The act and habit of denying to oneself ordinary bodily gratifications for conscience's sake. In religious circles, including Christian ones, the goal is to encompass holiness by denying to oneself that which feeds the flesh. In its extreme form it involved the person choosing to leave common society for a solitary life (including living in the barren emptiness of the deserts) away from worldly temptations and comfort, and the denial of the gift of a marriage and the companionship it provided. In the history of the Church this served as the beginning of the monastic movements.
©ALBERITH
040322lch