The material presented below is the original work of priest Maxim Kaskun (Moscow region), published on the Internet in the format of video lectures. The author of this project, “ierei063,” in order to present information more concisely, optimized his lectures in such a way as to significantly reduce the volume of material without losing the main idea, allowing the reader to quickly and accurately grasp the main idea.
Father did serious, respectable work, from various sources, including the works of the Holy Fathers, collected information on the topic, clearly systematized and revealed it. He worked on the development of this material for a very long time, and I do not claim authorship, but in order to save my own time, seeing this worthy work, I dare to post a “shortened version” on my website. Those wishing to access the original material, please go to the Internet project of Priest Maxim Kaskun, who also needs support for his works.
What is vanity
Man, having sinned in paradise, became infected with many vicious aspirations, that is, passions. One of them is vanity. Vanity - what is it?
“Vanity is a vain desire and the search for temporary human praise” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. “Ascetic Sermon”). It appears from “from deep ignorance of God or from deep forgetfulness of God” (ibid.).
This passion does not seek virtue itself, but only praise for virtue. Even more vicious is vanity, which is vain and sinful. The Apostle Paul writes about such people: “...and their glory is in their shame...” (Phil. 3:19). The Holy Fathers cite various manifestations of vanity. Boasting, deceit, flattery, man-pleasing, envy, pretense and shame to confess one’s sins (Reverend Cassian the Roman “On the Eight Passionate Thoughts”). Vanity is a reason for many sins for a Christian.
Vanity - willingness to go over one's heads
Manifestations of vanity
The most destructive manifestation of vanity is hypocrisy. “Hypocrisy is born from vanity” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov). Vanity prompts a person to perform actions in order to become famous before people. Christ in the Gospel points out that the vain “do all their deeds so that people can see them” (Matthew 23:5).
Such a person deprives himself of a reward for a good deed from God. Vanity is an important sin. The strengthened vanity that has taken possession of a person becomes even more vicious.
Saint Ignatius continues: “Vanity and hypocrisy are terrible in their maturity, when they prevail over a person and turn into a rule of activity, into character. They create a Pharisee who needs the guise of virtue only in order to drown more freely and successfully in atrocities.”
Vanity prompts a person to resort to various tricks to create a good opinion of himself in front of people. Such a person even goes to great lengths to violate the Law of God in order to maintain the appearance of righteousness.
It should be noted that increased vanity became the reason for the rejection of the Savior Himself by the Pharisees. Christ denounced the wickedness of the Pharisees. This exposure was unbearable for them, and they decided to commit a terrible crime. Despite its external relative harmlessness, vanity is a terrible sin in its consequences. A person cultivates within himself the most flattering idea of himself. And when reality tries to destroy these ideas - “I am the best” - we are ready for the most terrible actions. Just to maintain the illusion about ourselves.
St. John Climacus calls vanity idolatry. How to deal with vanity? Let us give the advice of the Holy Fathers.
Pride, vanity and self-esteem
In the world, pride and pride are sometimes considered almost virtues and signs of nobility of nature. This idea is erroneous and happens, in the words of St. Macarius, “out of ignorance or from darkened passions.” The elder wrote to his spiritual child:
“In your previous letter you mention more than once about your pride and as if you respect it, flaunt it like some kind of utensil.
We must exterminate it from ourselves by all means; it is the cause of all our evils and vices. Worldly people still consider it virtue and nobility - and this is out of ignorance or from the darkening of passions; but we need to resist him in everything with humility and self-sacrifice.” God opposes the proud
Pride and vanity are among the most dangerous passions. The Optina elders spoke and wrote a lot about the fight against these passions. The Monk Leo sadly called vanity “a poison that kills the fruits of even the most mature virtues.”
“This passion often extends from youth to old age and to the very grave. She not only pursues the passionate and successful, but sometimes even the perfect, which is why she requires considerable caution. The dispassionate Creator can only eradicate it. Oh, how difficult it is to avoid this poison, which kills the fruits and the most mature virtues.”
The Monk Barsanuphius spoke about pride as a demonic property:
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Why is it not said that God opposes fornicators, or the envious, or anyone else, but it is said: specifically the proud? Because this is a demonic quality. The proud one becomes, as it were, akin to a demon.”
The Monk Nikon warned:
“One should not be vain about health, beauty, or other gifts of God... Everything earthly is fragile: both beauty and health. We must thank the Lord, thank with humility, recognizing our unworthiness, and not be vain about anything.”
The Monk Ambrose warned that nothing hinders success in spiritual life more than pride and vanity, and the offspring of these passions are envy and hatred, anger and resentment:
“All of us, more or less, are more or less afflicted with vanity and pride. And nothing hinders success in spiritual life more than these passions. Where there is indignation, or disagreement, or discord, if you look closely, it turns out that the majority of this is due to love of glory and pride.
Why does the Apostle Paul command, saying: “We are not vainglorious, annoying one another, envious of one another” (Gal. 5:26). Envy and hatred, anger and resentment are the common offspring of vanity and pride.”
Vanity and pride, although of the same origin, but their action and signs are different
The Monk Ambrose instructed:
“Vanity and pride are one and the same. Vanity shows off its deeds so that people can see how you walk, how cleverly you do. And after that pride begins to despise everyone. Just as a worm first crawls and bends, so does vanity. And when his wings grow, his pride flies upward.”
And to show how pride and vanity differ from each other and how they affect a person, the Monk Ambrose even composed a story about ducks and geese personifying these passions. The reason for this story was a carpet with images of ducks given to the elder:
“They recently gave me a carpet on which ducks are beautifully depicted. I regretted that they didn’t think of putting out the geese right away, since there was still a lot of space left on the carpet. This thought came to me because the properties and actions of ducks and geese well depict the properties and actions of passions: vanity and pride.
Vanity and pride, although of the same leaven and the same property, but their action and signs are different. Vanity tries to catch the praise of people and for this it often humiliates itself and pleases people, while pride breathes contempt and disrespect for others, although it also loves praise.
A vain person, if he has a plausible and beautiful appearance, then pretenses himself like a drake and boasts of his beauty, although he is often baggy and awkward, just like a drake. If the one overcome by vanity does not have a good appearance and other good qualities, then for the sake of surprise and praise he pleases people and shouts like a duck: “So! So!" - when in reality this is not always the case in justice, and he himself is often internally disposed differently, but out of cowardice he adds up.
The goose, when something doesn’t suit him, raises his wings and shouts: “Kaga! kago!” Likewise, a proud person, if he has any significance in his circle, often raises his voice, shouts, argues, objects, insists on his opinion. If someone who is sick with pride in his environment does not have any weight or significance, then out of inner anger he hisses at others, like a goose sitting on eggs, and bites whomever he can bite...”
What are you proud of?
There are a lot of people who have nothing to be proud of at all. On this occasion, the Monk Ambrose relayed the following story:
“One confessor told her confessor that she was proud. “What are you proud of? - he asked her. “You’re probably noble?” “No,” she answered. - “Well, talented?” - "No". - “So, you’re rich?” - "No". “Hm... In that case, you can be proud,” the confessor finally said.”
“There is nothing to be exalted with: God gives the word. A person cannot say a kind word on his own. Every good word is from God. It is said: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory” (Ps. 113:9).”
Pointing out that a person has nothing to be proud of, the elder added:
“And why should a person really rise up here? The ragged, plucked man begs for alms: “Have mercy, have mercy!” But whether mercy will come, who knows.”
How to identify signs of humility or pride in yourself
The Monk Macarius wrote about the main signs that a person has humility or pride:
“Let the following be a sign of humility and pride for you: the second stares at everyone, reproaches and sees blackness in them, while the first sees only his own badness and does not dare to judge anyone.”
Reverend Anatoly (Zertsalov) taught his children that sometimes excessive embarrassment in any matter also reveals hidden vanity:
“You are cowardly when singing out of vanity. You have a lot of it."
The sadness of God's punishment for the proud
The Monk Leo warned that the proud suffer various disasters:
“If you don’t put the blame on yourself, you won’t stop being poor, bearing the sorrow of God’s punishment for the proud.”
It is very difficult to get rid of pride
It is very difficult to get rid of pride. If a person thinks that he is no longer proud, that he has already acquired humility, then this clearly, according to Elder Macarius, proves his pride:
“In your letter you called yourself humble (of course, this is out of ignorance), but you have not yet reached this measure to be humble. When we acquired this wealth, we would conveniently acquire all the virtues. Yes, it alone, without other virtues, can save us, but virtues without it, on the contrary, do not bring any benefit. He who acquires humility has acquired God. This is all the teaching of Saint Isaac, the great man.
So you shouldn’t think that you are humble, but when you think, you clearly show your pride.”
| Bruegel. Pride |
Pride is inextricably linked with other passions.
The Monk Ambrose said:
“Three rings cling to each other: hatred from anger, anger from pride.”
“Vanity does not give us peace, inciting us to jealousy and envy, which trouble a person, arousing a storm of thoughts in the soul.”
“If you stare at your eyes, that’s why you have thoughts, first vain, and then bad. Please note: they are certainly first vain, and then bad. Keep your head down, like this, don’t glare at the people.”
And the Monk Macarius warned that passions receive strength from pride, and humility, on the contrary, overthrows passions:
“But you need to know that all passions from our pride receive the power to defeat us, but, on the contrary, humility overthrows them.”
Pride alone can replace all other passions
It happens that a person’s pride is so great that other passions subside. The Monk Macarius instructed:
“One passion reproaches another: where there is self-love, there the love of money gives way, and vice versa happens. And we know that all vices sometimes leave a person, but one remains with him - pride.”
Such a person can outwardly behave impeccably and look with contempt at other people tormented by the passions of drinking or smoking or other passions. But in the gaze of this outwardly impeccable man there is such pride and narcissism, such exaltation of one’s own merits, that his pride alone is enough to destroy the soul. The elder warned:
“However, it happens, according to the word of St. John Climacus... that from some all passions are removed, except for one pride, which replaces all other passions, and therefore one must be careful not to bring chaff instead of fruit.”
How to deal with these passions
When fighting thoughts of arrogance and pride, St. Macarius advised not to be ashamed to reveal them in confession:
“The fact that the thoughts of the highly intelligent must be revealed and not be ashamed.”
The Monk Hilarion instructed, when thoughts of vanity and self-praise appear, to remind yourself that the main thing is humility, but we don’t have it. And the first proof of this is precisely the thoughts of vanity that come to us:
“Cut off thoughts of vanity and those who boast that humility is most pleasing to God, but you do not have it; therefore, nothing is good. So correct and
should be done."
Elder Joseph taught when thoughts of vanity appear to remember your sins:
“And when vanity rises, then it’s not bad to remember some sin, reproaching yourself.”
And Elder Ambrose gave this advice:
“If you respond to vanity by remembering your sins and laziness, you will see that there is nothing to boast about.”
The monk said:
“Man is like grass. He who is proud will wither like grass, but he who fears God will be shown mercy by the Lord.”
“You have to look down. Remember: “You are earth, and to earth you will go.”
“When pride attacks, tell yourself: there’s a weirdo walking around.”
The elder advised:
“As soon as vanity comes, pray: “Lord, cleanse me from my secrets, and spare your servant from strangers.”
Sometimes a person tries with all his might to get rid of thoughts of pride and vanity, but he never succeeds. On this occasion, the Monk Ambrose wrote:
“The enemy’s noise continues to annoy you, and the enemies manage in every possible way to hurt your soul with the arrows of pride and exaltation.”
The elder advised in this case to first consider your spiritual disposition:
“First of all, consider your spiritual disposition, whether you are peaceful with everyone, whether you condemn anyone.”
The monk wrote to his spiritual child:
“...pray with humility to God with the psalm words: “Who understands the Fall; Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare your servant from those that are foreign.” All the holy fathers have a unanimous answer and advice in such cases: in every temptation, victory is humility, self-reproach and patience - of course, while asking for help from above. Pray for this to the Queen of Heaven and to all the saints of God in whom you have special faith, so that they will help you get rid of the charms of demons.”
“Our pride is the root of all evil. It is the beginning of all passions, it is the cause of all our disasters and suffering, sometimes at the present time, and sometimes as a consequence of previous mistakes... The ax to destroy the root of self-love is faith, humility, obedience and cutting off all desires and understandings.”
Pride can also be overcome by work and sorrow. The Monk Ambrose said:
“You have to work a lot, accept a lot of wounds, so as not to die from pride. When we are not touched or pushed, pride lives in us until the end of our lives.”
Pride is hidden in the very desire to quickly rise to the heights of virtues
Pride and vanity are hidden in our very desire to instantly get rid of all passions and quickly ascend to the heights of virtues. In this, according to the Monk Leo, spiritual pride is hidden:
“You, wanting to please God, want to quickly ascend to the heights of virtues and think this is possible from you, which clearly proves your spiritual pride (of which you are aware of yourself) ...”
Humility knows well that “virtue is not a pear: you can’t eat it right away.”
“Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare your servant from strangers” (Ps. 18: 13–14).
Our reverend fathers, the elders of Optina, pray to God for us sinners!
Vanity - passion under the guise of virtue
“Vanity is a spiritual illness. It takes possession of those who have lost the fear of God or have not acquired it” (St. Nicholas of Serbia).
The special danger of vanity lies in the hidden nature of this passion. A vain person does not recognize even his most unsightly actions as something bad. He thinks he is doing the right and justified thing. His voice of conscience is practically inaudible; he sees himself only in a good light. And this is the reason that it is impossible for a vain person to repent. After all, he does not see his sins, does not recognize them as such.
The Monk John Cassian the Roman wrote about vanity:
“Other passions, with the opposition of virtues opposite to them, openly, as if at war on a clear day, can be more easily overcome; and this one, clinging to the virtues, interfering with the formation of the army, fights as if on a dark night, and therefore more insidiously deceives those who did not expect and were not wary of her.”
How to protect yourself from sin
The difference between treatment and prevention is that the latter is easier to do. In order not to let vanity into your heart, you need to constantly control yourself:
- remember that fame is the result of hard work;
- listen to criticism, respect the advice of knowledgeable people;
- sensibly assess your capabilities, because you can always fall from the heights you have achieved;
- talk less, do more;
- set clear goals, limiting them to a time frame;
- each new goal should be more difficult than the previous one;
- come up with good motivation for yourself.
Looking at yourself from the outside helps you see shortcomings in time and eliminate them.
Pride, like all other sins, does not make a person beautiful. The Church is very strict with vain people, because they put themselves on the same level as the Lord God. However, we should not forget that passions alienate us from the Almighty, and therefore they must be mercilessly eradicated.
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How to overcome vanity
Christ commands in the Gospel to do all good deeds in secret, only before the eyes of God (Matthew 6:1-18).
“The Lord commanded that vanity should be killed with its characteristic hunger. He commanded that all good deeds should be carefully hidden from human eyes” (St. Ignatius).
Even in the Old Testament, God commanded: “With all your offerings, you shall offer salt to the Lord your God” (Lev. 2:13). According to the explanation of the Holy Fathers, the salt of the Israeli sacrifice is the thought and goal of pleasing a Christian to God in his every good deed.
It is necessary to motivate all our good deeds by pleasing God. The passion of vanity is very subtle and difficult to comprehend (Reverend Cassian the Roman). It often has an even more subtle manifestation: self-gratification, self-satisfaction. A vain person is an idolater; he brings a gift not to the Lord, but to his own self.
The Holy Fathers point out an important sign of such insidious passion.
“If you do not have heartfelt tears, you have vanity” (Reverend Barsanuphius the Great).
The absence in the heart of tenderness, memory and contrition for one’s sins is a sign that a person has become carried away by vain thoughts and feelings. It is necessary to increase your attentiveness to yourself, to remember your past sins, your weaknesses.
It is useful to remember the words of the Savior:
“So you also, when you have done all that was commanded you, say: We are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do” (Luke 17:10).
Possible reasons
As a rule, the roots of the problem called “vanity” go deep into childhood. From the early years of life, parents form the child’s self-esteem, which will subsequently determine his character. Often the baby is overestimated, pampered with attention or excessive praise. All this becomes a strong foundation for the development of pride. However, upbringing is not always the cause of excessive boasting. Psychologists name several other factors:
- internal conflict, leading to the fact that a person ceases to adequately perceive reality;
- the inability to accept some of your shortcomings, which leads to identifying yourself with a fictional character;
- undeserved recognition in the past or exaggerated praise;
- an inferiority complex when all spoken words are taken personally;
- defensive reaction to past undervaluation;
- bad attitude of classmates, fellow students or colleagues, which lowered self-esteem.
When raising children, it is important not to cross the line beyond which the boundaries of what is permitted are erased and the child gets away with even bad behavior.
Author's advice
Pride is one of the seven deadly passions
Vanity is the enemy of modern man
“A vain person is an idolater, although he is called a believer. He thinks he worships God; but in fact he pleases not God, but people” (Rev. John Climacus).
Of course, in the fight against vain thoughts and feelings, prayer is necessary, accompanied by kneeling and bowing. Prayer is a sword in the fight against any sinful thoughts, including vain ones.
Saint Ignatius advises Christians to think more often about Divine greatness and human sinfulness. He adds: “true humility comes from the knowledge of God.”
Archpriest Andrey Tkachev says:
“People are vain, they want to be caliph even for an hour. They cannot realize their ambitions themselves and shift the burden of these ambitions onto their children. And they are forced to lose their childhood because of the vain whims of their parents. Our vanity is the punishment of our children. Let them be who they are and who they want to be based on their talents.”
The Church also helps Christians by adding repentance to the service. They remind him of the fall of human nature, its weakness, its need for God's help and deliver him from vain intoxication.
Archpriest Sergei Filimonov in his book “The Struggle with Passions” writes:
“Indulging yourself on the spiritual path is a destructive thing. It is the demon of vanity who wants to stop your healing and transformation, calming you down with previous works, posts and merits. But if you have a chronic disease, it was there yesterday, and it will be today and tomorrow. And if you took medications yesterday, and they all have their expiration dates, this does not mean that they should not be taken today. For if they are not taken on time, the disease may resume with the same force. The same is true if you ate food yesterday. This doesn’t mean that you won’t need it tomorrow, and you don’t have to work to earn food.”
Having conquered the insidious passion of vanity, the great saints, with an abundance of virtues and miracles performed, continued to consider themselves sinful people and remained in humility. This is especially true for us, ordinary believers who want salvation.
Prayers for vanity thoughts
Prayer of Saint John of Kronstadt
Lord, do not let me dream of myself as being better than anyone else, but to think of myself as the worst of all and not to judge anyone, but to judge myself strictly. Amen.
Prayer to Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt
Oh, great servant of Christ, holy and righteous Father John of Kronstadt, wondrous to the shepherd, quick helper and merciful representative! Raising praise to the Triune God, you prayerfully cried out: “Your name is Love: do not reject me, who am erring. Your name is Strength: strengthen me, who is weak and falling. Your name is Light: enlighten my soul, darkened by worldly passions. Your name is Peace: pacify my restless soul. Your name is Mercy: do not cease to be merciful to me.” Now, grateful for your intercession, the All-Russian flock prays to you: Christ-named and righteous servant of God!
Illuminate us with your love, sinners and weaklings, grant us to bear fruits worthy of repentance and to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ without condemnation: by your power strengthen our faith in us, support us in prayer , heal ailments and diseases, deliver from the misfortunes of enemies, visible and invisible: with the light of your servants’ face and move the heads of the altar of Christ to holy deeds of pastoral work, bestow education on infants, instruct youth, support old age, illuminate the shrines of temples and holy monasteries: die, miracle most creative and prophetic, the peoples of our country, by the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit, deliver from internecine warfare; Collect the scattered, convert the deceived and unite the holy catholic and apostolic Church: by your mercy keep marriage in peace and unanimity, prosperity and blessing to the monastics in good deeds Grant this, O cowardly consolation, to those suffering from unclean spirits, freedom, in the needs and circumstances of those who exist, have mercy on us all Instruct the path of salvation: in Christ living, our Father John, lead us to the eternal light of eternal life, so that we may be honored with you with eternal bliss, praising and exalting God forever centuries. Amen.
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