De Jejunio

DE JEJUNIO
On Fasting

Fasting properly means abstaining from all food for a certain period of time. It is an important part of the spiritual life; not the most important; but necessary. Our Lord said that there were certain demons that could only be cast out “by prayer and fasting ”—which may explain why you pray all the time but, because you never fast, cannot overcome some sin. I shall be concerned in this essay not only with fasting but also with abstinence. The Church has always required some quantity of both of these related disciplines from the earliest times: the Second Precept of the Church (in the traditional enumeration) is “To fast and abstain [sc. from meat] on the days appointed.”
Fasting is different from dieting. Dieting is directed towards the health of the body; fasting, towards that of the soul. Since man is neither body alone nor soul alone but a composite of both, one cannot harm one without harming the other, and one cannot improve one without improving the other; and so dieting may indirectly assist the soul while directly assisting the body, and fasting may indirectly assist the body while directly assisting the soul. In fact I would say that, if the one or the other is done rightly, this will always be the case.
The end of fasting is the acquisition or perfection of the virtue of temperance (and also the virtues subordinate to temperance such as chastity). Most of us, I would venture to assert, are by temperament intemperate. We eat too much, drink too much, and sleep too much, and are especially immoderate with regard to the procreative faculty. This is ultimately due to original sin; but we are under no necessity to be intemperate and unchaste—unless a lack of self-control is a necessity. There is nothing wrong, of course, with the things in whose regard we lack self-control; the wrong lies in our own inordinateness in seeking too much of them. It is also inordinate to seek too little—so it would be a sin to eat too little just as it would be a sin to eat too much: virtues can be sinned against by defect just as much as by excess. The sin consists precisely in the violation of right order. But the vast majority of us are more prone to excess in these matters than to defect in them.
The Catholic Church has wisely imposed laws upon her members in order to the sanctification and salvation of those members—which is the ultimate end of fasting, and of all the spiritual life. The regulations of abstinence from meat on Friday, and the Lenten fast, are probably the best known. These regulations have in recent times been (unfortunately) relaxed so that there are, in many places at least, eight days of obligatory abstinence and two obligatory days of fasting. This is pathetic. If we consider the Friday abstinence from meat, it covered a seventh of the year; when Saturdays were included, that made two sevenths of the year. If Lent is added to that, a tenth of the year, we reach the excruciating fraction of twenty-two thirty-fifths of the year being obligatory days of abstinence. When people fasted for the whole of Lent, that was an obligatory fast of forty days; the Ember Days add twelve to that, so that we have fifty-two days—totalling a seventh of the year. Compare this to today, where we have eight three-hundred-and-sixty-fifths of the year devoted to abstinence, and two three-hundred-and-sixty-fifths of the year to fasting. What must our forefathers in heaven think of us?!
I was inspired to write this essay by the fact that today is one of the Ember Days—three days of fasting occurred at the beginning of each season, a Wednesday, a Friday, and a Saturday; today is the first of the summer Ember Days. It is well known that the Church in Her wisdom grafted her feasts on to pagan feasts; in this case the Church grafted her fasts on to pagan fasts. If I remember correctly, the Ember Days were times of especial prayer for the priesthood and for the virtue of chastity. They were of obligation until fairly recently.
The Church has always held that the substance of her fasts consists in the taking of only one full meal during the course of a day. Traditionally this was supposed to be taken after noon; but in many places custom led to its being taken in the evening. I have mentioned the Lenten fast; there was at one point a “Black Fast.” Read this, and tell me we are not wimps today:

In the first place more than one meal was strictly prohibited. At this meal flesh meat, eggs, butter, cheese and milk were interdicted. … Besides these restrictions abstinence from wine, especially during Lent, was enjoined…. Furthermore, during Holy Week the fare consisted of bread, salt, herbs, and water…. Finally, this meal was not allowed until sunset.

Such rigour could not be introduced today. I fear it would simply not be obeyed; and in any case it would be highly imprudent to introduce such severity all of a sudden.

I shall not go into minute details over the history of the legislation or the moral theology of fasting, for that can be found in the entry “Abstinence” in the Catholic Encyclopedia; but I shall make some remarks upon its spiritual benefits.

I. Temperance.

As I have said, we are not naturally temperate. The self-discipline involved tends to affect other areas—I have found that I am less inclined to check Facebook continually, and the sexual appetites are also brought under the subjugation of reason. There is a certain healthy tiredness which induces concentration. Of course if, or when, the practice of fasting is ruinous to one’s health it should not be done.

II. Obedience.

Obedience is perhaps the only way to attain humility. Chastity has been called impossible; but humility is more impossible. Both these virtues are unattainable without God’s grace. All virtues are unattainable without God’s grace; but if many of us have frequent falls into certain sins, it is only account of our pride and self-will. The way to conquer self-will is by the submission of one’s own will to that of another, particularly to that of God: this is the very definition of holiness—of wholeness—and of happiness.

III. Joy.

The self-control that is learned through fasting provides an inner peace and joy in the ability to subjugate one’s appetites to the dominion of reason.

IV. Health.

I was referring to bodily health when I typed that, but it is true also of spiritual health. There is no doubt that giving oneself completely to one’s appetites is unhealthy; there is no doubt that any particular eating disorder is unhealthy (and indeed those who have such disorders must not fast without the consent of a physician or some prudent person); but a moderate amount of fasting is good for the body as well as the soul. I refer the reader to the relevant articles in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

V. Strength of Will.

Related to Joy above, the self-control entailed strengthens the will towards good and consequently away from evil.



It is of course true that there will be unpleasant effects, such as a certain drowsiness and possible temptations to irritability and pride. The fatigue may be offset by drinking a sufficient quantity of water; as for the temptations, God allows them for your sanctification. It is your duty to resist them. Fasting is not meant to be a sensual pleasure, though it should be a joy if done in the service of God. If fasting has a bad effect on your health, then of course it should not be done. The Church’s legislation has, of course, never been intended to bind such.