

of

inspiration.

A

draught

of

water

from

a

sacred

spring produced

the

e

a

at Delphi,21 Patara inLycia, and

on

the island of Delos.22

Here

we

may

add

17

Porph.

Vita

Pyth.

34

(35

Nauck).

18

J.

B.

Cotelerius,

Ecclesiae

graecae

monumenta 1

(Paris 1677)

582.

The first to

call

attention

to

this

instructive

passage

was

R.

Reitzenstein,

Poimandres: Studien

zur

grie

chisch-?gyptischen

und

fr?hchristlichen

Literatur

(Berlin

1904)

34: Hellenistische

Wunder

erz?hlungen

(Leipzig

1906)

61

;

cf. also

Strathmann,

Geschichte

der

fr?hchnstlichen

skese

211

n.3;

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus

HU.;

Arbesmann,

Das

Fasten 98f.

19

T?

a

?

e

'

a*

e

a

a

6

a

a

a

a

a

a

e

e

,

a

e

a

(127

Parthey).

20

Concerning

the

water

from

a

sacred

spring

as

a

source

of

inspiration

for

the

Ciar?an

prophet

and the

Branchidae

prophetess,

see

also

Tacitus,

Annales

2.54;

Luci?n,

Bis

ac

cusatus 1.

Pliny,

Naturalis historia

2.232,

tells us that the water of the Ciar?an

Apollo

in

spired

wonderful

oracles

though

it

shortened

the

life

of

the

prophets

who drank

it.

21

Pausanias,

Descriptio

Graeciae

10.24.7;

Luci?n,

Hermotimus

60;

Bis

acc.

1.

22

Ibid.;

cf.

also

the

general

remark

of

Apollonius

of

Tyana

in

Philostr.

Vita

Apollonii

2.37

(ed.

C.

L.

Kayser

1

[Leipzig

1870]

79),

to

the

effect

that

he could mention

many

oracles

where

the

priest

utters

his

responses

after

imbibing

water.







14 TRADITIO

the

information

given by Pausanias23 that

at

Hysiae

in

Boeotia there

was a

half-finished

temple

of

Apollo

and

a

sacred

well,

and

according

to

an

old

Boeotian

tradition

people

used

to

divine

by

drinking

of

the

well.

In

the

case

of the

prophetess

of

Apollo

Diratiotes

at

Argos,

the

sacred

water

was

replaced

by

the blood

of

a

lamb which

was

sacrificed

by

night

every

month.

By

tasting

of the

blood,

the

prophetess

became

possessed

by

the

god.24

At

a

Thracian

oracle,

the

prophets

prophesied

plurimo

mero

sumpto.25

The idea

basic

to

all

these

practices

has

been

clearly

described

by Porphyrius26

though

he

does not

refer

to

any

of

the

instances

quoted

above:

yovv

a

a

e

a a

?

e

e

ea

,

a

a a

a

a a e

,

a a

a a

a

a

e

a

,

e

a

a

a

a

a

e

a

a

e

a

a

a

tt?

e

e

rrj

a

.

By

inhaling

the

vapors

rising

from

the

sacred

water

or

the

oracular fissure

in

the

ground,

by drinking

from the well

or

the

sacrificial blood

or

wine,

and

by

chewing

leaves

of the

sacred

laurel,

the

prophet

or

prophetess

was

supposed

to

imbibe the

god

himself

who

was

thought

to

be

present

in

all

these

mantic

stimulants.27

However,

before

such

(positive)

means

could

be

used

in

order

to

produce

the

sacred

e

a

,

a

negative

preparation, fasting,

had

to

precede

in

order

to

secure

the

unhampered

entrance

of

the

god.

Belief in the significance of dreams was widespread among the ancient Greeks

and

Romans. What

they

saw

in

a

dream

was

to

them not

a mere

subjective

happening

caused

by

the

play

of

an

excited

imagination

and devoid

of

mean

ing,

but

objective

reality,

an

effect

of

supernatural agencies,

an

advice

or

suggestion

coming

from

the

other

world,

which

man

must

follow

and could

not

disregard

with

impunity.

Hence

the

very

high

esteem in

which

common

people

as

well

as men

leading

in

public

life held

dreams

as

divine

premonitions

and

suggestions.

Dream

was

considered

a

state

in

which

man

experienced

di

rectly

the

influence

of divine

forces.28

A

number of

philosophers,

for

instance,

23

Descriptio Graeciae 9.2.1.

24

Ibid.

2.24.1.

The

chewing

of

sacred laurel

as

a means

of

divine

inspiration

fits into

this

picture

also. Lucian

(Bis

acc.

1)

says

that it

was

employed

at

Delphi,

Claros,

Pat?ra,

D?los, Didyma,

and

all

the

other

oracles

of

Apollo.

Concerning

the

entire

question,

cf.

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

102

;

Ziehen,

PWK

s.v.

e

a.

25

Aristotle

ap.

Macrob.

Saturnalia

1.18.1.

26

De abst.

2.48

(176

Nauck).

27

Cf.

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus

146f.

28

Cf.

Rohde,

Psyche

1.6ff.;

O.

Weinreich,

Antike

Heilungswunder,

RW 8.1

(Glessen

1909)

76;

S.

H.

Newhall, 'Quid

de

somniis censuerint

quoque

modo

eis usi sint

antiqui

quaeritur*

summary

f

dissertation),

Harvard Studies

in

Classical

Philology

24

(1913)

163f.;

L.

Binswanger, Wandlungen

in

der

Auffassung

und

Deutung des

Traumes

von

den Griechen

bis

zur

Gegenwart

(Berlin 1928)

Iff.; 20f.;

J.

Hundt,

Der

Traumglaube

bei

Homer

(Greifs

walder

Beitr?ge

zur

Literatur-

und

Stilforschung

,

Greifswald

1935)

13f.;

A.

Wickenhauser,

'Die

Traumgesichte

des Neuen Testaments

in

religionsgeschichtlicher icht/

Piscienti:

Studien

zur

Religion

und Kultur

des Altertums

(Festschrift

f?r F.

J.

D?lger,

M?nster

1939)

325ff. ickenhauser

(pp.

326ff.)

has

collected the

accounts of

dreams

given by

Greek

and

Roman

historians.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

15

Posidonius and

Philo,

wrote

on

the

theory

of

dreams.

Classifying prophetic

dreams

according

to their

sources,

they

brought

them

under

three

headings,

as

dreams

were

thought

to

proceed

from the

gods,

from the

a

e

and from

the

activity

of the soul

itself.29

The

desire

to be

independent

of the

haphazard

occurrence

of

dreams and

to

conjure

up

dreams at

will,

led

to

the

incubatio

(?y

),

the

practice

of

sleeping

in

the

temples

or

shrines

of certain deities

in

order to

obtain

prophetic

dreams. Like

oracular

activity,

incubation

was

localized

since

the

activity

of

the

deity,

or

its

sphere

of

influence,

was

thought

to be restricted

to certain

places.

Therefore,

a

person

desirous of

obtaining

a

prophetic

dream

had to

betake himself to those places. Among the powers who could not appear

everywhere

and

whose

voices the

pious

Greeks

hoped

to

hear

in

dreams

were

the

local chthonic

deities,

who

originally

could

make their

appearance

only

at

the

places

where

worship

was

paid

to

them.

However,

incubation

was

not

confined

to

chthonic

deities. Because it seemed the safest

method of

com

municating

with

the

deity,

it

is

also found

in

the

cult

of the

Olympians.

Though

their

sphere

of

power

was

not

localized,

a

person

sleeping

in

the

temple

or

shrine

where

a

god

was

thought

to

be

present,

could

expect

his

appearance

much

more

easily

there than at

any

other

place.

Originally

there

may

even

have

existed the belief that

by observing

the rites

of

incubation

the

god

could

be

compelled

to

appear

? and to

help

;

for

sleeping

in the shrine in

expectation

of divine

assistance

during

a

dream

was

the

essence

of

incubation.30

Though

illness

was

the

most

frequent

motive for

consultation,

it

was

by

no

means

the

only

one.

The

original

character of

incubation

being

mantic, people expected

advice

from the

gods

in

every

kind

of

distress,

revelations

regarding

the

future,

all

sorts of

disclosures.31

As the

very

name

discloses,

the central

rite

of

the

incubatio

(

-

)

was

the

lying

down and

sleeping

in

the

sanctuary

in

expectation

of

a

dream.

Prior

to

this,

however,

a

number

of

other

rites had

to be

performed

which but

in

directly served the end of the incubatio. Among these rites we find fasting.

29

Concerning

the classification of dreams

by

the ancient

Stoics,

with

whom it is

found

for the first

time

(Stoicorum

Veterum

Fragmenta,

ed.

Ioannes ab

Arnim,3,605;2.1198)

;

by

Posidonius

(preserved

in

Cic.

De divin.

1.30.64);

and

by

Philo

(De

somniis

l.l.lf.;

2.1.1f.),

cf.

Quinti

Septimi

Florentis

er

tulliani de

anima,

ed.

with

Introduction

and

Commentary

by

J. H.

Waszink

(Amsterdam 1947)

500f.,

and

the

literature

given

there

on

the

subject.

30

Cf.

L.

Deubner,

De incubatione

capita

quattuor

(Berlin

1900)

5ff.;

J.

Pley,

'Incubatio/

PWK

9.2

(1916)

1256ff.;

Weinreich,

Antike

Heilungswunder

77.

31

Cf.

ibid.;

R.

Herzog,

Die

Wunderheilungen

von

Epidauros

(Philologus,

suppl.

22,

Heft

3,

Leipzig

1931)

112f. L. J.

McGinley,

Form-Criticism

of

the

Synoptic Healing

iVar

ratives

(Woodstock 1944)

126.

Though

by

far the

greater part

of the

inscriptions

f

Epi

daurus

report

healing

miracles,

there

are some

(miracles

nos.

24;

46;

63)

which show

clearly

mantic

character

and

can

be

brought

under

the

heading 'help

for

finding

lost

persons

and

treasures/

Moreover,

the

healing

miracles

can

be

divided

into

two

groups:

in

those

of

the

first

group,

the act

of

healing

is

performed

in

the dream

itself

by

direct

interventions

f

the

deity;

in

those

of

the second

group,

the sick

receive

a

dream-oracle

telling

them

what

they ought

to

do for

their

recovery

(cf.

Weinreich,

Antike

Heilungswunder

78ff.).







16 TRADITIO

That it

formed

part

of the

ritual

commonly

in

force

in

incubation,

we

may

conclude

from

Tertulliano32

general

statement:

'apud

oracula

incubaturis

ieiunium

indicitur.' The

words

immediately following,

which

are

read

by

Oehler33 and Waszink

as:

'ut castimoniam

inducat/

offer

some

difficulty

be

cause

they

are

missing

in

the

Codex

Agobardinus

(Parisinus

Latinus

1622,

saec.

ix),

the

only

MS

containing

Tertulliano treatise De

anima.

So,

for the crit

ical

reconstruction of the

text

we

have

to

rely

on

the

early

editions for which

MSS

now

lost

were

used.

No

less

important

is

the

correct

understanding

of

the

context.

Speaking

of

the

influence

which

nourishment

has

on

dreams,

Tertul

lian

says

that attention

must

also be

paid

to

regulations

about the selection and

restriction of food for the control of dreams, such prescriptions having their

source

either

in

a

preconception

or

a

superstition:

'Nam

quod

et de cibis

dis

tinguendis

vei

derogandis

nunc

praesumptio

nunc

superstitio disciplinam

som

niis

praescribit,

examinandum est.'

Following

up

this

statement,

he

continues:

superstitio,

ut

cum

apud

oracula incubaturis

ieiunium

indicitur,

ut

castimoniam

inducat,

praesumptio,

ut

cum

Pythagorici

ob

hanc

quoque

speciem

fabam

respuunt

onerosum

et

inflatui

pabulum.

The

parallel

sentence

structure

makes it

abundantly

clear that

this

section

of

the

passage

is divided into

two

parts

which

begin

with

superstitio

and

prae

sumptio respectively, each of these words referring to the same term in the

preceding

section of

the

sentence.

Tertullian wishes not

only

to illustrate

what

he

means

by

superstitio

and

praesumptio,

but also

to

give

an

example

of

each

of

the

two

kinds

of

prescriptions

mentioned

by

him:

one

for the

restriction

of

food

(de

cibis

.

.

.

derogandis),

that

is, fasting;

and another for the abstinence

from

particular

kinds of food

(de

cibis

distinguendis),

that

is,

food

taboos.

This

pressing

together

of

two

thoughts

into

one

is

also

in

keeping

with the

author's

liking

for

brevity.

If

our

interpretation

of Tertulliano

train

of

thought

is

correct,

Oehler's

and

Waszink's

reading

ut

castimoniam

inducat

must

be

correct,

and

Reifferscheid's

conjecture

vel

castimonia

induciturM

has

to be rejected. Ut castimoniam inducat is a final clause indicating the purpose

of the

ieiunium

in

the

practice

of

incubation:

'that it

[ieiunium

?

the

fasting]

might

achieve

the

proper

degree

of ritual

purity.'

As

a

technical

term in

religion,

32

De

anima

48.3

(66

Waszink).

Indicere is the

usual

technical

term

for

the

proclamation

of

religious

rites; cf.,

for

instance, Livy

3.5.14;

34.55.1

and

4;

Hor.

Sat.

2.3.290f.:

'ilio

mane

die

quo

tu

indicis

ieiunia'; Macrobius,

Saturnalia

1.16.6; Servius,

Comm.

in

Y

erg.

Aen.

3.264

(ed.

G.

Thilo

and

H.

Hagen

1.387);

Tert. De ieiun.

10

(286

Reifferscheid

and

Wis

sowa) ;

Eugippius,

Vita S.

Severini

6.3

(ed.

P.

Kn?ll,

CSEL

9.2.22)

:

'indicto

igitur

paucorum

dierum de

more

ieiunio';

ibid

18.2

(37

Kn?ll):

'tune,

ut

solebat,

hortatus

est indici ieiu

nium.; Greg

Tur?n. Historia

Francorum

2.34

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.98).

Besides

indicere,

there

occurs

the

term

imperare

(for

instance,

Cic.

De

divin,

1.45.102; Livy

36.2.2;

Gellius,

Noctes

Atticae

2.28.2).

Cf.

G.

Wissowa,

Religion

und Kultus

der R?mer

(2nd

ed.

Munich

1912)

440

n.6;

Waszink 511.

33

Quinti

Septimii

Florentis

Tertulliani

quae

supersunt

omnia,

ed.

F.

Oehler,

2

(Leipzig

1854)

633.

34

CSEL

20.379.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

17

castimonia,

like

?yve?a

in

Greek, generally

means a

state

of

ritual

purity.85

Such

a

state

was

required

for

all actions connected

with the

cult,36

the

more

so

for

the

practice

of

incubation,

which

was

supposed

to

bring

man

into direct

communion

with the divine. It

is

this

general meaning

of

castimonia

which

is

demanded

by

the

very

train of

thought

in

the

passage

under discussion.

This

interpretation

also makes untenable

an

opinion

previously

held

by

this writer37

and

apparently

accepted

by

Waszink.38

Relying

on

the

text

given

by

Reif

ferscheid,

and

on

some

other

passages

in

which

the term

castimonia is taken in

a more

restricted

sense

and,

without

doubt,

denotes the

abstinence

from certain

kinds of

food,

I

previously

listed Tert.

De anima

48.3

as

an

instance for

this

usage.30 On the other hand, the passage

?

if interpreted in the sense explained

above

?

gains

in

importance

because

Tertullian,

with

typical brevity,

de

scribes the

aim

of

the ieiunium

in

the

incubatio.

The

correctness of Tertulliano

general

remark

is

borne

out

by

testimonies

referring

to

individual

places

of incubation.

According

to

Philostratus,40

a

person

consulting

the

oracle of

Amphiaraus

at

Oropus

in Attica

was

prevented

by

the

priests

from

eating

for

one

day,

and

from

drinking

wine for three.

Two

passages

could

perhaps

be cited in

opposition

to

this

statement

by

Philostratus.

Aristophanes,

Amphiaraus

frg.

23,41

and

Geoponica

2.35.8,42

seem

to

point

only

to

taboo

prohibitions,

forbidding

certain kinds of

food,

such

as

lentils and

beans,

but not to such strict rules as

reported

by

Philostratus.

Though

there

is,

of

course,

the

possibility

of

Philostratus'

having

been

mistaken,

it

seems

very

unlikely

in view

of

the

little

weight

the other

passages

carry.

First

of

all,

the

passage

from

Geoponica

can

hardly

be

used

at

all

because

it

refers

to

the

abstinence

from

beans

by

Amphiaraus himself,

and

not

by

persons

consulting

his oracle.

Concerning

the

fragment

of

Aristophanes,

it

may

well

be

that

the

poet

cited

lentils

only

as an

example

for

the

food

restrictions

which

were

in

35

Cf.

ThLL

s.v.

castimonia;

Th.

W?chter,

Reinheitsvorschriften

im

griechischen

Kult,

RVV 9.1 (Glessen 1910) 1 n.l; 10 n.2; E. Fehrle, Die kultische Keuschheit im Altertum,

RVV

6

(Glessen

1910)

207f.;

E.

Williger,

H

agios: Untersuchungen

zur

Terminologie

des

Heiligen

in den

hellenisch-hellenistischen

Religionen,

RVV

19.1

(Glessen 1922)

44f.

36

Cf.

W?chter, Reinheitsvorschriften

11

;

G.

Appel,

De

Romanorum

precationibus,

RW

7.2

(Glessen

1909)

184ff.;

A.

Abt,

Die

Apologie

des

Apuleius

von

Madaura

und die

antike

Zauberei,

RVV

4.2

(Glessen

1908)

37.

37

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

13.

38

Cf.

Waszink's

note to

the

passage

(p.

511).

39

Evidently

on

the

basis of Reifferscheid^

text,

the

editors

of

the ThLL

(s.v.

cas

timonia)

did

the

same.

Another

instance listed

there

for

the

use

of

castimonia

in

the

re

stricted

sense

(Ps.

-

Paulinus

Nolanus,

Ep.

app.

1.8,

ed.

G.

H?rtel,

CSEL

29.436:

'sicut

et

Anna venerabilis

in

ieiuniorum

castimonia

et orationum

instantia

nocte

ac

die

permanens')

should

be

transferred

to the section

of instances

in

which castimonia

has

the

general

mean

ing

of

'ritual

purity.'

40Philostr.

Vita

Apoll.

2.37

(1.79

Kayser)

:

Kai

a?

e

ol

e

e

e

?

e

a

e a a

e

.

41

"

a

6

e

(1.398

Kock).

42

5 5? a

e

e

a

'A a

a a

*

e a e

a

.







18

TRADITIO

force

at

Oropus.

Ziehen43

has

suggested

this

?s

one

of

two

possible

solutions

of

the

difficulty.

The

other is that

the

stricter

rules,

mentioned

by

Philostratus,

were

due to

later

religious

developments,

especially

the influence

of

the

Orphic

and

Pythagorean

religions.

It

seems

to

me

that the two

passages

can

easily

be

reconciled with each other.

Philostratus

speaks

of

one

day

of abstention

from

any

food,

and of three

days

of abstinence

from

wine;

Aristophanes

of the

avoidance

of

a

particular

kind

of

food.

These

different

observances do

not

exclude

each

other

as

long

as

they

can

be fitted

into the

framework

of

the

whole

ritual.

Nor would the

ritual of

Oropus

be

the

only

one

in

which

a

e

a

appears

together

with food

taboos.

In the ritual of the Cybele-Attis mysteries, for instance, the mystae had to

abstain

from

many

particular

kinds

of

food

during

the

days

preceding

the

felling

of

the

sacred

pine

tree.

Then,

on

the

twenty-second

of

March,

a

total

fast,

a

e

a

set

in, ending

probably

on

the

twenty-fifth,

the

joyful day

of

the

hilar?a,

after the

mourning

for

the

dead

Attis had reached

its climax

on

the

day before,

the

dies

sanguinis.44

The ritual of the Eleusinian

mysteries

also

prescribed

a

e

a

besides abstinence

from

particular

kinds of food.

Prob

ably

both

must

be

arranged

within

the framework

of the

initiation,

in

a

way

analagous

to

the

ritual of the

Cybele-Attis

mysteries,

the

e

a

being

ob

served

on

the

day immediately preceding

the

drinking

of the

kykeon45

To

cite

one

more

example,

one

day

of the festival

of

the

Thesmophoria

was

called

e

a,

the

'Fast

day/

but

the

Thesmophoriazusae

had

also

to

abstain from

certain kinds

of

food,

for

instance,

the seeds

of

pomegranates,

a

rule which

was

in

force

for the

whole

period

of

the

festival.46

The

apparently

contradictory

passages

from

Philostratus

and

Aristophanes

can,

therefore,

be reconciled

with

each other

by

arranging

the

e

a

and

the

abstinence

from certain

kinds

of

food

within

the framework

of

the ritual of

Oropus

in

a

way

similar

to

the

cases

cited

above.

The

easier rules of abstinence

from certain kinds of

food

were

replaced

by

the

strict

rule

of

a

total fast

on

the

day immediately

preceding

the

incubatio proper.

From

Cratinus, Trophonius

frg.218,47

Deubner48 has concluded that

a

fast

and

vigils

were

prescribed

for

those

who

consulted

the

oracle

of

Trophonius

at

Lebadea

in

Boeotia. To

give

support

to

his

interpretation

of the

fragment,

Deubner

pointed

to

the

opinion

commonly

held

in

antiquity

that

both

practices

prepare

man

for

perceiving

things

divine.

As

a

matter

of

fact,

at

Lebadea

the

43

PWK

S.V.

e

a.

44

Cf.

.

Hepding,

Attis:

Seine

Mythen

und

sein

Kult,

RVV

1

(Glessen

1903)

183;

Arbes

mann,

Das Fasten 84f.

45

Cf.

ibid.

82f.

;

this

interpretation

was

accepted by

J.

Haussleiter,

Deutsche

Lite

raturzeitung

50

(1929)

1906,

and

L.

Deubner,

Attische

Feste

(Berlin

1932)

80.

Cf.,

however,

Ziehen,

s.v.

e

a,

who doubts

that

we are

in

a

position

to fix

precisely

the

day

of

the

e a

because

of

the

fragmentary

condition of

our

tradition.

46

Cf.

Arbesmann,

Das Fasten

92;

PWK

s.v.

Thesmophoria.'

47

a

a

*,

a

e

(1.79 Kock).

48

De

incubatione

14

.4.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

19

inquirer expected

to

behold

the

god

in

person,

or

at

least

to

hear

his

voice.49

However,

a

total

fast

could

hardly

have been

kept

for

the

whole

period

of

ritual

preparation

because

the latter lasted several

days

and must have

severely

taxed the

physical strength

of the

pilgrims.50

Therefore

we

may

assume

that

they

had

to

observe

it for

a

shorter

period

only,

probably

the

day

previous

to

their

nocturnal

descent

into

the

cave

of

Trophonius.

The

fast,

the

very

elab

orate

ceremonies,

the

constant

thought

of their

troubles,

and the mental

con

centration

on

the revelations

they

were

to

receive

directly

from

the

god,

all

converged

to

excite them

to

the

highest pitch

of mental

exaltation,

and

were

extremely

suitable

means

for

preparing

them

for the

mysterious things

they

were to see and hear. The ritual also prescribed abstinence from some partic

ular

kinds

of food.

According

to another

fragment

of

Cratinus'

Trophonius,51

three

species

of

fish

the red

mullet,

thornback

and

blacktail

?

were on

the

list

of forbidden

articles

of

food.

On

the

basis

of

a

great

wealth

of

comparative

material,

D?lger52

has shown

that whoever

partook

of

these

fish

became

ritually

impure,

unfit

for

approaching

the

deity,

and

consequently

also for

the

reception

of

the

divine

oracle.

The

fragment

does

not,

of

course,

entitle

us

to

conclude

that

the

fish mentioned

were

the

only

forbidden

articles of

food.

We

have

always

to

keep

in

mind the

fragmentary

condition of

our

tradition.

They

were

intended

by

the

poet

as

examples.

As

Ziehen53

puts

it:

'sie

sind wohl

nur

als

besonders

schmerzliche

Beispiele

verbotener

Nahrung genannt,

wof?r auch

das

e,

mit dem der Vers

beginnt,

spricht/

The

first

fragment

cited above

from

Cratinus'

Trophonius

seems

to

conflict

with

a

passage

from Pausanias54

who

tells

us

that

those

who

consulted

the

oracle

of

Lebadea

received

plenty

of

meat

from

the

sacrifices. This

statement

seems

to

carry

considerable

weight

because Pausanias

concludes

his

lengthy

description

of

the

rites observed

at Lebadea

by saying

that

he

does

not

write

from

mere

hearsay

but has

himself consulted

Trophonius.55

On

the

other

hand,

it

appears

strange

in view

of

what

we

know

otherwise

about

the

?yve?a

in

official

as well as private dream-divination. Here we may cite Ovid's account of

Numa's

consultation

of the

oracle

of Faunus.56

The

king

sacrifices

two

sheep

whose

fleeces

are

then

spread

on

the

ground

;

his

head

is

sprinkled

with

spring

water,57

he

is crowned

with beech

leaves,

abstains

from

the

pleasures

of

love,

49

Cf.

Rohde,

Psyche

1.120

n.2.

50

Cf.

Paus.

Descriptio

Graeciae

9.39.5ff.

To him

we owe

the

fullest

of

the extant accounts

of the

way

of

consulting

the

oracle at Lebadea.

51

Frg.

221

:

'

A

'

e

e e

In

*

\

,

ov??

rpvy?pos,

ovd?

e

e

a

(1.80

Kock).

52

2.316f?.;

cf.

especially 327;

339.

53

PWK

S.V.

e

a.

54

Descriptio

Graeciae

9.39.5

:

Kai

ol

a ea

a

a

e

a

.

05

Ibid. 9.39.14:

a

e

a

,

a

a

e

*

e

a a

a

e

.

56

Fasti 4.641ff.

57

This

was

another rite

deemed

necessary

to

prepare

the

inquirer

for

the

divine

revela

tion.

At Lebadea

two

boys,

called

Hermae,

led

the

person

who

was

about to

consult







20

TRADITIO

has

no

meat

served

at

table,

and

is

not

allowed

to

wear

a

ring

on

his

fingers.

Having

thus

reached

the

proper

degree

of

purity,

he

invokes the

god

in

the

appropriate words,

and lies down

on

the

skins

of the

sacrificial

animals for

the

dream-sleep during

which

Faunus

appears

and utters

his oracular

words.

Ovid58

explicitly

mentions abstinence from

meat

as a

necessary

condition

for

the

performance

of the rite of incubation:

'nec

fas

animalia mensis

poner?.'

After

what

we

have

said,

the

assumption

of

an

error

in

the text

of

Pausanias

does

not

seem

to be

too

far-fetched.

However,

in view

of the

author's

explicit

state

ment

that his

account is based

on

his

own

experience,

we are

inclined to

believe

that the

present

faulty

text

is due to

a

copyist's

error

rather

than to

a

slip

of

Pausanias' pen.

The

ritual

of the

Plutonium

of

Acharaka,

a

place

near

Carian

Nysa

in

Asia

Minor,

was

unique. For, according

to

Strabo,59

it

was

the

priests

of

the

shrine

who

performed

the incubatio

on

behalf

of

the

patients:

'For

it is said that

those

who

are

diseased and

give

heed

to

the

cures

prescribed by

these

gods

[Pluto

and

Kore]

resort

thither

and live

in

the

village

near

the

cave

among exper

ienced

priests

who,

on

their

[the

patients']

behalf,

perform

the

dream-sleep

and

prescribe

the

cure

on

the

basis of

the

[their

own]

dreams. These

[the

priests]

are

also

the

men

who

invoke

the

healing

power

of

the

gods.'

The text immediately following this passage, causes some difficulties. In the

edition

of

Meineke

it reads

as

follows:

a

S?

a

e

a

a

a

a

3

a

e

e

a

a

e

e

e

a

e

e

a

.

.

Lehmann-Hartleben

60

has voiced

justified

doubts

as

to

the correctness

of

the usual

interpretation

of this

sentence. For

instance,

the

translation

in The

Loeb

Classical

Library

61

runs

as

follows:

'And

they

[the priests]

often

bring

the sick

into

the

cave

and

leave them

there,

to remain in

quiet,

like animals

in

their

lurking

holes,

without food for

many

days.'

As

Lehmann-Hartleben has

pointed

out,

such

an

interpretation

is

grammatically

untenable. The accusative

a

absolutely

requires

some

explanatory

attribute,

for

instance,

Trophoniiis,

to

the river

Hercyna,

and

there washed

and anointed

him

(Paus.

Descriptio

Graeciae

9.39.7).

58

Fasti 4.657f.

59

Geographica

14.1.44

(3.906

Meineke)

:

A

y?p

to?s

e

a a

ra?s

e

e

a e a

a

e

e

e

a a

a

a

e

a

a

a

to?s

e

e

e

,

e a e e

a a a

a

e

e

a

e a

e

a

.

<5'

e

a

e a

e

e

a e a

.

60

'Mitteilungen:

Die

H?hlenprozession

von

Acharaka,' Philologische Wochenschrift

41

(1921)

1245ff.

61

The

Geography of

Strabo,

transi,

by

H. L.

Jones,

6

(London

and

Cambridge,

Mass.

1929)

259. We find

the

same

interpretation

of

the

passage

in

Biirchner,

'Charonion'

no.

2,

PWK

3

(1899)

2184;

W.

von

Diest,

Nysa

ad Maeandrum

(Jahrbuch

des Kaiserlich Deut

schen

Instituts,

rg?nzungsheft

10,

Berlin

1913)

16,

whose

translation

is

quoted

by

Schultze,

Altchristliche

St?dte

2.2.131

:

Oft f?hren sie

[die Priesterl

auch

die

Kranken

selbst in

die

H?hle und

lassen

sie

dort wie in

einer

Tiergrube

mehrere

Tage lang

ohne

Speise

ruhig

liegen.'







FASTING

AND PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

21

a

,

because

the sick

are

not mentioned at all

in

the

preceding

sentence.62

Moreover,

the

above

interpretation

conflicts

with

Strabo's

whole train

of

thought,

because

he

continues:

'Sometimes

the

sick

give

heed also

to

their

own

dreams,

but still

they

use

other

men as

mystagogues

and

counselors because

they

are

priests.

To

all others the

place

is

forbidden

and

deadly.'

63

The latter

sentence

can

only

mean

that,

besides

the

priests,

who

are

mentioned

before 'all

others/

nobody

?

especially

no

sick

person

?

could

enter

the chasm. To

sup

port

his

interpretation,

Lehmann-Hartleben

points

to Eustathius'

Commentary

to

Dionysius Periegetes

1153

64

where the learned

Byzantine

scholar

obviously

repeats

Strabo's

account in

abbreviated form:

a

e

a

a

e

e

NiWa

e , #ca? a a , a a a e oi e e e a e

a

a

e

e

a

e

a

e

a

.

'

a a

e

a

.

Nobody,

then,

except

the

priests,

could

enter

the chasm.

An

identical

rule

prevailed

at

the

Plutonium

of

Phrygian

Hierapolis where,

according

to

Strabo,65

no

person,

except

the Galli

of

the

Great

Mother,

could dare

descend

into

the

chasm

because of

the noxious

gases

escaping

from

its

mouth. Strabo

leaves

undecided the

question

whether the

remarkable feat of

the

Galli

was

due

to

'divine

protection,

as

it is

probable

in

the

case

of

persons

inspired

by

the

deity/

or

to

the

use

of antidotes.

Whom, then,

did

the

priests bring

into the

cave

of Acharaka?

According

to

Lehmann-Hartleben,

no

explanation

consistent with the author's train of

thought

is

possible

as

long

as

there remains the

accusative

a

,

which

is

but

a

conjecture

by

Tyrwhitt

and

not

found

in

the

original

text,

the

MSS

having

e

.

As

soon

as

this

nominative

has

been

restored,

the

sentence

begins

to make

sense:

e

refers

to

the

subject

which

is

'they'

[the

priests]

;

the

direct

object required

by

a

and must

be

supplied

from the

immediately preceding

e

.

The translation

then

runs as

follows

:

'These

[the

priestsl

are

also the

men

who

invoke the

healing

power

of the

gods.

And

they

often

bring

them

[the

idols,

images

of

the

godsl

into

the

cave,

and

place

them there,

and remain there in quiet and

?

just as it can be expected in such a cave ( a a e h>

e

)

without food for

several

days.'

Since the

priests

performed

the incubatio

on

behalf

of the

patients,

it

is

but

natural

that

it

was

they

who had to

observe

the

rites

in

preparation

for

the

dream-sleep

too.

From time to

time,

the

images

of

the

gods

were

carried,

probably

in

solemn

procession,

from

the

temple

to

the

cave

where the

priests,

62

Lehmann-Hartleben's

second

objection,

namely,

that is

a

somewhat

awkward

expression

for

denoting

the

accommodation of

the

sick,

seems

to

be less

convincing.

a

can

have

the

meaning

'to

make

sit

down';

cf.

for

instance

Iliad

2.191:

*

a

*

e a a ?Wovs e a .

63

"E

*

e

a

e

ol

e e

,

a^ ^

'

a

?

e e

a

a

e

e

?

'

a

a

e

?

a

(3.907

Meineke).

64

Geographi

graeci

minores

2

(ed.

C.

M?ller,

Paris

1882)

405.

65

Geographica

13.4.14

(3.880

Meineke)

;

cf.

Pliny,

Nat. Hist. 2.208.







22

TRADITIO

in

sacred

retirement

and

fasting,

remained

for

several

days

in

expectation

of

the dream-oracle.

Magic

was

also resorted

to

in

order

to

obtain

a

dream-revelation

from

a

deity.

There

was

a

close

relation

between

magic

dream-divination

and

the

official

method

of

incubation.

The

magician

considered

himself

a

,

a

member

of

a

secret

religious

society,

and

endeavored

to

surround

himself

with

the

solemn

liturgy

of

the

cults,

especially

those

of

the

chthonian

deities.66

However,

an

essential

difference

must not

be

overlooked.

Whereas

the

revela

tion received in

incubation

was

considered

a

free

gift

of

the

deity,

and the

attitude of

man

towards

the

supernatural

powers

was

that

of

propitiation

or

petition, inmagic the dream-oracle was wrested, or extorted from a reluctant

deity,

making

the

attitude

of

man

coercive

or

compulsive.67

The

best

sources

for

our

knowledge

of

the

latter

method

are

the

e a

a

in

magic

papyri,

which

contain

minute

instructions

concerning

the

methods

of

consulting

a

god

or

demon

by

means

of

a

dream.68

Fasting

and

abstinence from

certain

articles

of

food

and drink

played

an

important

part

in

the

art of the

ancient

magician,

so

much

so

that

Hopfner69

did

not

hesitate

to

say:

'Aber

auch

wenn

ein

Zauberrecept

nicht

ausdr?cklich solche

Bestimmungen

enth?lt,

k?nnen wir bei der

engen

Verwandtschaft

der

magischen

mit

der

officiellen Traumdivination

doch wohl

jedesmal

die

Beobachtung

der

a

,

Abstinenz

von

gewissen Speisen

und

Getr?nken, vielleicht sogar eine e a, Fasten, als Vorbedingung f?r das Gelingen de?

Zaubers voraussetzen.'

This

general

statement

is borne

out

by

a

great

number of

passages

in

magic

papyri.

Papyrus

Louvre

2391.284ff.

contains

a

'

a

to

investigate

the

future,

possessing

every

magic

power

and

putting

to

flight

all

sufferings.'70

Like

the

person

seeking help

from the

gods

at

the

places

of

official

dream-divination,

the

magician

had

to

prepare

himself

for the

a

by

observing

the

rules

of

purity:

Sei

a-

e

e

i[vl]

a

e

.71

These

rules

also

included

instruc

tions

concerning

abstention

from food

and

drink,

as we

learn

from

line

334:

Tasting expect

the rise of the

sun

in

your

house.'72

On

line

424

there

begins

a

formula

for

learning

something

beforehand

and for

assisting

the

memory.

The

heart of

a

hoopoe

was

cut

into little

pieces

on a

certain

day

and

then

mixed

with

honey.

The

person

performing

the

a&

had to be

in

a

fasting

condition

??

Cf.

Abt,

Die

Apologie

des

Apuleius

36f.; D?lger,

2.50;

Hopfner,

Griechisch

?gyptischer

Offenbarungszauber

1

??838f.

67

Cf.

ibid.

2

?168.

This,

of

course,

does

not

exclude the

fact

that

in

many

cases

the

two

attitudes coexisted side

by

side

or

blended into

each

other.

68

Cf.

Deubner,

De

incubatione

30ff.;

Abt,

Die

Apologie

des

Apuleius

169f.

A

great

part

of

the

magic

papyri

deal

with

divination.

As

a

matter

of

fact,

little

is

left

after

the in

structions for

divination

and

love charms

have been eliminated

;

cf. ibid.

166,

and

Apuleius,

Apologia

42

(ed.

R.

Helm,

2nd ed.

Leipzig

1912,

p. 49)

:

'quippe

hoc emolumentum canticis

accipimus, praesagium

et

divinationem.'

69


Offenbarungszauber

2

?169.

70

.

Preisendanz,

Papyri

graecae

magicae

1

(Leipzig

1928)

44ff.

71

Line

304

(1.44 Preisendanz).

72

. .

.

]

?v

a

a

a

(1.46

Preisendanz).







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

23

when

eating

it

(line

427:

a

a

a

e

),

and to recite

the

following

prayer

seven times: 'Let me know beforehand the near and distant

future,

and the

past,

and

all what

happened

today,

once

for

all/73

Like the

Ciar?an

prophet

or

the

Branchidae

prophetess,

the

magician

has

himself

worked

up

into

a

state

of

ecstasy

when the

god

appears

and

utters

his

oracular

response.

The

Great

Magic

Papyrus

of Paris

(Pap.

Bibl.

nat.

suppl.

gr.

574)74

says

explicitly

that

the

magician

is

not in

himself

(

e

ea e

e

?

a

[6

e

]

a

a

) ;

the

oracle,

which is

given

in

verses,

he

must

receive

in

sacred

silence

because

he will

understand

everything

by

himself,

nor

will he

fail

to

remember

the words

of

the

'god'

afterwards

even

if

the oracle consists

of

many thousand of verses { a ? ). In order to reach

the

proper

degree

of ritual

purity

required

for

entering

into

communion

with

the

god,

the

magician

has

to

abstain from

all

uncooked

and animal food

for

seven

days

before the

full

moon75

and must

also abstain from

wine.76

Should

he

wish

to

have

a

fellow-initiate listen

to

the

oracular

message

with

him,

the

companion

must

undergo

the

same

ritual

preparation

for

seven

days

and ab

stain

from

meat

and

baths.77

At

first

sight

the

instruction

to refrain

from baths

will

seem

strange.

Parallels

exist,

however:

the

magic

power

attached

to the

magician

must

not

be

washed

off. More

often,

of

course,

we

find the instruction

that

the

inquirer

is

to

be

washed

or

sprinkled

with

water

from

a

spring

or

river

in order to cleanse him from

every

stain.78

After

what has

been

said,

we

shall

hardly

go

astray

in

assuming

that

the

general

command

to

keep

the

rules

of

ritual

purity

for

Seven

days

(a

e a

e

a

')1

found

in

a

a

a

e

of

Aphrodite,79

also

referred

to

abstinence

from

certain

articles

of

food. The

same

is

true

concerning

the similar

com

mands

in

a

number

of

e a

a,

found

in

Pap.

gr.

cxxi

of

the

British

Mu

seum,80

especially

in

view

of

the fact

that the

same

papyrus

contains

the

instruction:

a

a

e

*1

Pap.

Berlin

5025.1

ff.82

contains

the

prescription

for

a

a&

by

which

a

per

son can conjure up

a

'god' who, as a companion ( a

e

), eats and sleeps

73.

.

.

[

e

ir]poyviavai

a

a

a a

a

a[

e

]pay

a a

[a]

a

(

a) ipya

[

e

\

a

a

a

(1.50

Preisendanz).

74

Lines

724-731

(1.96ff.

Preisendanz).

75

Lines 52-54:

. .

.

irpoayve?aas

?'

a

e

a[ ]

*

*

a a

a

a

e

e[ ]

a

e e

(1.68

Preisendanz).

76

Line 57:

...

]

a

e

e

(1.68 Preisendanz).

77

Lines

732-736

:

.

.

.

i?p ??

a

a a

e

a

e

e a

e'

e

a

a

,

a^

e

(

')

a

a

a

e

a

?a

a e

(1.98

Preisendanz).

78

Cf.

Abt,

Die

Apologie

des

Apuleius

40.

.

79

Pap.

Bibl.

nat.

gr.

574

lines. 3209ff.

(1.178

Preisendanz).

80

Line

362f.

:

. .

.

e a

o\>p,

a

a a

,

a a

a

a

,

a

e

ola

(Preisendanz, Papyri

graecae

magic??

2

[Leipzig

1931]

16);

line 667:

.

. .

?yrtt

(2.30

Preisendanz) ;

line 843:

.

. .

*a]t

?yp?*

(237

Preisendanz).

81

Line

442f.

(2.20

Preisendanz).

ea

1.2ff.

Preisendanz.







24

TRADITIO

with the

magician,

and reveals

whatever

the latter desires

to

know. The

'god*

carries out

every

order he is

charged

with, sending

dreams,

producing

men and

women on

the

spot

requested,

and the

like.83

There

is

again

the

explicit

in

junction:

a

a

e

iv

a

*

a

/

a

,84

hat

IS,

meat

IS

excluded

from

the

meal. The

'god'

conjured

up

fetches

everything

the

magician

asks

for,

also

food and drink:

water,

wine, bread,

oil,

vinegar,

and

plenty

of

vegetables.

On

the other

hand,

the

magician

is

warned

never

to

request

fish

and

pork.85

In

spite

of

the

relentless

war

waged by

the Church

against

any

kind

of

magic,

it

proved

ineradicable

during

the

Middle

Ages

because

of

the

poor

education

of

the

masses

and

the

continuous influx of

old

pagan

superstitions.

The

methods

employed by individual Christians who were given to the practice, were the

same

as

those

of

their

pagan

predecessors,

the

Christian

coloring

of

the

ritual

notwithstanding.

Both

fasting

and abstinence

from

certain kinds of

food,

as

a

means

of

securing

the

proper

degree

of

ritual

purity

required

for

magic

dream-divination,

are

found

again

and

again

in

Byzantine

and Neo-Hellenic

magic

prescriptions.

A few

examples

may

suffice for

our

purpose.

Cod.

Parisinus Graec.

2419

(saec.

xv)86

contains

instructions

as

to

how,

by

means

of

a

magic

dream-sleep,

a

person

can

learn

the

place

of

a

hidden

treasure. The

incubatio

must

be

performed

in

a

state

of ritual

purity:

a

?

e

a

a-

e ea

.

It

IS

not

a

'god'

who

IS

conjured

up,

but

the

Holy

Angels

are invoked as

helpers

in the treasure hunt.

During

the

night

the

inquirer

will have

a

dream

revealing

to

him

whether the

spot

he

suspects

holds

the

treasure

or

not:

a

iv

ttj

a

a

e

a

iv

e

e

,

e e

ti

e

.

Another

instruction

for treasure

seekers

in

the

same

codex

is

much

more

explicit

in

describing

the

mode

of

procuring

the

required

a

e

a:

the

treasure

seeker has

to

fast

for two

weeks

during

which

he

is

not allowed

to

take

anything

but

bread,

chick-peas,

oil,

and

a

moderate

quantity

of

sweet

wine.87 Divination

by

means

of

water

and mirror

(hydromancy

or

hygro

mancy)

was

another

favorite

method

by

which

man

hoped

to cast

a

glance

into

the

future. Minute rules

for

the

practice

of

a

e a

are

found

in

the

MS

just quoted

(469

Delatte)

:

the

water

used

for

the

a

must

be

fetched

from

an

ever-flowing

spring

on

the

evening

of

a

certain

day

after

sunset

by

a

person

who

is

a

and

,

and who

may

not

speak

while

carrying

the

water

;

the

irp?fe

proper

must

be

performed

towards

dawn,

the

inquirer

having

invoked

the

name

of

God and

recited Psalms 56 and 76. The

instruction closes

as

fol

83

Lines

96ff.

(1.8

Preisendanz).

84

Lines 22f.

(1.4

Preisendanz).

85

Lines

102-106:

.

. .

e

,

o?pop,

a

a

[S]

.

ite

e

a

,

?Xatop,

??

,

[6]

,

a

a

??

,

e

,

??ci,

a

e

e

?[

]

$

e'

e

(1.8

Preisendanz).

86

A.

Delatte,

Anecdota

Atheniensia

I:

Textes

grecs

in?dits

relatifs

?

Vhistoire

des

religions

(Biblioth?que

de

la

Facult? de

Philosophie

et

Lettres

de

l'Universit? de

Li?ge

26,

Li?ge

and

Paris

1927)

507.

87

Ibid.

507f.

this

and

the

preceding

a

had

been

published

before

by

Preisendani,

'Zwei

griechische

Schatzzauber

aus

Kodex Parisinus

2419/

Byzantinisch-neugnechische

Jahr

b?cher

3

(1922)

276.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

25

loWS*

Kai

e

a

a

a e

e

a

ct?

a

a

ea

a

e

y

e

e

a

.

Finally,

Cod.

Parisinus

Graec. 2494

(saec.

xv;

557

Delatte)

contains

a method

for the

practice

of

arithmomancy,

that

is,

the

magic

art of

prophesying

with the

help

of the

numerical value

of

words and

names.88

Here,

too,

we

find

the

injunc

tion

that

the

person

performing

the

a

must be

.

The

source

material

so

far

presented

leaves

no

doubt

that

the

ancients

at

tached

great

importance

to

the

practice

of

fasting

as a

means

of

arousing

ecstatic

forces,

dream,

and

visions.

We

proceed

now

to

the

study

of

the

motives

which

led to

this

practice.

According

to

a

number

of

ancient

writers,

some

kinds of

food,

especially

those hard to digest and causing flatulence, were thought to produce uneasy

and

confused

dreams.89

In

a

further,

quite

natural

psychological

development

of

the

same

idea,

food

of that

kind

was

considered

inappropriate

for

those

who

were

preparing

themselves for

obtaining

oracles

by

means

of

dreams.

As

Plutarch90

points out,

some

sorts

of

food

beans

and

squid's

head

are

men

tioned

as

instances91

were

thought

to

disturb

dreams,

and

for

this

reason

people

desirous of

obtaining prophetic

dreams

were

commanded

to

abstain

from

such food.

The

purpose

of

this

injunction

was

to eliminate all

dreams

affected

by

the

digestive

activity

of the

body;

to

make

sure

that

the mantic

power

of

the soul

could

act

independently

of,

and

unimpaired

by,

the lower

elements inman. This belief was also in

keeping

with the

opinion

of some

88Concerning

arithmomantic

practices,

cf. F.

Dornseiff,

Das

Alphabet

in

Mystik

und

Magie

(2nd

ed.

E A:

Studien

zur

Geschichte

des antiken

Weltbildes und der

griechischen

Wissenschaft

7,

Leipzig

and Berlin

1925)

113ff.

89

Beans

especially

were

credited

with

having

such undesirable effects.

Apollonius,

Histor.

mirab.

46

(ed.

O.Keller,

Rerum

naturalium

scriptores graeci

minores

1

[Leipzig

1877] 54)

:

"

e

a a

a a a

,

a

a

e

a

'

a

a

ol

a"/

(e}

a

^

e

a

a

a

-

a

y?p

e

a

a e

a

e

Terapay

a

e

(cf.

the

same

tradition

in

Clem.

Alex. Stromata

3.3.24.2

[2.206

St?hlin]).

Geoponica

2.35.3?. : 0? e a a a ? e a a a a

-

a

e

a e e

a a

,

e

y?p

e a

e

*

Dioscurides,

De materia

medica

2.127:

a

'

e a

,

,

e

,

e

;

ibid.

2.130:

a

,

e

a

yevv

^

,

e

.

Diog.

Laert.

De ciar.

phil.

vit.

8.1.24

(210

Cobet)

:

*

e

a

a

e a

a

e a e a

a

a

e

e

-

a

a

a

a

e

^a^e

a

a

ya

pa

,

a a

a

.

a a

a

a

a

*

a

a a e a a

a

a

a

a

e

e

.

Also

Aristotle,

De somniis

3

(

=

461a

21-25;

ed.

G.

Biehl,

Parva

Naturalia,

Leipzig

1898,

p.

70),

says

that

a

e a

produce

con

fused

dreams:

Or?

e

e

apay

va

a

a

al 6

e

a

e a e

a

?

a

a

a,

^?XayxoXiKoU

a a

-

a

a

yap

a a a e

a

8

a

e

a

a a

.

90

Quaestiones

convivales

734

F

(4.353 Bernardakis)

:

"Ort

'

e

?

a

?vta

e a a a a

a

a ' e

,

a e e

a

a e a

,

a

e a e e

e

.

e

a

.

9

According

to

early

medical

experience,

the

polyp

was

also hard

to

digest

;

cf.

Hip

pocrates,

Ilept

a

2.48

(Hippocrates,

with

an

Engl,

translation,

by

W. H. S.

Jones,

4

[Loeb

Class.

Libr.,

London and

Cambridge,

Mass.

1931]

322)

:

e

3?

a

a a

a

a a e

a,

e

,

e

\

e

a

a,

*

a

a

a

?

.







26

TRADITIO

ancient medical authorities

who held that

a

low

diet

produced

clear

dreams.9*

According

to

Apollonius

of

Tyana,93

the mantic

power

inherent in

dreams,

the

most

divine of

all human

things,

is

absorbed

by

the

soul

more

easily

when

the

latter

is

not muddied

by

wine

but

uncontaminated

(a

a

)

and

in

a

state

of

contemplative

concentration

(

e

a

a).

Though

the

passage

men

tions

only

the

abstinence

from

wine

as

a

requirement

for

obtaining

true

proph

etic

dreams,

the

context

leaves

no

doubt

that,

in

the

mind of

Apollonius,

the

rule

of

soberness?it

is

only

to

souls

which

are

sober

that

the

gods

impart

their

oracular

response

(

e

e

a

a

a

e

a

)

applies

to

the

taking

of

food

in

general.

For,

in

following

up

his

argument,

he

proceeds

to demonstrate the correctness of his statement by pointing to the custom at

the

incubation-oracle

of

Oropus

where the

inquirer

had to

abstain

not

only

from

wine for

three

days

but

also

from

eating

for

one

day

in order to

absorb

the oracles

with

his soul

in

a

state

of utter

transparency

(

a a

a

rg

a

).

That

this conclusion

is

correct,

can

be

seen

from

Apol

lonius'

plea

before

Domitian

where

he defends

himself

against

the

charge

of

wizardry

by

virtue

of

which, according

to

the

indictment,

he

had

foretold

to

the

Ephesians

that

a

plague

would

fall

upon

them. He

points

to

his

light

diet

which

keeps

his

senses

in

a

kind

of

indescribable

celestial

clearness

(

a?;

a

e

e a a

a a

e

),

preventing,

on

the

one

hand,

that

any

thing

muddy

(

e

)

obscure

them,

and

allowing

him,

on the other

hand,

to

discern,

as

in

the sheen of

a

mirror,

everything

that

is

going

on,

and

will

happen

in

the future.

He

admits that

his

faculty

of

foreseeing

is

inferior

to

that

of

the

gods.

For,

while

the

gods

perceive

what lies

in the

distant

future,

the wise

man

discerns

only

what

is

approaching,

yet

he is

superior

to

the

common

man

who

does

not

guard

his

senses

by

means

of

a

lighter

diet

and, therefore,

perceives

only

what is

going

on

before him.94 Thus

Apollonius

is

in

a

position

to

answer

the

question

how

he

was

able to foretell

the

plague

of

Ephesus:

It

was

by

observing

a

lighter

diet

than the

others

(

e

e

a

.

.

.

a

a

e

)

that

I

was

the

first

to

perceive

the

danger.'95

From

other

passages

in

the

same

work

we

learn

what

kind

of

food constitutes

this

'lighter'

diet.

Apollonius

eats

bread,

dried

fruits

(

a- a

a),

and

vegetables

(

a

a

a),96

preferring

wild herbs

to

artificially

grown

vegetables.97

He

also

declares

that he

is

accused of

eating

asphodel,

dried

fruits,

and

pure

delicacies

(

a

a

a

a a

)

98

His

diet,

comprises,

therefore,

articles

of

food

which

are

light

and

pure.

He

applies

the

term

'pure'

not

only

to

a a

but

also to

92Galenus,

In

Hippocr.

praedict.

1.1.5:

a

?a

??

toU

e

ivde?s

a

e *

hapye??

ol

e

a

.

93

Philostr.

Vita

Apoll.

2.37

(1.79

Kayser).

94

Ibid.

8.7

(1.314

Kayser).

95

Ibid.

8.5

(1.299

Kayser).

96

Ibid.

1.8;

21

(1.7;23

Kayser).

97

Ibid.

98

Ibid.

8.7

(1.308

Kayser).







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

27

a

a

a

and

a

a

a."

Asphodel,

being

one

of the

ingredients

of

Pythagoras'

,

that wondrous

agency

which

appeases

hunger,100

belongs

to the same

category;

and the

comic

dramatist,

Alexis

of

Thurii,

calls

the

bread

of

the

Pythagoreans

#ca0apo?.101

n

explaining

the

reason

for

his

selection

of

the

above

mentioned kinds

of

food, Apollonius

says

that

all

fruits

produced

by

the

earth

are

pure,

but

qualifies

this

general

statement

with

regard

to

wine

by

de

claring

that,

though

it is

a

pure

drink

coming

from

such

a

well cultivated

plant

as

the

vine,

it

is

nevertheless adverse

to

the balanced

state

of

the

mind

because

itmakes

the

ether

in the

soul

dull

or

heavy.

Unlike

a

vegetable

diet,

animal

food

is

impure

and

makes the

mind

gross.

In

rejecting

animal

products

he

goes so far as towear only a garb made from linen,102because it is not plucked

from

an

animal.103

Linen

also

serves

as

his

cover

at

night.

It is

by

observing

such

an

ascetic

way

of life

that dreams

become

the

source

of

the

truest oracular

messages.104

In

order

to

give

the

weight

of

authority

to his

teachings,

the

Philostratian

Apollonius

cites his

master

Pythagoras

who,

on

the

principle

that

all

things

grown

by

the earth

were

pure,

but

animal

products,

impure,

had

strictly

adhered

to

a

vegetable

diet,

clad

himself

in

linen,

and

worn

shoes

woven

of

byblus,

but

rejected

animal food

and

clothing

made

from

animal

products.105

Such

purity,

Apollonius

continues,

gave

Pythagoras

the

advantage

of

perceiving

his

own

soul so that he could still remember his former existence as Euphorbus who was

slain

by

Menelaus

on

the

battlefield of

Troy.106

you

are

pure/

the

per

sonified

Wisdom

(2o0ta)

of

Pythagoras

promises

Apollonius,

will

bestow

upon you

the

gift

of

foreknowledge,

and

fill

your

eyes

with

brightness

so

that

you

will

distinguish

a

god,

recognize

a

hero,

and

put

to

shame

shadowy

phan

toms

when

they

practice

deception

by

assuming

the

form

of men.1107

It

is

the

Pythagorean

way

of

life,Apollonius

declares,

for

which

he

is

put

on

trial,

and

he invokes

his divine master

to

defend

him.108 This

Pythagorean

way

of

life

leads

to

the

acquisition

of all the

sciences,

the divine

art of

divination

in

all

its

branches

[

a

a e

a

a

),

and above

all to

knowledge,

and

not

mere

opinion

concerning

the

gods

(

e

,

a

)

.109

The

passages

just quoted

make

it

clear

that, according

to

Apollonius,

the

gift

of

prophecy

has

its

source

in

the

Pythagorean

way

of

life,

the

Some

passages

in

Book

Eight

of

the

Vita

might

perhaps

suggest

the

idea

that

99

Ibid.

1.8

(1.7

Kayser).

100

Porphyr.

Vita

Pythag.

34

(35

Nauck).

101

2.378

Kock.

102

Philostr.

Vita

Apoll.

1.8

(1.7

Kayser).

103

Ibid.

8.7

(1.309

Kayser).

104 Ibid.

105

Ibid.

8.7;

cf.

6.11

(1.307f.;

216f.

Kayser).

106

Ibid.

8.7

(1.308

Kayser).

107

Ibid.

6.11

(1.218

Kayser).

108

Ibid. 8.7

(1.307

Kayser).

109

Philostr.

Apollonii Epistulae

52

(1.357

Kayser).







28

TRADITIO

Apollonius

gives

a

merely

natural

or

rational

explanation

of

the

method

by

which

the

ascetic

perceives

the

future,

that

is,

by

virtue of

a

natural

augmen

tation

of

susceptibility.

However,

as

Strathmann110

points

out,

the

entire

re

ligious

character of the

man

as

well

as

the

passage

in

Book

Two

(2.37:

'[The

gods]

impart

their

oracular

response

to souls

which

are

sober')111

demand that

we

think

of

the

gods

as

concurring

in the

action.

It is for

this

very

reason

that

Apollonius prefers

to

live in

temples,112

and leads

an

ascetic

life.

He

does

it

for the sake

of

being

near

the

gods

and

entering

into

communion with them

in

order

to

obtain

divine

revelations,

exactly

as

his

master

Pythagoras

did

before

him.113

In our preliminary remarks we cautioned against any tendency to trace

customs

of

fasting

and

abstinence back

to

one

common

motive.

This

warning

also

holds

true

concerning

the

dietary

laws

in

the

a

e

*

?

.

In the

Philostratian Vita

Apollonii

the

chief motive

is

of

a

religious

nature: it

is

the

Pythagoreans'

high

esteem

formanticism. Second

in

importance

is

the

Cynic

element. In

comparison

with these

two

motives the

remaining

ones,

namely,

elements

of

popular

religion,

the

doctrine

of

metempsychosis,

general

ethical

and

hygienic

motives,

seem

to

be almost

insignificant.114

A

study

of the

Pythagorean

way

of

life,

as

pictured

in

Iamblichus' De vita

Pythagorica,

leads

to

the

same

results. We

are

told115 that

'all

the

precepts

given

[by

Pythagoras

and his

disciples],

as to what man

should

or

should

not

do,

aimed

at

the

union

with the

divine/

and that

Only

that

should be

done

in

which

the

god

was

pleased.'

Of

Pythagoras

himself the

following

is

reported:116

'In

general

he condemned

all

things

alien

to the

gods

inasmuch

as

they

lead

us

away

from

the

association

with the

gods.

. . .

Whatever

was an

obstacle

to

mantic

activity

(

a

?e

els

a e

e

),

or

to the

clearness

and

purity

of the soul

(rj

vphs

a a

a

a

?yveiav),

or

to

the

state

of moderation and

virtue

(

a

a

e

e?iv),

this

he recommended

avoiding.

And

he did

not

approve

of

things

which

were

opposed

to

clarity

and

soiled

the

remaining

clearness

of the

soul

and

the

phantasms

of

sleep.

This

he

ordained

concerning

food in

general.'

As to the latter

important

passage,

Strathmann117 has

rightly

pointed

out

that the

reference

to and

a

e

was

a

commonplace

in

philosophical

discussions

of that

period

and

therefore contributes

nothing

of

importance

to

our

knowledge.

More

can

be learned from

the

remaining

part.

Those articles

110

Geschichte der

fr?hchristlichen

Askese 312.

111

Cf.

also Philostr.

Vita

Apoll.

5.12

(1.173

Kayser),

where

we

are

told

that

Apollonius

owed

his

foreknowledge

not to

wizardry

but

to divine

impulse

(

a

a

e

),

and

to

what

the

gods

revealed to him.

112

Ibid.

1.8

(1.7

Kayser).

113

Porphyr.

Vita

Pythag.

34

(35

Nauck).

114

Cf.

Strathmann,

Geschichte

der

fr?hchristlichen

Askese 315.

115

Iambi. De Vita

Pyth.

137

(lOOf.

Parthey):

"A

a

a

a e

a

e

a

e

,

e

a a

$

p?s

e

a

. .

.

a a

a e

o?s

a

e

?

e

$

a

.

11?

Ibid.m?.

(78

Parthey).

117

Geschichte

der

fr?hchristlichen

Askese

310;

cf.

Haussleiter,

Der

Vegetarismus

128.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

29

of

food

are

forbidden

which,

by

staining

the

purity

of the

soul

in

some

way

or

other,

hamper

mantic

activity,

especially

revelations

by

means

of dreams.

Whatever stains

the

purity

of

the

soul,

makes

impossible

any

close

relation

ship

to

the

gods

which

is

the

source

of

revelations.

It is

for

the

purpose

of

obtaining

revelations that the

purity

of

the

soul,

and

hence

an

ascetic

way

of

life,

are

required.

This

Pythagorean

idea

was

also

accepted

by

Plato

and

incorporated

into

his

doctrine of

the

three

parts

which constitute

the

human soul

:118

/c?V

(the

part

in

which

the

reasoning

faculty

of

the

soul

resides);

(the

part

which

is

the

seat

of the

desires

and

affections)

;

and

e

(the seat of courage, spirit, and passion, superior to and forming a

mediating

link

between

the first two

parts).

Plato's

doctrine

is,

in

turn, quoted

by

Cicero:119

'When that

part

of

the

soul

which is in

possession

of

judgment

and

reason

is

rendered

senseless

and

inert in

sleep, and,

on

the

other

hand,

that

part

which is

the

seat

of

a

certain

wildness

and

savage

fierceness

is

led into

confusion

because

of the

immoderate

use

of

drink

and

food,

it

comes

about that

this latter

part

rebels in

sleep

and, losing

all

restraint,

gets

the

upper

hand.

This

happens

in all

dreams

which

are

devoid of

judgment

and

reason,

for

instance,

if

one

dreams

of

having

sexual

intercourse

with

his

own

mother

or

with

some

body

else,

either

god

or

man,

or

even

with

an

animal,

or

of

slaying

somebody,

defiling

himself by an atrocious deed, and performing lascivious, hideous, rash, and shameless

actions.

How

different

is

the

experience

of

a

man

whose

mode

of life

and food have been

healthy

and

temperate

I

When he takes his

rest,

that

part

of

the

soul

which

is

the

seat

of

judgment

and

reason

is

active,

alive,

and

gratified by

the

meal

of

good

thoughts,

while

the

second

part

of

the

soul,

which

indulges

in sensual

pleasures,

is not

worn

out

either

by

want

or

excess

of

food,

and

also the

third

part,

in

which

burns

the fire

of

passion,

is

at

ease

and

restrained. In such

a

man,

because

the

two

irrational

parts

of the soul

are

kept

in

their

places,

the

third,

which

is the rational

and

judicious part,

can

shine forth

and

participate

lively

and

vigorously

in

the

act

of

dreaming.

Only

then

visions will

occur

which

are

un

disturbed

and

truthful/

Essentially

the

same

theory

is found

a

second time

in

Cicero,120

but

as

doc

trine

of

Cicero's

contemporary, Cratippus,

a

Peripatetic

philosopher,

who

wrote

a

work

on

divination.121

It

is,

however,

Pythagoras

and

Plato

whom

Cicero122

quotes

as

the chief

authorities

on

the

subject:

'Pythagoras

and

Plato,

authors most

worthy

of

belief,

command

that,

in order

to

have

dreams

to

be

depended

upon,

we

should

retire

to rest

after

having

prepared

ourselves

by

a

certain mode of life

and

diet;

the

Pythagoreans

abstain

especially

from

beans

as

if

by

this food

the

mind

were

puffed

up,

and not

the stomach/

118

Republic

571C-572A;

cf.

Hopfner,

Gnechisch-?gyptischer

Offenbarungszauber

?169.

119De divinatione

1.29.60f.

120

Ibid. 1.32.70.

121

Cf.

H.

von

Arnim,

'Kratippos'

no.

3,

PWK

11.2

(1922)

1659. As

we

learn from

Synesius,

De

insomniis

11

(PG

66.1312),

there

existed

a

great

number

of

treatises

dealing

with

dietary

and

general

ascetic

rules

to be

observed

by

persons

who

sought

revelations

in

dreams.

122

De

divin.

2.58.119;

cf. ibid.

1.30.62.







30

TRADITIO

It is

by having

detached their

souls

from

any

communion and

contact with

their

bodies,

that

prophets

as

well

as

sleeping

persons

are

able to

divine.123

'What

happens

to

prophets

while

they

are

awake,

we

experience

in

sleep.

Indeed,

the

soul reaches its

greatest

power

when it is free

from

the

influence

of the

senses

and

the

load

of

cares,

while the

body

lies

resting

and,

as

it

were,

dead.'124

The

belief

held

by

the

ancients that the

quality

and

quantity

of the

human

diet

had

a

definite influence

on

the

truthfulness of dreams and

visions,

also

explains

why

they

attached

great importance

to

the time in which

dreams and

visions

occurred.

According

to the

Philostratian

Apollonius,125

the

interpreters

of dreams

explain

no

vision without

having

asked the time when it

was

seen.

If

it

occurred

at

dawn,

in the

sleep just

before

daybreak,

they

will

undertake

to

interpret

it

on

the

principle

that

at

that

hour the

soul,

cleansed

of

the

stain

of

wine,

is in

a

healthy

condition

for

divining.

But

if

the vision

was

seen

in

the

first

sleep

or

about

midnight,

when the soul is still muddied

by wine,

they

de

cline

the

interpretation,

if

they

are

wise.

The belief

that false

dreams

occurred

before

midnight,

and

true

dreams

after

midnight,

was

widespread.

Moschus

opens

his

epyllion

Europa

with

an

account of

a

dream

Cypris

had

sent to

Europa

about

dawn

'when

the

flock

of

truthful dreams

roams

the

pastures/126

Hero likewise tells Leander of

a

dream

she

had

just

before

dawn,

'at

the time

when dreams are wont to be true';

127

and Horace128 represents the divine

Quirinus-Romulus

as

appearing

'after

midnight

. .

.

when

dreams

are

true.'

Socrates

is

sure

that

there

will be

a

day

of

delay

in

his

execution,

his

belief

being

based

on a

dream he had

just

before

daybreak;129

Tarpeia

seeks

for

dreams of

Tatius

when 'the fourth

trumpet

announces

the

approach

of

dawn'

;130

and

Hector

appears

to

Andromache when 'fair

night

has almost

passed

two

portions

of

her

course,

and the

seven

stars

have

turned their

shining

car.'131

To

W. Everett132

we

owe

the

correct

interpretation

of

Aeneid

6.893ff.

By

saying

that Aeneas and

the

Sibyl

were

dismissed

by

the

ivory

gate,

through

which

deceitful

dreams

pass,

the

poet

describes

the time of the

dismissal: it

123

Ibid.

1.50.113.

124

Ibid.

1.51.115.

125

Philostr.

Vita

Apoll.

2.37

(1.79

Kayser).

126

Vs.

2-5

(Bucolici

Graeci:

Theocritus,

Bion, Moschus,

ed. H. L.

Ahrens,

2nd stereot.

ed.

[Leipzig

1904]

103).

127

Ovid,

Heroides 19.195?.

128

Sat. 1.10.32?.

129

Plato,

Crito 44A.

130

Propertius

4.4.63ff.

131

Seneca,

Troades

438ff.;

cf. also Carmina

Latina

Epigraphica

1109.7ff.

(ed.

F.

B?cheler,

Anthologia Latina 2.2 [Leipzig 1897] 508) :

Exacta

nocte

suos

quum

Lucifer

ignes

spargeret

et

volucri roscidus iret

equo,

vidi

sidereo

radiantem

lumine form?m

aethere delabi.

132

'Upon

Vergil,

Aeneid

vi,

vss.

893-898/

The

Classical Review

14

(1900)

153f.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

31

took

place

before

midnight.

Everett

has

also collected the other

Vergilian

passages

which

are

to

the

point:

There

are

not

wanting

other

passages

in

Virgil

to

the

same

effect, notably

Aeneid

viii.68seqq.

Aeneid

v.835, 840,

and

v.738,

taken

together

are

very

instructive.

Neptune

sends

a

deceitful

dream to

Patruvius

[sic]

just

before

midnight;

Anchises

comes

as

a

vera

facies,

verus

nuntius to

Aeneas

as soon

as

midnight

is

passed,

and

departs

when he "scents

the

morning

air."

Turnus' vision of

Allecto

(vii.406

seqq.)

takes

place

at

midnight

(414).

It

is

a

mar

velous

compound

of fact and

fiction. Hector's

appearance

to

Aeneas

is said

to be at

the

prima

quies

(ii.268).

But

according

to

Deiphobus

(vi.513),

the

revelry

had

been

kept

up

well into

the

night,

so

that the

prima

quies

would

not

have

come

until after

midnight.'

Among

Patristic

writers,

Tertullian133

is

a

witness for

the

widespread

belief

that

dreams

seen

towards the

end

of

the

night

were

the most

trustworthy:

'Certiora

et

colatiora somniari

affirmant sub

extimis

noctibus,

quasi

iam

emer

gente

animarum

vigore

prodacto

sopore.'

E. Norden

134

has called attention

to

a

number of

passages

in

early

medieval

literature,

in

which

the

first cock-crow

ismentioned

as

the time when visions

come

to

an

end:

the ecstatic visions

of

St.

Fursey

(d.

about

650),135

of

Drythelm

of Northumberland

(696),136

of

a

monk

in

the

monastery

of

Wenlock

(725),137

and

the visto Wettini

(824).138

Finally,

among

the minute

rules

for

the

practice

of

vypopavrda,

found

in

Cod.

Parisinus

Graec. 2419

(saec.

xv)

,139

here is

one

to

the effect that

the

inquirer,

being ?yvos and - ,must perform the a towards dawn.

Casting

a

retrospective

glance

at

the

motives

which

prompted

the

customs

of

fasting

and abstinence from

certain kinds

of

food

in

preparation

for

mantic

activity,

we

see

again

that

they

cannot be reduced

to

a common

denominator.

The

point

of

departure,

it

seems,

was

the

simple

observation

that certain

articles

of

food

produced

uneasy

and confused

dreams.

In

the mind of

primitive

man,

however,

the

striking changes

produced

in

the human

body

by

certain

dishes,

especially

those

causing

flatulence,

were

more

than

merely

physiological

processes:

demoniac

influences

stood

behind

them. This

in turn led

to the

belief that the soul could

reach

its

greatest

power

when it*

as

independent

of

the

digestive activity

of the

body

and,

therefore,

most free from

bodily

in

fluence. Then it

was

nearest

to the

divine,

could

enter

into communion

with

133

De anima 48.1

(66

Waszink);

cf.

Cyprianus Gallus,

Numeri

281ff.

(ed.

R.

Peiper,

CSEL

23.126)

:

Quisqu?s

erit vobis

cognata

e

gente

propheta,

somnia

vera

magis

sensu

spectante

videbit

nocte

super

media,

cum

se

sopita

relaxant

sensa

virum

sanctique

deus

dat

gaudia

verbi.

134

P.

Vergilius

Maro

Aeneis Book

VI

(2nd

ed.

Leipzig

and

Berlin

1916)

348.

135

Vita

S. Fursei 6

(Acta

Sanctorum

Hiberniae,

ed.

C. Smedt

and

J.

Backer,

Edinburgh

and London

1888,

col.80).

136

Beda

Ven.

Histona

ecclesiastica 5.12

(ed.

C.

Plummer

[Oxonii

1896]

1.303ff.).

137

S.

Bonijatii

et

Lulli

Epistolae

10

(ed.

E.

Duemmler,

MGH

Epp.

3.256).

138

Heito,

Visio

Wettini 28

(ed.

E.

Duemmler,

MGH

Poetae latini aevi

Carolini

2

[Berlin

1884]

274).

.

139

Delatte,

Anecdota Atheniensia

1.469.







32

traditio

the otherworld, and receive messages therefrom. Thus divination was thought

of

as

being

due

to

the direct

action of

the divine

influence

on

that

faculty

of

the

soul

which

was

not

dependent

on

the

body.

As

soon

as

this

train

of

thought

was

associated with the belief

in

the

gods,

the

original

ideas became

trans

formed into

ideas

of

purity

and

impurity

which

were

common

in the

ritual

of

the

cult of the

gods.

II.

Christian

Antiquity

1.

Origin

and

Development

of

the

Practice

of Fasting

Though, according

to

Luke 4.1f.

(cf. Matt.4.1f.),

Christ

Himself,

before

beginning

His

public

activity,

underwent

a

severe

fast,

and

recommended

fasting,

in

combination

with

prayer,

as a means

of

cure

for

persons

possessed

of

a

devil,1

He

did not

leave

any

definite law

concerning fasting.

His

attitude

was

free from

ascetic narrow-mindedness

;2

He

reprimanded

those who

made

a

public

show

of

their

fasts

and recommended instead

the utmost discretion

in

such

religious

exercises.3

Passages

in the New

Testament, reporting

fasts

ob

served

by

the

disciples,

are

likewise

rare:

there

are

two instances

of

fasts

ac

companied by

prayer;

and twice

St.

Paul mentions his

many

fasts.4

As

a

result,

the

absence

of clear

utterances

on

the

part

of Christ

and the

apostles concerning the necessity and methods of fasting was felt at a very

early

time

among

the

rapidly

growing

number of

Christian ascetics

in

the

post

apostolic

period,

who

considered

fasting

an

important

factor

in their

effort

to

attain

true

perfection.

Gnostic

circles

with

Encratite

tendencies,

for

instance,

put

some

sayings

(logia)

to

this

effect into

the

mouth

of

Christ.5 Similar

say

ings

and actual

exercises of

fasting

and abstinence

were

ascribed

to the

apostles.

Accounts of such exercises

are

found

especially

in

the

writings

of those

authors

who used the

literary

form

of

a

Gospel

or

of Acts of the

Apostles

as

vehicles

for

propagating

their

own

views,

for

instance,

in

the

Gospel

of

Peter

7,6

Actus

Petri

cum

Simone

(Actus Vercellenses)

5,7

Acta

Pauli

et

Theclae

23,8

Passio

1

Matt.

17.21;

Mark

9.29;

but

see

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

2 n.3.

2

Cf.

Mark

2.18ff.

3

Matt. 6.16ff.

4

Acts

13.2f.;

14.23;

2

Cor.

6.5;

11.27.

5

The

Oxyrhynchus

Papyri,

ed.

.

P.

Grenfell and A. S.

Hunt,

IV

(London 1904)

p.9

(logion

5).

Although

the

saying

is broken

beyond hope

of

recovery,

the

general

train of

thought

seems

to

be

clear. The

disciples

ask

Christ

how

they

should conduct

themselves

with

regard

to

fasting

and

some

other

Jewish

ordinances.

The

answer

of

Christ

seems

to

have

consisted

of

a

series

of

short

commandments.

bid.

I

(1898)

.3,

ines 4-8

(logion

2)

:

'Jesus

saith,

Except

ye

fast

[by

abstaining

from]

the

world,

ye

shall

in

no

wise

find

the

kingdom

of

God.'

Although

this

saying

is couched in

rather

general

terms,

nevertheless

it stresses

emphatically

the

necessity

of

asceticism,

and could

legitimately

serve as

a

basis

for

the

development

of

a

discipline

of

fasting.

6

Ed. E.

Klostermann,

Reste

des

Petrusevangeliums,

der

Petrusapokalypse

und des

Kerygma

etri

(Lietzmann's

Kleine Texte

3,

reprint,

Berlin

1933)

5.

7

AAA

1.50.

8

Ibid.

1.251.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

33

Bartholomaei 4,9Acta Joannis 7,10Martyrium Matthaei l,11 and Acta Thomae

20;

29; 139;

145.12

However,

passages

of

this

kind

are

by

no means

confined

to

apocryphal

literature,

but

also

occur

in the

works of

ecclesiastical

writers,

for

instance,

Hegesippus,13

Clement of

Alexandria,14

St.

Gregory

of

Nazianzus,15

and

Eusebius

of Caesarea.16

Among

the

a

a

of

the

second and

early

third centuries

we

find,

beside

other

ascetic

practices,

fasting

and

more

particularly

abstinence from

meat

and wine

as

characteristic

forms of

Christian

asceticism.17 Eusebius18

tells

us

about

one

of the first

martyrs

of

Palestine,

a

man

named

Procopius,

whose

life

from

early

youth

had

been

that of

an

ascetic and whose

only

food

was

bread and water. Not satisfied

by

this

austerity,

at times

Procopius

took food

only

every

second

or

third

day,

and

often

passed

a

whole

week without food.

According

to

the

Epistola

Ecclesiarum

Viennensis

et

Lugdunensis,1*

Alcibiades,

one

of the

martyrs

of

Lyons,

who had

also

lived

a

very

ascetic

life,

never

touching

any

food but

bread

and

water,

adhered

rigidly

to his rule

even

after

he

had been

thrown into

prison,

giving

it

up

only

after

a

revelation

made to the

martyr

Attalus.

On

the basis

of their

dualistic

philosophy

of

life,

the Encratites

considered

abstinence from meat

and wine

obligatory

for

all

of

the

faithful.

Similar

demands

were

made

by

Gnostic

and

Judaizing

sects.20

The dualistic

conception of this practice of abstinence, which had met with a favorable re

ception

even

among

some

members

of the

clergy,

was

condemned

by

canon

14

of

the

Council

of

Ancyra

in

314.21

The tradition of the

a

a

was

taken

over

by

the

monks

who

developed

it

to

a

degree

of

unsurpassable

severity.

In

monastic

literature,

the

Historia

9

Ibid.

2.1.136.

10

Ibid. 2.1.155.

11

Ibid. 2.1.218.

12

Ibid.

2.2.131;

146;

246

;

253.

13

In the

fifth book of his

Memoirs, ap.

Euseb.

Hist.

eccl.

2.23.4?. (166 Schwartz),

con

cerning

the

abstinence of

James from

meat

and

wine;

cf.

Epiphanius,

Haereses

78.13.3

(ed.

.

Holl,

GCS,

Epiphanius

3.464).

14

Paedagogus

2.1.16.1

(1.165

St?hlin), concerning

Matthew,

who

abstains

from

meat

and

restricts his

diet

to

a

few

articles of

food.

15

Orat.

14.4

(PG

35.861),

concerning

the

alleged

diet

of

Peter;

cf.

Ps.-Clement,

Recogni

tions

7.6

(PG

1.1357f.).

16

Demonstratio

evangelica

3.5.74

(ed.

I.

A.

Heikel, GCS,

Eusebius

Werke

6.124),

where

the

abstinence

from

meat and

wine is extended to all

the

disciples

of

Christ.

17

Tert. De

cultu

feminarum

2.9

(ed.

F.

Oehler, Quinti

Septimii

Florentis Tertulliani

quae

supersunt

omnia

1

[Leipzig

1853]

727) ;

Origen,

In lerem.

Horn.

20.7

(ed.

E.

Kloster

mann,

GCS,

Or?genes

Werke

3.188);

according

to

Euseb. Hist.

eccl.

6.3.9

(526

Schwartz),

Origen

himself

was

experienced

in the

discipline

of

fasting.

18

History of

the

Martyrs

in

Palestine,

ed.

W.

Cureton

(London

1861)

3;

B.

Violet,

Die

Pal?stinensischen

M?rtyrer

des Eusebius

von

C?sarea,

TU

14.4

(1896)

4.

19

Preserved

by

Euseb. Hist. eccl. 5.3.2

(432

Schwartz).

20

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

32.

21

Bruns 1.68.







34

TRADITIO

Lausiaca

of

Palladius in

particular

furnishes

numerous

examples

of

extra

ordinary

feats

of

fasting.

Besides

permanent

abstinence

from

meat

and

wine,

which

was a

matter

of

course,

the

monks and ascetic

women,

whose

rigid

way

of

life

Palladius

describes,

imposed

upon

themselves

many

other

austerities

with

regard

to

food,

such

as

eating

only

dry

(

a

a)

raw

food

(

,

a

a)

abstaining

from

bread

and

any

food which

could

conceivably

tickle the

palate,

or

depriving

themselves

of

all food

for

five

or

more

days.

Considering

the

strongly

novelistic

character

of Palladius'

work,

we

shall

act

wisely

in

accept

ing

his accounts

with

a

great

measure

of

discretion.

This

holds

true

especially

concerning

the

numbers

he

gives.

Nevertheless,

the

tendency

voiced

so

clearly

throughout the work is unmistakable.22 The chief testimonies are Historia

Lausiaca

1;2;11;18;22;36;38;43;45;48;52.23

It

is

interesting

to

note

that,

ac

cording

to these

stories,

there

was

a

kind of

competition

among

the

ascetics,

one

trying

to

outdo

the other in

austerity.

Macarius of

Alexandria,

for in

stance,

after

having

learned

that the

monks

at

Tabennisi

ate

no

cooked

food

for the

forty

days

of

Lent,

practiced

a-

a

for

seven

years.

Later,

upon

hearing

that

a

certain

ascetic lived

on

a

small

daily

ration

of

one

pound

of

bread,

he

put

his

own

hard baked

bread

into

a

narrow-mouthed

jug

and

con

tented

himself

with

the

few

crusts

which he

could

pull

out in

one

handful.24

Finally,

when

he

was

informed about

the

severe

fasting practiced

by

the ascetics

in the

Thebaid,

he ate

only

a few raw

cabbage

leaves on

Sundays.25

Severe

fasting

had emaciated the

body

of

Adolius

of Tarsus to

such

a

degree

that

visitors took

him

for

a

phantom.26

Sozomenus27

tells

of

quite

an

eccentric

form

of

fasting practiced

by

certain

Syrian

monks who

ate

only newly

cut

grass

and

so were

called

.

Permanent

abstinence

from

meat,

wine,

and

fish-sauce28

was

the rule of life

observed

in

cenobitic

monasteries,

for instance

those of

Pachomius.

Moreover,

Pachomius laid

stress

on

voluntary

practices

of

fasting by

his

monks,

some

of

whom

appeared

only

at

one

of

the

two

daily

repasts,

others

at

none,

contenting

themselves with

bread, salt,

and

water.

On

the

other

hand,

Pachomius

rejected

any

excess

in

fasting.

For

example

he

forbade

the

monk Theodore

a

superpo

sitio29

of

more

than

two

days.30

At

theWhite

Monastery

of

Atripe,

the

monastic

22

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

168

n.16.

23

Ed.

C.

Butler,

The Lausiac

History

of

Palhdius

2

(Texts

and

Studies

6.2,

Cambridge

1904)

15; 16f.;

34; 52;

70;

107;

122; 130; 133;

142;

145.

24

Ibid.

18

(48 Butler).

25

Ibid.

(52

Butler).

26

Ibid.

43

(130

Butler).

27

Hist.

eccl. 6.33

(PG

67.1393).

28

Ldquamen

(y?pov),

a sauce

made of brine

and small

fish,

was

considered

a

delicacy,

characteristic f a richmeal. Cf. D?lger, 2.97; Zahn, 'Garum,'PWK 7.1 (1910) 841ff.

29

Superpositio

(sc. ieiunii)

is the technical

term that

was used

to

designate

in

the

language

of

asceticism the

practice

of

extending

the

fast

beyond

the

usual

time?the

ordinary

fast

ended at

6

P.M.?meaning,

therefore,

a

total

abstention

from

food

for

two,

three,

or

even

more

days.

These

lengthy

and

continuous

fasts

were

also

called biduanum

(sc.

ieiunium),

triduanum, quatriduanum.

In

Greek,

the

terms

for this

practice

were







FASTING AND

PROPHECY IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

35

rule ofPachomius underwent various modifications and was made more severe:

besides

abstaining

permanently

from

meat,

fish-sauce, cheese,

eggs,

and

wine,

the monks took

only

one

meal

a

day.

The

tendency

to

limit

the

taking

of

food,

even

the

drinking

of

water,

to

a

minimum,

was

very

pronounced.31 Schenute,

the

most

famous of

Atripe's

abbots,

never

ate

before

sunset,

and

even

then

did

not

fully

satisfy

his

desire

for

food

and

drink.

Often,

we are

told,

he

did not

partake

of

any

food for

an

entire

week.32

The

greater

moderation

which dis

tinguished

Western

asceticism

in

general

found

expression

in

the

practice

of

fasting,

too.

Witness the Rules

of

St.

Augustine33

and

St.

Benedict.34

Rigoristic

e

(sc.

e

a

),

e

(sc.

e a

a),

e

a

,

e

e a

;

cf.

Dionysius

of

Alexandria,

Ad

BasiUdem

1

(ed.

Ch.

L.

Feltoe,

The Letters

and other

Remains

of

Dionysius

of

Alexandria

[Cambridge

Patristic

Texts,

Cambridge

1904]

102)

;

Epiphanius,

Expodtio fidei

22.11

(3.523

Holl);

Cyrill.

Hier.

Catech. 18.17

(PG

33.1037); Evagr.

Schol.

Hist. eccl.

1.21

(30

Bidez and

Parmentier).

Sozomenus,

Hist.

eccl.

1.11

(PG 67.889)

uses

the

graphic expression

e

a

e

e

a

for

this

joining together

of fast

days

without

leaving

a

break. Tertullian

employs

the

verbs

continuare,

sc.

ieiunium

(De

ieiunio

14

[293

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa])

and ieiunia

coniungere

(De

patientia

13

[ed.

E.

Kroy

mann,

CSEL

47.20]).

Later, however,

the

terms

superpositio

and

superponere,

that

is,

the

translations

of the

Greek_terms

e

and

e

a

found

general

acceptance;

cf.

Victorinus, De fabrica mundi 3;5 (ed. J. Haussleiter, CSEL 49.4 ;5) ; Synod. Eliber?tan.

23;

26

(2.9f.

Mansi).

The

superpositio

was

in

vogue

especially

among

the ascetics.

The

practice

of

observing

the

customary weekly days

of

fast seemed

even

too

mild.

A

perfect

a was

a

person

who

was

able

to

fast

during

the entire

week.

Since,

in

the

East,

Sunday

and

Saturday

were

not

days

of

fast,

the

true

ascetic fasted

for

the

remaining

days

of

the

week.

Such

an

uninterrupted

fast of

five

days

is

reported

of

Antonius

and

Elpidius

(Pallad.

Hist. Laus.

22;

48

[70;

142

Butler]).

Many

ascetics in the

Thebaid

prac

ticed it

at

least

during

Lent

(ibid.

18

[52Butler]

;

concerning

Adolius,

ibid. 43

[130

Butler]

;

cf. also

Evagr.

Schol.

Hist. eccl.

1.21

[30

Bidez and

Parmentier]).

According

to

St.

Au

gustine,

Ep.

36.4.8

(ed.

A.

Goldbacher,

CSEL

34.2.37),

the

practice

of

fasting

for five

days

had

become

a

widespread

custom in

monasteries where it

was

observed

especially

during

Lent.

It

was, however, voluntary,

and

the

Regula Magistn

53

(PL 88.1015)

contains

the

following

order

:

'Qui

vero

voluerint fratres ieiunium

superponere,

in

ipso superposito

die

in

labore

cum

fratribus

non

spectentur,

solummodo

laborantibus fratribus

legant/

These

prolonged

fasts

were

very

common

among

hermits;

cf.

Vita Sancii

Amati

Confessoris

4;

10

(ed.

M.

Besson,

Monastenum

Agaunense:

Etudes

cr?tiques

sur

les

origines

de

VAbbaye

de

St.

Maurice

en

Valais,

Fribourg

1913,

pp.

185;

188).

In

Ireland,

where

western

asceticism,

including

the

practice

of

fasting,

developed

to

the

highest degree

of

severity,

examples

of

biduana

and

triduana

sc.

ieiunia

occur

quite frequently

in

hagiographie literature;

cf.

L.

Gougaud,

Devotional Ascetic Practices

in

the

Middle

Ages

(transi,

by

G.

C.

Bateman,

London

1927)

150.

30

Cf.

P.

Ladeuze,

Etude

sur

le

c?nobitisme Pakhomien

pendant

le

IVe

si?cle

et Za

premi?re

moiti?

du Ve

(Louvain

1898)

298-301.

31Cf. J.

Leipoldt,

Schenute von

Atripe

(TU NF

10.1,

Leipzig

1903) 116-20.

32

Ibid. 68f.

33

Cf.

H.

Seller, /Augustinus

und seine

Regel/

St.

Augustin

430-1930

(W?rzburg

1930)

98f.;

A.

Zumkeller,

'Zum

geistigen

Gehalt

der

Augustinerregel,'

Die

grossen

Ordensregeln

(ed.

by

Hans

Urs

von

Balthasar,

Einsiedeln

and

Z?rich

1948)

117.

34

Cf. St.

Hilpisch,

Geschichte des

benediktinischen

M?nchtums

(Freiburg

i.B.

1929)

67f.







36

TRADITIO

tendencies, however,

were

not

entirely lacking

in

the

West,

as

can

be

seen

from

Chapter

Three of

the

Rule

of St.

Columbanus.35

The

ascetical

motive,

however,

was

not

the

only

one

which

led

to

the

practice

of

fasting

in

early

Christianity.

At

a

very

early

time,

fasting

began

to

play

an

important part

as

a

general

preparatory

rite

in

the

liturgy.

A

fast

was

pre

scribed

for all

those

who,

after

a

careful

preparation,

were

admitted

to the

solemn

ceremony

of

initiation,

Baptism.36

A

similar

fast

was

demanded

of the

recipient

and

minister of

Holy

Orders.37

It

was

likewise

natural

to

exact

a

fast,

or

at least

a

fasting condition,

of

persons

receiving

the

Holy

Eucharist.

However,

direct

testimonies

for

this

observance

are

not

found

before the

end

of

the fourth century.38 St. Augustine 39 says that the fast before Communion

was a

very

old

and

general

custom

in

the

Church, tracing

it back

even

to

St.

Paul.

The

custom

was

certainly

earlier than

the

time

of

St.

Augustine

and

seems

to

have

already

existed at

Tertulliano

time.40

Probably

it

came

into existence

when the

celebration of the

Holy

Eucharist

?

which

previously

had taken

place

in the

evening

after

a

common,

frugal

meal

(agape)

?was

transferred

to

the

morning.

Tertullian

also

recommends

fasting

as a

preparation

for

martyrdom.41

Fasting

also

formed

part

of

the

penitential discipline

of the

early

Church.

38

Ed.

0.

Seebass,

Zeitschrift

f?r

Kirchengeschichte

15

(1895)

375f.

one

may

note also

the

severity

of Irish

fasting

practices (Gougaud,

Devotional

and Ascetic

Practices

147ff.;

J.

Ryan,

Irish

Monasticism

[Dublin

1931]

391ff.).

36

The chief

testimonies for

the

prebaptismal

fast

are

the

following:

Didache

7.4;

Just.

Mart.

Apologia

1.61;

Clement of

Alexandria,

Excerpta

ex

Theodoto

83f.

(3.132

St?hlin);

Tert.

De

baptismo

20

(217

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa)

;

Ps.-Clement,

Homiliae

3.73;

11.35;

13.9;

11

(ed.

P. de

Lagarde,

Clementina

[Leipzig

1865]

56;

119; 136;

137); Recogn.

3.67;

6.15; 7.34;

36;

37

(PG

1.1311; 1355; 1368;

1369); August.

De

fide

et

openbus

6.8

(ed.

J.

Zycha,

CSEL

41.43)

;

Statuta ecclesiae

antiqua

(Ps.-Conc.

Carthag.

IV)

cn.

85

(1.149

Bruns;

this

canon

prescribes

a

protracted

abstinence from

meat

and

wine).

For

more

testimonies

see Sch?mmer, Die altchristliche Fastenpraxis 166 n.lO. In the Didache (loc. cit.) the fast

is

enjoined

not

only

on

the

recipient

but also

on

the

minister

of

the

sacrament

and

possibly

on

all

those

who

attend the sacred

ceremony;

similarly

St. Justin

(loc.

cit.)

and

Ps.-Clement,

Recogn.

7.37.

37

Cf.

for

instance

St.

Leo, Ep.

9.1

(PL

54.625)

:

'His

qui

consecrandi

sunt,

ieiunis

a

ieiunantibus

sacra

benedictio conferatur.'

The

Didascalia

Arabica

32.1-3

(ed.

F.

X.

Funk,

Didascalia

et

Constitutiones

Apostolorum

[Paderborn

1905]

2.122f.;

cf.

ibid.

38.1-3

[2.130f.

Funk])

and

the

Testamentum

Domini nostri Jesu

Christi

1.22

(ed.

I.

E. Rahmani

[Mainz

1899]

33)

mention

a

special

fast for

the

hishop

after his

consecration;

the

Test. Dom.

131

(71

Rahmani)

speaks

of

a

similar fast for

priests

after

their

ordination.

38

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

218ff.

39

Ep.

54.6.8

(34.2.166?. Goldbacher)

;

cf.

W.

Roetzer,

Des

heiligen Augustinus SchHften

als

liturgiegeschichtliche

uelle:

Eine


tudie

(Munich

1930)

174f.

40

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

221.

41

De

ieiun.

12

(290f.

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

In

the

same

chapter,

Tertullian

criticizes

the

custom of

sending

provisions

to

imprisonedmartyrs.

Compare

with this

Tertulliano

different ttitude

inAd

martyras

1

(1.3

Oehler),

written

shortly

fter his

con

version

and before

his

Montanistic

period.







FASTING

AND PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

37

As

early

as

Tertullian42 there ismention of the

severe

fasts of penitents. Dis

ciplinary writings,

like

the

Didascalia,43

the

Ethiopie Didascalia,**

and the

Gonstitutiones

Apostolorum,45

contain

numerous

instructions

concerning

fasts

to

be

imposed

on

penitents.

Such

fasts,

forming

a

part

of

the

penance

assigned

to

sinners,

played

a

big

part

in the

disciplinary

regulations

of

the

Penitentials

of

the

early

Middle

Ages,

in which

fasting

on

bread and

water

and

abstinence

from

meat

and

wine

occur

quite

frequently.46

Obviously

for the sake

of

promoting

peace

and

unity

between

the

two

groups

of Christian

converts

who,

in

those

early

days,

came

from

the

ranks

either

of

Judaism

or

of

paganism,

the so-called

Apostolic

decree

forbade

certain

prac

tices which were held in special abhorrence by every Jew. The decree contained

four

prohibitions.

Three

of

them

were

concerned with the observance of

food

taboos,

making

obligatory

for the whole

community

abstinence

'from

things

[mostly

meats]

sacrificed

to

idols

and from

blood

and

from

what

is

strangled.'47

Though

observed rather

laxly

in

daily

life,

these

prohibitions

remained

in effect

m

the

Church,

or

at

least

in

some

parts

of

it,

for centuries.48

That

they

were

considered

binding

at

the

end

of

the

second

century

is

quite beyond

question,

our

chief

witnesses

being

Clement of

Alexandria49

for

the

East,

Tertullian50

for

the

West.

They

were

still observed

at the

beginning

of

the fifth

century.

How

ever,

St.

Cyril

of

Alexandria

and

St.

Augustine

showed

a

certain

broad-minded

ness

in

interpreting

them.51

While

during

the first five

centuries

the articles

of

food,

mentioned

in

the

Apostolic decree,

remained the

only

ones

which

were

forbidden,

in the

following period

the

Eastern

Churches

accepted

a

great

num

ber

of

dietary

laws

of

Levitic character.52

In

the

West

similar observances

cropped

up

in the

circles

of

Irish-Scottish monks from

the

time

of the

sixth and

seventh

centuries.53

As

to

the motives

which

led

to

the

practice

of

fasting

in

early

Christianity,

asceticism,

no

doubt,

holds

the

first

place.

Fasting

was

employed

as a

means

of

subordinating

the

lower

appetites

to the

dictates

of

right

reason

and the law

ofGod. Like asceticism itself, it showed various degrees of intensity. At times,

42

De

paenitentia

9;

11

(1.660;

662

Oehler).

43

2.16.2;

41.6

(1.60;

130ff.

Funk).

44

6

(ed.

J.M.

Harden,

The

Ethiopie

Didascalia

[London 1920]

29).

40

2.16.2; 17.5;

18.7;

41.6; 43.1;

48.1

(1.61;

65;

67;

131ff.;

135;

143ff.

unk).

46

Cf.

the

Penitentials

of

Vinnian,

Columbanus,

and

Cummean,

ed. F.

W.

H.

Wasser

schleben,

Die

Bussordnungen

der abendl?ndischen

Kirche

(Halle

1851)

108ff.

Vinnian]

;

353ff.

Columbanus]

;

J.

Zettinger,

Archiv

f.

kath.

Kirchenrecht

82

(1902)

501ff.

Cummean].

47

Acts

15.28f.

48

Cf.

K.

B?ckenhoff,

Das

apostolische Speisegesetz

in

den

ersten

f?nf

Jahrhunderten

(Paderborn 1903)

1;

98.

49

Testimonies

ibid.

41ff.

50

For testimonies

see

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

8ff.

51

Cf.

B?ckenhoff,

Das


98-107.

52

Cf.

B?ckenhoff,

Speisesatzungen

mosaischer

Art

in

mittelalterlichen

Kirchenrechts

quellen

des

Morgen-

und

Abendlandes

(M?nster 1907)

Iff.

83

Cf. ibid.

50.







38

TRADITIO

as

in

the

case

of

the

Syrian

mentioned

above,

ascetical

zeal

led to

ex

aggerations,

or

too much

stress

was

laid

on

mere^external,

bodily

fasting.

Both

abuses, however,

were

repudiated

by

the

Church and

ecclesiastical

writers.

In

their

works,

Christian

authors

emphasize

again

and

again

that

it is

the inner

disposition

of

the

soul,

the

spirit

of

penance

and

self-denial,

through

which the

external exercise

acquires

its

true

religious

value.

The

attitude of

early

Chris

tianity

can

best be described

by

a

passage

from the

Shepherd

of

Hermas,54

in

which

fasting

in

a

spiritual

sense

is

required

above all:

'Here is the

fast

you

must

keep

for

God:

Do not

commit

any

wicked

deed

in

your

life

and

serve

the

Lord

with

a

pure

heart; keep

His commandments

by walking according

to

His directions and do not let any evil desire enteryour heart; have faith inGod. If you

do

this,

and fear

Him,

and

refrain

from

every

evil

act,

you

will

live to

God.

And

by doing

this

you

will

perform

fast

that

is

great

and

acceptable

to God/

In

the fifth

century,

St.

Augustine

and St. Leo

the Great

inculcate the

same

thought

in

their

flocks.

Speaking

of the

forty

days

of

fast

in

Lent,

St.

Au

gustine55

says:

The

great

and

general

fast consists

in

abstaining

from the

iniquities

and

illicit

sensual

pleasures

of

the

world

;

this is

the

perfect

fast

that,

"rejecting ungodliness

and

worldy

lusts,

we

may

live

temperately

and

justly

and

piously

in

this world."

,56

No

less

emphatically

does

St. Leo57 insist that

'the

very

essence

of

our

fast does

not consist

in

the

mere

abstention from

food,

and

fruitlessly

do

we

deprive

our

body

of nourishment

if the

soul is

not made

free

from

sin.'

In the

East,

similar

thoughts

were

voiced

by

Origen58

and St.

John

Chrysostom.59

Neither do ecclesiastical writers

approve

of

excessive

fasting.

St.

Jerome,

whose

proneness

to

austerity

and

experience

in

this

field make

him

an

especially

valuable

authority,60

writes

to

Demetrias,

a

highborn

Roman

lady

who had

embraced

a

life of

virginity,

that

she should

avoid

any

abnormal

abstinence

from food.

Covering,

in

this

letter,

the whole field of ascetic

practice,

he

cau

tions

her

against

excessive

fasting,

because

such

practices

lead

to

the

break

54

Sim.

5.1.4f.;

cf.

ibid.

5.3.6;

Ep.

Barnabae

3.3;

Just. Mart.

Dial,

cum

Tryphone

15.

55

In Joh.

Evang.

tract.

17.4

(PL

35.1529).

Cf.

Roetzer,

Des

heiligen

Augustinus

Schrijten

als


Quelle 31,

where

the author

points

to

St.

Augustine's

Lenten

sermons

in

which

the

Bishop

of

Hippo,

with

a

keen

insight

nto the

pastoral

needs of his

flock,

and

using

all

the

powers

of

his

extraordinary eloquence,

tried

to

deepen

the

idea

of

the

Quadragesima

in

the

minds of his listeners.He did

this

by pointing

out

that

bodily fasting

formed

only

one

part

of

the

wholesome

penitential

exercises and that the

literal

fulfilment

of

the ecclesiastical

laws

of

fasting

must be

accompanied by

an

inner conversion in order

to

conform to the

spirit

and idea of these

holy

weeks

of

preparation

for

Easter.

Cf.

also

A.

Bihlmeier,

'Das

Fasten im Geiste der

Liturgie/

enediktinische

Monatschr?ft

10

(1928)

104ff.

56 Titus 2.12.

57

Sermo

42

(PL

54.276).

58

In

Lev. horn.

10.2

(ed.

W.

A.

Baehrens,

GCS,

Oxigenes

Werke

6.

444).

59

In

Gen. hom.

4.7;

8.5

(PG

53.45f.;

74).

60

Cf.

for

instance

Ep.

130.11

(ed.

I.

Hilberg,

CSEL

56.191):

'Latus

est

super

ieiuniis

campus

in

quo

et

nos

saepe

cucurrimus.,







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

39

down

of

weak

constitutions

and

cause

bodily

sickness

even

before

the

founda

tions

of

a

holy

life

had been

laid.

According

to

him,

'fasting

is

not

a

complete

virtue

in

itself

but

only

a

foundation

on

which

other

virtues

may

be

built.,ei

Pointing

to

his

experience

in

this

field,

he

says

that

he knows anchorites

of

both

sexes

who

by

excessive

fasting

have

impaired

their

faculties

to

such

an

extent

that

they

do

not

know

what

to

do

or

where

to

turn.62

In

a

similar

way

he

advises

the

presbyter

Nepotian

to

lay

upon

himself

only

as

much

fasting

as

he

can

bear;63

and

Rusticus,

a

young

monk

of

Toulouse,

to

let

his

fasts

be

moderate.64

St. Jerome

also

strongly

disapproves

of

'long

and

immoderate

fasts

in

which

week

is

added to

week'

(superpositiones)

at

an

early

age.65

But

above

all, fasting should not be boasted of. Tf you have fasted two days/ he writes

to

Eustochium,

'do

not

think

yourself

better than

others

who do

not

fast.'66

An

important

factor

in

the

development

of

the

Christian

idea

of

fasting

was

the

stress

laid

on

its

meritorious

character.

According

to

the

Shepherd

of

Hermas,67

the

just

man

may

merit

graces

and

favors

from

God

by fasting:

'If

you

perform

your

fast,

then,

in

the

way

I

have

just commanded,

your

"sacrifice

will be

acceptable

in the

sight

of

God,"68

and

this

fast

will

be

written

down

to

your

credit/

In

one

of

his

homilies,

St.

Gregory

the Great69

told his

listeners that

by

fasting

they

paid

tithe

to

God their

Creator

and Master.

The

custom

of

feeding

the

poor

with

what

was

saved

through fasting,

gave

further

support

to

the

idea

of

its

meritorious

value:

'Compute

the

total

expense

for

the food

you

would have eaten

on

the

day

on

which

you

intended

to

keep

a

fast

and

give

it

to

a

widow,

an

orphan,

or

someone

in

need.,7?

In

this

way

it is

understandable that

fasting

is

put

into the

same

category

as

prayer

and

alms

giving,

and

forms,

together

with

these

two,

as

in

the Old

Testament,

the

triad

?1

Ibid.:

Teiunium

non

perfecta virtus,

sed ceterarum

virtutum fundamentum est.*

Cf.

Joh. Cass. De

institutis

coenobiorum 5.10

(ed.

M.

Petschenig,

CSEL

17.88)

:

'Ad

integritatem

mentis

et

corporis

conservandam

abstinentia

ciborum sola

non

sufficit,

nisi fuerint

ceterae

quoque

virtutes animae

coniugatae.' St. Melania the Younger compares the virtues with

the

adornment

of

a

bride

:

a

person

attempting

to

accomplish

much

in

fasting

without

practicing

the

remaining virtues,

resembles

a

bride who

adorns

only

her

feet

but fails to

attire the

rest of her

body

(Gerontius,

Vita

S. Melaniae

Iunioris

43,

ed.

M.

Rampolla,

Rome

1905,

p.65).

According

to

St.

John

Chrysostom,

In

Matth, horn.

46.4

(PG

58.480f.),

fasting

holds

the

last

place

among

the

virtues.

62

Ep.

130.17

(56.198

Hilberg).

ea

Ep.

52.12

(54.435

Hilberg).

?4

Ep.

125.7

(56.124

Hilberg).

05

Ep.

107.10

(55.301

Hilberg).

M

Ep.

22.37

(54.202

Hilberg).

?7

Sim. 5.3.8.

*8

Phil.

4.18.

?

Horn,

in

Evang.

16.5

(PL

76.1137).

70

Hermas,

Sim.

5.3.7;

cf.

Orig.

In

Lev. horn. 10.2

(6.445

Baehrens)

;

Didascalia 5.1.4

(1.236ff.

unk);

Ethiopie

Didascalia 30

(136

Harden);

Const.

Apost.

5.1.3

(1.237

Funk);

Aug.

Enarrationes

in

Psalmos

42.

8

(PL

36.482);

Leo

M.

Sermo

13

(PL

54.172).

For

more

testimonies

see

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

156f.







40

TRADITIO

of good works71 which, according to St. Augustine,72 characterize the life of the

just

man

in

this

world:

'haec

iustitia hominis

in

hac

vita, ieiunium,

eleemosyna,

oratio/

The

practice

of

fasting,

the

Bishop

of

Hippo

instructs

his

flock,

must

be

accompanied

by

constant

and

fervent

prayer73

and

generous

almsgiving:74

'Above

all

be

mindful of

the

poor

so

that

you

lay

up

in

the

heavenly

treasury

what

you

withhold from

yourselves

by

a more

frugal

mode

of

life.

The

hungry

Christ shall receive

what the

fasting

Christian

eats less/

In

one

of

his

exeget

ical

homilies

on

St.

Matthew,

St. John

Chrysostom75

describes the

Christian who

combines

prayer

with

fasting

as

having

double

wings

and

being lighter

than the

very

winds

;

and

in

another

homily

of

the

same

series,76

he

goes

so

far

as

to

say

that fasting without almsgiving is not even considered as fasting. The idea

that what is

saved

through

fasting

should benefit

the

poor

is

also found

in the

sermons

of

St.

Peter

Chrysologus.77

It

occurs

likewise

in

the works of Arme

nian

and

Syrian

Patristic

writers,

for

instance,

John

Mandakuni,78

Balaeus,79

and

Isaac of

Antioch.80

It

is,

however,

St. Leo

the Great

who

more

than

any

other

Father

of the

Church

emphasizes

that

fasting,

prayer,

and

almsgiving

are

the three

outstanding

duties

of

a

Christian,81

and

that

fasting

must

be

com

bined with

good works,

especially

those

of

charity.82 Fasting,

like

prayer

and

almsgiving,

was

considered

a

preventive against

the

temptations

of

the

devil.83

It

is often

mentioned

in

combination

with

prayer

because

it

possesses

the

power

of

strengthening

prayer,

for which

Tertullian

uses

the

characteristic

expression,

ieiuniis

preces

alere.84

In

estimating

the

worth

of the

three

good

works,

the

so-called Second

Letter

of St. Clement to

the

Corinthians

(16.4)

places

almsgiving

first,

fasting

second,

and

prayer

third:

'Fasting

is better

than

prayer,

but

almsgiving

is better than

both/

In view

of the

high

esteem

in

which the

practice

of

fasting

was

held in

early

Christianity

because of its ascetical value

in

training

the

soul to

virtuous

and

holy

living,

it

was

recommended

to

people

belonging

to

certain

states in

life,

71

Cf.

Tob.

12.8;

F.

Heiler,

Das

Gebet

(2nd

ed.

Munich

1920)

479;

483.

72

Enarrai, in Ps. 42.8 (PL 36.482) ; cf. De perfectione iustitiae hominis 8.18 (ed. C. F.

?rba

and J.

Zycha,

CSEL

42.15f.).

73

Sermo

206.1

(PL 38.1041).

74

Sermo 210.10

(PL

38.1053);

cf.Sermo

205.2

(PL

38.1040).

75

In

Matth,

hom.

57.4

(PG

58.563).

76

Ibid. 77.6

(PG 58.710).

77

Sermo

8;

41

(PL

52.208ff.;

314ff.).

78

Unterweisung

?ber

die

Tugend?bung

des

Fastens

12

(BKV

58.76

Weber).

79

Gebet

bez?glich

des

Fastens

(BKV

6.98

Landersdorfer)

:

fasting,

ombined with

charity

and

almsgiving,

makes

us

heirs

of

the

kingdom

of

heaven.

80

Zweites

Gedicht ?ber

das Fasten

(BKV

6.228

Landersdorfer).

81

Sermo

12

A; 15.1; 16.2;

17.1

(PL 54.171; 175; 177; 180).82

Sermo

13;

17.1;

18.3; 19.3;

20.2f.;

39.6;

40.6; 41.3;

43.4;

44.2;

46.4;

47.3;

48.5;

49.6;

78.4;

80; 81.4;

86.1;

87.3;

88.4f.;

89.5f.;

90.4;

94.4

(PL

54.172;

180;

185;

188;

189f.;

267;

270;

274; 284;

287;

294;

297;

300f.;

305;

417f.;

420;

422;

437;

439f.; 442f.;

446;

449;

460).

83

For

testimonies

see

Sch?mmer,

Die altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

216

n.51

;

217 n.52.

84

De

paenit.

9

(1.660 Oehler)

;

cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis 174; 181;

212f.; 222f.;

225.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

41

such

as

virgins, widows, clerics, and bishops, but also

to

the faithful

as

a

whole.85

In

the

writings

of

the

Fathers of the

Church,

these

recommendations

often

become

so

enthusiastic

in

praise

of the

practice

of

fasting

that

we

may

call them

encomia

ieiunandi*6

Neither

was

fasting

as

an

exercise of mortification

something

entirely

new

to

the

first

Christian

converts.

As

a

matter of

fact

it

was a

practice

inherited from

Israel.

Very early

there

were

two fast

days

in

each

week, Wednesday

and

Friday. They

are

mentioned

in

the

Didache

(8.1),

and Hermas87

was

familiar

with them. In

theWest

they

were

called

stationes.ss

While

the

Western Church

left

their

observance to

the

ascetical

zeal and

discretion of the

individual

Chris

tian even at the time of Tertullian, and rejected the view of theMontanists

who

insisted

on

their

obligatory

character,89

the

Eastern Church

seems

to have

considered the two

weekly

fasts

compulsory

at

an

earlier

time.90

The

primary

reason

for the

choice

of

Wednesday

and

Friday

was,

no

doubt,

the intention

of

appearing

different

from

the

Jews

whose

weekly

fast

days

were

Monday

and

Thursday.

From

the

beginning

of

the

third

century,

however,

another motiva

tion

gained

the

ascendancy

by

associating

these

days

with

the

Passion,91

Wednesday

being

observed

in

commemoration

of the

betrayal

of

Judas,

and

Friday,

in

memory

of

Christ's crucifixion.92

In

many

parts

of the

West,

espe

cially

at

Rome,

Saturday

was

added to

Friday

as

a

superpositio.93

As

a

result

the

fast

on

Wednesday

was

gradually

abolished. In

a

letter to

Decentius,

Bishop

of

Gubbio,

Pope

Innocent I94

exacts

observance

of

the

fast

on

Saturday

as

something

which

is

understood while

no

mention

is

made of

Wednesday

as a

85

Cf.

for

nstance

Ethiopie

Didascalia

14

(88

Harden);

Test. Dom.

1.22;

31;

42

(35

;

71;

75;

101

Rahmani).

86

Cf.

for

instance

Basil.

De ieiun. horn.

1.7

(PG

31.173)

;

Ambr. De

Helia

et

ieiunio

3.4;

7.21;

8.22

(ed.

C.

Schenkl,

CSEL

32.2.413L;

423f.)

;

Asterius of

Amaseia,

In

princ?pium

ieiuniorum

hom.

14

(PG

40.372); Ephraem

Syr.

Hymni

de

ieiunio

2.1f.;

6.1ff.;

7.5;

10.2ff.;

12.1

(ed.

Th.

J.

Lamy,

S.

Ephraem Syri

Hymni

et

Sermones

2

[Mechliniae

1886]

652;

678ff.;688; 702ff.; 708); the twometrical homilies of Isaac ofAntioch on fasting (BKV

6.217ff.

Landersdorfer) ;

and

John Mandakuni's

instruction

on

the

virtuous

practice

of

fasting

BKV

58.68ff.

eber).

87

Sim.

5.1.2;

for

a

complete

list of

all the

testimonies

see

A.

Dold,

'Das

Donaueschinger

Comesfragment

II

7/

Jahrbuch

f?r

Liturgiewissenschaft

6

(1926)

26f.

88

As

a

loan

word,

taken from

Latin,

it

occurs

first

in

Herrn.

Sim. 5.1.2:

,

,

e

a

;

e

,

,

e.

For

the

development

of

the

meaning

of statio

see

Sch?mmer,

Die altchr?stliche

astenpraxis 123ff.;

Waszink in his

edition of

Tertulliano

De

anima

p.

513f.

The

regular

ieiunium lasted until

the

hour of

sunset.

Since

the

less

rigorous

fast

of

the

statio

was

broken at the ninth

hour

(3

P.M.),

it is

merely

a

semiieiunium

to

Ter

tullian

(De

ieiun.

13

[291

Reifferscheid nd

Wissowa]).

89

Ibid.

2;

10

(275;

286 Reifferscheid and

Wissowa).

90

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

99f.

91

Tert.

De

ieiun.

10

(287

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa)

:

Venit

enim

de

exitu

Domini/

92

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altch?stliche

Fastenpraxis

95ff.;

more

testimonies in

Funk,

Didasc.

et

Const.

Apost.

1.279

n.20.

93

For

testimonies

see

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchnstliche

Fastenpraxis

150ff.

94

Ep.

25.4

(PL

20.555?.).







42

TRADITIO

fast

day

of

obligation.95

Besides

this

three-day system (Wednesday, Friday,

Saturday),

another

one,

namely, Monday, Wednesday,

and

Friday,

found

ac

ceptance

first

in

the

East,

later

also

in

Gaul

and

Spain. According

to

Dom

Thomas

Michels,96

it

probably

came

into

existence

through

a

fusion of

Jewish

and

Christian

fasting

customs.

The

paschal

fast,

observed

in

preparation

for

the

feast of

Easter,

also

came

into existence at

an

early

date. In

general

it

covered

the

days

in

quibus

ablatus

est

sponsus.97

There

was,

however,

a

considerable

diversity

regarding

its dura

tion

in

the different

parts

of the

Church.

In

a

letter

to

Pope

Victor

I in

connec

tion

with

the

Easter

controversy,98

St.

Irenaeus,

to

whom

we owe

the

earliest

report on the paschal fast, points to this variety of usage in the Churches,

unfortunately

without

giving

their

names.

According

to

him,

some

thought

they

had

to

fast

for

one

day only

(those

who

fasted

on

the

fourteenth

of

Nisan,

and

those

who

fasted

on

the

Sabbath),

others

for

two

days

(Friday

and Satur

day)

,

again

others

for

several

days

(those

beginning

their

fast before

Friday),

and

finally

some

for

forty

hours

(covering

about

the

time

from

the ninth hour

of

Friday

[death

of

Christ]

to the

hour

of

the

Resurrection

on

Easter

Sunday).99

Irenaeus

adds

that

these differences

were

not

of

yesterday

but had

sprung up

spontaneously

among

the ancestors. In

the middle

of

the third

century

the

paschal

fast

at

Alexandria

lasted

one

week.100

The

same

duration is

attested

for the

Syrian

Church. For the first

days

of

Holy

Week the faithful observed

a

fast

on

bread, salt,

and

water;

for

the

remaining

two

days

(Friday

and

Satur

day)

a

full

fast

was

in

force,101

which also

comprised

the first

three hours

of

Easter

Sunday.102

At

an

early

time

the

paschal

fast

was

interpreted

as

being

a

fast

of

mourning

in

commemoration of

Christ's

death.103

However,

it is

by

no means

certain

that this

was

the

original

sense.

Sch?mmer104

has

suggested

that

it

might

well have

come

into existence

through

the

continuance

of

a

Jewish

custom. As the

Jews,

before

eating

the

paschal

lamb

in

commemoration

of

their

deliverance, kept

a

preliminary

fast,

so

the

Christians

prepared

themselves

by fasting for the Eucharistie meal which they celebrated inmemory of the

Redemption

by

Christ. But

on

account of the

growing

prominence

given

to

the

remembrance

of

Christ's

Passion,

the

interpretation

of

the

paschal

fast

as a

fast

of

mourning gained

ascendancy,

finding

support

inMark

2.19f.

From the first half

of

the fourth

century

still another fast

before

Easter

was

95

Cf.

Dold,

loc.

cit. 29.

96

'Montag,

Mittwoch und

Freitag

als

Fasttagesystem

in

kirchlicher

und

monastischer

?berlieferung,'

Jahrb.

f.

Liturgiewissenschaft

3

(1923)

102ff. For

testimonies

see

ibid.

97

Tert.

De ieiun.

2;

13

(275;

291

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa)

;

cf. Mark

2.19f.;

Matt.

9.15.

98

Preserved

by

Euseb. Hist.

eccl. 5.24.12

(494

Schwartz).

99

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

59.

100

Dionys.

Alex.

Ad Basilidem

1

(lOlf.

Feltoe).

101

Didascalia 5.18

(1.288

Funk).

102

Ibid.

5.20.12

(1.298ff.

Funk).

103

For

testimonies

see

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

64ff.

104

Cf.

ibid.

68ff.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

43

observed.

Its

very

name

e

a

a

,105

uadragesima,

indicates

that it

was

intended

as a

period

of

forty

days,

its

prototype

being

apparently

the

fast

of

Christ

attested

to

by

the

Synoptic

Gospels.106 However,

in

spite

of

the

specific

notation

regarding

the

number

of

days,

there

were

great

divergencies

of

practice

as

to

the

precise

duration

of

the

quadragesimal

fast. At

Jerusalem,

for

instance,

during

the

years

380-390 it extended

over a

period

of

eight

weeks.107

This

obviously

was

a

means

of

having

forty

actual

fasting

days

with

Saturdays

and

Sundays

exempt.108

In

the

fifth

century

there

still

seems

to

have

existed

a

great

divergency

with

regard

to

the

number

of

actual

fasting days.109

Setting

aside

local

variations,

the

quadragesima comprised

in

general

six

weeks

in the

West, and seven weeks, or the six weeks before Holy Week, in the East, since

in

some

Churches

(Antioch

and

Constantinople)

the

quadragesimal

fast

had

been

kept

distinct

from that

of

Holy

Week.110

In

order

to

arrive at

exactly

forty days,

four

more

fast

days

were

added

to

the

actual

thirty-six

(Sundays

being exempt)

in the West

during

the

seventh

century,

and

Ash

Wednesday,

now

the

first

day

of

Lent,

was

called

caput

ieiunii.111

Originally

paschal

and

quadragesimal

fasts

were

clearly

distinct

with

regard

to their

character

as

well

as

their

general

aims.

This is evident

from

the fact

that

the

earliest

testimonies112

not

only keep

them

strictly

apart

but also

mention

different

underlying

motives.

The

forty

days

were

more

than

mere

fast

days

;

they

were

days

of penance and

spiritual

purification

for all the

faithful,

conceived

and

instituted

by

the

Church

as a

period

wholly

independent

of

the

paschal

fast.

It is

significant

that

the

e

a a

came

into existence

only

at

the

time

when

the

Church had

won

her

freedom,

that

is,

at

at

a

time

when

great

numbers of converts

began

to

pour

into

the

Church,

resulting

in

a

decline

of

the

zeal for

ascetical

practices

which until

then had

been

a

matter

of

voluntary

or

customary

observance,

and

in

an

inevitable

lowering

of the

general

moral

standard. The

institution of

the

e a

a

was

a

preventive

measure

against

this

danger.113

Practical

reasons

suggested

the

time

before

the

paschal

fast.

Holy

Week

brought

to

an

end

the

instruction given to the catechumens who,

103

Concerning

the

meaning

of

this

technical

term

in

cn.

5

of

the

Council

of Nicaea

(2.669

Mansi),

cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

201

n.150.

106

Matt.

4.2

;

Luke

4.2.

Concerning

the

symbolic

interpretations

of

the

number

forty by

St.

Augustine

and

St.

Jerome,

cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

203f.; Roetzer,

Des

heiligen

Augustinus

Schriften

ah


uelle

29.

107

Aetheriae

peregnnatio

27.1

(ed.

C.

Geyer,

CSEL

39.78).

108

In

reality

there

were

forty-one

days, Holy Saturday

being

a

fast

day.

109

Cf.

Socrates,

Hist. eccl.

5.22

(ed.

R.

Hussey

[Oxonii

18531

2.630f.),

whose

general

statement

to

the

effect that the

quadragesimal

fast

was

not

kept universally

for

forty

actual

days

seems

to

be

correct,

though

doubts

may

be

justified

with

regard

to

details

men

tionedby him.

110

Const.

Apost.

5.13.3

(1.

269ff.

Funk);

Joh.

Chrysost.

In. Gen.

horn. 30.1

(PG

53.273L).

111

Cf.

L.

Duchesne,

Origines

du culte

chr?tien

(5th

ed.

Paris

1925)

257f.;

F.

Cabrol,

'Caput

ieiunii/

DACL

2.2.2134ff.

112

Collected

by

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

astenpraxis 201f?.;

cf.

ibid.

64

n.59; 60;

61.

113

Cassian,

Conlationes

21.30

(605f.

Petschenig).







44

TRADITIO

after

having

been

baptized

on

the

vigil

of

Easter,

were

admitted

at

once

to

the

reception

of the Eucharist on Easter

Sunday.

Moreover,

Holy

Week was

also

the

time

appointed

for

the

reconciliation

of those

penitents

who

were

con

sidered

worthy

of

readmission.

Both these

ceremonies,

initiation

and

readmis

sion, however, required

a

longer

period

of

earnest

ascetical

preparation

on

the

part

of

the candidates

who

were

spiritually

aided

by

similar

pious

exercises

of the entire

Christian

community.

Thus it

came

about

that

the

e a

a

was soon

related

to

Easter,

even

with

regard

to its

purpose,

and

was

considered

a

period

of

preparation

for this feast.114

The fourth

century

saw

the

development

of

still

another

season

of

fast

in

the East. At Antioch, as attested by the Apostolic Constitutions, it originally

comprised

the week after

the

octave

of

Pentecost.115

It

was

also

observed

at

Alexandria

and

Jerusalem,

for St.

Athanasius,

in his

Apologia

de

fuga,116

and

the

Peregrinatio

Aetheriae111

obviously

refer

to

the

same

fast,

the

only

dif

ference

being

that,

in

the

Churches

of Alexandria

and

Jerusalem,

it

fell within

the octave of Pentecost.

The

Constitutiones

Apostolicae118

emphasize

the

ascet

ical character of the

fast,

the

orientation of

which

was

not

prospective

but

retrospective:

after the

full

joy

of

Pentecost,

the

faithful

were

to

be

reminded

of

the

spiritual

warfare

which

was

the

essence

of Christian

life.

Concerning

the

further

development

of this fast

we

possess

only

few

and

fragmentary

ac

counts which, however, can be supplemented by some others from the Nestor

ian

and Jacobite Churches:

it had become

a

full

e

a

a

before the

seventh

century.

In

Syrian

sources

it

is

almost

regularly

called the

Fast of the

Apostles

because

the

season

after Pentecost

was

thought

to

be

the

time

during

which

the

apostles

had

been

especially

active

in

preaching

the

Gospel.

Only

at

a

later

period

was

the

name

related

to

the feast

of SS.

Peter

and

Paul

(June

29),

the

day

on

which the

fast

came

to

an

end. The Armenians

and

Nestorians,

conceiving

this fast

as

a

counterpart

of the Fast of

Our Lord

(as

the

e

a a

before

Easter

was

termed),

called

it the Fast

of

Elias.

Slowly

there

developed

a

third

e

a a

,

the

Fast of

Advent,

also called the

Fast of

Philip

(because

it

began

on

November

14,

the

feast

day

of the

Apostle Philip),

or

the

Fast ofMoses.

Certainly

by

600,

perhaps

even

in

the

second

half

of

the

sixth

century,

the

three

great

e

a a

a

formed

an

essential

part

of

the

ecclesiastical

year

in

the Greek Church.119

The

same

triad of

e

a a

a

114

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

205ff.

115

Const.

Ap?st.

5.20.14

(1.299 Funk).

116

6

(PG 25.652).

117

44.1

(95

Geyer).

118

Const.

Apost.

5.20.14

(1.299

Funk).

119 Cf. .

Holl,

'Die

Enstehung

der

vier Fastenzeiten in

der

griechischen

Kirche,'

Abhandlungen

der Preussischen Akademie der

Wissenschaften,

Phil.-hist. Klasse

1923,

no.

5,

pp.

19-27. None

of

the

sources

belonging

to

the

period

before

the

Islamic invasions

men

tions

the

fourth of the

great

seasons

of fast in the

Eastern

Church,

the

Fast of

the

Mother

of

God, lasting

from

he

first

f

August

to

the Feast of

the

Assumption

of

theBlessed

Virgin

(August

15).

It

does, therefore,

not

concern us

here.







FASTING

AND PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

45

and

even

the

same

names

(fast

before

Easter

?

Fast of

Jesus;

fast

before the

Nativity

?

Fast

of

Elias;

fast after

Pentecost

?

Fast of

Moses),

are

found

in

the ancient

British

Church.

They

must have been

taken

over

directly

from

the

East

?

though

the

names

of

Moses

and

Elias

have

exchanged

their

places

?

since

they

do

not

occur

elsewhere

in the

West.120

It

is

worthy

of

note that

each of the

three

great

e

a a

a

took

its

name

from

one

of

the three

great

ascetical

prototypes

of

a

forty-day

fast.

The

tendency

to

insert

in

the

ecclesiastical

year

additional

fasts besides

the

quadragesima

existed

also

in

the West.

First

they

were

of

local

importance

only.

The

Roman

Church

began

to

observe

a

fast

on

three

Wednesdays,

Fri

days, and Saturdays in the fourth, seventh, and tenth months of the year

(June,

September,

and

December).

The

exact

week

within

each

of these

months

was

not

fixed

but had to

be

announced

by

the ecclesiastical

authorities.

Thus

the

celebration

of

what

was

later

called

Quattuor

Tempora

(Ember

Days)

originally

took

place

only

three times

a

year.121

In

this form the three fasts

are

mentioned for

the

first time

by

St. Leo the

Great,

who

used

a

fixed formula

in

announcing

them.122 There

are

a

number

of

indications which

give

us

a

clue to the

origin

of

these

fasts.

To

begin

with,

the

Ember

observances,

consist

ing

of

prayer

and

fasting,

were

distinctively

of

Roman

origin, originally

belong

ing

to the

city

of

Rome

alone.

Moreover,

St.

Leo

directly

connects

them

in

general,

and the December fast in

particular,

with

agriculture

and the har

vest.123

Prayers

contained

in the

early

liturgies

show the

same

connection.124

These

indications

lead

to the

conclusion

that

the immediate

occasion

for

the

introduction

of these

fasts

was

in all

likelihood

the desire

to

counteract

and

replace

the

pagan

feriae

sementivae

(observed

between the

end

of

November

and

the

Winter

solstice,

that

is,

in

December),

the

feriae

messis

(at

the time

of

the

harvest),

and the

feriae

vindemiales

(at

the

vintage).

These

old

Roman

seasonal

festivities

have

a

striking similarity

with

the

Christian Ember

Days

not

only

in

their

seasonal

dates

but

also

in

that

their

principal object

was

to

120

Cf.

ibid.

SU.

;

35

;

22

n.6

;

23

n.2.

121

The

first

traces of

these fasts

may

possibly

be found

in the fast

ordained

by

Pope

Calixtus

(217-222)

for

three

Saturdays

of

the

year.

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die

altchr?stliche

Fastenpraxis

153ff.;

160f.

122

?j?

?or month

of

December,

Sermo

12.4

(PL

54.172)

:

'Quarta igitur

et

sexta

feria

ieiunemus,

sabbato

autem

apud

beatissimum

apostolum

Petrum

vigilias

celebremus':

13;

16.16;

17.4; 18.3;

19.3

(PL

54.172L; 179; 182;

185;

188);

for

the

fast

in

the

week

after

Pentecost,

Sermo

75.5;

76.9;

78.4;

81.4

(PL

54.403;

411; 418;

422);

for the

month

of

Sep

tember,,

ermo

86.2;

88.5; 89.6;

90.4; 92.4;

94.4

(PL

54.438; 444;

446;

450;

455;

460).

G.

Morin,

'L'origine

des

Quatre-Temps/

Revue b?n?dictine

14

(1897)

343f.,

has called

attention

to

the

same

formula in

the

Gelasian

Sacramentary

:

'Quarta

igitur

et

sexta

feria

sollicito

convenientes

occursu

of?eramus

Deo

spiritale

ieiunium;

die vero sabbati

apud

beatum

Petrum

. .

.

sanctas

vigilias

Christiana

pietate

celebremus.'

123

Cf.

for instance

Sermo

87.4;

89.6

(PL

54.440;

446);

and

especially

/Sermo

6.2

(PL

54.177)

:

'.

. .

sancti

patres

nostri

divinitus

inspirati

decimi mensis

sanxere

ieiunium,

ut

omnium

fructuum

collectione

conclusa

rationabilis

Deo abstinentia dicare

tur/

124

Morin,

loc.

cit. 344f.

quotes

passages

from the Leonine

and

Gelasian

Sacramentarles.







46

TRADITIO

render

thanks to

God

(or

the

gods),

and

to

implore

divine

protection

for the

products

of

the earth in

the

different

seasons

of

the

year.125

However,

by

way

of

re-interpretation,

the

old

practices

assumed

a

Christian

form

and

character.

To

the

original

object126

there

was

added

a

new

one,

namely,

the

cultivation

of

the virtues

which

the Creator intended

man

to

possess.

The

Ember

observances

should teach him

to

make

good

use

of the

gifts

thus

bestowed,

to

practice

abstinence,

if

he

possessed

them

in

plenty,

and

to

give

generously

to

those

in

need.127 Nor

should

he

murmur over

the

scarcity

of

some

gifts,

or

be

discontented if

the

soil

yielded

an

excessive harvest of

one

particular

kind

of

product.

Man should

conform his

will

to that

of

God.128

Thus asceticism became the predominant note of the Christian seasonal ob

servances.

Giving

the

reasons

for the

continentiae libamen which

the

Christian

offers

to

God

by

the

December

fast,

St.

Leo129

says:

'For

what

can

be

more

efficacious

than

fasting?

By

observing

it,

we

come nearer

to

God,

resist

the

devil,

and

overcome

the

enticement of vices.

Fasting

has

always

been the

food

of

virtue.

Abstinence

is the

source

of

chaste

thoughts,

rational

aspirations,

and

sound

counsels.

Through

hardships

endured of

our

own

accord,

the

unlawful desires of

the flesh

are

extinguished,

and

new

life is

instilled into

our

virtues/

And

in

another

sermon130

preached

for the

same

occasion,

the

Pontiff

tells

his

audience

that

these 'fasts

strengthen

us

in

our

battle

against

sins,

overcome

un

lawful

desires,

repel

temptations,

break

false

pride,

soothe

anger,

nourish all

125

For

testimonies

and

the entire

question concerning

the

origin

of the

Quattuor

Tem

pora,

see

Morin,

loc. cit.

337-346,

whose

theory

was

further

developed by

H.

Grisar,

Storia di

Roma

e

dei

Papi

nel medio

evo,

vol.

1:

Roma alla

fine

del

mondo antico secondo

le

fonti

scritte ed

i

monumenti

(transi,

by

A.

Mercati,

2nd

ed.

Rome

1908)

778ff.

Cf. also

.

A.

.

Kellner,

Heortology:

A

History

of

the

Christian

Festivals

from

their

Origin

to the Present

Day

(transi,

from

the

2nd

German

ed.,

London

1908)

183ff.;

L.

Eisenhofer,

Grundriss

der

katholischen

Liturgie

(4th

ed.

Freiburg

i.

.

1937)

95ff.

126

Cf.

St. Leo's

clear

references

to

the

December fast:

.

.

decimi mensis

celebrandum

esse

ieiunium,

quo

pro

consummata

perceptione

omnium fructuum

dignissime

largitori

eorum

Deo

continentiae

libamen

offertur'

(Sermo

13

[PL

54.1721);

or:

'Sicut

ergo

spe

futurae

felicitatis,

ad

quam

per

fidem

currimus, gratias

Deo

agere

debemus,

quod

ad

per

ceptionem

tantae

praeparationis evehimur,

ita

pro

iis

quoque

commodis

quae

singulorum

annorum

revolutione

consequimur,

Deus

a

nobis honorandus

atque

laudandus

est,

qui

eie

terrae

fecunditatem

ab

initio

dedit,

sie

pariendorum

fructuum

leges

in

quibusque

germinibus

et

seminibus

ordinavit,

ut

numquam

sua

instituta

desereret,

sed

in

rebus conditis

benigna

Conditoris

administratio

permaneret.

Quidquid

ergo

ad

usus

hominum

segetes,

vineae,

oleaeque

peperint,

totum

hoc

divinae

bonitatis

largitateproduxit'

(Sermo

16.1

[PL

54.176])

;

cf.

also

Sermo

17.1;

20.2

(PL

54.180;

189).

127

Cf.

Sermo

16.2

(PL

54.177)

:

'Meminisset

quisque

ita

uti

abundantia,

ut et circa

se

abstinentior,

et

circa

pauperes

esset

efTusior.,

128

Cf. Sermo 12.3

(PL

54.170f.).

129Sermo 13 (PL 54.172).

130

Sermo

15.2

(PL 54.175)

;

cf. also

Sermo

19.2

(PL 54.187)

:

'Quis

non

intelligat uantum

nobis

praesidii

per

ieiunia

conferatur?

in

quibus indicitur,

ut

non

solum

a

eibis,

sed

etiam

ab omnibus

carnalibus

desideriis

temperetur.'

In

Sermo

78.2

(PL

54.416),

St. Leo holds

out

the

example

of

the

foremost teachers

in the

Church,

who

began

the

tirocinium militiae

christianae

by

a

holy

fast.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

47

good

desires

of the

will and

bring

them

to

the

full

maturity

of

virtue.,

The

old

traditional

idea

which connected these seasonal

observances

with the

agri

cultural

operations

of

the

year

was

spiritualized:

'God,

the

true

and most

excellent tiller

of

the

fields,

is

a

grower

not

only

of material

but also of

spiritual

products.

By

a

twofold method

of

cultivation,

He

knows

how

to

raise

both

kinds of

seeds and

young

plants: giving

to

the

fields

the

growth

of

the

fruits,

nd to

the

souls

the

increase

in

virtues.'131

It

was

not

until the

seventh

century

that,

with

the

spread

of

the Roman

liturgy,

the

distinctively

Roman Ember

fasts

were

adopted

in

other

western

Churches.

In

the

meantime, however,

other

local

fasts

had

sprung up

and found

wide

acceptance.

The three

Rogation

days

before theAscension (called litaniae

after the

processional

litanies

sung

on

this

occasion) were,

according

to

tradi

tion,

instituted

by

Mamertus,

bishop

of Vienne

(463-475),

because

of

the

calam

ities

which

had

befallen

the

city

and

were

days

of

fasting.132

There

can

hardly

131

Sermo

20.2

(PL

54.189).

Cf. Sermo 18.3

(PL

54.185),

where

St.

Leo

uses

the character

istic

expression

agricultura

mystica.

132

Cf. Sidonius

Apollinaris,

Ep.

5.14

(MGH

Auct.

ant.

8.87f.)

;

Ep.

7.1

(ibid.

103f.),

where

Sidonius

tells

the

addressee,

Mamertus

himself,

how

the

same

pious

usage

gave

moral

strength

to

the

inhabitants

of

Clermont

(urbs

Averna,

the

episcopal

see

of

Sidonius)

dur

ing the siege of the cityby theGoths; Avitus,Horn, in rogationibus (MGH Auct, ant.

6.2.108ff.),

in which

the

author,

a

successor

of

Mamertus in

the

see

of

Vienne

(494-517),

expresses

his

satisfaction that it

was

from

his

bishopric

that

the litaniae

proceeded,

and

spread

paene

per

orbem

totum

(the

latter

statement is

a

rhetorical

exaggeration)

;

Gregory

of

Tours,

Histona

Francorum 2.34

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.97f.),

who

refers

to

the

homily

of

Avitus. D.

de

Bruyne,

'L'origine

des

processions

de

la Chandeleur

et

des

Rogations

?

propos

d'un

sermon

in?dit,'

Revue

b?n?dictine 34

(1922)

14ff.

has drawn

attention to

an

anonymous

sermon

in

a

tenth-century

manuscript

(Cod.

Par. Lat.

18296

f

81),

written

at

Corbie,

in which

the

writer

states

that the

Christian

Rogations

were

descended

from

the

Roman

ambarvalia,

which

were

celebrated in the

month

of

May

and served the

lustratio of the

Roman

landmark.

Apart

from

the

fact

that

the

early

date

of the

MS

gives

considerable

weight

to

the

suggestion,

the

pagan

and

Christian ceremonies

on

both

oc

casions have

certainly

external

points

of

agreement

with

regard

to

the element of time

as

well

as

the

principal object. This,

however,

can

hardly

be

a

matter

of

surprise,

since

man's

necessities remain

the

same

and

suggest

rites

naturally

resembling

each

other.

Moreover,

we

have

to

take

into

consideration

a

peculiar

trait

of

the

Romans,

their

conservatism,

which

never

let

anything

die

out.

Since

the

people tenaciously

adhered

to

the

old

custom

of the

ambarvalia,

the

Church substituted

litanies for

the

pagan

invocations

in

this in

nocent

practice

(cf.

G.

Wissowa,

Religion

und

Kultus der

R?mer

[2nd

ed.

Munich

1912]

101,

nd

literature

uoted

there;

W.

W.

Fowler,

The

Roman

Festivals

of

thePeriod

of

the

Republic [repr.

London

1916]

124ff.).

In

this connection

we

may

also

mention

the

Roman

litania

maior

on

April

25,

which

was

a

substitute

for

the

pagan

Robigalia.

The

principal

feature

of

the

latter

was

a

procession

during

which

the

numen

Robigus

or

Robigo

was

invoked to protect the crops against mildew. Since the popes could not prevent even

Christians

going

out

in

procession

on

that

day, they

ordered

litanies to be

sung

during

the

procession,

invoking

God's

blessing

on

the

fruits

of

the

earth

(Cf.

H.

Usener,

Das Weih

nachtsfest

[2nd

ed.

Bonn

1911]

306ff.;

Kellner,

Heortology

287f.).

On

the

other

hand,

the

new,

distinctively Christian,

significance

given

to

these

observances,

especially

their

ascetical

and

penitential character,

should not

be

overlooked.

Rogations

involved not

only

peram







48

TRADITIO

be

any

doubt

about

their

character.

Sidonius

Apollinaris133

describes

them

as

days

on

which

ieiunatur

oratur, psallitur fietur.

Avitus134

speaks

of

'the

water

ing

stream

of

the

Rogation

observance/

which

'purifies

the

earth

infected

with

vices

through

the

rich

flow

of annual

atonement.'

Gregory

of

Tours135

reports

that Mamertus

'imposed

a

fast

on

the

people,

instituted

the

form of

prayer,

the

order

of their

repasts,

and the

manner

of their

joyful almsgiving

to the

poor/

and

that

these rites

were

celebrated 'in

compunction

of the

heart

and

a

contrite

spirit/

Their

penitential

and ascetical

character makes

the

Rogation

Days

closely

akin to

the

Roman

Quattuor

Tempora.

In

511,

the

first Council of

Orl?ans

extended the

Rogation

fast

before Ascension

Day

to

all of

Frankish

Gaul.136 Somewhat later, in 517, two Rogation fasts, each of three days, made

their

appearance

in

Spain.

The

Council

of

Gerunda

attached

one

to the

week

(Thursday

to

Saturday)

after

Pentecost,137

and

the

other

to

the

Kalends

of

November

(Thursday

to

Saturday

in the

first week

of the

month).138

The

latter

Rogation

fast

was

soon

adopted

in

Gaul,

for

the

second

Council

of

Lyons

(in

567)

ordered

litanies,

similar to

those before

the

Ascension

(sicut

ante

Ascensionem

Domini

sancti

patres

fieri

decreverunt),

for

the first week

in

No

vember

also

(in

prima

hebd?mada

noni

mensis,

hoc

est,

ante diem

dominicam,

quae

prima

in

ipso

mense

illuxerit)

,139

The fifth

Synod

of

Toledo

(in 636)

added another

litany

of

three

days

for the

Ides

of

December,140

and

finally

the

seventeenth

Synod

of Toledo

(in 694)

ordered one for each month.141 Both

synods

stress

the

penitential

character

of

these

religious

exercises.

St.

Isidore

of Seville

knows,

besides

the

quadragesima;

the Fast after

Pentecost,

and

the

ieiunia

septimi

mensis,

Kalendarum

Novembrium,

and

Kalendarum

Janua

Harum.1*2

The

last

observance

had

been

introduced

to

offset

the

pagan

New

Year's

revelries, masquerades,

and

similar

superstitious

usages.143

In

place

of

buJation,

but also

fasting

(the

litania maior

was

also

probably

marked

by

a

fast;

cf.

F.

Cabrol,

'Je?nes,'

DACL

7.2.2493),

almsgiving,

and

penitential

prayer.

133

Ep.

5.14

(MGH

Auct.

ant.

8.88).

134Horn. in.

rogat.

(MGH

Auct. ant.

6.2.108).

135

Hist.

Franc.

2.34

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.98).

136

Cone. Aurel.

I

cn.

27

(MGH

Cone.

1.8).

137

Cone.

Gerund,

cn.

2

(Bruns

2.18).

138

Ibid.

cn.

3

(p.

19).

The abstinence

from meat

and wine

is mentioned

here.

139

Cone.

Lugdun.

II

cn.6

(MGH

Cone.

1.140).

140

Cone.

Tolet.

V

cn.l

(Bruns

1.246).

141

Cone.

Tol. XVII cn.6

(Bruns

1.388).

142

De ecclesiasticis

officiis

1.37-41

(PL 83.771ff.)

;

St. Isidore's

work is

an

excellent

source

for the

early Spanish liturgy.

143

Ibid.

1.41

(PL

83.774L);

cf.

Aug.

Sermones

197

and

198

(PL

38.1021ff.);

Cone.

Turon.

II (567or 570) cn.18, l. 17 (MGH Cone. 1.126f.) 'Excipiturtriduumillud,quod ad calcan

dam

gentilium

consuetudinem

patres

nostri

statuerunt

privatas

in

Kalendis Januarii

fieri

litanias.'







PASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

49

these

objectionable amusements,

St.

Augustine144

recommends

to his flock

fasting,

attendance

at

church,

reading

of

Holy

Scripture,

and

almsgiving:

'They

[the

pagans]

give

New Year's

gifts;145

you,

give

alms

They

find

amusement

in

licentious

songs;

you,

entertain

yourselves

with

the

instruction of

Holy Scripture

They

run

to the

theatre,

you

to

the

church; they

drink

to

excess,

you,

keep

a

fast

If

you

are

not able

to

keep

a

fast

today,

at least

partake

of food

with moderation/

Gradually

the

idea

gained ascendancy

that,

like

Easter,

the

remaining

high

feasts

of

the ecclesiastical

year

should be

distinguished

by

a

preparatory

fast.

Such

was

the

origin

of

the fast

before

Christmas

(the

Fast

of

Advent),

which

ismentioned for the first time by Filastrius of Brescia.146 It was adopted later

on

in

Gaul,

where

we

find

the

first

traces

of

it in the

list of

Fasts

given

by

Perpetuus, Bishop

of

Tours

(d. 490).

According

to

this

list,

Perpetuus

ordained

three

weekly

fasts, commencing

on

St.

Martin's

Day

(November

11),

and

last

ing

until

Christmas.147 The

same

fast

was

prescribed

by

the

first Council

of

Macon

in

583,

which

mentions

Mondays,

Wednesdays,

and

Fridays

as

the

days

of

fast.148

A

stricter Fast of Advent

was

observed

by

the

monks

for

whom the

second

Council

of

Tours

in

567

ordained:

'De

Decembri

usque

ad

natale

144

Sermo

198.2

(PL 38.1025)

;

cf.

F.

B?nger,

Geschichte

der

Neujahrsfeier

in der

Kirche,

Diss. Jena (Berlin 1910) 21f.; Roetzer, Des heiligen Augustinus Schriften als liturgiege

schichtliche

Quelle

43f. From

the

point

of

view

of its effects

down

to

our

own

day,

no

other

ancient

festival

can

rival

the Roman

Kalendae Januariae

;

cf. F.

Schneider,

'?ber

Kalendae

Januariae und

Martiae im

Mittelalter/

Archiv

f?r

Religionswissenschaft

20

(1920-21)

84.

145The

New Year's

gifts

(strenae)

consisted of old

copper

coins

(asses);

cf. M. P.

Nilsson,

'Studien

zur

Vorgeschichte

des

Weihnachtsfestes,'

Arch.

f. Religionswissenschaft

19

(1916-18)

51.

146

Diversarum hereseon

Uber 121.3

(ed.

F.

Marx,

CSEL

38.121)

:

'Nam

per

annum

quattuor

ieiunia in

ecclesia

celebrantur,

in natale

primum,

deinde

in

pascha,

tertio

in

ascensione,

quarto

in

pentecosten.'

The

work

belongs

to

the

years

383-391

(cf.

O.

Barden

hewer,

Geschichte der altkirchlichen

Literatur

3

[2nd

ed.

Freiburg

i.B.

1923]

483ff.).

The

passage

quoted

is

worthy

of

note

for

still

another

reason.

Filastrius mentions

a

system

of

four solemn fasts for

the ecclesiastical

year

and

connects

them with

Christmas, Easter,

Ascension,

and

Pentecost.

Moreover,

in

chapter

121.5

(121

Marx),

he

opposes

another

quaternary

system

which

arranges

the fasts

according

to

the four

seasons:

'alii

autem

pu

tant

secundum

quattuor

tempora

anni

cuiusque

dixisse

scrip

turam.'

By

alii,

Filastrius

no

doubt

meant

Rome. There such

a

custom

had

begun

to

develop

at

an

early time,

though

the

first

source

which

gives

us a

clear

picture

of

it

is of

considerably

later date.

In his

sermons,

Pope

Leo I

regularly

announces

a

fast

four times

a

year

:

before

Easter,

the

week

after

Pentecost,

and the

seventh

and tenth months. The

number 'four' also

appears

in

St. Isidore

of

Seville's

De eccl.

of}.

1.37

(PL

83.771)

:

'Ieiuniorum

tempora

.

.

.

quattuor

sunt,' though

in

enumerating

them,

sidore

adds,

ibid. 1.41

(PL

83.774L),

a

fifth,

he

ieiunium

Kalendarum

Januariarum,

without

giving

any

further

explanation

as

to

why

he

exceeds

the

number stated before.

147

The list is

preserved

by Gregory

of

Tours,

Hist.

Franc. 1031

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.445)

:

'De

depositione

domni Martini

usque

natale

Domini

terna in

septimana

ieiunia.'

148

Cone.

Matiscon.

I

cn.

9

(MGH

Cone.

1.157)

:

'ut

a

feria S. Martini

usque

ad natale

Domini

secunda, quarta,

et sexta sabbati ieiunetur/







50

TRADITIO

Domini

omni

die

ieiunent.'149

The

idea that

every

important

festival

ought

to

have

a

preparatory

fast

immediately

before

it,

was

also

at

the

bottom of the

usage

of

fasting

on

the

vigils

of

those

high

feasts forwhich the

ancient

custom

of

the

pervigilium

or

nocturnal

Synaxis

had been

preserved.

However,

it

was

not

until

a

rather

late

period

that this

usage

found

general acceptance.

The

original

and

truly

ancient

element

was

not

the

fast,

but the

vigil.150

Three

conclusions

may

safely

be drawn from the

immense

wealth

of

source

material

dealing

with

the

practice

of

fasting during

the first

six

centuries. The

first is

that,

since

Christ

did

not

lay

down

any

definite rules

on

the

subject,

it

was

left

to

the

Church

to

prescribe

the laws which

were

to

govern

the

corporate

practice of the fast. The second is that, in spite of considerable diversity of

opinion

and

practice

at

the

beginning,

out

of the

voluntary

practice

of

individ

uals,

there

gradually

arose

certain

customary

observances

in local

Churches,

which,

in the

course

of

time,

grew

into

a

definite

pattern

and

common

discipline

in the East

as

well

as

in

the

West. The third conclusion

is

that the

dominant

motive in

both

individual and

corporate

practices

of

fasting

was

asceticism.

Moreover,

by

directing

the

sometimes

overflowing

fervor

of

early

Christian

asceticism

into the calm channel

of

a

common

discipline,

the Church did

not

intend

to set

limits

to the

zeal of the individual

Christian. Witness

the

history

of monastic

life

during

the

fourth

and

fifth

centuries,

which

abounds

in

ex

amples

of austere

fasting

practices.

Such ascetica zeal was not even confined

to

monastic

circles.

Some members

of

the

laity

showed

the

same

fervor.

Thus

Schernite

of

Atripe

tells

us

that

a

hegem?n took,

during

the

e a a

,

only

'the food

of

the

monks/

151

On

the other

hand,

with

the

rapid

increase

in

the

number of Christians

after

the end

of

the

persecutions,

a

weakening

of the

interior

spirit

of

asceticism

was

to be

expected

and

fasting

often

came

to be

looked

upon

merely

from the

point

of

view

of

exterior observance.

Abstinence

from

meat

and

wine

resulted

in

refined inventions of the

cooking

art.152

It

is

against

this

spiritual

decline that

the

great

preachers

of the time raised

a

warn

ing voice, striving

to

deepen

the

interior

spirit

of

fasting

and to

restore

it to

the

high

place

it had

formerly

held.153

149

Cone.

Tur. II cn.l8. al. 17

(MGH

Cone.

1.126f.).

This

canon,

like the ninth

canon

of

the

first

Council

of Macon

(see

preceding

note)

is of

interest

inasmuch

as

it

prescribes

Monday, Wednesday,

and

Friday

as

regular weekly days

of fast. In

other

words,

there

was

in force

the

second

three-day

system

which

we

have mentioned above

(p.

42).

The

monks

had to

keep

it

from

piphany

to the

beginning

of

Lent,

from

unday

after

Pentecost until

the first

of

August,

and

during

the

whole

of

September,

October,

and

November.

Lent,

the

week

after

Pentecost,

and Advent

(from

the first of December until

Christmas)

were

periods

of

daily fast,

except

Sundays.

The

fifty days

between

Easter

and Pentecost

(except

the

Rogation

Days),

the

whole

of

August,

and

the time between

Christmas

and

Epiphany

(except

the three

days

of the ieiunium Kalendarum

Januariarum)

were

exempt

from fast.

150

Cf.

Duchesne,

Origines

du

culte chr?tien

303.

151

Leipoldt,

Schenute

von

Atripe

69

n.2.

152

Cf. for instance

Aug.

Sermo 210.8f.

(PL

38.1052f.).

153

Cf.

for

instance Joh.

Chrysost.

In

Gen horn.

4.7;8.5

(PG

53.45f.;

74) ;

and,

concerning

St.

Augustine,

Roetzer,

Des

heiligen

Augustinus SchHften

als


uelle

31f.







FASTING

AND PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

51

At the bottom of

the

custom

of

fasting

in

preparation

for

the

performance

of

sacred

functions,

there

was

probably

the idea

of

surrounding

oneself

with

strength

in

the

sense

of

the

ancient

?zyma.154

This

thought

was

the

more

likely

to

suggest

itself

since

among

the

new

converts there

were a

number

of

former

followers of

mystery

religions

and

religio-philosophical

schools who

were

thoroughly

familiar with it.

With

regard

to

Baptism,

another idea

was

also

present:

that of

the

exorcizing

power

of

fasting

before the

reception

of

this

sacrament and

the

communication

of

the

Holy

Ghost.155

Similar

ideas,

no

doubt,

led to

the

custom

of

fasting

before

ordination.

Penitential

fasts

are

in

a

class

with

the

Jewish

practices

of

fasting

and

mourning in the Old Testament. Besides physical neglect of the body, penance

and

mourning

were

shown

also

by

abstinence from food.156 But it

was

also

believed

to

have the effect

of

an

exorcism

because,

like the

catechumens,

the

sinners

were

under the

dominion of the

devil.157

Stress

was

laid,

furthermore,

on

the

healing

power

of

penitential

fasts.158

In

this

connection

we

meet

again

the

triad of

good

works.159

Since

things

sacrificed

to

idols, blood,

and all that

was

strangled,

were re

garded

as

food of the

demons,

the

Christian had

to

shun all

these

lest

he

become

a

tablefellow

of the demons. We

find

this

thought

in

the

writings

of

St. Justin

the

Martyr,

Athenagoras, Tertullian,

and

Mincius

Felix.

It

was

further de

veloped by Origen and Pseudo-Clement, and is akin to similar ideas of the

Neo-Platonist

Porphyrius

on

this

subject.160

The

primary

arguments

advanced

by

ecclesiastical writers

in

support

of

the

practice

of

fasting

are

for

the most

part

based

on

Sacred

Scripture,

and

the

greater

number

of the

exempla

are

drawn from the

same

source.161

However,

be

sides these

primary

arguments,

they

also made considerable

use

of ideas

which

were common

in

the

Graeco-Roman

schools of

philosophy,

and

possessed

a

pe

culiar

effectiveness

for

recent converts

who had

come

from

philosophical

schools

and

religious

sects.

These

secondary

arguments

were

based

on

hygienic,

social,

154

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

217f.

155

Cf.

the clear

passage

in

Tert.

Die

ieiun.

8

(284

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa)

:

'Quid

enim

mirum,

si eadem

operatione

spiritus

iniquus

educitur,

qua

sanctus

inducitur?';

and

F.

J.

D?lger,

Der Exorzismus im christlichen

Taufritual

(Studien

zur

Geschichte

und

Kultur des Altertums

3.1-2,

Paderborn

1909)

80ff.;

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus

140;

Sch?mmer,

Die altchristliche

Fastenpraxis 175f.;

215ff.

156

Cf.

ibid.

185; 188f.;

M. Sch.

Freiberger,

Das Fasten

im

alten Israel:

Eine

bedeutungs

geschichtliche

tudie

(Zagreb

1927)

14-25.

157

Cf.

Sch?mmer,

Die altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

189;

217.

158

Cf.

ibid.

190.

159

Cf.

for

instance

Leo M. Sermo 15.1

(PL

54.174f.)

:

'Curandis

igitur

laesionibus

quas

saepe incidunt qui cum invisibili hoste confligunt, trium maxime remediorum est adhibenda

medicina:

in

orationis

instantia,

in

castigatione

ieiunii,

in

eleemosynae

largitate.'

160

Cf.

B?ckenhoff,

Das


53ff.; D?lger,

2.6.

161

Cf.

for

instance

Basil. De ieiun.

horn. 1

(PG

31.164ff.);

Ambr. De Helia

et

ieiunio

(411ff.

chenkl);

E.

Bickel,

'Das

asketische

Ideal

bei

Ambrosius, Hieronymus

und

Au

gustinus/

Neue

Jahrb?cher

f?r

das klassische Altertum

37

(1916)

458.







52

TRADITIO

ethical,

and

utilitarian

motives. In

the dietetical

rules of his

Paedagogus (2.1),

Clement of

Alexandria,

for

instance,

borrowed

heavily

from

Musonius.162

St.

Basil's De

ieiunio

homil?a

1

and

St.

Ambrose's De

Helia

et

ieiunio

are

filled

with

Stoic,

Cynic

and

Epicurean

ideas.

Comparison

makes

clear

that

almost

every

secondary,

natural

argument

in

these

two

works

was

in

common

use

among

the

teachers of the

popular

philosophy

of

these

schools,

and

that,

at

times,

even

the

particular

words

in

which the

idea is

expressed,

were

similar.163

We find the

same

method

in

Asterius

of

Amaseia,

who

stresses,

besides the

spiritual,

also the

hygienic

value

of

fasting.164

The

Capita

theological

a

collection

of

sententiae

drawn

from

Sacred

Scripture, patristic

and

profane

writers, which has been mistakenly attributed to St. Maximus the Confessor,

quotes

Epictetus

as

an

authority

on

how

food

and

drink

should

be

used

with

moderation.

2.

Fasting

and

Prophecy

In

several

places

of their

writings,

the

authors of

the New Testament

men

tion

prophets.

There

are,

first

of

all,

a

number

of

prophets

who

are

properly

de

scribed

as

Old

Testament

prophets.

St.

Luke

(1.67) says

of

Zachary,

the

father

of

St. John

the

Baptist,

that

he

Vas filled with the

Holy

Spirit,

and

prophesied.'

St. Simeon, the 'just and devout' man of Jerusalem, was likewise a prophet. Not

only

had

he

received

a

revelation

from

the

Holy

Spirit

who

Vas

upon

him,'

that

he would

not

die

before he had

seen

the

expected

Messias,

but

'by

inspiration

of

the

Spirit,'

he

came

to

the

temple

on

the

day

of

the

Presentation,

and

taking

the

Child

Jesus in his

arms,

uttered the

prophetic

canticle.1

On

the

same

occasion,

St.

Luke

(2.36ff.)

acquaints

us

with

Anna,

an

aged

'prophetess.' Finally,

St.

John

the

Baptist

was

not

only recognized by

the

people

as

a

great prophet,2

but

was

declared

by

Christ

to be

the

greatest

prophet

of

the Old

Dispensation.8

However,

besides these

prophets

of

the

Old

Testament

type,

we

find

the

dis

tinctive

New

Testament

prophet.

He

may

rather

be

described

as

an

inspired

preacher

because his essential function was not to be the bearer of a new

revelation

in

the

proper

sense

of

that

word but

to

promote

and

complete

the

missionary

work

of

the

apostles

by speaking

in

the

newly

founded Christian

162

For

testimonies

see

St?hlin's

edition

of

Clement,

1.154ff. nd

4

(Registerband)

45;

J.

Stelzenberger,

Die

Beziehungen

der

fr?hchristlichen

Sittenlehre

zur

Ethik der

Stoa

(Munich

1933)

453ff.

163

See,

for

instance,

the

Epicurean justification

of

fasting

in Basil. De ieiun. horn. 1.8

(PG

31.176),

which is taken

over

by

Ambr.

De Helia

et

ieiun. 9.32

(429

Schenkl)

:

'Dulciores

post

famem

epulae fiunt';

cf.

Bickel,

loc. cit.

457f.

164 In

princip.

ieiun. horn. 14

(PG 40.372).

165

Sermones

27;

30;

52

(PG

91.876

884f.; 953);

cf.

Stelzenberger,

ie

Beziehungen

der

fr?hchristlichen

ittenlehre

zur

Ethik

der

Stoa 477.

1

Luke

2.25ff.

2

Matt.

14.5;

21.26;

Mark

11.32;

Luke

20.6.

3

Matt.

11.9ft\;

Luke 7.26ff.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

53

communities

'for

edification,

and

encouragement,

and

consolation.'4

These

prophets,

no

doubt,

were

of

great

importance

for the

spread

and

consolidation

of the

Christian

doctrine. In

Eph.2.20

(cf.

3.5),

they

and

the

apostles

are

called

the

'foundation'

upon

which,

'with

Christ

Jesus Himself

as

the

chief

corner

stone/

the Church

is

built. Several

persons

possessing

this

specific

form

of

prophecy

are

mentioned

in

the

Acts

of the

Apostles:

Agabus

(11.27?.;

21.10)

;

the

prophets

of Antioch

(13.1);

Judas Barsabbas

and

Silas

(15.32);

and

the

daughters

of

Philip

the

Evangelist

(21.9).

In

the

next

generation,

Quadratus

and

Ammias

are

endowed

with

this

gift.5

The

Didache

(11.7-12;

13.1;

3-7)

likewise shows that

the

distinctive

New

Testament

prophets

held

a

prominent

place in the early life of the Churches. Their function and ministry, however,

were

only

of

a

transitory

character

because

in the third

century

no more

is

heard

of

them.

Montanism

and

Gnosticism

having

been

defeated,

the

members

of the ecclesiastical

hierarchy

remained the

only

authorities

in

interpreting

Christian

doctrine

and

guiding

the faithful.

It

was

only

by

virtue of

a

special prerogative

that

prophecy,

understood

as

a

gift

of

knowing

future

or

hidden

things,

was

superadded

to

the

official

mission

of the

distinctively

Christian

prophets.

Thus

Agabus,

prompted

by

the

Holy

Spirit,

foretold

a

great

famine which

actually

occurred

during

the

reign

of

Emperor

Claudius.6

Again,

the

same

prophet

predicted

to

St. Paul his

coming

captivity.7 Moreover,

St. Paul mentions the case of

prophets converting

un

believers

by

manifesting

the

secrets

of their hearts.8

Finally,

on

special

oc

casions,

the

prophets

were

the

instruments

by

which the Divine will

was

made

4

1

Cor.

14.3

;

cf. Acts

15.32

:

'As

Judas

and

Silas

were

themselves

prophets,

they

exhorted

the brethren with

many

words and

strengthened

them.'

5

Euseb.

Hist. eccl.

3.37.1;

5.17.4

(280;

470ff.

Schwartz).

According

to

St.

Jerome,

who

in

turn

refers

to

Tertullian, Melito,

Bishop

of

Sardis,

was

also

believed

to

have

the

prophetic

gift

(Hier.

De

vir.

ill.

24,

ed. E.

C.

Richardson,

TU

14,

la

[1896]

22).

6

Acts 11.27f.

7

Ibid.

21.10f.

8

1

Cor. 14.24f.

Cf.

Acts

5.1ff.,

where

St.

Peter

sees

through

the fraud

of

Ananias

and

Sapphira.

The

same

supernatural knowledge

of

the

thoughts

and

actions

of

men

is ascribed

to

St.

Paul

by

the

apocryphal

Actus

Vercellenses

2

(AAA

1.46).

Also

St.

Ignatius

of

Antioch

(Phil.

7)

is

aware

of

occasionally

possessing

this

gift,

and

(Ad

Polyc.

2.2)

exhorts

St.

Polycarp

to

pray

that

God

may

grant

it

to

him. Brethren

who

'bring

to

light

for the

general

benefit

the

hidden

things

of men'

are

mentioned

by

St.

Irenaeus

(Adv.

haer.

5.6.1

[PG

7.1137]),

and

from

the

ironical

remarks

of

Apollonius

(ap.

Euseb. Hist.

eccl.

5.18.10

[476

Schwartz]),

who

sneers

at

Montanus

for

not

having

been able to

recognize

the wicked

ness

even

of his

most

intimate

friends,

we

may

conclude

that

this

gift

was

considered

one

of

the distinctive

marks of

the

true

prophet

in

Montanistic

circles.

In

De anima

9.4

(11

Waszink),

Tertullian mentions

a

Montanist

prophetess

of

his

time,

who 'has

the

power

of

reading

the

hearts

of

men';

cf. De

pudicitia

22

(272

Reifferscheid and

Wissowa)

;

Adv.

Marcionem 3.14 (400Kroymann) ; and especially ibid. 5.8 (600 Kroymann) ; 'Exhibeat

itaque

Marcion dei sui

dona,

aliquos prophetas,

qui

tarnen

non

de

humano

sensu,

sed

de

dei

spiritu

sint

locuti,

qui

et

futura

praenuntiarint

et cordis occulta

traduxerint/ Concern

ing

the

entire

question,

see

H.

Weinel,

Die

Wirkungen

des

Geistes und der

Geister im

nachapostolischen

Zeitalter

bis

auf

Irenaus

(Freiburg

LB.,

Leipzig

and

T?bingen

1899)

183fi\;

Schepelern,

Der Montanismus

150.







54

TRADITIO

authoritatively

known. Thus

the

prophets

of Antioch

were

prompted by

the

Holy Spirit

to set

apart

Saul

and Barnabas

for the work of

missionary

evan

gelization.9

The

above

passages

have been

quoted

because

they

furnish

the

earliest in

stances

of

prophetic

activity

in

Christian

antiquity.

However,

they

contribute

hardly

anything

of

importance

to

our

investigation,

with the

exception perhaps

of

the

fact that

St.

John

the

Baptist

led

the austere

life

of

an

ascetic;

that

the

prophetess

Anna likewise

distinguished

herself

by

ascetic

piety, 'worshipping

with

fastings

and

prayers

night

and

day';10

and that the

Holy

Spirit spoke

to

the

prophets

of

Antioch

while

'they

were

ministering

to

the

Lord

and

fasting.'11

This last passage may well have served as a model for the authors of the apoc

ryphal

Acts

in

which

several

apostles

are

represented

as

fasting

for

the

purpose

of

obtaining

revelations.

The

author of

the

Actus Petri

cum

Simone

tells

us

that St. Paul

fasted

three

days

before

asking

the

Lord to

make

known

to

him

the

missionary

field

to

which

he

should

turn.

Thereupon

the

apostle

had

a

vision in which the

Lord

charged

him

with

preaching

the

Gospel

in

Spain.12

According

to

the

same

source,

St.

Peter fasted and

prayed

for

three

days

so

that

God

would

help

him

to

discover

the

person

guilty

of

a

theft

committed

in

the house of

a

rich

lady

named

Eubola.

In

a

vision

it

was

revealed

to him that

the crime

had

been

perpetrated

by

Simon

Magus

and

two

of

his

accomplices.13

The two instances

just

described show an orthodox character insofar as

there

is

no

coercive attitude

on

the

part

of

man

and

no

attempt

is

made to

bring

about

a

vision

by

artificial

means.

Prayer

and

fasting

are

only

acts of

petition

or

propitiation

which aim

at

inducing

God

to

grant

the

grace

of

a

vision.

The

Gnostic Acts

of

the

Apostle

Thomas,14

however,

contain

a

scene

inwhich

the

'prophet'

works

himself

up

into

a

state

of

ecstasy

by

a

number

of artificial

means.

Thomas,

we are

told,

comes

to the

city

of

Andrapolis

at

a

time

when

the

king

is

giving

away

his

only

daughter

in

marriage.

All

present,

rich and

poor,

bond

and

free,

strangers

and

citizens,

are

invited

to the

marriage

feast,

and

the

apostle,

in order

to

avoid

the

king's displeasure, goes

there

too.

During

the

banquet,

he

tastes

none

of

the

food and

drink

set

before

him.

Moreover,

he makes

a

very

peculiar

use

of

the

unguents

which, according

to

the custom

of

the

time,

are

handed

around.

He

anoints

the

crown

of his head and

his

organs

of

sense,

putting

a

little of

the

ointment

into

his

nostrils,

dropping

it into

his

ears,

applying

it

to

his

teeth,

and

carefully

anointing

the

parts

around his

heart.

Then

he

puts

the

crown

made

of

myrtle

and

other flowers

on

his head

and

takes

a

branch of reed

in

his hands. Soon

the first

symptoms

of

his

being

transported

into

a

state

of

ecstasy

begin

to

appear.

His

eyes

are

fixed

on

the

9

Acts

13.1ff.

10 Luke 2.37.

11

Acts

13.2.

12

Actus Vercellenses

1

(AAA

1.45).

13

Ibid. 17

(AAA 1.63ff.).

14

Acta

Thomae

3ff.

AAA

2.2.104ff.)

cf.

Reitzenstein,

Hellenistische

Wunder

er

Z?hlung

n

135.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

55

ground

and he

is

no

longer

aware

of

the

people

around

him,

not

even

of

the

flute

girl

although

she

plays

her

instrument

over

his head for

a

long

time.

The

rigid

and

immobile

bearing

of

the

apostle

incites

one

of

the

servants

to

strike

him.

Raising

his

eyes

and

looking

at

the

offender,

Thomas

predicts

not

only

his

early

death

but also the

frightful

way

in

which

he will

lose his

life.

Then

the state

of

full

ecstasy

sets

in.

The

guests, looking

at him

in

awe

and

silence,

see

his

appearance

begin

to

change,

the

apostle

becoming

more

beautiful

than

anyone

present.

In

this

state,

he

sings

a

bridal

song,

praising

the

heavenly

mar

riage

feast.

Then

the

apostle's

prophecy

comes

true. The servant

who had

struck

him,

goes

to

a

nearby

fountain

to

draw

water

and is

torn

to

pieces

by

a lion. Dogs immediately seize his limbs and one of them brings his right hand

to the

place

of the

banquet.

The

king,

having

been

informed

of

the

marvelous

fulfilment

of

the

prophecy,

asks

the

apostle

to

say

a

prayer

over

the bridal

couple.

This

Thomas

does,

and

bride

and

bridegroom

vow

to

forego

all

conjugal

rights

and

to

practice

continence.

Thereupon

the

king

orders

the

arrest of

Thomas

but

the latter

has

already

sailed

for

the

cities

of

India.

We have

given

a

rather

detailed

account

of the entire

episode

in

order

to

show

the

spirit

by

which

it is

inspired.

It

has

all

the

earmarks

of

an

apostolic

romance

with

the

various

actors

moving

about

in

an

unreal

world where the

marvelous

is the rule.

The sober

tone

in which

St.

Luke

reports

events in

the

canonical

Acts

is

absolutely lacking.

Moreover,

there is a

very

marked

ten

dency

towards

extreme

asceticism

which is

represented

as

being

the

very

es

sence

of

religion,

rejection

and

even

horror

of

marriage

playing

an

important

role.

The entire

episode

reflects the

Gnostic

atmosphere

in which

it

originated.

There

is

no

trace

of

that

spirit

which characterizes

Catholic

Christianity.

This also

holds

true

concerning

the

method

by

which the

ecstasy

of

Thomas

is

brought

about.

The

apostle

is

represented

as

following

the

ritual

commonly

employed

in

magic.

Like

a

magician,

he

prepares

himself

for

the

a

by

a

fast,

abstaining

from

every

kind of

food

and

drink.

Besides

this

abstention,

which we may call the negative preparation, the magic papyri also require a

positive

one,

such

as

washing

the

magician

with

running

water,

perfuming

him

with

incense,

or

anointing

him with oil and all kinds of

ointments. For

example,

before

conjuring Apollo,

the

magician15

is

commanded

to

perfume

his mouth

with

a

grain

of

incense and

smear

his

lips

with

an

ointment,

the

most

important

ingredient

of

which

is

honey.

In the Great

Magic Papyrus

of Paris

(Pap.

Bibl.

nat.

suppl.

gr.

574),

lines

1338ff.,16

we

read: 'Anoint

your

lips

with

the fats

[of

a

black

ass,

a

spotted

goat,

and

a

black

bull],

and

rub

your

body

with

styrax

oil.'

A

similar

preparation

was

required

in

the ritual for

incubation.

At

Leb

adea,

in

Boeotia,

for

instance,

persons

who

intended to

consult

the

oracle

of

Trophonius were led by two boys, called Hermae, to the river Hercyna and

there

were

washed and

anointed

with oil before

they

descended

into

the oracular

15

Pap.

Berlin

5026.17ff.

(1.22

Preisendanz).

16

1.116ff.

Preisendanz.







56

TRADITIO

chasm.17

There

is,

therefore,

hardly

any

doubt that the

apostle,

in

anointing

his

organs

of

sense,

is

represented

as

observing

a

time-honored

pagan

ritual

which

aims at

obtaining

the ritual

purity

required

of

every

seeker of divine

revelation. The

wearing

of

a

wreath and

the

carrying

of

a

branch of

reed

be

longs

to the

same

range

of

ideas,

the

wreath

indicating

the

ritual

purity

of

the

wearer.18

The

wreath with which

Thomas

crowns

his head is

supposed

to

con

secrate the

wearer

and to

make

him

fit for

receiving

the

revelation.

Thus

King

Numa

is

crowned with

beech

leaves

before he

consults

the

oracle

of Faunus.19

The

magician

likewise

crowns

his

head before

he

performs

the

a

.20

Of

the

flowers

of which

the

wreath

of the

apostle

is

made,

the

myrtle

is

the

only

one

mentioned by name. The choice of flowers usually depended on the divinity

invoked,

for

most

of

the

gods

liked certain

plants

and

flowers

and disliked

others.

Though

beliefs and customs

were

not

the

same

everywhere,

the

myrtle

seems

generally

to

have been

the

favorite

plant

of

the

chthonic

deities,21

who

were

the

foremost

givers

of

oracles and

dreams.22

Finally,

the

change

of

the

bodily

appearance

of

Thomas,

who

becomes

more

beautiful than

anyone

present,

is

in

accordance with what

we

learn

from

magic

papyri,

according

to

which

even

the

body

of

the

person

into

whom

the

god

enters

becomes similar to the

god.23

When

prophesying,

the

magician

is in

every

respect

a

true

image

of the

god

he

has

conjured.

In

a

state

of

visionary

rapture,

he

beholds

the

god:

'Attired

in

white and

spotless

raiment,

his head crowned with a wreath of

laurel,

the

god,

with

a

cheerful

countenance,

holds

a

stem

of

the

single-stalked mugwort,

prophesying.'24

However

illuminating

and

important

the

episode

of

the

Acta

Thomae

may

be

for

the

history

of

religions

inasmuch

as

it

gives

a

very

detailed

description

of

how the

prophet,

by

artificial

measures,

works

himself

up

into

the state

of

ecstasy,?it

is

alien to the

atmosphere

of

early

Christianity.

As

we

have

seen,

all

the

conceptions

underlying

it

are

found

in

magic

papyri.

On the

other

hand,

17

Paus.

Descriptio

Graeciae

9.39.7.

18

Cf.

W?chter, Reinheitsvorschriften

im

gr?echischen

Kult

12;

P.

Stengel,

Die

grie

chischen

Kultusaltert?mer

(3rd

ed.

Munich

1920)

108.

19

Ovid,

Fasti

4.656;

cf.

J.

R?chling,

De

coronarum

apud

antiquos

vi

atque

usut

RVV

14.2

(Giessen

1914)

85.

According

to

A.

Wuttke,

Der deutsche

Volksaberglaube

der

Gegen

wart

(4th

ed.

Leipzig

1925)

244

no.

352,

in

some

parts

of

Germany,

a

wreath

made of

nine

kinds of

flowers

nd

put

under the

pillow

on

the

night

of

St.

John

is

believed

to

bring

true

dreams.

For

similar

superstitions

in Bohemia and

Sweden,

see

the literature

in

J.

G.

Frazer,

Publii

Ovidii

Nasonis Fastorum

libri

sex

(London 1929)

3.321

n.l.

The

work

of

K.

Baus,

Der

Kranz

in

Antike und

Christentum: Eine


Untersuchung

mit

besonderer

Ber?cksichtigung

Tertullians

(Bonn

1940)

was

not

accessible

to

me.

20

The

many

passages

referring

to

this

custom

have

been

collected

by

Deubner,

De

incubatione

26,

and

K?chling,

De

coronarum

apud antiquos

vi

atque

usu

22;

87.

21

Cf.

Stengel,

Die

griech.

Kultusaltert?mer

109;

Ronde,

Psyche

1.220

n.2;

Abt,

Die

Apologie

des

Apuleius

72.

22

Cf.

Rohde, Psyche

1.120;

185ff.;

09

;

2.58

n.l;

Dieterich,

Mutter

Erde

60f.

23

Cf.

R.

Reitzenstein,

Poimandres:

Studien

zur

gnechisch-?gyptischen

und

fr?hchrist

lichen

Literatur

(Leipzig

1904)

236.

24

Papyrus

Louvre

2391.305ff.

(1.44

Preisendanz).








IN PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

57

in the early Church, fasting was never practiced for the sole purpose of produc

ing

ecstatic visions

but,

as

in the

Old

Testament,

was

regarded

as

being

a

'strong prayer'

and

a

token

of

self-humiliation.25

Sometimes,

though rarely,

fasting

was

also considered

as

producing

a

particular purity

and soberness

in

the

prophet,

adapting

him

to

the holiness of the

divine

spirit

which

is

to

come

upon

him.26

Thus,

in

commenting

on

Daniel,

who

sees

a

vision

after

having

humbled

himself

by

fasting

and

penance,27

St.

John

Chrysostom28

remarks

that

by

these acts of

humility

the

soul of

the

prophet

was

rendered

more

fit for

the

reception

of

the divine revelation

(e

e

e

a

. .

.

7rp??

a

e

a

),

and that

it

became

lighter

{

a)

and

more

spiritual

(

e

a

-

a). St. Gregory the Great 29 comments on this passage in Daniel to the

same

effect.

This

spirit

of

humbling

oneself in

the

sight

of God

by

all

kinds of

penance,

and

of

strengthening

one's

prayer

through fasting,

is

characteristic

of

the

prophet

in

a

number

of

late Jewish

apocalypses

which

were

in

part

worked

over

by

Christian

revisers,

and

thus

adopted

into

Christian

literature.

Thus,

in

the

Apocalypse

of

Esdras30

the

angel

Uriel

promises

the

prophet:

'Haec

signa

dicere

tibi

permissum

est

mihi,

et,

si

oraveris

iterum

et

ploraveris

sicut

et

nunc

et

ieiunaveris

septem

diebus,

audies

iterato

horum maiora.'

In

obed

ience

to Uriel's

command,

the

prophet

fasts for

seven

days,

with

wailing

and

weeping.

Then

his

soul

obtains

again

'the

spirit

of

understanding'

(et

resumpsit

anima

mea

spir?tum

intellectus)

31

The

same

scene

is

repeated

in

another

part

of

the

Apocalypse.32

Again,

in

a

later

vision,

the

prophet

receives

more

definite

instructions

concerning

the

way

of

preparing

himself

for

the

revelation:

'Ibis

autem in

campum

florum,

ubi

domus

non

est

aedificata,

et

manduca

solummodo

de

floribus

campi

et

carnem

non

gustabis

et

vinum

non

bibes,

sed solummodo

flores,

et

deprecare

Altissimum

sine

intermissione,

et

veniam

et

loquar

tecum.'33

The

prophet

carries

out the

mandate,

eating

only

of

the

flowers

and

herbs of

the

field

to

which

the

angel

has

directed

him,

and,

after

seven

days,

has another

vision.34 The same preparation is found a second time in the Apocalypse,

followed

by

the

same

result: 'Et factum

est

post

dies

septem,

et

sommavi

somnium

nocte.'35

The

Syriac

Apocalypse

of

Baruch

contains

similar

texts.

One of

them

is

25

Cf.

H.

Weinel,

Die

Wirkungen

des Geistes

224f.

26

Cf.

ibid.

225;

Sch?mmer,

Die altchristliche

Fastenpraxis

214.

27

Dan.

10.

28

De

incomprehensibili

Dei

natura

3.4

(PG

48.722).

29

Moralia

30.10.39

(PL

76.546).

30

Visio

1.13.20

(ed.

B.

Violet,

GCS,

Die

Esra-Apokalypse

(IV.

Esra),

Erster Teil:

Die

?berlieferung,

58).

We

cite

according

to

the

Latin

version.

The

Syriac, Ethiopie,

Arabic,

and

Armenian

versions

are

given

by

Violet

in

parallel

columns.

31

Visio

2.1.1-3

(62ff.

Violet).

32

Visio

2.11.2

(lOSff.

iolet);

visio

3.1.1

(112

Violet).

33

Visio 3.29.2-4

(270

Violet).

34

Visio 4.1.1-3

(270ff.

Violet).

35

Visio

6.1.1-3

(366

Violet).







58

TRADITIO

especially

instructive because

of

its detailed

description.

The

prophet

is

di

rected

to

keep

in

his heart

whatever

God commands

him

and

to enclose it

in

the

innermost

part

of his

mind. Then

God

will

show

him

His

mighty judgement

and

unsearchable

ways.

The

prophet

is ordered

to

sanctify

himself, eating

no

bread,

drinking

no

water,

and

speaking

to

nobody.

Then

he

is

to

come

back

and

God

will

reveal

Himself to

him,

conversing

with

him

about

things

which

are

true

and

giving

him

information

about

the

certain

occurrence

of

future

events.

The

prophet

sanctifies himself in the

way

commanded

by

God

in

a

subterranean

cavern

of

the

Cedron

valley.

Returning

on

the

seventh

day,

his

soul is carried

away,

and he has

a

vision.36

A similar preparation for the reception of a divine revelation is found in the

Apocalypse of

Abraham,

another

apologetic writing

of

Jewish

origin

which

was

slightly

revised

by

an

early

Christian writer. God

promises

Abraham:

will

show thee the

ages

which have been

created and

established,

made and

renewed,

by

my

Word,

and I will

make known to

thee what shall

come

to

pass

in them

on

those

who

have

done evil and

[practiced]

righteousness

in the

generation

of

men/

In

preparation

for

this

vision,

Abraham

is ordered to

'abstain

from

every

form

of food that

proceedeth

out

of

fire

and from

drinking

wine'

for

forty

days.37

Thus,

like the

prophet

in

the

Apocalypse of

Esdras,

Abraham has to

abstain

from

meat

and

wine,

for

'by

every

form

of

food

that

proceedeth

out

of

fire,'

flesh meat is no doubt meant.38 The

period

of

preparation

enjoined

upon

Abraham

is

considerably longer

than

those

prescribed

to

Esdras

and

Baruch,

who observe several fasts

of

seven

days,

followed

in

each

case

by

a

divine

rev

elation.

In

both

instances,

however,

we

have

numbers

to

which Jewish

and

patristic

writers attached

a

certain

mystical

value.39

That the immediate aim

of

Abraham's fast

is the

same

as

in the

other

Jewish-Christian

apocalypses

mentioned

above,

can

be

seen

from the fact

that in

the

same

breath

with

the

precept

of

fasting

and for the

same

period

of time Abraham is

bidden

to

abstain

from

anointing

himself with

oil.40

Anointing

the

body

with oil

was

a

mark

of

joy

and

feasting;41

it

was

omitted

as

a

sign

of

mourning42

and

a

token

of

pen

ance

and

self-humiliation.

Daniel,

for

instance,

after

having

abstained from

eating

meat,

drinking wine,

and

anointing

himself with

ointment,

has

a

vision

on

the

banks of the

Tigris,

and

is

expressly

told: 'Fear

not,

Daniel: for from

the first

day

that thou

didst

set

thy

heart to

understand,

to

afflict

thyself

in

the

36

The

Apocalypse of

Baruch,

visio

2.8.1-visio

3.1.4

(ed.

.

Violet,

GCS

Die

Apokalyp

sen

des Esra

und des Baruch

in

deutscher

Gestalt

231f.)

;

Patrologia

Syriaca

1.2

(ed.

M.

Kmosko,

Paris

1907)

1084ff.

f.

also

visio 2.3.1-2

(220

Violet;

vieto 4.7.4

(260

Violet)

;

visio

5.1.1-2

(265

Violet).

37

The

Apocalpyse of

Abraham

9

(edited,

with

a

translation

from

the Slavonic

text

and

notes,

by

G. H.

Box,

London

1918,

p.

45).

38

Cf.

ibid. 45 n.2.

39

Cf. H.

Les?tre,

'Nombre/

Dictionnaire de la Bible

4.2

(Paris

1928)

16S9L;

1694L;

W.

H.

Bennet,

'Number/

ictionary

of

the

Bible

(New

York

1945)

659f.

40

The

Apocalpyse of

Abraham

9

(45

Box).

41

Cf.

for instance

Eccle.

9.8;

Pst

22.5;

Amos 6.6.

42

Cf.

for

instance

2

Sam. 14.2.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

59

sight

of

God, thy

words

have been

heard:

and

I

am

come

for

thy

words.'48

Fasting

and

abstaining

from

anointing,

as

tokens

of

self-humiliation,

belonged

so

elosely together

that

Christ,

in

emphasizing

the

uselessness

of

fasting

except

as

a

part

of real inward

piety,

warns

of

any

possible

abuse

by hypocrisy:

'But

thou,

when thou

dost

fast,

anoint

thy

head

and wash

thy

face,

so

that

thou

mayest

not be

seen

by

men

to

fast,

but

by

thy

Father,

who

is

in

secret.'44

Finally,

we

must

mention

The Ascension

of

Isaiah,

which likewise

represents

the

form of

asceticism

which

we

have described

above

as one

of

the

most

highly

regarded

ways

of

preparing

for

the

reception

of

a

divine revelation.

We

are

told

that

Isaiah

and

the

prophets

with him 'were

all

clothed

with

garments

of

hair . . . and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the going

astray

of Israel. And

these

ate

nothing

save

wild herbs which

they

gathered

on

the

mountains,

and

having

cooked

them,

they

lived thereon

together

with

Isaiah

the

prophet.'45

Such

accounts,

taken from

Jewish-Christian

apocalyptic

writings,

explain

why

a

Christian

prophet

such

as

Hermas

fasts

before

his visions

too,

and

even

is

ordered to

do

so.

Hermas

reports

twice

about

an

extended

period

of

preparation

which

is characterized

by

both

fasting

and

prayer:

'After

fifteen

days

of

fasting

and

many

prayers

to

the

Lord,

the

knowledge

of the

writing

was

revealed to

me';46

and

again:

'After

much

fasting

and

prayer

to

the Lord that He

grant

me

the revelation which

He

promised

tomanifest

through

the

elderly

lady

[the

Church],

on

that

very

night

she

appeared

to

me

and

said

.

.

.'47 The third

pas

sage

in

which

Hermas

speaks

of

a

fast in

preparation

for

receiving

a

divine

revelation

is

of

special importance

because he

mentions the immediate

aim

of

the fast:

'Every

request

needs

humility

of

Spirit

(

a

a

e

a

e

xpif?ci).

Fast,

then,

and

you

will

receive

from the Lord what

you

ask.'48 It

is

humility

of

spirit,

acquired

by

a

life

of true

asceticism,

which

is

the

basic

re

quirement

for

the

Christian

prophet;

and

he is also cautioned

against

asking

constantly

for

revelations

lest

by

his

many

requests

he

injure

his

health.49

Like the prophet in his more private and transitory capacity, the bishop also,

the

official

guardian

of

orthodoxy,

who receives his

appointment

by

the will

of

Christ,50

and

is

confirmed and

strengthened

in his

office

by

the

Holy

Spirit,51

needs

prayer

and

fasting

for the

successful

performance

of

his

ministry.

The

account of

the

martyrdom

of

St.

Ignatius

of

Antioch52

contains words

of

high

43

Dan.

10.12.

44

Matt.

6.17f.

45

The

Ascension

of

Isaiah

2.7-11

(ed.

R. H.

Charles,

London

1900,

pp.

Uff.).

46

Hermas,

Visio 2.2.1.

47

Visio

3.1.2.

48

Visio 3.10.6.

49

Visio 3.10.7.

50

Ignat.

Antioch.

Eph.

3.2.

51

Ignat.

Antioch.

Phil,

inscr.

52

S.

Ignatii Martyrium

Antiochenum 1.1

(ed.

F. X. Funk

and F.

Diekamp,

Patres

Apostolid

2

[3rd

ed.

T?bingen

1913]

324).







60

TRADITIO

praise

for

the

holy bishop

who

'guided

the

Church

of Antioch'

(e

?

a

a

)

'like

a

good

helmsman with the

helm

of

prayer

and

fasting'

(

a

a

e

?e

a

a a

e

a

e

a

).

It

IS

for the

same reason

that,

whenever

the

bishops

assemble for the

purpose

of

discussing

and

regulating

matters

of

church

doctrine and

discipline,

the

deliberations

are

preceded

by

stations and

fasts.53

The

dogma

of the

inspiration

of the

Sacred

Scriptures

and

the

idea of

a

close

relationship

between

fasting

and the

reception

of

divine

revelations,

seem

to

have

suggested

the

account

in the

Muratorian

Canon,

lines

9-16,54

according

to

which

a

fast

preceded

the

composition

of

the

fourth

Gospel.

We

are

told that

St. John, urged by his fellow disciples towrite a gospel, answered: 'Conieiunate

mihi

hodie

triduo,

et

quid

cuique

fuerit

revelatum,

alterutrum

nobis

enarremus.'

Thereupon

it

was

revealed

to

St.

Andrew

that,

while

all should

recall

their

experiences,

John

should

put

down

in

writing

everything

in his

name

alone.

How

this fast

of

St.

John and

his

fellow

disciples

was

interpreted

in

Christian

antiquity

may

be

seen

from

a

passage

in the

works of

St.

Jerome,

who

obviously

refers

to

this

tradition

in

the Preface to his

commentary

on

St.

Matthew:55

'Ecclesiastica narr?t

Historia,

cum a

fratribus

cogeretur

ut

scriberet,

ita

fac

turum

se

repondisse,

si

indicto ieiunio

in

commune

omnes

Deum

precarentur,

quo

expleto

revelatione

saturatus

in

illud

prooemium

c?elo

veniens

eructa vit:

in

principio

erat verbum . .

Again,

as in the case of the

prophets

of

Antioch,

and

in

that

of

Hermas,

it is

a

preparation

characterized

by

both

fasting

and

prayer.

We

may

know

more

of

the

connections

between

physiological

and

psycho

logical

processes,

and

so

have different

explanations

of

the

relationship

between

rigorous

fasts

and

visionary

states.

Still,

from

our sources

which

are

rather

few

in

number,

it

appears

that

in

the

early

Church

fasting

was

never

consciously

practiced

for

the

purpose

of

producing

ecstatic

states

but,

as

in

the

Old

Testa

ment,

was

regarded

as a

powerful

prayer

and

profession

of

humility

by

which

the

prophet prepared

himself

for

a

divine revelation.

The

only

instance

where

we

found

fasting, accompanied

by

other artificial

means,

used for

the

purpose

of

producing

an

ecstatic

state the

episode

in

the

apocryphal

Acts of Thomas

?

leaves

no

doubt

concerning

its

Gnostic

origin.

It

was

in

Montanism

that

the

practice

of

fasting

in

connection

with

prophetic

gifts

became

of

the

greatest

importance.

The

'new

prophecy1

(

via

e

a),

as

the

Montanists themselves termed their

movement,56

attempted

not

only

to

reinstate

prophecy

in

the

prominent

place

it

had held

in

the

life of the

early

Churches,

but to

surpass

the

two

previous

stages

of divine

revelation,

the

first

stage,

or

'infancy/

being

represented

by

the Law

and the

Prophets (per

legem

53

Tert. De ieiun.

13

(291

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

54

H.

Lietzmann,

Das

Muratorische

Fragment

und

die

Monarchianischen

Prologe

zu

den

Evangelien

(Kleine

Texte

1,

2nd

ed. Berlin

1933)

5.

85

PL

26.19.

56

Cf.

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus

lOf.







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

61

et

prophetas

promovit

in

infantiam),

and the

second

stage,

or

'youth/

by

the

Gospel

(dehinc

per

evang?lium

efferbuit

in

iuventutem).

In

Montanus

and

his

associates,

Prisca

(or

Priscilla)

and

Maximilla,

the

Montanists

contended,

revelation had

reached the

stage

of full

maturity,

the

Paraclete

manifesting

himself

to

the

world

(nunc

per

paracletum componitur

in

maturitatem)

,57

Considering

the

main

tenets

of

the

Montanist

sect,

we

may

readily

under

stand

that

they

caused

profound

unrest

among

the

Christian

Churches.

The

Paraclete,

speaking through

the

mouth

of

Montanus and

his

prophetesses,

con

fidently

announced

the

imminent

end

of

the

world

and

demanded

that the

faithful

leave

all

and

assemble

on

a

plain

on

the further side of

Phrygia,

be

tween the two small towns of Pepuza and Tymion, to await the coming of the

Heavenly

Jerusalem.

In

the feverish

expectation

of the

last

day

and in

prep

aration

for

it,

the

most

severe

asceticism

was

demanded.

Second

marriages

were

forbidden,

and

virginity strongly

recommended;

longer

and

stricter

fasts

were

made

obligatory,

and

xerophagies

introduced

;

flight

from

persecution

was

disapproved,

and the

joyful

acceptance

of

martyrdom

advocated. Reconcilia

tion

was

denied

to

all those who had committed

capital

sins.

Montanus and his

prophetesses

occupied

an

extraordinary

position

insofar

as

the revelations

which

the

Paraclete

gave

through

them

were

considered

a

direct

continuation

of

the

prophetic

mission

of

Christ

and

the

apostles.

Their

oracles,

the result of a new and last

outpouring

of the

Spirit,

were

supposed

to

complete

the

Gospels by

filling

up

the

gaps

which

had

been

left

therein.

Inspiration,

however,

was

by

no

means

confined

to the

founder

and

his

close

associates.

Tertullian58 describes

the

experiences

of

a

visionary

'sister'

in

the Montanist

community

of

Carthage:

'There is

among

us

[Montanists]

a

sister

who has

been favored

with wonderful

gifts

of revelation which she

experiences

in

an

ecstasy

of the

spirit

during

the sacred

ceremonies

of

the

Lord's

day.

She

converses

with

the

angels

and

sometimes,

with the

Lord

Himself.

She

perceives

hidden

mysteries

and

has the

power

of

reading

the

hearts

of

men

and

of

prescribing remedies for such as need them. In the course of the services, she finds the

matter of her visions

in the

Scripture

lessons,

the

psalms,

the

sermon,

or

the

prayer.

One

time

I

happened

to

be

preaching

about the

soul

when

she became

rapt

in

ecstasy.

After

the

services

were

over

and the

laity

had

left,

we

asked her

as

it

is

our

custom,

what visions

she

had

had.

(All

her

visions

are

carefully

written down

for

the

purposes

of

examination.)

"Among

other

things,"

she

reported,

"I have

seen

a

soul

in

bodily shape,

and

a

spirit

ap

peared

to

me,

not

an

empty

and

filmy thing,

but

an

object

which

could be

taken in

the

hands,

soft

and

light,

and

of

ethereal

color,

and in

shape altogether

like

a

human

being.

That

was

my

vision."'

Also

after the

time

of

the

'great

prophets'

the

sect

continued

to attach

the

greatest importance to such revelations and retained the custom of noting them

down,

as

is

shown

by

some

passages

in

the Passio

SS.

Perpetuae

et

Felicitatis,

certain

portions

of which

are

penetrated

with

Montanist

spirit:

57

Tert.

De

virginibus

vefondis

1

(1.884

Oehler).

88

De

an.

9.4

(11

Waszink).







62

TRADITIO

Si

vetera

fidei

exempla,

et

Dei

gratiam

testificantia

et

aedificationem

hominis

operantia,

propterea in litteris sunt

digesta,

ut lectione eorum

quasi repraesentatione

rerum et Deus

honoretur

et

homo

confortetur,

cur

non

et

nova

documenta

aeque

utrique

causae

con

venientia

et

digerantur?

..

.

Itaque

et

nos,

qui

sicut

prophetias

ita

et visiones

novas

pariter

repromissas

et

agnoscimus

et

honoramus, ceterasque

virtutes

Spiritus

Sancti

ad

instrumen

tum

Ecclesiae

deputamus,

. . .

necessario

et

digerimus

et

ad

gloriam

Dei

lectione

cele

bramus.59

Montanism

was

proud

of

the

ecstatic

experiences

of

its

followers.

Writing

against Marcion,

Tertullian60

challenges

the heresiarch

to exhibit the

charis

matic

gifts

granted by

his

god,

thus

implying

that

such

religious

phenomena

?

he

mentions

predictions

about the

future,

the

reading

of

hearts,

improvised

psalms, visions, spiritual

utterances

spoken

in

ecstasy

?

occurred

among

the

Montanists.

In

his

treatise

De

ieiunio,

Tertullian

is

especially

bitter

against

his

Catholic

opponents

because

they

'set

up

boundary

posts

to

God/61

and 'do

not feel

any

need for revelations which

must be

extorted

fromGod

by

xerophagies.'62

From

the

latter

passage

it

appears

that the

Montanists considered

fasting

as

a

means

by

which ecstatic visions could

be

produced

by

a

purposeful application

of

effort

on

the

part

of

man.

Tertulliano

great

work De

ecstasi

unhappily

has

been

lost,63

but

several

passages

scattered

through

his

extant

writings

allow

us

to gain a fuller understanding of theMontanistic view on the connection be

tween

fasting

and

the

obtaining

of

revelations

in

general,

and of Tertulliano

above-quoted

statement in

particular.

First of

all,

there

are

some

more

passages

in

the

treatise

De

ieiunio.

Speaking

of the

manifold

blessings

which

fast

can

merit

from

God,

Tertullian includes

59

Passio

Sanctarum

Perpetuae

et

Felicitatis

1.1;

5

(ed.

C.

J.

M. J. Van

Beek, Nijmwegen

1936,

pp.

4ff.).

There

existed

special

collections

of

Montanistic

oracles;

cf.

G.

.

Bonwetsch,

Die Geschichte

des

Montanismus

(Erlangen

1881)

16

n.4; 197ff.;

A.

Harnack,

Geschichte

der altchristlichen Literatur

(Leipzig

1911)

436f.;

P. de

Labriolle,

La

crise montaniste

(Paris

1913)

34ff.;

Schepelern,

Der

Montanismus

13f.;

Waszink's edition

of

Tertulliano

De

anima, p.

172.

60

Adv.

Marc.

5.8

(600

Kroymann).

61

De ieiun.

11

(290

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

62

Ibid.

12

(290

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

63

Our best

source

for the doctrine of the Montanists

are

the

writings

of

Tertulliaa,

especially

the

locus classicus

on

Montanist

prophecy

in

De

anima

9.4

(cf.

supra

p.

61).

Anti-Montanist

fragments

are

preserved

by

Eusebius,

Hist. eccl.

5.16ff.

(458ff.

Schwartz).

Anti-Montanist

writings

are

used

by

St.

Epiphanius,

Haer. 48.

2f.

(2.221ff.

Holl),

and Di

dymus,

De trinitate

3.41

(PG 39.984ff.).

As

for

Montanist

writings,

there

have

come

down

to

us

a

rather

small

number

of oracles of

the

Phrygian

prophets,

preserved

either

by

Ter

tullian,

or

in

the

above mentioned controversialist

books.

The oracles have

often

been

collected,

for

instance, by

F.

Miinter, Effata

et

Or

acula

Montanistarum

(Programma,

Hafniae

1829)

;

Bonwetsch,

Die Geschichte des Montanismus 197ff.

Labriolle,

La crise

montaniste

37ff. The latter

book contains

(pp.

viiff.)

a

list

of

the

most

important

works

on

Montanism.

See

especially

Bonwetsch,

Texte

zur

Geschichte

des Montanismus

(Lietz

mann's Kleine Texte

129,

Bonn

1914)

;

Labriolle,

Les

sources

de l'histoire du Montanisme

(Fribourg

and

Paris

1913)

;

the

passages

from

Epiphanius,

however,

should

be

compared

with

the

text in

Holl's

edition

in

GCS.







64

TRADITIO

grace

of the

Holy

Spirit

together

with the

gift

of

prophecy

had hastened

to

descend

upon

him.,7?

Finally,

in

defending

theMontanist

xerophagies

against

the

charge

of

'novelty

or

vanity/

Tertullian discusses

once more

the

fasting

of

Daniel

and

his

companions,

which

the Montanists

regarded

as

the

prototype

of

their

xerophagia.71

return to

Daniel and his

companions

who

preferred

a

diet

of

vegetables

and

the

beverage

of

water

to

royal

dishes

and

wine

jars.

As

a

result,

they

looked

more

handsome

lest

anybody

become alarmed

about

their

bodily

appearance.

In

addition,

they

also dis

tinguished

themselves

by

their

culture ofmind.

For

God

gave

to

the

youths

knowledge

and

understanding

in all

the

branches

of

literature,

and to Daniel

insight

into

every

word,

and

into

visions,

and

into

every

kind

of

wisdom,

the latter

lso

enabling

him

to

discern

the

very

means bywhich theunderstandingofhidden thingscouldbe obtained fromGod.72 Finally,

when

in the

third

year

of

Cyrus,

king

of

the

Persians,

he had fallen

into meditation

on a

vision,

he

provided

still another form of humiliation. "In those

days,"

he

says,

"I,

Daniel

was

mourning

for three

weeks.

I

ate

no

pleasant

bread;

meat

and

wine did

not enter

into

my

mouth;

I

was

not

anointed with

oil;

until the

three

weeks

had

passed."73

After

that

time

had

elapsed,

an

angel

was

sent

who

addressed him

as

follows:

"Daniel,

you

are a

man

deserving pity,

fear

not:

for

from the first

day

on

which

you gave your

soul

to

meditation

and humiliation before

God,

your

word has

been

heard,

and

I

have

come

because

of

your

word."74

Thus

the

pitiable

and

humiliating spectacles

of the

xerophagies

expel

fear,

attract the

ears

of

God,

and let

men

share in

the

understanding

of

hidden

things.'

The Montanist view on fasting as a preparation for obtaining revelations is

even

more

fully

expounded

in

Tertulliano

treatise

De anima.76

Again,

his

arguments

are

chiefly

based

on

the

standard

example

of

the

Montanists,

namely,

the

fasting

of

Daniel.

'The

next

point

to be

examined

is

what

superstition

nd

prejudice

have dictated

in

the

matter of

selecting

and

restricting

food

for

the

control

of

dreams.

An

instance

of

supersti

tion

is furnished

by

the

fast

imposed

on

inquirers

at

incubation-oracles

for

the

sake

of

achieving

the

proper

degree

of ritual

purity;

while

we

find

an

instance

of

prejudice

when

the

Pythagoreans

for

the

same

end

proscribe

beans

as

tending

to

induce heaviness

and

flatulence. But

Daniel and

his

three

companions

were

content

with

vegetables

only,

lest

they

be contaminated

by

the

royal

dishes,

and

as a

reward

they

received from

God,

besides

other

wisdom,

the

special gift

of

experiencing

dreams and

explaining

their

meaning.

In

my

own

experience,

I cannot

say

but that

fasting

made

me

dream

so

profoundly

that I

could

not

remember afterwards whether

or

not

I

had dreamed.

But,

you may

ask,

has not

sobriety

something

to do

with dreams?

Certainly,

and

as

much

to

do with

dreams

as

with

our

whole

subject;

and

if it is

any

help

to

pagan

superstition,

t is

more

to

the

true

faith.

For

even

the

demons

require

a

fast

of

their

dreaming worshippers,

to

give

to themselves

70

De

ieiun.

8

(284

Reifferscheid nd

Wissowa).

Cf.

Acts 10.30f.

The

text referred

o

by

Tertullian

is

that

of the

recension

D,

which

mentions,

besides

prayer,

also

the

fasting

of

Cornelius).

71

De ieiun. 9

(284f.

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

72 Cf. Dan. 1, and

Hippolyt.

Comment, in Dan. 1.11.2 (ed. G. . Bonwetsch, GCS,

Hippolytus

Werke

1.19)

:

e

o?>v

&

a a

e e

,

( e)

e

a

a

e

%

a

a

a a

a a a

a

a a

a

a

.

73

Dan.

10.2f.

74

Cf. ibid.

10.12.

75

48.3f.

(66f. Waszink).







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

65

the

appearance

of

true

divinity,

because

they

know its

power

of

making

man a

friend

of

God.76 Thus Daniel ate dry food fora period of threeweeks, but he did this in order to

win

God's

favor

by

acts

of

humiliation,

and

not

that

he

might

augment

the

perception

and

mental

vision

of

his

soul

as a

preparation

for

a

dream,

as

though

the

soul

was

meant

to act

without

being

in

the

state

of

ecstasy.77

Sobriety, then,

will

have

no

effect

of

neutralizing

the

ecstasy

but of

recommending

the

ecstasy

to

God

so

that

it

might

take

place

in

God.'

Before

we

proceed

to

discussing

the

foregoing

passage

in

detail,

we

must turn

for

a

moment to

Tertulliano

theory

of

dreams in

general

and

to the

great

im

portance

he

attached

to

dreams,

in

particular,

as a

means

by

which God reveals

76 The Latin text here reads as follows : 'Sic enim et daemonia

expostulant

earn [sobrieta

tem]

a

suis

somniatoribus

ad

lenocinium

scilicet

divinitatis,

quia

famili?rem

dei

norunt/

Tertullian refers

to

the

pagan

deities of

incubation and

to

the

regulation

by

which

persons

consulting

their

oracles

had

to

prepare

themselves

by

a

fast before

lying

down

to

sleep

in

expectation

of

a

dream.

An instance of

Tertullianean

brevitas

is found

in

the words

quia

famili?rem

dei

norunt.

Though,

as

Waszink

points

out

(ed.

cit.

p.

513),

'we

may

interpret

the

present

passage

in

this

way

that the

sobrietas itself

s

famili?ris

dei/

he rather

believes

that 'here

this

adj.

seems

to

have

a

causative force.' Even

though

no

other instances

for

this

use

are

known,

Waszink's

interpretation

seems

to

be in

conformity

with

Tertulliano

train

of

thought

in

this

sentence

:

In order to

give

the

impression

of

possessing

true

divine

nature,

the

demons

[the

pagan

deities of

incubation]

prescribe

a

fast

to their

worshippers,

because they know the power of fasting which makes man a friend of God. Moreover,

Waszink

can

point

to

a

number of

passages

in

Tertullian's

works

which

make

his

interpreta

tion

very

probable.

Thus

Tertullian

mentions

as one

of

the

most

precious

prerogatives

of

fasting

its

power

of

making

man a

'tent-fellow of God'

(contubernalem

dei), 'associating,

indeed,

equal

with

equal (parem

revera

pan).

For

if the

eternal

God

will

not

hunger,

as

He

testifies

y

Isaiah,

this

will

be

the time for

man

to be

made

equal

with

God,

when

he

lives

without

food'

(De

ieiun.

6

[281

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa]).

Tertullian

also

speaks

of the

'friendly

ntercoursewith

God'

(familiari

congressu

dei)

of

which

Elias

was

deemed

worthy when,

after

a

fast of

forty days,

he arrived at

Mount

Horeb

(ibid.).

Finally,

he

describes

the

Christians

as

'members

of

the

household

of

God'

(dom?sticos

dei),

whom the

devil cannot harm

by

any

right

of

his

own

(De

fuga

in

persecutione

2

[1.466f. Oehler]).

The idea of

man's

friendship

with God

was

familiar

to

antiquity.

In

early

Christian

litera

ture,

the

apostles,

martyrs,

ascetics,

monks,

virgins,

and

Doctors of the

Church

in

particular,

and, finally,

the Christians in

general

are

honored

with this title

(cf.

E.

Peterson,

'Der

Gottesfreund,'

Zeitschrift

f?r

Kirchengeschichte

42

[1923]

194ff.).

hus

Rufinus,

HistoHa

monachorum

1

(PL

21.398),

says

of

the

ascetics:

'Quanto

purior

in

eo

fuerit

mens,

tanto

plura

ei

revelat

Deus

et

ostendit

ei

secreta

sua.

Amicus enim iam eff?citur

Dei

...

et

omne

quidquid

petierit

ab

eo,

tamquam

amico

caro

praestat

ei Deus.

Ipsae

quoque

virt? tes

angelicae

et cuneta

mysteria divina,

tamquam

amicum Dei

diligunt

eum

et

obsequuntur

eius

petitionibus.'

77

The Latin

text

here

reads

as

follows

:

'Daniel

rursus

trium

hebdomadum statione

aruit

victu,

sed

ut deum inliceret

humiliationis

officiis,

non

ut animae somniaturae

sensum

et

sapientiam

strueret,

quasi

non

in ecstasi acturae.'

The

right interpretion

of

this

passage

we owe to W. von

H?rtel,

'Patristische Studien' 4, Sitzungsbenchte der Wiener Akademie

der

Wissenschaften,

Philos.-hist.

Kl.

121.14

(1890)

84.

The

words

quasi

non

in

ecstasi

acturae,

that

is,

quasi

sine ecstasi

acturae,

are

simply

a

further

explanation

of

the

preceding

section

non

ut

animae

somniaturae

sensum

et

sapientiam

strueret.

Thus Tertullian

can

draw

the

conclusion,

contained

in

the

following

sentence

:

'Ita

non

ad ecstasin

summovendam

sobrietas

proficiet,

sed ad

ipsam

ecstasin

commendandam,

ut

in deo

fiat/







66

TRADITIO

Himself

to

man.

Sleep,

he

argues

in the

same

treatise,78 brings

rest

to the

body

but

does

not

abolish the

activity

of

the

soul.

The

latter,

because of

its divine

quality

and

immortality,

remains

perennially

active,

disdaining

all

idleness

which is

alien to

its

nature.

However,

since the soul

in

sleep

is

deprived

of

the

organs

of

the

body,

it

makes

use

of

its

own.

The

power

at

work

in this

case

is

called

ecstasis,

which

he

defines

as

amentiae

instar,

an

'image

of

insanity.'

According

to

Tertullian, therefore,

ecstasis

is

a

state which is

produced

in

a

normal

manner

during sleep

and constitutes the

very

essence

of

a

dream.

He

finds the

prototype

of this

ecstasy

in

Gen.

2.21

:

'et

misit deus ecstasin

in

Adam

et

dormiit.'79 From this

passage

he

concludes:

'Sleep

brought

rest to

the

body,

but ecstasy came over the soul and prevented it from resting, and from that time

this combination

constitutes

the

natural and normal

form

of

the

dream.'

Moreover,

it is

a

'peculiarity

of

this form of

insanity' {proprietas

amentiae

huius)

that the

soul,

in

spite

of

losing

its

faculties of

sense, preserves

the

mem

ory

of

the

images,

both

of wisdom

and

of

error,

which

assail

it

during

this

state.

It is because

God

permits

this

kind

of

special activity

sometimes

to

take

on

a

religious

character and

significance

that dreams become

of

paramount

im

portance

for

religion.

Speaking

of

that

class of dreams

which must be

con

sidered

to

come

from

GcJ,80

Tertullian

takes

special pains

to

point

out

that

prophetic

dreams

are

not

only

lawful but

granted

by

God with

unequalled

generosity.

Did He not

promise

through

the mouth of the

prophet81

'to pour

out the

grace

of

the

Holy

Spirit

upon

all

flesh?'

Did

He

not

ordain 'that

His

servants

and

handmaidens shall

utter

prophecies

and

dream

dreams?'

God's

generosity

in

sending

prophetic

dreams makes them

overflow

even

unto

'those

who

are

not

initiated into the

true

faith'

(profanos),

that

is,

the

heathen,

as

is

shown

by

the famous

dream of

Nabuchodonosor.82

Anxious

to

drive home his

point

at

all

costs,

Tertullian

pushes

the

argument

to

the

extreme

by asserting

that

'the

majority

of

mankind

get

their

knowledge

of

God

from

dreams,'

thus

78

De anima

45

(62

Waszink)

;

cf.

WaszinkO

special

Introduction

to

this

Chapter

(ed.

cit.

480ff.),

which

contains

a

thorough

analysis

of

Tertulliano

theory

as

well

as a

discussion

of his

inconsistency

in

argument.

79

Tertullian

quotes

the text

according

to

the

LXX

:

a e

?a

e*

?

e

a e

rbv

A

a

,

a

e

.

Cf.

also

Waszink

483.

80

De anima 47.2

(65 Waszink).

In

general,

Tertullian

distinguishes

three classes of

dreams,

as

they

may

have

their

source

either in

God,

or

in

evil

demons,

or

in the

activity

of

the soul itself.

The

division of dreams

into

three classes

was

well

known

at

Tertulliano

time,philosophers

having brought

them

under

three

headings

:

as

coming

from

the

gods,

the

a e

,

and

the

activity

of the soul.

In Tertulliano

classification the

place

of the

a

e

is taken

by

the devil

or

by

evil

demons,

the

pagan

gods,

of

course,

being

likewise

assigned

to this

category.

Cf.

WaszinkO Introduction

to

De anima 47

(pp.

500ff.).

81

Cf.

Joel

2.28f. It

is

interesting

to note

that

the

compiler

(who

was

most

probably

Tertullian) of the Passion of Saints

Perpetua

and Felicitas uses the same

Scriptural

passage

in

order

to

prove

the

'exuberance

of

grace/

that

is,

the

overflow

of

ecstatic visions and

prophetic

dreams

during

the

final

period

of

the

world,

which

had

already

begun

:

'secundum

exuperationem

gratiae

in

ultima

saeculi

spatia

d?cr?tant

(Pass.

SS.

Perp.

et

Fel.

1.3f.

[4ff.

Van

Beek]).

82

Cf.

Dan.

2.1ff.







FASTING AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

67

giving vigorous support

to

the

Montanist

doctrine of

continual

and

progressive

revelation.

On

the

basis of Tertulliano

theory

of

dreams,

we

can

now

easily

follow his

discussion of

the

influence of food

on

dreams,

as

quoted

above

in full.

His

train

of

thought

runs

as

follows. The

importance

of

fasting

as a

preparation

for

obtaining

revelations has

always

been

recognized

by

man.

Witness

the

super*

stitio

of

the

pagan

incubatores

who

prepare

themselves

by

a

fast for the

re

ception

of

a

dream-oracle,

because

they

are

supposed

thereby

to

achieve

the

proper

degree

of

ritual

purity,

required

of

those who

enter

into direct

commun

ion with

supernatural

powers.

Witness, too,

the

praesumptio

of

the

Pythago

reans who abstain from eating beans because they think that this particular

food,

by

causing

flatulence

and

indigestion, produces

troubled

dreams and

pre

vents

the

dream from

attaining

to

those

higher

truths which

the

gods

are

believed

to

reveal

to

men

in

sleep.

The

opinion

contained

in

this

Pythagorean

instruction,

Tert?llian

continues,

can

hardly

be

maintained,

as

is

shown

by

the

fast

of

Daniel

and his

companions,

who

only

ate

vegetables

and

yet,

as

a

reward,

received

from

God

the

gift

of

experiencing

dreams and

of

explaining

their

meaning.83

From

his

own

experience,

Tertullian

admits,

he

cannot

con

tribute

anything

relevant

to the

question,

since

fasting

made

him dream

so

profoundly

that afterwards

he

could

not

even

remember

whether

he

had

dreamed

or not.

However,

he is

quick

to add

that,

by

mentioning

his

own ex

perience,

he does

not want to

argue

against

the

common

opinion,

according

to

which

there

exists

a

definite

relationship

between

fasting

and

dreams.

On the

contrary,

it is

his

conviction

that,

'if

fasting

is

any

help

to

superstition,

it

is

much

more

to

religion/

For

fasting

possesses

great

power.

If

practiced

with the

right

intention,

it

makes

man a

friend of

God. The demons

?

Tertullian

refers

here

especially

to

the

pagan

deities

of

incubation

?

are

aware

of

that.

For

this

very

reason

they

require

a

fast of

those

consulting them,

so as

to

give

to

themselves

the

appearance

of

true

divinity.

What

intention

should

inspire

an

individual who practices fasting as a preparation for the obtaining of revela

tions

is shown

by

the

case

of

Daniel,

who

ate

dry

food

for

a

period

of three

weeks.

He used

fasting

simply

as a

means

of

humbling

himself

before

God

*in

order

to win

God's

favor

by

acts

of

humiliation.'84

In

this he differed

de

cidedly

from

the

pagan

incubatores

who

wrongly

believe that

fasting

also

aug

ments,

or

sharpens,

the

perception

and mental

vision of

the

soul,

and thus

pre

pares

it

for

the

reception

of

revelations.

Since

ecstasy

constitutes

the

very

essence

of

dreams,

the soul

of

necessity

passes

through

the state

of

ecstasy,

and

this

rule

admits of

no

exception.

This

being

the

case,

fasting

can never

neutral

ize

the

ecstasy,

but

only

recommend

the

ecstasy

to

God,

and

make

Him

in

83

Note

that

Tertullian

again

stretches

the

argument.

According

to

the

Scriptures,

it

was

to Daniel

alone

that

God

gave

'understanding

of all visions and

dreams/

while

'knowledge,

and

understanding

in

every

book,

and

wisdom'

was

granted

to

all four

youths.

84

Here

Tertullian

uses

the

characteristic

expression,

ut

deum

inlicer

et

humiliationis

officiis

'that

he

might

lure

God

to him

by

acts

of

humiliation').







68

TRADITIO

clined

to

send

prophetic

dreams to the

soul

in

the

state

of

ecstasy,

which

then is

accomplished

in

God.85

The

idea

that

prayer

can

be

strengthened

and

made

more

effective

by

com

bining

it

with

other

weapons

of

Christian

perfection

occurs

also

elsewhere

in

Tertulliano

works.

Quoting

an

oracle of

Priscilla,

he

mentions

abstinence

from sexual

pleasures

as

another

means

by

which

the

Montanist

'prophet'

pre

pares

himself

for ecstatic

visions.86

The

temporalis purificatio,

Tertullian

says

in the

same

context,87

aims

at

giving special

efficacy

to

prayers.

According

to

another

passage,88 'bodily' patience,

which

manifests

itself above

all

in

the

mortification of the flesh

by

penance

done

in

sackcloth

and

ashes

and the ob

servance of rigorous fasts, recommends our prayers to God, gives additional

strength

to

our

prayers

against evil,

and

opens

the

ears

of

Christ.

The

Church

fought

Tertullian's

strange

conception

of

ecstasy,

for

it

spelt

a

revolt

of

private

inspiration

against

ecclesiastical

authority

;

and

the

Montanist

forms

of

fasting

postulated

by

him

were

rejected

as

religious

vagaries

alien

to

orthodox

tradition.

On the

interrelation,

however,

between

fasting

and the

obtaining

of

revelations,

his actual

view

contains

nothing

which strikes

us

as

especially

new

and

revolutionary.

Avoiding

any

confusion

with

pagan

man

tique,

he

regards fasting

as

an

act

of

self-humiliation

by

which

the

prophet

intends

to

strengthen

his

prayer

and

thus

make

God

more

inclined

to

grant

his revelations.

Tertullian's

argumentation,

of

course,

may

often

be

challenged.

In

order

to

drive

home his

points,

he

does

not hesitate to

do

violence

to

Scrip

tural

passages,

or

to

draw

general

conclusions without further

proof.

But

in

its

substance,

his doctrine

is

essentially

the

same as

that

set

forth

in

the Pastor

of

Hermas.

The

disagreement

between

Tertullian and his

Catholic

opponents

was

not

centered

on

this

question,

but

on

his

acceptance

of

the Montanist view

on

ecstatic

prophecy

and his

insistence

on

the

necessity

of

progressive

revela

tion.

It is

in

this

light

that

we

must

interpret

such

impetuous

and

picturesque

expressions

of his

as

revelationes

xerophagiis extorquere**

or

deum

inlicere

humiliationis officiis?0 The same idea is at the bottom of thewords with which

the brother

of

St.

Perpetua

addresses

his sister

in

prison:

'Domina

s?ror,

iam in

magna

dignatione

es,

tanta,

ut

postules

visionem

et

ostendatur tibi

an

passio

sit

an

commeatus.'

Perpetua,

who

knows that she is

privileged

'to

converse

with

the Lord'

(fabulari

cum

Domino),

'confidently'

(iidenter) promises

him:

'Cras

85

Cf.

Waszink's

notes to

this

passage

(pp.

513f.).

86

De

exhortatione

castitatis 10

(1.752

Oehler).

From

the

passage

we

also

learn the third

means

employed

by

the Montanist

'prophet'

in

his endeavor to

obtain

revelations, namely,

motionless

and

protracted

concentration

during

which

his face

is

turned downward:

Turi

ficantia enim

concordat, ait,

et

visiones

vident,

et

ponentes

faciem deorsum

etiam

voces

audiunt

manifestas,

tarn

salutares

quam

et

occultas.'

87

Ibid.\

'Ideo

apostolus temporalem purificationem

orationum commendandarum

causa

adiecit.'

88

De

patientia

13

(20

Kroymann)

:

'Haec

patientia

corporis

precationes

commendat,

deprecationes

adfirmat;

haec

aures

Christi

<et>

dei

aperit.'

80

De

ieiun.

12

(290

Reifferscheid

and

Wissowa).

90

De

anima 45

(66

Waszink).







FASTING

AND

PROPHECY

IN

PAGAN AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

69

tina

die tibi

renuntiabo.'

She

asks for

a

vision,

which

is

granted

to her

(et

postulavi,

et

ostensum

est

mihi

hoc

. .

,).91

After

the

defeat

of

Montanism

and

Gnosticism,

the

authority

of the hier

archy

against

any

claims

of

private

enlightenment

was

considered

an

incontest

able

fact of

tradition.

As

a

result,

the

interrelation

between

fasting

and

the

obtaining

of

revelations

also

ceased

to

be

a

subject

discussed

by

ecclesiastical

authors.

The

idea,

however,

that

asceticism

in

general,

and

fasting

in

partic

ular,

possessed

extraordinary

and,

as

it

were,

supernatural

power,

because

both

were

particularly

pleasing

to

God,

continued

to

hold

a

prominent

place

in

the

thoughts,

beliefs,

and

traditions

of

the

following

centuries.

People

were

per

suaded that God, inHis goodness, would not deny a favor to a faithful servant

who, turning

to

Him in

distress,

had

recourse

to

fasting

and

prayer.92

So God

was

asked

to

help

in

the

tracing

of

a

thief;

to

make known His

will;

to

give

advice

on

occasions

which

were

of

importance

for

the

petitioner;

to

disclose

the

future,

and

the like.

Sometimes

the

ascetic

was

rewarded with

being

al

lowed

to cast

a

glance

into the

world to

come.

A

few

examples

only

can

be

given

here.

The

author

of the life

of

St.

Colman

tells

us

that,

after

a

robbery

had

been

committed at

the

monastery

of

St.

Finnian

at

Clonard,

the

monks

decided

to

fast

so

that

God

would

permit

the

author

of

the

robbery

to

be

traced.93

Their

action

was

obviously

based

on

the

same

religious

conception

as

the

practice

of

St. Peter

in the

Actus

Vercellenses,

who

prayed

and fasted

so

that God would

help

him

to

discover

the

author of

a

theft

committed

in the

house

of

Eubola.94

According

to

Gregory

of

Tours,95

Bishop

Aravatius

of Maestricht

and

Ton

gres,

a

man

of austere

asceticism,

implored

God

by

fasts

and

vigils

to

save

Gaul

from

the

invasion of

the Huns.

Feeling

that his

prayer

had

not

yet

been

heard,

but

hoping

that it

would

be

granted

if

he enlisted the

powerful

help

of

the

Prince

of

the

Apostles,

he

decided

to

go

on a

pilgrimage

to

Rome.

There,

at

the

apostle's

tomb,

he

continued his

supplications

for

many

days,

wearing

him

self out with prayer and fasting. Finally the apostle revealed to him that, ac

cording

to

the

inscrutable

ways

of

God,

Gaul

would

be

laid

waste

by

the

Huns,

but

that

his

eyes

would

not behold

these

scenes

of

horror.

He

was

directed

to

hasten back

to his

bishopric

ani

prepare

for

his

burial.

The words of the

apostle

came

true.

No

sooner

had the

holy

man

reached

his

episcopal

see

at

Maestricht than

he

was

attacked

by

a

fever

and

died.

According

to the

same

source,96

Abbot

Salvius,

who

practiced fasting

with

the utmost

rigor,

was

deemed

worthy

of

a

most

remarkable vision.

One

day,

as

he

lay

upon

his bed

exhausted

by fever,

his cell

was

suddenly

shaken and

filledwith

a

great

light.

His soul

left

is

body

so

that

hismonks

believed

him

91 Passio SS.

Perpetuae

et Felicitatis 4.1f.

(lOff.

Van

Beek).

93

Cf.

Gougaud,

Devotional

and

Ascetic

Practices in

the

Middle

Ages

151f.

93

Vita S. Qdimani

28

(ed.

C.

Plummer,

Vitae

Sanctorum Hiberniae

[Oxonii 1910]

1570).

94

Cf.

supra

p.54.

95

Hist.

Franc. 2.5

(MGH

Scrip*,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.66f.).

9e

Ibid. 7.1

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.290f.).







70

TRADITIO

dead,

and

made the

body ready

for the burial. But at

dawn,

his

soul

returned

to

the

body

and,

to

the amazement

of those who

had

kept vigil during

the

night,

the

holy

man

roused himself

on

the bier

as one

startled

from

a

deep

sleep.

No

trace

remained

of

the

malady

fromwhich he had suffered. After

he

had

spent

three

days

without food

and

drink,

he

called his

monks and

recounted

to

them

his

extraordinary

experiences:

how his soul had

been

guided by

two

angels

to the

very

height

of heaven

to

behold

the

glory

of God and

the

eternal

bliss of

the

saints.

Gregory97

mentions

a

second

vision

seen

by

Salvius,

when

against

his wishes

he

had

been

made

bishop

of Albi.

King

Chilperic

had

sum

moned

the

bishops

of his

kingdom

to

a

council

at

the

royal

villa

at

Berny.

After the council had come to an end, and as Salvius was on the point of bid

ding

Gregory

farewell in the court

of

the

royal

palace,

he

saw

a

drawn sword

suspended

over

the roof of

the

royal

house,

and

explained

it

to

Gregory

as

an

omen

of

divine wrath.

Gregory

expressly

remarks that

he

himself did not

see

the

vision,

but

does

not

forget

to add

that

Salvius

was

right

in his

presage,

be

cause

shortly

afterwards

a

pestilence, ravaging

the whole of

Gaul,

took

the

lives

of

the

king's

two

sons.

The

practice

of

fasting

also

persisted

in

some

survivals of

pagan

divination.

In

order

to

put

themselves

right

with their

consciences,

some

Christians

used

the

Bible

as a means

of

augury.

Thus

we are

told98

that

Prince

Merovech,

son

of

King

Chilperic,

resorted to the device of sortes biblicae in order to learn if

he would

succeed

to

the throne.

He

placed

three

books

of

the

Bible

(the

Psalter,

the Book of

Kings,

and

the

Gospels)

upon

the

tomb

of

St.

Martin.

After three

days

of

fasting,

vigil

and

supplication,

he returned to the tomb

and

opened

each book

at

random,

looking

for

an

oracle

wherever

his

eye

alighted.

Shaken

by

the

ominous

replies

he

received,

he

wept

at

the tomb of the Saint

for

a

long

time

and then

departed.

Another

survival

was

the

practice

of incubation

which, through

the initiative

of

new

converts who

found

it hard

to

give

up

their

pagan

customs,

had

been

introduced

even

into Christian basilicas.99 Two

texts

expressly

mention

the

practice

of

fasting

by

Christian

incubatores.

A

woman

named

Maria,

who

suf

fered

from

an

ulcer,

went to the

shrine of the

holy

Martyr Therapon,

and

im

97

Ibid.

5.50

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.243).

98

Ibid. 5.14

(MGH

Script,

rer.

Meroving.

1.1.205).

99

The

question

whether there

were

any

official

attempts

in

the East

to

Christianize this

old

pagan

rite,

or

whether

there

was

too

great

a

leniency

on

the

part

of

the ecclesiastical

authorities

in

tolerating

it,

has not

been

answered

satisfactorily.

What is

certain,

however,

is

that

up

to

now no one

could

point

to

any

liturgical

text

connected

with

incubation,

or

to

any

ritual

precept concerning

its

regulation

(cf.

H.

Delehaye,

'Les

recueils

antiques

de

miracles des

saints,'

Analecta Bollandiana

43

[19251

72f.).

Moreover,

incubation

is

denounced

as

pagan

superstition

by

Christian

writers;

see,

for

instance,

Tert. De anima

46.12f.;

48.3f.

(65;

66f.

Waszink);

Euseb. Vita

Constantini

3.56

(103f.

Heikel); Chrysost.

Adv.

Jud.

1.6

(PG

48.852)

;

Hieron.

In

Isaiam

65.4

(PL

24.657)

;

Cyrill.

Alex. Adv. Julianum 10

(PG

76.1024).

The oracles

of

Amphiaraus

at

Oropus,

of

Amphilochus

at

Mallus,

and of

Tro

phonius

at

Lebadea

still

flourished

in the time

of

Celsus,

Pausanias,

and

Tertullian

(cf.

Rohde,

Psyche

2.374

n.l;

Waszink's

ed.

of

Tertulliano

De

anima,

p.

497).







FASTING AND

PROPHECY IN

PAGAN

AND

CHRISTIAN

ANTIQUITY

71

plored

his

help.

After

a

fast

of

fortydays

and

an

incubation

of

the

same

length

of

time,

she

was

cured.100 In

the

same

way

a

certain

Theodore

was

ordered

to

await, fasting

and

sleeping,

the

apparition

of

the

holy

Martyrs

Cyrus

and

John

in

the

great

Tetrapylon

at

Alexandria.101

Fordham

University.

100

Laudatio

in Miracula

Sancti

Hieromartyris

Therapontis

17

(ed.

L.

Deubner,

De

incubatione

128f.)

:

a

*

e e

??

a

a

e

e

e

a a

a

a,

a

t?p

e a a

a

a e

a

e e

e

a

e

.

e

a

a

a

d?

^ a$

?v

e

a

a

a

e

a

e e

a

a

a a

a

a

e e a a

a

a

.

101Sophronius Patriarcha Hierosol. SS. Cyn et JoannisMiracuh 36 (PG 8735560):

e

e

yodv

e

A

e

a

e a a

?v

e

a

e

a

a e

.

fasting and prophecy in pagan and christian antiquity

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