“(…) don’t start a war without wise advice.“
Proverbs 20: 18; 21: 22; 24: 3-4
“A sage can scale a garrisoned city and shutter the rampart on which it relied.“
“By wisdom a house is built, by understanding it is made strong; by knowledge its storerooms are filled with riches of every kind, rare and desirable.“
Saint John Cassian and his friend Germanus meet Abba Sarapion
“Among those venerable old men one called Sarapion was so distinguished for the grace of discernment that I think his conversation well worth writing down. We requested him to say something about the attacks of vice, and to explain how they arise and what causes them (…).“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 98
A list of eight principal vices and how they are linked to one another
Before we look at some of the advice Abba Sarapion gives in reply to Cassian and Germanus concerning the combat against vices and the growth in virtues, it might be a good first step to clarify the meaning of “virtue“ and “vice“ by quoting the Catechism on this topic:
“Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1804; 1805; 1811; 1813; 1866
The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.“
“Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called ‘cardinal‘; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. (…)“
“It is not easy for man, wounded by sin, to maintain moral balance. Christ’s gift of salvation offers us the grace necessary to persevere in the pursuit of the virtues. Everyone should always ask for this grace of light and strength, frequent the sacraments, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and follow his calls to love what is good and shun evil.“
“The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.“
“Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called ‘capital‘ because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.“
One who would like to grow in virtue to turn from evil to good must overcome vices and replace them with the practices that strengthen the corresponding virtues. One who desires to win a war to conquer ground must know the enemy and understand his strategy. That is why Cassian and Germanus ask Abba Sarapion to be instructed therein.
The list of seven capital sins or vices mentioned in the Catechism is quite well known. In Cassian‘s book on the teachings of the Desert Fathers we encounter a list of eight principal and deadly sins or vices as explained by Abba Sarapion. This list differs a bit from the list of seven sins not only in number, but also in content and order:
“There are eight deadly sins which plague the human race; specifically the first is gluttony or pampering the stomach, the second fornication, the third the love of money or avarice, the fourth anger, the fifth melancholy, the sixth depression, which is anxiety or listlessness, the seventh vainglory or conceit, the eighth arrogant pride.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 98-99
| List of seven capital sins / vices | List of eight capital sins / vices according to Abba Sarapion in Cassian‘s Collations |
| 1: pride | 1: gluttony (no. 6 in the list of seven) |
| 2: avarice | 2: fornication (no. 5 in the list of seven) |
| 3: envy | 3: love of money / avarice (no. 2 in the list of seven) |
| 4: wrath | 4: anger (no. 4 in the list of seven) |
| 5: lust | 5: melancholy (not explicitly included in the list of seven) |
| 6: gluttony | 6: depression / anxiety / listlessness (not explicitly included in the list of seven – but closely related / similar to no. 7 in the list of seven: sloth / acedia) |
| 7: sloth / acedia | 7: vainglory / conceit (not explicitly included in the list of seven – but related to no. 1 and no. 3 in the list of seven: pride, envy) |
| 8: arrogant pride (no. 1 in the list of seven) |
There are reasons for this order as given by Abba Sarapion. The order in his list represents how these vices are linked to one another:
“The eight sins are (…) divided into four pairs of associates: gluttony is especially linked to fornication, avarice to wrath, melancholy to depression and conceit to pride in a customary coupling.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 105
The first six vices are committed with the body while the last two – conceit and pride – “are usually committed without the body being involved in any way“ (ibid., p. 103). Both the first six and the last two are connected to one another in a causal relationship, teaches the venerable Desert Father:
“Now although the eight sins have different origins and varying effects, nevertheless the first six (that is to say gluttony, fornication, avarice, wrath, melancholy and depression) are linked together in a sort of chain of causality, the excess of each one in turn giving rise to the next one. From an excess of gluttony springs fornication, from fornication avarice, from avarice wrath, from wrath melancholy, and from melancholy depression, in a logical order. (…)
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 104-105
The two remaining, that is conceit and arrogant pride, are linked to each other in the same sort of relationship as the six we have just mentioned, so that as the first grows it generates the second, for the excess of conceit brings forth the germ of pride.“
In other words: There is an organic relationship between the different principal vices. For example, melancholy leads to depression. As the book of Proverbs says,
“(…) where the heart is sad the spirit is broken.“
Proverbs 15: 13
This insight into the organic interconnectedness of the vices can be very helpful for us. As Abba Sarapion talks about combating them, he uses metaphors taken from nature to drive this point across:
“In the same way and in the same order we should combat these sins, and we should open the battle against each one from the previous one. If you want to destroy the damaging spread and overgrowth of some tree, it is easier if you first expose and then cut the roots on which it depends. A flood of polluted water is stemmed by searching out and blocking up the source and channels it comes from. Thus if would defeat depression, you must conquer melancholy first; to dispel melancholy, first get rid of wrath; to extinguish wrath, first trample on avarice, to strip away avarice, suppress fornication; to undermine fornication, the sin of gluttony must be restrained. (…)
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 105
Because of this, if we would exclude pride, we must first focus on conceit. If we have defeated the first sin, the next one will be abated, and once we have eliminated the previous vice, subsequent temptations wither away.“
The roots of various vices
Therefore, the source of all sins committed with the agency of the body is the vice of gluttony for which fasting and moderation in eating are the remedies.
Both “gluttony and fornication lie within us by nature, and often arise simply from the urges and motions of the flesh without the mind being involved“ (ibid., p. 99), Abba Sarapion says. While the various sinful deeds of the spirit of fornication can be driven out and replaced by a conduct of chastity, if its supporting root (gluttony) is held in check, gluttony itself can only be “moderated“ because food remains a daily necessity that can never completely vanish:
“The desire for food to eat remains always innate and natural to us, however eager we be to eliminate excessive appetite. What we cannot totally eliminate, we must avoid by self-denial. (…) We cannot deny the body its necessary victuals without harming it, which would be a sin on the soul, but the other seven emotions should be completely eradicated from our innermost souls, being harmful altogether. (…) It is possible to pluck up the very roots of these vices, which are parasites on nature, but we can never eliminate the occasion of gluttony. (…) we cannot be rid of the need to prepare our daily meal, and to grow our food year by year.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 115-116
This root sin of gluttony – supporting the sins of fornication, avarice, wrath, melancholy, and depression – is present in the narrative of the fall of Adam and Eve, alongside the two more “spiritual“ sins of vainglory and pride:
“It was through gluttony that he (Adam) dared to taste the forbidden fruit; vainglory made him listen to ‘your eyes shall be opened‘ and pride to ‘you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil‘ (Gen. 3: 5).“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 101
In the desert, Jesus, the new Adam, was tempted by the devil in all those areas in which the old Adam was:
“By his example he taught us how we should overcome the tempter in the same sort of temptations which he suffered. That is why both the first man and Our Lord are named Adam (1 Cor 15: 45). One was the first in ruin and death, the other the first in the resurrection and the life. Through one the whole human race was condemned, through the other the whole human race is liberated. The one was made of pure and undefiled earth, the other was born of the Virgin Mary. Thus it was fitting for Christ to endure the same temptations as Adam, but not necessary to exceed them, for he who had conquered gluttony could not be tempted by fornication which comes from the same root, proceeding from excess of food; the first Adam too would have escaped that sin, had he not been deceived by the devil‘s wiles into admitting the vice which is its mother.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 101-102
Sacred Scripture teaches through the story of the fall of Adam and Eve and of Christ’s victory over Satan in the desert as well as through the testimony of Saint John the Apostle that there are three general temptations tempting everyone from which all evil actions spring:
“For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world.“
1 John 2: 16
The three medicines and shields against these temptations are fasting (vs. “the concupiscence of the flesh“), almsgiving (vs. “the concupiscence of the eyes“), and prayer (vs. “the pride of life“).
Other sins and vices springing from the eight principal ones
The eight principal vices breed a variety of other ones, says Abba Sarapion – “vices are much more numerous than virtues“ (ibid., p. 113) but:
“(…) once we have defeated the eight principal sins from which the others undoubtedly flow, all the rest are subdued and eradicated permanently with the elimination of the eight.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 113
He continues by giving some examples of vices and sins flowing from the source of the eight principal ones. The following table captures his teaching thereon in an overview:
| the eight principal sins | sins related to the eight principle sins: resulting from them |
| 1: gluttony | greediness, drunkenness |
| 2: fornication | foul language, indecency, stupidity, mockery |
| 3: love of money / avarice | lies, deceit, theft, perjury, obsession with profit, slander, violence, cruelty, rapacity |
| 4: wrath | murder, contention, hatred |
| 5: melancholy | rancour, weakmindedness, bitterness, despair |
| 6: depression / anxiety / listlessness | sloth, laziness, importunity, unrest, vagrancy, mental and physical instability, verbosity, curiosity |
| 7: vainglory / conceit | strife, heresy, boasting, the quest for novelty |
| 8: arrogant pride | contempt, envy, disobedience, blasphemy, grumbling, calumny |
Further battle advice
When it comes to the sins of gluttony and fornication which are the basis for many other vices, these cannot be overcome by “mental resolution alone“, while with “anger, melancholy and other passions“ a combat strategy “with mental strife alone, without any bodily penance“ (ibid., p. 99) can be successful.
Yet in the case of gluttony and fornication “physical penance is necessary, performed by fasting, watching (i.e. prayer vigils) and hard work“ (ibid.), teaches Abba Sarapion.
“A slave is not corrected by mere words; even if understood, it will be ineffective.“
Proverbs 29: 19; 12: 24; 13: 4; 27: 7
“The diligent hand wields authority, for the slack is subjected to forced labor.“
“The idler hungers but has no food; hard workers get their fill.“
“The sated appetite revolts at honey; to the hungry even the bitter is sweet.“
“All these eight sins attack the whole human race, but they do not affect everyone in the same way. In one man the spirit of fornication obtains the chief hold; in another, wrath rides roughshod; in a third conceit holds sway; in yet another pride sets up its stronghold. We are all attacked by all of them, but each of us struggles in our own manner and order.
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 109-110
We must therefore join battle against these sins in this manner: each one should discern the sin which most assails him, and struggle against that one in particular. He should devote his whole mental energy and concern to watching it and attacking it, directing the darts of his daily fast against it, continually shooting it with flights of arrows, of heartfelt sighs and groans. (…)
Once we have overcome the stronger passions, then we are ready for a crowning victory over the weaker ones in due turn, with no difficulty.“
“A country in revolt has many leaders; with one person wise and experienced there will be stability.“
Proverbs 28: 2
The virtues that ought to replace the principal vices
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and cannot find one. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house from which I came.‘ But on arrival, finding it unoccupied, swept and tidied, it then goes off and collects seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and settle down there, so that the person ends up worse off than before. That is what will happen to this wicked generation.“
Matthew 12: 43-45
In this parable, the metaphor of the house stands for the soul: A soul can be inhabited either by virtues or by vices, by clean or by unclean spirits. If the unclean spirit that has left the house of the soul is not replaced by a good spirit – spirits of the Holy Spirit – it may return with “seven other spirits more wicked than itself“. Were the house inhabited by virtues – filled with “riches“ that “are rare and desirable“ (Prov 24: 4) – instead of remaining empty, the unclean spirits could not find any door to enter nor any space to occupy.
“Virtues and vices, indeed, cannot co-exist, ‘for what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness?‘ (2 Cor. 6: 14). Yet once the vices have been overthrown by the people of Israel (that is the virtues which fight against them), the location which lust or fornication had occupied in our hearts is taken over by chastity; that held by anger is occupied by patience; the place where melancholy lurked to brood on death is possessed by a saving sorrow that is filled with joy; where depression laid waste becomes the abode of resoluteness; the site trampled by pride is exalted by humility. As each vice is driven out their locations, or emotions, are taken over by the contrary virtues. (…)
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 117-118
It was God‘s will that the possession of our hearts should belong by nature to the virtues, not to the vices.
After the fall of Adam the virtues were driven from their homeland by insolent vices (…), so that when they were restored by God‘s grace through our own care and effort, they can be seen to be recovering their own lands, not occupying those of others.“
| principal vice | opposing virtue |
| fornication (inlcuding according to Abba Sarapion: fornication “consummated by the joining of both sexes“; the sin “of Onan“ (“uncleanness“); “in thought alone“ (“lust“)) | chastity “As is proper among saints, fornication and impurity of any kind or rivalry should not even be mentioned among you, nor foul or salacious talk or coarse jokes, which are unfitting; there should rather be thanksgiving.“ (Eph 5: 3-4) “This is the will of God, your sanctification. He wants you to keep away from sexual immorality, and each one of you to know how to control the body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in the passions of lust like the nations who do not know God.“ (1 Thess 4: 3-5) |
| anger / wrath (including according to Abba Sarapion: thymos (it “seethes within us“); orge (it “breaks out in words and actions“); menis (it “is fostered for days or for years“)) | patience (some synonyms for “patience“ according to dictionaries: endurance, self-control, restraint, long-suffering, calmness) “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love.“ (Eph 4: 2) “Be angry, but do not sin: do not let the sun set on your anger or else you will give the devil a place.“ (Eph 4: 26) |
| melancholy (including according to Abba Sarapion: one form that “arises when wrath subsides or we have suffered injury or our desires are hindered and frustrated“; one form that “proceeds from some unaccountable worry or anxiety“)) | saving sorrow filled with joy “For a divine distress leads to an irreversible repentance for salvation, while a worldly distress leads to death. For see what enthusiasm the divine distress has roused in you, what eagerness to explain yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what desire, what zeal, what justice.“ (2 Cor 7: 10-11) |
| depression / anxiety / listlessness (including according to Abba Sarapion: one form that “drives the sufferer to drowsiness“; one form that “urges them to desert their cells and abscond“) | resoluteness (some synonyms for “resoluteness“ according to dictionaries: decisiveness, earnestness, firmness, fortitude, perseverance, purposefulness) “Create a pure heart for me, O God; renew a steadfast spirit within me.“ (Ps 51: 12) “Only be strong and stand firm and be careful to keep the whole Law which my servant Moses laid down for you. Do not swerve from this either to the right or to the left, and then you will succeed wherever you go. Have this book of the Law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, then you will have success. Have I not told you, ‘Be strong and stand firm. Be fearless and undaunted, for wherever you go, the LORD your God is with you.‘?“ (Jos 1: 7-9) “When he got there and saw the grace of God he rejoiced and urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit, and with faith.“ (Acts 11: 23-24) |
| arrogant pride (including according to Abba Sarapion: a “carnal“ form; a “spiritual“ form which is “more dangerous, for it particularly attacks those whom it finds well advanced in various virtues“) | humility “(…) wisdom is with the humble.“ (Prov 11: 2) |
In the right column I added verses from Sacred Scripture which touch upon the respective virtues.
Victory
“Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am purified of my sin‘?“
Proverbs 20: 9; 24: 16
“For even after falling seven times the righteous will stand up again (…).“
“No one can merit a victory over any vice until he comes to learn that it is impossible for him to win the victory through his own efforts.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 110
Abba Sarapion quotes the following passage from the book of Deuteronomy to illustrate that we should not trust “in our own strength, for he (i.e. God) says“ about Israel’s confrontation with the nations (symbolizing the vices):
“You may say in your heart, ‘These nations outnumber me; how shall I be able to dispossess them?‘ Do not be afraid of them: remember well how the LORD your God treated Pharaoh and all Egypt, the great ordeals that you yourselves have seen, the signs and wonders, the might hand and outstretched arm with which the LORD your God brought you out. This is how the LORD your God will treat all the peoples whom you fear to face. (…) Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God in your midst is a great and fearful God. Little by little, the LORD your God will clear away these nations before you; you cannot destroy them all at once, or wild animals will become too numerous for you. But the LORD your God will hand them over to you, and throw them into great confusion until they are finally destroyed.“
Deuteronomy 7: 17-23
“(…) we are incapable of overcoming such great foes by our own strength without the aid of God to support us; and every day we should attribute our victories to him.“
John Cassian, Abbot of Marseilles: The Collations. Being a Collection of Twenty-Four Conferences Divided into Three Parts, translated by a Father of the Oxford Oratory, Gracewing 2015, p. 111
“The cavalry may be set up for the day of battle but victory is the LORD‘s.“
Proverbs 21: 31
Saint John Cassian, Saint Victor of Marseille, pray for us!