Antithetical Lists of Virtues and Vices

drowsiness, circling sleep, the weight of madness, the hatred of the cell, the opponent of labors, the counterpart of endurance, the muzzle of meditation, ignorance of the Scriptures, the sharer of sorrow, the clock of hunger. Endurance is the cutting-off of listlessness, the cutting-down of thoughts, the remembrance of death, the meditation of the cross, fear nailed down, gold being struck, the lawbook of afflictions, the book of thanksgiving, the breastplate of stillness, the weapon of labors, a boiling zeal for noble toil, the exemplar of the virtues.

Vainglory is the fantasy of coincidence, the fashioning of love of labor, the opposite of truth, the foundress of heresies, the appetite for the first seat, being greeted last, the slavery of praises, a much-fashioned spirit, a myriad-toothed beast; vainglory is woven in the middle with pride and envy, being in one another and warring through one another — the thrice-woven chain of evils, the thrice-mixed cup of the passions, the triple tongue of the heretics.

Freedom from vainglory is the working of humility, the apostasy from pleasing men, the disregard of praises, the contemplation of knowledge, the opposite of the world, the good perception of the soul, the doctrine of cheapness, the hiding-place of labors, the enemy of good report, a hidden treasure in a corruptible body.

Envy is the garment of pride, the unclothing of humility, the root of slander, the eye-disease of cheerfulness, the hypocrisy of friendship, the deceit of boldness, the enmity of love, the zeal against the prosperous, the turmoil against the stable, the mockery against the well-spoken-of, the alteration of the eyes.

Who is the pure in heart — the one not caught disregarding, or falling short of, or being negligent of a commandment of God? And let Christ be our easy path in every work of His will. To Him be the glory unto the ages. Amen.