Maxim-ising Our Spiritual Life (2)
Occassionally, some of St Philip’s advice gets split over multiple days in the collection of his Maxims, so that we can take our time to understand each part of what he says. This week’s maxims cover the topic of vain-glory:
We may distinguish three kinds of vain-glory; the first we may call mistress; that is, when vain-glory goes before our works, and we work for the sake of it: the second we may call companion; that is, when a man does not do a work for the sake of vain-glory, but feels complacency in doing it: the third we may call servant; that is, when vain-glory rises in our work, but we instantly repress it. Above all things never let vain-glory be mistress. (23 July)
When vain-glory is companion, it does not take away our merit; but perfection requires that it should be servant. (24 July)
This “vain-glory” is a kind of vanity. It is often what causes us to do good things for the wrong reasons. It is the temptation to say “Look at me, aren’t I holy?” Christ holds the Pharisees up for us as a warning against this kind of behaviour:
Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1–6, 6–18)
There is a great danger that if we do good things just so that others see us doing good, we might think it best not to do them at all. If we are very aware that people see us spending time in prayer or serving the homeless, we might think we should stop those things, to prevent any temptations to pride and vanity from arising.
This, of course, is not what we should do. But what if it is impossible for us to do all these good things in secret, as Christ tells us too? There are some good things we have to do that we can’t hide, not matter how much we might like to.
St Philip, as ever, brings some practical common sense to the problem. We certainly shouldn’t do good purely for the sake of the praise and attention of others. But if we are trying to do work for the love of God and neighbour, and this vain-glory appears in the process as “companion”, we shouldn’t let that put us off our good intentions. As he says, “It does not take away our merit.” But with time, we should work to overcome even these tendencies, so that we can work without thought of what people think about us, instantly repressing the temptation.
Cesare Baronio, one of St Philip’s first disciples, first Father of the Oratory and later Cardinal, trained himself so well in faighting vain-glory that not only was he happy to have his good works go unnoticed, he delighted when others took the credit for things he had done. It is possible to put St Philip’s advice into practice, it just might take us a little time.
We are celebrating the launch of our new edition of St Philip’s Maxims this summer by exploring some of those maxims together each week.