The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults

St. John Cassian · c. 420 AD

218 of 269

Section 1

How our seventh combat is against the spirit of vainglory, and what its nature

Our seventh combat is against the spirit of κενοδοξία, which we may term vain or idle glory: a spirit that takes many shapes, and is changeable and subtle, so that it can with difficulty, I will not say be guarded against, but be seen through and discovered even by the keenest eyes.