Man
today lives under such overwhelming pressure that his nerves are
strained to the limit, and even the slightest provocation arouses in him
the sin of anger. Causes for anger could be the child who does not
listen to us, or the husband or wife who contradicts us, or the driver
who cuts us off with his car, or only seems to us to cut us off, giving a
motive for us to be roused to anger. Even if, through self-restraint,
our anger is not outwardly expressed or is not heard by the one who
provoked it, it is still a sin, because it harms our soul and our heart
It is an action against one’s own self, under the temptation of the
devil to be angry.
The savior warns us in severe terms concerning anger that gives birth to verbal conflicts and the use of abusive words.
I
say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,
shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
shall be in danger of hell fire (Matt 5:22).
...No one thinks evil without corrupting the heart in which God should dwell…
[….]
I
counsel my penitents that before they express their anger, be it in
speech or gestures, be it only mentally, to utter three or five times, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
And if they say the prayer quickly and inattentively under the
oppression of anger, then they should concentrate with humility upon the
word “sinner,” and
their anger will abate. Many of them have succeeded inn making their
life, their family relationships, their relations with other people, and
even their interior life change for the better.
All
the conflicts in the world have their origin in unabated anger. One is
angry and wounds the other, who then responds with greater violence and
strength. Once this chain is begun, it cannot be stopped except through
the appeal of prayer––genuine prayer.
[...]
The
Name of Jesus is sweet to utter. It casts our the demons and brings
the angels back into the heart, into the mind, and you will bear
yourself in meekness before others.
Fr. George Calciu (1925-2006) a great Romanian Orthodox confessor and spiritual father.
