ABOUT UNSPEAKABLE BLASPHEMOUS THOUGHTS by Saint John Climacos (Ladder)

ABOUT UNSPEAKABLE BLASPHEMOUS THOUGHTS

by Saint John Climacos (Ladder)

We know that from an irritating root and mother is born a rather annoying child, that is to say, unmentionable blasphemy is born from vile pride. So it is important to reveal it, since it is no common creature, but the most wicked of all our enemies. And what is even more problematic, it is hard to write, admit, or reveal these thoughts to a spiritual doctor. And thus this unrighteous illness has engendered annoyance and misery in many, killing all their hope, just as a worm in a tree.

At the time of the Holy Liturgy, during the time when the Mysteries are being completed, this foul foe many times blasphemes the Lord and the holy affairs that are being accomplished. This displays vividly that it is not our own soul that speaks these unmentionable, impious and inconceivable words within us, but the enemy who hates God, who ran away from heaven for speaking blasphemies against the Lord. Because if these disgraceful and horrendous words belonged to me, how could I give glory after partaking of the gift? How can I praise and slander at the same moment? This trickster and polluter of souls has often made many people go crazy. No other movement of the mind is so troublesome to speak about in confession than this one. That is why it often stays with many people until the very conclusion of their life.

For there is nothing that offers demons and evil thoughts such authority over us as feeding and concealing them in our heart unconfessed. There is no one in the presence of blasphemous thoughts that need suppose he is liable, for the Lord is the Knower of hearts and He knows that such words and notions are not from us but from our enemies. Being drunk is a source of falls, and pride is the source of bad thoughts. As far as falls are concerned the drunk is not the one to blame, but he will surely be punished for being drunk. When we are present in prayer, those polluted and unmentionable thoughts attack us, but if we persist in praying to the end they withdraw immediately, for they will not battle with those who stand up against them. The impious enemy not only blasphemes against God and everything that is holy but speaks the most terrible and vile words inside our minds to compel us either to renounce praying or lose hope. He has stopped many people from praying, and pulled away many from the Holy Mysteries. This wicked and cruel oppressor has exhausted the bodies of some with remorse, and worn out still others with fasting, and has allowed them no repose. He does this with those who live in the monastery as well as with those that dwell in the world proposing that there is no hope of salvation for them and affirming that they are more pitiful and miserable than all the unbelievers and pagans. The one who is disturbed by the spirit of blasphemy and would like to be rescued from it should understand that it is not his own soul that is the source of such thoughts but the corrupt demon who said once to the Lord, "All these things I will give you if you bow down and worship me." And thus let us humiliate him as well, and not give heed to his implications. Tell him, "Get behind me Satan! I will worship the Lord my God, and Him only I will serve. Your deeds and your word will come back upon your head, and your blasphemies will come down on your crown in the present and in the coming world. Amen" He who desires to struggle with the demon of blasphemy by any other means is like a man attempting to take hold of lightning with his hands. How can you grasp, or struggle and grip one who suddenly explodes into the heart like a rush of wind, speaking words faster than lightening and then suddenly disappears? All other foes will pause, struggle, tarry and give time for those who desire to wrestle with them. But not so with this one. He has only just appeared, and then he vanishes. he has barely said one word, and he is gone. Many times this demon enjoys haunting the minds of simple and pure people, and they are more troubled and struck by it than others. We can surely say of them that all is occurs to them not from self-regard but from the jealousy of the demons.

We should cease condemning and judging our neighbor, and then blasphemous thoughts will not trouble us, for the first is the occasion and the beginning of the latter. Just as one who is confined in his house hears the speaking of those going by without participating in their discussion, so the soul abides in private and when it overhears devilish blasphemies it is disturbed by what is said by the demon going by. The one who hates this enemy is saved from its torture. But the one who comes up with some other means to attack it will finish by giving in to it. He who desires to overcome this spirit by speaking is like someone attempting to shut up the winds. A cautious monk who is disturbed by this demon exhausted his flesh for twenty years by fasts and vigils. However since he felt no better, he wrote his temptation on a card and went to a holy man and delivered him the card and prostrated before him with his face to the ground, not daring to glance up. When the elder read it he smiled and, lifting up the brother, he told him, "Put your hand on my neck, son." When the brother had done this, the excellent man said, "Upon my neck, brother, be this sin, for no matter how many years it was or was not present in you, from now on, disregard it." And this monk promised me that even before he had departed from the elder's cell, his illness had left. The man who had been tested by these means told me this himself, giving praise to God. The one who has overcome this sickness, has evicted pride.