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St. John Cassian
On The Eight Vices — Vice 3: Avarice
(Philokalia Volume 1)
On Avarice
Our third struggle is against the demon of avarice, a demon clearly foreign to our nature, who only
gains entry into a monk because he is lacking in faith. The other passions, such as anger and desire,
seem to be occasioned by the body and in some sense implanted in us at birth. Hence they are
conquered only after a long time. The sickness of avarice, on the contrary, can with diligence and
attention be cut off more readily, because it enters from outside. If neglected, however, it becomes
even harder to get rid of and more destructive than the other passions, for according to the Apostle
it is "the root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10).
Let us look at it in this fashion. Movement occurs in the sexual organs not only of young children
who cannot yet distinguish between good and evil, but also of the smallest infants still at their
mother's breast. The latter, although quite ignorant of sensual pleasure, nevertheless manifest such
natural movements in the flesh. Similarly, the incensive power exists in infants, as we can see when
they are roused against anyone hurting them. I say this not to accuse nature of being the cause of
sin — heaven forbid! — but to show that the incensive power and desire, even if implanted
in man by the Creator for a good purpose, appear to change through neglect from being natural in the
body into something that is unnatural. Movement in the sexual organs was given to us by the Creator
for procreation and the continuation of the species, not for unchastity; while incensive power was
planted in us for our salvation, so that we could manifest it against wickedness, but not so that we
could act like wild beasts towards our fellow men. Even if we make bad use of these passions, nature
itself is not therefore sinful, nor should we blame the Creator. A man who gives someone a knife for
some necessary and useful purpose is not to blame if that person uses it to commit murder.
This has been said to make it clear that avarice is a passion deriving, not from our nature, but
solely from an evil and perverted use of our free will. When this sickness finds the soul lukewarm
and lacking in faith at the start of the ascetic path, it suggests to us various apparently
justifiable and sensible reasons for keeping back something of what we possess. It conjures up in a
monk's mind a picture of a lengthy old age and bodily illness; and it persuades him that the
necessities of life provided by the monastery are insufficient to sustain a healthy man, much less an
ill one; that in the monastery the sick, instead of receiving proper attention, are hardly cared for
at all; and that unless he has some money tucked away, he will die a miserable death. Finally, it
convinces him that he will not be able to remain long in the monastery because of the load of his work
and the strictness of the abbot. When with thoughts like these it has seduced his mind with the idea
of concealing any sum, however trifling, it persuades him to learn, unknown to the abbot, some
handicraft through which he can increase his cherished hoardings. Then it deceives the wretched monk
with secret expectations, making him imagine what he will earn from his handicraft, and the comfort
and security which will result from it. Now completely given over to the thought of gain, he notices
none of the evil passions which attack him: his raging fury when he happens to sustain a loss, his
gloom and dejection when he falls short of the gain he hoped for. Just as for other people the belly
is a god, so for him is money. That is why the Apostle, knowing this, calls avarice not only "the root
of all evil" but 'idolatry' as well (Col. 3:5).
How is it that this sickness can so pervert a man that he ends up as an idolater? It is because he now
fixes his intellect on the love, not of God, but of the images of men stamped on gold. A monk darkened
by such thoughts and launched on the downward path can no longer be obedient. He is irritable and
resentful, and grumbles about every task. He answers back and, having lost his sense of respect,
behaves like a stubborn, uncontrollable horse. He is not satisfied with the day's ration of food and
complains that he cannot put up with such conditions for ever. Neither God's presence, he says, nor
the possibility of his own salvation is confined to the monastery; and, he concludes, he will perish
if he does not leave it. He is so excited and encouraged in these perverse thoughts by his secret
hoardings that he even plans to quit the monastery. Then he replies proudly and harshly no matter
what he is told to do, and pays no heed if he sees something in the monastery that needs to be set
right, considering himself a stranger and outsider and finding fault with all that takes place. Then
he seeks excuses for being angry or injured, so that he will not appear to be leaving the monastery
frivolously and without cause. He does not even shrink from trying through gossip and idle talk to
seduce someone else into leaving with him, wishing to have an accomplice in his sinful action.
Because the avaricious monk is so fired with desire for private wealth he will never be able to live
at peace in a monastery or under a rule. When like a wolf the demon has snatched him from the fold
and separated him from the Hock, he makes ready to devour him; he sets-him to work day and night in
his cell on the very tasks which he complained of doing at fixed times in the monastery. But the
demon does not allow him to keep the regular prayers or norms of fasting or orders of vigil. Having
bound him fast in the madness of avarice, he persuades him to devote all his effort to his handicraft.
There are three forms of this sickness, all of which are equally condemned by the Holy Scriptures and
the teaching of the Fathers. The first induces those who were poor to acquire and save the goods they
lacked in the world. The second compels those who have renounced worldly goods by offering them to
God, to have regrets and to seek after them again. A third infects a monk from the start with lack of
faith and ardor, so preventing his complete detachment from worldly things, producing in him a fear
of poverty and distrust in God's providence and leading him to break the promises he made when he
renounced the world.
Examples of these three forms of avarice are, as I have said, condemned in Holy Scripture. Gehazi
wanted to acquire property which he did not previously possess, and therefore never received the
prophetic grace which his teacher had wished to leave him in the place of an inheritance. Because of
the prophet's curse he inherited incurable leprosy instead of a blessing (cf. 2 Kgs. 5:27).
And Judas, who wished to acquire money which he had previously abandoned on following Christ, not
only lapsed so far as to betray the Master and lose his place in the circle of the apostles; he also
put an end to his life in the flesh through a violent death (cf. Matt. 27:5). Thirdly, Ananias
and Sapphira were condemned to death by the Apostle's word when they kept back something of what they
had acquired (cf. Acts 5:1-10). Again, in Deuteronomy Moses is indirectly exhorting those who
promise to renounce the world, and who then retain their earthly possessions because of the fear that
comes from lack of faith, when he says: "What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? He
shall not go out to do battle; let him return to his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well
as his heart" (cf. Deut. 20:8). Could anything be clearer or more certain than this testimony?
Should not we who have left the world learn from these examples to renounce it completely and in this
state go forth to do battle? We should not turn others from the perfection taught in the Gospels and
make them cowardly because of our own hesitant and feeble start.
Some, impelled by their own deceit and avarice, distort the meaning of the scriptural statement, "It
is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). They do the same with the Lord's words
when He says, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me" (Matt. 19:21). They judge that it is more
blessed to have control over one's personal wealth, and to give from this to those in need, than to
possess nothing at all. They should know, however, that they have not yet renounced the world or
achieved monastic perfection so long as they are ashamed to accept for Christ's sake the poverty of
the Apostle and to provide for themselves and the needy through the labor of their hands (cf. Acts
20:34); for only in this way will they fulfill the monastic profession and be glorified with the
Apostle. Having distributed their former wealth, let them fight the good fight with Paul "in hunger
and thirst . . . in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. 11:27). Had the Apostle thought that the
possession of one's former wealth was more necessary for perfection, he would not have despised his
official status as a Roman citizen (cf. Acts 22:25). Nor would those in Jerusalem have sold
their houses and fields and given the money they got from them to the apostles (cf. Acts 4:
34-35), had they felt that the apostles considered it more blessed to live off one's own
possessions than from one's labor and the offerings of the Gentiles.
The Apostle gives us a clear lesson in this matter when he writes to the Romans in the passage
beginning, "But now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints", and ending: "They were pleased to
do it, and indeed they are in debt to them" (Rom. 15:25-27). He himself was often in chains,
in prison or on fatiguing travel, and so was usually prevented from providing for himself with his
own hands. He tells us that he accepted the necessities of life from the brethren who came to him from
Macedonia (cf. 2 Cor. 11:9); and writing to the Philippians he says: "Now you Philippians know
also that . . . when I departed from Macedonia no church except you helped me with gifts of money. For
even in Thessalonica you sent me help, not once but twice" (Phil. 4:15-16). Are, then, the
avaricious right and are these men more blessed than the Apostle himself, because they satisfied his
wants from their own resources? Surely no one would be so foolish as to say this.
If we want to follow the gospel commandment and the practice of the whole Church as it was founded
initially upon the apostles, we should not follow our own notions or give wrong meanings to things
rightly said. We must discard faint-hearted, faithless opinion and recover the strictness of the
Gospel; In this way we shall be able to follow also in the footsteps of the Fathers, adhering to the
discipline of the cenobitic life and truly renouncing this world.
It is good here to recall the words of St Basil, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. He is reported
once to have said to a senator, who had renounced the world in a half-hearted manner and was keeping
back some of his personal fortune: "You have lost the senator and failed to make a monk." We should
therefore make every effort to cut out from our souls this root of all evils, avarice, in the certain
knowledge that if the root remains the branches will sprout freely.
This uprooting is difficult to achieve unless we are living in a monastery, for in a monastery we
cease to worry about even our most basic needs. With the fate of Ananias and Sapphira in mind, we
should shudder at the thought of keeping to ourselves anything of our former possessions. Similarly,
frightened by the example of Gehazi who was afflicted with incurable leprosy because of his avarice,
let us guard against piling up money which we did not have while in the world. Finally, recalling
Judas' death by hanging, let us beware of acquiring again any of the things which we have already
renounced. In all this we should remember how uncertain is the hour of our death, so that our Lord
does not come unexpectedly and, finding our conscience soiled with avarice, say to us what God says
to the rich man in the Gospel: "You fool, this night your soul will be required of you: who then will
be the owner of what you have stored up?" (Luke 12: 20).
Icon of St. John Cassian used with permission from the
Convent of St. Elizabeth the
Grand Duchess of Russia.
Vice 1 — Gluttony
Vice 2 — Unchastity
Vice 3 — Avarice
Vice 4 — Anger
Vice 5 — Dejection
Vice 6 — Listlessness
Vice 7 & 8 — Self-Esteem & Pride
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