Fasting Alone Is Not Enough

To keep the mind and body in a perfect condition, abstinence from food is not enough by itself, unless the other virtues of the mind are joined to it as well. So humility must first be learned through the virtue of obedience, and through grinding toil and exhaustion of the body. Not only must the possession of money be avoided; the desire for it must be rooted out entirely. For it is not enough not to possess it, which comes to many out of necessity; we ought, if it happens to be offered, not even to let in the wish to have it. The madness of anger must be controlled, the downcast look of dejection overcome, empty glory despised, the disdain of pride trampled underfoot, and the shifting, wandering thoughts of the mind held in check by continual remembrance of God. And the slippery wanderings of our heart must be brought back to the contemplation of God every time our crafty enemy, trying to lead the mind away captive from this attention, creeps into the innermost recesses of the heart. [a]