With that you advance in your fasting till you reach

[Mary Naeem]

By H.H. Pope Shenouda III

With that you advance in your fasting till you reach, not only the hunger of the body, but the ascetic body.

In this way, your body renounces all the enjoyment offered by food. The element of abstaining comes first. But when you train yourself and get used to it, then it would not be a great effort to stop yourself, because by that time, you would have renounced what you used to long for. This ability to restrain yourself from food and drink will grow and develop in you until you renounce many other pleasures, such as those of the senses, and the various desires of the body... At that time, your spiritual level will be elevated...