Another space of silence, as he gathers all the different threads together in his hand, where they can be easily kept together and followed. Finally, he says, "It's not for one reason. There are different kinds of fasts for different seasons. It can be a penance. It humbles the body to be hungry. It teaches us not to rely on fleshly things." He draws his knees up to his chest and gazes at the fire. "In Lent it's because Jesus Himself went without food and water for forty days and forty nights before he came to Jerusalem, and we walk in His footsteps. We are like the desert in which He walked, and the fast makes us ready to receive the spiritual rain at Easter. Lent is a time of grieving, and Easter lets us be joyful again.

"In Advent it's called the Nativity Fast. We temper the bodily desire for food, which tempers other passions as well. The soul turns away from worldly things to things of the spirit. We draw closer to Christ as we prepare for Him to be born."

He glances at Magnus. "Is that too much?" signing it as he asks it.