Blasphemy
“When, therefore, you shall see the abomination of desolation.”—Matthew 24:15
All sins are an abomination in the sight of God; but the sin of blasphemy ought more properly to be called the abomination of God. Every mortal sin, it is true, dishonors God, as the Apostle says: “By transgression of the law, thou dishonorest God” (Rom. 2:23). Yet the other sins dishonor God indirectly, by the violation of his law; blasphemy dishonors him directly, by cursing his most holy name. Hence St. Chrysostom writes that no sin exasperates the Lord so much as to hear his name blasphemed by men. Nihil ita exacerbat Deum, sicut quando nomen ejus blasphematur—“Nothing so exasperates God as when his name is blasphemed.” Allow me, then, my dear Christians, to show you this day, in two points, first, how grievous is the sin of blasphemy; and secondly, with what great rigor God punishes it.
First Point.—On the great enormity of the sin of blasphemy.
1. What is blasphemy? It is a saying injurious to God; it is, as the theologians define it, contumeliosa in Deum locutio—“contumely against God.” O God, against whom does man set himself when he blasphemes? He sets himself directly against the Lord. “He hath strengthened himself against the Almighty” (Job 15:25).
Are you not afraid, blasphemer, exclaims St. Ephrem, that fire will come down from heaven and devour you, or that the earth will open beneath you and swallow you up? Non metuis ne forte ignis de coelo descendat et devoret te, qui sic os adversus omnipotentem aperis? Neque vereris, ne terra te absorbeat?—“Do you not fear lest fire descend from heaven and devour you, who thus open your mouth against the Almighty? Do you not fear lest the earth swallow you up?” (Paren. 2). The demons, says St. Gregory Nazianzen, tremble at the name of Christ; and shall we not fear to offer him outrage? Daemones ad Christi nomen exhorrescunt, nos vero nomen adeo venerandum contumelia afficere non veremur—“The demons tremble at the name of Christ, yet we do not fear to treat a name so venerable with contumely” (Orat. 21).
The vindictive man takes his revenge on a man like himself; but the blasphemer, when he blasphemes, seems to wish to revenge himself on God himself, who does or permits what is displeasing to him. There is a great difference between an insult offered to the portrait of a king and an insult offered to his person. Man is the image of God; but the blasphemer offends God himself, says St. Athanasius: Qui blasphemat, contra ipsam Deitatem agit—“He who blasphemes acts against the very Godhead itself.”
He who violates the law of the king commits a sin; but he who attacks the very person of the king commits a crime of high treason, and therefore receives no mercy, but is punished with horrible chastisements. What, then, shall we say of the man who blasphemes and insults the majesty of God? Anna the prophetess said in her canticle: “If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf; but if a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him?” (1 Kings 2:25). So enormous, then, is the sin of blasphemy that the saints themselves seem to have no heart to pray for a blasphemer.
2. There are some sacrilegious mouths that go so far as to blaspheme the very God who keeps them in being! St. Chrysostom says: Tu Deo benefacienti tibi, et tui curam agenti maledicis—“Do you curse God who does you good, and who takes care of you?” O God, you stand with one foot in hell; and if God in his mercy did not keep you in life, you would be damned forever. Yet, instead of thanking him, at the very time that he does you good, you blaspheme him.
“If my enemy had reviled me,” the Lord complains, “I would verily have borne with it” (Ps. 55:13). Had you reviled me at the time I was chastising you, I would bear with it more patiently; but you curse me at the very time I am bestowing my favors upon you? O diabolical tongue, St. Bernardine of Siena rebukes you, what can ever carry you away to blaspheme your God, who has created you, and redeemed you with his blood? O lingua diabolica, quid potest te inducere ad blasphemandum Deum tuum, qui te plasmavit, qui te pretioso sanguine redemit?—“O diabolical tongue, what could induce you to blaspheme your God, who formed you, who redeemed you with his precious blood?” (Sermon 33).
Some go so far as expressly to blaspheme Jesus Christ, that God who died on a cross for love of them! O God, if we did not have to die, we ought to long to die for Jesus Christ, in order to make some little return of gratitude to a God who gave his life for us. I say a little return of gratitude; for there is no comparison between the death of a miserable creature and the death of a God. Yet you, instead of loving and blessing him, curse him, says St. Augustine: Flagellatus est Christus flagellis Judaeorum, sed non minus flagellatus blasphemiis falsorum christianorum—“Christ was scourged by the lash of the Jews, but he is no less scourged by the blasphemies of false Christians” (In Joan.).
There have even been some who have blasphemed and insulted the Virgin Mary, that good Mother who loves us so much and prays continually for us! But such wretches have been punished horribly by God. Surius relates, under the 7th of August, that an impious man blasphemed the Blessed Virgin and then pierced with a dagger her image, which stood in a church; but no sooner had he gone out of it than a thunderbolt struck him and reduced him to ashes. The infamous Nestorius, who likewise had blasphemed most holy Mary and led others to blaspheme her, asserting that she was not the true Mother of God, died in despair, his tongue eaten away by worms.
3. “Who is this who speaketh blasphemies?” (Luke 5:21). Who is this that blasphemes? A Christian, one who has received holy baptism, in which his tongue has in a certain manner been consecrated. A learned author writes that on the tongue of one about to be baptized blessed salt is placed: Ut lingua christiani quasi sacra efficiatur, et Deum benedicere consuescat—“that the tongue of the Christian may be made, as it were, sacred, and may grow accustomed to bless God” (Clericatus, vol. 1, Tract. 52).
And shall this tongue afterwards become a sword to pierce the heart of God, as St. Bernardine says? Lingua blasphemantis efficitur quasi gladius cor Dei penetrans—“The tongue of the blasphemer becomes as a sword piercing the heart of God.” Hence the same saint says that no sin contains in itself so much malice as blasphemy: Nullum est peccatum quod habeat in se tantam iniquitatem sicut blasphemia—“There is no sin which has in itself so much iniquity as blasphemy.” And before him St. Chrysostom had said the same: Nullum hoc peccato deterius, nam in eo accessio est omnium malorum et omne supplicium—“There is no sin worse than this, for in it is the accumulation of all evils and every punishment.” St. Jerome wrote the same, saying that every other sin, compared with blasphemy, is less: Nihil horribilius blasphemia, omne quippe peccatum comparatum blasphemiae levius est—“Nothing is more horrible than blasphemy, for every sin compared with blasphemy is light” (In Isa. ch. 18).
And here we must observe that blasphemies against the saints, and against holy things or holy days—such as the sacraments, the Mass, Easter, Christmas, Holy Saturday—are of the same species as blasphemies against God; for, as St. Thomas teaches, just as the honor paid to the saints and to holy things or days is referred to God, so the insult offered to the saints redounds against God himself, who is the fountain of sanctity. Sicut Deus in sanctis suis laudatur—“As God is praised in his saints,” as we read in the 150th Psalm, Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus, ita et blasphemia in sanctos in Deum redundat—“Praise the Lord in his saints; so also blasphemy against the saints redounds against God” (Summa II-II, q. 13, a. 1, ad 2). And it is one of the greatest of sins against religion (ibid., a. 3).
4. And so, to take up again the saying of St. Jerome, blasphemy is more grievous than theft, more grievous than adultery or murder. All other sins, writes St. Bernardine, proceed either from frailty or from ignorance; but this sin of blasphemy proceeds from one’s own malice. Omnia alia peccata videntur procedere partim ex fragilitate, partim ex ignorantia; sed peccatum blasphemiae procedit ex propria malitia—“All other sins seem to proceed partly from frailty, partly from ignorance; but the sin of blasphemy proceeds from one’s own malice” (Sermon 33). For it proceeds from an evil will and from a certain hatred conceived against God.
Hence the blasphemer makes himself like the damned, who, as St. Thomas says, do not now blaspheme with the mouth, since they have no body, but blaspheme with the heart, cursing the divine justice that punishes them: Detestatio divinae justitiae est in eis interior cordis blasphemia—“The detestation of the divine justice is in them an interior blasphemy of the heart.” And he adds there that it is credible that, after the resurrection, just as the saints in heaven will praise God even with the voice, so the damned in hell will blaspheme him with the voice: Et credibile est quod post resurrectionem erit in eis etiam vocalis blasphemia, sicut in sanctis vocalis laus Dei—“And it is credible that after the resurrection there will be in them also vocal blasphemy, just as in the saints there is vocal praise of God” (Summa II-II, q. 13, a. 4).
Justly, then, does a certain author call blasphemy the language of hell, saying that the devil speaks by the mouth of blasphemers, just as God speaks by the mouth of the saints: Blasphemia est peccatum diabolicum, loquela infernalis: sicut enim Spiritus Sanctus loquitur per bonos, ita diabolus per blasphemos—“Blasphemy is a diabolical sin, the language of hell: for just as the Holy Spirit speaks through the good, so the devil speaks through blasphemers” (Mansi, Discors. 7, num. 2).
When St. Peter, in the palace of Caiphas, denied Jesus Christ, swearing that he did not know him, the Jews told him that his speech showed him to be a disciple of his, since he had the very language of his Master: “Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee” (Matt. 26:73). So may it be said to every blasphemer: You are from the land of hell, and a true disciple of Lucifer, since you already speak the language of the damned.
St. Antonine writes that the damned in hell are occupied in nothing else but blaspheming and cursing God: Non aliud opus in inferno exercent, nisi blasphemare Deum et maledicere—“They exercise no other work in hell than to blaspheme God and curse him” (Part 2, tit. 7, ch. 3). And to this purpose he adduces the text of the Apocalypse: “And they gnawed their tongues for pain; and they blasphemed the God of heaven” (Apoc. 16:10–11). St. Antonine then adds that whoever has the vice of blaspheming already belongs to the number of the damned, since he plies their trade: Qui ergo hoc vitio detinetur, ostendit se pertinere ad statum damnatorum, ex quo exercet artem eorum—“Therefore he who is held by this vice shows himself to belong to the state of the damned, since he exercises their art” (Part 2, tit. 7, ch. 3).
5. To the malice of blasphemy is added the malice of scandal, which for the most part accompanies blasphemy, since this is a sin generally committed openly and in the presence of others. St. Paul reproved the Jews because by their sins they were the cause that the Gentiles blasphemed our God and laughed at his law: “For the name of God, through you, is blasphemed among the Gentiles” (Rom. 2:24).
How much more guilty, then, are Christians who by their blasphemies lead other Christians to imitate them! How does it happen, I ask, that in certain provinces no one is heard to blaspheme, or, if any, very rarely; while in other provinces blasphemy so reigns that one may apply to them what God said by Isaias: “My name is continually blasphemed all the day long” (Isa. 52:5)? So through the squares, the houses, the cities, and the villages, nothing is heard but blaspheming. How does this come about? It happens because the one learns to blaspheme from the other: the children from the parents, the servants from the masters, the young from the old.
In certain families especially it seems that blasphemy is left as an inheritance. The father is a blasphemer, and therefore the sons blaspheme, and the grandsons, and the rest of the descendants succeed to this fine inheritance. O accursed father! Instead of teaching your children to bless God, you would teach them to blaspheme God and his saints! “But I reprove them when I hear them blaspheme.” And what good are these reproofs of yours, when by your own mouth you give them bad example?
For the love of God, for the love of God, O father of a family, never blaspheme; but above all be on your guard never to blaspheme in the presence of your children, because this is a sin so grievous that I know not how God can bear with you any longer. And when you hear that your child sometimes blasphemes, reprove him sharply; nay rather, as St. Chrysostom says: Contere os ipsius, manum tuam percussione sanctifica—“Strike his mouth, sanctify your hand by the blow” (Hom. 1 ad pop.). Break his mouth, and so you will sanctify your hand.
Certain fathers, if the child fails to do them some service in time, lame him with beatings; but if then they hear him blaspheme the saints, they laugh at it, or else say nothing. St. Gregory relates (Dial. 4, ch. 18) that a child of five years, the son of a Roman nobleman, was in the habit of profaning the name of God, and the father neglected to correct him. One day the child saw himself, as he said, set upon by certain black men; he ran to embrace his father, but those men, who were none other than demons, killed him in his father’s arms and carried him off to hell.
Second Point.—On the great rigor with which God punishes the sin of blasphemy.
6. Isaias says: “Woe to the sinful nation… they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. 1:4). Woe to blasphemers, and woe eternal; for Tobias writes that all who blaspheme shall be condemned: “They shall be condemned that blaspheme thee” (Tob. 13:16). God says by the mouth of Job: “Thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers; thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I” (Job 15:5–6). In condemning the blasphemer he will say: It is not I who condemn you to hell; your own mouth, with which you have dared to curse me and my saints, is what condemns you.
Poor blasphemers! In hell the wretched ones shall go on blaspheming, to their greater pain; for their very blasphemies shall remind them forever that for blasphemy they are lost for eternity.
7. But not only in hell are blasphemers chastised; they are chastised even on this earth. In the old law they were stoned by all the people: “And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die; all the multitude shall stone him” (Lev. 24:16). In the new law they were condemned to death by the Emperor Justinian. St. Louis, King of France (as Homobonus relates), punished them by having their tongue bored through and their forehead branded with a red-hot iron; and if any afterwards returned to blaspheming, he willed that he should die without remission upon the scaffold (De cas. res., p. 2, c. 1).
Another author writes that the laws exclude blasphemers, as infamous persons, from giving testimony in court (Navarr., cons. 11, de offic. ord.). And, as appears from the constitution of Gregory XIV, they were formerly excluded also from burial. In the Authentica, Ut non luxurientur homines, it is said that on account of blasphemies come famines, earthquakes, and pestilences: Propter blasphemias, et fames, et terraemotus, et pestilentiae fiunt—“On account of blasphemies, famines, earthquakes, and pestilences come to pass.”
You, blasphemer, complain that though you toil and labor you are always to be seen a beggar, and you say: “I know not what it can be, that I always find myself in misery! There must be some curse upon my house.” What curse? Do you not know what it is? It is the accursed blasphemy that you keep in your mouth; this it is that makes you always accursed of God, and poor.
8. Oh, how many dismal examples could I then relate to you of blasphemers who came to a bad death! Father Segneri relates (vol. 1, Ragionamento 8) that in Gascony two men who had blasphemed the blood of Jesus Christ were, soon after, killed in a brawl, and the dogs tore them into little pieces. In Mexico a certain blasphemer, being reproved, answered: “I will do worse than before.” During the night his tongue was found sewn fast under the palate, and so the wretch died without giving any sign of repentance.
Dresselius relates that one who was blaspheming was struck blind in both eyes. Another, blaspheming St. Anthony, was met by a flame that issued from the image of that same saint and burned him alive. Sarnelli relates, in his book against blasphemy, that in Constantinople a man, having blasphemed God, began to tear his own flesh like a mad dog, and so died. Cantipratensis relates (ch. 48) of a certain man called Simon of Tournai that, after he had blasphemed, his eyes were distorted, and, falling to the ground, he bellowed like an ox, and so bellowing he expired. In the Gallician Mercury (Bk. 10) it is related that a certain man condemned to the gallows, named Michael, on feeling the halter tighten about his throat, broke out into a blasphemy and so died; but, what is more, when he expired his head fell from his trunk, and his tongue remained hanging out from the neck, black as a coal. I forbear, so as not to weary you further, from other terrible cases, which may be read in the said book of Father Sarnelli.
9. But to conclude. Tell me, my blasphemer, if you are here present, what do you gain from this accursed blasphemy? You gain no pleasure from it; this, says Bellarmine, is a sin without pleasure. You gain no profit from it; for, as I have said, blasphemy is the very thing that keeps you always a beggar. You gain no honor from it; the blasphemers themselves, your fellows, have a horror of your blasphemies when you blaspheme, and call you a mouth of the damned. Tell me, then, why do you blaspheme?
“Father, it is the habit I have formed.” But what are you thinking of? Can a habit you have formed be an excuse before God? If a son were to beat his father, and then say, “My father, bear with me, for I have got into the habit of it,” would the father bear with him? You say that you blaspheme because of the anger your children, your wife, or your master rouse in you. But how is this? Your wife, your master give you cause for anger, and you take it out on the saints? What fault have the saints committed against you? They pray to God for you, and you would blaspheme them?
“But then the devil tempts me.” And if the devil tempts you, do as a certain young man did. He was tempted to blasphemy, and went to take counsel of the Abbot Pemene, who told him that whenever the devil tempted him to this, he should answer: And why should I want to blaspheme that God who has created me and done me so much good? I will always praise and bless him. And so the devil ceased to tempt him.
When you are in some anger, are words so wanting to you that you cannot speak without blaspheming? Say then: “Accursed be sin! Lord, help me! O Lady, give me patience.” And if in the past you have formed the bad habit of blaspheming, every morning from this day forward, when you rise, renew the resolution to do violence to yourself not to blaspheme during that day; and then recite three Hail Marys to most holy Mary, that she may obtain for you the grace to resist the temptations you shall meet with.
Points for Reflection
1. “For the love of God, for the love of God, O father of a family, never blaspheme; but above all be on your guard never to blaspheme in the presence of your children” (§5)
2. “When you are in some anger, are words so wanting to you that you cannot speak without blaspheming? Say then: ‘Accursed be sin! Lord, help me! O Lady, give me patience.’” (§9)
3. “Every morning from this day forward, when you rise, renew the resolution to do violence to yourself not to blaspheme during that day; and then recite three Hail Marys to most holy Mary, that she may obtain for you the grace to resist the temptations you shall meet with” (§9)