So loved was fasting to our fathers the monks

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






So loved was fasting to our fathers the monks, that they made of it their lifestyle.
They fast, with the exception of feast days their whole life. They did not suffer from physical fatigue but discovered in it spiritual delight, found satisfaction and became accustomed to it.

It was once said that on one occasion, at the advent of Lent in the desert, a herald was sent calling upon monks and drawing their attention to the sacred fast. When one of the elders heard the herald's exhortation, he said to him: "Son, what is it this fast you are talking about? I am not aware of it because all my days are the same. (Ie. that all of them are days of fasting)."
Saint Paula the anchorite used to eat only half a loaf of bread at sunset.