Health as Holy |

In the traditional Christian view, one’s health (and even one’s illness) is described as something holy, to be set apart in devotion to God. The physical and spiritual are not, nor were never meant to be, disconnected. A pursuit of holiness not only assumes a pursuit of healthiness of body and soul, but at times, demands it. To put another way, the pursuit of healthiness is embedded in the pursuit of holiness. Thus, to live in a way that purposefully deprives the body of health, is to deprive it of holiness.

St John Cassian clarifies:

“Bodily illness is not an obstacle to purity of heart,
provided we give the body what its illness requires, not what gratifies our desire for pleasure.
Food is to be taken in so far as it supports our life, but not to the extent of enslaving us to the impulses of desire.
To eat moderately and reasonably is to keep the body in health, not to deprive it of holiness.” [1]