{"product_id":"to-love-fasting","title":"To Love Fasting","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy Adalbert de Vogüé, O.S.B.\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eTo love fasting: \u003c\/b\u003eAn impossible ideal or a fundamentally sound rule for life? Fasting, for centuries, was a constitutive element of religious practice. Yet that practice has waned almost to the point of vanishing, as the world—particularly in the West—has made its appetites like unto gods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e“\u003cem\u003eWhat are the instruments of good works?\u003c\/em\u003e” \u003cem\u003eTo love fasting.\u003c\/em\u003e (Rule of Saint Benedict)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWith fervor and conviction, Dom Adalbert de Vogüé proposes a re-evaluation of fasting, one that comprehends it not as a punishment for man’s physical shortcomings, but as a joyful liberation of man’s spiritual character. \u003ci\u003eTo Love Fasting \u003c\/i\u003edescribes the “regular fast,” observed as a rule of daily life, connecting it with its biblical and patristic origins, discussing its vicissitudes by excess or defect through the centuries, and comparing it with its non-Christian and non-religious analogues throughout the ages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eFirst published in English in 1989, \u003ci\u003eTo Love Fasting \u003c\/i\u003eis a clarion call to appreciate fasting (like chastity) as an abstinence worthy of being loved, for the simple yet profound reason it purifies the body and pacifies the soul, giving joy and freedom to the whole person, and affording indispensable assistance toward the attainment of union with God.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdalbert de Vogüé, O.S.B., \u003c\/b\u003e(1924–2011) was a Benedictine monk of the Abbaye Sainte Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire. After teaching patristics and the history of monasticism at the Pontifical Athanaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome, he lived as a hermit at La Pierre-qui-Vire until his death in 2011. Besides \u003ci\u003eTo Love Fasting\u003c\/i\u003e, his books in English include \u003ci\u003eThe Rule of Saint Benedict: A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary \u003c\/i\u003e(1983); \u003ci\u003eTo Desire Eternal Life \u003c\/i\u003e(1998); and \u003ci\u003eSaint Benedict: The Man and His Work \u003c\/i\u003e(2006).\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\" class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e* * *\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback: \u003c\/strong\u003e190pp.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN: \u003c\/strong\u003e978-1685953522\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cluny Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42861783810142,"sku":"978-1685953522","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0652\/2929\/1614\/files\/Product228_8ef8c237-45c5-4e0b-b634-ccb1c9826289.jpg?v=1780986902","url":"https:\/\/nez-emporium.com\/products\/to-love-fasting","provider":"Nez Emporium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}