Fasting

FASTIDIUS: One of the few literary representatives of the old British Church. Gennadius (De vir. ill., Ivi.) says that " Fastidius, a bishop of the Britons, wrote a book on the Christian life to a certain Fatalie, and another on keeping widowhood sound in doctrine and worthy of God"; he places Fastidius between Pope Celeatine I. (d. 432) and

Cyril (d. 444). An extant writing De vita Christians is ascribed in one manuscript to Fastidius, in another to Pelagius, in others to Augustine (printed in MPL, xl. 1031-46, as pseudo-Augustinisn; in 1. 383-402, as by Fastidius). The question of its authorship was first thoroughly investigated by C. P. Casgari (Briefs,, Ablaandlungen, and Predigten aus den zwei letzten Jahrhu>iderten des lcirchlichen

Altertums and dens Anfang den Mittelalters, Christiania, 1890, 352 sqq.), who decides, because it is addressed to a woman and in other respects dote not follow the notice in Gennadius, that the ascription to Fastidius can hardly be based upon this

notice. The ascription to Pelagius has difficulties (Caspari, 371), and that to Augustine is out of the question. Morin (Revue bdrtEdidine, xv. 481-490, 1898) has shown that the Vita was probably a work of Pelagius, that therefore Fastidius is the probable author of the five treatises attributed by Caspari to Agricola. The first of these is the Vita

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mentioned by Gennadius. Whether Fastidius really wrote two books, as Gennadius says, must remain undecided. The Vita Christiana ispervaded byaPelagian spirit and mode of thought, but this could easily have escaped Gennadius,since the author" indicates and betrays his Pelagianism rather than speaks it out openly and directly " (Caspari, 360). It also has points of contact with the letters of the Pelagian Agricola (Caapari, 375 sqq.; see Agricola). The Epist. ad jaatidium of Fastidius is in Pitra, Anatecta, i. 134, sqq., Paris, 1888.

N. Bonwetsch.

Bibliography: H. Wharton, Hitt. de epiacopis et decanie Londinenaibua, p. 6, London, 1895; 11llemont, Mémoires, article "S. Germain "; Kaastle, in TQ$, laaii (1900),193204.

FASTING