Lent with The Fathers: A Review
A Review by The Rev. Ben Jeffries, ’14
The Oxford Movement was intellectually underwritten by a ressourcement of the Church Fathers. Edward Pusey et al. edited a monumental Library of the Fathers that brought many printed works into English for the first time. This Library was a revelation for many — showcasing the vigor and seriousness in both life and dogma that was emblematic of the early centuries of our church and blew fresh wind into the sails of Victorian discipleship. At this time, however, accessing the Fathers still required a decent amount of learning, means, and time for reading. Therefore, a number of smaller, more accessible selections were made in the years that followed.
Originally published in 1852, Lent with the Fathers is a curated collection of readings from the Church Fathers for each day during Lent, all engaging with the various Lenten themes of repentance, self-denial, charity, fasting, etc. It was edited by the Anglo-Catholic priest William J.E. Bennett, but it is clear from the introductory matter that, as well being the source of many of the English translations, Pusey also had a hand in shaping its arrangement.
Reading the Fathers on Lenten themes chiefly makes the reader (at least this one) realize how unseriously we take our own religion and repentance. The earnestness in self-denial that was common then is almost unheard of now. Indeed, the flesh tries to escape the thought of being so self-burdened by labeling the Fathers unreal, rhetorical, or perhaps gnostic. But these are all false dodges. Despite whatever engagement they have with Platonism and Neoplatonism, the fact remains that it is us, in the twenty-first century, who are the real gnostics — thinking that we can think our way into repentance without corresponding bodily actions. The Fathers were not thus divided. Bodily actions of self-denial and inner sorrow for sin were two sides of the same coin.
When this seriousness is accepted for the strong testimony that it is, and it is plain that the Fathers must be followed as fathers and not rejected, the reader is compelled to pray, in the famous prayer from Lancelot Andrewes' Devotions, "Lord, I repent; help thou my unrepentance." Only by the Holy Spirit's help can we ever hope to attain even the smallest portion of patristic Lenten devotion. It is a hard road and a long one but, wonderfully, one we get to practice year after year, with every successive Lent. The clear-eyed vigor of the Fathers is there to encourage us every time we try, and this is what makes this book so valuable a guide to have at hand.
It may be objected that the Fathers smell somewhat semi-Pelagian at times, but this is a red herring. Their austerity in self-denial is couched within the full assumption that it is Christ in them who works, not they themselves. Pusey once commented that he thought the very root of why so few Christians attain any noticeable degrees of sanctity is "want of sorrow for forgiven sin." In this we see how the Reformation-prized doctrine of justification comports with patristic asceticism: it is not an attempt to earn forgiveness, but the response to having been forgiven, in the face of One who loves us so much, whom we have so grievously offended.
The Rev. Ben Jefferies, '14, is the first rector of The Good Shepherd Anglican Church, Opelika, Alabama, co-founder of the Cellar of St. Gambrinus and an honorary member of the Society of St. Moses the Jacked. He is married to Carrie, and they have three adorable daughters. His heroes are E.B. Pusey and The Rev. Lars Skoglund, ’14.