Better Death than to Speak Obscenities
In the last of our series taken from a powerful sermon of St. Alphonsus (Part One and Part Two), the Saint does not spare words in condemning those who utter obscenities, even in jest. By saying such immodest words, he warns, you inflict on your own soul – and those of others – a mortal and incurable wound.
Let modern day Catholics – accustomed to the lax morals of Vatican II – pay heed to his charitable warning and correct themselves while there is time.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Be attentive, then, my brethren, and guard yourselves against speaking immodestly, more than you would against death.
Listen to the advice of the Holy Ghost: Make a balance for thy words, and a just bridle for thy mouth; and take heed lest thou slip with thy tongue, and thy fall be incurable unto death. (Eccl. 28: 29-30)
Make a balance: that is, you must weigh your words before you utter them, and a bridle for thy mouth, which is to say that when immodest words come to the tongue, you must suppress them. Otherwise, by uttering them, you shall inflict on your own soul – and on the souls of others – a mortal and incurable wound.
God has given you the tongue not to offend Him, but to praise and bless Him. For, says St. Paul, fornication and all uncleanness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints.” (Ephes 5: 3.) Mark well the words all uncleanness. We must not only abstain from obscene language and from every word of double meaning spoken in jest, but also from every improper word unbecoming a saint – that is, a Catholic.
It is necessary to remark that words of double meaning sometimes do greater evil than open obscenity, because the art with which they are spoken makes a deeper impression on the mind.
Reflect, says St. Augustine, that your mouths are the mouths of Catholics, which Jesus Christ has so often entered in Holy Communion. Hence, you ought to have a horror of uttering all unchaste words, which are a diabolical poison.
“See, brethren,” he warns us, “if it be just and proper that, from the mouths of Catholics, which the body of Christ enters, an immodest song, like diabolical poison, should proceed.” (Serm. xv., de Temp.)
St. Paul says that the language of a Catholic should be always seasoned with salt: Let your speech be always in grace, seasoned with salt. (Col 5: 6.) Our conversation should be seasoned with words calculated to excite others not to offend, but to love God.
“Happy the tongue,” says St. Bernard, “that knows only how to speak of holy things!” Happy the tongue that knows only how to speak of God! O brethren, be careful not only to abstain from all obscene language, but to avoid, as you would a plague, those who speak immodestly.
When you hear any one begin to utter obscene words, follow the advice of the Holy Ghost: Hedge in thy ears with thorns: hear not a wicked tongue. (Eccl 28:28) Hedge in thy ears with thorns – that is, reprove with zeal the man who speaks obscenely. At the least, turn away your face and show that you hate such language. Let us not be ashamed to appear to be followers of Jesus Christ unless we wish Jesus Christ to be ashamed to bring us with Him into Paradise.
The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori For All the Sundays of the Year,
TAN Books, 1982, Sermon XL, pp 304-305.
Posted on December 14, 2024
Related Topics of Interest
St. Alphonsus on Profanity in Speech - 1
Profanities Deserve God’s Vengeance - 2
Correcting a Vulgar Tone of Language
Good Curses & Bad Curses
'God Is Merciful for a Season & Then Chastises'
Meditation on Hell by St. Robert Bellarmine
Msgr. Jouin against the 'Mute Hounds' of the Church
Related Works of Interest
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