What, exactly, is vainglory?

[Linda]

What, exactly, is vainglory according to the Orthodox Church?

What does it look like?

How is it different from pride?

Thank you

[Effie Ganatsios]

What, exactly, is vainglory according to the Orthodox Church?

What does it look like?

How is it different from pride?

Thank you

Hello Linda.

Some quotes :

"21. Although vainglory has many faces, yet it mainly appears in two forms. The first — when we elevate ourselves with our physical advantages and various possessions; while the second — when we have a burning thirst for secular glory due to our spiritual advantages. (Blessed John Cassian)

21. Pride has two faces. One is physical and the second is spiritual. The spiritual one is more ruinous than the physical. It especially tempts those who succeeded in acquiring some virtues. (Blessed John Cassian)"

30. Vainglory. The seventh struggle facing us is that with the spirit of vainglory — this multifaceted, deceitful and subtle passion, which often is very difficult to notice and recognize, and to protect yourself from. Other passions are plain and unvaried, but this one is multifaceted and attacks the warrior of Christ from all sides: during his struggle and even after he has achieved victory. Vainglory attempts to wound the warrior through all manner of ways: his clothing, and his physical build, and walk, and voice, and being well read, and his work, and his vigilance, and fasting, and praying, and solitary life, and his knowledge, and education, and silence, and submissiveness, and humility, and benevolence. It is akin to a dangerous rock hiding below the waves, which inflicts a sudden disastrous wreck to the seafarers when they least expect it. (Blessed John Cassian)

30. Other passions, according to our efforts in surmounting and defeating them, wane and weaken every day. In fact, sometimes, because of a change in our location and living circumstances, they get exhausted and become subdued. Apart from this, because of their conflict with our opposing good deeds, it is easier for us to watch out and avoid them. However, the passion of vainglory, even though vanquished, continues to battle with great hardness and when it is considered dead, through its own demise comes to life, becoming healthy and powerful. While the other passions tyrannize those that they have overwhelmed, this passion oppresses its conquerors more callously and vanquishes them through conceited thoughts about their victory over it. It is in this that the subtle cunning of the enemy is revealed — that the Christ’s warrior strikes himself with his own arrows. (Blessed John Cassian)

30. Pride. The eighth and last struggle that confronts us is that with the spirit of pride. While this passion is last in the order of this rendition, in terms of its beginning and time, it is foremost. Pride is the most ferocious and untamable animal, especially attacking and devouring those striving for perfection after they have almost achieved the highest level of virtue. (Blessed John Cassian)

30. There are two types of pride: the first is one that vanquishes those that are of a high spiritual standing, while the second defeats the novices and the carnal. Although both types of pride produce a destructive arrogance before God and people, the first relates directly to God while the second concerns people. (Blessed John Cassian)

30. There is no other passion like pride that can eradicate all virtues and deprive a person of righteousness. Like some disease, this passion strikes the whole being with a deadly affliction and attempts to plunge to their destruction even those that have achieved the pinnacle of virtues. The other passions have their limitations, arising against only one selected virtue. Thus, for example, gluttony violates the demands of temperance, lust defiles chastity, anger drives away patience. As a result, being conquered by any one of the passions doesn’t make the person devoid of other virtues. But when this particular passion captures the soul, it denies that person the protection of humility, utterly destroying his spiritual framework. Having leveled the high wall of piety and mixed it with the mud of iniquity, it deprives the soul of any traces of freedom — and the stronger it seizes the rich soul, the more it subjects it to the heavy yoke of slavery, stripping it of all its finery of virtues with the cruelest plunder. (Blessed John Cassian)

30. Pride. It often happens that when a caterpillar reaches full maturity, it gets its wings and flies up high. So is vainglory, having strengthened, gives birth to pride — the origin and consummation of all evil. (John Climacus)



The above is from

http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/instructions2/outline.shtml

I believe pride is lack of humility - our church fathers believe that this lack of humility is the root of all evil.

Therefore the one is vanity - glorifying yourself and your attributes and the other is lack of humility.

[Linda]

effie ganatsios, very helpful.
Thank you.