About the sin of foul language. Orthodox faith - profanity - alphabet

The use of obscenities has firmly entered the everyday lexicon of many people, even public people do not disdain the use of abusive words: politicians, celebrities or public figures. Attributing this problem to the oblivion of culture, we forget that the desire to swear arises inside us, prompting us to commit a sinful act.

Is mating considered a sin?

“What is the name of the sin when you swear?” Many are wondering for.Orthodox Church classifies swearing as profanity.

The Lord has endowed people with the ability to communicate and express their thoughts in words. Through them we say prayers and turn to God. A person who swears uses this gift to express his angry impulses, thereby defiling the Temple of God in himself.

Mat, in its essence, is alien to the nature of human nature, it is impossible to pronounce prayers and curses with the same lips. They encourage us, anger that has settled inside us. A believer must steadfastly resist such impulses and understand that swearing is a manifestation of the demonic principle.

Cursing is a sin, so we encroach on our spiritual image, created in the example and likeness of God. The devil, through swearing, seeks to eradicate traits similar to the Lord in the believer, leading him astray from the righteous path. The fight against foul language is a fight for the preservation of spiritual purity and faith.

Getting rid of the habit of foul language is not easy, you need to gather all the spiritual strength in yourself, repent, pray and renounce the addiction forever. The word is the main tool for glorifying the Lord on earth, the main difference between man and animal. By imitating this sin, a Christian defiles the gift of God, devastates the faith in his soul.

The use of swear words has penetrated into all spheres of human life. Mat can be heard in everyday speech "for a bunch of words."

This indicates not only the level of culture of the individual, but the degree of influence of impure passions on a person. This is the extreme stage of dependence on sin, which indicates the attenuation of the pure spiritual impulses of the human soul.

Foul language has a detrimental effect not only on the one who speaks these words, but on the people who listen to him. Insulting himself and others, a person involuntarily imposes his vice on others, influencing the soul of a person through words.

It has been scientifically proven that the use of obscenities in speech does not carry any semantic load, but adds an emotional tone and color to the conversation. This circumstance once again emphasizes the harmfulness of abusive words that affect, first of all, the state of mind.

The sin of obscenity in the speech of modern man

For many, the fact that mate is a sin of foul language remains unknown. Swear words are not truly human language, they do not express anything creative and useful, both for man and for God.

It is especially dangerous to be in an environment of people who use foul language, children who perceive the behavior of adults as an example to follow.

It will be difficult for a child who grew up in such a family to find his own way and return to his original state of mind. Parents and relatives consciously create obstacles for the full development of their child, both in the spiritual and cultural and educational sense.

To learn foul language does not require special skills and efforts, and not everyone can cultivate the ability to beautiful speech.

The divine origin of the term "man" stands for "verbal", able to speak. The word carries not only an informational message, but also has a reflection in the earthly affairs of the believer.

The rampant foul language, which does not know the difference by gender, age, has become a real disaster for modern society.

The Russian language, which is one of the richest and most expressive in the world, suffers especially. Clogging it with obscene expressions, we forget our traditions and the heritage of our ancestors, transmitted to us, first of all, through the word, and only then through writing.

The roots of profanity date back to pagan times, when people worshiped pagan idols and their derivatives.

Worship of the spirits and demons of the earth, nature did not take place without the main pagan attributes, which were the sacrifice of animals and demonic rituals. From this culture, an anti-culture of swearing and foul language has grown and clogged the minds of people, so swearing is a sin, get used to talking normally and go to confession in the Church.

About the sin of foul language

Woe to the foul language. Their larynx is an open coffin.

(Rom. 3:13)

An unfortunate incident happened in the family of my friends. Their little daughter went to kindergarten. Two weeks after visiting the kindergarten, the girl sprinkled every little sentence of hers with terrible, dirty curses, of course, completely unaware that she was using foul language.

Foul language, bad words - this is how the Russian people have long called swearing. The root comes from the word "filth".

Dahl's Dictionary of the Great Russian Language says: "Filth is an abomination, muck, dirty tricks, everything vile, disgusting, disgusting, indecent, that disgusts carnally and spiritually, impurity, dirt and rot, decay, carrion, eruptions, feces; stench, stink; obscenity , depravity, moral corruption; everything ungodly."

Exhaustive feature. Even according to this linguistic definition, it is clear that foul language and - "lewdness, depravity, moral corruption, everything ungodly" - is a sin. What is this sin?

When a person speaks nasty, obscene words, violating the biblical one: "Let no rotten word come out of your mouth," he defiles, stains his lips with mud. The foul-mouthed man pours vile dirt into the ears of those around him. Often, by doing this, he causes real suffering to those who cannot stand swearing. I want to close my ears and run. The mood is spoiled, that is, the good mood of the soul is swept away, embarrassed.

The content of swear words is such that it affects the consciousness and even the subconscious of a person, and especially children. Every word, whether good or bad, has weight and power. An evil word leads to evil thoughts, sows evil, albeit unconsciously. After all, if our thought is material, then certainly our impious expressions are even more material. So abusive words accumulate over us with a black aura, bringing trouble to both the swearer himself and those around him. Foul language, of course, affects the formation of the moral core in a person. It is especially scary when children are brought up in an environment of swearing. Through the ears and into the soul, ungodly words enter and lay moral dirt in a person.

Shame is inherent in all ages, places and peoples. This vice is a purely pagan legacy. It is entirely rooted in the phallic cults of the Ancient East, starting from the depths of satanic and dark abysses of debauchery in honor of Baal and other idols. Moreover, this vice and some strange attraction to it are in direct proportion to how close a person stands to God. And if he moves away from God, he immediately begins to enter the realm of Satan and acquire this nasty habit - to call on the name of the evil one instead of God and instead of Divine things - shameful, nasty, monstrous expressions, obscene abuse - in fact, prayer formulas addressed to demons.

Shameless, shameful curses make pious people shudder.

This is not just frivolity, rude jokes, not simple vibrations of air waves. By uttering terrible spells, that is, speaking obscene words, a person calls upon himself the most vile demons, makes a verbal sacrifice to Satan.

The sin of foul language is easily adopted and instilled. It has grown so much that it is no longer recognized as sin. From generation to generation, this disgusting heritage is passed on - this is how the morality of the people degenerates. But still, swearing never had such a mass character, such an unprecedented scope, as in last years. Impurity, vile curses are in the air. And this is not only not pulled back, it is not stopped, as it was before. It has become a necessary part of life. This is openly encouraged. Vile obscene words rush from the TV screen, from the pages modern books, magazines, newspapers. Today in the bookstore you can buy a dictionary of swear words. So there are publishers who see this as a good thing! The diabolical forces that have rushed to destroy Russia are doing everything so that our people learn to defile themselves.

More recently, there was an understanding that swearing is a shame, that you can’t swear in front of women and children. What do we see now? Recently, they have become addicted to swearing. It covered all social strata of society. From all steps of this social ladder - from top to bottom - "obscene things that disgust carnally and spiritually" pour in.

Girls are walking down the street. Beautiful, young faces, beautiful clothes. But then they opened their mouths - and dirt, dirty tricks poured out like a river. They are not outraged by anything and do not quarrel among themselves, it's just their usual way of communicating.

Unfortunately, this is the usual way of communication for almost all modern youth, and even children are infected with foul language. It hurts especially for them, and how can you blame them if they are surrounded by swearing from childhood? How to protect yourself from it? In such children, some special callousness, indifference and contempt for others are noticeable.

It is difficult to imagine them in the future creating a warm family hearth, calm and cozy.

It is especially scary when the parents themselves offend the children's ears with morally corrupting words. The character of a child is formed at an early age. Child psychologists believe that its formation occurs from infancy to seven years. Further, a worldview begins to take shape, a view of the world, of life, an attitude towards the people around him, society and various phenomena of life. All this is mainly due to school age. And if a person has been under the influence of dirty words throughout this long, important and difficult period, then, of course, he will grow up flawed, with cynicism, contempt for everything, rottenness in his soul and character. In this case, the parents themselves raised an inferior, flawed person. One who constantly swears dirty can hardly be relied upon in any serious matter, there is a sign of spiritual and moral decay in this. Whoever easily allows himself impurity, rotten speech, can easily decide on impure deeds.

You should know: the tendency to foul language is the tendency to resist against the will of God; as a rule, such sins and vices of the soul as vanity, selfishness, carnal lusts, etc.

In the Old Testament, if a son slandered his father or mother, he was stoned to death in front of witnesses. The Holy Scriptures say: "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Evil words and swearing not only harm the one to whom they are addressed, but even more so to the one who utters them.

The Word is given to us by God. This is such a wonderful and special gift of God, which is given only to man. "In the beginning was the Word," says the Gospel of John.

With the Word, God created everything. The word and the instrument of human creativity. We enlighten and are enlightened by the word. And swearing sows darkness. The apostle teaches: "Let no rotten word come out of your mouth, it is only good for edification in faith, so that it delivers grace to those who hear"(Eph. 4:29). The word should carry grace - good gifts, goodness, serve as edification in faith, that is, bring closer to God, and not move away from Him.

The Orthodox Church has always prohibited foul language, slander, and abusive language. The church also forbade cursing. After all, this means that you are calling devils to you.

Russia is the only country where the people called their homeland holy - Holy Rus', for its desire for holiness, chastity and high morality.

This was expressed in the language, which reflects not only the practical, but also the spiritual experience of the people. Filthy words were never considered (as they are in other languages) as the norm. They were always called shameful, they were punished for them in the old days. For example, under Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich, foul language was punished by corporal punishment. Disguised statesmen with archers walked in the markets and along the streets, took those who were scolding and immediately, publicly, for general edification, punished with rods.

If we want our people not to rot, not to crumble into barren ashes, we must actively fight against the sin of swearing, not to allow offending the great gift of God received by us - our native language. It is impossible to look with indifference how the swindlers disfigure him, using disgusting, nasty words prompted by the eternal enemy of the human race. After all, he who commits the sin of foul language deliberately cripples the image of God in himself - and this is the beginning of apostasy.

According to Christ the Savior, for every idle word that people say, they will give an answer on the day of judgment(Matthew 12:36). However, the sin of foul language is much worse than the sin of idle talk. Therefore, the punishment will be much worse!

The gift of the word is given to man first of all in order to glorify the Lord. And our very lips, with which we should praise the Lord, are defiled by shameful talk.

Following Holy Baptism, through the anointing with sanctified chrism, the seal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is placed on the lips of the person being baptized. Shamefulness offends the Holy Spirit, who has sanctified the lips of man for their use to the glory of God. With bad words, a person repels the Spirit of God from himself.

Through the mouth, a Christian receives the Body and Blood of Christ. By defiling our lips with dishonor, we anger Christ the Savior. Here is what St. John Chrysostom said: “It is better to spew rottenness from your mouth than foul language. When there is such a stench in your soul, tell me, how do you dare to approach the Mysteries of the Lord (that is, Holy Communion)?

We kiss the holy cross, saints, icons, holy relics, the holy book of the Gospel. Let us be ashamed to pronounce shameful, rotten words with lips sanctified by touching the great shrines! It must be remembered that our speech is heard not only by people whom we are accustomed not to be ashamed of, but also by the Angels and the Lord Himself. Shall we not beware of foul language, so as not to offend the angels with shameful speech, not to please the demons and not to anger God?

Let us also remember that foul language is the beginning of the path to even greater evil: a terrible blasphemy is lifted up with swearing at the Most Holy Theotokos Herself, the Lady of the Russian land.

But many do not even confess this sin and do not try to get rid of it, they easily perceive swearing, various base slang expressions, criminal jargon. Remember, this is a vile sin, avoid it, get rid of it. Together with swearing, you invite demonic forces to you, and gradually they will lead you onto the path of other vices.

Repent of this sin, call on the name of God for help, pray to the saints with heartfelt faith, and the Lord's help will surely come.

M hello to you, dear visitors of the Orthodox website "Family and Faith"!

ABOUT One of the signs of the spiritual and cultural catastrophe that has befallen us is foul language. If earlier swearing was mainly the specific language of criminals, drunkards and other degraded persons, now swearing is penetrating deeper and deeper into all social and age strata of society. Today they swear in print, cinema, and on television. Even dictionaries of obscene abuse are on sale. In general, a lot of money is being spent to teach the Russian people to swear.

Since ancient times, swearing in the Russian people has been called foul language, from the word "filth".

The dictionary of V. Dahl says:

“Filth is an abomination, muck, dirty tricks, everything vile, disgusting, disgusting, indecent, that disgusts carnally and spiritually; impurity, dirt and rot, decay, carrion, eruptions, feces; stench; stink; indecency, debauchery, moral corruption; everything ungodly."

In all languages and cultures, swear words mean the same thing - genitals and sexual intercourse. Swearing swears at the purpose established by God of these organs and the act - childbearing, and is a manifestation of fornication in a person.

Saint John Chrysostom writes about the swear word:

“It is not fitting, brethren, for Orthodox Christians to swear by their mother in battle, because there is the Mother of God, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, give birth to the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and we will know Her Lady intercessor and our prayer house, patroness of every person in sorrow and salvation to our souls.

The second mother of all man, from her we will be born and know this light and from her breasts we will breathe, this mother of man, as if you bear labors and illnesses, she accepted all our uncleanness, washing and wrapping, raised us and clothes.

The third mother is our earth: from her the first man Adam was created from God, we feed from her, we accept food and clothes, we will return to her again, moving into the grave.

Thus, a person, cursing, swears at childbearing and at his mother (the source of his life), thereby cursing and blaspheming himself (the fruit of his mother), being itself (everything that exists) and God, as the source of being. Therefore, swearing is so loved by demons and they flock to a swearing person like flies to honey.

That is why the people called swearing "black swearing" and used to call foul language a blasphemer.

Foul language in Rus' until about the middle of the 19th century was not common, and was punishable. During the time of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, a swearing person was subjected to public flogging. Under the Great Sovereign Alexei Mikhailovich, the tongues of swearers were pulled out, and by decree of Emperor Peter I they were flogged with rods. Emperor Nicholas I was nicknamed "palkin" precisely because he ordered swearing, for re-education, to be passed through the system of fifty sticks. For foul language in public place both in the USSR and in today's Russia, either a fine or arrest for up to 15 days is required.

Consequences of swearing:

St. John Chrysostom writes: “When someone swears with obscene words, then at the throne of the Lord, the Mother of God, the prayer cover given by Her from the person takes away and She retreats, and which person is chosen obscenely, will subject herself to a curse that day, because she scolds her mother and bitterly her offends. It is not befitting for us to eat and drink with that person, otherwise he will not lag behind ongoing swear words. For dishonor, God allows misfortunes, misfortunes and many diseases on a person.

The Church warns that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10). By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned, says the Savior (Matthew 12:37). Swearing is a vile vice, which in the Holy Scriptures is equated with a mortal sin (Eph. 5, 4.5).

In addition to the death of the soul, foul language destroys itself and the people listening to its bad words. Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences, led by Petr Goryaev, came to the conclusion that words create (kind, prayer) or destroy (evil, nasty) the human hereditary apparatus (DNA). In addition, foul-mouthed people age faster, become infertile, give birth less in general, and their children, who constantly listen to swearing at home, are often mentally underdeveloped.

Destroying youthful modesty and arousing impure desires, foul language paves the way to debauchery. Chastity and purity cannot live with bad words. Slandering hardens the foul language; he spares neither the modesty of women, nor children's purity.

A foul-mouthed person's speech is depleted - the number of words for communicating with other people decreases. He uses swear words to express the whole gamut of human emotions: anger, indignation, amazement and even delight.

Cursing in a fight or battle, a person unconsciously calls on demons for help and receives strength and cruelty from them. But debts have to be paid, and Satan collects a generous tribute from the swearing army in the form of drunkenness, smoking, sexual promiscuity.

The attraction to this vice depends on how close people are to God. Moving away from Him, a person voluntarily or involuntarily falls under the power of demonic forces, acquiring the habit of turning not to God, but to Satan.

Let us pray that the Lord will help us overcome our tongue and keep our word in careful and wise use. “Lord, put a guardianship with our mouth and a door of protection against our mouth.” (Ps. 140, 3).

Discussion: 3 comments

The church recognizes the following seven sins related to "mortals": Pride, Greed, Envy, Anger, Fornication, Gluttony, Despondency. This does not include not only foul language, but even murder - although it is condemned in the 10 commandments.
A tough fight against foul language, especially with the mention of God and the Mother of God, began from the end of the 17th century. But that is why it was so harsh, reaching even the top of the state, that swearing was extremely widespread everywhere and in all strata, including, of course, the peasantry. This is evidenced, for example, by the works of K. M. Stanyukovich (1843-1903). Sailors - most of all come from peasants, sometimes they cursed so deliciously, ornately, even artistically. Some officers also did not lag behind. Foul language can hardly be eradicated, because despite all the persecution and prohibitions, it is alive and always ready to break out into everyday life.
And also - what is there to talk about verbal abuse, when in the "blessed tsarist times" poking, corporal punishment were practiced very often, and in "secular society" - slander, insults and duels. Is it all inferior to swearing in sinfulness?
Yes, mat, turning into interjections that replace everything, degenerates thought, speech, the spiritual world. Yes, mate, if anyone hears and perceives its content, it is offensive. But all this is a trifle in comparison with the much more serious universal sins in which the world is literally drowning.

Answer

Timothy, here you need to look, as they say - at the root.

None of the sins you listed can compare with blasphemy. According to the tradition of the Church, swear words were used by ancient sorcerers to desecrate Holy Mother of God! Therefore, slander, insult, and the resulting duels and beatings - and even murder, cannot be compared with blasphemy. For blasphemy from ancient times was (and is now) one of the most serious sins!

The Church also teaches that profanity is the beginning of the path to evil. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF ATTENTION.

If you say something about God to an actively swearing person, as a rule, he begins to get angry and swear even more. (Verified).

It is also no secret to anyone that swear words are actively used by servants of evil spirits.

Mat was and is an integral part of the occult and pagan rites that exist in different languages in different nationalities.

You can not underestimate this evil and call it a trifle.

Answer
1. Hello! Swearing is foul language, and as the holy fathers say, that the first ordeal that the soul goes through after death is the ordeal of idle talk and foul language. we will not sincerely repent and cease to be like demons.
  Peace be with you and God bless!
  
  Answer

Woe to the foul language. Their larynx is an open coffin.
(Rom. 3:13)

The saddened parents turned to the manager. They were not the first to come with this complaint. The manager promised to sort it out - and figured it out. It turned out that the children learned bad words from the teacher!
Foul language, bad words - this is how the Russian people have long called swearing. The root comes from the word "filth".
Dahl's Dictionary of the Great Russian Language says: "Filth is an abomination, muck, dirty tricks, everything vile, disgusting, disgusting, indecent, that disgusts carnally and spiritually, impurity, dirt and rot, decay, carrion, eruptions, feces; stench, stink; obscenity , depravity, moral corruption; everything ungodly."
Exhaustive feature. Even according to this linguistic definition, it is clear that foul language and - "lewdness, depravity, moral corruption, everything ungodly" - is a sin. What is this sin?
When a person speaks nasty, obscene words, violating the biblical one: "Let no rotten word come out of your mouth," he defiles, stains his lips with mud. The foul-mouthed man pours vile dirt into the ears of those around him. Often, by doing this, he causes real suffering to those who cannot stand swearing. I want to close my ears and run. The mood is spoiled, that is, the good mood of the soul is swept away, embarrassed.
The content of swear words is such that it affects the consciousness and even the subconscious of a person, and especially children. Every word, whether good or bad, has weight and power. An evil word leads to evil thoughts, sows evil, albeit unconsciously. After all, if our thought is material, then certainly our impious expressions are even more material. So abusive words accumulate over us with a black aura, bringing trouble to both the swearer himself and those around him. Foul language, of course, affects the formation of the moral core in a person. It is especially scary when children are brought up in an environment of swearing. Through the ears and into the soul, ungodly words enter and lay moral dirt in a person.
Shame is inherent in all ages, places and peoples. This vice is a purely pagan legacy. It is entirely rooted in the phallic cults of the Ancient East, starting from the depths of satanic and dark abysses of debauchery in honor of Baal and other idols. Moreover, this vice and some strange attraction to it are in direct proportion to how close a person stands to God. And if he moves away from God, he immediately begins to enter the realm of Satan and acquire this nasty habit - to call on the name of the evil one instead of God and instead of Divine things - shameful, nasty, monstrous expressions, obscene abuse - in fact, prayer formulas addressed to demons.
Shameless, shameful curses make pious people shudder.
This is not just frivolity, rude jokes, not simple vibrations of air waves. By uttering terrible spells, that is, speaking obscene words, a person calls upon himself the most vile demons, makes a verbal sacrifice to Satan.
The sin of foul language is easily adopted and instilled. It has grown so much that it is no longer recognized as sin. From generation to generation, this disgusting heritage is passed on - this is how the morality of the people degenerates. But still, swearing has never been of such a mass character, of such an unprecedented scope, as in recent years. Impurity, vile curses are in the air. And this is not only not pulled back, it is not stopped, as it was before. It has become a necessary part of life. This is openly encouraged. Vile obscene words rush from the TV screen, from the pages of modern books, magazines, newspapers. Today in the bookstore you can buy a dictionary of swear words. So there are publishers who see this as a good thing! The diabolical forces that have rushed to destroy Russia are doing everything so that our people learn to defile themselves.
More recently, there was an understanding that swearing is a shame, that you can’t swear in front of women and children. What do we see now? Recently, they have become addicted to swearing. It covered all social strata of society. From all steps of this social ladder - from top to bottom - "obscene things that disgust carnally and spiritually" pour in.
Girls are walking down the street. Beautiful, young faces, beautiful clothes. But then they opened their mouths - and dirt, dirty tricks poured out like a river. They are not outraged by anything and do not quarrel among themselves, it's just their usual way of communicating.
Unfortunately, this is the usual way of communication for almost all modern youth, and even children are infected with foul language. It hurts especially for them, and how can you blame them if they are surrounded by swearing from childhood? How to protect yourself from it? In such children, some special callousness, indifference and contempt for others are noticeable.
It is difficult to imagine them in the future creating a warm family hearth, calm and cozy.
It is especially scary when the parents themselves offend the children's ears with morally corrupting words. The character of a child is formed at an early age. Child psychologists believe that its formation occurs from infancy to seven years. Further, a worldview begins to take shape, a view of the world, of life, an attitude towards the people around him, society and various phenomena of life. All this is mainly for school age. And if a person has been under the influence of dirty words throughout this long, important and difficult period, then, of course, he will grow up flawed, with cynicism, contempt for everything, rottenness in his soul and character. In this case, the parents themselves raised an inferior, flawed person. One who constantly swears dirty can hardly be relied upon in any serious matter, there is a sign of spiritual and moral decay in this. Whoever easily allows himself impurity, rotten speech, can easily decide on impure deeds.
You should know: the tendency to foul language is the tendency to resist against the will of God; as a rule, such sins and vices of the soul as vanity, selfishness, carnal lusts, etc.
In the Old Testament, if a son slandered his father or mother, he was stoned to death in front of witnesses. The Holy Scriptures say: "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Evil words and swearing not only harm the one to whom they are addressed, but even more so to the one who utters them.
The Word is given to us by God. This is such a wonderful and special gift of God, which is given only to man. "In the beginning was the Word," says the Gospel of John.
With the Word, God created everything. The word and the instrument of human creativity. We enlighten and are enlightened by the word. And swearing sows darkness. The apostle teaches: "Let no rotten word come out of your mouth, it is only good for edification in the faith, so that it delivers grace to those who hear" (Eph. 4, 29). The word should carry grace - good gifts, goodness, serve as edification in faith, that is, bring closer to God, and not move away from Him.
The Orthodox Church has always prohibited foul language, slander, and abusive language. The church also forbade cursing. After all, this means that you are calling devils to you.
Russia is the only country where the people called their homeland holy - Holy Rus', for its desire for holiness, chastity and high morality.
This was expressed in the language, which reflects not only the practical, but also the spiritual experience of the people. Filthy words were never considered (as they are in other languages) as the norm. They were always called shameful, they were punished for them in the old days. For example, under Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich, foul language was punished by corporal punishment. Disguised statesmen with archers walked in the markets and along the streets, took those who were scolding and immediately, publicly, for general edification, punished with rods.
If we want our people not to rot, not to crumble into barren ashes, we must actively fight against the sin of swearing, not to allow offending the great gift of God received by us - our native language. It is impossible to look with indifference how the swindlers disfigure him, using disgusting, nasty words prompted by the eternal enemy of the human race. After all, he who commits the sin of foul language deliberately cripples the image of God in himself - and this is the beginning of apostasy.
According to the word of Christ the Savior, for every idle word that people say, they will give an answer on the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36). However, the sin of foul language is much worse than the sin of idle talk. Therefore, the punishment will be much worse!
The gift of the word is given to man first of all in order to glorify the Lord. And our very lips, with which we should praise the Lord, are defiled by shameful talk.
Following Holy Baptism, through the anointing with sanctified chrism, the seal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is placed on the lips of the person being baptized. Shamefulness offends the Holy Spirit, who has sanctified the lips of man for their use to the glory of God. With bad words, a person repels the Spirit of God from himself.
Through the mouth, a Christian receives the Body and Blood of Christ. By defiling our lips with dishonor, we anger Christ the Savior. Here is what St. John Chrysostom said: “It is better to spew rottenness from your mouth than foul language. When there is such a stench in your soul, tell me, how do you dare to approach the Mysteries of the Lord (that is, Holy Communion)?
We kiss the holy cross, saints, icons, holy relics, the holy book of the Gospel. Let us be ashamed to pronounce shameful, rotten words with lips sanctified by touching the great shrines! It must be remembered that our speech is heard not only by people whom we are accustomed not to be ashamed of, but also by the Angels and the Lord Himself. Shall we not beware of foul language, so as not to offend the angels with shameful speech, not to please the demons and not to anger God?
Let us also remember that foul language is the beginning of the path to even greater evil: a terrible blasphemy is lifted up with swearing at the Most Holy Theotokos Herself, the Lady of the Russian land.
But many do not even confess this sin and do not try to get rid of it, they easily perceive swearing, various base slang expressions, criminal jargon. Remember, this is a vile sin, avoid it, get rid of it. Together with swearing, you invite demonic forces to you, and gradually they will lead you onto the path of other vices.
Repent of this sin, call on the name of God for help, pray to the saints with heartfelt faith, and the Lord's help will surely come.

The sins of the tongue (foul language) are among the most difficult to overcome, and therefore the temptation often arises to consider them insignificant, to justify them somehow, “not to notice”. Foul language, especially in recent times, is so accustomed that many do not really notice it and are surprised that these words are still obscene.

The word... A sound that lives for a fraction of a second and disappears in space. Where is he? Go look for those sound waves.

The word ... Almost intangible phenomenon. It seems that there is nothing to talk about. But the word is that which likens man to his Creator. We call the Savior Himself the Divine Word. creative word The Lord created our beautiful world, "cosmos", as the Greeks called it. It means "beauty". But the human word also has creative power and influences the reality around us. The words we speak and hear form our consciousness, our personality. And our conscious actions have an impact on the environment in which we live. Our word can contribute to God's plan for the world and about man, or it can contradict it.

The Church has always urged its children to be attentive to words and especially warned against the sin of foul language. Let no rotten word come out of your mouth, but only good ... (Eph. 4:29), - teaches the Apostle Paul. And fornication and all uncleanness ... should not even be named among you (Eph. 5:3), he insists. It is no coincidence that the Apostle calls these words rotten.

The holy fathers say that prodigal sins stink. Foul language, or the so-called swearing, in its subject matter, refers to fornication. And stinks. Although not everyone feels it - they breathed. And surprisingly, they immediately try to muffle the smell of a freshly eaten cutlet. chewing gum, sweat, with the help of some drug from a spray can, they generally blocked the way out so as not to somehow “smell” in public, they began to make toilet paper with fruit flavors, and they don’t feel the spiritual stench from swearing at all. And even women. Although foul language is a grave sin.

There is such a tropical plant - skopelia. His flowers are the very perfection of form and color. But incredible! From the pale-orange glowing petals comes the smell of rotting decaying meat. When foul language flies out of beautiful female lips, I always remember the greenhouse, the delicate wax petals and the terrible stench above them. And again I wonder why it was necessary to style your hair in a fashionable hairstyle, select the style and color of the suit, correct some flaws on your face, in order to later push you away from yourself with a hurricane of dirty words? Speech most clearly reveals us, allows others to see our true face. “Speak so that I can see you” - this saying belongs to Socrates, the wisest of the ancient Greeks. A woman with a rude vocabulary can look attractive only when she is silent - like a flower of scopelia behind glass.

The commonness and prevalence of this sin almost “legitimized” it. And few of the swearers think what a misfortune for society and for each of us lies in swearing. The mystical roots of this phenomenon go back to deep pagan antiquity. People of the pre-Christian era, in order to protect their lives from the evil attacks of the demonic world, came into contact with him. This contact could be twofold. The demon was either appeased by praising him and offering sacrifices to him, or he was frightened. So, they frightened the demon precisely with bad abuse, a demonstration of their indecency. This can be observed at the beginning of a fight, when the opponents, making fierce grimaces, shout to each other about their cruelty, about their angry insanity, about their readiness to allow themselves this or that vile behavior. That is, each of them tries to give himself in the eyes of the other as much filthiness as possible. For fear or out of fear. But they called the demon with the same words, demonstrating their obsession, their readiness to communicate with him.

Thus, foul language was a means of "connection" with demonic forces. And so he remains. It is referred to as infernal, that is, demonic, infernal vocabulary. Through foul language, a person himself gives himself into the hands of a demon, becomes possessed. Some people probably know that cursing is harder to break than smoking. For years and years people come to confession with this sin until they are finally freed from it.

IN medical practice the following phenomenon is known: a paralyzed person who is completely speechless, unable to pronounce either “yes” or “no”, but can, nevertheless, quite freely pronounce whole expressions consisting of unprintable abuse. The phenomenon is unusual, but occurring. I myself have twice had to deal with this, and here's how.

Some time ago, my family and I rented a house in the countryside. Our neighbor across the street was a paralyzed man. Almost immobile, he could only slightly move one arm. Every day his relatives took him out to the village street, and, having placed a plank, laid him down on the green lawn in front of the gate, or made him sit down, leaning against a tree. Well, at home, within four walls, the patient, of course, was bored ... Once, standing near my gate, I suddenly heard foul language. A few seconds later it happened again. Then more. It was strange, since the locals did not “express themselves” aloud, loudly, and even next to the clergyman. I looked back. The street was empty. Only the sick neighbor was lying on his plank, his expression was, as always, indefinite. “But you didn’t hear me, did you? From whom could this abuse come? I thought. Then the wife came out of the gate. She explained that the paraplegic often utters this obscene phrase. And only her. But clearly and distinctly, as healthy. Speaks with different intonations. With this phrase, he expresses a request, anger, discontent, complaint. She also greets passers-by and informs them about their well-being. When he needs something, he repeats it without ceasing, shouting until they hear it in the house. Later, I had to verify this more than once.

The second time I encountered a similar case was also in the countryside. I needed to know one address, and to make inquiries, I knocked on the door of the first house that came across. A sound was heard from inside, and I, familiar with the customs of the village, without unnecessary ceremonies crossed the threshold of the glazed terrace. There was immediate profanity. I looked around and, seeing a man sitting in a deep old armchair in the corner of the terrace, I took a step towards him, wanting to explain that I was not a thief. But he again shouted an obscene expression, and several times in a row. At the same time, the intonation of his voice did not at all correspond to the words. There was an impression that the man was calling someone. I didn’t have to think long about this topic, since the hostess came out onto the terrace. She said hello and immediately began to apologize for her husband's foul language: “Forgive us. It just so happened that after a stroke, all speech was taken away from him, but these words remained. And now all he can do is swear... How exhausted we are! And ashamed in front of the neighbors ... "

The strangeness of this phenomenon speaks volumes. It turns out that the so-called foul language "passes" along completely different nerve chains than the rest of speech. Is it not the devil, using the sinful skill of a person, that renders him such a “good deed”, thereby demonstrating his power over a partially dead body? What will happen after death? The power of the demon will be complete and final.

One girl, after churching, was very interested in the fate of her deceased grandmother. The fact is that the grandmother was a believer: she went to church, prayed, fasted, and the girl was convinced that her pious grandmother was in paradise. But she wanted to make sure that heaven existed, so the girl prayed and asked the Lord to somehow reveal to her, how was her grandmother? One day, her grandmother dreamed of her and said that she was in hell, because during her lifetime, although she went to church, she prayed and fasted, but she often cursed with bad words.

The fate of foul language is unenviable, and the Church warns that the slanderers ... will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10). ... From your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned, - says the Savior (Matthew 12:37).

Saint Gregory the Dialogist told a story that happened in Rome.

“In our city, one person, known to everyone, had a son of about five years old, whom he loved very much and raised without any strictness. The boy, whom everyone appeased, was accustomed to utter nasty swear words, and whatever thought came into his head, he immediately began, out of habit, to slander, scolding not only people, but, it happened, dared to blaspheme and, it’s scary to say, God Himself, uttering blasphemy against holy things. And his father did not forbid him to say those blasphemous bad words. During a pestilence that we had three years before, that boy fell ill to death, and when his father held him on his knees, then, according to the stories of those who were there themselves, unclean demons came to take the boy’s damned soul. The boy, seeing them, trembled, closed his eyes and began to shout: “Father, take me away from them! Get out!” and with a terrible cry, he hid his face in his father’s bosom, trying to cover himself, as it were. The father, looking at the little one, how he trembled, asked: “What do you see?” The boy answered: “Black people have come, they want to take me ...” - and, having said this, he began to utter nasty and blasphemous speeches, which he was used to, - and died immediately."

Every word carries information that affects our consciousness, forms and changes it. Does bad abuse change him for the better?

Foul language drowns out, dulls the feeling of shame. Destroying youthful modesty and arousing impure desires, foul language paves the way to debauchery. Chastity and purity cannot live with bad words. Children, not content with abstract sounds, will certainly strive to find out the meaning of what they hear. Children, hearing dirty speech, themselves are taught to use foul language. Those parents who are not shy in expressions should remember that foul language, destroying the child's sense of shame, is a bridge to subsequent crimes. The corruption of these little ones will lie on the conscience of the foul language. Woe to that person through whom temptation comes (Matt. 18:7), the Savior warns.

In the memoirs of the Martyr Archimandrite Kronid (Lubimov), the following incident is described:

“Twenty years ago, when I was still in the monastery St. Sergius, the peasant Jacob, a parishioner of the church of the area where I was born, came to pray to St. Sergius, the saint of God, and came to me. Seeing the unusual sadness on his face, I asked about the reason for his sadness, and he told me the following: “I have a son, a baby of six years old, who is used to such a terrible vice of shame and swearing with a swear word, from which even I, a man, come in confusion and horror. I tried, it was, to punish, after the punishment he threw me into the underground, but all this does not help, my son becomes embittered worse and utters abuse with such bitterness that he even turns black in his face, and then it’s scary to look at him. It is clear that the devil has attacked the soul of the baby and is forcing him to swear. I asked my father, how could the little one have learned such terrible foul language? Then the peasant confessed that the reason for this was himself. “I,” he said, “have this habit of swearing when I'm drunk. This is what I grieve about most of all, that I myself sowed these deadly tares in the soul of an innocent child. Seeing his spiritual embarrassment and tears, I felt sorry for this sufferer with all my heart, but I could do nothing to help him in grief, except for a sincere heartfelt word of consolation. And at the same time, he advised him to pour out all the sorrow of his soul before the relics of St. Sergius and, as a living person, tell him the sorrow of his heart, and ask him for marvelous help for himself and the baby suffering from a fatal illness. A year after this meeting with Jacob, I saw him at home and asked about the little one. Tears poured out of Jacob's eyes at the question of his son. Reassured, he said to me: “Wonderful is God in His saints. Through the prayers and intercession of St. Sergius, my little one has recently completely stopped using foul language, and now, thank God, I don’t drink vodka anymore.

Probably, it was in Soviet times that the type of “democratic” boss appeared, demonstrating his “closeness” to the people through the use of strong words. There was even an expression: "to say strong, in Russian." It would be nice to know that most of the swear words are by no means of Russian origin. The Russian man, at least in his ideals, has always been distinguished by chastity. This chastity and modesty were reflected in national dress and life, which surprised foreigners with strictness and purity of morals.

Under the pious tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich, foul language was punished by corporal punishment. Officials in disguise walked around the markets and squares, seized swearers, and right there, on the spot, so that others would be disrespectful, they punished them with rods.

It is surprising that today many educated people consider it normal to casually swear in such a "subtly intelligent" way, perhaps wanting to emphasize the "breadth" of their views in this way. In the meantime, they have a huge responsibility. In Russia to educated people always treated with respect. University education was equated to an officer's rank and allowed the holder to enjoy the rights of personal nobility. Knowledge was respected.

Education helps a person to recreate in himself the image of God. It is the concept of recreating the image of God that reflects the word "education". Therefore, dirty swearing from the lips of an intellectual is especially unacceptable! From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, more will be required (Luke 12:48).

The ancient demonic cults of the Middle East, from which we inherited most of the swear words, used them in the ritual actions that accompanied human sacrifice. And just as demons were called in this way before, so today a person who utters foul language calls a demon on his head. The question of the permissibility of the mat is a matter of faith. For an Orthodox person, it is enough to realize that the Lord does not like these bad words. An example of this is one of the posthumous miracles of the holy righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, an incident that entered his life.

“In the year 1711, in the month of April, one monastery elder, named Jacob, listened attentively to the Divine Liturgy and tried to renounce everything earthly in thought. He stood quietly in prayer tenderness. Suddenly, at the exclamation: With the fear of God and faith, proceed, he fell on his face and lay unconscious for a long time. When he came to his senses, he said the following:When he looked at the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, called "Hodegetria", he was suddenly seized with fear. What happened to him next - he does not remember, he only remembers one thing, how the righteous Simeon appeared before him and, touching him, said: and famine and pestilence upon their livestock. Let everyone fervently pray to the Lord, His Most Pure Mother and all the saints, let all the people serve prayer singing for the aversion of the wrath of God.

In addition, the righteous Simeon ordered Jacob to tell the archimandrite and governor about this, so that people would repent of their sins and pray for deliverance from the righteous wrath of God, which was done by everyone with the greatest zeal.

It only seems to us that today we are strong and independent with our scientific and technological progress. That they are able to build their well-being solely at will. But what can we do if the Lord does not give us His grace for our ungodliness, does not bless our labors? Our whole life suffers from our, as it seems to us, small weakness. And personal, and family, and state. Therefore, arranging this life, let us first of all listen to the voice of the Church, which says to us through the Apostle Paul: Put aside ... the foul language of your mouth (Col. 3:8).

However, the more prayers, sacred and spiritual texts a person pronounces and reads, the easier and more natural it is for him to refuse rude words. Because, as the Apostle says, blessing and cursing cannot (should not) come from the same mouth, just as one spring cannot pour out salty and sweet water (James 3:12).

Archpriest Sergius Nikolaev