May
20, 2001
"The
Eight Principal Vices: Gluttony and Fornication"
-- Abba Serapion
In this issue, we will continue our study of St.
John Cassian's "Conferences" in which we are looking at the
teachings of Abba Serapion on "The Eight Principal Vices." In
the original text, these teachings are quite long (and incredibly rich
in wisdom!), but we will only look at some excerpts here. Last week we
read how Jesus is the "new Adam" and we studied the biblical
comparisons between Adam and the Messiah. Today, we will look at how the
eight vices interrelate and, in particular, at gluttony and fornication.
THE INTERLINKING OF THE EIGHT
VICES
BEGIN: "Although these eight vices, then,
have different origins and varying operations, yet the first six --
namely, gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, sadness, and acedia
(anxiety, or weariness of the heart) -- are connected among themselves
by a certain affinity and, so to speak, interlinking, such that the
overflow of the previous one serves as the start of the next one. For
from an excess of gluttony there inevitably springs fornication; from
fornication, avarice; from avarice, anger; from anger, sadness; and from
sadness, acedia. Therefore these must be fought against in a similar way
and by the same method, and we must always attack the ones that follow
by beginning with those that come before.
-- "For a tree whose width and height are
harmful will more easily wither up if the roots which support it are
exposed and cut beforehand, and pestilential waters will dry up when
their rising source and rushing streams have been stopped up with
skillful labor.
-- "In order to conquer acedia, sadness must
first be overcome; in order to drive out sadness, anger must be cast out
beforehand; in order to extinguish anger, avarice must be trampled on;
in order to eradicate avarice, fornication must be repressed; in order
to overthrow fornication, the vice of gluttony must be disciplined.
-- "But the two remaining ones, vainglory
and pride, are linked in similar fashion, like the vices that we have
spoken of, such that growth in the first becomes the start of the
second, for an overflow of vainglory begets the beginnings of pride. But
these differ wholly from those first six vices and are not leagued with
them since they are not only not generated by them but even arise in a
contrary manner and order. For when the former have been rooted out
these sprout forth all the more, and at the death of the former these
spring up and grow more vigorously.
-- "Hence we are also attacked by these two
vices in a different way. We fall into one of those six vices when we
have been seduced by the one that comes before it, but we are in danger
of falling into these two when we are victorious and, indeed,
particularly after triumphs. Each vice, then, since it is begotten by an
increase in the one that comes before it, is purged away when the one
before it is diminished. Therefore vainglory must be suffocated in order
for pride to be driven out. Thus, whenever the preceding ones have been
overcome, those that follow fall idle, and, with the extinction of the
ones that go before, the remaining passions wither away without any
effort.
-- "And although the eight vices that we
have spoken about are connected and joined among themselves according to
the scheme that we have mentioned, yet they are divided more
particularly into four couplets. Fornication is allied by a special
relationship to gluttony, anger is closely yoked to avarice, acedia to
sadness, and pride to vainglory.
THE FIRST EVIL PAIR: GLUTTONY
AND FORNICATION
-- "Now let us discuss individually the
different kinds of each vice. There are three kinds of gluttony. The
first impels a monk to hasten to eat before the fixed and lawful hour.
The second is pleased with a full stomach and with devouring any edibles
whatsoever. And the third desires more refined and delicate foods. These
three entail no small loss for a monk unless he struggles to extricate
himself from all of them with equal diligence and care. For just as
breaking the fast before the canonical hour is never to be dared, so
likewise filling one's stomach and the preparation of costly and choice
dishes must be avoided. From these three causes different and very bad
states of health of the soul are produced.
-- From the first is born hatred for the
monastery; with that there grows a dread of the same dwelling place and
an inability to endure it; and this is always soon followed by departure
and swift flight. From the second the burning pricks of lasciviousness
and wanton desire are aroused. The third also fastens the inextricable
bonds of avarice on the necks of its captives and never permits the monk
to be rooted in Christ's utter deprivation.
-- We notice that the traces of this passion are
in us when perchance, having been invited to eat by one of the brothers,
we are not content to eat the food with the condiment with which it was
seasoned by our host but demand with importunate and unbridled boldness
that something be poured on it or added to it.
-- There are three reasons why this must never
happen. In the first place, because the mind of the monk must be
practiced in the discipline of endurance and moderation and must,
according to the Apostle, learn what a sufficiency consists in. For
whoever takes offense at a slightly unpleasant taste and is unable to
restrain the pleasure of the palate even for a moment will be completely
incapable of controlling the hidden and greater desires of the body.
Secondly, because it sometimes happens that the particular thing that we
are asking for at a given moment is lacking and we would shame our host
in his need and frugality by making known this poverty, which he would
prefer to be known to God alone. Thirdly, because occasionally the
condiment that we ask to have added is unpleasant to others, and we
discover that we are annoying many people in trying to cater to our own
gormandizing and desire. Therefore this boldness in us is to be
disciplined in every respect.
-- "There are three kinds of fornication.
The first takes place in the union of the sexes. The second occurs
without touching a woman, and for it we read that Onan, the son of the
patriarch Judah, was struck down by the Lord (Genesis 38:9-10). This is
called impurity in Holy Scripture. About this the Apostle says: 'I say
to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them to stay just as
I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry; for it
is better to marry than to burn' (I Corinthians 7:8-9). The third is
that which is conceived in the soul and in the mind, and about which the
Lord says in the Gospel: 'Whoever looks at a woman with lust has already
committed adultery with her in his heart' (Matthew 5:28).
-- "The blessed Apostle declares that these
three kinds must all be extinguished in the same way when he says: 'Put
to death your members that are on earth: fornication, impurity,
wantonness,' and so forth (Colossians 3:5). And again he speaks of two
of these to the Ephesians: 'Fornication and impurity should not be
mentioned among you' (Ephesians 5:3). And again: 'Know this, that no
fornicator or impure or avaricious person (which is slavery to idols)
has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God' (Ephesians 5:5).
-- "Just as we should guard against these
three with equal care, so one is enough to keep us out of the kingdom of
Christ." END
from St. John Cassian, "The
Conferences," (New York: Newman Press, 1997), pp. 189 - 191
|
View Shopping Cart / Checkout