' Mystical Fasting '...

Fasting,, as some people speculate,, is not a bodily torture,, martyrdom,, or a cross,, but it is a way to elevate the body to reach the level of cooperation with the soul... When we fast,, our intention is not to torture the body but to shun its behaviour... Thus, one who fasts becomes a spiritual and not a physical person.. Fasting is an ascetic soul which takes the body with it as its partner in asceticism. .................... Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria