ACC ~ Mark 1 v6b

FOR HEAVY LABOR

CHRYSOSTOM: You may ask, why did he wear a leather girdle? … Elijah also was so clothed, and likewise many others among holy men, either because they were engaged in heavy labor, or were upon a journey, or in any other necessity that involved labor, and because they despised ornament, and followed an austere way of life. … Let us, putting away all excess, and drinking the healthy cup of moderation, live in a manner that is becoming and temperate. Let us give ourselves in earnest to prayer. And if we do not receive that for which we pray, let us persevere that we may receive it. And if we do receive it, then let us persevere all the more for what we have received. For it is not his will to withhold the gift we ask for, but in his wisdom, to encourage our perseverance by delaying it. THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW, HOMILY 10. [1]

[1] SSGF 1:87*; TLG 2062.152, 57.189.9-10, 14-20; 191.34-41.

ELIJAH AND JOHN

JEROME: John, too, wears a leather girdle about his loins; and there was nothing soft or effeminate in Elijah, but every bit of him was hard and virile. He, too, certainly was a shaggy man. [1] HOMILY 91, ON THE EXODUS. [2]

[1] 2 Kings 1:8.

[2] HE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL | MARK 1:1-5