\ perial). In the former class there was no common piece smaller tlian the as, equivalent to the uaaapioi'
I of the N. T. (above), but in the latter there were two common smaller jjieces, the one apparently the tjuarter of the uaaapwv, and the other its eighth, though the irregularity' with which they were struck makes it dif- ficult to pronounce with certaint}' ; the former piece
I was doubtless called the Koepui'Tijg, or quadrans, and
! the latter the \fKr6v, or lepton. See Mite.
I Fascination. See Charm.
j Fassari, Vincent, a Sicilian theologian, was born in Palermo in 1599, and died in the same city in 1GG3.
' He became a Jesuit in 1614, and tauglit successively belles-lettres, philosophy, theology, and the Scriptures. Of his religious and philosophical works, the most im-
! portant are Disputat'ones philosophicie, de quantitate,
i ejusque Compositione, Essentia, etc. (Palermo, 1644, fol.); and Immaculata Deiparce Concfjitio thenlof/ica'. Commissa truiince (Lyons, 1G66, fol.). — Hoefer, Nniiv. Bi'g. Gene- rale ; jNIongitore, BMiotkeca 8icula ; Biblioth^qtie des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de Jesus. (.1. M'. ]\L)
Fassoni, Liberato, an Italian theologian, was born about A.D. 1700, and died at Rome in 1767. He was professor of theology in the college of his order at Rome. AA'e have from him De Leilnitiano Eat. Princ. (Sinigaglia, 1754, fol.): — De Grccca Sacraritm Littira- rum edi'ione a LXX interpretihiis (Urbino, 1754, fol.) : — De Piorum in sinu Ahrahe beatitudine ante Christi mor- tem (Rome, 17G0, 4to). — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gencrale. (J. AV. M.)
Fast (properly, tnil, tsuvi, strictly, to lerj) the mouth shut ; ri}aTti<uo, strictly, nut to eat). In the early ages of the world, when the spontaneous productions of nature and the spoils of the chase formed man's chief aliment, fasting from time to time was compul- sory, in consequence of the uncertainty of obtaining food when wanted. It would be easj' for superstitious ignorance to interpret this compulsion into an expres- sion of the divine will, and so to sanction the observ- ance of fasting as a religious dut}-. Tlie transition would be the easier at a time and in countries when the office of phj'sician was united in the same person with that of priest ; for in hot climates occasional ab- stinence is not without its advantages on tlie health ; and ail alistinencc which the state of the body re- quired, but whicli the appetite shunned or refused, the authority of the priest and the sanctions of religion
FAST
487
FAST
vrould exact at once with ease and certaint}'. In the earlier stages of civilization no idea is more prevalent and operative thm that the Ueity is propitiated by voluntary sutt'erin:j;s on the part of bis creatures. Hence ensued all kinds of bodily mortifications, and even the sacrifice of life itself. Nay, "the fruit of the body" — tlie dear pledges of mutual affection, the best earthly gift from tiie heavenly Father — children, were sacrificed in expiation of "the sin of the soul." Hu- man enjo3-ments were held to be displeasing in the sight of God. The notion that the gods were jealous of man's happiness runs through the entire texture of Greeli and Konian mythology ; and the development of this f ilsehood, as presented in Greek tragedy, has given birth to some of the finest productions of the human mind. But what more pleasurable than food to man, especially to the semi-barbarian ? The denial of such a pleasure must then be well-pleasing to the Divinity, the rather because, on occasions of family bereavement, of national disaster, or any great calam- ity, the appetite is naturally afi'ected under the influ- enc3 of grief, and is made to loathe the food which in its ordinary condition it finds most grateful. A con- nection between sorrow and fcisting would thus be es- tablished which would carry with it a sort of divine sanction in being natural and inevitable in its origin. Accordingly, abstinence, which seemed imposed by Providence, if not in expiation of guilt, 3"et as an ac- companiment of sorrow, easil}'- became regarded as a religious duty when voluntarily' prolonged or assumed, and grew to be considered as an efficacious means for appeasing the divine wrath, and restoring prosperity and peace. " Climate, the habits of a people, and their creed, gave it at different periods different char- acteristics ; but it maj' be pronounced to have been a recognised institution witii all the more civilized na- tions, especially tlinse of Asia, throughout all historic times. We find it in high estimation among the an- cient Parsees of Irania. It formed a prominent feat- ure in the ceremonies of tlie mj'steries of Mithras ; and found its way, together with tliese, over Armenia, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia jMinor, to Palestine, and nortliward to the wilds of Scytiua. The ancient Chi- nese and Hindus, and principally the latter, in accord- ance with their primeval view — which they held in common with the Parsees — of heaven and hell, s ilva- tion and ilamnation, of the transmigration of tlie soul, and of the hody as the temporary prison of a fallen spirit, carried fasting to an unnatural excess. Al- thougli the Vedas attach little importance to the ex- cruciation of the liodj', yet the Pavaka, bj^ the due observance of which the Hindu believer is purified from all liis sins, requires, among other things, an un- interrupted fast for the space of twelve days. Egypt seems to have had few or no compulsoiy general fasts ; but it is established bej'ond doubt that for tiic initia- tion into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris, temporarv abstinence was rigorously enforced. In Siam, all sol- enm acts are preceded liy a period of fasting, the sea- sons of the new and full moon being cspsciallj' conse- crated to this rite. In Java, where abstinence from the flesh of oxen is part of the religion of all, Buddh- ists and worshippers of Brahma alike, the manner and times of the observance vary according to the religion of the individual. Again, in Tiljet, the Dalai-lamaites and Bogdo-lamaites hold this law in common. That Greece olisorved and gave a high ])lace to occasional fast-days — such as tlie third day of the festival of the Eleusinian mysteries, and that, for instance, those who came to consult the oracle of Trnphonius Iiad to abstain from food for twenty-four hours — is well known. It need hardly be added that tlie Romans did not omit so important an element of the festivals and ceremonies which thoy adopted from tlieir neigh- bors, though with tiiem the periods of fasting were of less frequent recurrence" ('Chambers, Eiu-i/elojHPilia, s. v.). The Mohammedans fast (till sunset) during the