Lenten readings

The Struggle with the Capital Sin of Gluttony...

"The next war will embroil many nations. It will be a war to the finish. Man has gained much knowledge, not to prevent destruction, but to maintain it for their own gluttony, their own loss of face, and for the belittlement of his fellow man." - Our Lady of the Roses, June 18, 1994

The following is an excerpt from the classic book, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology by the Very Reverend Adolphe Tanquerey, S.S., D.D.

Gluttony¹

Gluttony is the abuse of that legitimate pleasure God has attached to eating and drinking, which are necessary means of self-preservation. We shall explain: (1) its nature, (2) its malice, and (3) the remedies against it.

n1. ST. THOMAS, IIa IIae, q. 148; "de Malo," q. 14; JAUGEY, "De quatuor virtut. cardin., 1876, p. 569-579; LAUMONIER, op. cit., ch. II.

#864. (1) The Nature of Gluttony. Gluttony is an inordinate love of the pleasures of the table. The disorder lies in pursuing this satisfaction for its own sake, in considering it, either explicitly or implicitly, as an end in itself, as do those "whose God is their belly;"¹ or in pursuing the said delight to excess, at times even to the detriment of health, by disregarding the rules of sobriety.

n1. "Philip, III, 19.

#865. Theologians point out four different ways in which we may violate these rules.

1) Eating when there is no need, eating between meals, and for no other reason than that of indulging our greed.

2) Seeking delicacies or daintily prepared meats, the more to enjoy their relish.

3) Going beyond either appetite or need, gorging oneself with food or drink with danger to health.

4) Eating with avidity, with greed, after the manner of certain animals. This fashion of eating is considered ill-mannered by the world.

#866. (2) The Malice of gluttony comes from the fact that it makes the soul a slave to the body, it brutalizes man, weakens his intellectual and moral life, and insensibly paves the way to voluptuous pleasure, which at bottom is one in kind with it. To determine the malice of gluttony we must make a distinction.

A) Gluttony is a grievous fault: a) when it goes to such lengths that for a notable space of time it incapacitates us for the fulfillment of our duties of state or for the compliance with divine or ecclesiastical laws, for example, when it injures our health, when it is the cause of useless expenditures which endanger the interests of our home, when it makes us violate the laws of fast or abstinence. b) It is also a grave fault when it is the cause of other grievous faults.

By way of example: " Excess in eating and drinking" says Father Janvier,¹ "paves the way to unchastity, the offspring of gluttony, the lust of the eyes and ears demanding to be fed with unwholesome shows and licentious songs, the lust of the imagination and the memory, which search in the past for impressions apt to enkindle the fire of concupiscence; the lust of the mind, which, going astray, fastens itself upon unlawful objects, the lust of the heart, which longs after carnal affections; the lust of the will, which surrenders to be a slave to sense.... Intemperance at the table leads to intemperance in speech. How many are the faults committed by the tongue in the course of those sumptuous and protracted feasts! How many improprieties....! How many indiscretions! We betray secrets we had pledged ourselves to keep, professional secrets, sacred trusts, and we deliver to evil tongues the good name of husband wife and mother, the honor of a family, and perhaps the future welfare of a nation. How many faults against justice and against charity are not thus committed! Back-biting calumny and slander reveal themselves with dismal frankness in their most indefensible forms.... How many imprudences are committed! We become entangled in situations in which we cannot remain without outrage to all the laws of morality."

n1. "Careme," 1921, Retraite pascale, Exces de table.

#867. B) Gluttony is a venial fault when one yields to the pleasure of eating and drinking in an immoderate manner, yet without falling into grave excess, and without exposing oneself to violate a grave precept. Thus it would be venially sinful to eat or drink more than is proper in order to show one's appreciation of a fine repast, or in order to please a friend.

#868. C) From the point of view of perfection, gluttony constitutes a serious obstacle: 1) It fosters a spirit of immortification, which weakens the will, whilst it develops a love for sensual pleasure predisposing the soul to dangerous surrenders. 2) It becomes the source of many faults, by exciting excessive mirth which leads to dissipation, garrulousness, jokes of a doubtful character, to lack of restraint and of propriety, and thus lays the soul bare to the attacks of the evil one. Hence, it is important that we should combat this vice.

#869. (3) Remedies. Our guiding principle in the struggle against gluttony is that pleasure is not an end but a means, and that therefore it must be subjected to right reason enlightened by faith, (n. 193). Faith, however, tells us that the pleasure of eating and drinking must be sanctified by purity of intention, moderation and mortification.

1) First of all, we must take our repasts with a right and supernatural intention, not like the animal that merely seeks its pleasure, not like the philosopher who goes not beyond a naturally good intention, but as Christians the better to work for God's glory; in a spirit of gratitude towards God, Who in His goodness deigns to give us our daily bread; in a spirit of humility, saying, like St. Vincent de Paul, that we do not deserve the bread we eat; in a spirit of love, placing our renewed strength at the service of God and of souls. Thereby we comply with the advice of St. Paul to the first Christians, an advice recalled in many communities at the beginning of meals: "Whether you eat or drink... do all to the glory of God."¹

n1. I Cor., X, 31.

#870. 2) This purity of intention will make us observe the rules of sobriety, for wanting to take our food in order to acquire the strength needed for the fulfillment of our duties of state, we shall avoid all excess that might compromise our health. Health experts tell us that "sobriety (or frugality) is the essential condition of physical and moral vigor. Since we eat to live, we must eat sanely in order to live sanely. Hence, we must not exceed in food or in drink.... We must leave the table with a wholesome sensation of sprightliness and vigor, and with our appetite not completely satiated, thus avoiding the heaviness that comes from an excess of rich fare."¹

We must, however, note that the measure is not the same for all. Some need, in order to escape tuberculosis, a more abundant diet; others, on the contrary, to escape arterio sclerosis must check their appetite. With regard, then, to the quantity of food one must abide by the advice of a competent physician.

n1. CAUSTIER, "La Vie et la Sante," p. 115.

#871. The Christian must add to sobriety certain practices of mortification. A) since it is easy to overstep the mark and to yield too much to sensuality, we must at times forego certain foods we relish, and which, though useful, are not necessary. We thereby acquire a certain ascendancy over sensuality, we free the spirit from slavery to the senses, and give it more leisure for prayer and study, and we avoid many dangerous temptations.

B) An excellent practice is that of accustoming oneself to take no meal without some element of mortification. Such privations have the advantage of strengthening the will without injury to health, and are for this reason generally preferable to greater mortifications which we perform but rarely. Generous souls add a motive of charity, setting aside a part of their food for the poor and therefore for Christ living in them. St. Vincent Ferrer¹ points out that what we thus set aside must not be waste-matter, but some choice morsel, no matter how small. Another good practice is the habit of eating a little of something we dislike.

n1. "La Vie Spirtuelle," IIe Part., ch. III.

#872. C) Among the most beneficial practices of mortification, we place those that relate to intoxicating beverages. Let us recall the principles that bear on this matter:

a) In itself the moderate use of alcoholic drinks is not sinful.

b) To abstain from them in a spirit of mortification, or for the sake of good example, is assuredly most praiseworthy. There are priests and laymen belonging to social organizations who forego entirely the use of liquor, the more easily to deter others from its abuse.

C) There are cases when such abstinence is morally necessary to avoid excess. 1) When through heredity one has a certain inclination towards intoxicants; for in this case the mere use can develop an almost irresistible propensity, just as but a spark is needed to set inflammable matter afire. 2) When one has had the misfortune of contracting the inveterate habit of drinking to excess; then the only effective remedy will consist in total abstinence.

"Drunkenness has always been an abomination in the eyes of the Father, and time will never distort the word of God. Time and custom never changes in the eyes of your God....
"Gluttons of worldly pleasures, can you not see the sorrow, the many miseries of starving nations, and souls leaving this earth untimely? Is this cause for revelry and joy? Can the heart go joyously into worldly celebration when there is so much sorrow about you? Is this not the time for full prayer? Have you so little faith that you believe your time not limited? Cast not your lot in with satan now, for in His mercy our Father must often look the other way when He calls many souls to the judgment." - Our Lady of the Roses, December 31, 1970

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