SO GOOD QUOTES

[Abba] Moses’ advice is notable in prescribing unwavering uniformity even on Sundays and days when guests visit.  Monks maintaining this pattern would need no additional food on Sundays or other special days. If additional food were taken on these days, a smaller ration would be required during the rest of the week, or quite possibly nothing at all, as a result of the additional sustenance previously received. Why not opt, therefore, for this latter option, frequently practised and previously described, of complete abstinence through the week with a feast on Sunday? Cassian rejects this option on the grounds that it would establish a cycle of excessive abstinence followed by indulgence that would over time, be likely to promote gluttony. This is illustrated by the example of brother Benjamin, who on alternate days ate none of his bread ration in order to enjoy a feast of four loaves once every two days, so that he might ‘give way to his appetite by means of a double portion’. Abba Moses continues: ‘Through the two days of fasting he was able to acquire his four rolls, thereby getting the chance both to satisfy his longings and to enjoy a full stomach.’ Benjamin ultimately forsakes monastic life, returning ‘back to the empty philosophy of this world and to the vanity of the day’ because he ‘obstinately chose his own decisions in preference to what had been handed down by the fathers’.

Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet
by David Grumett, Rachel Muers