Fasting & Mortification Quotes

And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. --Mark 9:29

See also, Matthew 17:21

Prayer combined with fasting is quite powerful.  The first Christians and Jews of Jesus' time fasted on bread and water every Wednesday and Friday.

Now, therefore says the Lord, “Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning.”—Joel 2:12

And as they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Ghost said to them, separate me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have taken them. Then, they, fasting and praying, and imposing their hands upon them, sent them away. —Acts 13:2-3

And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed.—Acts 14:22

Furthermore, it exhorts that they fast at least every Friday in memory of the passion of the Lord and give alms to the poor.—instruction give to participants of the Council of Trent, Sessions 1-5 (2) 1.2

Jesus himself has shown us by his own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil. (Mt 4:1-11). As he taught his disciples, some demons cannot be driven out except in this way (Mt 17:20) (Mk:9:29) Let is therefore discover anew the humility and the courage to pray and fast so that the power from on high will break down the walls of lies and deceit: the walls that conceal from the sight of so many of our brothers and sisters the evil of practices and laws which are hostile to life.

“To mortify one passion, no matter how small, is a greater help in the spiritual life than many abstinences, fasts, and disciplines.” --St. Philip Neri

“In the consciences of many, the meaning of Christianity has been so distorted that when they

 speak of mortification and penance they think only of the rigorous fasts and hair shirts mentioned

in the awe-inspiring tales that are found in some lives of saints. At the start of this meditation, 

we took as a self-evident premise the fact that we must imitate Jesus, taking him as the model 

for our behavior. It is true that he made ready for his preaching by retiring into the wilderness to fast

 for forty days and forty nights. But, before this, and afterwards, he practiced the virtue of temperance

 with such naturalness that his enemies took advantage of it to slander him as a 'glutton and a drunkard,

 the friend of publicans and sinners.”

--Saint Josemaria Escriva

“A man should not so attach himself to the means as to forget the end; neither must we give ourselves

 so much to mortify the flesh as to forget to mortify the brain, which is the chief thing after all.”

 --St. Philip Neri