Слово 12. О лжи

1. Iron and stone, when they collide, produce fire; verbosity and laughter produce lies. 2. Lies are the destruction of love; and perjury is a rejection of God. 3. None of the prudent will consider lying a minor sin; for there is no vice against which the All-Holy Spirit would pronounce such a terrible saying as against lying. If God destroys “all those who speak lies” (Ps. 5:7): then what will those who sew lies with oaths suffer? 4. I saw people who boasted of lies and idle talk, and with their witticisms, arousing laughter, they destroyed crying and contrition of spirit in those who listened. 5. When the demons see that at the very beginning we are trying to move away from listening to the ridiculous speeches of a harmful storyteller, as if from a destructive infection; then they try to seduce us with double thoughts: “don’t grieve,” they instill in us, “the narrator”; or “do not present yourself as a more God-loving person than others.” Jump back quickly, don’t hesitate; and if not, then during your prayer you will imagine thoughts about funny things. And not only avoid such conversations and crafty meetings, but also destroy them piously, offering on Wednesday the remembrance of death and the final judgment; for it is better for you, in this case, to be sprinkled with a little vanity, if only to become the cause of the common good. 6. Hypocrisy is the mother of lies, and often it is the reason for it. For some argue that hypocrisy is nothing more than teaching in lies and the inventor of lies, with which an oath worthy of execution is intertwined. 7. He who has acquired the fear of God has avoided lies, having within himself an incorruptible judge - his conscience. 8. As in all passions, so in lies we recognize varying degrees of harm; For there is another judgment for him who lies out of fear of punishment, and another for him who lies without any imminent danger. 9. One lies for the sake of amusement, another for the sake of voluptuousness, another to make those present laugh, and some in order to set a snare for his neighbor and do him harm. 10. Lies are driven away by the torture of rulers; the multitude of tears completely destroys her. 11. The weaver of lies apologizes with good intentions; and what, in fact, is the destruction of the soul, he considers as a righteous deed. A deceitful man pretends to be an imitator of Rahab, and thinks to make the salvation of others his own destruction. 12. When we are completely clean from lies, then, if opportunity and need require, and then not without fear, we can use it. 13. A child knows no lies; Even a soul that has been cleansed of wickedness does not know it. 14. He who is merry from wine, involuntarily speaks the truth in everything; So one who is drunk with emotion cannot lie. The twelfth ascent. Whoever has ascended to this level has acquired the root of virtues. You might be interested in: