Rules for eating!

With Lent on the horizon, now is the time to introduce moderation into your life. St. Ignatius of Loyola provides us with a set of eight rules to order your disordered eating habits. With a closer look, you’ll find that these concepts apply to anything that needs modification. 😊 In the rules that follow, Ignatius’ own words are first given and then explained in terms of living it today.

Adaptation of

RULES TO PUT ONESELF IN ORDER FOR THE FUTURE

AS TO EATING

To secure for the future due order in the use of food.

(Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, 210)

Ignatius said: First Rule. The first rule is that it is well to abstain less from bread, because it is not a food as to which the appetite is used to act so inordinately, or to which temptation urges as in the case of the other foods.

Living it today:  Giving up the easy stuff isn’t really giving up at all. Decide what you really need to stop eating, doing or thinking, and abstain from it.

Ignatius said: Second Rule. The second: Abstinence appears more convenient as to drinking, than as to eating bread. So, one ought to look much what is helpful to him, in order to admit it, and what does him harm, in order to discard it.

Living it today:  Some things, often referred to as ‘staples’, are needed for well being. Give up those things that aren’t. Pay attention to how your mind and body reacts to what you take in. Healthy food gives real energy; espressos only a quick charge. A popular movie may bring laughs, but the cynicism or sexual innuendos leave unrest. A cable news show may be intellectually stimulating but leaves you loathing certain people instead of loving them. Get rid of it all and detox your heart.

Ignatius said: Third Rule. The third: As to foods, one ought to have the greatest and most entire abstinence, because as the appetite is more ready to act inordinately, so temptation is more ready in making trial, on this head. And so abstinence in foods, to avoid disorder, can be kept in two ways, one by accustoming oneself to eat coarse foods; the other, if one takes delicate foods, by taking them in small quantity.

Living it today:  The will really is tied to the appetite of the stomach. If you can become indifferent to what you eat, you can conquer any temptation. Accustom yourself to eating what you need for good health, and be grateful for it. Gratitude is the seasoning of love and brings out the flavor in even the most plain foods. Likewise, be grateful for friends who honor you with fine meals, and return the honor by dining with them, simply not eating more than is needed.

Ignatius said: Fourth Rule. The fourth: Guarding against falling into sickness, the more a man leaves off from what is suitable, the more quickly he will reach the mean which he ought to keep in his eating and drinking; for two reasons: the first, because by so helping and disposing himself, he will many times experience more the interior knowledge, consolations and Divine inspirations to show him the mean which is proper for him; the second, because if the person sees himself in such abstinence not with so great corporal strength or disposition for the Spiritual Exercises, he will easily come to judge what is more suitable to his bodily support.

Living it today:  the more clutter you discard from your diet, and your life, the quicker you’ll find balance and temperance as a lifestyle. First, because doing so for God, disposes you to receive His grace and He will give it. Make eating a prayer, and He will answer. Second, when you’re not totally focused on me-me-me and the “I wants”, you’ll be able to figure out what you actually need. The indifference puts you in harmony with the rest of creation. The humble disposition opens you up to receive the gifts of the Spirit.

Ignatius said: Fifth Rule. The fifth: While the person is eating, let him consider as if he saw Christ our Lord eating with His Apostles, and how He drinks and how He looks and how He speaks; and let him see to imitating Him. So that the principal part of the intellect shall occupy itself in the consideration of Christ our Lord, and the lesser part in the support of the body; because in this way he will get greater system and order as to how he ought to behave and manage himself.

Living it today:  Order your thoughts towards God by imitating how Christ acts. By making eating a contemplation, an orderly life will ensue. Temperance will become a habit.

Ignatius said: Sixth Rule. The sixth: Another time, while he is eating, he can take another consideration, either on the life of Saints, or on some pious Contemplation, or on some spiritual affair which he has to do, because, being intent on such thing, he will take less delight and feeling in the corporal food.

Living it today: Contemplating eating with the saints, or reading scriptures or books by holy authors, your focus will be on the Sacred; so will your delight. You won’t care if the potatoes need more salt.

Ignatius said: Seventh Rule. The seventh: Above all, let him guard against all his soul being intent on what he is eating, and in eating let him not go hurriedly, through appetite, but be master of himself, as well in the manner of eating as in the quantity which he eats.

Living it today: honor the giver not the gift. Inhaling your food at rapid speed shows you like it. Eating slowly, with discipline, shows you appreciate it. The difference in this behavior reflects the God in whose image you are created.

Ignatius said: Eighth Rule. The eighth: To avoid disorder, it is very helpful, after dinner or after supper, or at another hour when one feels no appetite for eating, to decide with oneself for the coming dinner or supper, and so on, each day, the quantity which it is suitable that he should eat. Beyond this let him not go because of any appetite or temptation, but rather, in order to conquer more all inordinate appetite and temptation of the enemy, if he is tempted to eat more, let him eat less.

Living it today:  Plan ahead what you will eat and stick to the plan. Make the plan after eating so you aren’t tempted to plan for more than you need. And when you are later tempted to change the plan (and you will be, so plan for temptation!), make a small act of penance as it is your weapon in the spiritual battle.

The rules for eating are the rules to gain temperance in any area of life. Substitute your own weakness in place of food and see how your life improves with moderation. Attending to the non-spiritual sets the foundation for spiritual growth. Enough is as good as a feast!

All for the greater glory of God 😊

(Image from Pexels)