Fast of the Firstborn tends to precipitate contrition in the one who fasts (see Joel, 2:12–18). This is why the Bible requires fasting (lit. self-affliction) on Yom Kippur (Jewish holiday of atonement) (see Leviticus, 23:27,29,32; Numbers, 29:7; Tractate "Yoma", 8:1; ibid. Babylonian Talmud, 81a). Because, according to the Hebrew Bible, hardship and calamitous circumstances can occur as a result of wrongdoing (see, for example, Leviticus 26:14–41), fasting is often undertaken by the community or by individuals to achieve atonement and avert catastrophe (see, for example, Esther 4:3,16; Jonah 3:7). Most of the Talmud's Tractate "Ta'anit" ("Fast[s]") is dedicated to the protocol involved in declaring
Society of the Atonement Society of the Atonement The Society of the Atonement, also known as the Friars and Sisters of the Atonement or Graymoor Friars and Sisters is a Franciscan religious congregation in the Latin Rite branch of the Catholic Church. The friars and sisters were founded in 1898 as a religious community in the Episcopal Church. The religious order is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the Marian title of Our Lady of Atonement. Lewis Thomas Wattson was born in Maryland in January 1863 to the Reverend Joseph Newton Wattson and his wife, Mary Electa. Reverend Wattson, a former Presbyterian, was