Maizar
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Good comments Matthew:
| Matthew said: | Good advice on this thread so far.
I would recommend:
Fasting -- It's really hard to be "carnal" while you're fasting. The masters of the spiritual life speak of lust as the "devil that can only be cast out by prayer and fasting".
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This is true, but fasting is a spiritual act, and you should not look to it as a solution to physical problems. Otherwise you can just as well take some kind of medication that suppresses your hormones, which I would argue is immoral.
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Abstaining -- from red meat and perhaps other foods. Try to note what foods cause the most problems. Remember, we are what we eat.
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This is right. All food is a drug. Your gut is not a complete barrier and everything you eat that was once alive contains substances which affect your brain, your hormones, everything. Red meat naturally contains a lot of hormones, but farmed and slaughtered meat often contains increased amounts (including precursors to testosterone, which is the main thing that you are experiencing surges of) due to the stress the animal experiences before death. Limit that, and increase your fruit and vegetable intake in its place and you will have a clearer head and stronger will to overcome your weaknesses.
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Excercise/work -- When you're exhausted your body is less likely to control you or assert itself. When you're well-rested, on the other hand, your body is "ready for business" which can be a bad thing in situations as you describe.
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Yes, but when you are tired, you will lack self control. Keeping busy is the key, and removing or avoiding the situations, people and items that lead you to sin. This of course you mention later.
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Don't lay in bed if you can't sleep -- when you first become conscious in the morning, get up and start your day. Don't lay in bed too much before falling asleep at night, or laze around in bed after waking in the morning. I recall one saint in particular who said he was tempted sorely against purity when he was resting in bed during recovery from an illness.
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Right, but I think the thing will be to identify those things that cause you to sin, and remove them. Don't look back, or you turn into a pillar of salt.
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Stay busy -- An idle mind is the devil's workshop.
Avoid impurity -- Avoid TV, movies, and other occasions of sin. The devil can most easily "use" what's in your memory to tempt you. Don't fill his arsenal.
Prayer -- stay close to Our Lady so you wouldn't want to disappoint her by sinning. |
I would also suggest taking on worthy projects that will keep you preoccupied and away from occasions of sin, particularly if those projects involve you being in the company of others. You basically have to distract yourself in a good way, and remove the bad distractions.
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| Posted Mar 28, 2012, 4:25 am |
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SeanJohnson
formerly Seraphim
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| Roland Deschain said: | Take this from someone who knows what you are talking about:
fasting and prayer, fasting and prayer, fasting and prayer.......
Fasting, when done correctly and with the right attention, makes carnal passions wither. I cannot recommend this spiritual discipline highly enough. I would suggest talking to your spiritual adviser/confessor about a specific regimen for yourself. Don't forget that regular prayer must accompany your discipline. I, myself, pray the Benedictine Office as well as read a portion of the Rule everyday. This works for me.
The Fathers of the Church constantly talk about fasting and prayer as being the chief means for overcoming passions. I pray for your success. |
Yes, fasting AND prayer are required.
One without the other does not work.
Or Lord gave this command to defeat these types of demons in the Bible.
If you do not persevere in fasting and prayer, you will never be free.
Make sure you FEEL physical hunger a couple times throughout the day.
And that is the best time to pray too.
Note: Do not fast too rigorously, or it can excite other nervous conditions, such as anxiety and scrupulosity.
Also, you rprayer should be spaced throughout the day, jsut as your fasting is a constant penence.
I recommend:
1) Morning prayer upon waking (2-3 minutes asking for deliverence from this temptation)
2) Angelus at noon
3) Rosary before dinner
4) Evening prayer which concludes with a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel for this protection (i.e., When the devil sees you are committed and making progress, he will try to attack you in your dreams; he will want not only to provoke you to a solitary sin, but failing this, will try to get you to believe -or at least question- whether you have consented to impure thoughts. He knows that if he can trick you into believing you consented, you will be depressed, and your resolve can whither at that point).
If the devil succeeds into tricking you into doubting your state of grace, you must double or triple your prayer, and be sure to maintain your fasting (and keep extra special custody of the eyes).
Receive communion asap, which will re-strengthen you (or confession, if need be too).
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Romans 5:20 "But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."
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| Posted Apr 7, 2012, 3:27 am |
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Iuvenalis
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It's not just red meat, it's protein generally.
If you go to a largely plant based diet (consider the vegetarian diet of the monks on Mt. Athos, or the wilderness hermits who ate honey) you will find a lowering of lustful urge.
High protein in any form, including nuts and eggs (particularly the yolks), causes spikes in luteinizing hormone (LH) production. This is a fact. There is an inaccurate notion that *testosterone* itself cause the urge, it does not, as anyone who has taken testosterone supplements (even at low levels) will tell you.
Even beware *real* butter (which is fermented, unfermented butter is not a problem)
Short ice baths or shows are a temporary solution and actually counterproductive and this will cause a later extreme spike in LH and FSH (Follicle stimulating Hormone).
Cholesterol is a precursor to all these hormones (including test, but that's beside the point) and necessary for their production. It helps to keep cholesterol down to achieve this, but you will notice lowered overall energy, so it is important when you go to a plant based diet to learn the plant based foods that can give you your energy back, namely copious amounts of garlic, cinnamon in moderation.
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[...] iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli /uendimus,effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim /imperium,fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se /continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, /panem et circenses. [...] (Iuvenalis, Satire 10.77–81)
"That was how it began, by having novelties such as "Communion in the Hand," and now we read things like "over-emphasizing Christ's divinity" - a horrible blasphemy that has no name." -Hobbledehoy
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| Posted Apr 7, 2012, 4:16 pm |
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