St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite - On the Tongue

Though it is called taste in The Handbook of Spiritual Counsel, this next section really ought to be called "the tongue" because the topic that St. Nicodemos covers is all things related to the tongue. The mouth,according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, "is always filled yet always remains empty" (Hanbook of Spiritual Counsel, ch. 6). What is the need of all these wanton and surreptitious meals? The only need of them is to fuel the desires of the stomach and by doing so, one fuels their lusts for other sins, fornication, homosexuality, and all carnal and irrational passions are fueled by the sin of gluttony. This is nothing new to the teachings of St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite. St. John Climacus also maintains that the sin of gluttony leads to the sins of the carnal appetite. It is also established science that fat content triggers the libido in man driving his sexual desire leading him into sexual and carnal lusts.

St. Gregory Nyssa teaches us that "it is the preoccupation with the pleasures of eating that bring forth each of the many evils" (ibid). How can one contend against this? Is it not an elaborate banquet that drives man to pursue expensive and lush housings leaving within him nothing more than a love for money? Does this not only come with a pride of self in how many riches the man has? Behold, look how he hangs out with the finest and most intelligent group of individuals and serves them the best food! From this extends coveting, pride, wantonness, lust, and eventually fornication. From material attachment comes despair because man soon realizes that the material world fades to dust. Thus, gluttony ultimately drives the passions to the source of all evils.

Not only this, but those who indulge in the sense of taste are spiritually deprived as well. Which god does the Apostle Paul say these men serve? The god they serve is their belly. Thus, there is spiritual depravity that comes from overeating. The belly ends up governing the entire body. Sinfulness is what the person is led into.

"Sumptuous eating is harmful to all without exception, but especially to the young. The natural reason for this is obvious. The natural warmth of the young person is enhanced when it receives the fatty matter of various foods. The heavy foods consumed draw out the heavy excretions of digestion in the stomach. These in turn are converted into substances and blood and eventually into fatty tissue. The abundance of food creates a fat body that is susceptible to the forceful temptations of one's sexuality." (ibid)

There are three degrees in eating according to St. Gregory the Sinaite. Temperance is when we withhold from eating and even still hungry after eating. This is the best way to control the passion of gluttony. Sufficiency is when we eat no more than is necessary until we are sufficiently nourished. This teeters into gluttony. Satiety is when we eat until we are satisfied. This is not necessarily gluttonous but certainly borders into it the most. St. Basil did not forgive the young people who ate unto satiety but also the young who ate unto sufficiency. St. Basil wanted to train all people to eat temperately.

We are to keep the fasts every Wednesday and Friday. In the East, we fast every single Wednesday and Friday abstaining from all meats except shellfish, olive oil (though some jurisdictions forbid all oil), wine, and alcohol. St. Nicodemos emphasizes the importance of keeping these fasts because they keep a well-regulated routine for the Christian of constant depravity of the enjoyment of certain foods. Today, many Christians don't even fast at all, and if they do, it's only during Lent, every Friday. The ancient custom was to fast every Wednesday and Friday except for the week before Lent, Bright Week, and the week following Nativity. A Ruthenian deacon I know estimated about 200 days worth of fasting for the Byzantine Christian. God will put gluttons to the test and having a well-regulated fasting routine is important to combat this sin of gluttony.

Finally, St. Nicodemos reflects on other sins of the tongue. Christians must not conduct sins of the mouth which include "condemnation, slander, mocking, insults, unreasonable excommunications, curses, reprimands, obscene talk, and all the other idle and vain words" (ibid). We will have to give an account for this. St. Nicodemos also reproves Christians for laughter. Christians must guard against laughter as it "causes the gums and the teeth to show in those who laugh loudly just as they do with horses when they neigh". "[W]hen we take into account that our responsible and sinful life is carried on in a valley of sorrows, then even our laughter must be turned to mourning and our smile and joy to grief, as St. James the Brother of the Lord has said" (ibid). Jesus cried four times but is not recorded to have laughed once. I go into this more in another post so it is not necessary to go further here.

The sins of the tongue and taste are not limited to gluttony. Gluttony opens the floodgates to a mess of other sins including fornication and greed. The tongue must be guarded against all forms of ribaldry.