The wickedness of obscene conversation

But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints; or obscenity or foolish talking. (Epistle of Sunday. Ephes. v. 1-9).

St. Augustine calls those who speak obscenely "the mediators of Satan," the ministers of the devil, because by their obscene language the demon of impurity gets access to souls which by his own suggestions he could not enter. Of their accursed tongues St. James says: And the tongue is a fire,... being set on fire by hell. (James iii. 6). He says that the tongue is a fire kindled by hell, with which they who speak obscenely burn themselves and others. The obscene tongue may be said to be the tongue of the third person of which Ecclesiasticus says: The tongue of a third person hath disquieted many and scattered them from nation to nation. (Ecclus. xxviii. 16). The spiritual tongue speaks of God, the worldly tongue talks of worldly affairs; but the tongue of a third person is a tongue of hell which speaks of the impurities of the flesh; and this is the tongue that perverts many, and brings them to perdition.

Speaking of the life of men on this earth, the Royal Prophet says: Let their way become dark and slippery. (Ps. xxxiv. 6). In this life men walk in the midst of darkness and in a slippery way. Hence they are in danger of falling at every step unless they cautiously examine the road on which they walk, and carefully avoid dangerous steps—that is, the occasions of sin. Now, if, in treading this slippery way, frequent efforts were made to throw them down, would it not be a miracle if they did not fall? "The mediators of Satan," who speak obscenely, impel others to sin, who, as long as they live on this earth, walk in the midst of darkness,and as long as they remain in the flesh, are in danger of falling into the vice of impurity. Now of those who indulge in obscene language it has been well said: Their throat is an open sepulchre. (Ps. v. 11). The mouths of those who can utter nothing but filthy obscenities are, according to St. John Chrysostom, so many open sepulchres of putrefied carcasses. The exhalation which arises from the rottenness of a multitude of dead bodies thrown together into a pit communicates infection and disease to all within reach.

The stroke of a whip, says Ecclesiasticus, maketh blue mark; but a stroke of a tongue will break the bones. (Ecclus. xxviii. 21). The wounds of the lash are wounds of the flesh, but the wounds of the obscene tongue are wounds which infect the bones of those who listen to its language. St. Bernardine of Sienna relates that a virgin who led a holy life, on hearing an obscene word from a man, consented to a bad thought, and afterwards abandoned herself to the vice of impurity to such a degree that, the Saint says, if the devil had taken human flesh, he could not have committed so many sins of that kind as she committed.

The misfortune is that the mouths of hell that frequently utter immodest words regard them as trifles, and are careless about confessing them; and when rebuked for them they answer: "I say these words in jest and without malice." In jest! Unhappy man, these jests make the devil laugh, and shall make you weep for eternity in hell. In the first place, it is useless to say that you utter such words without malice; for when you use such expressions, it is very difficult for you to abstain from acts against purity. According to St. Jerome, "He that delights in words is not far from the act." Besides, immodest words spoken before persons of a different sex, are always accompanied with sinful complacency. And is not the scandal you give to others criminal? Utter a single obscene word, and you may bring into sin all who listen to you. Such is the doctrine of St. Bernard. "One speaks, and he utters only one word; but he kills the soul of a multitude of hearers." A greater sin than if, by one discharge of a blunderbuss, you murdered many persons; because you would then only kill their bodies; but, by speaking obscenely, you kill their souls.

In a word, obscene tongues are the ruin of the world. One of them does more mischief than a hundred devils; because it is the cause of the perdition of many souls. This is not my language; it is the language of the Holy Ghost. A slippery mouth worketh ruin. (Prov. xxvi. 28). The ruin of many souls is effected, and more grievous insults are offered to God. They who speak immodestly are the cause of all these crimes. Hence they must render an account to God, and shall be punished for all the sins committed by those who hear them. But I will require his blood at thy hand. (Ezech. iii. 18).