Chapter XI.
The virtue of fasting is illustrated by the bitter example of bitter foods, and although the food may be sweet, its harmfulness is shown in the story of Esau and Jacob; then follows an exhortation to avoid boasting in fasting.
No one prefers sweet things to bitter things. Sweet pleasure seems, bitter fasting. Let that sweet thing be taken away from this bitterness. Bitter things are also accustomed to benefit the bodies themselves even more. Just as when worms are born in the innermost organs of boys from the indigestion of food, they cannot be extinguished unless a more bitter drink is poured in, or the strength of harsh medicines is applied, by the smell of which they die; so the profound virtue of the soul, having entered, kills the latent fault of fasting.
39. What did Esau do to his brother? Wasn't the food sweet for a time, but bitter in the future? What did Jacob give to his brother? Wasn't the contempt of the food more bitter for the time being, but healthy in the long run? The same bodies that are often bloated with sweet things are strained by honey; however, the bitterness of the food is tempered. Therefore, it is not a mediocre, but a praised question: From the eater came out food, and from the strong came forth sweetness (Judges 14:14). Others have: And from sadness comes sweetness; the Greeks especially have books. But it is also perhaps laborious; for sweetness arises from sadness or labor.
40. Therefore, do not boast when you fast, do not glory, lest fasting be of no benefit to you. For those things done for show will not bear fruit in the future; they consume their reward in the present. Elijah was in the desert, so that no one would see him fasting, except the ravens who fed him. Elisha was in the desert, where no food could be found, except bitter herbs. John was in the desert, where he could only find locusts and wild honey. The feasts are brought to those who are fasting by the pious ministry of angels. Daniel ate among the fasting lions. He ate a foreign meal, the animals did not touch their own. Feasts fly to those who are fasting, while those who are eating stumble on their feet: for those who are fasting, manna descends from heaven, while for those who are feasting, the guilt of transgression ascends.