“…asceticism does not constitute a deprivation of the good things of life, hostility to the body or a disdain towards matter, as some worshipers of the flesh maintain. Asceticism is the journey of a struggling believer towards their personal fulfillment of restoring their pre-fallen beauty, a fall which tarnished the image of God, which is man.”
(Archimandrite Cyril Kostopoulos in mystagogy.com)

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