CHAPTER 1. How our seventh combat is against the spirit of vainglory, and what its nature is.

CAPUT I. Quod septimum tamen adversus cenodoxiam sit, et de natura eius.

1. OUR seventh combat is against the spirit of kenodoxia, which we may term vain or idle glory: a spirit that takes many shapes, and is changeable and subtle, so that it can with difficulty, I will not say be guarded against, but be seen through and discovered even by the keenest eyes.

  I. Septimum nobis certamen est contra spiritum κενοδοξία, quam nos uanam siue inanem gloriam possumus appellare, multiformem, uarium atque subtilem, ita ut quibuslibet perspicacissimis oculis non dicam caueri sed peruideri deprehendiue uix possit.

CHAPTER 2. How vainglory attacks a monk not only on his carnal, but also on his spiritual side.

CAPUT II. Quod cenodoxia non solum in parte carnali, sed etiam in spiritali monachum pulset.

2. FOR not only does this, like the rest of his faults, attack a monk on his carnal side, but on his spiritual side as well, insinuating itself by craft and guile into his mind: so that those who cannot be deceived by carnal vices are more grievously wounded through their spiritual proficiency; and it is so much the worse to fight against, as it is harder to guard against. For the attack of all other vices is more open and straightforward, and in the case of each of them, when he who stirs them up is met by a determined refusal, he will go away the weaker for it, and the adversary who has been beaten will on the next occasion attack his victim with less vigour. But this malady when it has attacked the mind by means of carnal pride, and has been repulsed by the shield of reply, again, like some wickedness that takes many shapes, changes its former guise and character, and under the appearance of the virtues tries to strike down and destroy its conqueror.

  II. Non solum enim ut cetera uitia in parte carnali, sed etiam in spiritali monachum pulsat, subtiliore se nequitia ingerens menti, ita ut, qui non potuerunt carnalibus uitiis decipi, spiritalibus successibus acrius saucientur, tantoque est perniciosior ad conflictum quanto obscurior ad cauendum. Omnium namque uitiorum manifestior apertiorque congressus est et in unoquoque eorum contradictione rigida confutatus incentor inualidior factus abscedet uictoremque suum deiectus aduersarius deinceps infirmior adtemptabit. Hic uero cum pro elatione carnali pulsauerit mentem et fuerit responsionis scuto repulsus, rursus ut quaedam multiformis nequitia priore habitu personaque mutata sub uirtutum specie uictorem confodere et iugulare pertemptat.

CHAPTER 3. How many forms and shapes vainglory takes.

CAPUT III. Quam cenodoxia multiplex sit ac multiformis.

3. FOR our other faults and passions may be said to be simpler and of but one form: but this takes many forms and shapes, and changes about and assails the man who stands up against it from every quarter, and assaults its conqueror on all sides. For it tries to injure the soldier of Christ in his dress, in his manner, his walk, his voice, his work, his vigils, his fasts, his prayers, when he withdraws, when he reads, in his knowledge, his silence, his obedience, his humility, his patience; and like some most dangerous rock hidden by surging waves, it causes an unforeseen and miserable shipwreck to those who are sailing with a fair breeze, while they are not on the lookout for it or guarding against it.

  III. Etenim cetera uitia seu perturbationes uniformes ac simplices esse noscuntur, haec uero multiplex et multiformis ac uaria, undique bellatori et ex omni parte uictori occurrens. Nam et in habitu et in forma, in incessu, in uoce, in opere, in uigiliis, in ieiuniis, in oratione, in remotione, in lectione, in scientia, in taciturnitate, in oboedientia, in humilitate, in longanimitate militem Christi uulnerare conatur, et uelut quidam perniciosissimus scopulus tumentibus undis obtectus inprouisum ac miserabile naufragium secundo nauigantibus uento, dum non cauetur nec praeuidetur, inportat.

CHAPTER 4. How vainglory attacks a monk on the right had and on the left.

CAPUT IV. Quomodo cenodoxia monachum a dextris et a sinistris impugnet.

4. AND so one who wishes to go along the King’s highway by means of the “arms of righteousness which are on the right hand and on the left,” ought by the teaching of the Apostle to pass through “honour and dishonour, evil report and good report,” (2 Cor. 6:7, 8) and with such care to direct his virtuous course amid the swelling waves of temptation, with discretion at the helm, and the Spirit of the Lord breathing on us, since we know that if we deviate ever so little to the right hand or to the left, we shall presently be dashed against most dangerous crags. And so we are warned by Solomon, the wisest of men: “Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left;” (Prov. 4:27 [LXX]) i.e., do not flatter yourself on your virtues and be puffed up by your spiritual achievements on the right hand; nor, swerving to the path of vices on the left hand, seek from them for yourself (to use the words of the Apostle) “glory in your shame.” (Phil. 3:19) For where the devil cannot create vainglory in a man by means of his well-fitting and neat dress, he tries to introduce it by means of a dirty, cheap, and uncared-for style. If he cannot drag a man down by honour, he overthrows him by humility. If he cannot make him puffed up by the grace of knowledge and eloquence, he pulls him down by the weight of silence. If a man fasts openly, he is attacked by the pride of vanity. If he conceals it for the sake of despising the glory of it, he is assailed by the same sin of pride. In order that he may not be defiled by the stains of vainglory he avoids making long prayers in the sight of the brethren; and yet because he offers them secretly and has no one who is conscious of it, he does not escape the pride of vanity.

  IIII. Itaque uia regia uolentem incedere per arma iustitiae quae a dextris sunt et a sinistris oportet apostolica disciplina transire per gloriam et ignobilitatem, per infamiam et bonam famam, et tanta cautione inter tumentes temptationum fluctus gubernante discretione et flante nobis Spiritu Domini iter dirigere uirtutis, ut dextra laeuaque si paululum deflectamus sciamus nos perniciosis mox cautibus inlidendos. Ideoque per sapientissimum Salomonem monemur : Ne deuerteris ad dextram neque ad sinistram, id est ne tibi de uirtutibus blandiaris et dextris successibus ac spiritalibus extollaris nec deflectens ad sinistrum tramitem uitiorum secundum Apostolum gloriam tibi ex eis in tua confusione conquiras. Nam cui sub specie succinctae uestis ac nitidae Š†��ë�Žýঠnon potuit generare, pro squalida et inculta ac uiliore conatur inserere : quem non potuit per honorem deicere, humilitate subplantat : quem scientiae et elocutionis ornatu nequiuit extollere, grauitate taciturnitatis elidit. Si ieiunet palam, gloria uanitatis pulsatur : si illud contemnendae gloriae causa contexerit, eodem uitio elationis obtunditur. Ne uanae gloriae contagio maculetur, orationes prolixius sub fratrum uitat celebrare conspectu : et quod eas latenter exerceat nullumque habeat conscium facti, non effugit aculeos uanitatis.

CHAPTER 5. A comparison which shows the nature of vainglory.

CAPUT V. Qua comparatione monstretur natura cenodoxiae.

5. OUR elders admirably describe the nature of this malady as like that of an onion, and of those bulbs which when stripped of one covering you find to be sheathed in another; and as often as you strip them, you find them still protected.

  V. Pulchre seniores naturam morbi huius in modum caepae bolborumque describunt, quae uno decoriata tegmine alio rursum inueniuntur induta totiensque repperiuntur obtecta, quotiens fuerint spoliata.

CHAPTER 6. That vainglory is not altogether got rid of by the advantages of solitude.

CAPUT VI. Cenodoxiam solitudinis beneficio non penitus exstingui.

6. IN solitude also it does not cease from pursuing him who has for the sake of glory fled from intercourse with all men. And the more thoroughly a man has shunned the whole world, so much the more keenly does it pursue him. It tries to lift up with pride one man because of his great endurance of work and labour, another because of his extreme readiness to obey, another because he outstrips other men in humility. One man is tempted through the extent of his knowledge, another through the extent of his reading, another through the length of his vigils. Nor does this malady endeavour to wound a man except through his virtues; introducing hindrances which lead to death by means of those very things through which the supplies of life are sought. For when men are anxious to walk in the path of holiness and perfection, the enemies do not lay their snares to deceive them anywhere except in the way along which they walk, in accordance with that saying of the blessed David: “In the way wherein I walked have they laid a snare for me;” (Ps. 141 [142]:4) that in this very way of virtue along which we are walking, when pressing on to “the prize of our high calling,” (Phil. 3:14) we may be elated by our successes, and so sink down, and fall with the feet of our soul entangled and caught in the snares of vainglory. And so it results that those of us who could not be vanquished in the conflict with the foe are overcome by the very greatness of our triumph, or else (which is another kind of deception) that, overstraining the limits of that self-restraint which is possible to us, we fail of perseverance in our course on account of bodily weakness.

  VI. In solitudine quoque cunctorum mortalium consortia gloriae causa fugientem persequi non desistit, quantoque amplius uniuersum quis uitauerit mundum, tanto eum acrius insectatur. Alium quod patientissimus sit operum ac laboris, alium quod ad oboediendum promptissimus, alium quod humilitate ceteros praeponderet, conatur extollere : alius scientiae, alius lectionis, alius uigiliarum prolixitate temptatur. Nec alias quemquam hic morbus nisi suis nititur uirtutibus sauciare, in his offendicula tendens interitus, in quibus uitae stipendia conquiruntur. Volentibus quippe iter pietatis ac perfectionis incedere non alibi inimici insidiantes nisi in uia qua ambulant laqueos deceptionis abscondunt, secundum illam beati Dauid sententiam : In uia hac, qua ambulabam, absconderunt laqueum mihi, ut in hac ipsa scilicet uirtutum uia, qua gradimur tendentes ad brabium supernae uocationis, nostris elati successibus corruamus obligatisque pedibus animae nostrae concidamus cenodoxiae laqueis conpediti. Et ita fit, ut qui aduersarii conflictu non potuimus superari, nostri triumphi sublimitate uincamur, seu certe, quod est etiam aliud deceptionis genus, ut excedentes continentiae uel nostrae possibilitatis modum perseuerantiam nostri cursus infirmitate corporis intercedente perdamus.

CHAPTER 7. How vainglory, when it has been overcome, rises again keener than ever for the fight.

CAPUT VII. Quod cenodoxia cum dejecta fuerit, acrius resurgat ad pugnam.

7. ALL vices when overcome grow feeble, and when beaten are day by day rendered weaker, and both in regard to place and time grow less and subside, or at any rate, as they are unlike the opposite virtues, are more easily shunned and avoided: but this one when it is beaten rises again keener than ever for the struggle; and when we think that it is destroyed, it revives again, the stronger for its death. The other kinds of vices usually only attack those whom they have overcome in the conflict; but this one pursues its victors only the more keenly; and the more thoroughly it has been resisted, so much the more vigorously does it attack the man who is elated by his victory over it. And herein lies the crafty cunning of our adversary, namely, in the fact that, where he cannot overcome the soldier of Christ by the weapons of the foe, he lays him low by his own spear.

  VII. Omnia uitia superata marcescunt et deuicta per singulos dies infirmiora redduntur et uel loco uel tempore minuuntur atque deferuent, seu certe a contrariis uirtutibus dissidentia uel cauentur facilius uel uitantur : hoc uero deiectum acrius resurgit ad luctam et, cum putatur extinctum, sua morte uiuacius conualescit. Cetera genera uitiorum eos tantum inpugnare solent quos in certamine superarint : hoc uero suos uictores acrius insectatur, quantoque fuerit ualidius elisum, tanto uehementius uictoriae ipsius elatione congreditur. Et haec est subtilis inimici uersutia, ut militem Christi propriis faciat telis obcumbere, quem hostilibus armis superare non potuit.

CHAPTER 8. How vainglory is not allayed either in the desert or through advancing years.

CAPUT VIII. Quod cenodoxia nec eremo nec aetate deferveat.

8. OTHER vices, as we said, are sometimes allayed by the advantages of position, and when the matter of the sin and the occasion and opportunity for it are removed, grow slack, and are diminished: but this one penetrates the deserts with the man who is flying from it, nor can it be shut out from any place, nor when outward material for it is removed does it fail. For it is simply encouraged by the achievements of the virtues of the man whom it attacks. For all other vices, as we said above, are sometimes diminished by the lapse of time, and disappear: to this one length of life, unless it is supported by skilful diligence and prudent discretion, is no hindrance, but actually supplies it with new fuel for vanity.

  VIII. Alia interdum uitia, sicut diximus, etiam locorum beneficio conquiescunt et materie peccati uel oportunitate eius et occasione subtracta lentescere solent et minui : hoc uero cum fugiente deserta penetrat nec loco nouit excludi nec extrinsecus materie subtracta marcescere. Non enim aliunde quam uirtutum eius quem inpetit successibus animatur. Quaedam etiam processu temporis, ut praefati sumus, interdum molliuntur atque uanescunt : huic longaeuitas, nisi fuerit industria sollerti ac prudenti discretione fundata, non solum non officit, uerum etiam maiora nouit fomenta congerere uanitatis.

CHAPTER 9. That vainglory is the more dangerous through being mixed up with virtues.

CAPUT IX. Quod cenodoxia periculosior sit virtutibus mixta.

9. LASTLY, other passions which are entirely different from the virtues which are their opposites, and which attack us openly and as it were in broad daylight, are more easily overcome and guarded against: but this being interwoven with our virtues and entangled in the battle, fighting as it were under cover of the darkness of night, deceives the more dangerously those who are off their guard and not on the lookout.

  VIIII. Postremo ceterae perturbationes a contrariis sibi uirtutibus dissidentes et ex aperto tamquam die claro bellantes et superantur facilius et cauentur : haec autem inserta uirtutibus et acie permixta uelut in nocte caeca dimicans atrocius inopinatos decipit et incautos.

CHAPTER 10. An instance showing how King Hezekiah was overthrown by the dart of vainglory.

CAPUT X. Exemplum regis Ezechiae, quemadmodum telo cenodoxiae dejectus fuerit.

10.1. FOR so we read that Hezekiah, King of Judah, a man of most perfect righteousness in all things, and one approved by the witness of Holy Scripture, after unnumbered commendations for his virtues, was overthrown by a single dart of vainglory. And he who by a single prayer of his was able to procure the death of a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the army of the Assyrians, whom the angel destroyed in one night, is overcome by boasting and vanity. Of whom--to pass over the long list of his virtues, which it would take a long time to unfold--I will say but this one thing. He was a man who, after the close of his life had been decreed and the day of his death determined by the Lord’s sentence, prevailed by a single prayer to extend the limits set to his life by fifteen years, the sun returning by ten steps, on which it had already shone in its course towards its setting, and by its return dispersing those lines which the shadow that followed its course had already marked, and by this giving two days in one to the whole world, by a stupendous miracle contrary to the fixed laws of nature. (Cf. 2 Kings 20)

  X. Ita namque Ezechiam regem Iudae, uirum in omnibus consummatae iustitiae et sanctarum scripturarum testimonio conprobatum, post innumera uirtutum praeconia uno elationis telo legimus fuisse deiectum, et qui internicionem centum octoginta quinque milium de exercitu Assyriorum, angelo sub nocte uastante, una prece ualuit inpetrare, uanitatis gloriatione superatur : cuius ut praeteream uirtutum tam prolixum catalogum, quem replicare perlongum est, hoc unum dicam, qui post indictum terminum uitae mortisque diem Domini sententia praefinitum quindecim annis uitae metas excedere una oratione promeruit, sole per decem gradus, quos ad occasum tendens iam inlustrauerat, reuertente, qui lineas, quas abscessu eius umbra subsequens occuparat, suo rursum reditu fugans duplicatum diem uniuerso orbi contra fixas naturae leges inaudito miraculo praebuit.

10.2 Yet after signs so great and so incredible, after such immense proofs of his goodness, hear the Scripture tell how he was destroyed by his very successes. “In those days,” we are told, “Hezekiah was sick unto death: and he prayed to the Lord, and He heard him and gave him a sign,” that, namely of which we read in the fourth book of the kingdoms, which was given by Isaiah the prophet through the going back of the sun. “But,” it says, “he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up; and wrath was kindled against him and against Judah and Jerusalem: and he humbled himself afterwards because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.” (2 Chron. 32:24-26)

 2. Post tanta tamque incredibilia signa, post tam inmania documenta uirtutum qualiter fuerit successibus suis elisus, audi scripturam narrantem : In diebus, inquit, illis aegrotauit Ezechias usque ad mortem, et orauit Dominum: et exaudiuit eum, et dedit ei signum, illud scilicet quod legimus de solis datum esse reditu per Esaiam prophetam in quarto Regnorum libro. Sed non, inquit, secundum beneficia, quae acceperat, retribuit ei, quia eleuatum est cor eius: et facta est contra eum ira, et contra Iudam et Hierusalem: humiliatusque est postea eo quod exaltatum esset cor eius, tam ipse, quam habitatores Hierusalem: et idcirco non uenit super eos ira Domini in diebus Ezechiae.

10.3 How dangerous, how terrible is the malady of vanity! So much goodness, so many virtues, faith and devotion, great enough to prevail to change nature itself and the laws of the whole world, perish by a single act of pride! So that all his good deeds would have been forgotten as if they had never been, and he would at once have been subject to the wrath of the Lord unless he had appeased Him by recovering his humility: so that he who, at the suggestion of pride, had fallen from so great a height of excellence, could only mount again to the height he had lost by the same steps of humility. Do you want to see another instance of a similar downfall?

 3. Quam perniciosus, quam grauis elationis est morbus. Tantae iustitiae, tantae uirtutes, tanta fides atque deuotio, quae naturam ipsam ac totius mundi leges inmutare meruerunt, una elatione depereunt, ita ut uniuersis uirtutibus suis, ac si nec fuissent, obliuioni traditis iram confestim Domini suscepisset, nisi eam resumpta humilitate placasset, ut, qui de tam excelso meritorum fastigio elatione inpellente deciderat, non nisi per eosdem rursum humilitatis gradus ad amissum culmen ascenderet. Vis aliud quoque exemplum similis ruinae percipere?

CHAPTER 11. The instance of King Uzziah who was overcome by the taint of the same malady.

CAPUT XI. Exemplum regis Oziae ejusdem morbi labe superati.

11. OF Uzziah, the ancestor of this king of whom we have been speaking, himself also praised in all things by the witness of the Scripture, after great commendation for his virtue, after countless triumphs which he achieved by the merit of his devotion and faith, learn how he was cast down by the pride of vainglory. “And,” we are told, “the name of Uzziah went forth, for the Lord helped him and had strengthened him. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God.” (2 Chron. 26:15, 16) You behold another instance of a most terrible downfall, and see how two men so upright and excellent were undone by their very triumphs and victories. Whence you see how dangerous the successes of prosperity generally are, so that those who could not be injured by adversity are ruined, unless they are careful, by prosperity; and those who in the conflict of battle have escaped the danger of death fall before their own trophies and triumphs.

  XI. Ozias, huius quem commemorauimus regis atauus, in omnibus ipse quoque scripturae testimonio conlaudatus, post ingentia uirtutum suarum praeconia, post innumeros triumphos, quos deuotionis ac fidei suae merito perpetrauit, disce qualiter sit uanae gloriae elatione deiectus : Et egressum est, inquit, nomen Oziae, propter quod auxiliaretur ei Dominus, et conroborasset illum. Et cum conroboratum esset, eleuatum est cor eius in interitum suum, et neglexit Dominum Deum suum. Cernis aliud exemplum ruinae grauissimae et conspicis duos uiros tam iustos tamque perfectos triumphis suis atque uictoriis fuisse confectos. Vnde uidetis quam pernicosi rerum secundarum soleant esse successus, ita ut, qui non potuerunt aduersis frangi, prosperis, si incauti fuerint, acrius elidantur, et qui in conflictu atque acie mortis euasere discrimina, tropaeis propriis triumphisque subcumbant.

CHAPTER 12. Several testimonies against vainglory.

CAPUT XII. Diversa testimonia contra cenodoxiam.

12. AND so the Apostle warns us: “Be not desirous of vainglory.” (Gal. 5:26) And the Lord, rebuking the Pharisees, says, “How can ye believe, who receive glory from one another, and seek not the glory which comes from God alone?” (John 5:44) Of these too the blessed David speaks with a threat: “For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men.” (Ps. 52 [53]:6)

  XII. Ideo Apostolus monet : Nolite fieri inanis gloriae cupidi, et Dominus Pharisaeos castigans Quomodo, inquit, uos potestis credere, qui gloriam ab inuicem accipitis, et gloriam quae a solo est Deo non quaeritis? De his et beatus Dauid cum interminatione dicit : Quoniam Deus dissipauit ossa eorum qui hominibus placent.

CHAPTER 13. Of the ways in which vainglory attacks a monk.

CAPUT XIII. Quibus modis cenodoxia monachum pulset.

13. IN the case also of beginners and of those who have as yet made but little progress either in powers of mind or in knowledge it usually puffs up their minds, either because of the quality of their voice because they can sing well, or because their bodies are emaciated, or because they are of a good figure, or because they have rich and noble kinsfolk, or because they have despised a military life and honours. Sometimes too it persuades a man that if he had remained in the world he would easily have obtained honours and riches, which perhaps could not possibly have been secured, and inflates him with a vain hope of uncertain things; and in the case of those things which he never possessed, puffs him up with pride and vanity, as if he were one who had despised them.

  XIII. Solet etiam incipientium mentes et eorum, qui minus adhuc uel uirtute animi uel scientia profecerunt, aut propter sonum uocis extollere, quod scilicet modulatius psallant, aut quod sint uel exesis carnibus uel corpore lautiores, aut quod parentes diuites ac nobiles habeant, uel quod militiam honoresque contempserint. Interdum etiam dignitates et opes, quae forte ne adprehendi quidem aliquando potuissent, persuadet quempiam perfacile fuisse adepturum, si perseuerasset in saeculo, uana spe etiam de incertis inflans eum et de his, quae numquam possedit, uelut qui ea contempserit, gloria uanitatis extollens.

CHAPTER 14. How it suggests that a man may seek to take holy orders.

CAPUT XIV. Quemadmodum clericatus gradum suggerat ambiendum.

14. BUT sometimes it creates a wish to take holy orders, and a desire for the priesthood or diaconate. And it represents that if a man has even against his will received this office, he will fulfil it with such sanctity and strictness that he will be able to set an example of saintliness even to other priests; and that he will win over many people, not only by his manner of life, but also by his teaching and preaching. It makes a man, even when alone and sitting in his cell, to go round in mind and imagination to the dwellings and monasteries of others, and to make many conversions under the inducements of imaginary exultation.

  XIIII. Nonnumquam uero clericatus gradum et desiderium presbyterii uel diaconatus inmittit. Quem si uel inuitus fuisset indeptus, tanta expleturum sanctitate ac rigore depingit, ut ceteris quoque sacerdotibus praebere potuerit sanctitatis exempla, deinde multos non solum conuersationis forma, uerum etiam doctrina sua sermonesque lucraturum. Facit etiam in solitudine uel in cella commorantem diuersorum domos ac monasteria mente atque animo circumire et plurimorum conuersiones sub incitamento imaginariae exhortationis adquirere.

CHAPTER 15. How vainglory intoxicates the mind.

CAPUT XV. Quomodo cenodoxia mentem inebriet.

15. AND so the miserable soul is affected by such vanity--as if it were deluded by a profound slumber--that it is often led away by the pleasure of such thoughts, and filled with such imaginations, so that it cannot even look at things present, or the brethren, while it enjoys dwelling upon these things, of which with its wandering thoughts it has waking dreams, as if they were true.

  XV. Agitur itaque infelix anima tali uanitate uelut profundissimo sopore delusa, ut plerumque huiusmodi cogitationum inlecta dulcedine et his oppleta simulacris ne praesentes quidem actus uel fratres ualeat contemplari, dum his, quae cogitationum peruagatione uigilans somniauit, delectatur inhaerere quasi ueris.

CHAPTER 16. Of him whom the superior came upon and found in his cell, deluded by idle vainglory.

CAPUT XVI De eo, quem senex superueniens repperit in cella cenodoxiae uanitate deludi

16. I REMEMBER an elder, when I was staying in the desert of Scete, who went to the cell of a certain brother to pay him a visit, and when he had reached the door heard him muttering inside, and stood still for a little while, wanting to know what it was that he was reading from the Bible or repeating by heart (as is customary) while he was at work. And when this most excellent eavesdropper diligently applied his ear and listened with some curiosity, he found that the man was induced by an attack of this spirit to fancy that he was delivering a stirring sermon to the people. And when the elder, as he stood still, heard him finish his discourse and return again to his office, and give out the dismissal of the catechumens, as the deacon does, (1) then at last he knocked at the door, and the man came out, and met the elder with the customary reverence, and brought him in and (for his knowledge of what had been his thoughts made him uneasy) asked him when he had arrived, for fear lest he might have taken some harm from standing too long at the door: and the old man joking pleasantly replied, “I only got here while you were giving out the dismissal of the catechumens.”

  XVI. Memini cuiusdam senis, cum in heremo Sciti commorarer. Qui cum ad cellam cuiusdam fratris gratia uisitationis adueniens ostio proximasset audissetque eum quiddam obmurmurantem intrinsecus, paululum substitit, cognoscere uolens quidnam de scripturis legeret uel, sicut est moris, operans memoriter recenseret. Cumque piissimus explorator aure diligenter adplicita curiosius auscultaret, ita eum repperit huius spiritus inpugnatione pellectum, ut in ecclesia facere se crederet exhortatorium plebi sermonem. Cumque subsistens senex audisset eum finisse tractatum et mutato rursus officio celebrare uelut diaconum catechumenis missam, tum demum pulsauit ostium. Qui egressus occurensque seni ueneratione solita introducensque eum, quam olim uenerit, cogitationum suarum conscientia remordente perquirit, ne scilicet diutius ad ostium stans iniuriam pertulisset. Ioculariter senex grateque respondit : modo, inquiens, ueni, quando tu missam catechumenis celebrabas.

CHAPTER 17. How faults cannot be cured unless their roots and causes have been discovered.

CAPUT XVII Quod aliter vitia curari non possint, nisi eorum radices et causae innotuerint.

17.1. I THOUGHT it well to insert these things in this little work of mine, that we might learn, not only by reason, but also by examples, about the force of temptations and the order of the sins which hurt an unfortunate soul, and so might be more careful in avoiding the snares and manifold deceits of the enemy. For these things are indiscriminately brought forward by the Egyptian fathers, that by telling them, as those who are still enduring them, they may disclose and lay bare the combats with all the vices, which they actually do suffer, and those which the younger ones are sure to suffer; so that, when they explain the illusions arising from all the passions, those who are but beginners and fervent in spirit may know the secret of their struggles, and seeing them as in a glass, may learn both the causes of the sins by which they are troubled, and the remedies for them, and instructed beforehand concerning the approach of future struggles, may be taught how they ought to guard against them, or to meet them and to fight with them.

  XVII. Haec idcirco inserere huic opusculo necessarium duxi, ut de inpugnationum ui atque ordine uitiorum, quibus miserabilis anima laceratur, non solum ratione, sed etiam exemplis instructi ad deuitandos laqueos et multiplices decipulas inimici cautiores esse possimus. Ita namque indifferenter haec ab Aegyptiis patribus proferuntur in medium, ut omnium uitiorum certamina, uel illa quae patiuntur uel quae passuri sunt iuniores, relatione sua, tamquam qui adhuc ea sustineant, apud eos detegant atque denudent, quo exponentibus eis inlusiones omnium passionum, quaecumque incipientium sunt ac feruentium spiritu, conluctationum suarum arcana cognoscant et ea tamquam in speculo contemplantes et causas uitiorum quibus pulsantur et remedia doceantur, futurorum quoque certaminum congressibus antequam superueniant eruditi, qualiter praecauere et occurrere eis uel confligere debeant, instruantur.

17.2. As clever physicians are accustomed not only to heal already existing diseases, but also by a wise skill to seek to obviate future ones, and to prevent them by their prescriptions and healing draughts, so these true physicians of the soul, by means of spiritual conferences, like some celestial antidote, destroy beforehand those maladies of the soul which would arise, and do not allow them to gain a footing in the minds of the juniors, as they unfold to them the causes of the passions which threaten them, and the remedies which will heal them.

 2. Vt solent peritissimi medicorum non solum mederi praesentibus morbis, uerum etiam futuris peritia sagaci occurrere eosque praeceptis uel poculis salutaribus praeuenire, ita hi quoque uerissimi animarum medici, emersuras ualitudines cordium spiritali conlatione uelut quodam caelesti antidoto praenecantes, in iuniorum mentibus non patiuntur adulescere, aperientes eis et causas inminentium passionum et remedia sanitatum.

CHAPTER 18.. How a monk ought to avoid women and bishops.

CAPUT XVIII. Quod monachus vitare debeat mulieres et episcopos.

18. WHEREFORE this is an old maxim of the Fathers that is still current,--though I cannot produce it without shame on my own part, since I could not avoid my own sister, nor escape the hands of the bishop,--viz., that a monk ought by all means to fly from women and bishops. For neither of them will allow him who has once been joined [to them] in close familiarity to care any longer for the quiet of his cell, or to continue with pure eyes in divine contemplation through his insight into holy things.

  XVIII. Quapropter haec est antiquitus patrum permanens nunc usque sententia, quam proferre sine mea confusione non potero, qui nec germanam uitare nec episcopi euadere manus potui, omnimodis monachum fugere debere mulieres et episcopos. Neuter enim sinit eum, quem semel suae familiaritati deuinxerit, uel quieti cellae ulterius operam dare uel diuinae theoriae per sanctarum rerum intuitum purissimis oculis inhaerere.

CHAPTER 19. Remedies by which it is possible to overcome vainglory.

CAPUT XVIII. Remedia quibus cenodixiam superare possimus.

19.1. AND so the athlete of Christ who desires to strive lawfully in this true and spiritual combat, should strive by all means to overcome this changeable monster of many shapes, which, as it attacks us on every side like some manifold wickedness, we can escape by such a remedy as this;

XVIIII. Ideoque athleta Christi, qui uerum ac spiritalem agonem legitime certare desiderat, hanc multiformem uariamque bestiam omnimodis superare festinet. Quam nobis ex omni parte uelut multiplicem nequitiam occurrentem tali remedio poterimus euadere,

[1] viz., thinking on that saying of David: “The Lord hath scattered the bones of those who please men.” (Ps. 52 [53]:6)

[2] To begin with we should not allow ourselves to do anything at the suggestion of vanity, and for the sake of obtaining vainglory.

[3] Next, when we have begun a thing well, we should endeavour to maintain it with just the same care, for fear lest afterwards the malady of vainglory should creep in and make void all the fruits of our labours.

 [4] And anything which is of very little use or value in the common life of the brethren, we should avoid as leading to boasting; and whatever would render us remarkable amongst the others, and for which credit would be gained among men, as if we were the only people who could do it, this should be shunned by us.

19.2. For by these signs the deadly taint of vainglory will be shown to cling to us: which we shall most easily escape if we consider that we shall not merely lose the fruits of those labours of ours which we have performed at the suggestion of vainglory, but that we shall also be guilty of a great sin, and as impious persons undergo eternal punishments, inasmuch as we have wronged God by doing for the favour of men what we ought to have done for His sake, and are convicted by Him who knows all secrets of having preferred men to God, and the praise of the world to the praise of the Lord.

 2. His enim uel maxime indiciis cenodoxiae letale contagium nobis inhaerere monstrabitur. Quod facillime poterimus effugere, si consideremus non solum fructus laborum nostrorum nos penitus amissuros, quoscumque cenodoxiae proposito fecerimus, sed etiam reos magni criminis factos aeterna supplicia ueluti sacrilegos soluturos, utpote qui ad iniuriam Dei opus, quod eius obtentu nos oportuit agere, hominum gratia maluimus exercere, ab eo, qui occultorum est conscius, homines Deo et gloriam mundi gloriae Domini praetulisse conuicti.