How do you know what kind of passion to fight in yourself? To do this, you need to get to know yourself better, examining your mental structure, observing yourself and noticing what sinful passions struggle us most, what we are more inclined to do, and what actions, feelings and thoughts prevail in us.
One of the passions that most struggles with all people is the passion of gluttony - a type of carnality. Above we have indicated the signs of this passion. By reading them and looking closely at them, we can judge whether we have this passion.
Regarding the passion of gluttony, as in relation to other passions, a Christian can be in three states:
1) or passion controls him - he satisfies passions, acts according to passion;
2) or he resists passion, fights it, but still has it in himself;
3) or finally, when in the fight against gluttony, through the opposite virtue of abstinence, a Christian has eradicated passion and only fights the attacks of passion from the outside.
The passion of gluttony in one form or another struggles with almost every person, because it is associated with the natural need for nutrition. St. John Climacus calls the passion of gluttony “the tormentor of all people, who bought everyone with the gold of insatiable greed and is connected with us by nature (i.e., the very need of the body).” And worthy of surprise, says St. father, if anyone, before descending into the grave, is completely freed from the struggle with the passion of gluttony.
The Venerable Abba Dorotheos, in one of his teachings, gives practical instructions and examples of how, through introspection and self-examination, one can recognize one’s spiritual structure: are we overcome by passion, are we possessed by the passion of gluttony, or are we fighting it and conquering it. If it happens, he says, that you eat food with others, then you need to notice yourself and see whether you are in control of yourself and whether you can resist and not take it before others when delicious food that you like is served, or whether you are drawn by an uncontrollable desire not able to show such self-control? Do you try not to offend your neighbor and not take a larger or better piece from the table from something cut into pieces, and leave the smaller one to the other? “For it happens,” says the Monk Abba Dorotheos, “that another is not ashamed to even stretch out his hand and give a smaller part to his brother, and take the larger part for himself.” You also need to notice whether you can resist many foods and, sitting at the table, whether you give in to greed and satiety (overeating), as often happens to many. Notice also whether there is an uncontrollable habit of eating without knowing either the time or the specific hour of eating, and can you, when the thought of food comes, by an effort of will and the fear of God, refrain from this premature eating?
And so, observing yourself, you will come to know your spiritual structure.
You also need to know that the passion of gluttony, like the passion of fornication, is rooted in the body and is sometimes aroused without the assistance of the soul - “by the mere irritation of the need for nutrition,” from which it arises. But due to its close connection with the body, the soul is drawn into passion, becomes vicious, passionate. Therefore, the opposite phenomenon also occurs, when the soul, which has become voluptuous through the body, prematurely and before the bodily need for food draws a person to eat food untimely and beyond the need - out of sheer passion.
Hence it is clear that the passion of gluttony, like other carnal passions, “comes from the depravity of soul and body.” Therefore, it can only be defeated by the exercise and labor of both - body and soul.
Where to start and how to fight the passion of gluttony?
The beginning of the healing of every passion and every sin is repentance, contrition and crying for one’s sins, with warm prayer and falling to the Lord for help. On the advice of Rev. Barsanuphius the Great, we must cast ourselves down in tears before the Lord, so that he may give us the strength to overcome passion. And without heart disease, without heartfelt contrition, without sobriety, crying and the fear of God, it is impossible to curb pleasing the belly. All passions are overcome by humility, which everyone acquires through much labor, especially through the labor of heartfelt contrition (for one’s sins) and crying over sins. “Humility and obedience are the eradicators of all passions and the planters of all good things. For the Lord says: I live... with those who are crushed... in spirit" (Isa. 57:15).
We can successfully overcome the passion of gluttony only if we have the fear of God, which is the beginning of all virtue. For through the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil (Prov. 1:7; 15:27).
The fear of God is the beginning of our salvation and its protection: the beginning of conversion from sin depends on it and is due to it, cleansing from passions is accomplished, and in those who have embarked on the path to perfection, all virtues are acquired and protected by the fear of God. “If you want to overcome gluttony,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian, “love abstinence, have the fear of God, and you will win.” St. the fathers teach that a person acquires the fear of God if he has the memory of death and the memory of torment, if he tests himself how he lives (every evening he tests himself, how he spent the day, and every morning - how the night passed), if he is not bold (free) in conversion and if he communicates with people who fear God (having the fear of God).
Thus, the fear of God is taught to us, first of all, by the memory of the last four events of life that await every person: death, judgment, hell and heaven. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, teaching Christians about good morality, commanded to “remember the last four: the first is death, which is inevitable and delights in various ways; the second is the Last Judgment, where for every word, deed and evil thought we will give an answer; the third is hell or eternal torment, having no end, awaiting sinners; the fourth is the Kingdom of Heaven, prepared for the faithful, holy life for those who follow it." That's why Rev. John Climacus, bearing in mind the importance of the fear of God and the indicated methods of acquiring it for the fight against gluttony, points out that the memory of one’s sins, the memory of the severity and sinfulness of the vice of gluttony, fights against passion, and the thought of death strongly fights against gluttony. For “the basis of gluttony is a long-term habit, insensibility of the soul and oblivion of death.” “Let us tame the belly with the memory of the future fire,” the venerable exhorts. John Climacus. For some, especially young people, if you look carefully, gluttony is the only reason for carnal impurity and carnal falls that happen to them. Therefore, let us tame our belly, for Scripture says that nothing unclean will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
To successfully fight passion, you need determination to resist it, you need dislike, disgust, hostility to gluttony; this is the main spiritual force in the fight against carnivory.
In order for hostility and dislike for gluttony to become established in the soul, the fear of God is needed and much exercise of the soul is necessary, strengthening it in the determination not to indulge in this passion. “You cannot live without labor, and no one is crowned without achievement. Force yourself,” says St. Barsanuphius the Great, “strive for your salvation and God will help you, who wants all people to be saved and achieve the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2, 4)".
The first duty is to fully understand and remember the vileness and harmfulness of this passion, its destructiveness in this and future life, as can be seen in the rich man of the Gospel (Luke 16:23-24). Gluttons and drunkards cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, for they worship the belly god instead of the true God. Gluttony extinguishes the spiritual life in us, makes us carnal, likening us to dumb animals, harms bodily health, opens the entrance to the soul to other destructive passions: fornication, love of money, pride, etc. Bodily rest, satiety of the belly and excessive consumption of wine, according to the Rev. Barsanuphius the Great, give birth to all passions. “The beginning of everything bad,” says St. Isaac the Syrian, “is the repose of the womb and the relaxation of oneself with sleep, which kindles lust. Just as from the seed of the sweat of fasting the ear of chastity grows, so from satiety - debauchery and from satiety - uncleanness. Everyone knows that every the fight against sin and lust is the beginning of work vigil and fasting", especially if someone is struggling with carnal sins. Taming the belly marks the beginning of victory over fornication and other passions. “He can never suppress the excitement of carnal lust when it ignites, who is not strong enough to curb the impulses of gluttony.” The purity of the inner man is recognized by perfection of this virtue. For whoever could not tame the passion of gluttony - an obvious and small passion, how will he be able to defeat the secret passions that push through without any witnesses? Therefore, be master over your belly, admonishes St. John Climacus, before it dominates you, and then, having fallen into the pit of shameful carnal iniquities, you will be forced to abstain in shame. Even a lion can be tamed with affection, but the more someone pleases the body, he increases its ferocity even more.
Gluttony is characterized by a weakening of self-control, weakness of will in the area of abstinence from satiety and voluptuousness. In this regard, mental abstinence is important, strengthening the will and perfecting the inner man, cultivating patience, self-control and endurance. “Abstinence,” as St. Ephraim the Syrian put it, “is the character of patience.” He who cannot control himself in anger, is impatient, irritable, ill-tongued and argumentative, will not be able to control himself in the fight against satiety and voluptuousness. Therefore, Rev. Barsanuphius the Great, in order to successfully fight gluttony, advises: “Stop being angry, irritable, envious, argumentative, do not disassemble others by humiliating or ridiculing them.”
To distract the soul from the carnal and focus its attention on the spiritual, instilling a taste for the spiritual and everything pure and divine, St. Fathers and devotees offer a number of exercises for the soul. Namely:
1) spiritual activities: reading and whole-hearted assimilation of the word of God; reading the instructions of St. fathers and ascetics about the fight against gluttony and about the heights of abstinence and purity;
2) reflections on the superiority, benefits and spiritual beauty of the virtues of abstinence and sobriety, purity and chastity. For only a Christian virtuous life, especially purity of body and soul, gives true joy, peace and spiritual pleasure;
3) reflection on the transience and impermanence of earthly pleasures and on heavenly eternal blessings and the beauty of heavenly objects, on the bliss of the future life prepared for all who strive and love the Lord. “We cannot in any way despise the pleasures of real food,” says St. John Cassian, “if the mind, having indulged in divine contemplation, no longer delights in the love of the virtues and the beauty of heavenly objects. The excessive desire for food must be suppressed for the sake of the virtues.”
4) the desire for perfection and purity can also extinguish the lust for food and gluttony; When taking food and satisfying the bodily needs of nutrition, one must be very attentive to oneself so as not to damage chastity by enslaving the lust of the belly and soul.
Everything that has been said concerns mainly the soul. As for bodily exercises in the fight against the passion of gluttony, this is expressed primarily in abstinence from pleasing the stomach - in abstinence, expressed in not eating before a certain hour, not craving and not looking for refined and tasty food, and not being satiated, not to overeat with food, and to be satisfied in moderation, thanking God for His gifts.
"Strengthen your will, control yourself!" - the reverend instructs. Ephraim the Syrian. Do not indulge in the spirit of gluttony: do not look for expensive foods or those offered in abundance, do not eat at the wrong time, except at a certain hour, do not be aroused to greed by the attractiveness of foods and do not desire one thing or another with passion, do not look and do not rush greedily at foods. Be master of your belly!
Control yourself! Avoid going to feasts and drinking parties, do not enjoy the pleasant taste of wines, do not drink wine unnecessarily, do not seek out different drinks, do not pursue the pleasure of drinking skillfully prepared mixtures, do not drink excessively not only wine, but also water if possible.
Christian! Be master over yourself, over your belly - control yourself! You promised Christ to walk the narrow and straitened path. Therefore, oppress your belly, for by pleasing it and expanding it, you will deny your vows. But listen and you will hear the One who speaks: “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many walk in it... narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it” (Mark 7:13-14).
Here are a few examples from the life of our fathers, showing how ascetics of piety resolutely fought against intemperance, strengthened their will and self-control, at the very beginning suppressing thoughts and desires of pleasing the belly and flesh. The “Ancient Patericon” narrates: one brother became hungry one morning and struggled with his thoughts so as not to eat food until the third - in our opinion, until 9 o’clock; when this hour came, he decided to endure until the sixth - in our opinion 12; when this hour came, he soaked the bread and, sitting down to eat, stood up again and said to himself: I will wait until the ninth - in our opinion, until 3 o'clock in the afternoon; This late hour has come, and the elder, having prayed, sees the power of the devil, like smoke coming out of his depths. Thus his greed was over.
When Abba Zeno, wandering in Palestine and tired, sat down by a cucumber garden to refresh himself with food, his thought told him: take one cucumber and eat it, what’s important in that? But the faster refused his thought, saying: “Don’t you know that thieves are punished? Try it yourself in this very place, can you bear the punishment?” And getting up, he stood in the heat for five days and, exhausted by the heat, said to himself: “I can’t bear the punishment!” Then he says to his thoughts: “If you can’t, then don’t steal or eat.” So the elder punished himself for just one thought of picking and eating a cucumber.
There is also a story about another old man who wanted to eat a cucumber. Wanting to strengthen his will and self-control, the elder took a cucumber, put it in front of his eyes, and it lay with him for so long. And, not being overcome by lust, he also repented, reproaching himself for having had a desire for all this.
A story about Abba Dioscorus of Nachiast has been preserved. His bread was barley and lentil bread. Constantly practicing the virtue of abstinence, every year he began one exercise in this virtue, saying: this year I will not meet with anyone, or I will not speak, or I will not eat boiled food, or I will not eat apples, or vegetables So he began each task, practicing abstinence: finishing one, he began another, and this he did every year.
In acquiring the skill of abstaining from food, one must adhere to a certain sequence, and do this with reasoning, as indicated by Rev. John Climacus. One of the followers of Origen's teachings named Evagrius of Pontus (3rd century) expressed such an extreme opinion. “When our soul,” he said, “desires various foods, then we must exhaust it with bread and water.” “To prescribe this,” says St. John Climacus, “is the same as telling a little boy to climb to the very top of the stairs in one step.” We cannot agree with this opinion of Evagrius: if the soul desires various foods (dishes), then it seeks what is characteristic of its nature. “And therefore,” says the Holy Father, “we must also use prudent caution against our cunning belly, and when there is no strong carnal warfare and there is no opportunity for a carnal fall, then we will learn abstinence in strict sequence, namely: first of all we will cut off - abstain from fattening foods (feeding the flesh, for example, meat and very fatty foods), then from inflaming foods (for example, spices, intoxicating drinks, food with spicy seasonings), and then from sweetening foods. If possible, give to your belly food sufficient and digestible to get rid of his insatiable greed by satiety and, through the rapid digestion of food, to get rid of (carnal) lust, as if from a scourge. Let us delve deeply and see that many of the dishes that bloat the stomach also excite the movement of lust."
Whenever you eat food, whether rare or frequent, you should never allow yourself to become satiated with food. First of all, in the fight against gluttony, one must abandon satiety, and then the pleasure of food. In order to suppress the habit of craving and consuming more food than the body and satiety requires, and in order to overcome the passionate enjoyment of food, one must eat simple and not exquisitely varied food, easily acquired, in accordance with means and general custom and use.
From curbing the flesh by moderate and constantly equal consumption of food, passions in general will gradually begin to weaken, and in particular the root of all passions - self-love, which consists in the wordless love of the flesh, in the partial love for the peace and life of the flesh.
The urge to greed and lust when eating is restrained and moderated by prayerfully invoking God's blessing before eating and giving thanks for what is given during and after eating. “You must eat food,” instructs St. Basil the Great, “without showing frenzied greed, but in everything maintaining firmness, meekness and abstinence from pleasures, even at this very time (of eating) with a mind not idle from the thought of God; on the contrary, “, the very property of foodstuffs and the structure of the body that receives them must be turned into a pretext for glorifying the Master of the Universe, Who has produced various kinds of foodstuffs adapted to the properties of bodies.”
A certain time must be set for eating (breakfast, lunch, dinner). And, when fighting gluttony, in order to strengthen oneself in continence, one must prescribe and maintain caution in advance, not at all allowing oneself to take anything from food or drink outside the meal (dining room) before a certain hour, common to all, appointed for reinforcement with food.
In the fight against gluttony, in order to strengthen the will and acquire the skill of abstinence, fasts must be observed, prescribed by the Church to all Christians: on Wednesdays and Fridays, during the four annual fasts (Nativity, Great Lent, Peter's Fast and Assumption Fast), as well as on other established days of strict fasting (Exaltation, Beheading of John the Baptist). If bodily infirmity or illness does not allow one to strictly observe the fasts, then permission to eat fasting food cannot be allowed except with the permission of a prudent confessor.
When fighting gluttony, we must be especially attentive to ourselves when we are invited to dinner parties, to treats (feasts) on the occasion of a family or public celebration, etc. Regarding Christians’ attendance at such “feasts” and behavior at the table, St. Clement of Alexandria (3rd century) in his book “The Educator” explains that there is nothing reprehensible in participating in them if there is a good goal in mind, for “they enter feasts for love and for love; their goal is to strengthen mutual good relations between people and mutual mutual affection; both food and drink are offered in love." Treats that do not have such a good purpose, but are for selfish motives or for gluttony and drinking - such treats should be avoided by a Christian in every possible way. Unfortunately, Russian people meet and spend big holidays, joy and sorrow in revelry, gluttony and drunkenness. Almost always, gluttony sets Christian holidays and days of general joy as if it were a legitimate apology for itself. “The Jew rejoices on the Sabbath and the holiday,” describes St. John Climacus, “and the gluttonous Christian rejoices on the Sabbath and Sunday; the time of joy and consolation with food for the chaste and abstinent ascetic is a time of struggle against gluttony, but for the slave of passion - the holidays, the holiday and the triumph of celebrations ". Who often organizes feasts, indicates Rev. Isaac the Syrian, and whoever loves to go to feasts often is a worker of the prodigal demon, that is, a performer of prodigal lust.
A Christian must keep in mind that at all kinds of feasts, organized even for the purpose of friendship, he is faced with many temptations to show intemperance in food and drink, especially if he is overcome by the passion of gluttony. When visiting, “do not look and do not throw yourself greedily at the food” and do not drink wine without reason, St. Clement. In all your behavior at the table, show modesty and self-control. Since ancient times, the wise Sirach taught with these words about behavior at feasts. “Eat,” says the wise man, “like a man, what is offered to you, and do not be satiated, lest they hate you; stop eating first out of politeness and do not be greedy, lest you serve as a temptation; and if you sit among many, then do not stretch out your hand before them" (Sir. 31, 18 - 20). “Modesty requires that both in food and drink (at feasts) take less and later, without haste - both at the beginning and in the middle when changing dishes.”
Both at home and at a party, hospitality and treats often serve as a plausible excuse for gluttony and drunkenness. A helpful servant of the passion of gluttony and drunkenness is the bad custom that exists in Rus' of feeding their guests so much that when they go to their home, they no longer recognize the road they took to visit. This is the custom of treating with intense requests, low bows and even coercion, that you will offend us if you do not eat or drink. And the evil carnivorous human cunning, as St. points out. Tikhon of Zadonsk, also invented a kind appearance that covers up the evil of gluttony and drunkenness; "For your health!" "Let's drink to the health of this and that!" - as if the person being remembered actually gains health from this frequent congratulations and vodka libation... Many people consider this harmful custom not only not a sin, but also a courtesy, as if the treat were not a treat , if you don’t get the guest drunk. “Oh, blindness! oh the fury, oh the charm of the murderer-devil!” St. Tikhon of Zadonsk exclaims with sorrow. “Listen, listen to me, Christians,” the saint of Christ exhorts. “After all, these polite people, with such inhuman indulgences, teach others to drunkenness and gluttony, and when a person gets used to wine, then he cannot stop drinking at all and so dies by drinking himself. Who is the culprit for this? Imaginary benefactors and polite people who drink wine so intensely." However, quite often at the table there will also be drinkers who don’t need much encouragement. They themselves, with reckless greed, obscenely attack food, wine and vodka, and soon, with their usual “to your health” or other toasts, they drain wine bottles, loosening their tongues with wine fumes and losing sobriety of mind and decency of behavior.
But this is not at all how a sober Christian should behave at the table. “We pray,” the Holy Fathers exhort, “we pray to every person (Christian) who wants to be saved and repent to God, to preserve himself from excessive drinking of wine, which gives rise to all passions. Save yourself from those who (forcing excessive wine drinking) say: If you don’t drink, then I won’t drink, and if you don’t eat, then I won’t eat either.” “Do not listen to the advice of self-indulgent people,” teaches St. John Casian, “who have made themselves slaves of the belly and carnal passions.” “Do not drink wine to the point of drunkenness to please people; for then you will have great shame when they find you drunk. It is a reproach for a person to get drunk with wine; having seen many, I have not found anyone like one who gets drunk.”
Every pious Christian, especially if he is young, who wants to preserve virginity and chastity, should adhere to the rule given by St. Pimen the Great: a Christian ascetic “should not at all drink wine.” The Holy Fathers followed this rule, and if they drank wine, it was very rarely and with the greatest moderation. “Wine (grape), says St. Peter of Damascus, is useful in its time: in old age, infirmity and a cold constitution, it is very useful, but even then it is not enough (very moderately)”; in youth, with natural warmth and health, it is better to completely abstain from wine, for, having not yet acquired the skill of abstinence, inexperienced and carried away youth easily falls into the passion of intemperate wine drinking, leading to debauchery (Eph. 5:18) and renewing all passions.
The Ancient Patericon gives examples of the abstinence of the ancient ascetic fathers. One day Rev. Abba Sysoy the Great visited a certain hospitable elder, who, treating him, brought him a glass of grape wine. Avva Sysoy accepted a glass from him and drank it, then accepted another glass, but flatly refused the third, sternly saying: “Stop it, brother! Don’t you know that Satan exists?” And when, at a festival in one monastery, they offered another ascetic a glass of wine, he completely refused it, saying: “Take this death from me.” Seeing this, the other guests refused wine altogether.
Often gluttony and drunkenness are justified by the example of elders and even by the example and blessing of intemperate priests and inexperienced confessors.
“I saw,” says St. John Climacus, “(even) elderly priests, mocked by demons, who gave blessings to young people who were not under their guidance to have wine and other things at feasts. If they have a good testimony about the Lord, then we can their permission should be allowed a little, but if they are careless, then in this case we should not pay attention to their blessing, and especially when we are still fighting the fire of carnal lust.”
In one of his messages to the diocesan bishops, Patriarch Alexy I points out that in many places, local church patronal feasts, as well as memorial days, are accompanied by revelry on the part of parishioners and that, so to speak, according to tradition, drunken pastime continues in other places for several days . The clergy fights little or weakly against this phenomenon, which, of course, has nothing in common with religion and the Christian understanding of the celebration of church holidays.
Is it permissible that on the days dedicated to the celebration in honor of Christ the Savior, the Mother of God and the holy saints of God, on the days of remembrance of our dead in cemeteries, under the guise of spiritual joy, those praying indulge in deeds that not only do not serve the glorification of God, but also humiliate a person and His salvation is harmed by acts of carnality, intemperance, disorder?
And who, if not the clergy, should fight this traditional Russian evil, which humiliates the faith, seduces people who sincerely believe and exposes our church customs to ridicule and desecration? Turning the Feast of the Lord into disorderly drunkenness and revelry is a grave sin, a sin of temptation and desecration of the sacred.
The pastors of the Church are charged with the duty of explaining to believers the destructiveness of this custom, which, as stated above, has nothing in common with our religion, which condemns drunkenness and instills in people, together with the Apostle, so that our hearts “are not burdened with overeating and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34) and that “drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10), and by all means strive to protect the dignity of the Church and eradicate this unkind custom that has crept into church life.
Performing church services earnestly and reverently and preaching the word of God, the pastors of the Church, especially when local holidays and memorial days approach, are obliged to take care that the holiday and church service are not overshadowed by all sorts of outrages of the parishioners, but are carried out in the way that is primarily required by Christian law , and then civil order, requiring citizens to perform work without interruption by excesses committed on a holiday.
About the fight against the passion of gluttony
From the book: The Teaching of the Holy Fathers on the Passions and Virtues
G.I.Shimansky
Gluttony- addiction to tasty and plentiful food. The passion of gluttony is the root, the first of the eight main passions, it is also called the “root” passion. Types of gluttony: polyeating, sweet eating, laryngeal madness (holding food in the mouth to enjoy the taste), drunkenness, secret eating.
Gluttony is a violation of the second commandment, one of the types of idolatry. Since gluttons exalt sensual pleasure, then, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, “their god is their belly” (Phil. 3:19), i.e. the womb is their idol, their idol.
The opposite of gluttony is the virtue of abstinence.
“Their God is their belly” (Phil. 3:19)
Like any passion, gluttony, gluttony comes from a completely natural human need. Man has a need for food and drink; this is one of his vital-organic needs. Moreover, food and drink are a gift from God; By eating them, we not only saturate the body with nutrients, but also receive pleasure, thanking the Creator for this. In addition, a meal or a feast is an opportunity to communicate with loved ones and friends: it unites us. By eating food, we receive joy from communication and are strengthened physically. It is not for nothing that the holy fathers call the meal a continuation of the liturgy. At the service, we are united by the spiritual joy of praying together, we partake of the same cup, and then we share with like-minded people the joy of body and soul.
In the first centuries of Christianity, after the Eucharist, so-called agapes, or love suppers, were held, where Christians ate food at a common table, conducting spiritual conversations. Therefore, there is nothing sinful or bad in eating food and drinking wine. Everything depends, as always, on our attitude to this action and on compliance with the measure.
Where is this measure, this thin line separating natural need from passion? It passes between inner freedom and lack of freedom in our soul. As the Apostle Paul says: “I know how to live in poverty, and I know how to live in abundance; I learned everything and in everything, to be satisfied and to endure hunger, to be both in abundance and in shortage. I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:12–13).
Are we free from attachment to food and drink? Don't they own us? What is stronger: our will or our desires? It was revealed to the Apostle Peter from the Lord: “What God has cleansed, do not consider unclean” (Acts 11:9). And there is no sin in eating food. The sin is not in the food but in our attitude towards it.
But let's take things in order. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) This is how he defines the passion of gluttony: “Gluttony, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasting, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its belly and rest, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to remain faithful to God, the Church, virtue and people.”
The passion of gluttony is of two types: gluttony and laryngeal madness. Gluttony- this is gluttony, when the glutton is more interested in the quantity rather than the quality of food. Laryngeal madness– a delicacy, delight of the larynx and taste buds, a cult of culinary delights and gourmetism. The passion of gluttony (as, indeed, many other vices) reached its ugly apogee in Ancient Rome. Some patricians, in order to endlessly enjoy themselves at magnificent feasts, got themselves special devices from bird feathers, so that after the belly was full to capacity, they could empty the stomach by inducing vomiting. And again satisfy the insane passion of gluttony.
Truly “their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame, they think about earthly things”(Phil. 3:19). It is not for nothing that satiated people suffering from gluttony are very rarely interested in spiritual issues. The cult of food and bodily pleasures does not allow one to remember heavenly things. As the holy fathers said, “fat birds cannot fly.”
Gluttony and wine drinking give rise to another bodily passion - voluptuousness, lust. As they say, “sweets (that is, gluttony) give rise to passions.”
A satiated stomach not only prevents you from thinking about God and prayer, but also makes it very difficult to keep yourself clean. “Whoever fills his belly and promises to be chaste is like someone who claims that straw will stop the action of fire. Just as it is impossible to hold back the swiftness of a spreading fire with straw, so it is impossible to stop the burning desire of lewdness with satiety,” says the 4th century ascetic St. Neil of Sinai.
By prayer and fasting
How is the passion of gluttony treated? The Holy Fathers advised any passion to be opposed to its opposite virtue. And the demon of gluttony “is driven out only by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Fasting is generally a great educational tool. Blessed is he who is accustomed to mental and physical abstinence and strictly observes the established church fasts and fasting days.
Here I would like to say a little about the meaning of Orthodox fasting. Many people are now fasting. But is it being followed correctly? During fasting, restaurants and cafes now have a special Lenten menu. Television and radio announcers talk about the beginning of Lent. There are many cookbooks on sale with recipes for Lenten dishes. So what is the point of this post?
Fasting is not a diet. The Holy Fathers called Lent, especially Great Lent, the spring of the soul; This is the time when we are especially attentive to our soul, inner life. Marital carnal relations and amusements cease. Before the revolution, theaters were closed during Lent. Fast days are established so that we sometimes slow down the crazy rush of our busy earthly life and can look inside ourselves, our souls. During Lent, Orthodox Christians fast and partake of the Holy Mysteries.
Lent is a time of repentance for sins and an intensified struggle against passions. And in this we are helped by eating lean, lighter, low-calorie foods and abstaining from pleasures. It is easier to think about God, pray, and lead a spiritual life when the body is not satiated or burdened. “The glutton calls fasting a time of weeping, but the abstinent one does not look gloomy even in fasting,” writes St. Ephraim the Syrian. This is one of the meanings of fasting. It helps us concentrate, sets us up for spiritual life, making it easier for us.
The second meaning of fasting is sacrifice to God and the cultivation of one’s will. Fasting is not a new institution, but an ancient one. We can say that fasting is the first commandment for man. When the Lord gave the command to Adam to eat from all the fruits of the Garden of Eden, except for the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He established the first fast. Fasting is obedience to divine decree. God does not need burnt offerings and blood sacrifices; He needs a “contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19), that is, our repentance and humility, obedience. We give up something (at least meat, milk, wine and some other products) for the sake of obedience to Him. We sacrifice our abstinence, the infringement of our will.
Another meaning of fasting is in cultivating the will and subordinating it to the spirit. By fasting we let the belly know “who is the boss of the house.” It is very difficult for a person who is not accustomed to fasting and disciplining himself to curb passions and fight them. A Christian is a warrior of Christ, and a good warrior is in constant combat readiness, constantly trains and studies, and keeps himself in shape.
There is nothing random or meaningless in the Church. Those who do not fast, those who are satiated will never know the real taste of food, this gift of God. Even a festive meal for those who are not fasting becomes something completely ordinary, and for those who are fasting, even a modest feast after a long fast is a real holiday.
Fasting is extremely useful in married life. Spouses who are accustomed to abstinence during fasting will never be fed up with their intimate relationships; they are always desirable for each other. Conversely, satiety leads either to mutual cooling, or to excesses and sophistications in intimate life.
The fight against the passion of gluttony (part 1/3)
a full belly is deaf to prayer...
The fight against the passion of gluttony (part 2/3)
whether you eat or drink... do everything for the glory of God...
The fight against the passion of gluttony (part 3/3)
Venerable John Climacus. Ladder
WORD 14.
About the beloved and crafty ruler, the womb.
- 1. Having the intention of talking about the womb, if ever, then now most of all, I assumed to be philosophical against myself; for it would be wonderful if someone, before descending into the grave, were freed from this passion.
- 2. Gluttony is a pretense of the belly; because it, even being saturated, cries out: “It’s not enough!”, being filled, and dissipated from excess, it cries out: “I’m hungry.”
- 3. Gluttony is the inventor of seasonings, the source of sweets. Whether you have abolished one vein of it, it flows from another. Have you blocked this one too, another one breaks through and overcomes you.
- 4. Gluttony is a deception of the eyes; we contain it in moderation, but it incites us to absorb everything at once.
- 5. Saturation is the mother of fornication; and oppression of the belly is the culprit of purity.
- 6. He who caresses a lion often tames him: and he who pleases the body increases his ferocity.
- 7. The Jew rejoices about his Saturday and about the holiday, and the gluttonous monk rejoices about Saturday and about Sunday; during Lent, he counts how much is left until Easter; and prepares food many days before. The slave of the belly calculates what food to honor the holiday with; and the servant of God is thinking about what gifts he can enrich himself with.
- 8. When the stranger arrived, the glutton was all moved towards love, instigated by gluttony; and thinks that the opportunity to console his brother is a solution for him too. He considers the coming of others as an excuse to allow him to drink wine; and under the guise of hiding virtue, he becomes a slave to passion.
- 9. Vanity is often at war with overeating; and these two passions quarrel among themselves over the poor monk, as over a bought slave. Gluttony forces one to allow, and vanity forces one to show one’s virtue; but a prudent monk avoids both abyss, and knows how to use the convenient time to repel one passion with another.
- 10. If the flesh is inflamed, then it must be tamed by abstinence at all times and in all places. When it subsides (which, however, I do not hope to wait until before death), then he can hide his abstinence before others.
- 11. I saw elderly priests, mocked by demons, who gave blessings to young people who were not under their guidance to have wine and other things at feasts. If they have a good testimony about the Lord, then with their permission we can allow a little; if they are careless, then in this case we should not pay attention to their blessing; and especially when we are still struggling with the fire of carnal lust.
- 12. The godless Evagrius imagined that he was the wisest of the wise, both in eloquence and in the height of his thoughts: but he was deceived, poor thing, and turned out to be the most insane of the insane, both in many of his opinions and in the following. He says: “When our soul desires various foods, then we must exhaust it with bread and water.” Prescribing this is the same as telling a little boy to climb to the very top of the stairs in one step. So let’s say in refutation of this rule: if the soul desires various foods, then it seeks what is characteristic of its nature; and therefore we must use prudent caution against our cunning belly; and when there is no strong carnal warfare, and there is no opportunity for a fall, then we will cut off first of all the food that fattens, then the food that inflames, and then the food that delights. If possible, give your belly sufficient and digestible food to get rid of its insatiable greed through satiation, and through rapid digestion of food to get rid of the burning sensation, like a scourge. Let us delve deeper and see that many of the dishes that swell the stomach also arouse movements of lust.
- 13. Laugh at the trick of the demon, who, after dinner, tells you to eat later in the future; for on the very next day, when the ninth hour comes, he will force you to abandon the rule established on the previous day.
- 14. One abstinence is appropriate for the innocent, and another for the guilty and repentant. For the first, movements of lust in you are a sign of the perception of special abstinence; and the latter remain in it even until death; and until the very end they do not give their body consolation, but fight with it without reconciliation. The first always want to maintain a good mind; and the latter, through spiritual lamentation and meltdown, appease God.
- 15. The time of joy and consolation with food for the perfect is the putting aside of all care: for the ascetic it is a time of struggle; and for the passionate - a feast of holidays and a triumph of celebrations.
- 16. In the hearts of gluttons there are dreams of food and dishes; in the hearts of those who cry are dreams of the final judgment and torment.
- 17. Be master of your belly before it dominates you, and then you will be forced to abstain in shame. Those who have fallen into the pit of iniquities, which I do not want to talk about, understand what I said; the chaste did not know this by experience.
- 18. Let us tame the belly with the thought of the future fire. Obeying the belly, some finally cut off their innermost members and died a double death. Let us be careful, and we will see that overeating is the only reason for the drownings that happen to us.
- 19. The fasting mind prays soberly; and the mind of the intemperate is filled with unclean dreams. The saturation of the belly dries up the sources of tears; and the womb, dried up by abstinence, gives birth to tearful waters.
- 20. He who serves his own belly, and yet wants to overcome the spirit of fornication; he is like putting out a fire with oil.
- 21. When the belly is oppressed, then the heart is humbled; if it is calmed by food, then the heart is lifted up by thoughts.
- 22. Test yourself in the first hour of the day, at noon, an hour before eating, and in this way you will learn the benefits of fasting. In the morning the thought plays and wanders; when the sixth hour arrived, he weakened a little, and at sunset he finally humbled himself.
- 23. Oppress your belly with abstinence, and you will be able to stop your mouth; for the tongue is strengthened by the abundance of food. Strive with all your might against this tormentor, and remain vigilant with unflagging attention, watching him; for if you work even a little, then the Lord will immediately help.
- 24. The bellows, when softened, expand and hold more liquid; and those left in negligence do not take the same measures. He who burdens his belly expands his bowels; and for the one who strives against the belly, they are drawn together little by little; those who are constrained will not take much food, and then, according to the need of nature itself, we will be fasters.
- 25. Thirst is very often quenched by thirst; but it is difficult, and even impossible, to drive away hunger with hunger. When the body defeats you, tame it with labor; If, due to weakness, you cannot do this, then fight it with vigil. When your eyes are heavy, take up your needlework; but do not touch it when sleep does not attack; for it is impossible for God and mammon to work together, i.e. extend your thoughts to God and to handicrafts.
- 26. Know that the demon often sits down on the stomach and does not allow a person to get enough, even if he devoured all the food in Egypt and drank all the water in the Nile.
- 27. When we are full, this unclean spirit departs and sends a prodigal spirit upon us; he announces to him the state in which we are left, and says: “Go, stir up such and such: his belly is full, and therefore you will work a little.” This one, having come, smiles and, having tied our hands and feet with sleep, does whatever he wants with us, desecrating the soul with vile dreams and the body with discharges.
- 28. It is an amazing thing that the mind, being incorporeal, is defiled and darkened by the body, and that, on the contrary, the immaterial is refined and purified by struggle.
- 29. If you promised Christ to walk the narrow and cramped path, then oppress your belly; for by pleasing him and expanding him, you will deny your vows. But listen and you will hear the speaker: the path of gluttony is wide and wide, leading to the destruction of fornication, and many follow it. But narrow is the gate and narrow is the path of abstinence, which leads to a life of purity, and few enter through it (Matt. 7:14).
- 30. The leader of demons is the fallen star; and the head of passions is gluttony.
- 31. Sitting at a table full of food, imagine death and judgment before your mental eyes; for even in this way you can hardly tame the passion of overeating even a little. When you drink, always remember the ocet and gall of your Lord; and in this way you will either remain within the limits of abstinence, or at least, having groaned, you will humble your thoughts.
- 32. Do not be deceived, you cannot free yourself from the mental Pharaoh, nor see the Passover on high, if you do not always eat bitter potion and unleavened bread. The bitter potion is the compulsion and patience of fasting. And unleavened bread is wisdom that is not puffed up. May this word of the Psalmist be united with your breath: I, when the demons were always cold, clothed myself in sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned to the bosom of my soul (Ps. 34:13).
- 33. Fasting is violence of nature. Rejection of everything that pleases the taste. Extinguishing bodily inflammation, exterminating evil thoughts. Liberation from bad dreams, purity of prayer, luminary of the soul, preservation of the mind, destruction of heartfelt insensibility, door of tenderness, humble sighing, joyful contrition, restraint of verbosity, cause of silence, guardian of obedience, relief of sleep, health of the body, culprit of dispassion, resolution of sins, gates of heaven and heavenly pleasure.
- 34. Let us also ask this enemy of ours, more than the chief commander of our evil enemies, the door of passions, i.e. gorging. This is the reason for the fall of Adam, the death of Esau, the destruction of the Israelites, the exposure of Noah, the destruction of the Gomorrites, Lot's incest, the destruction of the sons of Elijah the priest, and the leader of all abominations. Let us ask, where does this passion come from? and what are its offspring? Who crushes it, and who completely destroys it?
- 35. Tell us, tormentor of all people, who bought everyone with the gold of insatiable greed: how did you find entry into us? When you come in, what do you usually do? and how do you leave us?
- 36. She, irritated by these annoyances, furiously and ferociously answers us: “Why do you, who are guilty of me, beat me with annoyances? and how do you try to free yourself from me when I am naturally connected with you? The door through which I enter is the property of food, and the reason for my insatiability is habit: the basis of my passion is long-term habit, insensibility of the soul and oblivion of death. And how do you seek to know the names of my offspring? I will count them, and they will multiply more than the sand. But find out, at least, what are the names of my firstborn and my most amiable offspring. My firstborn son is fornication, and the second offspring after him is hardness of heart, and the third is drowsiness. A sea of evil thoughts, waves of defilements, a depth of unknown and ineffable impurities come from me. My daughters are: laziness, verbosity, insolence, ridicule, blasphemy, bickering, stiff-neckedness, disobedience, insensibility, captivity of the mind, self-praise, insolence, love of the world, followed by defiled prayer, soaring thoughts and unexpected and sudden misadventures; and behind them follows despair - the fiercest of all passions. The memory of sins wars against me. The thought of death is strongly at odds with me; but there is nothing in people that can completely abolish me. He who has acquired the Comforter prays to Him against me, and He, being entreated, does not allow me to passionately act in him. Those who have not tasted His heavenly consolation seek in every possible way to enjoy my sweetness.”
The glutton only laments how to fill his belly with food, and when he eats, he suffers during digestion; abstinence is accompanied by health.
Venerable Ephraim the Syrian (IV century)
The holy fasters, to the surprise of others, did not know relaxation, but were always cheerful, strong and ready for action. Illnesses between them were rare, and their lives were extremely long.
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov († 1833)
1 Cor.:. So, whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God.
the apostle says, do it to the glory of God: for by your real deed God is not glorified, but rather blasphemed. Someone eats and drinks for the glory of God when he does not tempt anyone by doing so; he does this not out of gluttony or lust, but in order to adapt his body to the practice of virtue; In general, someone does every deed for the glory of God when he does not harm anyone else through temptation, nor himself, such as, for example, someone who acts out of man-pleasing or some passionate thought.
The Apostle covers all considerations with one universal rule: “Do you see how he moved from a particular subject in teaching to a general one and taught us an excellent rule - to glorify God in everything?” (Saint Chrysostom). From this it is clear that, according to the Apostle, from the indiscriminate eating of things sacrificed to idols, a certain shadow fell on faith itself and the Lord God. Why did the Apostle lay down this general law, that we are obligated not only to consume food and drink, but also to do everything else for the glory of God, not allowing ourselves anything through which, even by the slightest hair, anyone could think of something not laudable? about our holy faith and about God. It is wonderful that the Apostle puts all this together—sitting, walking, talking, regretting, and instructing—in order to set one goal for himself in everything—God’s glory. This is what the Lord commanded: let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). So it is said here too” (Theodoret). “So,” he says, “do everything in order to give incentives to glorify God, making it clear that the way they acted then served to dishonor God and blaspheme against Him and His holy faith” (Ecumenius). “Whoever eats and drinks is for the glory of God, when he eats and drinks not to tempt others, not as a glutton and a sensualist, but as someone who wants to maintain the body so that it is capable of doing every virtue; and simply, anyone does every deed for the glory of God when he does not harm anyone else by temptation, or himself in any way, and when he does nothing out of man-pleasing or out of some other passionate thought” (Theophylact).
Get up from the table with the desire to eat a little more - this is what the Holy Fathers teach, and this is good for both the body and the soul.
Hieromonk Dionysius (Ignat)
Gluttony:
If a person does not limit himself, then he carries around whole layers of fat. And when he abstains and eats no more than necessary, then his body assimilates everything, and this does not burden the body. Variety of dishes enlarges the stomach and whets the appetite, and besides, it makes a person weak and inflames the flesh. And then the stomach - this evil “publican”, as Abba Macarius calls him - constantly asks for more. We enjoy a variety of meals, but after that we become sleepy, so much so that we cannot even work. If we eat one type of food, it curbs our appetite. The pleasure from moderation is greater than from those pleasant sensations that the most exquisite dishes bring. However, many people are unfamiliar with the feeling of pleasure from a light stomach. At first they enjoy delicious food, then gluttony and guttural rage are added, they eat a lot and feel the burden of it, especially in old age. This is how people deprive themselves of light stomach pleasure.
Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets
Instructed:
“Resist yourself from food and snacks as much as possible, and try to eat moderately light and well-known food.”
The Monk Anthony noted that the things that most hinder heartfelt tenderness are exaltation (magnification) and overeating:
“If you don’t have tenderness in your soul, understand: because the magnification of your soul is in your heart or you are overcome by overeating, these do not leave your soul to be touched.”
The Monk Ambrose wrote about abstinence and the three degrees of satiety:
“You write about food that it is difficult for you to get used to eating little by little, so that after lunch you are still hungry. The Holy Fathers established three degrees regarding food: abstinence - in order to be somewhat hungry after eating, contentment - in order to be neither full nor hungry, and satiety - in order to eat to the full, not without some burden.
Of these three degrees, everyone can choose any one, according to their strengths and according to their structure, healthy and sick.”
Sometimes he would say briefly but aptly:
“Explaining lips are a pork trough.”
The Monk Joseph also warned against excessively pleasing the body:
“If you keep your belly from satiety and pleasure, and also your body from excessive rest, then the Lord will soon help you work more for your soul than for your body.”
A satiated belly demands more and more food, but it does not do any good. Elder Joseph ate very little food. Surprised by this, they once asked him whether it was difficult for him to achieve such abstinence or whether it was already given to him by nature. He answered with these words:
“If a person is not forced, even if he ate all the food of Egypt and drank all the water of the Nile, his belly will still say: I hunger!”
He emphasized that gluttony leads to excessive sleeping. He advised not to eat to the point of satiety:
“Sleep and the womb are connected. With a full stomach, the monk sleeps a lot and wakes up more than he should. I told you and I say: eat your fill, but not to the point of satiety. If you're full, put down a spoon. And another is already full, but still eats and eats; the eyes are not full - it’s a sin.”
For people of different builds and having different physical activity, the amount of food will also be different. Reverend Nikon reminded:
“One pound of bread is enough for one person’s body, four pounds of bread is enough for another person’s body - he will not be satisfied with less bread. Therefore, Saint John Chrysostom says that a faster is not one who consumes a small amount of food, but one who consumes less food than what is required for his body. This is what abstinence is all about.”
Wine drinking passion: how to deal with it
The Monk Leo wrote about the passion of drinking wine: it brings “great grief and illness.” He also noted that in order to heal a suffering person, in addition to prayers for him, his own will is necessary, without which the prayers of other people may be unsuccessful:
“I express my heartfelt condolences about the illness... of your dear son Z. I know that this great grief and illness brings you and those close to his heart. We, according to our strength, oblige ourselves to pray to the Lord to deliver him from this passion, but it is necessary that there is also his voluntary desire to leave this and compulsion, and without this our sinful prayers are not able to keep up. When “the prayer of the righteous is hastened” only through the efforts of others, how much more cannot our sinful prayer act without good will.”
The elder wrote this about the fate of those subject to the passion of drunkenness:
“What fate do those subject to this weakness have? They are beset by bodily illnesses, a miserable life, premature old age and - death; and sinful impulses that alienate the soul from God and deprive Him of grace are the most dangerous of all!.. The soul is eternal; You need to take care of her most of all!”
The Monk Leo explained that the passion of drunkenness is tolerated for pride and arrogance or “violation of conscience against holy matrimony,” that is, for violation of marital fidelity. The monk advised forcing oneself to humility and resorting to confession:
“And from the fullness of my heart I wish for your brother to be delivered from drunken passion; but as soon as this passion is tolerated either for pride and arrogance, or for a violation of conscience against holy matrimony, then he is forced, firstly, to humble himself in every possible way or make a confession - to truly repent before a skilled confessor... And then the Lord will help him.”
The Monk Ambrose instructed:
“The spiritual remedy is for your friend to pay attention to the spiritual anguish, from the impatience of which she is plunged into the infirmity of drinking wine.”
In general, the Optina elders paid attention to the obligatory confession of all those suffering from a passion for drinking wine, since the cause of wine drinking is often spiritual anguish, and it comes from unconfessed sins. The Monk Ambrose paid special attention to the fact that in order to combat the passion of drunkenness, full confession is necessary, starting from childhood:
“And for this matter to be firm and lasting, it requires sincere and complete confession and repentance throughout your entire life, starting from the age of 6.”
The elder also advised those suffering from spiritual anguish and passion for drinking wine, when melancholy and despondency appeared, to read prayer and the Gospel with bows:
“One man, who suffered from both melancholy and wine drinking, was delivered in the following way: when he felt melancholy, he retreated to a secret place and made 33 bows with the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and the melancholy receded. And when melancholy appeared again, he did the same thing again, and with such prayer, when melancholy appeared, he completely got rid of drinking wine and from melancholy itself. Another person got rid of both melancholy and wine drinking by reading the Gospel.”
Elder Joseph advised:
“May the Lord deliver Constantine from drunkenness. Let him talk and partake of the Holy Mysteries. And then he will serve a prayer service to the Mother of God and earnestly ask Her for help.”
Fighting smoking cravings
To one suffering from a passion for smoking, the Monk Ambrose wrote:
I advise you to use spiritual healing against this passion: confess in detail all your sins, from the age of 7 and throughout your entire life, and partake of the Holy Mysteries and read the Gospel every day, standing, a chapter or more; and when melancholy strikes, then read again until the melancholy passes; will attack again - and read the Gospel again. Or instead, make 33 large bows in private, in memory of the earthly life of the Savior and in honor of the Holy Trinity.”
Thus, all the Optina elders saw the spiritual causes of gluttony, drunkenness and smoking and advised seeking healing through frequent confession, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, prayer and reading the Gospel, forcing oneself to humility and non-judgment, and following the commandments of God.
Every person experiences a feeling of hunger when the body does not receive nutrients for a long period of time. This physiological feature is considered completely natural. However, there is a category of people with increased and constant appetite. In this case, hunger is always present, regardless of the amount of food received. This is where gluttony develops and, as a consequence, problems with excess weight begin.
Causes of gluttony
- Consequences of diet. Many girls push themselves into limits, wanting to get rid of excess body weight. They are addicted to diets, limiting the body in the right carbohydrates, proteins and complex fats. In the process of losing weight, the body begins to react violently to changes, not agreeing with them. When the diet ends, mass gluttony begins. The body strives to make up for everything that it has not received for many months.
- Lack of sleep. During night rest, leptin is produced, a substance responsible for the excitability of appetite. Due to lack of sleep, hormone production is significantly reduced, leading to a constant feeling of hunger. If lack of sleep develops into a chronic form, severe gluttony begins.
- Psycho-emotional disorders. There are people who eat negative emotions. They literally do not leave the refrigerator, devouring high-calorie foods. Women with mental disorders suffer from a similar feature. The inability to deal with stress leads to the fact that food becomes a kind of psychologist. Even if you start meditating and put your emotional background in order, gluttony will not disappear.
- Lack of vitamins. In most cases, increased appetite develops during the cold season, when the body requires more food to warm up. The main role is played by vitamin B, which is found in carrots, meat, cereals and legumes, cereals, and vegetables. Combined with a lack of amino acids and Omega acids, hunger is constantly present. This leads to gluttony, which can be eliminated by normalizing the daily diet.
Symptoms of gluttony
- systematic overeating;
- inability to control portion sizes;
- frequent use of the supplement;
- inability to grasp the moment of saturation;
- depression after a meal to the fullest.
Signs of gluttony
- The amount of food you eat cannot be controlled when you eat in front of a PC monitor, TV or listening to music.
- A dish of food is always at hand and is replenished as it becomes empty. A person constantly looks into the refrigerator to try “something tasty.”
- If you don't eat while watching a TV series or movie, anxiety begins. The same applies to the inability to perform mental work without a new portion of treats.
- Gluttons tend to snack at night, so after 11 p.m. the refrigerator door starts slamming in the apartment. At the same time, you want to eat the most forbidden fruit, for example, a cake.
To prevent constant overeating, it is necessary to follow an integrated approach. Let's talk about everything in order.
Don't skip breakfast
- Never skip your morning meal. Breakfast helps the body wake up and activates metabolism. Start your awakening with a glass of cool water.
- About a third of an hour after rising, prepare cottage cheese with berries or muesli. Some girls have porridge for breakfast, which is correct. Breakfast should make up 40% of the total daily diet.
Normalize your diet
- If you prefer to sweep food from all the shelves of the refrigerator, it's time to get rid of this habit. Create a five- or six-time meal plan.
- In this case, you should have 3-4 main meals and 2-3 snacks. Eat strictly according to the clock so that gastric juice is produced at a certain time of the day. The body itself will send the signal “It’s time to eat!”
- Change the menu every week, eat a varied diet. Indulge yourself with delicacies, do not give up sweets completely. If you really want to, you can eat a piece of yogurt cake or a handful of candied fruits in the morning.
- Be sure to include cheese, eggs, cottage cheese of any fat content, and other milk in your diet. The menu should also contain meat, seafood, beans, cereals, fish, seasonal berries and fruits, and vegetables.
Have a snack
- Never go hungry. Make it a habit to snack on healthy foods before your main meals. If you can’t have a full meal at work, carry food in containers.
- As a snack, it is good to eat an apple, banana or pear, grapefruit (burns fat). Low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese, bread with red fish, dried fruits, nuts, and a sugar-free muesli bar are also suitable.
Eat desserts
- A person prone to gluttony regularly consumes sweets. They, in turn, help the production of endorphins - hormones of happiness. If you remove chocolate and sweets from your diet, apathy will begin, your performance will decrease, and your general condition will worsen.
- If you want tasty treats, eat dark chocolate. Make it a habit to always keep it in the refrigerator. Daily dose - no more than 30 grams. In this case, you need to feast on it in the first half of the day.
- An alternative to chocolate is an apple covered in caramel. Just dip the washed fruit into the mixture and bake it on the grill. Prepare casseroles from cottage cheese and berries (with sweetener or honey), eat dates in moderation.
- An alternative to sweets is ripe strawberries or a milkshake based on them, banana, grapes. Always have a small portion of nuts on hand that you can snack on every 4 hours (20 grams each).
Keep drinking regime
- You can deceive the stomach with any liquid that you drink when your appetite is raging. At night, use kefir or low-fat fermented baked milk; pure water or herbal tea will also do the job.
- In the first month of fighting gluttony, drink at least 2.8 liters. filtered water per day. When all signs disappear, reduce the amount to 2.4 liters.
- Buy a juicer. Prepare fresh juice from carrots, cabbage, celery, strawberries, oranges and other citrus fruits, and beets. This way you will overcome hunger and saturate your body with extremely useful minerals.
Join the gym
- Physical activity suppresses hunger, so start exercising. Sign up for swimming, gymnastics, aerobics, or stretching. Start attending a dance school or boxing class.
- It is important to train at least 4 days a week, with the duration of classes usually being 1.5-2 hours. In your free time from the gym, walk in the fresh air and run.
- If you can't buy a subscription, study at home. Bet with your friends that you can pump up your abs in 5 months. Set a goal and move towards it.
- Effective home workouts include jumping rope, hoop, squats with a barbell, and lunges with dumbbells. Follow video lessons.
- When your appetite makes itself felt again, lie down on the floor and start pumping your abs. Do at least 3 sets of 20 reps, then stand up and evaluate the result. You will notice that you don’t feel like eating at all.
Practice food hygiene
- If you suffer from gluttony, do not accept invitations from friends to sit at a pizzeria or other such establishment. Otherwise, allow yourself only 1 slice of pizza. Find someone who will control you.
- To avoid overdoing it with portions, do not eat on an empty stomach. 20 minutes before a meal, fill it with a glass of kefir or water, a banana will also do.
- After eating, leave the table immediately, do not add more. Chew your food at least 30 times throughout your meal. Focus on the sensations, watch the movement of your tongue and jaw.
Always have breakfast, don’t give up chocolate, switch to proper nutrition. Don't eat in a noisy environment. Never eat while watching TV or working on a PC. Do not turn off the lights, such an atmosphere promotes overeating. Even the most ordinary bread will seem incredibly tasty.
Video: how to overcome gluttony
In modern times, a large number of people are overweight and many of them strive to lose weight through diets, separate meals, fasting, and exhausting physical training.
Some people succeed in this, while for others, attempts to lose excess weight remain unsuccessful, and still others, in combination with diets and sports activities, use prayer to lose weight.
- gluttony is the consumption of food in large quantities;
- gluttony - excess in food, overeating.
Both of these concepts mean mortal sin, the consequences of which entail the loss of spirituality and health. Base instincts take precedence over a person’s will and turn him into an animal, which is only interested in satisfying base instincts, and spiritual development becomes alien.
The body, the temple of God, is gradually destroyed, shortness of breath develops, metabolism and heart rhythm are disrupted, changes occur in blood vessels and parts of the heart muscle. A person becomes an object of ridicule, he loses his attractiveness.
Excess weight is sent so that a person can cope with weaknesses, get to know himself and the surrounding spiritual world. In this case, it is necessary to pacify the gluttonous womb, pray and sincerely ask the Lord to deliver from gluttony.
First you need to receive a blessing from the priest, confess, take communion and begin prayer work.
What prayers to read for weight loss and gluttony
The request must be sincere and come from the depths of the soul. Priests agree that it is not at all necessary to turn to God with memorized texts; often ordinary words coming from the heart are much more effective.
They may be “clumsy”, but they are sincere.
Having decided to lose weight, you must adhere to Orthodox fasts and weekly fasting days (Wednesday, Friday). They are the ones who will teach you how to restrain the uncontrollable desire to eat deliciously and a lot; besides, fasting will have a beneficial effect on your figure.
There is no need to ask the Almighty for external attractiveness - it is necessary to pray to Him for the gift of strength to withstand the test, to support in the fight against addiction.
Prayer to Jesus Christ
I pray to You, Lord, deliver me from satiety and lust and grant me in peace of mind to reverently accept Your generous gifts, so that by tasting them, I will receive strengthening of my mental and physical strength to serve You, Lord, in the short remainder of my life on earth.
Prayer of Saint John of Kronstadt
Lord, our sweetest Food, which never perishes, but arrives in the eternal belly.
Cleanse Thy servant from the filth of gluttony, all that is made flesh and alien to Thy Spirit, and grant him to know the sweetness of Thy life-giving spiritual meat, which is Thy Flesh and Blood and Thy holy, living and active Word.
Prayer to Irinarch
Oh, Great Saint of God and glorious miracle-worker, Reverend Father Irinarsha! Look at us sinners, in our sorrows and circumstances we zealously cry out to you and place all our hope in you for God’s sake. We ask you with much tenderness: by your intercession to the Lord God, ask us for peace, long life, brotherly love, fruitfulness of the earth, goodness of the air, good rains, and a blessing from above on all our good undertakings.
Deliver us all with your holy prayers from all troubles: famine, hail, flood, fire, sword, harmful worms, corrupting winds, deadly plagues and vain deaths. And in all our sorrows, be our comforter and helper, preserving us from the falls of sin and making us worthy to be heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. May we glorify together with you all the good Giver, the Triune God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Amen!
Prayer to Saint Alexis, the man of God
O servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexy!
Look mercifully upon us, servant of God (names), and stretch out your honorable hands in prayer to the Lord God, and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our voluntary and involuntary sins, a peaceful and Christian death and a good answer at the Last Judgment of Christ.
To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our trust, which we place in you, according to God and the Mother of God; but be our helper and protector for salvation; that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Signs of the disease:
- constant overeating at every meal and snack;
- inability to control the volume of the portion eaten;
- after eating, a depressed state due to heaviness in the stomach;
- watching TV, using gadgets during meals, thereby lacking control over the amount of food eaten;
- constant snacking, including at night;
- the impossibility of mental work without a plate of food.
- You need to set a goal and clearly formulate it: write it down, draw it and hang it on the refrigerator door, in general, make sure that it is always in sight.
- It is advisable to contact a nutritionist to develop an individual weight loss plan.
- In the process of losing weight, it is necessary to take into account your mental and physical state, spiritual and medical components.
- It will be good if no one knows about starting to lose weight and pray to God. And after achieving the final goal, you should not tell curious friends and acquaintances how you managed to achieve an attractive figure.
- While losing weight, exercise and a light diet will be beneficial. If it is difficult to follow a diet, then you should at least try not to overeat.
- Particularly important is the belief that the desired goal will definitely be achieved. This requires a positive attitude.
- You cannot envy people who have a beautiful figure; envy is also a sin, disgusting to God.
About overeating:
It should be remembered that prayer read by itself will not help. You need to take some action on your own to actively lose weight. For example, if you pray before dinner and then eat “to your heart’s content” without limiting the amount of food you eat, then turning to the Lord and His saints is unlikely to help.
In addition, many people believe that prayer is a kind of magic spell, but this is completely wrong.
You should not read a prayer for weight loss until your wild appetite is curbed. Only when the glutton refuses delicacies, flour, fried, smoked, sweets and comes to simple low-calorie food (vegetables, fruits, cereals, fish, dietary meat), can one begin prayerful work and ask the Heavenly Father for help.
Lula kebab recipe on the grill
Delicious okroshka with chicken - video
A girl's prayer for marriage
Prayers to help with problems and troubles at work
How to get rid of a bad friendship?