Abbot Serapion’s enumeration of eight principle faults.
Dorothy L. Sayers, Creed or Chaos? 1949
and Others
In contending with the problem of evil it is useless to try to escape eitehr from the bad past or into the good past. The only way to deal with the past is to accept the whole past, and by accepting it, to change its meaning. So long as one flees from Time and Evil one is thrall to them, not till he welcomes them does he find strength to transmute them ... I know that my business is not to run away but to pursue, not to avoid being found but to seek ... Repentance is no more than a passionate intention to know all things after the mode of Heaven, and it is impossible to know evil as good if you insist on knowing as evil.
and Others
In contending with the problem of evil it is useless to try to escape eitehr from the bad past or into the good past. The only way to deal with the past is to accept the whole past, and by accepting it, to change its meaning. So long as one flees from Time and Evil one is thrall to them, not till he welcomes them does he find strength to transmute them ... I know that my business is not to run away but to pursue, not to avoid being found but to seek ... Repentance is no more than a passionate intention to know all things after the mode of Heaven, and it is impossible to know evil as good if you insist on knowing as evil.
Whenever one desires anything inordinately, at once becomes restless. The proud and avaricious are never at rest; but the poor and humble enjoy the riches of peace. One who is not yet perfectly dead to self is easily tempted, and is overcome even in small and trifling things. And one who is weak in spirit, and still a prey to the senses and bodily passions, can only with great difficulty bef free from worldly lusts. Therefore one is ad when he withdraws himself, and quickly angered when one opposes him. Yet, if he obtains what he desires, his conscience is at once stricken by remorse, because he has yielded to his passion, which in no way helps him in his search for peace. True peace of heart can be found only by resisting the passions, not by yielding to them. There is no peace in the heart of a worldly man, who is entirely given to outward affairs; but only in a fervent, spiritual man. <Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ>
Warm-hearted - disreputable sins
Cold-hearted - respectable sins
Luxuria or Lust
.... The exhuberance of animal spirits ....
When philosophies are bankrupt and life appears without hoope ... one may turn to lust in sheer boredom and discontent. The mournful and medical aspect of 20th century pornography and promiscuity strongly suggest that we have reached one of these period of spiritual depression, where people go to bed because they have nothing better to do.
Ira or Wrath
Wrath is a thing unnatural to him. It affects him like drink or drugs. In the shame-faced mood that follows, he becomes spiritless sick at heart and enfeebled in judgment. Ungovernable rage is the sin of the warm heart and the quick spirit; very quickly repented of - however may have wrongt irreparable destruction.
Of anger there are three kinds: one which rages within, which is called in Greek qumos; another which breaks out in word and deed and action, which they term oqgh: of which the Apostle speaks, saying "But now do ye lay aside all anger and indignation;" (6) the third, which is not like those in boiling over and being done with in an hour, but which lasts for days and long periods, which is called mhnis. And all these three must be condemned by us with equal horror.
Of deflection there are two kinds: one, that which springs up when anger has died down, or is the result of some loss we have incurred or of some purpose which has been hindered and interfered with; the other, that which comes from unreasonable anxiety of mind or from despair.
Of anger there are three kinds: one which rages within, which is called in Greek qumos; another which breaks out in word and deed and action, which they term oqgh: of which the Apostle speaks, saying "But now do ye lay aside all anger and indignation;" (6) the third, which is not like those in boiling over and being done with in an hour, but which lasts for days and long periods, which is called mhnis. And all these three must be condemned by us with equal horror.
Of deflection there are two kinds: one, that which springs up when anger has died down, or is the result of some loss we have incurred or of some purpose which has been hindered and interfered with; the other, that which comes from unreasonable anxiety of mind or from despair.
Gula, Gluttony, Gastrimargia
The mark of a progressive nation that is filled with hustling, go-getting citizens, intent on raising their standard of living .... the gluttonous consumption of manufactured goods has become the prime civic virtue .... Gluttony is warm hearted. It is teh excess and perversion of that free, careless, and generous mood which desires to enjoy life and to see others enjoy it.
Avaritia, Covetousness, Philargyria (Avarice)
One going about with hs hat cocked over his eyes, and with pistols tucked into the toop of his jack-boots ... gambles and speculates, thinks in big ways, takes risks ... a twinkle in his cunning eye .... A hunting feeling that God's acquaintance is being cultivated because he might come in useful.
Of covetousness there are three kinds: (I) That which hinders renunciants from allowing themselves of be stripped of their goods and property; (2) that which draws us to resume with excessive eagerness the possession of those things which we have given away and distributed to the poor; (3) that which leads a man to covet and procure what he never previously possessed.
Of covetousness there are three kinds: (I) That which hinders renunciants from allowing themselves of be stripped of their goods and property; (2) that which draws us to resume with excessive eagerness the possession of those things which we have given away and distributed to the poor; (3) that which leads a man to covet and procure what he never previously possessed.
Invidia or Envy
Envy is the great leveller it it cannot level things up, it will level them down ... Envy is a climber and a snob; at its worst it is a destroyer rather than have anyone happier than itself, it will see us all miserable together .... In love, envy is cruel, jealous, possessive. If we cannot be happy together, we will be unhappy together. Envy tears down the whole fabric to get at the parasitic growths .... Envy cannot bear to admire or respect, it cannot bear to be grateful ....
Acedia or Sloth
It is the sin which believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interfers with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for. Violent activity seem to offer an escape from the horrors of sloth.
There is only one hell, but maybe you have experienced it already: it is the place where one no longer hopes for anything, where one no longer loves anybody, where one no longer expects anything from anybody, where one no longer trusts anybody. <Louis Evely, Suffering: Reflections on the mystery of human pain and suffering, 1967>
Accidie does not mean lack of hustle: it means the slow sapping of all the faculties by indifference, and by the sensation that life is pointless and meaningless, and not-worth-while. It has been called the Disease of Democracy, a child of covetousness, the parent of those other two sins which the Chruch calls Lust and Gluttony .... emptiness of heart .... <Dorothy L. Sayers, Unpopular Opinions, 1946>
Of accidie there are two kinds: one of which sends those affected by it to sleep; while the other makes them forsake their cell and flee away.
There is only one hell, but maybe you have experienced it already: it is the place where one no longer hopes for anything, where one no longer loves anybody, where one no longer expects anything from anybody, where one no longer trusts anybody. <Louis Evely, Suffering: Reflections on the mystery of human pain and suffering, 1967>
Accidie does not mean lack of hustle: it means the slow sapping of all the faculties by indifference, and by the sensation that life is pointless and meaningless, and not-worth-while. It has been called the Disease of Democracy, a child of covetousness, the parent of those other two sins which the Chruch calls Lust and Gluttony .... emptiness of heart .... <Dorothy L. Sayers, Unpopular Opinions, 1946>
Of accidie there are two kinds: one of which sends those affected by it to sleep; while the other makes them forsake their cell and flee away.
It is not evil or good but the passive indifference toward both the characterizes our attitudes …. I can see how hard it is to preach to people who are slothful because nothing really matters to them. They don’t get excited about a beautiful thought, a splendid idea, or an encouraging perspective, nor do they become indignant about why words, sordid ideas, or destructive viewpoints. …. It seems the sin of a spoiled generation, for whom nothing really matters, ..... Lukewarmness creates nausea and an inclination to vomit …. I wonder if sloth is not a special temptation for elderly people, who have seen so much happen but so little change. <Henri JM Nouwen, Sabbathical Journey>
The demon of acedia - also called the noonday demon (Psalm 91:6) - is the one that causes the most serious trouble of all. ... First of all he makes it seem that the sun barely moves, if at all, and that the day is fifty hours long. He instills in the heart of the monk a hatred for the place, a hatred for his very life itself, a hatred for manual labor. He leads him to reflect that charity hasdeparted from among the brethern, and there is no one to give encouragement. <Evagrius Ponticus, Praktikos>
The traits that characterize acedia - weariness, laziness, especially spiritual laziness, boredom, an urge to give up completely _ and found in walks of life quite different from the hermit's and exhibit a strong similarity to what today is called "depression." Acedia seems to be an ever-present sickness of the soul that is found not only in the heart of the Thebaid. ... Evagrius and the Fathers did not depict it initially as a sin, but as a trial, a temptation. It becomes a sin only if one succumbs to it, if one gives in to discouragement by making no effort at all. The trial of acedia is similar to what the ancients called "educative dereliction," and the Carmelite tradition, in a different context, "passive purification." Withstood in patience, it proves to be a fruitful experience and can help the person get over a decisive hurdle in the spiritual life. Acedia is therefore primarily the place for battle, the spiritual battle "more arduous than the visible war." Therefore .... the one who has to battle acedia "makes an effort for God's sake," as the Fathers used to say, to do only what one is capable of, even if it seems to be not much at all. <Placide Deseille, Acedia According to the Monastic Tradition, CSR Volume 37.3, 2002>
The demon of acedia - also called the noonday demon (Psalm 91:6) - is the one that causes the most serious trouble of all. ... First of all he makes it seem that the sun barely moves, if at all, and that the day is fifty hours long. He instills in the heart of the monk a hatred for the place, a hatred for his very life itself, a hatred for manual labor. He leads him to reflect that charity hasdeparted from among the brethern, and there is no one to give encouragement. <Evagrius Ponticus, Praktikos>
The traits that characterize acedia - weariness, laziness, especially spiritual laziness, boredom, an urge to give up completely _ and found in walks of life quite different from the hermit's and exhibit a strong similarity to what today is called "depression." Acedia seems to be an ever-present sickness of the soul that is found not only in the heart of the Thebaid. ... Evagrius and the Fathers did not depict it initially as a sin, but as a trial, a temptation. It becomes a sin only if one succumbs to it, if one gives in to discouragement by making no effort at all. The trial of acedia is similar to what the ancients called "educative dereliction," and the Carmelite tradition, in a different context, "passive purification." Withstood in patience, it proves to be a fruitful experience and can help the person get over a decisive hurdle in the spiritual life. Acedia is therefore primarily the place for battle, the spiritual battle "more arduous than the visible war." Therefore .... the one who has to battle acedia "makes an effort for God's sake," as the Fathers used to say, to do only what one is capable of, even if it seems to be not much at all. <Placide Deseille, Acedia According to the Monastic Tradition, CSR Volume 37.3, 2002>
Superbia, Cenodoxia, Pride
The sin of trying to be as God. It is the sin which proclaims that man can produce out of his own wits and his own impulses ... the perfectibility of man, the doctrine of progress. The devlish strategy of pride is that it attacks us not on our weak points, but on our strong ones. It is the sin of the noble mind ....
Of vainglory, although it takes various forms and shapes, and is divided into different classes, yet there are two main kinds: (I) when we are puffed up about carnal things and things visible, and (2) when we are inflamed with the desire of vain praise for things spiritual and unseen.
BUT in one matter vainglory is found to be a useful thing for beginners. I mean by those who are still troubled by carnal sins
Of pride there are two kinds: (I) carnal, and (2) spiritual, which is the worse. For it especially attacks those who are seen to have made progress in some good qualities.
Hubris, the infalted spirits that come with oovermuch success .... the root-sin of Pride ... places man instead of God at the centre of gravity and so throws the whole structure of things into the ruin called judgment. .... Man cannot be happy by serviing himself .... Human happiness is a by-produce thrown off in man's service to God. .... For the besetting temptation of the pious man is to become the proud man.
Of vainglory, although it takes various forms and shapes, and is divided into different classes, yet there are two main kinds: (I) when we are puffed up about carnal things and things visible, and (2) when we are inflamed with the desire of vain praise for things spiritual and unseen.
BUT in one matter vainglory is found to be a useful thing for beginners. I mean by those who are still troubled by carnal sins
Of pride there are two kinds: (I) carnal, and (2) spiritual, which is the worse. For it especially attacks those who are seen to have made progress in some good qualities.
Hubris, the infalted spirits that come with oovermuch success .... the root-sin of Pride ... places man instead of God at the centre of gravity and so throws the whole structure of things into the ruin called judgment. .... Man cannot be happy by serviing himself .... Human happiness is a by-produce thrown off in man's service to God. .... For the besetting temptation of the pious man is to become the proud man.
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