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 in the spring of 1899. With the formal establishment of the Society of the Atonement, they embraced religious life in the Episcopal Church. In taking religious vows, Miss White became known as Mother Lurana, while Father Wattson took the name of Father Paul James Francis. Mother Lurana became head of the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, the women's branch of the society; Father Paul became superior of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. Frederick Joseph Kinsman, third Bishop of Delaware, was chosen as Episcopal Visitor. The Society preached the primacy of the Roman pontiff, while keeping its Episcopal allegiance, as