24. Gluttony. In regard to the abstinence
from food, the same rule cannot be applied to everyone because not everyone has
the same physical strength. The virtue of fasting is not observed with just the
strength of the soul, but must also be proportionate to the toughness of the
body. The holy Fathers determined the measure of our abstinence from food as
follows: we should stop eating while we still want to eat. Guided by this rule,
even a person weak in body can exhibit the virtue of abstinence on the same
level as the robust and healthy, if he applies his willpower in restraining the
craving for food when it is not demanded by his physical infirmity. For even
the Apostle states: "and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill
its lusts" (Romans 13:14). (Blessed John Cassian)
25. Fornication. The second struggle that
confronts us is that with the spirit of carnal lust — the most prolonged and
perpetual one, and very few win in this battle. The passion of fornication in a
person arises at a very early stage of puberty and does not stop until he
conquers his other passions. Inasmuch as the emergence of this passion is
twofold (in the body and in the soul), then to oppose it requires a dual
weapon. Fasting alone is insufficient to acquire complete chastity. You need to
couple it with a penitent and regretful nature, and unrelenting prayers against
the vile spirit of fornication. Apart from this, you need to constantly read
the Bible, think about God, alternating it with physical exertion and handiwork
that restrain the thoughts from wandering to and fro. Most of all, what is
needed is humility, without which there can be no victory over any passion.
(Blessed John Cassian)
25. Triumph over this passion is dependent upon a
complete cleansing of the heart, from which — according to the word of the Lord
— flows the poison of this sickness. "For out of the heart" says He,
"proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications…" (Mat. 15:19).
(Blessed John Cassian)
25. And indeed, if every success in virtue is the
work of God’s grace and the overcoming of various passions is His victory, then
to acquire chastity and to prevail over carnal passion is more so the work of a
special grace of God, about which the Holy Fathers, experienced in the
cleansing of the soul from this passion, give witness. For not to feel the
sting of the flesh while still living in the flesh is, in a way, akin to coming
out of the body. That is why it is impossible for a person to fly upwards into
the heavenly heights of perfection on his own wings, if the Lord’s grace
doesn’t extricate him from the earthly quagmire. Because there is no virtue
through which people are more equated to the Angels than that of acquiring
chastity. (Blessed John Cassian)
25. What serves as an indicator of purity and the
attainment of perfection in a person is when a person, at rest or during a
pleasant sleep, does not have any images of a seductive nature, or, having
appeared, these images do not arouse in him any carnal desire. However,
involuntary desires, although not considered a sin, indicate that the soul has
not yet achieved perfection, and that the roots of passion have not yet been
eradicated. (Blessed John Cassian)
25. The level of chastity’s worth determines the
level of force of the enemies’ slander raised against it. That’s why we must,
with all zeal, not only be temperate in everything, but continually be penitent
and have prayerful lamentations in our hearts so that the blessed dew of the
Holy Spirit, descending into the heart, cools and extinguishes the furnace of
our flesh, which the Babylonian king (the devil) unceasingly tries to fire up.
(Blessed John Cassian)
25. Love of money. The third struggle
facing us is that with the spirit of love for money — an alien passion, which
is foreign to our nature. This passion originates from faint-heartedness,
spiritual carelessness and absence of love for God. Other passions are
seemingly implanted into human nature and consequently are conquered only after
lengthy labours. The sickness of love of money comes to a person later in life
and fastens on to the soul from without. That is why in the beginning it is
easy to dislodge. However, should it take root in our heart because of our
apathy and continued neglect, it will become more ruinous than the other
passions and consequently would be very difficult to remove. Entrenched love of
money, according to Apostle Paul, is "a root of all kinds of evil"
(1 Tim. 6:10), because it arouses all the other passions. (Blessed John
Cassian)
26. You can be sick with love of money without
having money. In this condition, even voluntary poverty will not be beneficial
to the person that luxuriates in thoughts of riches. Just like those who,
although are not defiled in body, are pronounced unclean of heart according to
the word of the Gospel (Mat. 5:28), so are those that are not burdened by great
wealth can be adjudged on a similar level as avaricious, because they are such
in heart and mind. This is because they didn’t have the opportunity to
accumulate wealth and not because of their will, which in God’s eyes always has
more weight than want. That’s why we must in every way be careful, so that the
fruits of our labour are not wasted. It is regretful when the poor lose the
fruits of their poverty by reason of their sinful desire to be rich. (Blessed
John Cassian)
27. Anger. In the fourth struggle we are
faced with the task of eliminating the deadly poison of anger from the depths
of our soul. Because as long as it nests in our hearts and blinds our mind’s
eye with a destructive gloom, we are unable to develop the correct distinction
between good and evil, nor clarity of consciousness, nor maturity to give
advice, nor be communicants of life, nor hold on firmly to the truth. We are
unable to absorb the true spiritual light, for it is said: "Mine eye is
consumed because of grief" (Psalm 6:7). We are unable to become communicants
of wisdom, because "anger resteth in the bosom of fools" (Eccles.
7:9). Although regarded as being sensible, we cannot realize longevity of life,
because: "Even the wise perish because of anger" (Prov. 15:1,
Septuagint translation). We cannot always hold the scales of truth properly,
according to the heart’s directive, for "the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20). Although we may be of
a famous descent, we cannot regard ourselves as esteemed, because "an
angry man is unseemly" (Proverbs). Although we may command great
knowledge, we are unable to possess maturity to give advice, because "He
that is soon angry dealeth foolishly" (Prov. 14:17). Although nobody
may bothers us, we can never be at peace, away from disturbances and confusion,
because "an angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth
in transgression" (Prov. 29.22). (Blessed John Cassian)
29. Sorrow and despondency. In our fifth
struggle, we are faced with having to deflect the arrows of all-consuming
sorrow, which, if they conquered us, would prevent us from seeing God, plunge
our soul from the heights of its worthy stature, weaken and crush us. Sorrow
will not allow us to pray with the necessary heartfelt animation, nor read the
Holy books (a means of spiritual therapy), nor work diligently, nor be at peace
and affable with people. Having taken away from us all powers of reasoning,
sorrow will make us impatient and cantankerous, agitate our heart and make our
soul appear inane and gloomy, crushing it with destructive depression. (Blessed
John Cassian)
29. Sometimes, this sickness is begotten from some
type of passion: anger, lust or desire to become rich. At other times, without
any apparent reason but through the actions of the cunning enemy, we are
suddenly overwhelmed with such sorrow that we alter our attitude toward even
our dearest individuals, so that anything they say to us, we regard as
inappropriate and superfluous, unable to respond to them politely as our heart
is filled with bitterness. (Blessed John Cassian)
29. There is another, most frightful aspect of
sorrow, which does not instill into the sinner an intention to change the
lifestyle, but a destructive depression. It didn’t allow Cain to repent after
he murdered his brother, and forced a depressed Judas to hang himself after his
betrayal. (Blessed John Cassian)
29. The sorrow of this world is extremely
complainant, impatient, cruel, obstinate and leads toward destructive
depression. Having overwhelmed a person, it upsets him, distracts him from
prayer, from every redeeming activity and from any act of repentance. (Blessed
John Cassian)
29. We can conquer ruinous sorrow if we try to
enliven our soul with visions of future joy. In this way, we will be able to
overcome the various forms of sorrow emanating from anger, from suffering
losses, from having been offended, from spiritual disorders and that sorrow
which brings us to depression. Being joyous in our vision of future blessings
and remaining in this disposition, we will not lose heart when we experience
unfortunate circumstances, nor exalt ourselves when we are happy — considering
our circumstances to be worthless and temporary. (Blessed John Cassian)
29. The sixth struggle facing us is that of
despondency or melancholy. Despondency is akin to sorrow and is experienced
mostly by people who commit themselves to a solitary life. It especially
disturbs the ascetic at midday. Some Holy Fathers refer to it as the
"midday demon" mentioned in Psalm 91. (Blessed John Cassian)
30. Vainglory. The seventh struggle facing
us is that with the spirit of vainglory — this multifaceted, deceitful and
subtle passion, which often is very difficult to notice and recognize, and to
protect yourself from. Other passions are plain and unvaried, but this one is multifaceted
and attacks the warrior of Christ from all sides: during his struggle and even
after he has achieved victory. Vainglory attempts to wound the warrior through
all manner of ways: his clothing, and his physical build, and walk, and voice,
and being well read, and his work, and his vigilance, and fasting, and praying,
and solitary life, and his knowledge, and education, and silence, and
submissiveness, and humility, and benevolence. It is akin to a dangerous rock
hiding below the waves, which inflicts a sudden disastrous wreck to the
seafarers when they least expect it. (Blessed John Cassian)
30. Other passions, according to our efforts in
surmounting and defeating them, wane and weaken every day. In fact, sometimes,
because of a change in our location and living circumstances, they get
exhausted and become subdued. Apart from this, because of their conflict with
our opposing good deeds, it is easier for us to watch out and avoid them.
However, the passion of vainglory, even though vanquished, continues to battle
with great hardness and when it is considered dead, through its own demise
comes to life, becoming healthy and powerful. While the other passions
tyrannize those that they have overwhelmed, this passion oppresses its
conquerors more callously and vanquishes them through conceited thoughts about
their victory over it. It is in this that the subtle cunning of the enemy is
revealed — that the Christ’s warrior strikes himself with his own arrows.
(Blessed John Cassian)
30. Pride. The eighth and last struggle
that confronts us is that with the spirit of pride. While this passion is last
in the order of this rendition, in terms of its beginning and time, it is
foremost. Pride is the most ferocious and untamable animal, especially
attacking and devouring those striving for perfection after they have almost
achieved the highest level of virtue. (Blessed John Cassian)
30. There are two types of pride: the first is one
that vanquishes those that are of a high spiritual standing, while the second
defeats the novices and the carnal. Although both types of pride produce a
destructive arrogance before God and people, the first relates directly to God
while the second concerns people. (Blessed John Cassian)
30. There is no other passion like pride that can
eradicate all virtues and deprive a person of righteousness. Like some disease,
this passion strikes the whole being with a deadly affliction and attempts to
plunge to their destruction even those that have achieved the pinnacle of
virtues. The other passions have their limitations, arising against only one
selected virtue. Thus, for example, gluttony violates the demands of
temperance, lust defiles chastity, anger drives away patience. As a result,
being conquered by any one of the passions doesn’t make the person devoid of
other virtues. But when this particular passion captures the soul, it denies
that person the protection of humility, utterly destroying his spiritual
framework. Having leveled the high wall of piety and mixed it with the mud of
iniquity, it deprives the soul of any traces of freedom — and the stronger it
seizes the rich soul, the more it subjects it to the heavy yoke of slavery,
stripping it of all its finery of virtues with the cruelest plunder. (Blessed
John Cassian)
30. Consequently, we must strive toward perfection
with the needed fervor toward fasting, vigilance, prayer, a penitent heart and
body, and other self-denying efforts, so that our labors are not ineffectual.
It must be remembered that through just our efforts and self-sacrifice alone,
we will not only be unable to achieve perfection, but without God’s grace, we
would not be able to perform the actual work of self-sacrifice and other
spiritual labors. (Blessed John Cassian)
30. These are the signs of carnal pride: during
conversation — being vociferous, in silence — being miserable, during times of
joy — loud laughter, in sorrow — excessive gloom, in giving a reply —
causticity, in a serious conversation — flippancy, when words are uttered
haphazardly without the heart’s participation. Carnal pride is not acquainted
with patience, is alien to love, brazen in inflicting insults but weak in
enduring them, slow in obedience if it goes against its personal will and
wishes, inflexible toward admonishments, not capable of renouncing personal
whims, extremely stubborn in being subordinate to others, always striving to
insist on its own decisions, does not agree to make concessions to others. In
this way, by becoming incapable of accepting redeeming advice, carnal pride
believes more in its own opinion than those of experienced elders
("starets"). (Blessed John Cassian)
30. It is impossible to overcome any passion
without deep and sincere humility — and you cannot attain perfection and purity
except through genuine humility. (Blessed John Cassian)
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