Letter 678

To Gelasius the Monk. The all-contriving demons suggest not only gluttony, but also urge upon us harsh starvation and the practice of fasting beyond measure, contriving these two ends: either that the one thus enticed should be driven into a frenzy by conceit, supposing that he conducts himself somewhat better than the brethren who train alongside him, and that through his self-control he flies on a level with the vultures; or that his body should be broken down, so that he is no longer of use either to himself or to another, and, once the sickness has often received a great intensification with the passage of time, the man should thereafter be rolled down into unbelief, despair, and blasphemy.

Οὐ μόνον γαστριμαργεῖν ὑποτίθενται οἱ παμμήχανοι δαίμονες, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσιτίας σκληράς, καὶ νηστείας ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτρον τελεῖν παρακαλοῦσι, δύο ταῦτα μινώμενοι, ἡ τύφῳ ἐκβακχευθῆναι τὸν δελεαζόμενον, νομίζοντα πλέον τι τῶν συνασκουμένων ἀδελφῶν πολιτεύεσθαι, καὶ τοῖς γυψὶν ἴσα πέτεσθαι διὰ τῆς ἐγκρατείας, ἢ τὸ σῶμα καταλυθῆναι, καὶ μηκέτι μήτε ἑαυτῷ μήτε ἄλλῳ χρησιμεῦσαι, καὶ τῆς νόσου πολλάκις πολλὴν ἐπίτασιν δεξαμένης τῷ χρόνῳ, εἰς ἀπιστίαν λοιπὸν, καὶ ἀνελπιστίαν, καὶ βλασφημίαν ἐκκυλισθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον.