On the Vice of
Anger
By: Saint Alphonsus Liguori
First Point
The ruin which anger unrestrained brings on the soul
Saint Jerome says that anger is the
door by which all vices enter the
soul. "Omnium
vitiorum janua est iracundia". Anger
precipitates men into
resentments, blasphemies, acts
of injustice, detractions,
scandals, and other
iniquities; for the
passion of anger darkens the
understanding, and makes a
man act like a
beast and a madman. "Caligavit
ab indignatione oculus meus" - Job 17:7. My eye has lost its
sight, through indignation. David
said: "My eye is troubled with wrath" -
Psalm 30:10. Hence, according to Saint Bonaventure, an
angry man
is incapable of distinguishing between what is just
and unjust. "Iratus
non potest videre quod justum est, vel injustum". In a word, Saint
Jerome says, that anger
deprives a
man of prudence,
reason, and
understanding. "
"Ab omni consilio deturpat, ut donee irascitur,
insanire credatur". Hence Saint James says: "For
the anger of man worketh not the justice of God" - James 1:20.
The acts of a man under the influence of
anger cannot be conformable to the
divine justice, and consequently
cannot be
faultless.
A man who does
not restrain the impulse of anger,
easily falls into hatred towards the person who has been the
occasion of his
passion. According to Saint Augustine,
hatred is nothing else than persevering
anger. "Odium est
ira diuturno tempore perseverans". Hence Saint Thomas says,
that "anger is sudden, but hatred is lasting".
It appears, then, that in him in whom anger
perseveres, hatred also reigns. But some
will say: I am the head of the house; I must correct my
children and servants, and, when necessary, I must raise my voice against the
disorders which I witness. I say in answer: It is one thing to be angry against a brother, and another to be displeased at
the sin of a brother.
To be angry
against sin is not
anger, but
Zeal; and therefore it is not only
lawful,
but it is sometimes a duty. But our anger
must be accompanied with Prudence, and must
appear to be directed against sin,
but not against the sinner;
for if the person whom we correct, perceive that we speak through
passion and
hatred
towards him, the correction will be unprofitable and
even mischievous. To be angry, then,
against a brother's sin, is certainly lawful. "He", says
Saint Augustine,
"is not angry with a brother, who is angry against a
brother's sin". It is thus, as David said, we may be
angry without
sin. "Be ye angry,
and sin not" - Psalm 4:5. But, to be
angry against a brother on account of the
sin which he has
committed, is
not lawful; because according to Saint Augustine, we are not
allowed to hate others for their
vices. "Nec propter
vitia (licet) homines odisse".
Hatred brings with
it a desire of
revenge; for, according to Saint Thomas,
anger, when fully voluntary, is
accompanied with a desire of revenge.
Ira est appetitus vindictoe. But you
will perhaps say: If I resent such an injury,
God will have pity on me, because I have just grounds for resentment.
Who, I ask, has told you, that you have just
grounds for seeking revenge?
It is you, whose understanding is
clouded by
passions, that say so. I have already said, that
anger
obscures the mind, and
takes away our reason and
understanding.
7 Deadly Sins: Anger
Second Point
How we ought to restrain anger
in the occasions of provocation which occur to us
In
the first place, it is necessary to know that it is not
possible for human
weakness, in the midst of so many occasions, to be altogether
free from every motion of anger.
No one, as Seneca says, can be entirely exempt from
this passion. "Iracundia
nullum genus hominum excipit". All our efforts must be
directed to the moderation of the feelings of
anger which spring up in the soul.
How are they to be moderated? By
meekness. This is called the
virtue of the Lamb - that is, the
beloved virtue of
Jesus Christ. Because, like a lamb,
without anger or even
complaint,
He bore the sorrows of
His Passion
and Crucifixion. "He
shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb
before his shearer, and He shall not open His mouth" -
Isaiah 53:7. Hence He has taught
us to learn of Him meekness and
humility of heart. "Learn
of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart" - Matthew
11:29.
Oh! how pleasing in the sight of God
are the meek, who submit in
peace to all
crosses, misfortunes,
persecutions, and
injuries! To the
meek is promised the
Kingdom of Heaven. "Blessed
are the meek: for they shall possess the land" - Matthew
5:4. They are called the children of God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be
called children of God" - Matthew 5:9. Some boast of
their meekness, but without any
grounds; for they are meek only
towards those who praise and
confer favors upon them; but,
to those who injure or
censure them, they are all
fury and
vengeance. The virtue of meekness
consists in being meek and
peaceful towards those who
hate and
maltreat us. "With them that hated
peace I was peaceable" - Psalm 119:7.
We must, as Saint Paul says, put on the
bowels of mercy toward all
men, and bear one with another. "Put
ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of
mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another,
and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another"
- Colossians 3:12,13. You wish others to
bear with your defects,
and to pardon your
faults; you should act in the same
manner towards them. Whenever, then, you receive an
insult from a person
enraged against you, remember that "A
mild answer breaketh wrath: but a harsh word stirreth up fury"
Proverbs 15:1. A certain monk once passed through a corn
field; the owner of the field ran out, and spoke to him in very
offensive and
injurious language. The monk
humbly replied: Brother, you are
right; I have done wrong; pardon me. By this answer the
husbandman was so much appeased, that he instantly became calm, and
even wished to follow the monk, and to enter into religion.
The proud make use of the
humiliations
they receive to increase their pride; but the
humble and the
meek turn the contempts
and insults offered
them into an occasion of advancing
in humility. "He",
says Saint Bernard, "is humble, who
converts humiliation into humility".
"A man of meekness", says Saint
Chrysostom, "is useful to himself and to
others". The meek are
useful to themselves; because,
according to F. Alvarez, the time
of humiliation and
contempt is for
them the
time of merit. Hence, Jesus Christ
calls His disciples
happy when they shall be
reviled and
persecuted. "Blessed are ye when
they shall revile you, and persecute you" - Matthew
5:11. Hence, the saints have always desired to be
despised, as
Jesus Christ has been despised.
The meek are useful to others,
because, as the same Saint Chrysostom says, there is nothing
better calculated to draw others to God,
than to see a Christian meek
and cheerful when he receives an
injury or an
insult. "Nihil ita conciliat Domino
familiares ut quod illum vident mansuetudine jucundum".
The
reason is, because virtue is known
by being tried; and, as gold is
tried by fire, so the
meekness of
men is proved by humiliation.
"For gold and silver are tried in the fire, but
acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation" -
Ecclesiasticus 2:5. "My spikenard",
says the spouse in the Canticles, "sent
forth the odor thereof" - Canticles 1:11. The
spikenard is an odoriferous plant, but diffuses
its odors only when it is torn or
bruised. In this passage the
inspired writer gives us to understand, that a
man cannot be said to be
meek, unless he is
known to send forth the odor of his meekness
by bearing injuries and
insults in
peace and without
anger. God wishes us to
be meek even towards ourselves. When
a person commits a
fault, God
certainly wishes him to humble
himself, to be sorry for his
sin, and to purpose never to
fall into it again; but
He does not wish him
to be indignant with himself, and give way to
trouble and
agitation of mind;
for, while the soul is
agitated, a
man is incapable of doing good.
"My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me"
- Psalm 37:11.
Thus, when we receive an insult, we
must do violence to ourselves in
order to restrain anger. Let us
either answer with meekness, as
recommended above, or let us remain silent; and thus, as Saint
Isidore says, we shall conquer. "Quamvis
quis irritet, tu dissimula, quia tacendo vinces". But, if you
answer through passion, you shall do
harm to yourself and others. It
would be still worse to give an angry
answer to a person who corrects you. "Medicanti
irascitur", says Saint Bernard, "qui
non irascitur sagittanti". Some are not
angry, though they ought to be indignant with those
who wound their
souls by flattery; and are
filled with indignation against the person who
censures them in order to
heal their
irregularities. Against the man who
abhors correction, the sentence of
perdition has, according to the
Wise Man, been pronounced. "Because they
have hated instruction, and received not the fear of the Lord, Nor
consented to My counsel, but despised all My reproof. Therefore they
shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own
devices. The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the
prosperity of fools shall destroy them" - Proverbs
1:29-32. Fools regard as
prosperity to be free from correction, or to despise the
admonitions which they receive;
but
such prosperity is the cause of their ruin.
When you meet with an occasion of anger,
you must, in the first place, be on your guard not
to allow anger to enter your
heart. "Be
not quickly angry" - Ecclesiastes 7:10. Some persons
change color, and get into a passion,
at every contradiction; and when
anger has got admission,
God knows to what
it shall lead them. Hence, it is
necessary to foresee these occasions in our
meditations and prayers;
for, unless we are prepared for them, it will be as
difficult to restrain
anger as to put a bridle on a horse
while he is running away.
Whenever we have the misfortune
to permit anger to enter the
soul, let us be careful not
to allow it to remain.
Jesus Christ tells all who remember
that a brother is offended with
them, not to offer the gift
which they bring to the altar,
without being first reconciled to their neighbor. "Go
first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer
thy gift" - Matthew 5:24. And he who has received any
offence, should endeavor to root
out of his heart not only all
anger, but also every feeling of
bitterness towards the persons who
have offended him. "Let
all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy,
be put away from you, with all malice" - Ephesians
4:31. As long as anger continues,
follow the advice of Seneca - "When you
shall be angry, do nothing, say nothing which may be dictated by anger".
Like David, be silent, and do not speak, when you feel that you
are disturbed. "I
was troubled, and I spoke not" - Psalm 76:5.
How many,
when inflamed with
anger, say and do what they
afterwards, in their cooler moments, regret,
and excuse themselves by saying that they were in a
passion? As long, then, as
anger lasts, we must
be silent, and abstain from doing or resolving to do anything;
for, what is done in the heat of passion
will, according to the maxim of Saint James, be
unjust. "For
the anger of man worketh not the justice of God" - James
1:20. It is also necessary to abstain altogether from consulting those
who might foment our
indignation. "Blessed",
says David, "is the man who hath not
walked in the counsel of the ungodly" - Psalm 1:1. To
him who is asked for advice, Ecclesiasticus says: "If
thou blow the spark, it shall burn as a fire: and if thou spit upon it,
it shall be quenched: both come out of the mouth" -
Ecclesiasticus 28:14. When a person is
indignant at some injury
which he has received, you may, by exhorting him to
patience, extinguish that fire;
but, if you encourage revenge,
you may kindle a great flame. Let him, then, who feels himself in
any way inflamed with anger, be on
his guard against false friends,
who, by an imprudent word, may be
the cause of his perdition.
Let us follow the advice of the apostle: "Be
not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good" - Romans
12:21. Be not overcome by evil : do
not allow yourself to be conquered by sin.
If, through anger, you seek
revenge or utter
blasphemies, you are overcome
by sin. But you will say:
I am naturally of a warm temper. By
the grace of God, and by doing
violence to yourself, you will be
able to conquer your natural disposition. Do not
consent to anger, and you shall
subdue the warmth of your temper.
But you say: I cannot bear with unjust
treatment. In answer I will tell you,
first, to remember that anger obscures reason, and prevents us
from seeing things as they are. "Fire hath
fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun" - Psalm
57:9. Secondly, if you return
evil for
evil, your enemy shall
gain a victory over you. "If",
said David, "I have rendered to them
that repaid me evils, let me deservedly fall empty before my enemies"
- Psalm 7:5. If I render evil
for evil, I shall be
defeated by my
enemies. "Overcome evil by good".
Render every foe good for
evil. "Do good", says
Jesus Christ, "to
them that hate you" - Matthew 5:44. This is the
revenge of the saints, and is called by Saint Paulinus,
Heavenly revenge. It is by such
revenge that you shall gain the victory.
And should any of those, of whom the Prophet says, "The
venom of asps is under their lips" - Psalm 139:4, ask
how you can submit to such an injury,
let your answer be: "The chalice which My
Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" - John
18:11. And then turning to God, you
shall say: "I opened not my mouth, because Thou
hast done it" - Psalm 38:10; for it is certain that
every cross which
befalls you, comes from the
Lord. "Good
things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God"
- Ecclesiasticus 11:14. Should any one take away your property,
recover it if you can; but, if you cannot, say with Job: "The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away" - Job 1:21. A
certain philosopher, who lost some
of his goods in a storm, said: "If I have lost
my goods, I will not lose my peace". And do you say:
If I have lost my property, I will not lose my
soul.
In fine', when we meet with crosses,
persecutions, and
injuries, let us turn to
God, Who
commands us to bear them
with patience; and thus we shall
always avoid anger. "Remember
the fear of God, and be not angry with thy neighbor" -
Ecclesiasticus 28:8. Let us give a look at the
will of God, which disposes things in this manner for our
merit, and
anger, shall cease.
Let us give a look at
Jesus
crucified, and we shall not have courage to complain.
Saint Eleazar, being asked by his spouse, how he bore so many
injuries without yielding to
anger, answered: I turn to
Jesus Christ , and thus I preserve my
peace. Finally, let us give a glance
at our sins, for which we have
deserved far greater contempt and
chastisement, and we shall calmly
submit to all evils. Saint
Augustine says, that though we are sometimes
innocent of the crime
for which we are persecuted, we are,
nevertheless, guilty of other
sins which merit greater
punishment than that which we
endure. "Esto non habemus peccatum, quod
objicitur; habemus tamen, quod digne in nobis flagelletur".
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