Overview of Spiritual Warfare - Saint John Cassian the Roman — Part 8
FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF VANITY OR GLORIA
Seventh, we have to fight against the spirit of vanity or ambition. It is diverse, changeable and subtle. It is difficult for even the sharpest eyes to consider and recognize it. Therefore, it is all the more difficult to protect ourselves from it. Other passions are simple and uniform, but vanity is complex and diverse. It meets the soldier from everywhere and on all sides during the battle, and when he already appears victorious. For it tries to wound the soldier of Christ with clothing, and stature, and gait, and voice, and work, and vigils, and fasting, and prayer, and solitude, and reading, and knowledge, and silence, and obedience, and humility, and good-naturedness. Like some most dangerous underwater stone, hidden beneath the rising waves, it suddenly brings to a terrible shipwreck those who sail with a gentle wind and at a time they least hope for.
Therefore, he who wants to walk the royal road with the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left should, according to the apostolic teaching, walk equally in glory and in shame, in reproach and praise (2 Cor 6:7-8), and with extreme caution direct his steps along the path of virtue, amidst the turbulent waves of temptation, under the guidance of discernment and the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord. He should know that he will immediately be smashed on the destructive underwater reefs as soon as he deviates even slightly to the right or to the left. That is why we hear the advice from the all-wise Solomon: Do not turn either to the right or to the left (Prov 4:27), that is, do not deceive yourself because of virtue and do not exalt yourself with your spiritual successes, nor turn to the left path of passions, seeking, as the apostle Paul said, glory in their disgrace (Phil 3:19). The one in whom he cannot arouse vanity by the beauty of stately and luxurious clothing, the devil tempts with his clumsy, untidy and worthless clothing; the one whom he has not succeeded in throwing into this passion by honor, he restrains by humiliation; the one whom he has not succeeded in persuading to exalt himself too much by much knowledge and the ability to speak beautifully, he hunts with silence. The one who fasts publicly is disturbed by vain glory, and the one who, out of contempt for such glory, begins to hide his fast suffers attacks of self-exaltation. In order not to be defiled by vanity, someone avoids saying long prayers before his brothers. However, starting to practice them in secret and having no one to witness his actions, he does not avoid trumpeting about it. Our elders (fathers) beautifully describe the nature of this disease, comparing it to onions and garlic, because no matter how much we remove one layer of the covering, another layer appears again.
It does not cease to drive away even the one who, fleeing from glory, hides in the desert, avoiding all intercourse with mortals. And the further a man flees from the world, the more he attacks him. Some of those who live in monasteries it tries to throw into pride by suffering in work and effort, others by readiness for obedience, still others by humility that surpasses all. One it tempts with many knowledges, another by long sitting at reading, still another by the length of vigils. This disease tries to wound everyone with his own virtues. Thus it prepares a stumbling block to ruin by the very means by which the fruits of life are acquired. For those who want to follow the path of piety and perfection, enemies or slanderers set up nets of deception on the very path they walk, according to the saying of the blessed David: In the path that I walk they have hidden a trap for me (Ps 141:4). Therefore, if, while we are walking the path of virtue and striving for the honor of a higher calling, we exalt ourselves by our successes, we will stumble and be entangled in the nets of vanity, having the feet of our soul bound. In this way, it happens that we are not overcome by the enemy, but we are overcome by the greatness of our victory over him.
When overcome, all other passions wither and become weaker every day. Also, under the influence of place or time, they wither and subside. In general, due to the struggle with the virtues that are contrary to them, they are easier to avoid and repel. However, this one, even when defeated, rises up to fight even more fiercely. And, when it is thought to have given up the ghost, it becomes even more lively, healthier and stronger through its death. Other passions have a tyrannical rule only over those whom they have defeated in the struggle. Vanity presses its victors even more fiercely. And the more it is defeated, the more strongly it fights with thoughts of excessive pride for the sake of victory over itself. The subtle cunning of the enemy is seen precisely in the fact that because of his tricks, a soldier of Christ falls from his own arrows, although he could not be defeated by the enemy's weapons.
Other passions, as we have said, are calmed under the influence of another place. Also, they are subsided and subside by being removed from the object of sin, or the occasions and causes of sin. But vanity also goes into the desert with him who flees from it. It is not afraid of any place, nor does it weaken by removing an object from the eyes. It draws courage precisely from the success in the virtue of the one it attacks. Other passions, as we have said before, sometimes weaken and disappear with time. And time, not only does not harm it, but even more gathers food for its vanity.
Finally, finding itself at war with virtues that are opposed to it and openly advancing, as in the daytime, other passions are easier to defeat and easier to keep at bay. Having pushed its way among the virtues and mixed with our army, vanity seems to enter the battle in the dark of night. It deceives all the more fiercely, the less one expects it and the less one guards against its attacks.
We read that Hezekiah, king of the Jews, a man perfectly just in all things, was struck down by a single arrow of excessive pride; that he who could have prayed for the deliverance of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers with one prayer was overcome by vain ambition; that he who was worthy of an extension of his life by 15 years through prayer (although God had already determined the limits of his life and the day of his death afterwards) and to whom the sun, by going back ten degrees, confirmed the miracle, lost everything for one excessive pride and self-deception. And, after the testimony of virtue and such a sign of God's will towards him, he subjected not only himself, but also all his people to the wrath of God. And, this wrath was so great that, even after humbling himself and pleading with God with all his people, he could only pray for the postponement of the wrath, that is, that it not come in his days (2 Kings 20:2). So fatal and grievous is the sin of the passion of excessive pride!
Hosea, the great-grandfather of the aforementioned king, who is also praised by the testimony of the Holy Scripture, had many virtues and many highly commendable deeds and ordinances for the good of the people. However, being carried away by vainglory, he offended the Lord his God with a deed that was not pleasing to Him. And, immediately he fell from the height of his glory and was punished with leprosy. Here is another example of a severe fall!
So, you see that happy successes can be disastrous, if a person does not guard against vanity and arrogance. Those who do not guard themselves and do not guard themselves and who avoid humility in difficult circumstances, suffer a greater defeat because of their victories. Having escaped the danger of death during the battle, they fall because of victory and celebration.
Therefore, the apostle Paul warns: Let us not be vain (Gal 5:26). Exposing the Pharisees, the Lord also says: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that comes from the only God (Jn 5:44). Of such, blessed David speaks with threat: God scatters the bones of those who rise up against you (Ps 53:6).
Vanity usually inflates beginners and those who have made little progress in virtue and spiritual knowledge because of their voice, that is, because they sing better than others, or because of their thin body, or because of their beauty of body, or because of rich and noble parents, or because they despise military service and honors. It convinces another that if he had remained in the world, he would easily have acquired honor and wealth, although he could never have achieved them. In this way, it inflates him by offering him the sacrifice of uncertain hopes, persuading him to be too proud for leaving behind what he never had.
It instills in someone a desire for the priesthood or deaconry, representing in his mind that he would carry out his work with holiness and rigor, and would be an example of holiness to other priests, and useful to many by his conduct and the lessons he imparts. Sometimes even one who lives in the desert, or is alone in a cell, it causes him to imagine in his mind that he is visiting the homes of various people and monasteries and, by the action of his conceited beliefs, converting many to the path of a righteous life. And the wretched soul is led about by such vanity, fantasizing as if in a deep sleep. And, carried away by the sweetness of these thoughts and filled with such fantasizing, he is for the most part unable to notice either his own actions or the presence of his brothers who are really present. On the contrary, he is deliciously immersed in what he fantasizes in his waking state, wandering with his thoughts.
I remember that when I was living in the Scythian Desert, an old man approached the cell of a brother for a visit and heard something being said inside. He stopped, wanting to know what he was reading from the Holy Scriptures or what he was saying by heart, as was the custom when doing manual labor. Leaning his ear closer, the eager listener heard the brother giving instructions to the people as if he were in church. This meant that he, deceived by the spirit of vanity, imagined himself a priest and was performing his imagined work. After waiting a little longer, the old man heard that the brother had finished his instruction. Then he changed his duty and was already in the rank of deacon, beginning to announce: "Announced, come out." The old man knocked on the door. When he came out, the brother met him with the usual respect. Leading him inside, he asked if he had come long ago, pretending to be worried that, perhaps, he had had to stand outside for a long time and might suffer something unpleasant. In fact, he was exposed by his conscience because of his fantasies and because of what he did under their influence. The old man replied sweetly: "I arrived at the moment when you were announcing: Come out, you who have been announced."
I have given this example so that, having before our eyes a complete education in the power and order of the attacks of passions on the wretched soul, we may better watch ourselves, and more easily avoid the traps and snares of the enemy. This is also the practice of the Egyptian fathers. Without hesitation, they bring everything to light and, by their stories about others and themselves, reveal and reveal to the young monks the struggles with all the passions, both those that the young already suffer and those that are yet to come. Through such an exposition of the temptations of all the passions, the novices who are burning with spirit learn the secrets of their current struggles. Seeing them as in a mirror, they understand the causes of the passions that fight with them, as well as the means to combat them. Likewise, they learn in advance about the battles that are yet to come, preparing to protect themselves from them, to enter into battle with them and to confront them. The most experienced physicians are accustomed not only to treat present illnesses, but also, according to their clairvoyant experience, to oppose future ones, removing them in advance with teachings or useful potions. So these very true physicians of souls, with their spiritual teachings, as with a kind of antidote, kill in advance the diseases of the heart that could come. They do not allow them to sprout in the souls of young monks, revealing to them both the causes of the attacks of passions, and useful means against them. Desiring to perform a true spiritual feat according to the law, a soldier of Christ should take care in every way to defeat this diverse and varied beast. First, we can avoid the very encounter with this complex unnecessaryness that is ready to rush against us from all sides. To achieve this, we need not, keeping in mind David's saying: The Lord scatters the bones of those who rise up against you (Ps 53:6) ,and forbid us to do or undertake anything with a vain intention to gain vain glory. Then, what has been done with a good beginning, we should preserve with similar or good care, so that the disease of vanity does not steal in and ravage the fruits of all our labors. Moreover, what the brothers have not accepted as a general custom, and which not all do, we should reject with all our strength as an act of boasting. We should also avoid in every way that which can make us stand out among others and which, because it is peculiar to us alone, can bring us glory among men. This self-exaltation primarily reveals that we are sick with the deadly infection of vanity, although we could have avoided it if we had kept in mind the warning that we would not only completely lose the fruits of the labors we undertake with a vain intention, but would also become guilty of a great transgression. For, as thieves of the sacred, we will have to endure eternal torment. Grieving God, we wished to do the work for the sake of people, and not for His sake as we were obliged to do. By this we assumed men to God, and the glory of the world to the glory of God. In that, God who knows what is hidden will expose us.
FIGHTING AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF PRIDE
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