The Fall of Pride

if it is lanced, it will burst and cause much disgust. A flash of lightning announces the sound of thunder, and the presence of vainglory proclaims pride.

The soul of a proud man ascends to a great height, and from there casts him into the abyss. He who has turned himself away from God is sick with pride, and ascribes his achievements to his own power. Just as one who stepped on a spider’s web and fell through was brought down below, so he who trusts in his own power falls.

Much fruit bends the branches of a tree, and a multitude of virtue humbles a man’s mind. Rotted fruit is useless to the farmer, and the virtue of a proud man is of no use to God. A prop bears a fruit-laden branch, and the fear of God bears a virtuous soul. Just as the weight of fruit shatters a branch, so pride casts down a virtuous soul.

Do not give your soul to pride, and you will not see fearful fantasies. For the soul of a proud man is abandoned by God, and becomes the demons’ delight. By night he imagines a multitude of beasts approaching, and by day he is troubled by thoughts of cowardice; sleeping he leaps up continually, and awake he cowers at the shadow of a bird. The sound of a leaf startled the proud man, and the sound of water broke his soul. For he who a little before was arraying himself against God and refusing His help, is later terrified by worthless phantasms.

Chapter 18. Pride cast an archangel down from heaven, and made him fall upon the earth like lightning. But humility raises a man to heaven, and prepares him to dance with the angels. Why do you soar, O man, being clay and by nature rottenness, and lift yourself above the clouds? Consider your nature, that you are earth and ash, and in a little while will dissolve into dust; just now grave, and in a little while…