The Kinds of Each Fault

Now to speak about each kind of fault separately. Of gluttony there are three sorts: first, the kind that drives a monk to eat before the proper, appointed times; second, the kind that cares about filling the belly and stuffing it with all kinds of food; and third, the kind that is on the lookout for dainties and delicacies. These three sorts give a monk no little trouble unless he tries to free himself from all of them with the same care and scrupulousness. For just as one should never dare to break one’s fast before the right time, so we must utterly avoid all greed in eating, and all choosing and dainty preparing of our food. From these three causes come different but extremely dangerous conditions of the soul. From the first springs up a dislike of the monastery; from that grows disgust with the life there and an inability to bear it, and this is sure to be followed soon by withdrawal and a quick departure. By the second the fiery darts of luxury and lewdness are kindled. The third weaves the entangling meshes of greed for the nets in which it takes its prisoners, and always keeps monks from following the perfect self-denial of Christ. [a]

When there are traces of this passion in us, we can recognize them by this: if one of the brothers keeps us to dine, we are not content to eat our food with the seasoning he has prepared and offers us, but we take the unpardonable liberty of asking to have something else poured over it or added to it. We should never do this, for three reasons. First, because the mind of a monk ought always to be trained in endurance and abstinence, and, like the apostle, to learn to be content in whatever state it is. For one who is upset by taking an unappetizing morsel once in a while, and who cannot overcome the fussiness of his appetite even for a short time, will never succeed in curbing the secret and more important desires of the body. Second, because it sometimes happens that at the time our host is out of the very thing we ask for, and we make him ashamed of the want and bareness of his table by exposing his poverty, which he would rather have known only to God. Third, because sometimes other people do not care for the seasoning we ask for, and so it turns out that we annoy most of them while we are intent on satisfying the desires of our own palate. On this account we must by all means avoid such a liberty.

Of sexual immorality there are three sorts. The first is accomplished by sexual intercourse. The second takes place without touching a woman; for this we read that Onan, the son of the patriarch Judah, was struck down by the Lord, and Scripture calls it uncleanness. Of it the apostle says: “But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.” The third is conceived in heart and mind, and of it the Lord says in the gospel: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The blessed apostle tells us that these three kinds must be stamped out in one and the same way. “Put to death,” he says, “your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lust, and so on.” Again, of two of them he says to the Ephesians: “Let sexual immorality and uncleanness not even be named among you.” And once more: “But know this, that no sexually immoral person or unclean person, or greedy person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” And just as these three must be avoided by us with equal care, so all of them alike shut us out and exclude us from the kingdom of Christ.

Of greed there are three kinds. The first keeps those who renounce the world from letting themselves be stripped of their goods and property. The second draws us to take back, with excessive eagerness, the things we have given away and distributed to the poor. The third leads a man to covet and acquire what he never possessed before. Of anger there are three kinds. One rages within, and in Greek it is called thumos. Another breaks out in word and deed and action; they call it orgē, and of it the apostle speaks when he says, “But now you must put away all anger and indignation.” The third is not like those, boiling over and done with in an hour, but lasts for days and long periods; it is called mēnis. All three must be condemned by us with equal horror. Of dejection there are two kinds. One springs up when anger has died down, or comes from some loss we have suffered, or from some purpose of ours that has been hindered and interfered with. The other comes from unreasonable anxiety of mind or from despair. Of acedia there are two kinds: one sends those it affects to sleep, while the other makes them leave their cell and run away. Of empty glory, although it takes various forms and shapes and is divided into different classes, there are two main kinds: first, when we are puffed up about things of the flesh and things that are seen; and second, when we are inflamed with the desire of empty praise for things spiritual and unseen.