[Which Days of the Week We are to Fast, and Which Not, and for What Reasons.]
XXIII. But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; 108 Amos ix. 11 Amos ix. 11 for they fast on the second and fifth days of the week. But do you either fast the entire five days, or on the fourth day of the week, and on the day of the Preparation, because on the fourth day the condemnation went out against the Lord, Judas then promising to betray Him for money; and you must fast on the day of the Preparation, because on that day the Lord suffered the death of the cross under Pontius Pilate. But keep the Sabbath, and the Lord’s day festival; because the former is the memorial of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection. But there is one only Sabbath to be observed by you in the whole year, which is that of our Lord’s burial, on which men ought to keep a fast, but not a festival. For inasmuch as the Creator was then under the earth, the sorrow for Him is more forcible than the joy for the creation; for the Creator is more honourable by nature and dignity than His own creatures.
[23] Αἱ δὲ νηστεῖαι ὑμῶν μὴ ἔστωσαν μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, νηστεύουσι γὰρ δευτέρᾳ σαββάτων καὶ πέμπτῃ. Ὑμεῖς δὲ ἢ τὰς πέντε νηστεύσατε ἡμέρας, ἢ τετράδα καὶ παρασκευήν, ὅτι τῇ μὲν τετράδι ἡ κρίσις ἐξῆλθεν ἡ κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, Ἰούδα χρήμασιν ἐπαγγειλαμένου τὴν προδοσίαν: τῇ δὲ παρασκευῇ, ὅτι ἔπαθεν ὁ Κύριος ἐν αὐτῇ πάθος τὸ διὰ σταυροῦ ὑπὸ Ποντίου Πιλάτου. Τὸ σάββατον μέντοι καὶ τὴν κυριακὴν ἑορτάζετε, ὅτι τὸ μὲν δημιουργίας ἐστὶν ὑπόμνημα, τὸ δὲ ἀναστάσεως. Ἓν δὲ μόνον σάββατον ὑμῖν φυλακτέον ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ, τὸ τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ταφῆς, ὅπερ νηστεύειν προσῆκεν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἑορτάζειν: ἐν ὅσῳ γὰρ ὁ δημιουργὸς ὑπὸ γῆν τυγχάνει, ἰσχυρότερον τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ πένθος τῆς κατὰ τὴν δημιουργίαν χαρᾶς, ὅτι ὁ δημιουργὸς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ δημιουργημάτων φύσει τε καὶ ἀξίᾳ τιμιώτερος.