Ch. II. Evil effects which spring from pampering the taste

75. THERE are, St. Thomas teaches, five sisters all born of gluttony, the vile mother of a prolific family; in other words —according to the explanation which he himself gives—five most baneful results spring from an immoderate indulgence in the pleasures of eating and drinking, which are opposed, not only to perfection, but even to the fundamental conditions of a Christian life. Four of the children of this brutish mother are begotten in the soul; the fifth, continues the Saint, is brought forth in the body. All five are in league to injure our soul, and to compass its ruin. Now, of these five perverse daughters (or, to sink all further metaphor), of these five evil effects of gluttony, which invariably originate in the indulgence of the palate, we will treat in the present Chapter, and will ponder with St. Thomas their moral deformity, and the prejudice they occasion to the souls of devout persons who have yet to overcome this animal vice.

76. The first effect of gluttony assigned by St. Thomas, and one which is most injurious to all spiritual advancement, is the darkening of the mind by the superabundance of meat and drink, whereby the soul becomes incapable of prayer and of understanding divine truths. On the other hand, nothing better fits the mind for the contemplation of supernatural and heavenly things than fasting and abstinence. In what manner did Moses prepare himself when summoned to speak to God face to face on the summit of Mount Sinai? By a fast which was kept up for full forty days. How did Elias dispose himself for the vision of God in the cave of Horeb? By the like rigorous fast continued for forty days. And how did Daniel fit himself for those mysterious revelations and hidden secrets of which we read in his prophecy, but by a three weeks' fast. On the other hand, what led the Israelites to forget God and His claims to their veneration, homage, and worship, but the excess of gluttony into which they fell by immoderate feasting? Holy Writ tells us, that while being encamped and taking their rest at the foot of Sinai, they devoted themselves to eating and drinking. But what came of this excess? They lost the light of God's knowledge, and made a golden calf, which they adored in their insolent folly.

77. St. John Chrysostom handles this subject admirably. Look, he says, at a ship that has just discharged her cargo: how lightly she skims over the waves; how, borne, as it were, on the wings of the winds, she vies with them in speed; how swiftly she leaves the shore and disappears on the main, far from the gaze of all beholders. On the contrary, a ship that is laden with merchandise moves slowly, and yields but little to the impulse of the winds, because she is weighted by the charge she carries, which at times even causes her to sink. Thus, too, a man with his body not laden with food, rises unchecked and speedily to the contemplation of heavenly things. But when the belly is full of meat, and the mind overclouded with the fumes of wine, he cannot rise to God, being borne down by the weight of his intemperance. So too a spiritual person must not expect to make progress in prayer and familiarity with God, if he bridle not his appetite, by refusing his palate the gratification after which it hankers.

78. The second pernicious effect of gluttony—as we learn from the same holy Doctor—is, that when the reason is troubled, and the sensitive appetite affected by excess of meat or drink, we must needs show by outward behaviour a certain unmeaning boisterous merriment. And this was just what happened to the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. While Moses was fasting, and had entered into the mystic cloud of the loftiest contemplation, they fell, through excess of eating and drinking, into immoderate rejoicings. Being filled with meat, and their heads made giddy with the fumes of wine, they gave themselves up to dissolute gambols, to dancing, music, singing, and sports of all kinds. The result we have seen above. They bent their knees to the image of a calf, fashioned by their own hands; they offered it profane incense and abominable sacrifices. See the results of intemperance, a foolish joy which, blinding the reason, draws us into grievous excesses: as St. Jerome wisely observes in his Commentary on this passage. They, then, who wish to serve God, must take heed not to indulge all the cravings of their appetite and palate, for, losing thereby the inner light which regulates their behaviour and bearing, and casting aside all modesty, both inward and outward, in the transports of a boisterous gladsomeness, it must needs happen, not that they should turn their backs upon God by grievous sin, as was the case with the Israelites (for I cannot bring myself to augur so dreadful a misfortune), but that they will offend Him in countless manners, cease from their accustomed virtuous practices, and lose devout recollection.

79. The third effect of gluttony is talkativeness. For meat and drink, when taken to excess, with their fumes and vapours, set in motion the phantasms of the brain, whence arises an abundance of thoughts and words, but of thoughts which are not to the purpose, of foolish, ay, and often sinful, words, as may be frequently seen in such as have allowed themselves to be overcome by want of moderation in eating and drinking.

80. The rich glutton, when buried in hell, sought only to cool his burning tongue. But wherefore, St. Gregory asks, does he seek relief rather for his tongue than for any other part of his body, which was wholly plunged in a sea of devouring flames? On account of the great talkativeness, replies the Saint, which arose from his excesses; on this account he was more cruelly tormented in the tongue. The holy Doctor infers from this that gluttons are usually reckless talkers. To the end, then, that the tongue may not transgress by unmeasured talk, or by improper and unseemly expressions, it must be kept in moderation as regards the pleasures arising from eating and drinking, which it naturally seeks after.

81. The fourth effect of gluttony is scurrility, and want of due restraint in our outward bearing. For, as St. Thomas truly observes, when excess of meat and drink has clouded, not only reason, but still more the supernatural light of grace, and the appetite of the inner sense is stimulated, we must needs break out into foolish sayings, and into unbecoming gestures: unseemliness that scandalises, and buffooneries which move the bystanders to laughter, are sure to follow. It must be plain to every one how misplaced such things are in those who make profession of piety.

82. The fifth, and by far the most pernicious, effect of gluttony, is impurity. This, says St. Thomas, mainly concerns the body; nevertheless it inflicts on the soul a far more fatal blow than the other four, and causes its death. It was mainly on account of this shameful result that the Holy Fathers are so emphatic in their denunciations of intemperance in eating, and still more in the use of wine, especially when carried to excess, that they unanimously inculcate the mortification of the palate by means of temperance, fasting, and abstinence from eating or from abundance and variety of numerous dishes. "Meat and wine, and a full stomach." says St. Jerome, "are the seed-plot of incontinency." This Saint is ever repeating the same in his letters to those whom he directed in the spiritual path; on all of whom he imposes a rigid abstinence from dainties and from wine, lest these supply fuel to the treacherous vice of impurity. St. Basil says that whosoever will remain a virgin (and the same may be said of all who would keep themselves untainted and pure) must strive courageously against the cravings of the palate, this being the fountain-head and well spring of all sensual pleasures, and the stimulus of all uncleanness. Cassian asserts that it is impossible, with a full stomach, not to feel rebellious motions. From this, in the following Chapter, he infers that the intemperate man, being unable to restrain his appetite, will have still smaller success with the temptations of the flesh; these being more violent.

83. Such, then, are the five evil effects which, according to St. Thomas, arise from the indulgence of the sense of taste by gluttony; and, summing up this teaching, we may say, in a few words, with St. Gregory, that gluttony gives birth to an obtuseness of mind with regard to the understanding of heavenly things, to foolish joy, buffoonery, loquacity, and impurity. This last effect is, beyond question, the most to be dreaded, and of itself, even were there none other, ought to suffice to engage a Christian to wage a truceless war with gluttony and the palate. For all must be well aware that both these are in close league with impurity, not only to drive us from the degree we may have already reached in the path of perfection, but to make us stray from the road that leads to life everlasting; since there is no other vice which drags men so powerfully into eternal damnation.

84. The reader will not then be astonished if, in reading the works of the saints, he finds that the first maxim they inculcate on devout persons who are resolved to aim at real perfection, is to resist the cravings of taste, and to trample under foot the tendency which gluttony has to gratify this dangerous sense; for, as every one must see, it is absurd to talk of perfection amid the gross, glaring, and disgraceful faults which swarm from this swinish vice. But should it be the case that he has never met with such teachings and lessons of the saints, let him listen at least to the maxim laid down by St. Gregory on this very point: "No one should venture to think of undertaking the spiritual life who has not yet overcome the great domestic foe he carries within him, which is the appetite of gluttony." And elsewhere, he more than once repeats, that none should flatter themselves with the hope of winning laurels in the spiritual warfare, or attaining to perfection, unless the allurements of the flesh have been first overcome by the mortification of the appetite and of gluttony.

85. Cassian alleges a further reason for this, saying, that all are incapable of resisting greater vices who have not yet prevailed over the lesser. He who has been vanquished by a pigmy will certainly be unable to conquer a giant; nor can he expect to throw a robust soldier who has been cast to the ground by a feeble woman. So, also, is it idle to expect to overcome the greater vices and the more violent passions which sway our hearts, and thus to attain the glory of a certain progress in perfection, if we are unable to withstand our natural inclination for the relish of food, a lesser vice and one easier to overcome. I might prove this truth by several instances, but will confine myself to one which is connected with the life of St. Bernard, and is recorded in the annals of the Cistercian Order.

86. The holy Abbot went one day to visit his novices, as was his frequent custom, according to the duty of a good shepherd concerned for the well-being of his flock; and after having consoled them with a spiritual discourse, admirably suited to their needs and capacity, he called aside Achard and two others, and pointing out to them another novice who was present, told them that the unfortunate man would that very day leave the monastery. He therefore ordered them to keep an eye upon him, to follow him, and to stop him in his flight. Achard remained on the watch the whole night, anxiously awaiting the fulfilment of the holy Abbot's words. About the time that the signal for rising and going to the choir was given, he beheld two men of gigantic stature enter the dormitory; their features were repulsive, their looks sinister, and both were clad in dark raiment; one of them carried a roast fowl, spitted on a stick, and around it was coiled a hideous frightful serpent. They drew near to the couch of this unhappy novice, and holding to his nose the smoking dainty, repeatedly strove to lure him by the odour of the savoury dish. The reader will perceive that God's purpose in this vision was to show that the devil tempted this poor wretch by gluttony, and lured him by the relish of food. Meanwhile the poor novice awoke, and, dressing hastily, looked around with a suspicious eye, to make sure of not being watched; he then rushed like a madman to the monastery gate, in order to run away: thus fulfilling the prophecy of St. Bernard. Then Achard, who had attentively taken note of everything, called the community, told them what had happened, and begged them to make haste. They all together started after the fugitive, came up to him, and stopped him; but to no purpose, for, overcome by his gluttony, he was deaf to argument, to entreaty, and to threats. He was firmly and basely resolved to leave without bidding his saintly Abbot farewell. He returned to the world, where he made a miserable end. Now this young man had started with great fervour on the way of perfection, and, what makes the greatest impression on me, he began his course in the holiest place that was then to be found in the world, in the Abbey of Clairvaux itself, and under the ablest master of the age, the great St. Bernard. But to what purpose were all his generous resolves? They were of no avail, for he had not succeeded in overcoming his natural cravings for the pleasures of the taste. So true is it that the first steps which a person must take in the path of perfection are to mortify the palate, and to subdue the vice of gluttony, that seeks only to gratify the taste with the abundance, the quality, and the savour of the food which it finds most pleasing.