Гнев

Look at anger, what signs of its torment it produces! Look what a person does when angry. How indignant and noisy, cursing and scolding, tormenting and beating himself, hitting his head and face and, as if in a fever, shaking all over. In a word, he then becomes like one possessed by a demon. If the appearance is so stingy, what is going on in the poor soul! How the demon torments her! Anger shows itself by rage, shouting, blaspheming, cursing, clapping hands, tearing hair, and so on. Malice or rancor shows itself through vengeance through word or deed, damage, disgrace, slander and murder. These are the fruits of anger and malice. Anger is a feeling of heart disease, born from resentment, which is expressed either in deed or in word. Anger is a painful and fierce passion and cannot be hidden. Other passions are conveniently hidden, but anger cannot be hidden. The heart, filled with anger, like a boiling cauldron, spews out various signs of anger, which appear in various members of the body. The eyes turn red from anger and sparkle like sparks; Anger causes veins to swell, eyebrows and hair to rise; We grind our teeth in anger, we spew foam from our lips, we nod our heads, we twist and turn our heads. The face darkens with anger. The action of anger is that we clench our hands and clap them, we hit the ground with our feet; in anger we hit the chest, we tear hair and clothes; one filled with anger screams, screams, sheds tears, complains, blasphemes and often spews something that he later regrets. In a word, the whole person changes in anger, the whole appearance of a demoniac appears. If such vile external signs are shown, if the body is so ugly from anger, what is inside, in the heart, which spews out such a stinking smell? How vile and ugly is the soul of one who is angry, how vile in the eyes of God, when only the sight of one who is angry seems unbearable to us, who ourselves carry the same evil within us! It is impossible to describe in words the vile state of that poor soul. And this can be seen not only in an adult, but also in a small child and baby: how he screams, rages, and turns away from everything until his anger is satisfied! This shows what great poison the human heart is filled with from the devil, what great evil lies hidden within us, which we cannot mourn enough. And this teaches us to continually sigh and pray to God to correct and renew our hearts, so fiercely corrupted. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb (Ps. 50:12). When it is corrected and good, then its fruits will be good, that is, deeds, words and thoughts. Anger turns into malice and rancor if it is held for a long time and nourished in the heart. Therefore, we are ordered to stop it quickly, so that it does not increase into hatred and malice, and so that greater evil is not added to evil. Let not the sun go down on your anger; and do not give place to the devil (Eph. 4:26–27), says the apostle. Just as a fire, if it is not put out soon, consumes many houses, so anger, if it is not stopped soon, causes a lot of evil and is the cause of many troubles. Therefore, according to the admonition of the Apostle, we must quickly drive out anger from the heart when it begins, so that, having intensified, we ourselves, those who are angry, and those with whom we are angry, will no longer harm or destroy. Both anger and malice are born from immense pride. For the selfish person seeks his own self-interest, glory and honor in everything; and when he sees an obstacle to his intention and desire, he is embarrassed, sad and angry at the one who is hindering him, and therefore he tries to put his anger into action, that is, to take revenge, which is characteristic of anger. If you hear a defamatory word from your neighbor and become angry with him, peace still has its place in your heart. True love is not irritated (1 Cor. 13:5), is not angry with one’s neighbor, although it receives insults from him. Others try to repay insult for insult and slander for slander. Not only does she not do this, but she also does not have anger in her heart against the offender... And not only does she not do this, but she does not even think evil (1 Cor. 13:5). And although sometimes he shows his anger, that anger is directed at sins, and not at a person; persecutes and tries to eradicate sins, but not those who have sinned - such anger occurs especially on the part of pious leaders and shepherds. Such righteous anger shows great love in the heart of the angry one, which seeks in every possible way the salvation of his brother. Such people imitate a good and skillful physician, who sometimes gives cruel medicine to the weak, in order to more conveniently drive out the weakness from him. Such anger was shown by Saint Paul, a burning soul with love for God and neighbor, when he wrote to the Galatians who had sinned: oh, foolish Galatians! who deceived you not to submit to the truth (Gal. 3:1, etc.)? Such anger is needed by shepherds and bosses, who must drive out and eradicate the anger and ill-will of their subordinates, like a pestilence, with fire. Their job is to meekly endure their own offense, and when God’s law is violated and an offense is inflicted on their neighbor, to stand strong, not to remain silent, and to pacify the rapists. Anger, if not tamed at first, turns into malice. Anger, as we read in stories and now see, causes great troubles and misfortunes both to those who are angry and to those on whom anger occurs. For the devil, the spirit of evil, possesses such people, and leads them wherever he wants, and does through them what he wants. Therefore it is said by the Apostle: If you are angry, do not sin: let not the sun go down on your anger; and do not give place to the devil (Eph. 4:26–27). Beware, Christian, of holding anger against your neighbor, so that it does not turn into anger and thus destroy you and your neighbor, but immediately tame your anger and kill him, like a lawless child, while he is small, so that he does not grow up and kill you yourself. If anger is natural to you or you are inclined out of habit, then diligently beware of what arouses this passion. Calm yourself down for a little while and count how many days you haven’t been angry. By your nature, you are accustomed to being angry every day, but if you go two or three days without being angry at anything, this is already a genuine sign that your anger is waning. If you see that you haven’t had any anger or rage for a whole week, then go to church and earnestly thank your Creator for this mercy. Today I wasn’t sad about anything, and tomorrow I won’t bother, but what if I start doing the same thing for five or six weeks in a row, won’t I be better off than before?