“St. Francis of Assisi famously called his body ‘Brother Ass.’ It is fasting, I think, that helps us say to our body, You are Brother (or Sister), but you are also Ass. Fasting, in other words, is the practice that most obviously helps us learn to disciple our physical selves. A woman of the early church known as holy Syncletia taught that ‘bodily poison is cured by still stronger antidotes; so fasting and prayer drive sordid temptations from us.’" (128)

- Real Sex by Lauren Winner

I've been trying to figure out fasting for awhile: what its benefits are, what it actually does. This helps. I like the lovable nuisance that bodies seem to be with the phrase "brother ass." I think it describes the relationship well. Winner is talking about fasting in the context of chastity - not having sex. Fasting. It's an useful idea.