One of the deadly sins is gluttony. Today, gluttony is very difficult to resist, because many manufacturers use various chemical stimulants so that people actively buy their products. Therefore, the problem is quite acute in the world excess weight. Prayer against gluttony and gluttony will help you resist sin.

The Power and Features of Prayer

IN Orthodox faith the body is identified with the temple of the Lord. Therefore, any action directed against him is considered a sin. One of them is gluttony, which leads to a person becoming overweight. As a result, various health problems are formed ( diabetes mellitus, the functioning of the heart, liver, etc. is disrupted.

Excess weight body changes a person’s figure, making it ugly. Fat people It becomes difficult to walk long distances, and climbing stairs seems like real torture.

When excess weight appears, people try to remove it through diets, medicines, as well as sports. A special prayer will also help. These actions are only effective if performed regularly and correctly.

If diets, medications and exercise are aimed at the body, then prayer requests are addressed to the soul. Obesity not only leads to external changes bodies. It also touches the soul of a person who could not resist temptations and succumbed to temptation.

Due to changes in the attitudes of others, a person with an excess weight problem becomes unbalanced, touchy, despairing, and also becomes vulnerable to evil spirits and evil. Many people fall into a gloomy slumber, becoming lazy. They gradually lose their intelligence and will to live.

Excess weight serves as a punishment for gluttony. It indicates that the soul is down to earth. The heavier body pulls her even more towards the ground, making a person’s life unbearably difficult. Excess weight shows the sinner how weak and helpless he has become by succumbing to temptation.

Therefore, gluttony must be fought by everyone accessible ways. Daily prayer requests have the following benefits:

• allow you to rethink your current state and take the path of correction;
• give strength to resist the temptations of the modern world;
• allow you to curb your desires;
• bring peace and tranquility;
• have a healing effect on the soul and body.

To cope with the problem and not return to it again, the sinner must pacify his base instincts and discover for himself spiritual world. All this can be achieved by prayer, which is read from pure heart and hope for healing and help from the saints. Words spoken without understanding and faith will not bring deliverance and peace of mind.

In the Orthodox faith, different images can bestow healing from gluttony. It is necessary to make such a request to the following saints:

• Matrona of Moscow;
• Saint Alexy;
• Nicholas the Wonderworker;
• John of Kronstadt;
• Irinarch of Rostov.

You can pray at home in front of home icon, and in the church. In both cases, you can light a candle in front of the image and recite the prayer text without deviation. After the prayer service, you should donate to the temple. Church paraphernalia must be placed in the house.

In addition to reading prayers in front of images, a person must observe fasts and perform all possible physical exercise. Remember that working on yourself and resisting temptations will help you get rid of gluttony.

Video “How to get rid of gluttony?”

In this video, the clergyman will tell you how to get rid of gluttony with the help of the Almighty, and what prayer words should be said in front of holy images.

Prayer texts

Jesus Christ

I pray to You, Lord, deliver me from satiety and lust and grant me in peace of mind to reverently accept Your generous gifts, so that by tasting them, I will receive strengthening of my mental and physical strength to serve You, Lord, in the short remainder of my life on earth.

Irinarch

Oh, Great Saint of God and glorious miracle-worker, Reverend Father Irinarsha! Look at us sinners, in our sorrows and circumstances we zealously cry out to you and place all our hope in you for God’s sake. We ask you with much tenderness: by your intercession to the Lord God, ask us for peace, long life, brotherly love, fruitfulness of the earth, goodness of the air, good rains, and a blessing from above on all our good undertakings.

Deliver us all with your holy prayers from all troubles: famine, hail, flood, fire, sword, harmful worms, corrupting winds, deadly plagues and vain deaths. And in all our sorrows, be our comforter and helper, preserving us from the falls of sin and making us worthy to be heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. May we glorify together with you all the good Giver, the Triune God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Amen!

Saint Alexy

O servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexy!

Look mercifully upon us, servant of God (names), and stretch out your honorable hands in prayer to the Lord God, and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our voluntary and involuntary sins, a peaceful and Christian death and a good answer at the Last Judgment of Christ.

To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our trust, which we place in you, according to God and the Mother of God; but be our helper and protector for salvation; that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

It would be wonderful if someone, before descending into the grave, were freed from this passion.

Saint John Climacus

About gluttony. Its modern manifestations

Although to many people the conversation about gluttony seems outdated and archaic, this passion is firmly alive in the people of our time. True, it can be called by completely different words, more modern and more familiar to our ears. “Obesity”, “overweight”, “overeating”, “eating disorders”. All this different names this terrible illness that leaves its mark on both the soul and body of a person.

Life modern people full of excess food. Of course, there are still many poor people and poor countries where things are completely different. However, harsh statistics show that currently every sixth person on our planet suffers from obesity. Never before have so many varieties of food been available to people. Go to any supermarket and you will easily see how sellers every time come up with new ways to present their goods in the most attractive way. And this is at a time when manufacturers make their dishes as fresh as possible, the portions for the same money are even larger, and the taste is fuller and richer. Recently, natural seasonings have been replaced by even synthetic flavor enhancers, the main task of which is to make even completely artificial food tasty, which was devoid of at least some taste before. But that's not all. The presence of such flavor enhancers (emulsifiers) in food products over time causes addiction in people. The cult of food, the stimulation of human gastronomic needs and preferences is another step towards gluttony, which, becoming a habit, causes obesity and many other diseases.

Obesity and excessive, unbridled passion for food is an additional burden on all systems of the body, first of all - cardiovascular system. As a result, this leads to an increase blood pressure, the occurrence of arrhythmia, angina, etc. And undoubtedly, this also creates incredible stress on the gastrointestinal tract, which is now forced to work without rest, around the clock. The endocrine system also changes, causing metabolic disorders. In the end, one can notice the influence of gluttony on the functioning of the human brain. After an excessive meal, laziness, fatigue appear, and thinking processes slow down. A person cannot concentrate and do something as well as he did just before. “A full belly is deaf to prayer.” That is why self-restraint and fasting are fasting necessary practice ascetics of all world religions. And ascetics of piety - Orthodox monks - are directly called “fasters”, with this name defining the nature of their main service - pacification of the flesh through restrictions on food and other pleasures.

Eating food in moderation is a vital necessity for humans, because hunger is biologically determined. When the balance of sugar, water or another important substance in a person’s blood is disturbed, an impulse automatically appears to replenish this deficiency with what the body needs right now. The centers that regulate the process of eating are located in special department brain - hypothalamus. Its individual zones are responsible for the feeling of hunger, thirst and satiety. In a normal state, this well-coordinated system maintains the existence of our body and weight at an optimal, genetically fixed level.

However, human nature, stricken by sin, made it possible to distort this physiological need, which was completely neutral in itself. So doctors know that when the desire for food weakens, a person ceases to feel hunger and thirst, up to the complete disappearance of appetite. And vice versa - gluttony, the consumption of even obviously spoiled food, is typical for people with congenital or acquired mental retardation.

Illustration: Hieronymus Bosch "Gluttony" from "The Seven Deadly Sins", 1475-1480

Saint John Climacus, like other ascetics of piety, in his ascetic works noted three main ways in which a person can violate the norm established by God in spiritually, using the process of eating to spite and harm yourself.

• 1) First of all, people sin from gluttony when they take food in excessive quantities, significantly larger than what the body actually needs. For such a person, it is important to fill his own stomach with food as much as possible, almost through force.

2) The second sin is voluptuousness or guttural rage. This passion is realized in a person who seeks to gain pleasure through refined food, gourmet eating, using all kinds of seasonings and unusual, complex methods of preparing dishes. In this passion, unlike the previous one, it is not the amount of food consumed that is sinful, but its delicacy, a person’s search for unusual tastes, impressions and pleasures. It should be understood that we eat not to enjoy the taste, but to give the body the necessary amount. nutrients. It is known that the enjoyment of taste almost does not depend on the refinement of dishes. Even a piece of stale bread will bring more pleasure to a hungry person than a piece of cake to a pampered gourmet in the middle of a meal.

• 3) The third sin is secret eating. This sin is predominantly monastic, the danger of which is primarily experienced by monks living in communal monasteries. The essence of this passion lies in non-compliance with the monastic rules and daily routine, in untimely eating, more often than not, after prayer or secretly from the brethren. Of course, the laity can also sin by this, eating food not according to the daily routine, doctor’s prescription or the requirements of the church charter.

In addition to these three main passions associated with food, Saint Climacus recalls two more, no less dangerous cases.

The first passion is an uncontrollable thirst for your favorite food, an addiction to a specific dish. Saint John the Prophet describes people affected by this weakness as follows: such a person constantly dreams, fantasizes about a specific dish, often imagines it and tells others about it, and at a meal asks to be served first or moved closer. “In the passion of gluttony, the belly, when full, cries out: “I want more!” And even sighing from satiety, laments: “I’m hungry.” This passion teaches us to devour everything that stands before our eyes” (Ladder 2.1.4: 1).


And the climax extreme point The development of the sin of gluttony is a complete darkness of the mind towards issues of food and the pleasures of the stomach. In the language of the fathers, this sin is called the terrible word “gluttony.” A person with such mental illness lives for the sake of food, and does not eat in order to live.

Do you like the article?

The passion of gluttony is one of the most dangerous passions of man, known as a mortal sin in tradition Western Church, and actually, “passion” in the tradition of the Eastern Church. Often appearing under a pious pretext, she seduces even the strongest in faith. Therefore, special wisdom is required in order to learn to distinguish objective reality from the temptation of the devil or our own passion.

"What made Esau so degraded, what made him his brother's slave? Wasn't it just the food for which he sold his birthright? And vice versa, wasn't it prayer with fasting that gave Samuel's mother? What made the great fighter Samson invincible? Wasn't it the fast that began still in his mother’s womb? (Judgment 13). Fasting gave birth to him, fasting nurtured him, and by fasting he grew to manhood - by that fasting, the angel commanded his mother (Basily the Great. About fasting 1.)

Only the one who has managed to curb his body, his own passionate flesh, will be able to put good start struggle against more subtle spiritual and mental sinful states. It follows that the struggle with one’s stomach and carnal passions is the beginning of a person’s struggle with his other, more dangerous spiritual vices. Gluttony, like other bodily passions, is only a means, and the goal of demons is to subjugate the human soul through them.

No spiritual warfare can begin without fasting and self-restraint. And vice versa: weakness in food leads to the development of other passions in the human soul. For example, in classic scheme the dependence of some passions on others, voluptuousness (love of pleasure) gives rise to gluttony, and this, in turn, gives rise to lustful thoughts and unclean deeds. Thus, in order for a person to overcome fornication, he must first overcome gluttony. From here, we can conclude that the ability to manage one’s desires, actions and dreams is important for every person, and not just for a monk. Including in the sphere of one’s own gastronomic preferences.

Testimony of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition

“Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and lest that day come upon you suddenly,” (Luke 21:34)

“Be not among those who are drunk with wine, nor among those who are full of meat; for the drunkard and the one who is full will become poor, and sleepiness will be clothed in sackcloth” (Proverbs 23:20-21).

“If you have found honey, eat as much as you need, lest you become full of it and vomit it up” (Proverbs 25:16).

“He who keeps the law is a wise son, but he who associates with wasteful people (gluttons) disgraces his father” (Proverbs 28:7).

“For many, of whom I have often told you, and now even speak with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and their glory is in their shame; they think on earthly things” (Phil. 3:18-21).

“For there are many disobedient, idle talkers and deceivers, especially among the circumcised, whose lips should be stopped: they corrupt entire houses, teaching what they should not, for shameful gain. Of these themselves, one poet said: “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts.” , lazy bellies" (Titus 1:10-11).

“But I discipline and bring my body into subjection, so that while I have preached to others, I myself may not be unworthy” (1 Cor. 9:27).

“The true widow and the lonely one trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers day and night; but the lustful one died alive” (1 Tim. 5:5-6).

“As in the day, let us conduct ourselves decently, not [indulging in] feasting and drunkenness, nor sensuality and debauchery, nor quarreling and envy; but put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not turn the cares of the flesh into lusts” (Rom. 13: 12-13).

“It is natural for a person to feel hunger. Still, one must take the food necessary to maintain life, and not for passions and not for satiety. Sleep is also natural for a person, but not to the point of satiety, pampering of the body, so that we can subdue the passions and vicious desires of the body.” (Sayings of nameless elders)

“The perfect goal of restraint is to achieve not only curbing the body, but to become more favorable for serving the needs of the soul” (St. Gregory of Nyssa).

"... Gluttony is a deception of the stomach, because even when it is full it cries out: “Not enough!”, Being filled and expanding from excess, it cries out: “I want!” (Ladder).

“Ahead of all virtues is obedience, and ahead of all passions is gluttony” (Abba Isaiah the Hermit).

“Gluttony is a violation of the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee an idol... thou shalt not worship them, nor serve them. It is indeed idolatry” (Antony the Great).

“Gluttony destroys everything good in a person” (Reverend Neil of Sinai).

What promotes gluttony?

Very often people serve this vice by inventing various excuses for themselves. The Holy Fathers of the Church, as subtle psychologists and experts on human souls, learned to see these cases and warn us about them.

The first and most common way to be captured by this dangerous passion is to attribute indulgences in food to concern for one’s own health and a cowardly fear of possible diseases related to abstinence. In fact, it is very rare to talk about such categorical abstinence from food that it could pose a threat to our life and health. Orthodox Church preaches the “royal way” - the golden mean, from which only benefit can come. Its goal is not to starve us, but to teach us to control everything we do. Including, teach how to properly worry about your own body - the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

"Fasting is always beneficial for those who welcome it. For those who fast will not dare to attack evil spirits. Vice versa. The quick guards of our lives - angels - help those who cleanse their soul (and body) by fasting. (St. Basil the Great, On Fasting 2).

The fathers even recall such a reason for the fall as careless priests, indifferent to their service, often recklessly blessing others with relaxation in fasting. Such a blessing, at first glance, may indeed look like a good deed, a deed of love, but for a person’s soul it can bring destruction, because it not only serves to satisfy the flesh. It also teaches people the idea that fasting is supposedly unnecessary for a person’s salvation, and in general, gives rise to doubts about the inviolability of church requirements, rules and canons. ("Ladder" 14:11-12)

Another way of gluttony is imaginary hospitality, the desire to visit friends or receive guests for the sake of a good meal and wine. This is a very subtle passion that not everyone can notice in themselves. This danger especially increases when great Christian or folk holidays. It seems that on such days gluttony receives all the justifications for itself. However, there is no doubt that gluttony and consumption alcoholic drinks, as well as laziness and fornication in any holidays, in any other way, are unacceptable for Christians. “Incited by the insatiability of his stomach, he believes that the opportunity to please a guest is also a permission for him to do everything” (Ibid. 14: 8)

Sometimes, the holy ascetics write, the passion of vanity wants to overcome the addiction of gluttony. This is when some people fast in order to prove to themselves and others - “How cool I am, strong-willed, I have great patience, etc. "The desire to show oneself as the best fights for a person, as for a bought slave. What is better: to observe a strict fast or to give yourself some relief? To overcome pride or to taste food? Saint Diodochos advises to still eat food, because a sorrowful heart will bring more benefit to the soul, reminding a Christian of his imperfections than pride about his own fasting (Ibid. 14: 9)

It should also be said about psychological reasons passions of gluttony. The pleasure that a person receives from eating high-calorie foods can become a strong drug that can cause addiction in a person. While eating, a person produces pleasure hormones, which can temporarily improve mood and general psychological state. Thus, food, most often in combination with alcohol and tobacco smoking, becomes quite in a simple way relieve the pain of stress or depressive state. Many people try to “seize” their problems: lack of fulfillment in life, low self-esteem, unsuccessful family life, anxiety, negative emotions. And since this does not solve the problems themselves, very soon a person will need another portion of pleasure. This is how a person gets into vicious circle passions of gluttony. In the desire to find happiness and get rid of suffering and slavery, people receive yet another shackles. Only an experienced specialist - a priest and a psychologist, a psychotherapist - can help with this. Of course, now we are talking only about spiritual and emotional reasons gluttony, leaving aside physiological reasons: various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, thyroid gland, metabolic disorders or invasion.

Practical steps to fight passion

As we have already mentioned several times, the most in an efficient way overcoming any passion is to develop in oneself traits and virtues that are opposite to this passion. Thus, gluttony is overcome by abstinence and fasting. Although this vice is considered first among other carnal passions, this does not mean that it is the easiest to eradicate. Vice versa. Since gluttony is the foundation of other human passions and sins, there are a number of reasons that directly or indirectly influence the development of this passion in a person and contribute to it in every possible way. Since passions are deeply rooted in human nature, in order to overcome them, efforts must be made at all levels: mental, spiritual and physical.

In the spiritual realm. First of all, a person needs awareness and honest recognition of the presence of this passion in himself. The Sacraments of Repentance and Communion, as well as an active prayer and spiritual life, can become invaluable helpers in overcoming it. Looking at a person’s sincerity, the Lord will definitely help him receive spiritual and physical healing faster.

In the mental (psychological) sphere. There are a number effective practices, which allow a person to make a more conscious decision psychological problems associated with gluttony and other gastronomic abuses. Of course, the greatest results here can be achieved by consulting a specialist - a psychologist or psychotherapist. And together you can try existing techniques. In particular, keeping a food diary, identifying personal reasons for gluttony, working with motivation, setting goals, overcoming situations that provoke excessive food consumption.

In the bodily sphere. First of all, medical consultation is necessary to make sure that food abuse has not yet led to irreversible changes that are life-threatening. At the same time, you need to work with a nutritionist to develop an individual diet and strictly adhere to it. And, of course, increase physical activity. A professional trainer can help you create an individual, most optimal and effective physical activity schedule.

The main means to combat the addiction to gluttony is fasting and abstinence. It's good to leave the table a little hungry. The pleasure that naturally accompanies eating delicious food loses its sensuality and becomes spiritual if eaten with prayer and feelings of gratitude to God.

Conclusion

And in conclusion, I will repeat the most important thing. According to the testimony of the majority of the Holy Fathers - ancient ascetics and ascetics - the subordination of the soul to carnal passions is direct evidence that the human soul has moved away from God. Appetite and the desire to eat in themselves cannot have a negative connotation. They can only have mental states of voluptuousness (uncontrollable desire for pleasure). That is why we consider the passion for gluttony not as an exclusively bodily vice, but as a mental and spiritual state of human fall. Careful observance of the fasts established by the Church contributes to the humility of the flesh, which weakens voluptuousness and all our other passions. Why does a person sin? Through selfishness, pride, desire for pleasure of the flesh. All this is eradicated by love for God, fear of God, sorrow for sins committed, cutting off passions, and, undoubtedly, self-restraint and self-control. Help us with this, Lord!

Archpriest Evgeny Zapletnyuk,

candidate of theology,

Ternopil.

Please enable JavaScript to view DISQUS comments

Instructed:

“Restrain yourself from food and snacks as much as possible, and try to eat moderately light and well-known food.”

The Monk Anthony noted that the things that most hinder heartfelt tenderness are exaltation (magnification) and overeating:

“If you don’t have tenderness in your soul, understand: because the magnification of your soul is in your heart or you are overcome by overeating, these do not leave your soul to be touched.”

The Monk Ambrose wrote about abstinence and the three degrees of satiety:

“You write about food that it is difficult for you to get used to eating little by little, so that after lunch you are still hungry. The Holy Fathers established three degrees regarding food: abstinence - in order to be somewhat hungry after eating, contentment - in order to be neither full nor hungry, and satiety - in order to eat to the full, not without some burden.

Of these three degrees, everyone can choose any one, according to their strengths and according to their structure, healthy and sick.”

Sometimes he would say briefly but aptly:

“Explaining lips are a pork trough.”

The Monk Joseph also warned against excessively pleasing the body:

“If you keep your belly from satiety and pleasure, and also your body from excessive rest, the Lord will soon help you work more for your soul than for your body.”

A satiated belly demands more and more food, but it does not do any good. Elder Joseph ate very little food. Surprised by this, they once asked him whether it was difficult for him to achieve such abstinence or whether it was already given to him by nature. He answered with these words:

“If a person is not forced, even if he ate all the food of Egypt and drank all the water of the Nile, his belly will still say: I hunger!”

He emphasized that gluttony leads to excessive sleeping. He advised not to eat to the point of satiety:

“Sleep and the womb are connected. With a full stomach, the monk sleeps a lot and wakes up more than he should. I told you and I say: eat your fill, but not to the point of satiety. If you're full, put down a spoon. And another is already full, but still eats and eats; the eyes are not full - it’s a sin.”

For people of different builds and having different physical activity, the amount of food will also be different. Reverend Nikon reminded:

“One pound of bread is enough for one person’s body, four pounds of bread is enough for another person’s body - he will not be satisfied with less bread. Therefore, Saint John Chrysostom says that a faster is not one who consumes a small amount of food, but one who consumes less food than what is required for his body. This is what abstinence is all about.”

Wine drinking passion: how to deal with it

The Monk Leo wrote about the passion of drinking wine: it brings “great grief and illness.” He also noted that in order to heal a suffering person, in addition to prayers for him, his own will is necessary, without which the prayers of other people may be unsuccessful:

“I express my heartfelt condolences about the illness... of your dear son Z. I know that this great grief and illness brings you and those close to his heart. We, according to our strength, oblige ourselves to pray to the Lord to deliver him from this passion, but it is necessary that there is also his voluntary desire to leave this and compulsion, and without this our sinful prayers are not able to keep up. When " righteous prayer“hastens” only with the efforts of others, since our sinful prayer cannot act without good will.”

The elder wrote this about the fate of those subject to the passion of drunkenness:

“What fate do those subject to this weakness have? They are beset by bodily illnesses, a miserable life, premature old age and - death; and sinful impulses that alienate the soul from God and deprive Him of grace are the most dangerous of all!.. The soul is eternal; You need to take care of her most of all!”

The Monk Leo explained that the passion of drunkenness is tolerated for pride and arrogance or “violation of conscience against holy matrimony,” that is, for violation of marital fidelity. The monk advised forcing oneself to humility and resorting to confession:

“And from the fullness of my heart I wish for your brother to be delivered from drunken passion; but as soon as this passion is tolerated either for pride and arrogance, or for a violation of conscience against holy matrimony, then he is forced, firstly, to humble himself in every possible way or make a confession - to truly repent before a skilled confessor... And then the Lord will help him.”

The Monk Ambrose instructed:

“The spiritual remedy is for your friend to pay attention to the spiritual anguish, from the impatience of which she is plunged into the infirmity of drinking wine.”

In general, the Optina elders paid attention to the obligatory confession of all those suffering from a passion for drinking wine, since the cause of wine drinking is often spiritual anguish, and it comes from unconfessed sins. The Monk Ambrose paid special attention to the fact that in order to combat the passion of drunkenness, full confession is necessary, starting from childhood:

“And for this matter to be firm and lasting, it requires sincere and perfect confession and repentance throughout your entire life, starting from the age of 6.”

The elder also advised those suffering from spiritual anguish and passion for drinking wine, when melancholy and despondency appeared, to read prayer and the Gospel with bows:

“One man, who suffered from both melancholy and wine drinking, was delivered in the following way: when he felt melancholy, he retreated to a secret place and made 33 bows with the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and the melancholy receded. And when melancholy appeared again, he did the same thing again, and with such prayer, when melancholy appeared, he completely got rid of drinking wine and from melancholy itself. Another person got rid of both melancholy and wine drinking by reading the Gospel.”

Elder Joseph advised:

“May the Lord deliver Constantine from drunkenness. Let him talk and partake of the Holy Mysteries. And then he will serve a prayer service to the Mother of God and earnestly ask Her for help.”

Fighting smoking cravings

To one suffering from a passion for smoking, the Monk Ambrose wrote:

“You write that you cannot stop smoking tobacco. The impossible with man is possible with the help of God, you just have to firmly decide to leave it, recognizing the harm it causes to the soul and body, since tobacco relaxes the soul, multiplies and intensifies passions, darkens the mind and destroys bodily health with a slow death. Irritability and melancholy are consequences of the morbidity of the soul from smoking.

I advise you to use spiritual healing against this passion: confess in detail all your sins, from the age of 7 and throughout your life, and partake of the Holy Mysteries and read the Gospel every day, standing, a chapter or more; and when melancholy strikes, then read again until the melancholy passes; will attack again - and read the Gospel again. Or instead, make 33 large bows in private, in memory of the earthly life of the Savior and in honor of the Holy Trinity.”

Thus, all the Optina elders saw the spiritual causes of gluttony, drunkenness and smoking and advised seeking healing through frequent confession, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, prayer and reading the Gospel, forcing oneself to humility and non-judgment, and following the commandments of God.

Adam's sin, passed down from generation to generation, contains the potential of all human sins. The Holy Fathers, who went through many years of experience in asceticism, saw the depths of the human soul - this hiding place where thoughts and desires arise. From a complex mosaic of sins, they identified and described eight main passions - eight ulcers of the soul, eight rivers of dead water flowing from hell, from which other sins originate like rivulets and streams. The beds of these rivers, like meridians, encircle the earth, and their sources and mouths connect in the underworld.

The eight passions are connected to each other like links in a chain with which the devil binds people and drags captives with him as a conqueror. These are the eight heads of the hydra with which every Christian must contend; this is an invisible net in which Satan has been trying to catch prey for the eighth millennium, like a trapper, globe.

The first link in this chain is gluttony. To many people it seems like an innocent weakness that does not inspire much concern, especially since the consequences of this sin, like the scabs of leprosy, do not appear immediately, but after years. But we must remember that after the Fall of Adam, the harmony between the soul and body of man was disrupted. The body - an instrument of the soul and an organic part of the human personality - has become a substrate of passions and lust. The body is a slave of the spirit. This slave, being kindled by her soul, wanted to command her. She, like Adam's Eve, seduces the mind with the imaginary sweetness of passions, and captivates the heart with the dark mystery of sin, the way a rebel rebels against the spirit, trying to overthrow him from the throne and herself become the queen of the human trimerium - spirit, soul and body.

The body is an evil friend and a good enemy. Without a body, a human personality is not formed. Without a body, the spirit and soul cannot express themselves outwardly through words and deeds. The evil flesh is always ready to betray the soul to the devil for copper pennies of base pleasures - just as Judas sold his Teacher to death for thirty pieces of silver. The body is an insidious companion of the soul thorny path to the heavenly kingdom, which either obediently follows her, or tries to entice her onto a wide, stone-lined road leading to eternal death. You can compare the soul and body with a rider and a wild horse: if the rider loosens the bit, then the horse will rush wherever its eyes look, and both will fall into the pit.

Gluttony is the victory of the body over the spirit; it is a wide field in which all passions grow vigorously; this is the first step of a steep, slippery staircase leading to the underworld. In the biblical Book of Genesis it is written that God looked at the earth and saw that all people were flesh, and His Spirit could not dwell in them. Antediluvian humanity did not fulfill its destiny: the carnal principle defeated the spiritual, as if swallowing it up. It was a triumph of the flesh that was the beginning of the end. Humanity has not only plunged into the swamp of materiality, but has forgotten God; Having become earthly dust, it erected idols for itself from the dust - new dead gods. Idolatry, sorcery, sorcery, debauchery and cannibalism began to spread like a plague throughout the land. The cult of the flesh has turned human history into an endless orgy. Already before the Flood, humanity perished spiritually in the flood of its passions. Flood just as the gravedigger dug a common grave for the dead and made the ocean floor a cemetery for all flesh. The bodies of the gluttons were swallowed up by the belly of the sea, and the souls of the demon-pleasers were swallowed up by the insatiable belly of the underworld.

History repeats itself. The Lord compared the times of Noah to lately. Again, the flesh begins to triumph over the spirit, and the demon - over the flesh, corrupting, corrupting it, and mocking it in every possible way.

Gluttony deforms a person. When you see a glutton, you involuntarily remember the market, where bloody carcasses of animals brought from the slaughterhouse hang. It seems that the glutton's body hangs from his bones, like flayed carcasses on iron hooks.

The belly, heavy with food, plunges the mind into a gloomy slumber, making it lazy and dull. A glutton cannot think deeply and reason about spiritual things. His belly, like a lead weight, pulls the earthed soul down. Such a person feels his weakness especially acutely during prayer. The mind cannot enter into prayer words, like a dull knife cannot cut bread. In this sense, gluttony is a constant betrayal of one's prayer.

It should be noted that gluttony also darkens a person’s intellectual and creative powers. Almost none of them outstanding poets and artists were not distinguished by gluttony and did not have a body resembling a beer barrel. As an exception, one can point to the poet Apukhtin, who resembles the painting of Gargantua. One day, a child, seeing Apukhtin among the guests in his house, shouted in surprise: “Mom, what is this?” humanoid creature!».

Often a glutton, tired of the weight of his own body, leading to shortness of breath and exhaustion, and of the need to constantly overcome the size of his own stomach as an obstacle, when it is necessary to bend down to pick up something from the floor or tie shoelaces, decides to declare war on the demon of gluttony and destroy it as an enemy own fat. He copies diets from magazines, and announces to his loved ones that soon his figure will resemble not a Flemish painting, but a statue of Apollo. However, such a glutton who has gone on a diet most often finds himself in the role of a gladiator who, without weapons, entered into a fight with wild beast: at first he still resists, but then he falls, torn to pieces by the claws and fangs of the predator. At first, the glutton adheres to a strict diet and looks at those around him victoriously, like Hercules after another feat, but then, unable to withstand the gnawing pain in his stomach, he pounces on food, as if he wants to make up for lost time.

In gluttony, two passions can be distinguished: gluttony and laryngeal madness. Gluttony is an insatiable desire for food, it is an aggression of the body against the soul, a constant harassment of the belly, which, like a cruel publican, demands an exorbitant tribute from a person, this is the madness of the belly, which indiscriminately absorbs food, like a hungry hyena prey. The stomach of such a person is like a bag into which a stingy owner stuffs things indiscriminately when preparing for a long journey, and then drags with difficulty the unnecessary cargo.

Laryngeal madness is a constant desire for tasty and refined food, this is the voluptuousness of the larynx. A person must eat to live, but here he lives to eat. He draws up the menu in advance with such a preoccupied look, as if he is solving a puzzle or math problem. He spends all his money on treats, just like a gambler loses his fortune in excitement.

There are also other types of gluttony, these are: secret eating - the desire to hide one's vice; early eating - when a person, having barely woken up, starts eating without yet experiencing the feeling of hunger; hasty eating - a person tries to quickly fill his belly and swallows food without chewing, like a turkey; non-observance of fasts, consumption of foods harmful to health due to lust of the larynx. Ancient ascetics also considered excessive drinking of water to be gluttony.

How to get rid of gluttony? Here are some tips. Before the meal, you need to secretly pray that the Lord will give abstinence and help put a limit to the desires of the belly and larynx; remember that our body, greedy for food, will sooner or later itself become food for worms, taken from the earth - a handful of earthly dust; imagine what food turns into in the belly. You need to mentally determine for yourself the amount of food that you would like to eat, and then take away a quarter of it and put it aside. At first, a person will experience a feeling of hunger, but when the body gets used to it, then it is necessary to take away a quarter of the food again - this is what the Monk Dorotheus advises in his teachings. Here is the principle of gradually reducing food to the amount necessary for life. Often the demon tempts a person, scaring him that from lack of food he will become weak and sick, will not be able to work and will become a burden to others. The family will also worry and look anxiously at his plate, persistently urging him to eat more.

The Holy Fathers advise first limiting the consumption of spicy and irritating foods, then sweet foods that delight the larynx, then fatty foods that fatten the body. You should eat slowly - this way you will feel full more quickly. You need to get up from the meal when your first hunger is satisfied, but you still want to eat. In the old days there was a custom to eat in silence. Extraneous conversations distract attention, and a person, carried away by the conversation, can automatically eat everything that is on the table. The elders also advised reading the Jesus Prayer during meals.

Regarding the measure of water consumption, it should be remembered that thirst can be natural and false. To distinguish between them, you need to hold a little water in your mouth without swallowing it: if the thirst is false, then it goes away, and if it remains, then it is natural.

All passions are related to each other; their combination looks like a colored mosaic or fancy carpet patterns. Thus gluttony can be combined with the passion of anger. Some people, in a state of anger, and in general excitement and anxiety, have a desire to chew something in order to distract their thoughts; and since an angry person is almost always excited, he gets used to constantly putting food in his mouth. Gluttons justify their passion by their mental state - the desire to get out of stress. But as a result, they acquire not peace of mind, but extra pounds.

Gluttony is sometimes combined with stinginess. Such a person is ready to eat spoiled, moldy food rather than throw it away. Stingy gluttons store food like heirlooms, rejoicing that they have enough supplies to last for a long time. Only when the food begins to deteriorate and rot do they decide to use it for food. Misers, when treating guests, hate them in their hearts as invaders, and experience torment for every piece they eat. But they themselves love to go to their friends’ houses for lunch, and even make a schedule - when and to whom to go.

Gluttony combined with vanity gives rise to secret eating. A vain person is afraid of appearing to be a glutton. He eats abstinently in front of people, but when he is alone, he hurries to satisfy his passion. He has a treasured place where he hides food from prying eyes. Looking around and making sure that no one is there, he approaches the closet, like a stingy knight approaches a treasure chest, takes out food and quickly devours it. It must be said that the Slavic word “devour” means “to make a sacrifice.” The glutton sacrifices to his belly like a pagan to an idol.

There are sins akin to gluttony, such as eating without prayer, grumbling about food, drinking too much alcohol, making obscene jokes, using foul language, swearing, arguing and quarreling during meals. Demons flock to such feasts like flies to honey and desecrate the food with invisible impurities.

We can say that the sin of gluttony is the gradual consumption of the soul by the body, as a result of which the heavenly in a person fades, spirituality, and he becomes blind flesh.

The first link in the sinful chain is gluttony. To many it seems only a weakness that does not inspire much fear, and even that the consequences of this sin, like scabs from leprosy, do not appear immediately, but after several years. It must be remembered that after Adam committed sin, the harmony of the soul with the body in man was disrupted. After all, the body is only an instrument of the soul, and also an organic part of the human personality. And it turned into a substrate for passions with lust. The body must be a slave of the spirit. But in no case should the body control a person, his soul. Ideally, there should be a balance between spirit, soul and body.

What is the human body

The body can be called an evil friend and a good enemy. Without a body, a person’s personality will not be formed. Without a body, the spirit and soul will not be able to express themselves to the outside world through words and deeds. The evil flesh is ready at any moment to betray the soul to the Devil in order to receive base pleasures. It’s as if Judas sold his Teacher to death for three dozen pieces of silver. The body is a very insidious companion of the soul difficult path her to the kingdom of heaven. It either obediently follows the spirit, or, on the contrary, tries to drag it onto a wide road paved with stones, which leads to eternal death. Alternatively, you can even compare the soul and body to a certain rider on a wild horse. And as soon as the rider slightly loosens the bit, the horse will rush where his eyes are looking, as a result of which both will fall into the nearest hole.

Important!!!

Gluttony is essentially a victory of the body over the spirit. This is a kind of wide field where different passions run wild. You can talk about it as the first step of a steep and slippery staircase that leads straight to the underworld.

The belly, as soon as it becomes heavy with food, begins to plunge the mind into a kind of dark abyss of slumber, making it lazy and even dull. A glutton loses the ability to think deeply and accurately or reason about anything spiritual. His belly, like a huge lead weight, begins to pull the earthed soul straight down. Such a person especially acutely feels his weakness during prayer. The mind cannot penetrate into the holy words, as if a dull knife does not cut bread. In this sense, gluttony can be considered a constant betrayal of one's prayer.

Important!!!

It should also be noted that gluttony, like any sin, darkens the intellectual and even creative powers of the one who indulges in it. Almost none of them outstanding people, even if they were poets and artists, in his time he was not distinguished by gluttony, and did not even have a body that would resemble a beer barrel.

It often happens that a glutton, who is already very tired of the burden of his own body, which leads him to shortness of breath and exhaustion, decides to lose weight. He is exhausted by the need to constantly overcome the obstacle of the size of his own belly, for example, when he needs to bend down and pick up something from the floor or even simply tie his shoelaces. Then it is logical that he decides to declare war and defeat the demon of gluttony by destroying his own fat as an enemy. Such a person will subscribe to diets from fashion magazines, and even announce to all his friends and relatives that soon his figure will noticeably decrease in size. But such a glutton, as soon as he goes on a diet, finds himself in the role of a gladiator who, unarmed, entered into a fight with a huge, wild beast. At first, for the first minutes, he resists, but then falls, torn to shreds by claws or fangs terrible predator. At first, the glutton will adhere to a strict diet and look at others almost victoriously, but then the desire to absorb food will take its toll and he will, as before, zealously eat.

Are there certain types of this sin or its directions?

In gluttony, two addictions can be conventionally distinguished: gluttony and laryngeal madness.

Gluttony is essentially an insatiable desire for food, a kind of aggression of the body directed against the soul. That is, constant harassment from the womb, which every now and then requires a person to constantly consume food. This can be compared to the madness of the belly, which absorbs any food indiscriminately. The stomach of such a person will be like a bag into which a stingy owner shoves all things indiscriminately, after which he can barely drag the unnecessary load behind him.

Laryngopharynxia is a constant desire for tasty or refined food, that is, it is voluptuousness of the larynx. Simply put, a person must eat to be able to live, but this person lives in order to eat. He plans his menu in advance, paying too much attention to the dishes and choosing them carefully. He spends almost all his money on treats, as if a gambler is losing his fortune in excitement.

There are other types of gluttony, such as secret eating - this is the desire to hide one's vice. Wound eating is that a person, as soon as he wakes up, immediately starts eating, even before he begins to feel hungry. Hasty eating is also vicious, in which a person tries to fill his stomach very quickly and swallows food without even chewing it, like a turkey. It is considered sinful to fail to observe fasts, as well as to consume various harmful foods out of lust. Ancient ascetics generally considered even excessive drinking of water to be a sin of gluttony.

How to rid yourself of gluttony?

The Holy Fathers recommend that you first limit yourself to eating spicy or irritating foods. Then limit yourself to sweet and laryngeal-stimulating foods. Then you can already give up fatty and fatty foods. You need to eat slowly, this way you will feel full more quickly.

Advice

One must get up after a meal in a state where the first hunger has already been satisfied, but the person still feels thirsty for food. Previously, there was even a custom of eating in silence. Any extraneous conversations will distract attention, and a person who is carried away by the conversation will most likely automatically eat everything that is on the table. It would also be good to read a prayer to yourself while eating.

Conclusion:

We can say that the sin of gluttony is the gradual consumption of the body of the soul, and the result of this is that the heavenly and spiritual principle gradually fades in a person, and he turns into blind flesh. To get rid of gluttony, you need to give up spicy and irritating foods and limit your consumption of sweets. And remember one rule - you need to get up from the table with a slight feeling of hunger, then gluttony is not scary.

About gluttony