As we enter this season of Lent, Holy Mother Church impresses upon us the necessity of fasting. This term refers not only to denying ourselves bodily food, but also in a broader sense to mortifying ourselves in any manner, that is, of willingly embracing something hard for the love of God. On Ash Wednesday the Church reminds us in the Gospel that we must do this willingly and joyfully, not slavishly and under a certain compulsion. Our Savior told us that unless we willingly enter by the "narrow gate" we shall hope in vain to conquer our rebellious nature.

The mention of penance is not very pleasant to our slothful human nature. It tells of something that we would fain avoid. However, when we consider the reasons of penance, we are more willing to hear about it.

In the prayers for the blessing of the ashes we read the words: "We begin the exercises of Christian warfare with the holy fasts of Lent, wherein we fight against the spirits of evil with the weapon of abstinence." Here we are reminded of the importance of the weapons of prayer and fasting in our fight against the prince of this world.

The Church, having in mind the ancient Ninivites, who by doing penance in sackcloth and ashes sought to atone for their sins and so appease the anger of God, puts ashes on our heads, saying: "Remember, man, that thou art dust and into dust thou shalt return." She does this for the humiliation of our pride and to remind us of the sentence of death which we should suffer as the result of sin.

This ceremony is the remains of an old ceremony spoken of in the Roman Pontifical. In the first ages of the Church those who had committed grave faults were obliged to do public penance. On Ash Wednesday the bishop blessed the hair shirts, which they were to wear during the forty days, and sprinkled over them ashes made from the palms which had been used in the procession on Palm Sunday of the previous year. Then, while the faithful chanted the Seven Penitential Psalms, "the penitents were turned out of the holy place because of their sins, as Adam, the first man, was turned out of paradise on account of his disobedience." (Roman Pontifical) It was not till Maundy Thursday that they were again allowed to enter the church, and in the meantime they were obliged to wear the penitential clothing which had been given to them, so that by forty days’ penance, with confession and sacramental absolution, they might again be found worthy of the company of the faithful.

The Mass on Ash Wednesday is filled with these thoughts. The Introit says: "God, indeed, pardons the sins of men for the sake of their repentance." The Epistle adds: "He is rich in mercy to those who are converted to Him with all their heart, in fasting, in weeping, and in mourning."

Nor is fasting only for past sin but also to preserve us from future sin as St. Paul says: "I chastise my body, lest...I should become a castaway." (I Cor. ix. 27.)

We know the old saying, that if you want to reach a man, the shortest way is through his appetite. Now if we apply that to fasting, we come to a spiritual conclusion. By denying the appetite we reach the soul; in other words, the soul is thereby made to suffer something, and that something makes it more meritorious in the sight of God and stronger in itself. Sobriety is therefore rightly held up to us as a very special virtue for Lent.

In the world, where there is hardly a single regulation for Lent, we have a great contrast. Godlessness reigns. Sin is not realized. And therefore the effects of sin are not felt as they should be. Why, then, should the worlding do penance? In fact, he says it would be foolish for him to deny himself the things of this life; and he considers us fools for obeying the Church.

In the Saints we see just the opposite of what we see in the world. What do they say? Not "Why should we do penance?" but "Why should we not do penance." Even those who were the most innocent, as the Little Flower, were careful to make things hard for themselves rather than too easy. We might begin with St. John the Baptist and go down through the ages —all the servants of God did penance —yes, they consistently led penitential lives.

It behooves each one of us, therefore, to make at least one good resolution for this holy season of Lent. Whether it be fasting from food and drink or, if dispensed from fasting, we compensate by some other penance, let us not shirk the weighty obligation of doing penance in some form to which everyone is bound. "Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish." (Lk. xiii. 3.)