Macarius on Fasting and on Facing Death

There is still one valuable charge of the blessed Macarius for us to bring forward, so that a saying of so great a man may close this book on fasting and abstinence. He said that a monk ought to give attention to his fasts as if he were going to remain in the flesh for a hundred years. But he ought to curb the movements of the soul, forget injuries, loathe sadness, and despise sorrows and losses as if he were at the point of death every day. For in the first case discernment is useful and fitting, since it makes a monk always walk with well-balanced care and does not let him fall from the heights over the most dangerous cliffs because of a weakened body. In the second, greatness of mind is most valuable. It will enable him not only to despise the seeming prosperity of this present world but also not to be crushed by adversity and sorrow, and to despise them as small and paltry things. For he keeps the gaze of his mind fixed continually on the place to which he believes, every day and every moment, that he will soon be summoned. [a]