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ESUS CHRIST here joins the doctrine of fasting to that of prayer and almsgiving. These are three sacrifices that go together, as we find in a verse of the Book of Tobias: — Prayer is good with fasting and alms. By alms, we sacrifice our possessions; by fasting, we -make our bodies into victims; by prayer, we offer to God our affections: — we may say, the purest incense of His own Spirit.

What is said here of fasting is like what has been said of prayer and alms: — that we must do it for God alone, and in His sight, without any thought of man. If, however, one has disedified the Church by neglecting due observance, it is right to give edification, unaffectedly, by repairing the neglect with stricter outward conduct. But this needs great precaution;