Читать книгу A Daily Catholic Moment - Peter Celano - Страница 41

Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word.

—Psalm 119:169 (NRSV)

“[St. Antony] very often spent the entire night in prayer and ate only once a day, after sunset. Sometimes he continued fasting for two or three days at a time and only ate and drank on the fourth day. He ate bread and salt, and drank a little water. I think it is better not to say anything about his consumption of meat and wine, for most monks do not consume either one. When he did allow himself to rest, he used a woven rush mat covered with goat’s hair. Sometimes he would simply lie on the bare ground, and he refused to anoint his body with oil. For he used to say that it is hardly possible that the bodies of those who use such things, and especially young men’s bodies, should grow strong if they are softened by smooth oil. Instead they ought to use rigorous exercises to control the flesh, as the apostle Paul said: ‘Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Cor. 12:10).” —St. Athanasius

O God, You know I’m no saint! But, today, make me just a little more like one.