Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:6.
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matt. 19:21.
If any one of you will entirely avoid luxury, he will, by a frugal upbringing, train himself for the endurance of involuntary labors [in persecution]. He will constantly use voluntary afflictions as training exercises for persecution. In that manner, when a person is faced with compulsory labors, fears, and griefs, he will not be untrained in endurance. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.281.
Are there not many who . . . seal themselves up to eunuchhood for the sake of the kingdom of God, spontaneously relinquishing a pleasure that is both honorable and authorized? Are there not some who prohibit to themselves the use of the very creation of God—abstaining from wine and meat, the enjoyments of which border upon no peril or concern? Rather, they sacrifice to God the humility of their soul even in the chastened use of food. Tertullian (c. 198, W), 4.23.
As he who treads a road is happier the lighter he walks, so happier is he in this journey of life who lifts himself along in poverty and does not breathe heavily under the burden of riches. Mark Minucius Felix (c. 200, W), 4.195.