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cursing God and what

it means

ORDINARILY UNPARDONABLE

THE THEOLOGY OF BLASPHEMY

JESUS ON BLASPHEMY

SAINTS ON BASPHEMY

BLASPHEMY OF MARY

RESPONDING TO BLASPHEMY

Extracts from St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, 'Preaching'

Let us now say something on the enormity of any blasphemy.

In the Old Law, God ordained that every blasphemer should be banished from the city and the camp, and that he should be stoned by all the people. Bring the blasphemer without the camp. . . and let all the people stone him.

Not very long ago, when a man uttered a blasphemy in Venice, an officer was sent from the court to seize the blasphemer in his own house; his tongue was cut out.

Even at the present day, the penalty sanctioned by the King of Naples against blasphemy is, to brand the forehead of the blasphemer with a red-hot iron, and then to send him to the galleys; but the penalty is not often inflicted, because human motives prevent the witnesses from giving testimony against blasphemers.

To accuse a blasphemer through hatred of his person is not right; but it is a good and holy act to convict blasphemers, in order that the accursed vice of blasphemy, and the scandal that it gives to those who hear it, may be abolished by the infliction of chastisement.

I say the scandal; for children, by listening to the blasphemies of grown-up persons, learn to become blasphemers.

What a misery to see so many little ones who know nothing about the things of God and yet know very well how to curse St. Peter or St. Mark. St. Peter! St. Mark!

What evil have these saints done you, that you should blaspheme them? You quarrel with your wife, your master, or with a servant, and you assail the saints! The saints continually pray to God for us; and will you blaspheme them? I wonder that the earth does not open and swallow up the blasphemer! Some are found to blaspheme him who keeps them in existence! Instead of thanking God for preserving their life, and not sending them to hell, they blaspheme his divine Majesty.

Every blasphemy uttered against a saint or a holiday is a most grievous sin. St. Jerome says that compared with blasphemy, every sin is small. St. John Chrysostom says that when a person blasphemes, his mouth should be instantly closed. The holy Doctor says: "Strike him on the mouth; bruise it so that he cannot speak." Blasphemers are worse than the damned, for they blaspheme the author of their torments, but you blaspheme your benefactor.

Oh! what frightful chastisements have I seen inflicted by God on blasphemers!

In the kingdom of Naples a man who had blasphemed the crucifix of a certain place suddenly fell dead as he was passing before the crucifix. Not many years ago, in another place (I have spoken with a person who was present), a coachman blasphemed a saint, and was immediately upset into the water; the pole of the carriage pressed on his neck, and he was drowned.

But if a blasphemer escapes chastisement in this life he shall be punished all the more in the next. Our Lord showed St. Frances of Rome the special and horrible torments of the tongue that blasphemers suffer in hell.

Exhortation to Blasphemers

My brother, if you have been hitherto in the habit of blaspheming, endeavor now with all your strength to get rid of that accursed vice. What profit do you derive from your accursed blasphemies? You gain nothing by them; on the contrary they keep you always in beggary. You receive no pleasure from them; what pleasure can you feel in cursing holy things? You receive no honor from them, but infamy; blasphemers are avoided and hated, even by their fellow blasphemers.

But I want you to understand that unless during this mission you renounce this vice, you will never get rid of it. It increases with years, because with years your sorrows and infirmities increase; and thus acts of impatience become more frequent. Thus, you will take this vice with you to the grave.

A blasphemer, who had been sentenced to be hanged, the moment he was thrown off the gibbet, gave way to the bad habit he had contracted, burst out into a blasphemy against a saint, and so ended his life. A coachman, who had the habit of this vice, blasphemed at the hour of his death, and died miserably.

Make now a good confession; make a firm resolution during this mission to blaspheme no more. And for the future say every morning, as soon as you rise, three "Hail Marys," in honor of the Blessed Virgin, that she may obtain for you the grace to be delivered from so horrible a vice.

And when you meet with any occasion of impatience, accustom yourself to curse the devil or your sins, and leave the saints alone. Banish forever from your mouth the curse and imprecation, and say instead: Mary, pray for me; Virgin Mary, give me patience and strength. In the beginning you will have great trouble in conquering yourselves, and shaking off the habit of blaspheming. But when the habit is once overcome, you will, by God's assist ance, easily abstain altogether from this vice.

But that you may conceive a greater horror of blasphemy, listen to the vengeance that God once inflicted on a blasphemer. Cardinal Baronius relates in his Annals that an inhabitant of Constantinople, after having uttered a blasphemy, went to take a bath. After washing, he suddenly rushed out of the bath, crying out that he was a dead man, at the same time lacerating his legs with his nails, and tearing the flesh off his arms with his teeth. He was seized, and wrapped up in a sheet; but this, instead of mitigating, only increased his tortures, so they took it away again; but his skin adhered to it, and came away with it, and thus the miserable man died, and became the prey of the devils, who carried him off to be tormented forever in hell.

jesus ON blasphemy

Jesus said:

“more grievously than all other sins”. Jesus gave her a visualization of “a poisoned arrow continually wounding His divine Heart.”

“My Name is everywhere blasphemed! There are even children who blaspheme!”

IN THE CHURCH APPROVED REVELATIONS OF Jesus TO THE MYSTIC NUN SISTER MARIE OF ST. PETER, A Special prayer WAS GIVEN to make reparation for blasphemy and profanation of Sundays.

She was told this frightful sin wounds His divine heart more grievously than all other sins; by blasphemy the sinner curses Jesus to His Face and attacks Him publicly. By these actions,

the sinner pronounces his own judgement and condemnation.

The special prayeR IS known as the Golden ARROW:

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most INCOMPRHENSIBLE and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in heaven, on earth and IN THE HELLS, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar.

Sister MarIE of St. Peter saw in a vision that this Golden Arrow had the power to wound the Heart of Jesus “delightfully”. Our Lord revealed to her the inseparable connection in honouring His Holy name through the Golden Arrow prayer and in venerating the Holy Face of Jesus.

With this Arrow we target the very center of the Heart of God.

The Golden Arrow prayer brings us closer to Christ by helping to make amends for the many insults He suffers on a daily basis.

Sister MarIE called this prayer:

“an Act of Praise that our Lord Himself dictated to me, notwithstanding my unworthiness for the reparation of blasphemy against His Holy Name”.

“after that He revealed to me that He wanted to give me a ‘Golden Arrow’ which would have the power of wounding Him delightfully, and which would also heal those other wounds inflicted by the malice of sinners, with torrents of graces emanating from it!”.

Jesus said to Sister Marie “By my Holy Face you will work wonders”. Sister Marie stated “He desired to see His Holy Face offered as the exterior object of adoration to all His children who would be associated in the Work of Reparation for Blasphemy. Inviting me to make known His Holy Face from this standpoint, our Lord then declared that the gift of His adorable Countenance which He presented to me on that day was, next to the sacraments, the greatest gift He could bestow on me”.

The Holy Face devotion is the exterior object of adoration that repairs the evils of blasphemy.

jesus allowed Sister Marie to feel the interior pain which His heart suffered:

“If a king or even an ambassador be despised or set at naught by a foreign nation, his countrymen fly to arms, the honour of the king must be avenged; troops are levied and the death of thousands is counted for naught. And yet, the most holy and terrible Name of God of armies, of the King of kings is despised and blasphemed; His holy Day is profaned by an infinite number of sinners, and not one is concerned, no one thinks of avenging Him!

THE FATHER demands reparation FOR THE SINS OF BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE honour OF his Divine SON, or HE WILL proclaim war against us.

SAINTS ON BLASPHEMY

VENERABLE LEO DUPONT

Venerable Leo Dupont was a holy French aristocrat who lived in Tours, France at the time (1844- 1847) He became known as the “Holy man of Tours” because of the many miracles associated with him spreading this devotion. There are over 6,000 Church-approved miracles attributed to an image of our Lord’s Holy Face, which he kept in his possession.

In his younger years, Leo was known for boxing people on the ear who blasphemed or those who wore provocative clothing at Mass. He later realised that gentleness was a grave from God, so he asked a blasphemer, “My dear man, I will ask you to do me a favour. Either keep silent or strike me a blow on the face”. It was less painful for him to be smacked on the face than hear God’s name spoken in vain.

St. Thomas Aquinas

'Even as God is praised in His saints, in so far as praise is given to the works which God does in His saints, so does blasphemy against the saints, redound, as a consequence, against God.'

St John Chrysostom

Why Did Saint John Chrysostom Call to Strike the Blasphemers?

Would a Christian be justified in confronting a blasphemer with physical force, if all other means of calling him to reason fail? This question has been the subject of a lively Internet debate for several years. Advocates of a forceful response cite fragments from the writings of Saint John Chrysostom, in which he advises readers to “sanctify their hand with a blow”, “strike his mouth” and “smite him on the face”, and resort to other undiplomatic ways of dealing with blasphemers. Some Christians take comfort in these words, and see them almost as a direct sanction to assault their opponent on the slightest suspicion of blasphemy. Others feel uncomfortable and unnerved at how much this advice from a highly revered saint is inconsistent with their moral beliefs.

The arguments of the advocates of violence are simple and straightforward: as long as John Chrysostom says so, a Christian is justified, and even obliged to treat blasphemers harshly.

The position of the other camp is more nuanced. To them, this advice contradicts the whole body of scriptural texts and the Orthodox tradition. Admittedly, the call for violence is found only once in all of John Chrysostom’s writings – otherwise we would have seen more quotes from the saint on the same subject.

Yet there is little doubt that John Chrysostom really said this. In his Homily on Statues, he writes: “But since our discourse has now turned to the subject of blasphemy, I desire to ask one favour of you all, in return for this my address, and speaking with you; which is, that you will correct on my behalf the blasphemers of this city. And should you hear anyone in the public thoroughfare, or in the midst of the forum, blaspheming God; go up to him and rebuke him; and should it be necessary to inflict blows, spare not to do so. Smite him on the face; strike his mouth; sanctify your hand with the blow.”

This raises an important ethical question: to what extent should today’s Christians take this advice as a call to action?

To answer this question, we should first find out what John Chrysostom himself had in mind when he was saying these harsh words. When he was asking to inflict blows on blasphemers, who exactly did he have in mind?

The revolt

In the year 387, a revolt broke out in Antioch, the largest city of Asia Minor. It was triggered by the decision of Emperor Theodosius to raise taxes on its residents. The peasants, artisans and traders were already cracking under the financial strain of the emperor’s taxes, and it was getting worse each year. Yet the emperor imposed an extraordinary tax on top of all the others on account of his birthday. The tax was so high that the whole city fell into despair when it was announced. In the eyes of the people, the new tax was inhumane, and anger began to build up.

Sporadic unrest quickly escalated into a full-scale rebellion. Furious crowds began to deface the images of the emperor and members of his family. The rioters hurled rocks at the emperor’s portraits and broke the wooden planks on which they were painted. They destroyed the Emperor’s multiple statues that were scattered across the city. They used ropes to pull the statues down.

They dragged the downed statues around the city shouting insults and profanities. They broke them up and drowned the pieces in the river. Crowds of people came together to bring down the massive statue of the emperor on horseback.

The response from the emperor was prompt and harsh. Under the laws of the empire, denigration of an image of the emperor carried the same penalty as insulting the emperor in person. The emperor’s wrath was vicious and deadly. Many people suffered. Some were dispossessed, others imprisoned and many were executed. Tens of thousands of Antioch residents had to flee their homes, and fell easy prey to the robbers who were abundant in the city’s environs. Tears, hunger and constant anticipation of further reprisals was the lot of the survivors.

It was in this tragic context that John Chrysostom delivered his prominent homilies on statues. Only the first homily was delivered before the revolt, as tension was mounting, but had not grown yet into a full-scale rebellion. He dedicated his second homily to the gruesome aftermath of the unrest. In these trying times for all Antiochians, he gave as many as 21 homilies.

Blasphemers

The call to use all possible means, including physical violence to pacify the agitators is found in John Chrysostom’s first homily. As is clear from the text of the homilies, it was these activists that he was referring to as blasphemers. In this way, he was trying to pacify the dispossessed and the impoverished, while recognising that the immediate cause of the unrest were the ruinous taxes.

Many Antiochians were convinced that poverty was unworthy of God’s love and the real God was different from the way the Church was portraying Him. John Chrysostom saw these ideas taking root and spreading. He wrote: “there are many who deceive the simpler class by saying that these things are unworthy of the Providence of God.” Some of the tempted and deceived were blaming God for their misfortunes. John Chrysostom wrote of those people: “The blasphemer is an ass; unable to bear the burden of his anger, he has fallen. Come forward and raise him up, both by words and by deeds; and both by meekness and by vehemence; let the medicine be various.”

To John Chrysostom, the blasphemers were the city’s poor who were murmuring against God. This is obvious from the paragraph that precedes the fragment on violence against blasphemers, which, regrettably, is almost never quoted. “Have you lost money? If you have been thankful, you have gained your soul; and obtained greater wealth; having acquired a greater measure of the favour of God. But if you blaspheme, you have, besides this, lost your own safety; and hast not regained possession of your wealth; yea and your soul, which you had, you have sacrificed! “But since our discourse has now turned to the subject of blasphemy, I desire to ask one favour of you all, in return for this my address, and speaking with you; which is, that you will correct on my behalf the blasphemers of this city. And should you hear anyone in the public thoroughfare, or in the midst of the forum, blaspheming God; go up to him and rebuke him; and should it be necessary to inflict blows, spare not to do so. Smite him on the face; strike his mouth; sanctify your hand with the blow…» To be fully certain as to who Chrysostom considers worthy to be hit why, let us refer to this fragment from his homilies that elaborates on his advice to strike the blasphemer’s mouth: “How many do I hear say, Let there be no poverty! Therefore let us stop the mouths of those who murmur at such things. For it is blasphemy to utter such complaints.

The physician

In the stressful environment of an imminent rebellion over excessive taxes, John Chrysostom was asking his flock do everything possible to prevent it. Before taking his monastic vows, Chrysostom had received a brilliant education and worked for several years as a lawyer. He knew the laws of the empire too well to predict the dire consequences of the rebellion.

The backbreaking taxes were devastating the city. Yet the wrath of the emperor for rising up against him would bring an even greater disaster. John Chrysostom spared no effort to admonish his fellow countrymen against the revolt. He called its instigators blasphemers and condemned them for their denial of the providence of God. He asked his flock to call their naive and gullible brethren to reason, and use every means to do so, including violence if nothing else works.

Let us also remember that these tragic events took place in the first year of his priesthood. Never again did Chrysostom repeat his calls for violence after the rebellion, although there were probably as many of them in his time as there are now. If fact, his view of physical violence is best expressed in the following maxim: “The teacher is the physician of souls. But the physician does not strike, but heals and restores him that has stricken him.” He repeated this idea on many occasions over two decades of his pastoral and episcopal ministry.

The choice

What can we learn from this discussion? Christian theology is grounded in the principle of Consensus Patrum, or unanimous agreement of the holy fathers on matters of faith and worship. Its main tenet was formulated by Saint Vincent of Lerins in the fifth century after Christ: “That only is to be accounted indubitable, certain, established, which either all, or the more part, have supported and confirmed manifestly, frequently, persistently, in one and the same sense, forming, as it were, a consentient council of doctors, all receiving, holding, handing on the same doctrine. But whatsoever a teacher holds, other than all, or contrary to all, be he holy and learned, be he a bishop, be he a Confessor, be he a martyr, let that be regarded as a private fancy of his own, and be separated from the authority of common, public, general persuasion.”

Consistent with this rule, John Chrysostom’s calls for violent opposition to blasphemers are exceptional even to his own writings. They were made in an extraordinary situation of great danger to many people. But there is definitely no consensus among the Holy Fathers in favour of attacking blasphemers physically. Today, a Christian who ‘sanctifies his hand with the blow” may not expect his actions to be justified by the authority of John Chrysostom or his teachings. He will be solely responsible for his behaviour and the philosophical and ethical choices in which it is grounded.

BLASPHEMY OF MARY

We need to make reparation for blasphemy and profanation of Sundays to Oue Lord, but we also need to make reparation for the five blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin Mary:

1. Denying her immaculate conception.
   
2. Denying her perpetual virginity.
   
3. Denying her divine maternity.
   
4. Fostering contempt of the Blessed Virgin in children.
   
5. Smashing and destroying her holy images.
   

FATIMA

In 1917, Our Lady appeared in Fatima to three children, she asked them:

“Would you like to offer yourself to God to make sacrifices, and to accept willingly all the sufferings it may please Him to send you in order to make reparation for so many sins, which offend the Divine Majesty, to obtain the conversion of sinners, and to make amends for all the blasphemies and offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary?”.

The warning of the fewness of those who are saved was reiterated in 1917 when Our Lady at Fatima told three children that souls are descending into hell like snowflakes falling on the ground. There are only two roads when a soul is presented these truths; either dismiss them as fables or adapt one’s life in conformity with God’s plan and stop committing mortal sin.

THE RESPONSE TO BLASPHEMY

REParation

When we hear words of blasphemy, we should say the prayer:

“Sit Nomen Domini benedictum!”

(Blessed be the Name of the Lord)

THE HOLY NAME OF GOD

THE HOLY NAME OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

THE HOLY ROSARY

THE HOLY FACE PRAYERS – CHAPLET, LITANY, NOVENA

Father Carney states, “According to Sister, the ammunition is the Holy Name of God and the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rosary also serves as ammunition”.

Servant of God Dolindo Rutolo called the Rosary “a sword and a machine gun in our spiritual arsenal”. He said that every Hail Mary was a shot fired at Satan and the forces of darkness. The Rosary and the Holy Face devotions work hand in hand in this spiritual warfare.

The Chaplet of the Holy Face is a wonderful round of ammunition against the communists.

Our Lord made it clear to Sister Marie of St. Peter that adoring the Holy Face was heaven’s most favoured devotion given to the Church.

Sister Marie wrote: “Earth and hell (are) armed together against this work… What immense benefits are reserved for the defenders of the Holy Name of God!”.

“…one should pray with the intensity of a proficient archer in order to send a Golden Arrow into the bosom of God our Father and the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the aid of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”.

what is reparation and why is it necessary?

Venerable Fulton Sheen on the Unforgivable Sin

indifference to right and wrong, eventually ends in hatred for what is right.”

“Sin is not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is the denial of sin.... If I deny that there is any such thing as sin, how shall I ever be forgiven? The denial of sin is the unforgivable sin, for it makes redemption impossible.”

THE RESPONSE TO BLASPHEMY