Speech, Deed, And Vanity

Vana locuti sunt unusquisque ad proximum summ. Locutio non incongrue intelligi potest, non solum in voce, sed etiam in operatione, quia indicium cordis non solum vox est, sed etiam exhibitio operis. Scimus autem quod vanum est omne quod transit. Ille vanitatem in corde habet qui transitoria diligit. Vanitatem loquitur, qui pro hac vita tranistoria immoderate laborans ipso suo studio, et opere eam se diligere ostendit. Vanitatem autem ad proximum suum loquitur qui exemplo suo eum ad petenda transitora cohortatur. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber II, Caput X, Quod locutio sit in voce et opere, et quis vanitatem in corde habeat, quis loquatur; et quis loquatur eam ad proximum. Source: Migne PL 177.593c

Each one has spoken vanities to his neighbour. 1 It is not wrong to understand that speech is not only given by the voice but even through acts, because the proof of a heart is not only through the voice but even by the exhibition of the act. We know that everything which is vain passes away. He has vanity in his heart who loves transitory things. He speaks vainly who with excessive zeal labours for the transitory things of this life, and with that work shows what he loves. And he speaks vanity to his neighbour who by his example exhorts him to seek transitory things. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 2, Chapter 10, That Speech May Be By the Voice or the Deed, and that he who has vanity in his heart who speaks, and who speaks to his neighbour 1 Ps 11.3

Creation And Vanity

VERANUS. Quid est quod dicit Ecclesiastes: Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas; cum scriptum sit in libro Genesis: Vidit Deus cuncta quae fecit et erant valde bona? Si cuncta quae fecit Deus, valde bona sunt, quomodo ergo omnia vanitas; et non solum vanitas, sed etiam vanitas vanitatum? SALONIUS. Coelum et terra, maria et omnia quae in hoc circulo continentur, per se quidem bona sunt, quoniam a bono Deo creata sunt, sed comparata Deo, utique pro nihilo habenda sunt, quia semper Deus permanebit id quod est, illa vero omnia transibunt. Nam quae videntur temporalia sunt, quia transitoria; quae autem non videntur aeterna sunt. VERANUS. Quare bis replicavit sententiam suam dicens: Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes; vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas? SALONIUS. Ad exaggerandam magnitudinem vanitatum iteravit sententiam suam, ut per hoc demonstraret quia omnis mundi gloria sicut flos feni marcescet, et sicut fumus pertransibit. Salonius Viennensis, Expositio Mystica in Ecclesiasten Source: Migne PL 53.994b-c

Veranus: Why is it that Ecclesiastes says, 'Vanity of vanities, everything is vanity,' when it has been written in the book of Genesis, 'God saw all the things He had made and they were very good.' 1 If everything which God made was very good, how then is everything a vanity, and not only a vanity, but even a vanity of vanities? Salonius: Heaven and earth, the sea and everything they is contained in its circuit, are in themselves good because they were created by God, but compared to God they are held as nothing because God always remains what He is, but they shall all pass away. For those things which are seen are temporal and pass away but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Veranus; Why does he twice repeat what he says, 'Vanity of vanities, says Ecclesiastes vanity of vanities and all a vanity?' Salonius: He repeats himself to exaggerate the greatness of the vanity, so that he might show that all the glory of the world withers away like a flower of the field, and as smoke they shall pass away. 3 Salonius of Geneva, A Spiritual Exposition of Ecclesiastes 1 Eccl 1.2, Gen 1.31 2 2 Cor 4.18 3 Isaiah 40.8, 1 Pet 1.24, Ps 36.20

The Ruin Of The Unworthy

Οὕτως εἶπεν Kύριος ἐπὶ Αχιαδ καὶ ἐπὶ Σεδεκιαν ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοὺς εἰς χεῖρας βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πατάξει αὐτοὺς καi ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν. Τοιαῦτα πείσεται πᾶς πράσσων πρεσδύτεέρος ὑπὸ βασιλέως Βαδυλῶνος. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἀναξίως τις μεταλαμθάνων Εὐχαριστίαν εἰς χρῖμα λήψεται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ χαθεζόμενος ἐν πρεσδυτερίῳ συνειδότι μεμιασμένῳ, kαὶ τὸ Χριστοῦ μολύνων συνέδριον; Τίς γὰρ αὐτῷ συγχαθήμενος εὐλαδὴς λέγειν τολμήσει τὸ, Οὐχ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου ματαιότητος, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.580a

Thus the Lord says to Achab and Sedecias, who have prophesied falsely in my name, I shall give you into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall punish them before your eyes. 1 All who do such things will suffer by the king of Babylon, For if someone who is unworthy takes up the Eucharist and thereby takes up his condemnation, 2 how much more shall he who sits in the counsel of elders with a wicked conscience defiles the gathering of Christ? For if there is someone who is pious sitting with him, shall he dare say, 'I have not sat in the counsel of vanity,' and what follows? 3 Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 29.21 2 1 Cor 11.29 3 Ps 25.4

Prayer And Vanity

Σὺ δὲ ὅταν προσεύχῃ, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ ταμεῖόν σου καὶ κλείσας τὴν θύραν σου πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ: καὶ ὁ Πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι. Τί οὖν; ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ μή προσεύξωμαι; Καὶ πάνυ· ἀλλὰ μετὰ γνώμης ὀρθῆς, καὶ ὥστε μὴ ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, ἐπεὶ ὁ τόπος οὐ βλάπτει, ἀλλ' ὁ τρόπος καὶ ὁ σκοπός. Πολλοὶ γοῦν ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ εὐχόμενοι, πρὸς ἀνθρωπαρεσκίαν τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ Ϛ' Source: Migne PG 123.204b

And you, when you pray, go into your inner room and close the door and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 1 What then? Shall I not pray in church? Certainly, but with an upright soul, and without ostentation. The harm is not in the place, but in the manner and the intention. Many pray unseen, yet do so to please men. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 6 1 Mt 6.6

Glory And Judgement

De gloria quoque dicit Apostolus: Gloria nostra haec est, testimonium conscientiae nostrae. Haec est utique vera gloria, quae est a spiritu veritatis. Ipse enim Spiritus testimonium perhibet spiritui nostro, quod filii Dei sumus. Gloria vero, quam ab invicem accipiunt, qui gloriam quae est a solo Deo non requirunt, vana est, quoniam vani filii hominum. Insipiens tu, qui merces congregas in saccum pertusum, qui thesaurum tuum alieno in ore constituis! ignoras quod arca ista non clauditur, nec seras habet? Quanto melius sapiunt, qui thesaurum suum ipsi servant, aliis non committunt? Verum nunquid semper servabunt? Nunquid semper abscondent? Veniet cum manifesta erunt abscondita cordis; quae vero fuerint ostentata, non comparebunt. Hinc est quod veniente Domino fatuarum virginum lampades exstinguuntur: et qui receperunt mercedem suam, a Domino nesciuntur. Propterea dico vobis, charissimi, utile est abscondere magis quam ostentare, si quid habemus boni; sicut et mendici cum eleemosynam petunt, non pretiosas vestes ostendunt, sed seminuda membra, aut ulcera, si habuerint, ut citius ad misericordiam videntis animus inclinetur. Quam regulam Publicanus ille servavit multo melius Pharisaeo, et ideo descendit justificatus ab illo, id est prae illo.Tempus est, fratres, ut judicium incipiat a domo Dei. Quis finis eorum qui non obediunt Evangelio? quod judicium his in hoc judicio non resurgunt? Quicunque enim judicari dissimulant eo judicio quod nunc est, in quo princeps hujus mundi ejicitur foras, judicem exspectent, vel magis timeant, a quo cum ipso principe suo foras ejicientur et ipsi. Nos autem si perfecte judicamur nunc, securi Salvatorem exspectemus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui reformabit corpus humilitatis nostrae, configuratum corpori claritatis suae. Tunc fulgebunt justi, ita ut videri possint docti pariter et indocti: fulgebunt enim sicut sol in regno Patris eorum. Erit autem claritas solis septempliciter, id est, sicut lux septem dierum. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, De Adventu Domini, Sermo IV, De Duplici Adventu, et Studio Verarum Virtutum Source: Migne PL 183.48a-48c

The Apostle also says about glory: 'This is our glory, the witness of our conscience.' 1 Thus this is true glory, that which is from the spirit of truth. That Spirit which gives witness to our spirit, that we are sons of God. 2 But the glory which men receive from one another and which is not sought from God alone is vain, because vain are the sons of men. 3 You who are foolish, you who gather coin into sacks full of holes, who establish your treasure in the mouths of others, do you not know that the narrow way is not closed nor does it have bars? How much better they understand who take care of their own wealth and do not entrust it to others. Truly shall they always guard it? Shall they always hide it? There shall come a time when all the hidden things of the heart shall be made manifest and what has been shown will not appear. Hence with the coming of the Lord the lamps of the foolish virgins are extinguished and they who have taken up their own reward are not known by the Lord. 4 Therefore I say to you, dear brothers, it is more useful to hide than to show, if we do have something good, as even beggars when they seek alms do not show up in expensive clothing, but in rags exposing their limbs, or wounds, if they have them, so that a soul may more quickly incline to mercy on seeing them. See how the way of the tax collector was a better protection for him than that of the Pharisee, and therefore he went down justified by Him, that is, before Him. 5 In time, brothers, judgement begins from the house of God. 6 What is the end of those who do not obey the Gospel? What judgement in this judgement for those who do not rise? For whoever cares not for their judgement in the judgement that shall come, in which the prince of this world is cast out, let them look to the judge, or better let them fear that they shall be cast out with that prince. But we, if we are judged flawlessly now, we may hope for the sanctuary of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who shall refashion this body of humility into the likeness of His own body of splendour. 7 Then the righteous shall shine, so the learned and the unlearned will appear, blazing like the sun in the kingdom of their father. And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, like the light of seven days. 8 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Season, On The Lord's Advent, from Sermon 4, On the Twofold Advent and Eagerness for the True Virtues 1 2 Cor 1.12 2 Rom 8.16 3 Jn 5.44, Ps 61.10 4 Mt 25.1-12, 6.16 5 Lk 18.14 6 1 Pet 4.17 7 Philip 3.21 8 Mt 13.43, Isaiah 30.26

Substance and Nothingness

Καὶ ὑπόστασίς μου ὡσει οὐθὲν ἐνωπιόν σου. Ἥ καὶ οὕτως· Ἡ ὑπόστασίς μου ὡσει οὐθὲν ἐνωπιόν σου, ὅτι χίλια ἕτη ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου ὡσεὶ ἡμέρα ἡ ἐχθὲς ἢτις παρὴλθεν, ἢ φυλακὴ ἐν νυκτὶ, τουτέστιν ὥραι τρεῖς ἢ τέσσαρες. Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδήπερ αὐτὸς μὲν ὑπάρχεις ἀεὶ, ἡ δ' ἐμὴ ὑπόστασίς ὀλίγη παντελῶς ἐστιν καὶ συνεσταλμένη, καὶ ὡς οὐδὲν ὅλως ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, μὴ ἀφῇς κολάζεσθαι μακρὰ τὸν ἐξ ἀσθενείας ὠλισθηκότα, μήτε μὴν τῷ παντὶ τοῦ βίου μήκει σύνδρομον ἔχοιμι τὴν πληγήν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ὑπόστασίς, ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας κατάδυσις εἴπεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος βίωσις. Ὁ γαρ ἀνθρώπινος βίος οὐδεν ἐστιν, ὡς πρὸς τὴν θείαν ἀϊδιότητα· καψὰ τὸ, Σὺ δὲ αὐτὸς εἶ· ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ παρ' ἀνθρώποις σπουδὴ, ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τον Ψαλμον ΛΗ' Source: Migne PG 69.973c-976a

And my substance is nothing before you. 1 So he says that his substance is nothing before you, because a thousand years before your eyes are like a day which has passed, or a watch in the night 2 that is, three or four hours. When, then, you are eternal my existence is contracted to a tiny thing, and it is as nothing in your sight, and that lest you give long length for punishment to him who in his weakness errs, and all through such life he have a flood of blows. Now for substance, the translator Aquila writes 'depths', and Symmachus has 'life'. For human life is nothing before the eternity of God, according to which, 'You yourself are, and every concern of man is a vanity of vanities.' 3 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Psalm 38 1 Ps 38.6 2  Ps 89.4 3 Ps 101.28

Knowledge And Error

Τινὲς ὑπὲρ τὸ δέον τῇ ἐννοίᾳ ἐπεκταθέντες, ὡς δοκοῦντές τι μεῖζον καταλαβεῖν, ἐξέπσαν μὲν τῆς ἀληθοῦς γνώσεως, μεταπεπτώκασι δὲ εἰς ψευδομένην γνῶσιν· καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης καθά φησιν Σολομών. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΞΒ'  Κρισπῳ Σκολαριῳ Source: Migne PG 79 148

Some having beyond what is suitable for them in the mind, thinking to seize on what is greater, are cut off from true knowledge and tumble into false knowledge, and this is also a vanity, as Solomon says. 1 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 162, To Crispus the Imperial Guard 1 Eccle 1.12

Vanity, Utility And Avarice

In eo autem quod ita se habet, Inclina cor meum in justificationes tuas, et non in utilitatem; quidam transtulerunt, Inclina cor meum in testimonia tua et non in avaritiam. Id quod in hebraeis codicibus continetur, ambigua in definitione utrique intelligentiae opportunum est. Sed nos, sicut oportet, sequimur Septuaginta interpretum religiosam et antiquam auctoritatam, ex judicio tamen caeterorum translatorum proprietatem intelligentia cujusque desiderio coaptantes. Cum enim hi dixerint, in utilitatem illi dixerint, in avaritiam, per idipsum quomodo utilitas hoc nunc sit subjecta noscetur. Nam saeculi homines pecuniam, argentum, aurum, et caetera opum instrumenta utilitatem vocant. Ergo cum in Dei testimonia inclinari cor suum, et non in utilitatem propheta orat, inclinatum in Dei testimonia cor ab his sine dubio refert, quae humano judicio existimantur utilia. Et quidem intelligentiae nostrae sensum versus qui consequitur confirmat. Ait enim Averte oculos mei, ne videant vanitatem, et in via tua vivifica me; vanitatem eorum docens, quae ab hominibus existimantur utilia. Et quaerendum est quos oculos, et a qua vanitate oret averti. Orat autem et animi et corporis oculos, eos scilicet qui theatralibus ludis captivi incubant, eos qui Circensium certaminibus serviunt, eos qui vestium pretia mirantur, eos quos auri splendor et gemmarum varietas occupat. Nisi forte non magis equorum cursu astrorum cursus  est gratior; et obscoenis illis spectaculorum turpium fabulis, non amoenius divina illa humanae spei eloquia cantantur. Nisi forte huic terrenorum metallorum usui, non magis aeternitatis repositae divitiae, honor et gloria praeferetur: et blandior mihi erit auri species, quam hominis et terrae et lucis et coeli. Ab eorum igitur vanitatibus averti oculos et hos corporis sui, et illos animae deprecatur: de quibus obcaecatis beatus Apostolus docet, cum ait, In vanitate sensus eorum intenebrati, alienati a vita Dei. Et aversorum oculorum a vanitate quod praemium sit, non longe requirendum est. Sequitur enim, Et in via tua vivam. Declindani enim a vanitate sunt oculi, ut nobis in via Dei vita sit: non ea vita quae nunc est, sed ea quae in coelis reposita est, et in Christo absconsa. Ita enim in omni hoc psalmo locutus est, tamquam victurus sit, non modo vivat. Erigendi igitur oculi sunt, quibus Christi potius gloria, quam mundi hujus inania et vana cernantur. In via enim Dei, referentes oculos a vanitate, vivemus. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXVIII Source: Migne PL 9 539-541

The line that reads 'Incline my heart to your justifications and not to utility', 1 has also been translated, 'Incline my heart to your testaments and not to avarice.' That which is found in the Hebrew texts is ambiguous in its sense and either understanding is possible. But we, as befits, follow the pious and ancient authority of the Septuagint rendition, yet the judgement of other translators it has also pleased us to join to our own understanding. For when they say, 'to utility' and the others, 'in avarice,' how this utility should be grasped we should consider. Now men of the world call money and silver and gold and other such things useful instruments for works, therefore when to the testimonies of God the Prophet prays for his heart to incline, the inclination of the heart to the testimonies of God away from these things which are judged useful according to human measure he without doubt refers. And certainly our understanding of this sense the verse which follows shall confirm. It says, 'Avert my eyes lest they see vanity and in your way enliven me,' there teaching their vanity which by men is judged to be useful. And it must be asked what eyes and from what vanity he prays to be averted. He prays for the eyes of the soul and the body, those which are falls into captivity by the amusements of the theatres, those which are enslaved amid the struggles of the games, those which marvel at precious vestments, those which are possessed by the splendour of gold and a diversity of jewels. Unless perhaps not more pleasing is the horse track and the circuit of the stars, and those obscene tales of wretched shows is more melodious than the Divine eloquence for human hope. Unless perhaps the honour and glory of the use of the metals of the earth is preferred to the store of Divine eternity, and sight of gold shall be more charming to me, than of man and earth and light and heaven. From the vanity of these things, therefore, he prays that the eyes of the body and of the soul be averted, concerning which blinding the Apostle teaches when he says, 'In vanity their sense has been benighted, alienated from the life of God,' 2 and what the reward is of the aversion of eye to vanity is not too far to seek. For the line follows, 'And in your way I shall live.' For with the eyes turning from vanity, so for us is life in the way of God, not that life which now is, but that which is kept in the heavens, and which is hidden in Christ. 3 So about all this the Psalm speaks, how it shall be conquered, that it no longer live. Therefore directing the eyes, let them perceive rather the glory of Christ than the inanity and vanities of this world. For in the way of God, turning the eyes from vanity, we may live. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.36 2 Ephes 4.18 3 Colos 3.2-3

Righteousness and Men

'Attendite,' inquit, 'ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus ut videamini ab eis: alioquin mercedem non habetis apud Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est.' Et quomodo quod fit hominibus coram hominibus non fit? Patentis justitiae latet sensus, publici operis quod secretum? Qui potest celare radios solis justitiae poterit occultare fulgorem. Justitia lux rerum consiliis non velatur obscuris. Justitia cum sibi facto claret, omnes illustrat exemplo. Et quid est quod eam Dominus coram hominibus fieri non vult, per quam statum capiunt res humanae? Et ubi est illud: 'Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est?' Quomodo justitiam vult celare, cujus opera vult sic elucere? Fratres, hic praeceptio coelestis vult jactantiam tollere, auferre pompam, vanitatem demere, submovere inanem gloriam: sic justitiam vult celare. Justitia quae per se sibi abundat ad gloriam, spectaculum populi, vulgi laudes, favores hominum, mundi gloriam non requirit: a Deo genita spectat; in oculis agit divinis; supernis virtutibus mixta semper a Deo solo, ut glorificetur, exspectat. Sed haec est justitia, quae ex Deo est; illa vero justitia quae est hypocrisis, justitia non est: mentitur oculis, fallit aspectum, videntibus illudit, decipit audientes, seducit turbas, trahit populos, famam vendit, emit clamorem, fit saeculo, Deo non fit, mercedem rapit praesentem, praemium non quaerit in futuro. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo IX

'Take care,' He said, 'lest your righteousness be done in the presence of men that you be seen by them, lest a reward you shall not have from your Father who is in heaven.'  1 And how may it be done among men and not in the presence of men be done? Where hides the sense of open righteousness, what is the secret of public deeds? Who is able to hide the rays of the sun of righteousness he could conceal lightening. Righteousness, the light of things, should not be veiled with obscure counsel. Righteousness done blazes forth, enlightening all things by its example. And now why does the Lord not want it done in the presence of men, by which doing men witness it? And is it not said, 'So let your light shine among men, that they see your good works and they glorify your Father who is in heaven?'  2 How does he wish to conceal righteousness , the work of which he wishes to shine forth? Brothers, with heavenly teaching he wishes to take away boasting, to carry away pomp, to be rid of vanity, to drive off vainglory. So he wishes to conceal that righteousness. The righteousness that in itself is rich in glory has no need of being seen by the people, it does not need the praise of crowds, the pleasure of men, the delight of the world; let it see that it is born of God, that in the eyes of the Divine it is done, that amid the higher powers it hopes that it be glorified always by God alone. This is the righteousness which is from God. That righteousness which is hypocrisy is not righteousness, it lies to the eyes, wears a false appearance, plays tricks by appearance, deceives listeners, seduces mobs, drags away peoples, sells renown, buys clamour, acts for the age and not for God, seizes on present reward, and does not seek it in the future. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 9 1. Mt 6.1 2 Mt 5.16

Vanity of Vanities

Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes: Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.  Si cuncta quae fecit Deus, valde bona sunt, quomodo omnia vanitas, et non solum vanitas, verum etiam vanitas vanitatem? Ut sicut in Canticis canticorum inter omnia carmina, excellens carmen ostenditur: ita in vanitate vanitatum, vanitatis magnitudo monstretur. Tale quid in Psalmo scriptum est: 'Verumtamen universa vanitas, omnis homo vivens.' Si vivens homo vanitas est: ergo mortus vanitas vanitatum. Legimus in Exodo, glorificatum vultum Mousi in tantum, ut filii Isreal eum aspicere non possent. Quam gloriam Paulus apostolus ad comparationem evangelicae gloriae, dicit esse non gloriam: Nam nec glorificatum est, inquit, 'quod glorificatum fuit in hac parte, propter exellentem gloriam.' Possumus igitur et nos in hunc modum, caelum, terram, maria, et omnia quae in hoc circulo continentur, bona quidem per se dicere, sed ad Deum comparata, esse pro nihilo. Et quomodo, si igniculum lucernae videns, contentus essem ejus lumine, et postea, orto sole, non cernerem, quod lucebat, stellarum quoque lumina jubare viderem solis abscondi: ita aspiciens elementa et rerum multiplicem varietatem, admiror quidem operum magnitudinem; recogitans autem omnia pertransire, et mundum suo fine senescere, solumque Deum id semper esse quod fuerit, compellor dicere non semel, sed bis: Vanitas vanitatem et omnia vanitas. Sanctus Hieronimus, Commentarius in Ecclesiasten

'Vanity of vanities,' says Ecclesiastes, 'vanity of vanities and everything a vanity.' If everything which God made was very good, how is everything a vanity and not only a vanity but even a vanity of vanities? As by the title the Song of Songs is shown to be of all songs the most excellent so in the title vanity of vanities the greatness of the vanity is shown. So it is written in the Psalm: 'Truly everything is a vanity, every man alive,' and thus a dead man would be the vanity of vanities. We read in Exodus that the glorified face of Moses was such that the sons of Israel were not able to look on him. Which glory, the Apostle Paul said, when compared to the evangelical glory was no glory: 'For it was not glorious,' he said, 'that it was glorious in this way, on account of the greater excellence of glory.' Therefore we are able to say that the sky, earth, seas and everything this globe contains is a certain good but compared to God it is as nothing. It is as when the light of a small flame is seen and one is content with its light but afterward, with the sun rising, one does not see what shone. Or as the light of stars may be seen only when the radiance  of the sun has departed. Thus seeing the elements and the multiplicity of things I admire a certain greatness of the work yet recognising that all of it is transient and the world will come to its end and only God will always be, and so I am compelled to say not once but twice, 'Vanity of vanities and everything a vanity.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Disputing The Philosophers

Tibi liquebat quanto haec nostra, id est, pietatis veritatisque praecepta, illis philosophorum praecepti debeant. In illis namque eorum praeceptis, vel adumbrata virtus, vel falsa sapientia; in his vero consummata justitia, solida veritas continetur. Unde licet dicere philosophiae alios nomen usurpasse, nos vitam. Etenim qualia ab his dari possunt praecepta vivendi? Causam neciunt. Ignorantes enim Deum, et statim ab exordio justitae declinantes, consequenti in caetera feruntur errore. Sic fit postea ut studiorum talium finis sit vanitas Si qui apud illos honestiora deficiunt, huic jactantiae deserviunt, huic laborant: ita apud eos non est vacua vitiis abstinentia vitiorum. Hic itaque sunt, sicut scriptum est, qui terrena sapiunt. Unde manifeste ostenditur veram eos justitiam, veram sapientiam non videre. Anne aliquis ex illa Aristippi schola veritatem videbit, qui ingenio suo a suibus aut pecore nihil differt, cum beatitudinem in corporis volupatte constituat: cui Deus venter est, et gloria in pudendis eius? Hic honestum justumque praecipiet, apud quem prodigus, impudicus, adulter philosophatur? Sanctus Eucherius Lugdonensis, Epistola Paraenetica ad Valerianum Cognatum, de Contemptu Mundi Source: Migne PL 50.724a-c

It should quickly become clear to you how much more our precepts are more pious and true than the precepts of philosophers. For in their precepts is but a shadow of virtue or a false wisdom, and in ours perfect righteousness and real truth. Whence it is permitted to say they but usurp the name of philosophy and ours is the life. For what sort of precepts for living are they able to give? They are ignorant of the cause, not knowing God, and instantly from the outset deviating from righteousness they consequently err in all the rest. So it turns out that the end of such studies is vanity. If any happened to attain to more noble ends in their labours, these but serviced boastfulness, and so for them a reduction of error was not an absence of vice. Thus these are, as it has been written, 'those who know the things of the earth.' 1 It is manifest that neither true righteousness nor wisdom was revealed to them. Can any one of the school of Aristippus contemplate the truth, those who differing neither in mind nor heart from one another, established happiness in corporeal pleasures, whose God is the stomach, and whose glory is shame? Can he teach justice and nobility to whom the prodigal man, the shameless man and the adulterous man are teachers of philosophy? Saint Eucherius of Lyon, Letter Of Exhortation To His Kinsman Valerian, On Contempt For the World 1 Phil 3.19