More thoughts on fasting during Lent

Today, I'm going to put this hymn of Prudentius (Spain, 9th Cent.), for today's post. Unless you have access to the Traditional Mass, you will not hear this. Formerly, several Churches introduced this into their Divine Office. The following is the hymn in its entirety:

O Jesus of Nazareth, O Light of Bethlehem, O Word of the Father, born to us from a Virgin's womb, be thou with us in our chaste abstinence. Do thou, our King, look with a propitious eye upon our feast, whereupon, we offer thee the tribute of our fast.

Truly, nothing can be more holy than this fast, which purifies the inmost recesses of man's heart. By it is tamed the unruly carnal appetite; that thus the ardent soul may not be choked by the surfeiting of a pampered body.

By fasting are subdued luxury and vile gluttony. The drowsiness that comes of wine and sleep; lust with its defilements; the impudence of buffoonery; yea, all the pests that come from our sluggish flesh, are hereby disciplined into restraint.

For, if thou freely indulgest in meat and drink, and bridlest not thine appetite by fasting, it needs must be that the noble fire of the spirit, smothered by the frequent indulgence of the body, should grow dull, and the soul, like the drowsy flesh it inhabits, fall into heavy sleep.

Therefore, let us bridle our bodily desires, and follow the clear interior light of prudence. Thus, the soul having her sight made keener, will breathe more freely, and will pray to the Creator with the stronger hope.