Augustine: " That Matthew writes here mourn, where Mark and Luke write fast, shows that the Lord spake of that kind of fasting which pertains to humbling one’s self in chastisement; as in the following comparisons He may be supposed to have spoken of the other kind which pertains to the joy of a mind wrapt in spiritual thoughts, and therefore averted from the food of the body; showing that those who are occupied about the body, and owing to this retain their former desires, are not fit for this kind of fasting." Hilary of Poitiers: " Figuratively; This His answer, that while the Bridegroom was present with them, His disciples needed not to fast, teaches us the joy of His presence, and the sacrament of the holy food, which none shall lack, while He is present, that is, while one keeps Christ in the eye of the mind. He says, they shall fast when He is taken away from them, because all who do not believe that Christ is risen, shall not have the food of life. For in the faith of the resurrection the sacrament of the heavenly bread is received." Jerome: " Or; When He has departed from us for our sins, then is a fast to be proclaimed, then is mourning to be put on." Hilary of Poitiers: " By these examples He shows that neither our souls nor bodies, being so weakened by inveteracy of sin, are capable of the sacraments of the new grace." Rabanus Maurus: " The different comparisons all refer to the same thing, and yet are they different; the garment by which we are covered abroad signifies our good works, which we perform when we are abroad; the wine with which we are refreshed within is the fervor of faith and charity, which creates us anew within." References External links Other translations of Matthew 9:17 at BibleHub 09:17