Lenten penance according to St Augustine: fast from discord, and forgive

For anyone still deciding what to give up for Lent, (Ash Wednesday is around the corner) or even for those who have decided, here’s a great suggestion from Saint Augustine that may be helpful:

“Before everything else, brothers and sisters, fast from quarrels and discord…. If you want to shout, use the kind of shouting about which [Scripture] says, ‘With my voice I shouted to the Lord’ {Psalm 142.1}. That indeed is not a shout of quarreling, but of loving; not of flesh, but the heart….

Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you’ {Luke 6.37-38}. These are the two wings of prayer, on which it flies to God; if you pardon the offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need.”

[Sermon 205, On the Beginning of Lent]