Answers of the Great Masters of the Spiritual Life to the Questions of Their Disciples.

          The Principal Vices That Influence All Our Thoughts

                    1st Vice: Gluttony

Disciple: What is the first and most fundamental vice?

Master: Gluttony.  

Disciple: Is the desire to eat and drink bad? 

Master: Of course not. This is a God-given tendency. The abuse of this tendency is what is bad.

Disciple: And the abuse is gluttony?

Master: Yes.

Disciple: Do we have a say on whether this vice will disturb us or not?

Master: Whether this vice disturbs us or not does not depend on us.

Disciple: When do we have a say?

Master: Whether this vice lingers in us or not; whether this vice sets our passions in motion or not. . .this depends on us.

Disciple: What does the vice of gluttony suggest to those seeking holiness?

Master: To abandon the quest for God for fear of illnesses or diseases of the stomach, liver or bile; the fear of lack of medical remedies and the fear of the absence of a physician.

Disciple: What else?

Master: Gluttony recalls the memory of people who got very sick seeking God. So he worries.

Disciple: What is the role of the devil here?

Master: The devil sends gluttonous brethren to discourage you from fasting and attributing your illnesses to too strict an observance.

Abba Evagrius

(04-09-03)