Poems, Volume 1

7. A HYMN FOR THE TIMES OF FASTING

HYMNS Away, away, vile monsters32 That haunt the restless sleeper, Away, hell-born deceiver, With your infernal malice. o false deluding serpent, Who in a thousand guises, With foul and evil promptings, Disturbs the heart in slumber, 83 Begone, for Christ is presentI Depart, here Christ is dwellingl84 The sign that you acknowledge Condemns your hateful army. Although the weary body A little while lies sleeping, Our thoughts shall ever follow Christ in these hours of quiet.35 32. cr. Vergil, Aeneid 6.25S. 33. cr. TertulIian, op. cit. 47.1. 34. cr. Ambrose, In Psalmum lIS.S.4S. 35. cr. Ambrose, De virginibus 2.2.S; 3.4.19. 45 140 145 150 7. A HYMN FOR THE TIMES OF FASTING o Nazarene, the Light of Bethlehem, and Word Of the eternal Father, born of Virgin's womb, Be with us in our chaste and holy abstinence And, gracious King, look now upon this festal day On which we offer up to Thee our solemn fast.1 5 1. Cf. Basil, Romilia de ieiunio l.l and Ambrose, De Retia et ieiunio 1.1. In this hymn Prudentius was probably indebted to 46 AURELIUS PRUDENTIUS CLEMENS Nothing, in truth, is purer than this mystery, Which cleanses every fiber of the restless heart And tames the flesh with its unruly appetites, Lest fumes of gross indulgence rise from heavy meats And weigh upon the mind with suffocating force.2 10 This fast subdues licentiousness and gluttony, Disgraceful sloth that springs from leaden sleep and wine, Ignoble lust, salacious wit and pleasantry, These manifold diseases of disordered sense, All are restrained beneath the rod of abstinence. 15 For if, abandoned to excess in food and drink, Man does not curb the body by the holy fasts, The flame of his high spirit burning bright and pure Will shrink and pine away, all smothered by delights, And the soul will fall asleep within his sluggish breast. 20 Then let us check desires of flesh with tighter rein, And keep the light of wisdom bright within our hearts. And thus the soul with vision keen will pierce the skies, And breathing unrestricted Heaven's wider air, Will praise the Maker of all things more perfectly. 25 Ambrose, as Ambrose was to Basil. From the earliest times Christians fasted on Wednesday and Friday, called 'station' days. Cf. Didache 8.1; Hennas, Sim. 5.1; Tertullian, De oratione 19; De ieiuniis 2,10,14. The Lenten Fast of forty days was universally observed in the fourth century. Among ascetics fasting was rigorous. It often extended throughout the year, only one meal being taken during the day after None. Cf. Pseudo-Athanasius, De virginitate 8; Ambrose, De virginibus 3.4.15; Jerome, Epistles 22.35; S. Silviae peregrinatio 28.3 (CSEL 39.80-81). Selections from this hymn in its entirety are used in the Mozarabic Breviary for Terce, Sext, and None on all the days of Lent. 2. Cf. Pseudo-Athanasius, De virginitate 7; Ambrose, De Helia et ieiunio 8.22·23. HYMNS 47 Elias, by observance of a solemn fast, Increased in grace; he was that priest of old who dwelt In desert wastes far from the world's inane applause, And it is said he shunned a multitude of sins Amid the chaste delights of Syrtian solitude.s 30 But soon to Heaven he was taken through the air, Borne up in flaming chariot drawn by fiery steeds, Lest earth's defiling breath should touch that saintly man Who through long years had lived a life of peace and quiet, Renowned for abstinence that purified his soul.4 35 And Moses, faithful mediator of God's throne, The King of the seven-vaulted sky could not behold, Until the sun in its wide circuit through the stars Had forty revolutions made, and all these daysli Had gazed upon the prophet, languishing for bread.8 40 As he communed with God, his only food was tears; For through the night, with weeping he bedewed the dust, As bowing low, he pressed his face against the earth, Until at length aroused by God's forewarning voice, He trembled at that fire too bright for mortal eyes.7 45 In this observance John the Baptist, too, excelled; Precursor of the everlasting Son of God, He straightened out the crooked paths and winding ways, Correcting devious turns and labyrinthine roads, To make a highway smooth...