Esther and Purim Revisited

by Fr. Mark Wojdelski, FSSP

(This is part of a series of articles, and will make little sense without the introductory articles: (1) , (2), (3), and (4).  There are more than four articles in the series, but the first four are very important to understanding the conceptual framework.)

First, read Fr. Rock’s excellent article, if you have not already done so. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel:

https://fssp.com/purim-and-lent-esther-and-cecilia/

This will simply add a few observations to what has already observed, in the context of seeing the liturgical year as radiating outwards in both directions from the Paschal moon. The twelfth day of Adar corresponds to the Second Sunday of Lent, on which the gospel of the transfiguration is resumed from the preceding day, the Ember Saturday. The feast of Purim as observed by the Jews in Jerusalem today is a three-day observance. The thirteenth day of Adar is called “Ta’anit Esther” or “the affliction/fast of Esther.” This is not a biblical observance, but recall that the thirteenth was a significant date in the biblical account, and there is evidence that a minor feast (not fast) may have been observed on that day in antiquity:

Now the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies, and slew seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they laid no hands on the plunder. This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting and holiday-making, and a day on which they send choice portions to one another. (Esth 9:16-19)

There is another minor observance on the 13th of Adar, called “The Day of Nicanor”:

Now Nicanor went out from Jerusalem and encamped in Beth-horon, and the Syrian army joined him. And Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men. Then Judas prayed and said,  “When the messengers from the king spoke blasphemy, your angel went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians.  So also crush this army before us today; let the rest learn that Nicanor has spoken wickedly against your sanctuary, and judge him according to this wickedness.”  So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. The army of Nicanor was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle.  When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled. The Jews pursued them a day’s journey, from Adasa as far as Gazara, and as they followed kept sounding the battle call on the trumpets.  And men came out of all the villages of Judea round about, and they outflanked the enemy and drove them back to their pursuers, so that they all fell by the sword; not even one of them was left.  Then the Jews seized the spoils and the plunder, and they cut off Nicanor’s head and the right hand which he so arrogantly stretched out, and brought them and displayed them just outside Jerusalem.  The people rejoiced greatly and celebrated that day as a day of great gladness.  And they decreed that this day should be celebrated each year on the thirteenth day of Adar.  So the land of Judah had rest for a few days. (1 Mac 7:39-50)

The thirteenth day, then, was the day the fighting was going on, whether it was against the Persians in the book of Esther, or against the Greeks in the book of Maccabees. Returning to the story of Esther, in the city, the fighting continued for a second day, and so they rested on the fifteenth day of Adar. The custom eventually began to celebrate Purim for two days in the designated “walled cities,” a designation which only Jerusalem retains today, but perhaps Rome was considered “walled enough?” Or could it be that as long as there were Christians in Jerusalem, the Body of Christ is “within the walls,” as it were? The reading for the Mass corresponding to 15 Adar (Wednesday) is the Prayer of Mardochai. (Esth 13:8) This has been noted by several people (see above for one example, and here for another). All that remains to be added is simply to point out that it is actually Shushan Purim,¹ not just “close enough” or “in the ballpark,” but spot on, if we imagine everything being linked to the Paschal moon as I have laid out in all the previous articles. Recall, these observations all started with the miracle of the manna.

Even though it does not happen until 14-16 Nisan—and rest assured, we will get to that—we can still take a look at the history of the fast of Esther, commemorated in modern times on the 13th of Adar:

And Esther the queen, seized with deathly anxiety, fled to the Lord; she took off her splendid apparel and put on the garments of distress and mourning, and instead of costly perfumes she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she utterly humbled her body, and every part that she loved to adorn she covered with her tangled hair.  And she lay on the earth together with all her maidservants, from morning until evening… (Esth 14:1-3)

On the third day, when she ended her prayer, she took off the garments in which she had worshiped, and clothed herself in splendid attire. Then, majestically adorned, after invoking the aid of the all-seeing God and Savior, she took her two maids with her,  leaning daintily on one, while the other followed carrying her train. She was radiant with perfect beauty, and she looked happy, as if beloved, but her heart was frozen with fear. (Esth 15:1-5)

This fast of Esther that is being commemorated on the 13th of Adar is not an ancient observance, as has already been stated, but it is interesting how it seems to connect to the two preceding days, with our Lord being transfigured, and Esther, a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, being likewise “transfigured,” as it were, at the conclusion of her fast. Liturgically, Our Lord fasted to the point of death on the first Sunday of Lent. He was later transfigured after saying these words to his followers:

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” (Mt 16:24-28)

Then, “after six days,” (Mt 17:1) i.e. Ember Saturday, or, if you like, “about eight days after these sayings,” (Lk 9:28) that is, Sunday, He is transfigured.² There is an important detail added by St. Luke, that our Lord “went up on the mountain to pray.” Perhaps they were gone for more than a day. So we have here examples of both prayer and fasting resulting in future glory. We know that prayer and fasting as serve to drive away demons. (Mk 9:29) In the case of our Lord, no almsgiving to forgive sins would ever have been necessary. (Tob 12:9) This does not apply to us, of course, and the third hinge of the Lenten observance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is required of all Christians. We need not think, however, that this requires donating large sums of money to faraway charitable organizations. In many cases, such organizations, especially secular ones—and a lot of religious ones as well unfortunately—may not be pursuing goals that are in accord with the teachings of the faith. We have all heard of the three-fold distinction of “time, talent, treasure.” The third one is the least useful in most practical settings, though we should not neglect to financially help those closest to us in their time of need. Throwing large sums of money at social problems, however, rarely solves them; but people’s devotion and their talents, the gifts of God that they have developed (that is why we call them “talents” [Mt. 25:14-30]) can make even the worst situation better, by the grace of God.