These specific days of the Fast, the 19 days before Spring, are unlike other days. No other time of the year is like this time. The earth is being cleansed by the physical wind, snow, water, and breezes in preparation for Spring, when the whole earth is renewed.

Likewise, during this spiritual Fast, we cleanse ourselves through prayer, meditation, and holy deeds to also be renewed and spiritually cleansed from all that is abhorrent to God. The Fasting prayers highlight the importance of this special time and occasion of the Fast and the bounties, blessings, mercies, gifts, and forgiveness we receive during this special, unique, and holy time.

1. ENDOWED EVERY HOUR WITH A SPECIAL VIRTUE- “Thou hast endowed every hour of these days with a special virtue.”

2. EACH ASSIGNED THEIR PORTON OF VIRTUE– “Thou hast, also, assigned unto every soul a portion of this virtue.”

3. REMEMBRANCE– “For Thine ardent lovers Thou hast, according to Thy decree, reserved, at each daybreak, the cup of Thy remembrance.”

4. BOUNTY & GRACE– Rain down, then, upon us and upon them from the clouds of Thy mercy what beseemeth the heaven of Thy bounteousness and grace.

5. PORTALS OF TENDER MERCY– Thou hast unlocked the doors of Thy bounty before the faces of Thy creatures, and opened wide the portals of Thy tender mercy unto all the dwellers of Thine earth.

6. FELLOWSHIP & COMMUNION– “Thou hast graciously enabled to have fellowship with Thee and to commune with Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself.”

7. ASSISTANCE– ..”Do Thou assist them to attain what muster befit so august a station.”

“Assist me and assist them, O my Lord, to obey Thee and to keep Thy precepts. Thou, verily, hast power to do what Thou choosest.”

8. PURGING– “Send down, therefore, upon them what will thoroughly purge them of all that Thou abhorrest, that they may be wholly devoted to Thee, and may detach themselves entirely from all except Thyself.”

9. GIFT OF PRESENCE IN AFTERLIFE- “…gift of Thy presence in Thy worlds hereafter—worlds which are inscrutable to all except Thee.

10. PROMISE OF EXALTATION– “Ordain in the course of this year what shall exalt Thy loved ones.”

11. HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM – “To make known unto me what lay hid in the treasuries of Thy knowledge and concealed within the repositories of Thy wisdom.”

12. FULFILLED WISHES -“Thou hast fulfilled the wishes of them that have set their hopes on Thee, and hast granted them their desires, through Thy grace and Thy favors, “

13. FORGIVENESS– “…and by Thy Name through which the ocean of forgiveness surged before Thy face,”

14. GENEROSITY– “…and the clouds of Thy generosity rained upon Thy servants, to write down for everyone who hath turned unto Thee, and observed the fast prescribed by Thee, the recompense decreed for such as speak not except by Thy leave, and who forsook all that they possessed in Thy path and for love of Thee.”

15. CANCEL TRESPASSES-“… to cancel the trespasses of those who have held fast to Thy laws, and have observed what Thou hast prescribed unto them in Thy Book.

16. SPIRITUAL FLIGHT– “to send down upon me and upon them who are in my company that which will enable us to soar into the heavens of Thy transcendent glory,”

16. CERTITUDE – “…and will wash us from the stain of such doubts as have hindered the suspicious from entering into the tabernacle of Thy unity.”

17. ETERNAL MERCY AND FAVOURS –” Do Thou ordain for me and for my loved ones the good of this world and of the world to come.”

18. HIDDEN GIFTS -“Supply them, then, with the Hidden Gift Thou didst ordain for the choicest among Thy creatures.”

19. JOY, SOLACE, EXHILARATION: REWARDS FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER IN GOD’S PATH

“…to ordain for Thy loved ones, who under the blaze of the orb of Thy trials have clung to the cord of patience, all the good Thou hast reckoned in Thy Books and Thy Tablets. Write down, then, for such as have been afflicted with adversities for Thy sake, the reward of those who have suffered martyrdom in the path of Thy good-pleasure. Send down, moreover, upon them, O Lord, that which will rejoice their hearts, solace their eyes, and exhilarate their souls. Thou art, verily, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Help in Peril, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

“This is the hour, O my Lord, which Thou hast caused to excel every other hour, and hast related to the choicest among Thy creatures. I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy Self and by them, to ordain in the course of this year what shall exalt Thy loved ones. Do Thou, moreover, decree within this year what will enable the Daystar of Thy power to shine brightly above the horizon of Thy glory, and to illuminate by Thy sovereign might, the whole world.”

HAPPY FASTING
BARBARA