Orthodox faith - gluttony - alphabet. Signs and symptoms of gluttony

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 them along with him as a conqueror of captives. 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 the globe like a trapper for the eighth millennium.

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 on the thorny path to the heavenly kingdom, which either obediently follows it, or tries to entice it onto the 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 earth. 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. The Flood, just like a 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 the end times. 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 recall a 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 the outstanding poets and artists were 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 kind of humanoid creature is this!”

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 a wild beast: at first he still resists, but then 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 plans the menu in advance with such a preoccupied look, as if he is solving a puzzle or a mathematical 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, one must 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 one-fourth of the food must be taken away again - this is what St. Dorotheos 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 gain 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 as heirlooms, glad that they have supplies 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, in their hearts hate them as invaders, and experience torment for every piece they eat. But they themselves love to go to their friends 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 represents the gradual consumption of the soul by the body, as a result of which the heavenly, spiritual principle in a person fades, and he becomes blind flesh.

Gluttony is a sin that forces us to eat and drink only for pleasure. This passion leads to the fact that a person, as it were, ceases to be a rational being and becomes like cattle, not possessing the gift of speech and understanding. The teachers of the Church tell us that gluttony is a great sin. It forced Adam to taste the forbidden fruit, it also became one of the causes of the Flood, each time it distracted the Israelites from worshiping the true God and inclined them to serve idols, and so on.

Thus, by “giving free rein” to the belly, we harm not only our health, but also all our virtues, especially chastity. Gluttony ignites lust, since excess food contributes to this. Lust leads to a fall, which is why it is so necessary that a person be well armed against this passion. You cannot give the womb as much as it asks for, but only what is necessary to maintain strength.

Extremes, as the holy fathers say, are equally harmful on both sides - both excess of fasting and satiety of the belly. We know some who, not being overcome by gluttony, were overthrown by immeasurable fasting and fell into the same passion of gluttony due to weakness resulting from excessive fasting. Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, you can move on to correct action, but from the former you cannot. The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, should eat as much food as is necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety requires.

The stomach should be given only what it needs to accept, and no more. After all, the Lord did not create man for food, but created food for man so that he would have the strength to live and work. Food is like medicine: if you drink as much as the doctor prescribed, there will only be benefit, but if you drink more, it will cause harm. Gluttony is the beginning of many sins, and the one who constantly fights with this sin and defeats it can dominate other sins. Therefore, all the saints who labored in the desert first of all forced themselves to overcome gluttony, knowing that by defeating this passion they would get rid of all others.

According to Grigory Dvoeslov, there are five types and ways in which gluttony tempts us. These are design, method, quality, quantity and situation (time). Time forces us to anticipate the next meal without benefit or necessity. Thus we eat much earlier than the proper hour. The amount of food forces us to eat and drink more than we should. Quality - look for dishes that taste delicious. The way we eat food tempts us to eat with passion, insatiably, greedily and predatorily. The idea is to cook food with imagination, so that it delights our palate.

Various passions are born through gluttony, which is why it is considered one of the seven deadly sins. Gluttony coarsens the mind, as stench rises from the stomach, clouding the mind, making a person lethargic and incapable of contemplation. By putting the rational part of the spirit to sleep, gluttony inflates passions, making a person a deceitful, talkative dreamer who speaks inappropriate and absurd speeches.

At the same time, the mind becomes darkened as if from wine, and in this situation it is no longer possible to restrain either feelings or language. But the worst thing is that the consequence of gluttony is uncleanness: the one who considers the stomach to be God sins a mortal sin, since his main goal in life is to eat and drink. Those driven by gluttony do not think about the Lord’s commandments, and there are those who, consciously getting drunk on wine, commit outrages and violence. In particular, such people force others to drink and feast with them, even on days of fasting. The tendency to gluttony in itself is not a mortal sin, unless you do it at risk to your health, to your detriment, or as a temptation to others.

However, high food costs affect the financial condition of the family. And it’s a sin if you see that your loved ones need the most necessary things, and at the same time you continue to enjoy food, reproaching your relatives and not having compassion for them. But even if gluttony were not considered a mortal sin and it did not interfere with our lives, it should still be avoided, since it is harmful to our body. Therefore we should hate this sin. After all, only foolish animals eat in order to accumulate fat and then be slaughtered. And people are created in the image and likeness of God to enjoy eternity and taste God in paradise.

If you keep a tight rein on the flesh, then this benefits the soul, since you acquire virtues.

Saint John of Kronstadt

Run such a way of life that you live only by animal impulses and desires, to sleep, eat, dress, walk, then drink, eat and walk again. This way of life finally kills the completely spiritual life of a person, making him an earthly and earthly creature; while a Christian should be heavenly even on Earth

And if you want to remain human, restrain your belly and guard yourself with all care so that you do not accidentally be overcome by even one type of gluttony.

If you were once tempted by the thought of taking food before the allotted time, you need to resist it in every possible way, following the example of the monk described in “Lavsaik”. When the demon encouraged the monk to eat in the morning, he said to himself: “Have patience, and eat at the third hour.” When the third hour arrived, he would say to himself: “Let’s do some handicrafts” or “Let’s read the psalms.” Then he slowly soaked the cracker in water and thus waited until the ninth hour. The monk found himself free from the sin of gluttony.

The second type of gluttony is the quality of food, that is, a person consciously seeks out attractive and tasty dishes. Here you also need to be very careful and eat food that does not give you pleasure: it does not pamper the body, but only maintains life in it. If simple food seems tasteless to you, then you need to eat only stale bread for some time, after which even simple, but fresh bread will seem like a delicacy to you. But first of all, you need to wait until the ninth hour (in modern times - three o'clock in the afternoon), when you are hungry enough. Only then will you be able to understand how delicious the simplest food can be.

The third type of gluttony is the amount of food. This happens when you eat more than your body needs. This type of gluttony should be guarded no less than other types of this sin, since it is very dangerous. The abundance of food and wine darkens the rational part of the soul, and you can easily lose yourself. You are merry at heart, rejoicing and singing, clapping your hands and jumping up and down, desecrating yourself with dirty talk. If you ate and drank enough, you wouldn't behave like this. Be careful, otherwise your heart will be burdened with hops, and in your intoxication you will not be able to avoid anger and possible disaster.

Venerable Abba Feona

Gluttony must be overcome not only for ourselves, so that it does not harm us with burdensome gluttony, and not only so that it does not inflame us with the fire of carnal lust, but so that it does not make us slaves of anger or rage, sadness and all other passions.

The fourth type of this sin is in the manner of eating. If you eat greedily and quickly swallow everything, then this is called nothing less than swinish outrage. Cattle eat this way, but not people. And when you eat, you should take care of yourself and carefully listen to the reading that is usual at meals. If there is no reading, you need to raise your thoughts to God and, thinking about His saving Passion, pray. In this case, the soul will be nourished along with the body.

The fifth and last type of gluttony is excessive concern for the quality of food, that is, the habit of choosing only good and varied things. You must hate this habit with all your soul as harmful to the soul and not be like those who, according to the expression of the Apostle Paul, have a god in their belly. These people serve the belly with the care that is only fitting in the service of the true God. The teachings of the Holy Fathers of the Church can help you free yourself from this passion.

But first of all, think about how much hardship drunkenness and gluttony cause your stomach, how they depress your body. And what's so special about gluttony? What new can eating splendid dishes give us? After all, their pleasant taste lasts only when they are in your mouth. And after you swallow them, not only the sweetness will remain, but also the memory of tasting them. If you don’t believe it, then try asking yourself: what pleasantness and what taste do you feel from the foods and wines that you have eaten and drunk in your life? You probably won’t be able to remember, and it will feel as if you’ve never tried anything.

Pleasure passes quickly, so when a thought tempts you, think that everything has already passed. Do not fulfill the will of the flesh, because whether you ate choice dishes in the evening or limited yourself to bread and water, the next day there will be no difference. Only in the first case you will have the sin of gluttony, but in the second - not.

As for the harm and excesses resulting from the passion of gluttony, these are, first of all, unnecessary expenses associated with the “maintenance” of the womb, various diseases arising from drunkenness and overeating, as well as clouding of the mind. In such a state, a person is not capable of doing anything, neither spiritual nor physical, because he does not want anything. It is also worth thinking about the eternal hunger and thirst you will experience after death, which is clearly mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.

Venerable John Cassian the Roman

Gluttony is divided into three types: one type encourages eating before a certain hour; another loves only to be satiated with any kind of food; the third wants tasty food. Against this, a Christian must have threefold caution: wait for a certain time for eating; don't get fed up; be content with all the most modest food.

And lastly: remember the abstinence of the Savior, Who fasted for 40 days in the desert. Never forget the Passion of Jesus, but always remember them with great sorrow and oppression of the heart. Avoid dinner parties and feasts where a lot of food is served and it is difficult to maintain abstinence. There you will be overwhelmed by one of the festive dishes. Our forefathers also suffered this temptation: when they saw the beautiful fruit and were unable to restrain themselves, they committed a sin. And we, their descendants, are now paying in full along with them.

In order to learn abstinence, you need to remember three rules: first, when living with others, you need to eat with them and at the same time; second, you should not anticipate meal times unless absolutely necessary; third, you should not be late to the table, so as not to tempt others.

The same can be applied to the quality of food: if they prepare one dish for everyone, and one wants another, then this is not entirely good. The exception is a sick person to whom a doctor has prescribed a particular diet. But if you refuse a common dish of your own free will, then this is a sin. In addition, when abstaining, one cannot grumble or condemn others, because the virtue of abstinence must be accomplished in peace and joy of heart. There is no reward for anyone who fasts in order to exalt himself in the eyes of others, since the goal of any abstinence is to gain the glory of God. And those who strive for vanity and worldly glory will not be worthy of it. He rather inherits torment along with the secret eater.

Everyone should abstain according to his ability, especially from drinking wine. It is no secret that intoxication oppresses the rational part of the soul, and therefore becomes the cause of harm: damage to the body and soul. Those who thirst for salvation must beware of wine and never even drink it. And these are, first of all, women, young men, priests, judges and monks. Young people are easily led into temptation because their lust for the flesh is very strong. Wine provokes an impulse towards unbridled aspirations and disorder, as the Apostle Paul says in his Epistle to Titus.

According to the Holy Fathers, our flesh is a disorderly and daring enemy: the more we please it, the more cruelly it fights with us. Its commanders are feelings and lusts, its weapons are wines and various dishes, and the wounds that the soul receives are sins. The harm to the body is from diseases of the stomach, head and kidneys, and if you want to avoid them, fight them by abstinence. Temperance is the virtue that takes away strength and weapons from the flesh and can subordinate it itself to the rule of reason.

Saint Basil the Great

Learn to keep a tight rein on your womb: it alone does not give thanks for the benefits shown to it.

Just as drunkenness can develop into fornication, so abstinence is the guardian of chastity. Abstinence curbs the flesh, making a person the master of passions and the conqueror of the enemy that confuses us. Therefore, we must hate gluttony as the root cause of all sins. We should especially beware of secret eating - a vice with a serpentine disposition that causes great harm to our soul. This sin is so disgusting to the Savior that He condemns a person only for it, about which much has been written in spiritual literature. For this one sin, a person will be tormented, and no other benefits will benefit him. Therefore, drunkenness and gluttony, and especially secret eating, must be hated with all your soul, so as not to inherit eternal torment with sinners.

Gluttony, which even Christians of high spiritual life indulge in, is often compared to an eagle. Although this bird soars in the sky, hiding from the faces of people, at the first demand of its belly it descends to the ground and feeds on carrion. Therefore, gluttony cannot be suppressed by any force, like other vices: it can only be limited by the power of the spirit. However, if conquered gluttony begins to flatter you with its humility, as if begging you to make it easier, to reduce the measure of abstinence and jealousy of severity, do not give up: its humility is only visible. Knowing that you have become calmer from the bestial incitement of passions, do not think that the danger has passed, and do not return to your former intemperance, because conquered gluttony seems to say to itself: “I will return to my house from where I came” (Matthew 12:44 ).

Saint John Chrysostom

Just as a ship, loaded with more than it can contain, goes to the bottom under the weight of the cargo, so too the soul and the nature of our body: taking food in quantities exceeding its strength... becomes overwhelmed and, unable to withstand the weight of the cargo, sinks in the sea of destruction and in doing so destroys the swimmers, the helmsman, the navigator, the sailors, and the cargo itself. As it happens with ships in such a state, so it is with those who are fed up: just as neither the calm of the sea, nor the skill of the helmsman, nor the multitude of shipmen, nor the proper equipment, nor the favorable season, nor anything else brings benefit to the ship thus overwhelmed, so and here: neither teaching, nor admonition, [nor the reproach of those present], nor instruction and advice, nor fear of the future, nor shame, nor anything else can save a soul thus overwhelmed.

And then the spirits (vices) that come from him, numbering seven, will be even more evil for you than the passion from which you got rid of, and very soon they will draw you into sins. Therefore, having conquered the passion of gluttony with the help of fasting and abstinence, do not leave your soul empty: virtues must settle in it. Carefully fill all the secret corners of your heart so that the spirit of gluttony, when it returns, does not find a place for itself. Otherwise, he will re-enter your soul, taking with him all seven sins, so that “the last will become worse than the first.” For there is nothing more vile and filthy than that soul which, boasting that it has already renounced this world, gives shelter to all mortal sins. As a result, she is subjected to such severe punishment as she was not subjected to before she acquired Christian dignity.

The fact is that the mentioned seven spirits are considered more evil than the spirit that came out, because the desire for the womb would not be so harmful if it did not entail stronger passions - such as fornication, anger, love of money, despondency, sadness, pride, vanity, which, without a doubt, are much more harmful and disastrous for the soul. And therefore, one who wants to achieve perfect purity through abstinence alone cannot achieve perfection. After all, abstinence is a bodily fast, after which, having pacified the flesh, one should enter into battle with other passions.

First of all, you need to suppress the sin of gluttony, but your mind must be sharpened not only by fasting, but also by reading, vigilance and heartfelt contrition about what you consider yourself defeated or deceived. Then, lamenting his vices and gaining the desire to become perfect, a person finally realizes that eating food is not allowed for our pleasure: it is only an inevitable need of the body. A person occupied with such thoughts is able to suppress the voluptuousness that intensifies from eating food and wine, and the furnace of his body, kindled by the devil, can be extinguished by heartfelt crying about sins. Subsequently, upon achieving true perfection, this flame will gradually be extinguished by the dew of God's grace abiding in our hearts.

Let me immediately say that we are talking about traditional knowledge, which we will discuss separately from religious aspects, so take the text accordingly, agreed? You probably know that traditional knowledge is an important source of health information for me. I believe that health-promoting knowledge, skills, and practices survived and perpetuated because they conferred an advantage on their bearers (like genes in evolution). Why is gluttony (gluttony) included in the list of mortal sins?! It seems, who feels bad because of what I eat? But it's not that simple.

What is gluttony?

Gluttony is gluttony, immoderation, greed in food, overeating, eating too much food, satiety. There was even such a definition of a glutton as - gluttonous, i.e. almost insane, obsessed. And overweight, fat, obese, “fat belly” are the usual definitions of the consequences of the life of a glutton.

In antiquity, it was believed that gluttony causes both bodily suffering and suffering of the soul, since the object of the sensualist’s joy is not a true good. The fight against the vice of gluttony involves not so much the volitional suppression of the urge to eat, but rather reflection on its true place in life[

Gluttony is one of the most serious mortal sins. Gluttony is understood not only as overeating, but also as drunkenness, drug use, smoking, and excessive love of pleasure and delicacy of food.

This passion turns into the desired goal of the soul for pleasure, in an irresistible desire to take more or more refined food than is required to maintain a healthy body. Gluttony means greed and excess in food, leading a person to a bestial state. A person possessed by the highest degree of gluttony reaches the point where, realizing the physiological impossibility of digesting the amount of food consumed, he takes pills to digest food, or, by inducing a gag reflex, he is freed from swallowed food for further consumption of the next meal.

The Holy Fathers say that if a person has submitted to the passion of gluttony, then all other passions, fornication, anger, sadness, despair, and love of money easily take possession of him. If you control the womb, you will live in paradise, and if you do not control it, you will become the prey of death.

Gluttony is the door and the beginning of many sinful inclinations, and whoever overcomes gluttony by strength dominates other sins.

Know that the demon often sits down on the stomach and does not allow a person to get enough, even if he ate all the food in Egypt and drank all the water in the Nile.

“The beginning of all evil is the trust of the belly and the relaxation of oneself with sleep,” “satiation is the mother of fornication, those who have fallen into the pit of iniquity, and “to the extent that one labors in the belly, to that extent he deprives himself of tasting spiritual blessings.”

Types of gluttony

1. Encouragement to eat ahead of time;

2. Saturation with any food: a person is more interested in the amount of food. The limit of overeating is when a person forces himself to eat food when he doesn’t feel like it. Gastrimargia (Greek: gluttony) is a person’s desire to simply fill his belly, without particularly paying attention to the taste of food.

3. Desire for exquisite food, that is, a special attachment to the quality of food. Lemargy (Greek laryngopharynx) is a person’s desire for pleasure from consuming tasty food, receiving pleasure from organoleptic properties.

4. Other types: There are 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.

Differences between satisfying hunger and gluttony

“A person has a natural need for food as a source of energy for the normal functioning of the human body. There is no sin in judicious, healthy, moderate satisfaction of it. The passion of gluttony grows from the abuse of satisfying this need. Passion perverts, exaggerates natural need, subjugates the will of a person to the lust of the flesh. A sign of developing passion is a constant desire for satiety.”

“Eating on a whim means wanting to take food not out of bodily need, but to please the belly. If you see that sometimes nature more readily accepts one of the vegetables than the juice, and not because of whim, but because of the lightness of the food itself, this must be distinguished. Some by nature require sweet food, others salty, others sour, and this is neither passion, nor whim, nor gluttony.

But to love any food especially and lustfully desire it is a whim, a servant of gluttony. But this is how you know that you are possessed by the passion of gluttony - when it also possesses your thoughts. If you resist this and decently take food according to bodily needs, then this is not gluttony.

The Story of Gluttony (Gula)

Gula is a Latin word meaning “gluttony, gluttony,” which organically entered the Old French language and existed almost until the beginning of the New Time. Thirsting for rich dishes and fine wines, the glutton goes beyond what God has laid down, thereby destroying the order He established on Earth, creating a threat to the state... The situation has gone so far that the very word “glutton” (gloz, glot or glou - in the language of that era) has become denote a rowdy, a person of dangerous and unpredictable character. The feminine form - gloute - among other things, received the meaning of “nymphomaniac”, “prostitute”, a woman not distinguished by decent behavior.

Negative attitudes towards people who abuse food can be found in both the books of the Old and New Testaments. For example, King Solomon wrote: “Be not among those who are drunk on wine, nor among those who are satiated with meat: for the drunkard and the satiated one will become poor, and sleepiness will be clothed in rags.” He also advised: “And put a barrier in your throat if you are greedy.”

In Catholic theology, gluttony is also one of the seven cardinal sins (the sin against the second commandment). Together with debauchery, it is classified as “carnal sin” (Latin: vitia carnalia). In German inquisitor Peter Binsfeld's classification of the Seven Deadly Sins, gluttony was personified by Beelzebub. Beelzebub or Beelzebub (from Hebrew - Baal-Zebub, “lord of the flies”, literally “lord of flying things”) in the Christian religion is one of the evil spirits, an assistant of the devil (quite often identified with him along with Lucifer.

Miniatures and wall paintings of churches show us a huge number of frightening and repulsive images of gluttons. Here is a glutton with a bloated belly, like a dog, gnawing on a bone, here is a thin and wiry drunkard greedily leaning towards a glass. Here is another one galloping at full speed on a pig (a symbol of pleasing the belly), clutching a piece of meat in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. This type of depiction was the simplest way to convey to the flock the necessary truth: excessive cravings for food and wine are mortally dangerous, both for the body and for the soul!

Why is gluttony a mortal sin?

In 2003, leading associations of restaurants and cafes in France sent a letter to Pope John Paul II asking him to remove gluttony from the list of sins. They see nothing wrong with a good table with delicious dishes. What sin is this?

And really, why is the desire to eat counted as a sin? There are a lot of things around that, it would seem, deserve more to be in the “honorable seven” than simple gluttony, which we most often treat very condescendingly. After all, hunger, according to scientists, is simply a kind of beacon that begins to indicate to us that the body does not have enough energy. But this is only at first and very inattentive glance...

Thomas Aquinas defined the cardinal vices as the source of many sins as follows: “a cardinal vice is such that it has an extremely desirable goal, so that in the desire of it a person resorts to committing many sins, which all have their origin in this vice as their main cause.”

Our ancestors did not know about dopamine, but they correctly noted that “greed has no boundaries.” And if you satisfy emotional hunger with food, or “polish” with food, then this behavior leads to serious disruptions in the dopamine system. Let me remind you that normally the dopamine system works like a stick, not a carrot.

With few exceptions, this system controls punishment rather than reward by shutting down dopamine. In such cases, dopamine levels drop (for example, in case of hunger), forcing us to take active actions. As a result, the reward system briefly returns dopamine, and we feel good. The same mechanism works, for example, when winning a sports competition, praising or condemning other people, etc. A drop in dopamine drives us to achieve a goal, which can be achieved at the cost of overexertion and stress.

That is, if you eat when there is a real need, then this behavior does not disrupt the functioning of the dopamine system. This is not gluttony. And if you eat for pleasure, then this is a classic dopamine stimulant! That is, according to traditional knowledge, everything that excessively stimulates dopamine is gluttony. I previously described this situation in detail with sweets, but it generally applies to other manifestations of gluttony. Stimulating dopamine with sweets is a common method. We are learning that sugar is no different from a drug and can be addictive, especially for people with a genetic or social predisposition. Yes, yes, people who eat sweets, cookies or sweet yogurts are actually no different from smokers. For our brain, both behavior patterns are the same. The desire to have a snack is an absolute analogue of the desire to smoke or drink.

Gluttony
Gluttony is a sin that forces us to eat and drink only for pleasure. This passion leads to the fact that a person, as it were, ceases to be a rational being and becomes like cattle, not possessing the gift of speech and understanding. The teachers of the Church tell us that gluttony is a great sin. It forced Adam to taste the forbidden fruit, it also became one of the causes of the Flood, each time it distracted the Israelites from worshiping the true God and inclined them to serve idols, and so on.

Venerable John Cassian the Roman
Extremes, as the holy fathers say, are equally harmful on both sides - both excess of fasting and satiety of the belly. We know some who, not being overcome by gluttony, were overthrown by immeasurable fasting and fell into the same passion of gluttony due to weakness resulting from excessive fasting. Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than satiety, because from the latter, due to repentance, you can move on to correct action, but from the former you cannot. The general rule of moderation in abstinence is that everyone, in accordance with his strength, body condition and age, should eat as much food as is necessary to maintain the health of the body, and not as much as the desire for satiety requires.

If you keep a tight rein on the flesh, then this benefits the soul, since you acquire virtues.

Saint John of Kronstadt
Run such a way of life that you live only by animal impulses and desires, to sleep, eat, dress, walk, then drink, eat and walk again. This way of life finally kills the completely spiritual life of a person, making him an earthly and earthly creature; while a Christian should be heavenly even on Earth

And if you want to remain human, restrain your belly and guard yourself with all care so that you do not accidentally be overcome by even one type of gluttony.

Venerable Abba Feona
Gluttony must be overcome not only for ourselves, so that it does not harm us with burdensome gluttony, and not only so that it does not inflame us with the fire of carnal lust, but so that it does not make us slaves of anger or rage, sadness and all other passions.

Think about what gluttony and pleasing the flesh brings you. After all, after death she will be good prey for worms. Think also about the Heavenly Meal, to which everyone is invited. But if you want to partake of this Meal, then be abstaining from food in your present temporary life. After all, even here, in this world, if you are invited to dinner, then you will not eat or drink before, otherwise you will not want to eat where you were invited. Venerable John Cassian the Roman
Gluttony is divided into three types: one type encourages eating before a certain hour; another loves only to be satiated with any kind of food; the third wants tasty food. Against this, a Christian must have threefold caution: wait for a certain time for eating; don't get fed up; be content with all the most modest food.

Women should also avoid wine, as they do not have enough strength to resist the carnal desires fueled by wine. So, according to Valery Maxim, in Ancient Rome women never drank wine. Judges who care about the welfare of the people should also not drink wine and commit outrages. In the Proverbs of Solomon, kings are forbidden to drink wine so that they can make well-informed decisions. Clergy should not drink alcohol either, in order to read with reverence, to perform services according to order, with the fear of God and tenderness, which those who are satiated will never be able to do. According to the Holy Fathers, our flesh is a disorderly and daring enemy: the more we please it, the more She is fighting us cruelly. Its commanders are feelings and lusts, its weapons are wines and various dishes, and the wounds that the soul receives are sins. The harm to the body is from diseases of the stomach, head and kidneys, and if you want to avoid them, fight them by abstinence. Temperance is the virtue that takes away strength and weapons from the flesh and can subordinate it itself to the rule of reason.

Saint Basil the Great
Learn to keep a tight rein on your womb: it alone does not give thanks for the benefits shown to it.

Saint John Chrysostom
Just as a ship, loaded with more than it can contain, goes to the bottom under the weight of the cargo, so too the soul and the nature of our body: taking food in quantities exceeding its strength... becomes overwhelmed and, unable to withstand the weight of the cargo, sinks in the sea of destruction and in doing so destroys the swimmers, the helmsman, the navigator, the sailors, and the cargo itself. As it happens with ships in such a state, so it is with those who are fed up: just as neither the calm of the sea, nor the skill of the helmsman, nor the multitude of shipmen, nor the proper equipment, nor the favorable season, nor anything else brings benefit to the ship thus overwhelmed, so and here: neither teaching, nor admonition, [nor the reproach of those present], nor instruction and advice, nor fear of the future, nor shame, nor anything else can save a soul thus overwhelmed.