Wishing you הַצְלִיחָה this Lent

Redefining Success for a 40-day fasting challenge

Reading the scripture passage for today’s installment of the Benedict Challenge started me down a bit of a rabbit hole. Here was the verse:

“When I heard these words I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” - Nehemiah 1:4

These words? What words? I wondered.

When we first meet Nehemiah, he has a pretty good job as a cupbearer for King Xerxes of Persia. Then, he gets word of some serious problems back in Jerusalem. Although many Jews had returned home after being freed from captivity in Babylon, they were already in trouble again. Their city's walls were crumbling, and parts of it were on fire. This news hit Nehemiah hard. Moved by the situation, he decided to take action. He started by fasting and praying, asking for guidance. Then, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem and help rebuild the city and protect his people.

A few verses later, he prays “Give success to your servant today.”

Going one layer deeper, I decided to get some help from ChatGPT with this one, looking up the Hebrew for the word success:

The word "success" (Hebrew: הַצְלִיחָה, hatzlichah) in this context suggests not just material or personal success but success in fulfilling God's will and purposes. It indicates Nehemiah's desire for his actions to align with divine intentions.

An article on Chabad.org says that hatzlicha means “to identify your own personal path and realize your unique purpose; in other words, to achieve whatever you alone were created to accomplish.” In contrast, the English word succeed implies a kind of following after—suggesting “a mimetic approach to success.” We seek material wealth and possessions because we see that others seem to desire them.

This gets to a key distinction for anyone participating in the challenge this year. On Ash Wednesday, the journal included a space (two full pages!) to write about your sense of purpose and vocation, or calling:

“What mission do you believe God is calling you to? Alow yourself to dream big and write out your wildest aspirations. Consider how this mission aligns with your talents and passions. How can you serve God and your fellow man through your unique calling? This sense of purpose and vocation may evolve over time, but exploring it can provide guidance as you begin your journey.”

During the check-in call on Friday, a small group of us discussed whether framing this Lenten discipline as a “challenge” is appropriate. One of the participants recommended an excellent podcast episode from the Catholic Gentlemen on a book called Jesus' Way: The 46-Day Lenten Journey. (Full disclosure: I haven’t read the book and I will stand by The Benedict Challenge as the best plan for Lent.)

However, I came away from the podcast with a more refined sense of what I want these 40 days to be about.

Our culture praises white-knuckled discipline and rewards the hustle and the grind. That’s not what this challenge is about. The speakers in the podcast reminded listeners that Lent is more like a boot camp for the real challenges of the spiritual life, which come afterward. It’s a preparation for an encounter with the risen God on Easter.

Keep this in mind when reflecting on your vocation. Success, following Nehemiah’s framing, means being steadfast enough to accomplish God’s will in your life. It involves trusting and asking for additional graces that we don’t usually ask for because we don’t usually feel like we need them.

When you fast, you must learn to ask – in prayer. This is excellent training, and it’s why I included the question about vocation on the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday.

Of course, it’s not too late to hop on the bandwagon. The shortened first week was just a warm-up. Starting Monday, we shift from a 12-hour eating window to a 10-hour default eating window (still no meat on Wednesdays or Fridays, and just one meal on Fridays). To get started, sign up for the quick-start guide, and be sure to answer the journal questions for Ash Wednesday before the second week starts! Especially the question about your vocation.

If you’re not ready to commit to the full 40 days, you can sign up for the test cohort and get an abridged PDF at no cost. I am hosting brief check-in calls every Wednesday and Friday to answer questions, share the struggles, and talk through whatever else is on people’s minds. We had another great session on Friday evening, and I look forward to seeing some new faces this coming week.

Below, I am reproducing the next full chapter of the book for paid subscribers. You can also order the paperback book to access the material in print form with the accompanying journal. I hope you enjoy this free excerpt and that you succeed in whatever God is calling you to do this season.

– Charlie

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CHAPTER 3 - THE DECLINE

“The regular fast is always possible to one who wants it and is impossible to the one who does not want it.” – Adalbert de Vogüé

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday—the two remaining fast days required by the Catholic Church—stand as bookends for the 40-day period of Lent, which culminates in a feast on Easter Sunday. On these fasting days, Canon law prescribes just a single meal. This rule would demand a real, albeit limited, sacrifice on the part of the faithful if it weren’t for the two “collations” or small meals that do not add up to a full-sized meal.

Exemptions are thoughtfully provided for the elderly, the infirm, and those who are pregnant or nursing, yet a more liberal provision for “dispensations” effectively broadens these exemptions, potentially to anyone seeking them. Adalbert de Vogüé reflected on this phenomenon with a sense of loss, remarking on the near absence of true fasting in contemporary Catholic life—a stark contrast to its vibrant observance in the Muslim world during Ramadan.

“The true fast is practically absent from Catholic life these days,” he lamented.

De Vogüé passed away in 2005. However, had he lived a few more years, he might have become aware of the recent surge in enthusiasm for fasting for health reasons.

Puzzled by the failure of his own monastic community to adhere to the fasting guidelines established by its founder, St. Benedict, de Vogüé penned To Love Fasting: The Monastic Experience with two purposes in mind.

His first goal was to examine various explanations for the erosion of the fasting tradition.

His second, more personal aim was to share the insights he gained by recovering the practice according to the ancient tradition—a journey he describes not as a burdensome penance but as a pathway to peace and joy.

De Vogüé vividly describes his joy and doesn’t shy away from explaining the physiological effects, such as the cleansing effects of “autophagy” (which will be discussed in the next chapter). However, his main focus is on the benefits that switching to OMAD brought to his prayer life and intellectual work– primarily writing and studying, including the research that supports his comprehensive history of fasting in the Church.

A Brief History of Ancient Fasting

De Vogüé’s history begins with the works of Philo of Alexandria. Philo, a distinguished historian and philosopher of the ancient world, shines a light on the Therapeutae, a group of proto-monks nestled in the quietude of Egypt between the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. Esteemed for their intellectual and spiritual rigor, these early ascetics “found so much delight in feasting on wisdom.” This Jewish philosopher sect meditated on scripture during the day and saved their meal until after sunset.

Why? “For they judge philosophy to be worthy of the light and bodily needs worthy of darkness,” Philo informs us.

De Vogüé’s exploration continues with the Christian Desert Fathers, renowned for their rigorous asceticism. Following their Lord, they withdrew into the desert to confront demons and refine themselves through prayer and fasting. In solitude, their ascetic practices were not for the eyes of others but served as a means for internal transformation.

Figures like St. Anthony and later St. Pachomius, who is credited with founding cenobitic (communal) monasticism, embraced disciplines that surpassed the One Meal a Day regimen. They sometimes ate only every other day and, during certain seasons, abstained from all cooked foods except bread.

De Vogüé highlights that such extreme discipline did not lead to physical decline; rather, he notes a pattern where the most devout monks often surpassed the typical life expectancy of their era.

St. John the Hesychast (509†), who fasted from Monday to Friday for at least three years, lived to be over 100 years old.

A long life was a byproduct of fasting. The goal for these Desert Fathers and Mothers was union with Christ and satisfaction of their deep hunger for the “daily” bread spoken of in the Lord’s prayer. The Greek word for daily used here, epiouision, carries the meaning of “supersubstantial.” It appears nowhere else in the Bible, and most scholars even reject the common translation of “daily.”

This supersubstantial sustenance would become especially crucial during the harrowing period of the fall of the Roman Empire. Monasticism became a way of survival when civilization was being besieged by the “barbarians at the gate.”

The Rule of St. Benedict

St, Benedict of Nursia, heralded as the founder of Western monasticism, instituted the Order of St. Benedict to preserve the faith and care for the sick. Drawing inspiration from earlier cenobitic monasteries, his vision was to create a unified monastic community governed by a consistent rule. This was encapsulated in the Rule for Monasteries, written between 534 and 542, during a time marked by social upheaval and uncertainty.