“Properly speaking fasting consists in abstaining from food, but speaking metaphorically it denotes abstinence from anything harmful, and such especially is sin.” – St. Thomas Aquinas
"Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God's ear to yourself." – St. Peter Chryosologus
“Just as it would harm the stomach if it were always full or empty, it does the soul harm when the body lives in constant pleasure.” – Hildegard of Bingen
“When a man begins to fast, he straightway yearns in his mind to enter into converse with God.” – St. Isaac the Syrian
“Penance without fasting is useless and vain; by fasting [we] satisfy God.” – St. Basil
“It is impossible to engage in spiritual conflict, without the previous subjugation of the appetite.” – St. Gregory the Great
“Do you wish your prayer to fly toward God? Make for it two wings: fasting and almsgiving.” – St. Augustine
"My friend, the devil is not greatly afraid of the discipline and other instruments of penance. That which beats him is the curtailment of one’s food, drink and sleep. There is nothing the devil fears more, consequently, nothing is more pleasing to God." – St. John Vianney
“The enemy … stands more in awe of those whom he knows can fast.” – St. Francis de Sales
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