Tag: gluttony
Struggle with the eight main passions: Gluttony
XI. For it is impossible for the fiery impulses of the body to be extinguished until the shoots of the other principle vices have themselves been cut off at the root… Whoever is unable to check the desire to gormandize (to eat gluttonously) will be incapable of curbing the urges of burning lust. The chastity… Read More ›
Struggle with the eight main passions: Fasting
V.1. … a uniform rule concerning the manner of fasting cannot easily be kept because not all bodies have the same strength, nor is it, like the other virtues, achieved by firmness of mind alone… 2. Nonetheless there is one end of abstinence in all these instances — that no one, according to the measure… Read More ›
Seeking Satisfaction: Gluttony
There is a grotesque scene in the Monty Python film The Meaning of Life in which a hugely corpulent character named Mr Creosote eats a gigantic meal, vomits repeatedly and then, after eating a tiny after dinner mint, explodes. The comedy is completely outrageous, but you can’t miss the explicitly revolting depiction of gluttony. Being heavy is… Read More ›
Seven Reasons You’re Still Hungry
St. Benedict regulated the intake of food and spirits for his monks (see chapters 39-41 of the Rule). It is something for us all to live up to but for most of us dealing with everyday temptation we often fall short of the ideal. The principle reason is we were “craving” a particular food. Perhaps… Read More ›
Control of the Stomach
I shall speak first about control of the stomach, the opposite to gluttony, and about how to fast and what and how much to eat. I shall say nothing on my own account, but only what I have received from the Holy Fathers. They have not given us only a single rule for fasting or… Read More ›