Homily of St. Photios, Patriarch of Constantinople #

Delivered in the Church of Hagia Sophia on Friday of the First Week of Great Lent

I stand before you, having come earlier than the appointed time and hastened to offer you, in advance, the due tribute of my duty. For the voluntary fulfillment of an obligation, when offered as a gift by those who perform it, cannot be restrained by delays or postponements in time. And it is a good thing when a father appears before his children earlier than expected, and even better when, through the consciousness of duty, he fulfills beforehand a need that had been foreseen, offering it in a gracious word.

Especially now, seeing your eagerness to listen—for one who calls his neighbors to the pursuit of virtue should not weaken their zeal with faint-hearted speech—I all the more readily give myself over to you and, with the grace-filled assistance of the All-Holy Spirit, so abundantly granted to us, I will not “refrain my lips” (Psalm 39:10) in my efforts to guide you toward perfection. For even the farmer rejoices when he sees his field richly covered with grain, its cheerful appearance like a beautiful meadow. The gardener, too, is glad when he looks upon trees and branches laden with abundant fruit. The helmsman rejoices when he sees the ship driven across the sea’s surface by a favorable wind, cutting through the waters. And the shepherd, sitting on the grass, plays a merry tune or, setting aside his staff, ceases his melody and whistles to his sheep when he sees his flock resting peacefully, lacking nothing in nourishment.

But in truth, there is an even greater joy, a joy beyond words, when one has been given the charge of tending Christ’s flock and sees his rational sheep thriving in good order, adorned with works of virtue. How, then, could I not rejoice when I see that harmful pleasures are trampled underfoot, virtue is diligently pursued, and vice is despised; that envy is rejected among you, prosperity is established, slander is cast out, and brotherly love flourishes? In this is my boast and my joy (Philippians 2:16; 4:1), I will say together with the divine Paul. This soothes the sorrows that arise against us from all sides, stirred up by the schemes of the evil one; it delivers us from many anxieties and makes us ourselves more free. It also has the power to disperse the dark cloud of despondency that often disturbs our thoughts, while your lives and your society shine with the radiance of joy—when the laws, or rather, the unbridled dominion of the flesh, are cast out by the laws of the spirit, when the old ways of sin are erased from your soul, and in their place are inscribed the new commandments of Christ’s divine law.

“The yoke of Christ is easy, and His burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). For what is easier than restraining the tongue? What is more praiseworthy than lips kept silent? What is simpler than refraining from slandering one’s brethren? You are not required to endure hard labors, nor to keep sleepless vigils, exhausted, through the entire day and night. You need not dig trenches, build embankments, or toil with clay and bricks (Exodus 1:14) like the Jews in Egypt. No other burden is laid upon you—only this: to keep your tongue behind your teeth, preserving it like a chaste bride in its natural dwelling place. The Creator has enclosed it with a double fence, making it both slippery and easily caught, teaching you by this work of nature not to use it immediately, especially in matters that do not concern you. On the contrary, you, who seek to fulfill the divine commandments and do not wish to transgress the boundaries of nature, ought to guard it as one would a pure maiden in her chamber, ensuring that it does not sing any lascivious or deceitful song, that it does not give itself over to base slander, and that it does not commit fornication by uttering calumny.

For in truth, this is a form of adultery: when the tongue, which could have preserved its virginal purity, instead gives itself over to the vile frenzy of slander and is not ashamed to tarnish its own beauty. But you, following this command, must not fall into extremes. Use your tongue for singing hymns of praise to the Creator, for careful inquiry into doctrine, if this is within your ability and calling, for the necessary exchanges of daily life, and for words of honor about your neighbor—but do not use it excessively, lest you fall into the shame of flattery. This is the best measure, and it is this very measure that has led some, who stand far from our sacred rites, to contemplation.

Under the influence of pride toward their neighbor, do not resort to reviling others, but rather, “Put away from yourself a perverse mouth, and remove from you unjust lips” (Proverbs 4:24), for “the Lord destroys the houses of the proud” (Proverbs 15:25), and “a deceitful man shall not prosper on the earth” (Psalm 139:12). “A man is ensnared by the words of his own mouth and is taken captive by the words of his lips” (Proverbs 6:2) when he uses them contrary to nature and to the divine command. Therefore, do not imitate such people or follow in their steps. For one of the God-bearing men, who is called the brother of the Lord, says concerning this: “The tongue is a small member… yet it boasts great things. It dwells among our members, defiling the whole body, and setting on fire the course of nature, being itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:5–6). He also declares that the evil of the tongue is more dangerous than wild beasts and serpents (James 3:7–8), once the mind ceases to restrain its unbridled impulse and it refuses to submit to reason.

I know well the usual beginnings of its (the tongue’s) workings: “So-and-so lives wickedly, and I utterly dislike him, against my own will; I ought to remain silent and not ridicule him, but his deeds provoke me to speak.” Indeed, “they are wise to do evil” (Jeremiah 4:22), even surpassing the cunning of the evil one himself: failing to achieve its aim through outright wicked schemes, the tongue stealthily creeps in under the guise of righteousness.

“So-and-so lives sinfully”?—Then you live righteously, so that you yourself may not in turn give others occasion to speak of you in the same way and thus lead them into sin. “So-and-so lives sinfully”?—Yet this other person lives virtuously; therefore, let the one fall and stand “to his own Lord” (Romans 14:4), while you keep the life and deeds of the righteous one in mind for your own imitation. “But another man is intemperate in his way of life”—and who made you his judge? Will you be the one to give an answer on his behalf? Oh, if only you could, on that dreadful day of judgment, bring him forth as a witness on your behalf! He is intemperate in his life?—And do you not have an unrestrained and undisciplined tongue, when you spread rumors about others and take pleasure in disgraceful tales? Are you not biased in your own judgment (oh, if only it remained merely in your thoughts!), you who so readily resort to slandering your neighbor, revealing yourself as the chief perpetrator of such shameful speech, when you ought rather to hide away from others?

For the one who has truly freed himself from passions does not urge others to indulge in them, since by his own experience he has secured safety both for himself and for others. But the one who trusts in irrational slander does not abstain from similar actions, for the occupations of life have a way of drawing even the innocent into their fellowship.

“Very well,” one might say, “but this man speaks evil, he delights in slander, and rightly deserves reproach."—And you, in speaking thus about him, do you not also slander? Do you not likewise fall into the same condemnation? If you carefully watched over yourself and your own deeds, you would have no time to tally up the shortcomings of others or to spend your days dwelling on them.

“But he falsely accuses me!"—Then all the more reason for you to say nothing evil against him, that you may prove by your actions that his accusations are truly false. He slanders you without cause? Why, then, do you so eagerly rush to prove that his condemnation is justified, becoming his imitator and an unjust accuser of yourself?

“Do not be envious of those who do evil, nor be jealous of those who work iniquity” (Psalm 36:1). Do not seek to overcome one tongue with another, for fire is not extinguished by fire, nor is evil healed by evil; the motion of the tongue is stilled by silence, fire is commonly quenched by drops of water, and goodness always has the power to conquer evil.

Thus, if you have any willingness to heed me—or rather, to submit even a little to the divine teachings—beware of wronging him who has wronged you. And if anyone says something against him to please you, cover it over with your own kindness, so that you may both teach the slanderer repentance through your sudden change in attitude and also show yourself to be truly above all slander.

Therefore, do not listen to the evil words of those around you: the truth is that you yourself become a slanderer more than the one who spreads malicious rumors, for whoever believes in gossip is already drawn into the act of slander, and you, in turn, must invent fresh accusations.

But indeed, there truly exists a certain wicked and deceitful kind of people (oh, if only we were all freed from them!), who make the spreading of their own vile slanders their occupation and profession, embellishing their neighbors with them, so that, like cattle grazing by right, they may safely and abundantly glut themselves on the general corruption of society. By cunningly drawing many into the same disgraceful habit, they seek to make their own criminal activity appear more innocent.

If, then, anyone among us should prove to be such a one (though may it never be so among us!—for I would not be so unfortunate as to be charged with ruling over such beasts!), oh, how many misfortunes he will bring! Not “a millstone hung around his neck” (Luke 17:2), nor “the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6)—which serve as punishments that destroy only the body—but “outer darkness” (Matthew 22:13), “the worm that never dies” (Mark 9:44), and every kind of torment beyond human understanding and thought, cruelly consuming even the very soul—this, truly, awaits that devil among men (2 Timothy 3:3), that foreigner among his own brethren, the disgrace of his kindred, the accuser of creation.

But as for us, beloved, let us flee from “their wickedness” (Matthew 22:18), lest we also become partakers in their punishment. Let us avoid “false witness” (Matthew 15:19), “insult” (1 Peter 3:9), and “slander” (Psalm 118:134). Let us guard ourselves from every work of impurity (Ephesians 4:19), that we may attain the Kingdom of Heaven (2 Timothy 4:18) “in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11), to whom belongs all glory and honor (2 Peter 1:17), along with the unoriginate Father and the co-eternal and ever-existing Spirit—the Consubstantial and Life-Giving Trinity—now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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