IV. That Saturday should be a
fast day, as a regular religious observance
[IV. Quod rite omni sabbato
ieiunetur, Db fo. 81va]
A most obvious reason makes it
clear that one should fast on Saturday. For if we do not celebrate Sunday out
of reverence for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ only at Easter, but
also represent the image of that day repeatedly week by week, and if we fast on
Friday because of the Lord’s passion, we ought not to ignore Saturday, which
seems to be interposed between the sadness and the joy of that time. For it is
very well known both that the apostles were in mourning, and that they hid
themselves for fear of the Jews, on those two days. For indeed there is no
doubt that on those two days they fasted to such a degree, that according to
the tradition of the Church the celebration of the sacraments is altogether
suspended on those two days. This pattern is indeed to be followed week by
week, for the reason that the commemoration of that day is to be celebrated
always. For if they think that the fast should happen once on one Saturday
only, it would follow that Sunday and Friday should indeed also be celebrated
once, in the Easter period. But if the image of the Sunday and Friday is to be
renewed again and again every week, it ismad to keep the custom of the two-day
period while ignoring the Saturday, since the cause of it is no different, from
the Friday that is, in which the Lord suffered, andwhen hewas in the
Underworld, so that he might rise up and restore joy on the third day, after
the preceding two-day period of sadness. Therefore we do not deny that there
should be a fast on the Friday, but we say that this should be done on the
Saturday also, since both days brought grief to the apostles and those who
followed Christ, who were filled with cheer on the Sunday and wished that not
only that one [i.e. Easter] should be a great feast, but that it should be
renewed again and again every week. (“Innocent I to Decentius bishop of Gubbio,
Si instituta, 416 CE,” D. L. d’Avray, Papal Jurisprudence, c. 400: Sources
of the Canon Law Tradition [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019], 61)
This stood out as I read the book, The Orthodox Patristic
Witness Concerning Catholicism (Uncut Mountain Press, 2024) a few days ago,
and the issue of fasting on Saturday was condemned by John II, Metropolitan of
Kiev (d. 1089) in a letter to Pope Clement II (see here).
