"Dear Father, I have no intention of making a peace pact between my body and my soul, and neither do I intend to hold back. Therefore, allow me to tame my body by not altering my diet; I will not stop for the rest of my life, until there is not more life left. You should not think that my body is so mortified and weak as it seems; it acts this way so that I should not demand the debt it contracted in the world, when it liked pleasure. Oh my body, why do you not help me to serve my creator and redeemer? Why are you not as quick, to obey as you were to disobey His commands? Do not lament, do not cry; do not pretend to be half dead. You will bear the weight that I place on your shoulders, all of it. I not only wish to abstain from bodily food but I wish to die a thousand times a way, were it possible, in this mortal life of mine."

— Saint Margaret of Cortona; February 22, 1297 (via minor-arcana)

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