Fasting and penance are ways of purification, perfection, and spiritual combat. Jesus, when He let himself be led by the Spirit into the desert to face the temptation of the devil, shows us – gives us – one of the spiritual weapons He used to fight the devil: fasting. Already in the fourth century, St Peter Chrysologus wrote: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So, if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy.”
