To fast is....

This is a quote from the "Word from the desert" blog. And this is just wonderful:

…It is to do away with whatever pleases the palate. Fasting ends lust, roots out bad thoughts, frees one from evil dreams. Fasting makes for purity of prayer, an enlightened soul, a watchful mind, a deliverance from blindness. Fasting is the door of compunction, humble sighing, joyful contrition, an end to chatter, an occasion for silence, a custodian of obedience, a lightening of sleep, health of the body, an agent of dispassion, a remission of sins, the gate, indeed, the delight of Paradise.
St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 14

Glory to The Father and to The son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages!