A Short Defense of Fasting
February 24, 2023 | Justin Ferrugia (TD ‘24)
image description: a pair of hands reach to lift bread
Be still before the LORD; wait for him. – Psalms 37:7
God, or perhaps more aptly His Holy Spirit, speaks to us in silence.
Lent, per its origin, is a time of solitude and fasting. It is meant to mirror Christ’s solitary journey for forty days and forty nights after his baptism. Many Christian traditions including the Catholic Church still require that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday be days of fasting for adults, and many choose to devotionally fast more frequently during Lent and throughout the year. However, in our modern culture, it seems fasting has either become the newest trick to lose weight, or written off as a medieval practice of corporal mortification for the overzealous.
My object in the short passage that follows is to ground the Christian practice of fasting in the proposition that silence is a valuable asset in prayerful meditation. Drawing from both Doctors of the Church, and modern research, I hope to convince the reader that this practice has practical benefits beyond merely discipline or sacrifice.
St. Augustine is famous for saying that, “Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity. Enter again into yourself.” [1] Augustine’s basic idea is that when one fasts, one no longer has the energy or desire to let the mind wander where it shouldn’t.
Most of us lead busy lives. Either as university students or young professionals, we live what the scholastics would refer to as the “active life.” Because of this, it can be difficult even in dedicated times of prayer to truly clear our mind of the noise of anxiety, excitement, or simply wandering thoughts.
St. Augustine argues that fasting gives those living the active life an efficacious way to break into the contemplative life. Sure, we may not have the time to attend a multi-week silent retreat, but we may be able to capitalize on our biology to similarly quell the omnipresent noise.
I bring up biology because there is a significant body of research culminating in a 2021 paper [2] published in Nutrients magazine that tracks how a fasting brain processes information. The study found in part that “fasting groups had lower anxiety and depression levels compared to control groups when limiting the analyses to randomized controlled trials” (Berthelot et al. 2021). This conclusion is supported by the fact that, in a state of fasting, the brain begins to operate more efficiently, devoting less time to complex cognitive tasks (of which anxiety is one), and more time to essential bodily functions. This is why people often perform poorly on tests if they have not eaten well.
While such a state of lowered cognition is not something that should be sought on a regular basis, during the season of Lent, when the time is right, one can capitalize on one’s biology to achieve the silence necessary to realize St. Augustine’s idealistic exploration of the fruits of fasting. While it is certainly true that the discomfort and sacrifice of fasting can itself remind us to lift our minds to God, it is also the case that fasting, by virtue of our human biology, makes the preservation of mental silence in the meditation of prayer easier. Prayer is a time when it is quite beneficial to have a one-track mind. When we fast, we all can achieve this.
So, I end with an invitation. If the Holy Spirit so moves you this lenten season, join me in incorporating fasting into your Lenten journey. Forgo a big Saturday brunch and find a time in the evening to sit in a calm and quiet setting.
And in the (perhaps newfound) silence of your mind, wait for the LORD.
References:
[1] https://catholic-link.org/quotes/7-benefits-of-fasting-according-to-st-augustine/
[2] Berthelot E, Etchecopar-Etchart D, Thellier D, Lancon C, Boyer L, Fond G. Fasting Interventions for Stress, Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2021 Nov 5;13(11):3947. doi: 10.3390/nu13113947. PMID: 34836202; PMCID: PMC8624477.
This piece is a part of a series for Lent 2023. Read more at https://www.yalelogos.com/lent2023