De arte praedicatoria

If the preacher wishes to invite his hearers to contempt of the world, let him bring forward in the midst this authority: Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, etc.¹ For what authority so conveys the vanity of worldly things, and the worthlessness of men, that all things are slippery and nothing stable, as this authority does?

According to this authority, he ought to distinguish a threefold vanity of the world. For there is the vanity of changeableness, the vanity of curiosity, and the vanity of falsehood. The vanity of changeableness is that according to which all things by nature are subject to change, of which the Apostle says: Every creature is subjected to vanity.²

The vanity of curiosity is that according to which a man spends all his care upon worldly things. Hence: The Lord scatters the thoughts of men, because they are vain.³ Of which Persius the comic poet says:

O the cares of men, O how much emptiness there is in things!

The vanity of falsehood is the curiosity of lying, of which it is said: Everyone has spoken vain things to his neighbor.⁴ Thus the preacher ought to strengthen with authorities every division he proposes, otherwise the whole division is wavering and unstable.

Next he ought to show where there is vanity, where the vanity of vanities, where all is vanity, this is plain in all worldly things. For if riches come to a man, there is vanity, because they quickly pass away; if they stay, they take the man away from himself, behold the vanity of vanities; if they depart, all is vanity. In riches there is the vanity of changeableness, because they pass away; the vanity of curiosity, since men spend all their care upon them; the vanity of falsehood, because for the acquiring or keeping of riches men vomit forth lies.

Where is there greater vanity than in riches, which, though they promise blessedness, take it away, which promise security but bring on fear? Where is there greater fear than among the rich, who dread everything lest they lose their riches? They do not trust their sons, a wife's love is suspect, they fear their betters, they shrink from thieves, they dream false things, they disbelieve true ones. Where is there greater vanity than in riches, which promise satiety and produce hunger, which from thirst bring drunkenness, which do not diminish desires but rather add to them, which do not fill the mind but drain it, which are, I know not by what emptiness, full, and by what fullness, empty?

Where is vanity if not in honors, which favor a man for this purpose, that they may cast him down, which raise him up for this purpose, that they may destroy him, which lift him up for this purpose, that they may thrust him down more heavily? In these is the vanity of vanities, because there is an unbearable burden in honor, a puffed-up honor in the burden, and in them all is vanity when they utterly depart from a man.

There is vanity in worldly enticements when they first flatter, the vanity of vanities when they grow tiresome, and all is vanity when through them we are led to death. First they make honey, second they sting, third they destroy. Likewise falsehood is in venial sin, the falsehood of falsehoods in mortal wrongdoing, and all falsehood in the obstinate sinner. Falsehood in punishment, the falsehood of falsehoods in guilt, all falsehood in hell.

Abhorring vanity, therefore, and fearing falsehood, let us run to the highest truth, that is, to God, in whom is the truth of truths, through the fulfillment of promises, in whom all is truth, because he himself is all in all the saints.⁵

Having thus proved contempt of the world through the disposition toward temporal things, he ought to prove the same from the final cause, which consists in two things, namely, the obtaining of advantage and the avoidance of disadvantage. Through the obtaining of advantage, contempt of the world is proved thus: O man, if you have despised the world, you will have God, who is the world's founder and lord, as your reward. Through the avoidance of disadvantage, contempt of the world can be proved thus: O man, if you have despised worldly and vain things, fear will not shake you, hope will not slacken you, sadness will not constrain you, joy will not dissolve you; you will serve no one, you will be free, you will not fear the assault of adversity, your conscience will be serene, you will await the coming of death peacefully; death will be welcome, and after death your expectation will be blessed.

But if you have clung to worldly pleasures, entangled in earthly enticements, your conscience will be seared, death hateful, and after death you will be shut up in eternal punishment. What then will be your state of mind, O man, when in death itself demons will appear to you, horrible enemies, waiting to carry your soul away into hell, and those whom in life you found flattering, in death you will find raging? Where then will be your delights? Where your earthly friendships? Where your worldly pleasures? From riches will follow eternal poverty, from honors, downfall, from pleasures, everlasting bitterness.

After this, let the preacher conclude his admonition with exemplary teaching, showing how the ancient Fathers despised the world, and yet the world then flourished, when it was withering in their hearts; but now, since the world itself is withering, it ought not to flourish in our hearts, but we ought to flee what is fleeting, and abandon what is falling, lest we fall with what is unstable, lest we collapse with what is in motion.