the master of humility humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the death
110 SAINT A UGUSTINE - SERMONS the more lavishly, all the more frequently, the nearer the day approaches on which is celebrated the alms, the kindness that has been done to us. Because fasting without kindness and mercy is worth nothing to the one who's fasting.
Let your fasting be accompanied by frugality
2. Let us also fast by humbling our souls, as the day approaches on which the master of humility humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the death of the cross (Phil 2:8). Let us imitate his cross, pacifying and nailing our lusts with the nails of abstinence. Let us chastise our bodies, and subject them to hard service; and to avoid slipping into unlawful pleasures because of the unruliness of the flesh, in breaking it in let us deprive it to some extent even of lawful ones. Drugs and drunkenness,15 of course, are to be avoided even at other times; but during these days even permissible meals should be cut. Adultery and fornica¬ tion must always be abhorred and shunned; but during these days even marital relations should be moderated. The flesh will readily submit to you in not sticking to what belongs to others, if it has got used to being held back even from what is its own.
You must certainly beware of just revising, not reducing, your pleasures. I mean, you can see some people searching out unusual liquors as a substitute for the usual wine, and with the juices squeezed out of other fruits compensating themselves much more pleasantly for what they deny themselves from the grape; engaging in the quest for foods of the most delicious variety, other than meat; and concocting delicacies as suitable to this season, which at other times they are ashamed to bother with. The result is that the observance of Lent means, not the repression of old lusts, but the occasion for new enjoyments.
To avoid letting these persuasive suggestions creep up on you, brothers and sisters, be as watchful and prudent as you possibly can. Let your fasting be accompanied by frugality. Just as the cramming of the stomach is to be re¬ strained, so the tickling of the palate is to be avoided. It isn't that some kinds of human food are to be regarded as unclean, but that the delights of the flesh are to be held in check. Esau wasn't rejected over Wiener schnitzel or pate de foie gras,16 but for an inordinate longing for lentils.17 Holy David repented of having a greater desire for water than was just.18 So the body is to be refreshed, or rather supported in its fasting, not by elaborate and expensive dishes, but by any kind of cheaper food that is readily available.
Prayer must be chaste
3. During these days our prayer is lifted up to the heights with the support of kindhearted almsgiving and frugal fasting; because there is no impudence in asking for mercy from God, when it is not refused by one human being to another, and when the serene aim of the heart at prayer is not deflected by the cloudy, lowering images and fancies of the pleasures of the flesh. Prayer, though, must be chaste, so that we don't find ourselves expressing a wish for