'Fasting then is a renewal of the soul, for the holy
Apostle says, Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward
is being renewed day by day. And if it is being renewed, clearly it is
being made beautiful according to its original beauty; made beautiful in
itself it is being drawn lovingly to the one who said, I and the Father
will come and make our dwelling with him. If then such is the grace of
fasting, that it makes us into a dwelling place of God, we must welcome
it, brethren, gladly, not grieving at the plainness of the diet, for we
know that the Lord, though he is able to nourish lavishly, made a
banquet for thousands in the wilderness from bread and water. Also
because what is unusual, with enthusiasm becomes acceptable and
painless. Fasting is not defined by foods alone, but by every abstinence
from evil, as our godly fathers have explained. And so, I beg you, let
us abstain from despondency, idleness, sluggishness, jealousy, strife,
maliciousness, self-indulgence, self-reliance; let us abstain from
destructive desire which the many-shaped serpent lays before us when we
are fasting.'
