Abstinence is the mother and the union of all virtues. If you abstain your stomach, you will enter heaven, as abstinence is the killing of sin, the estrangement from passions, the beginning of the spiritual life and the defender of the eternal ones.
On the contrary gorging deprives the man of the spiritual gift, as the satiation of the stomach gives him sleep and dirty thoughts and he can`t stay awake when reading or working with his hands and he is not able to do any good deed.
Bread and warm water appease thirst and hunger. Without warm water the stomach gets dried and the one who fasts gets constipation; the bread or the dried crumbs soaked in boiled water and also the oat, barley or rye flour or stewed plums are easily digested.
There are four steps in the consumption of food: fasting, abstinence, satiety and saturation.
Who will refrain his stomach will keep heaven and who won`t refrain it will fall victim to death, depriving himself of all virtues and he will be shamed.
Excerpt from The lilies of the land or most beautiful flowers – Pious Paisios Velicikovski
