Ash Wednesday: Fasting and Praying with Christ in the Desert

“Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.” -St. Peter Chrysologus

“Do you wish your prayer to fly toward God? Make for it two wings: fasting and almsgiving.”  – St. Augustine

“It is impossible to engage in spiritual conflict, without the previous subjugation of the appetite.”  – St. Gregory the Great

“[God said to Adam:] dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.” -Gen. 3:19

Today is Ash Wednesday, which in the Western Church marks the start of the 40-day penitential season of Lent before Good Friday and Easter. It is a day to fast, pray, and remember that all of us will one day die and, when our bodies return to dust, we will face God’s judgment seat.

In recognition of this reality, the priest marks our foreheads with ashes, and reminds us, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (See Gen. 2:7, 3:19.) The saints long held that Christians should frequently meditate on death, not because they were morbid, but because we need to remember all human life on earth is temporary and could end in a second at any time. Are we prepared for Christ to come take us to Heaven or not?

Jesus Christ certainly fasted and did penance during His earthly life, even though He never committed any sins. Like Jesus, who fasted 40 days in the desert and resisted the devil’s temptations to worldly power and luxury (Matt. 4), we do penance for 40 days to help us resist temptation, detach from worldly things, make up in a small way for our sins, and be piously prepared for the celebration of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. As Jesus told His disciples when they failed to cast out a demon (Mark 9:28), “This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”

The mountain in the Judean desert outside Jericho where Jesus was tempted by the devil. I took the photo.

So let us do works of charity and mercy this Lent, let us fast and pray and place God and His will at the center of our lives, that we might not hear Christ tell us on Judgment Day (Matt. 25:41), “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” Rather, let us pray that Christ will open the gates of Heaven to us and say (Matt. 25:34), “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying: The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.” —Mark 1:14-15

“My friend, the devil is not greatly afraid of the discipline and other instruments of penance. That which beats him is the curtailment of one’s food, drink and sleep. There is nothing the devil fears more, consequently, nothing is more pleasing to God.” —St. John Vianney

“The enemy … stands more in awe of those whom he knows can fast.” – St. Francis de Sales

“Just as it would harm the stomach if it were always full or empty, it does the soul harm when the body lives in constant pleasure.”  – St. Hildegard of Bingen