Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 6:16

"Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward." — Matthew 6:16 (ASV)

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Since the prayer offered with a humble spirit and contrite heart shows a mind that is already strong and disciplined—and since one who is sunk in self-indulgence cannot have such a spirit—it is plain that without fasting, prayer is faint and feeble. Therefore, whenever people wanted to pray for any particular need, they joined fasting with prayer, because it is an aid to it. Accordingly, after His teaching on prayer, the Lord adds teaching about fasting, saying, When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. The Lord knew that vanity can spring from every good thing, and therefore He bids us root out the bramble of vainglory that grows in the good soil, so that it does not choke the fruit of fasting. For although it is impossible for a person's fasting to go unnoticed, it is better that your fasting reveals you than that you reveal your fasting.

It is impossible for anyone who is fasting to be cheerful, so He did not say, "Be not sad," but rather, Be not made sad. For those who draw attention to themselves through false displays of affliction are not truly sad, but only make themselves appear so. In contrast, the one who is naturally sad from continued fasting does not make himself sad; he simply is.

St. Jerome: The word "exterminare," so often used in the ecclesiastical Scriptures—though a blunder of the translators—has a completely different meaning from the one in which it is commonly understood. It is properly said of exiles who are sent beyond the boundary of their country. Instead of this word, it would seem better to use the word "demoliri," meaning "to destroy," in translating the Greek. The hypocrite disfigures his face to feign sorrow, and with a heart full of joy, he wears a sorrowful expression.

St. Gregory the Great: For through the pale countenance, the trembling limbs, the bursting sighs, and all such great toil and trouble, the only thing on the mind is the esteem of men. ¹

St. Leo the Great: But a fast is not pure when it comes not from reasons of self-control, but from the arts of deceit. ²

Pseudo-Chrysostom: If, then, the one who fasts and puts on a sad expression is a hypocrite, how much more wicked is the one who does not fast, yet assumes a false pallor as a sign of fasting.

St. Augustine of Hippo: On this passage, it should be specially noted that there is room for showing off not only in outward splendor and pomp, but even in the clothing of sorrow and mourning. This is all the more dangerous because it deceives under the guise of service to God. ³

For a person who stands out because of excessive attention to his appearance, his clothing, or the glitter of his other possessions is easily shown by these very things to be a follower of the pomps of the world, and no one is deceived by any appearance of false holiness in him.

But when someone professing Christianity draws people's attention to himself through unusual poverty and sloppiness in dress—if this is voluntary and not forced—then his other conduct will reveal whether he does this to be seen by others or out of contempt for refined dress.

Remigius of Auxerre: The reward for the hypocrites' fast is shown when it is added, That they may seem to men to fast; truly I say to you, they have their reward. This is the reward for which they sought.

1. Mor., viii, 44
2. Serm. in Epiph., iv, 5
3. Serm. in Mont., ii, 12