Holy Days and Fasting Days Act 1551
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1551 c. 3 |
| Year | 1551 |
(5 & 6 Edw. 6) C A P. III.
'F Orasmuch as at all Times Men be not so mindful to laud and praise God, so ready to resort and hear God's holy Word, and to come to the holy Communion and other laudable Rites, which are to be observed in every Christian Congregation, as their bounden Duty doth require: (2) Therefore to call Men to Remembrance of their Duty, and to help their Infirmity, it hath been wholsomly provided, that there should be some certain Times and Days appointed, wherein the Christians should cease from all other Kind of Labours, and should apply themselves only and wholly unto the aforesaid holy Works,properly pertaining unto true Religion; that is, to hear, to learn and to remember Almighty God's great Benefits, his manifold Mercies, his inestimable gracious Goodness, so plenteously poured upon all his Creatures, and that of his infinite and unspeakable Goodness, without any Man's Desert; and in Remembrance hereof, to render unto him most high and hearty Thanks, with Prayers and Supplications for the Relief of all our daily Necessities: (3) And because these be the chief and principal Works wherein Man is commanded to worship God, and do properly pertain unto the first Table; therefore as these Works are most commonly, and also may well be called God's Service, so the Times appointed specially for the same, are called Holy-days; not for the Matter and Nature either of the Time or Day, nor for any of the Saints Sake, whose Memories are had on those Days, (for so all Days and Timesconsidered are God's Creatures, and all of like Holiness) but for the Nature and Condition of those godly and holy Works, wherewith only God is to be honoured, and the Congregation to be edified, whereunto such Times and Days are sanctified and hallowed; this is to say, separated from all profane Uses, and dedicated and appointed, not unto any Saint or Creature, but only unto God and his true Worship: (4) Neither is it to be thought that there is any certain Time or definite Number of Days prescribed in holy Scripture, but that the Appointment both of the Time and also of the Number of the Days, is left by the Authority of God's Word to the Liberty of Christ's Church, to be determined and assigned orderly in every Country, by the Discretion of the Rulers and Ministers thereof, as they shall judge most expedient to the true setting forth of God's Glory, and the Edification of...
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