St. Alphonsus on Profanity in Speech
Many young men who call themselves Catholics use rife profanity in their speech and online comments on Instagram, X, etc. They are ignoring not only the good customs of the past, but the counsels of the Church that forbids profanity, cursing and foul language in speech or writing.
In explaining the 140th Psalm, St. Augustine calls those who speak obscenely “the mediators of Satan,” the ministers of Lucifer. By their obscene language, he affirms, the demon of impurity gains access to souls, which he otherwise could not enter. Obscene speech is the ruin of the world because it leads to the perdition of many souls.
We invite our readers to consider the grave consequences of the vulgar and obscene words that so easily slip from the lips and keyboards of so many – both youths and older persons – today.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori
The man who speaks immodestly does great injury to others who listen to him. In explaining the 140th Psalm, St. Augustine calls those who speak obscenely “the mediators of Satan,” the ministers of Lucifier, because, by their obscene language, the demon of impurity gets access to souls which otherwise he could not enter. …
These "mediators of Satan” who speak obscenely impel to sin others, who as long as they live on this earth walk in the midst of darkness, and as long as they remain in the flesh are in danger of falling into the vice of impurity.
Now, of those who indulge in obscene language, it has been well said: Their throat is an open sepulcher. (Ps 5:11) The mouths of those who can utter nothing but filthy obscenities are, according to St. John Chrysostom, so many open sepulchers of putrified carcasses. Talia sunt ora hominum qui turpia proferunt [Such are the mouths of men who speak iniquity] (Hom, ii. de Proph. Obs.) The putrid air which arises from the rottenness of a multitude of dead bodies thrown together into a pit communicates infection and disease to all who feel the stench. …
The misfortune is that the mouths of Hell which frequently utter immodest words often regard them as trifles, and are careless about confessing them. And when rebuked for this they answer, “I say these words in jest, and without malice."
In jest! Unhappy man, these jests make the Devil laugh, and shall make you weep for eternity in Hell.
In the first place, it is useless to say that you utter such words without malice, for when you use such expressions, it is very difficult for you to abstain from acts against purity. According to St. Jerome, "He who delights in words is not far from the act.” Besides, immodest words spoken before persons of a different sex are always accompanied by a sinful complacency with what is said.
And is not the scandal you give to others criminal? Utter a single obscene word, and you shall bring into sin all who listen to you. Such is the doctrine of St. Bernard: “One speaks, and he titters only one evil word, but he kills the souls of a multitude of hearers." (Serm. xxiv., in Cant.) It is a greater sin than if, by one discharge of a blunderbuss, you murdered many persons; for with this you would then only kill their bodies, but by speaking obscenely you have killed their souls.
In a word, obscene tongues are the ruin of the world. One of them does more mischief than a hundred devils; because it is the cause of the perdition of many souls. This is not my language; it is the language of the Holy Ghost: A slippery mouth worketh ruin. (Prov. 26:28)
The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori For All the Sundays of the Year,
TAN Books, 1982, Sermon XL, pp 300-301
Posted on August 3, 2024
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