Ten Chapters on Virtue and Vice

The work “Ten Chapters on Virtue and Vice” was written in 630-634. It is a compilation from the works of St. Maximus the Confessor. The central theme of the work is the meaning of suffering and achievements in a person’s spiritual life. St. Maxim writes that the life of a Christian is an ongoing “arena of struggle” between virtue and envy (vice). He emphasizes that spiritual feat (ascetic work) is a constant struggle in labor, which leads to the acquisition of dispassion - a special state of the soul in which, having purified itself from passions, it unites with God with love and is freed from attachment to the body and the world. The monk understands suffering not as punishment, but as a means of cleansing the soul from the filth of sin and growth in virtue. The suffering of a Christian is not meaningless torment, but participation in the suffering of Christ Himself. Just as God, who became man, endured in the flesh, so the believer, by compassionating with Him, is worthy of participating in His glory (Rom. 8:17). The parallel between Adam (who lost paradise through pleasure) and Christ (who discovered paradise through torment) shows the redemptive meaning of suffering. St. Maxim emphasizes that God does not heal illnesses of the soul with one universal remedy, but selects an individual “medicine” for each person - those sufferings and trials that are necessary for healing and spiritual growth. This reveals the infinite mercy and wisdom of God's Providence. Only a soul unshakable in trials is capable of accepting the indwelling of God. 1. The grave suffering of the saints is the arena of the struggle between envy and virtue: envy, in order to overcome, persists, but virtue, in order to remain unconquered, endures everything. And envy fights so that vice can flourish through the punishment of those who succeed in virtue, and virtue fights so that good people persevere, even in grave troubles and suffering. 2. The feat of virtue is a constant struggle in labor, and to those who courageously endure it it brings a victorious crown - dispassion of the soul, thanks to which it, having united with God with love, in its internal disposition moves away from the body and the world. For bodily torment strengthens the soul of the steadfast. 3. Initially stolen by the charm of pleasure, we preferred death to truly existing life. And therefore, with thanksgiving we bear bodily labor, which mortifies this pleasure, so that, by its very death, having abolished death along with it, we may receive back the life that has returned to us, [once] sold to pleasure, and [now] redeemed by the small labors of the flesh. 4. If the flesh prospers, then the power of sin usually increases. And therefore it is clear that when the flesh suffers, virtue naturally tends to increase. And we must endure the suffering of the flesh with courage, for it cleanses the defilement of the soul and secures future glory. For “the sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). 5. Doctors do not heal the body by offering the same medicine to everyone, and God does not heal the illness of the soul with only one method of healing, suitable for everyone, but makes [people] healthy, using a medicine appropriate for each individual. And we who are healed will give thanks [to Him], even if we happen to suffer torment, for blessed is the final goal [of healing]. 6. Nothing reveals the inner disposition of the soul more than an increase in carnal suffering. For if she succumbs to them, then she shows herself to love the flesh more than God, and if she remains unshakable in their shocks, then she shows herself to honor virtue more than the flesh. Thanks to this, the soul perceives the indwelling of God, Who for its sake endured our suffering and Who [victoriously] proclaims to [it], as He once proclaimed to [His] disciples: “Take courage: I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). 7. If all the saints were partakers of educational punishment, then we, who were brought up together with them, will give thanks [to God], so that we may be worthy to become partakers of their glory. “For the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6; Proverbs 3:11–12). 8. Adam, having accepted the pleasure offered [to him] by [his] rib, drove humanity out of paradise, and Christ, by torment [from the wounds inflicted by] the spear, cut this pleasure and brought the thief inside paradise. Let us also love the torment of the flesh and hate its pleasure. For torment introduces and restores us to [divine] blessings, and pleasure leads us out and removes us from them. 9. If God, who became man, suffers in the flesh, then will not the sufferer rejoice, having God as a Partaker in the suffering? For [God] provides the Kingdom [of Heaven] to those with compassion. [The Apostle] speaks the truth: “If only we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). 10. If we must certainly suffer, as a result of the pleasure mixed in by our forefathers with [human] nature, then we will courageously endure temporary suffering, dulling the sting of pleasure in us and freeing us from the eternal torment that it entails. You might be interested in: