Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Matthew 9:15

There are 16 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 103, footnote 2 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)

On Fasting. (HTML)

Arguments of the Psychics, Drawn from the Law, the Gospel, the Acts, the Epistles, and Heathenish Practices. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1005 (In-Text, Margin)

For, so far as pertains to fasts, they oppose to us the definite days appointed by God: as when, in Leviticus, the Lord enjoins upon Moses the tenth day of the seventh month (as) a day of atonement, saying, “Holy shall be to you the day, and ye shall vex your souls; and every soul which shall not have been vexed in that day shall be exterminated from his people.” At all events, in the Gospel they think that those days were definitely appointed for fasts in which “the Bridegroom was taken away;”[Matthew 9:14-15] and that these are now the only legitimate days for Christian fasts, the legal and prophetical antiquities having been abolished: for wherever it suits their wishes, they recognise what is the meaning of “the Law and the prophets until John.” ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 447, footnote 2 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book V (HTML)

Sec. III.—On Feast Days and Fast Days (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3118 (In-Text, Margin)

... herbs, and water for your drink; but do you abstain on these days from wine and flesh, for they are days of lamentation and not of feasting. Do ye who are able fast the day of the preparation and the Sabbath-day entirely, tasting nothing till the cock-crowing of the night; but if any one is not able to join them both together, at least let him observe the Sabbath-day; for the Lord says somewhere, speaking of Himself: “When the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, in those days shall they fast.”[Matthew 9:15] In these days, therefore, He was taken from us by the Jews, falsely so named, and fastened to the cross, and “was numbered among the transgressors.”

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 27, footnote 1 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

The Gospel of Peter. (HTML)

Synoptical Table of the Four Canonical Gospels and The Gospel According to Peter. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 14 (In-Text, Margin)

27 And upon all these things we fasted[Matthew 9:15] and sat mourning and weeping night and day until the sabbath.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 266, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters

Letters of St. Augustin (HTML)

Letters of St. Augustin (HTML)

To Casulanus (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1573 (In-Text, Margin)

... Sabbath, and in that day it is by all means lawful to do good rather than do evil.” If, therefore, we do evil when we break our fast, there is no Lord’s day upon which we live as we should. As to his admission that the apostles did eat upon the seventh day of the week, and his remark upon this, that the time for their fasting had not then come, because of the Lord’s own words, “The days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall the children of the Bridegroom fast;”[Matthew 9:15] since there is “a time to rejoice, and a time to mourn,” he ought first to have observed, that our Lord was speaking there of fasting in general, but not of fasting upon the seventh day. Again, when he says that by fasting grief is signified, and ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 267, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters

Letters of St. Augustin (HTML)

Letters of St. Augustin (HTML)

To Casulanus (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1576 (In-Text, Margin)

... stoned, or deemed worthy of any punishment whatever, for either fasting or eating on the Sabbath. Which of the two is more in keeping with rest, and which with toil, let our author himself decide, who has regarded joy as the portion of those who eat, and sorrow as the portion of those who fast, or at least has understood that these things were so regarded by the Lord, when, giving answer concerning fasting, He said: “Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them?”[Matthew 9:15]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 419, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)

Section 6 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2033 (In-Text, Margin)

6. And on this account, that one female, not only in the Spirit, but also in the flesh, is both a mother and a virgin. And a mother indeed in the Spirit, not of our Head, Which is the Saviour Himself, of Whom rather she was born after the Spirit: forasmuch as all, who have believed in Him, among whom is herself also, are rightly called “children of the Bridegroom:”[Matthew 9:15] but clearly the mother of His members, which are we: in that she wrought together by charity, that faithful ones should be born in the Church, who are members of That Head: but in the flesh, the mother of the Head Himself. For it behoved that our Head, on account of a notable miracle, should be born after the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 132, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

Of the Feast at Which It Was Objected at Once that Christ Ate with Sinners, and that His Disciples Did Not Fast; Of the Circumstance that the Evangelists Seem to Give Different Accounts of the Parties by Whom These Objections Were Alleged; And of the Question Whether Matthew and Mark and Luke are Also in Harmony with Each Other in the Reports Given of the Words of These Persons, and of the Replies Returned by the Lord. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 925 (In-Text, Margin)

60. Matthew, accordingly, goes on to say: “And it came to pass, as He sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples;” and so on, down to where we read, “But they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”[Matthew 9:10-17] Here Matthew has not told us particularly in whose house it was that Jesus was sitting at meat along with the publicans and sinners. This might make it appear as if he had not appended this notice in its strict order here, but had introduced at this point, in the way of reminiscence, something which actually took place on a different occasion, were it not ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 335, footnote 6 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter XIV. 18–21. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1335 (In-Text, Margin)

... although it was not the Son of God that adopted sons to His Father, or willed that we should have by grace that same Father, who is His Father by nature, yet in a sense it is paternal feelings toward us that He Himself displays, when He declares, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” In the same way He calls us also the children of the bridegroom, when He says, “The time will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall the children of the bridegroom fast.”[Matthew 9:15] And who is the bridegroom, but Christ the Lord?

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 4, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm III (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 36 (In-Text, Margin)

1. The words, “I slept, and took rest; and rose, for the Lord will take me up,” lead us to believe that this Psalm is to be understood as in the Person of Christ; for they sound more applicable to the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, than to that history in which David’s flight is described from the face of his rebellious son. And, since it is written of Christ’s disciples, “The sons of the bridegroom fast not as long as the bridegroom is with them;”[Matthew 9:15] it is no wonder if by his undutiful son be here meant that undutiful disciple who betrayed Him. From whose face although it may be understood historically that He fled, when on his departure He withdrew with the rest to the mountain; yet in a spiritual sense, when the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 20, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm VII (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 203 (In-Text, Margin)

... us that Chusi should be interpreted silence; and Gemini, right-handed; Achitophel, brother’s ruin. Among which interpretations, Judas, that traitor, again meets us, that Abessalon should bear his image, according to that interpretation of it as a father’s peace; in that his father was full of thoughts of peace toward him: although he in his guile had war in his heart, as was treated of in the third Psalm. Now as we find in the Gospels that the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ are called sons,[Matthew 9:15] so in the same Gospels we find they are called brethren also. For the Lord on the resurrection saith, “Go and say to My brethren.” And the Apostle calls Him “the first begotten among many brethren.” The ruin then of that disciple, who betrayed Him, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 132, footnote 10 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm XLII (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1228 (In-Text, Margin)

... for all were not present in every place where we said it. Now Korah may have been, as indeed he was, a certain definite person; and have had sons, who might be called “the sons of Korah;” let us however search for the secret of which this is the sacrament, that this name may bring to light the mystery with which it is pregnant. For there is some great mystery in the matter that the name “sons of Korah” is given to Christians. Why “sons of Korah”? They are “sons of the bridegroom, sons of Christ.”[Matthew 9:15] Why then does “Korah” stand for Christ? Because “Korah” is equivalent to “Calvaria.”…Therefore, the “sons of the bridegroom,” the sons of His Passion, the sons redeemed by His Blood, the sons of His Cross, who bear on their forehead that which His ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 610, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CXXVIII (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 5537 (In-Text, Margin)

... wife and the children are the same. In these carnal marriages and wedlocks, the wife is one, the children other: in the Church, she who is the wife, is the children also. For the Apostles belonged to the Church, and were among the members of the Church. They were therefore in His wife, and were His wife according to their own portion which they held in His members. Why then is it said concerning them, “When the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, then shall the children of the Bridegroom fast”?[Matthew 9:15] She who is the wife, then, is the children also. I speak a wonderful thing, my brethren. In the words of the Lord, we find the Church to be both His brethren, and His sisters, and His mother. …For Mary was among the sides of His House, and His ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 151, footnote 6 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)

On the Mysteries. IV:  On the Body and Blood of Christ. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2450 (In-Text, Margin)

2. He once in Cana of Galilee, turned the water into wine, akin to blood, and is it incredible that He should have turned wine into blood? When called to a bodily marriage, He miraculously wrought that wonderful work; and on the children of the bride-chamber[Matthew 9:15], shall He not much rather be acknowledged to have bestowed the fruition of His Body and Blood?

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 11, footnote 22 (Image)

Basil: Letters and Select Works

De Spiritu Sancto. (HTML)

In how many ways “Through whom” is used; and in what sense “with whom” is more suitable.  Explanation of how the Son receives a commandment, and how He is sent. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 846 (In-Text, Margin)

... one time it uses terms descriptive of His nature, for it recognises the “name which is above every name,” the name of Son, and speaks of true Son, and only begotten God, and Power of God, and Wisdom, and Word. Then again, on account of the divers manners wherein grace is given to us, which, because of the riches of His goodness, according to his manifold wisdom, he bestows on them that need, Scripture designates Him by innumerable other titles, calling Him Shepherd, King, Physician, Bridegroom,[Matthew 9:15] Way, Door, Fountain, Bread, Axe, and Rock. And these titles do not set forth His nature, but, as I have remarked, the variety of the effectual working which, out of His tender-heartedness to His own creation, according to the peculiar necessity of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 243, footnote 3 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)

Book V. Of the Spirit of Gluttony. (HTML)
Chapter XXIV. How in Egypt we saw that the daily fast was broken without scruple on our arrival. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 866 (In-Text, Margin)

... going to conduct you on your way, I cannot always keep you with me. And a fast, although it is useful and advisable, is yet a free-will offering. But the exigencies of a command require the fulfilment of a work of charity. And so receiving Christ in you I ought to refresh Him but when I have sent you on your way I shall be able to balance the hospitality offered for His sake by a stricter fast on my own account. For ‘the children of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them:’[Matthew 9:15] but when he has departed, then they will rightly fast.”

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 511, footnote 1 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)

Conference XXI. The First Conference of Abbot Theonas. On the Relaxation During the Fifty Days. (HTML)
Chapter XVIII. How fasting is not always suitable. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2192 (In-Text, Margin)

... is common to all) complained to the Lord and said: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft but thy disciples fast not?” to whom the Lord in His reply plainly showed that fasting is not suitable or necessary at all times, when any festival season or opportunity for love intervenes and permits an indulgence in food, saying: “Can the children of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them; and then shall they fast;”[Matthew 9:14-15] words which although they were spoken before the resurrection of His Body, yet specially point to the season of Eastertide, in which after His resurrection for forty days He ate with His disciples, and their joy in His daily Presence did not allow ...

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