Saint John Cassian
On The Eight Vices 

On Anger

Our fourth struggle is against the demon of anger. We must, with God's help, eradicate his deadly poison from the depths of our souls. So long as he dwells in our hearts and blinds the eyes of the heart with his somber disorders, we can neither discriminate what is for our good, nor achieve spiritual knowledge, nor fulfill our good intentions, nor participate in true life; and our intellect will remain impervious to the contemplation of the true, divine light; for it is written, "For my eye is troubled because of anger" (Psalm 6:7).

Nor will we share in divine wisdom even though we are deemed wise by all men, for it is written: "Anger lodges in the bosom of fools" (Eccles. 7:9). Nor can we discriminate in decisions affecting our salvation even though we are thought by our fellow men to have good sense, for it is written: "Anger destroys even men of good sense" (Prov. 15:1). Nor will we be able to keep our lives in righteousness with a watchful heart, for it is written: "Man's anger does not bring about the righteousness of God" (Jas. 1:20). Nor will we be able to acquire the decorum and dignity praised by all, for it is written: "An angry man is not dignified" (Prov. 11:25).

If, therefore, you desire to attain perfection and rightly to pursue the spiritual way, you should make yourself a stranger to all sinful anger and wrath. Listen to what Saint Paul enjoins: "Rid yourselves of all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking and all malice" (Eph. 4:31). In saying "all" he leaves no excuse for regarding any anger as necessary or reasonable. If you want to correct your brother when he is doing wrong or to punish him, you must try to keep yourself calm; otherwise you yourself may catch the sickness you are seeking to cure and you may find that the words of the Gospel now apply to you: "Physician, heal thyself" (Luke 4:23), or "Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother's eye, and not notice the rafter in your own eye?" (Matt. 7:3).

No matter what provokes it, anger blinds the soul's eyes, preventing it from seeing the Sun of righteousness. Leaves, whether of gold or lead, placed over the eyes, obstruct the sight equally, for the value of the gold does not affect the blindness it produces. Similarly, anger, whether reasonable or unreasonable, obstructs our spiritual vision. Our incensive power can be used in a way that is according to nature only when turned against our own impassioned or self-indulgent thoughts. This is what the Prophet teaches us when he says: "Be angry, and do not sin" (Psalm 4:4) - that is, be angry with your own passions and with your malicious thoughts, and do not sin by carrying out their suggestions. What follows clearly confirms this interpretation: "As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart" (Psalm 4:4) - that is, when malicious thoughts enter your heart, expel them with anger, and then turn to compunction and repentance as if your soul were resting in a bed of stillness.

Saint Paul agrees with this when he cites this passage and then adds: "Do not let the sun go down upon your anger: and do not make room for the devil" (Eph. 4:26-27), by which he means: Do not make Christ, the Sun of righteousness, set in your hearts by angering him through your assent to evil thoughts, thereby allowing the devil to find room in you because of Christ's departure. God has spoken of this Sun in the words of His prophet: "But upon you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings" (Mal. 4:2). If we take Paul's saying literally, it does not permit us to keep our anger even until sunset.

What then shall we say about those who, because of the harshness and fury of their impassioned state, not only maintain their anger until the setting of this day's sun, but prolong it for many days? Or about others who do not express their anger, but keep silent and increase the poison of their rancor to their own destruction? They are unaware that we must avoid anger not only in what we do but also in our thoughts; otherwise our intellect will be darkened by our rancor, cut off from the light of spiritual knowledge and discrimination, and deprived of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

It is for this reason that the Lord commands us to leave our offering before the altar and be reconciled with our brother (cf. Matt. 5:23-24), since our offering will not be acceptable so long as anger and rancor are bottled up within us. The Apostle teaches us the same thing when he tells us to "pray without ceasing" (I Thess. 5:17), and to "pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without anger and without quarrelling" (I Tim. 2:8). We are thus left with the choice either of never praying, and so of disobeying the Apostle's commandment, or of trying earnestly to fulfill his commandment by praying without anger or rancor.

We are often indifferent to our brethren who are distressed or upset, on the grounds that they are in this state through no fault of ours. The Doctor of souls, however, wishing to root out the soul's excuses from the heart, tells us to leave our gift and to be reconciled not only if we happen to be upset by our brother, but also if he is upset by us, whether justly or unjustly; only when we have healed the breach through our apology should we offer our gift.

We may find the same teaching in the Old Testament as well. As though in complete agreement with the Gospels, it says: "Do not hate your brother in your heart" (Lev. 19:17); and: "The way of the rancorous leads to death" (Prov. 12: 28). These passages, then, not only forbid anger in what we do but also angry thought. If therefore we are to follow the divine laws, we must struggle with all our strength against the demon of anger and against the sickness which lies hidden within us.

When we are angry with others we should not seek solitude on the grounds that there, at least, no one will provoke us to anger, and that in solitude the virtue of long-suffering can easily be acquired. Our desire to leave our brethren is because of our pride, and because we do not wish to blame ourselves and ascribe to our own laxity the cause of our unruliness. So long as we assign the causes for our weaknesses to others, we cannot attain perfection in longsuffering.

Self-reform and peace are not achieved through the patience which others show us, but through our own longsuffering towards our neighbor. When we try to escape the struggle for longsuffering by retreating into solitude, those unhealed passions we take there with us are merely hidden, not erased; for unless our passions are first purged, solitude and withdrawal from the world not only foster them but also keep them concealed, no longer allowing us to perceive what passion it is that enslaves us. On the contrary, they impose on us an illusion of virtue and persuade us to believe that we have achieved longsuffering and humility, because there is no one present to provoke and test us.

But as soon as something happens which does arouse and challenge us, our hidden and previously unnoticed passions immediately break out like uncontrolled horses that have long been kept unexercised and idle, dragging their driver all the more violently and wildly to destruction. Our passions grow fiercer when left idle through lack of contact with other people. Even that shadow of patience and longsuffering which we thought we possessed while we mixed with our brethren is lost in our isolation through not being exercised. Poisonous creatures that live quietly in their lairs in the desert display their fury only when they detect someone approaching; and likewise passion-filled men, who live quietly not because of their virtuous disposition but because of their solitude, spit forth their venom whenever someone approaches and provokes them. This is why those seeking perfect gentleness must make every effort to avoid anger not only towards men, but also towards animals and even inanimate objects.

I can remember how, when I lived in the desert, I became angry with the rushes because they were either too thick or too thin; or with a piece of wood, when I wished to cut it quickly and could not; or with a flint, when I was in a hurry to light a fire and the spark would not come. So all-embracing was my anger that it was aroused even against inanimate objects.

If then we wish to receive the Lord's blessing we should restrain not only the outward expression of anger, but also angry thoughts. More beneficial than controlling our tongue in a moment of anger and refraining from angry words is purifying our heart from rancor and not harboring malicious thoughts against our brethren. The Gospel teaches us to cut off the roots of our sins and not merely their fruits. When we have dug the root of anger out of our heart, we will no longer act with hatred or envy. "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer" (I John 3:15), for he kills him with the hatred in his mind. The blood of a man who has been slain by the sword can be seen by men, but blood shed by the hatred in the mind is seen by God, who rewards each man with punishment or a crown not only for his acts but for his thoughts and intentions as well. As God Himself says through the Prophet: "Behold, I am coming to reward them according to their actions and their thoughts" (cf. Ecclus. 35:19); and the Apostle says: "And their thoughts accuse or else excuse them in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men" (Rom. 2:15-16). The Lord Himself teaches us to put aside all anger when He says: "Whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of judgment" (Matt. 5:22). This is the text of the best manuscripts; for it is clear from the purpose of Scripture in this context that the words 'without a cause' were added later. The Lord's intention is that we should remove the root of anger, its spark, so to speak, in whatever way we can, and not keep even a single pretext for anger in our hearts. Otherwise we will be stirred to anger initially for what appears to be a good reason and then find that our incensive power is totally out of control.

The final cure for this sickness is to realize that we must not become angry for any reason whatsoever, whether just or unjust. When the demon of anger has darkened our mind, we are left with neither the light of discrimination, nor the assurance of true judgment, nor the guidance of righteousness, and our soul cannot become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Finally, we should always bear in mind our ignorance of the time of our death, keeping ourselves from anger and recognizing that neither self-restraint nor the renunciation of all material things, nor fasting and vigils, are of any benefit if we are found guilty at the last judgment because we are the slaves of anger and hatred.

"And the Lord spoke all these words: 'I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:' " (Exodus 20:1-5)

Does anyone remember the Old Abbott and Costello skit they did? Abbott would say ,"Who's on first?", Costello would say, "I don't know." And then Abbott would say "I don't know is on second." and then.....well you no the rest of skit. It doesn’t matter too much who is in what position in our lives until we settle the matter of who is on first. In other words, we need to know who is in first place in our lives. This issue must be settled! If anyone, or anything, occupies first place in our lives ahead of God, than our lives are out of control and out of balance. God wants to tell us who must be on first if our lives are to be everything they can be for His glory. Actually even that skit does not give a good illustration of what God is trying to say. The question is not who is on first, or who is first in our lives. The question is who is controlling the game! Who has control of your whole life!

GOD’S REQUIREMENT

God’s requirement is very simple. He demands to be in first place in every area of our lives. He knows that all men have something they put before God Himself, and He demands that it be Himself.

"Adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is Jealous, he is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14) God alone is worthy of our love and devotion. He will allow no intruder coming in and taking the place of what is rightfully God's position.

Origen- "When men try to seduce us to apostasy, it is useful to reflect upon what God wishes to teach us when he says, 'I am the Lord your God, jealous.' In my view, just as the bridegroom who wishes to make his bride love chastely so as to give herself entirely to him and beware of any relationship whatever with any man other than her husband, pretends, though he be wise, to be jealous-he uses this pretense as a kind of antidote for his bride-so the Lawgiver, especially when he reveals himself as the 'firstborn of every creature.' says to his bride, that he is a jealous God. In this way he keeps his followers from any pretended gods."

Some would ask, "Well, isn’t there only one God?" Yes, there is only one true God, but there are many false Gods! It has been said, "Our God is the thing, or the person, which we think most precious, for whom we would make the greatest sacrifice, and who moves our heart with the warmest love. He is the person, or thing, that if lost would leave us desolate." Even the heretic Martin Luther knew that there can be false Gods in our lives. "Whatever we make the most of is our God." – Martin Luther.
But don't take the heretics words as true. Listen to the Early Fathers:

Gregory of Nyssa- "He who says 'you should never worship a strange god' forbids us to worship another god, and the strange god is so called into contradiction to our own God. And who is the strange god? Surely he who is alien from the nature of the true God
Man, by nature, is a religious creature. He will find someone, or something, to give his worship to.
Often, things and people occupy first place in our lives. Notice some things we elevate to the status of God hood in our lives. If you do these things "You just might be a Idolater."

1. The God Of Pleasure

"For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now tell you weeping), that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Whose end is destruction; whose God is their belly; and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things. (Philippians 3:18-19)

Pleasure is like a drug. It often requires more to get the same effect. It Can include: sensual things, the abuse of sex, sports, entertainment, etc. "Rather choosing to be afflicted with the people of God, than to have the pleasure of sin for a time" (Hebrews 11:25)
If Pleasure is your God...You might be and idolater.

2. The God of Possessions

"No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

The gift of grab dominates many lives. If you place money and things first... You might be an idolaters!

3. The God Of Personal Worth

Who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. (Romans 1:25)

When a person feels that the world revolves around them, and that they must always come out on top, that person...just might be an idolater.

4. The God Of Plans And Projects

Anything that occupies the mind and life ahead of God is an idol! If you do this....you might be an idolater.
The list is practically endless. Man can make a God out of anything. Yet, we must allow ourselves no God but the Almighty!
If we conducted a poll and asked each person to name the person or thing that dominated their life, what would the answer be? Whatever it is, that thing or person is your God!

MAN’S RESPONSE To The First Commandment

Man can continue to place everything in the world before God. This is rebellion and will end in hell. Or, man can comply with God’s demands. To do so will result in a blessed life and a glorious eternity.

What, or who, do you see on the throne of your heart? Anything or anyone other than Jesus is an idol!

The only solution to idols is to bring them to God through the sacrament of confession and leave them before Him. He excels in destroying them and replacing them with His wonderful love, His presence and glory, and his grace and mercy. Remember, He will tolerate no one and no thing but Himself on the throne of your heart.

THE RESULTS OF DISOBEDIENCE

When we elevate anything, or anyone to the place of Godhood, we will find out too late that neither it, nor they, will be able to protect us from the awesome wrath of God.

"But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them: thou shalt bring all the nations to nothing." (Psalms 58:9/59:8)

A good illustration is when the Philistine god Dagon was in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant.

"And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when the Ashdod arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place. And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold: And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day." (1 Samuel 5:1-5)

Judgment will always stalk the idolater.

Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: (Exodus 20:5)

God is not saying that he will punish the children for the parent’s sins.

"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin." (Deuteronomy 24:16, see also Ezekiel 18:19-32)

He is saying that sin leaves it’s mark on our children! Children tend to resemble the environment they are exposed to. Things like patterns of abuse, the way we walk, the way we talk, alcoholism etc. Often, it takes generations to break the cycle established by the parent.

"Shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:6)

"Now the law entered in, that sin might abound. And where sin abounded, grace did more abound." (Romans 5:20)

We are all guilty to some degree of manufacturing little gods for ourselves. We may not have a statue or an image to which we bow down, but we do have habits, traditions, activities, people and possessions that we place ahead of God. This is idolatry and this is sin. No one, or no thing deserves your worship more than God Himself. Is He receiving it as he should? Is God Almighty your One and True God?

Why does the Catholic Church permit the use of statues for religious purposes in defiance of God's prohibition against the carving of statues in Exodus 20:4-5?
The Catholic Church does not defy any of God's commandments. Your question reveals an ignorance of the biblical facts surrounding statues. In Exodus 20:4 God condemned the carving of statues for the sake of worshipping them as idols--a blasphemy the Catholic Church also condemns. In Exodus 25:18-20, on the other hand, God commands Moses to carve statues for a religious purpose: two cherubim which would sit atop the Ark of the Covenant.

Notice that these angelic images were to serve such an exalted purpose (not because the statues themselves were in any way intrinsically exalted but because of the use to which they would be put) that God was very exacting in the instructions he gave Moses as to the materials to be used and the posture in which they were to be carved. Similar divine commands to carve statues and embroider images of various religious objects are found in Exodus 21:6-9, Numbers 21:6-9, 1 Kings 6:23-28, and 1 Kings 7:23- 39. In each case, the statue or embroidered image was intended by God for a religious use.

Although the worship of anything, not just statues, in place of the True God is idolatry, there are times when statues are not just tolerable but recommended. Just as those Old Testament statues were ordered fashioned by God to reminded the Israelites of heavenly realities, Catholic statues of Jesus and the angels and the saints serve the same purpose. (https://www.catholic.com/qa/how-can-the-church-allow-statues-when-exodus-20-forbids-it)

READ MORE FROM THE TRADITIONAL CATECHISM AT THE WEBSITE: https://www.traditionalcatechism.com

The Catholic practice of assigning a special devotion to each month goes back to the early 16th century. I would say that the best known of those devotions is probably the dedication of May as the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Also in the month of May we celebrate our mothers. Lately, when you read see or hear the news, it seems that woman have been put into the limelight. With this in mine I wanted to talk a little bit in this editorial about Gods desire for women.

God needs women today.

Women who will faithfully portray through their lives, the glory that He originally intended to manifest through a woman, when He created Eve.

When God made Eve, it was in order that she might be a helper suitable for man (Genesis. 2:18). The glory of this ministry is seen, when we notice that the title of Paraclete, which means 'Helper', is what Jesus used to refer to the Holy Spirit as well (John. 14:16)!

As the Holy Spirit invisibly and silently, yet powerfully helps the believer, even so the woman was created to help the man. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is 'behind the scenes'. So is the woman to be.

The life of Jesus also is an example to woman; for God's Word states that man is the woman's head in exactly the same way as God (the Father) is the head of Christ. Listen to the words of Paul in I Corinthians 11:3. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” Jesus always acted in submission to His Father. A God-fearing woman will act likewise in relation to her husband. Eve's mistake in the garden of Eden was that she failed to consult her husband before she made a decision. Thus Satan seduced and deceived her as it says in (1 Timothy 2:14).

Where Eve failed, God calls Christian wives today to manifest the glory of submission to their husbands, exactly as Jesus was to the Father and as the church is to Christ.

Sin entered the universe through the rebellion of Lucifer. Salvation came through the submission of Christ. The spirit of humble submission to God's authority is the greatest power that there is in the universe - for it is the Spirit of Christ. That Spirit conquered all the spirits of rebellion on the cross. When a wife submits to her husband, she is actually submitting to the authority of God's Word, which commands her to do so; and she is then being influenced by the greatest power in the universe. Even unbelieving husbands can be won over by that power. 1 Peter 3:1,2 says, "In like manner also let wives be subject to their husbands: that if any believe not the word, they may be won without the word, by the conversation, of the wives (or the way the wife lives). Considering your chaste conversation with fear."

Here is where Satan deceives the woman again. As he led the angels astray, he leads the woman astray - through the spirit of rebellion. According to Proverbs 21:19, "it would be better to live in a dessert then with a rebellious, quarrelsome and fretful woman." In other words. It is worse to live with that kind of woman then it is to live in a barren desert! On the other hand, a submissive, excellent and virtuous wife, is as a crown to her husband which makes her home into a palace. (Proverbs 12:4). Your home can either be a palace or a place worse then a desert, spiritually speaking. It all depends on the type of wife that you are. No wonder God puts a great price on women who have a meek (gentle) and a quiet spirit (1 Peter. 3:4).

Proverbs 31:10-31 describes some of the characteristics of this virtuous wife. Her heart, hands and tongue are described as excellent.

Nothing is mentioned about her physical beauty or her feminine charms, for these are declared to be worthless and vain (v. 30). It would be an excellent thing if all women and young girls, and especially young men considering marriage, realized this fact.

The virtuous woman described here, has a heart that fears God (v. 30). This is the foundation for her whole life. She works with her hands, stitching clothes, cooking meals, planting trees and helping the poor (v. 13-22). She uses her tongue at all times with kindness and wisdom (v. 26). She is God-fearing, hard-working and kind - even if she is not beautiful on the outside. The glory of God is manifested through her pure heart, rough hands and soft tongue. (Worldly women, in contrast, have an impure heart, soft hands and a rough tongue!). It is in these areas that God looks for women today to manifest His glory.

As a wife, this virtuous woman is a true helper to her husband. She does him good consistently till the end of her life - not in fits and starts (v. 12). In other words, she never loses her first love for him. She also adjusts herself to his vocation and calling in life, supplementing his income with her own quiet labors at home, being thrifty and careful in finances, so that no money is wasted. No wonder her husband praises her saying that of all the women in the world she is the best (v. 29). Such a woman certainly deserves to be praised publicly too (v. 31), for she has understood the glory of her calling as a woman. Because of lack of time I would like to briefly mention a few other ways that Gods glory is seen in a woman. I would encourage you to read over the scripture references that is given.

The glory of God is seen in a woman who has seen her calling as a home-maker. (Titus 2:5)

The glory of God is seen in a woman's calling as a Mother.

Adam called his wife 'Eve', because she was a mother. In the pure light of God's presence, in Eden, he knew clearly what his wife's calling was. Eve knew it as well. Sin and human traditions (influenced by Satan) have now, however, clouded women's understanding, so that she no longer sees her glory as a mother. Children are now called by the Satanic name of 'accidents', when God calls them 'gifts' (Psalms 127:3). They are also considered to be a 'nuisance', when God considers them to be a 'blessing' (Psalms 127:5; 128:4). This is but another indication of how far, even so-called Christians have drifted away from God and become Satanic in their thinking!

A woman's primary witness for Christ, as we have seen, is by being a man's helper and a mother to her children. But God also calls her to be a witness by her mouth.

Mary Magdalene was the first witness of the risen Christ. She was one who testified about what she had seen and experienced. Every God-fearing Catholic woman, should take there responsibility of giving the good news of Christ to those with whom she is in contact - relatives, friends, neighbors, etc.

Prayer is one of the primary ministries that all Catholic woman can engage in, for the building of the Church.

God is certainly looking today for women who will engage in secret prayer for the fulfillment of His purposes. Women can prophesy too. Acts 2:17,18 clearly states that when the Spirit is outpoured, both men and women will prophesy. This is part of a woman's privilege under the new covenant. What do we mean by prophesy? We mean that she can share God's word in a spirit of meekness. Older women are exhorted to teach the younger sisters practical matters related to their conduct at home (Titus 2:4,5).

The glory of God is seen in the woman wearing a covering. The covering of a woman's head (taught in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16) is meant to symbolize:

(a) that man is the image and glory of God

(b) That the woman is the glory of man.

Not only does the head covering or the mantillas show the glory of God , but the long hair of the woman shows the glory of God.

A woman is also to be a faithful witness for Christ through her clothing. The Holy Spirit urges women to dress modestly and discreetly. (1 Timothy.2:9-10; 1 Peter3:3). Clothes are meant to cover a woman's body, not to expose it. No God-fearing woman will ever wear clothes that are cut and 'shaped' according to the immodest fashions of the women of the world. They are marks of worldly women, not of the disciples of Jesus Christ. (Read Isaiah.3:16-24 carefully, to see how God denounces the dress fashions of the worldly daughters of Zion).

Satan is eager to destroy the God-appointed distinction between the sexes. And he has got 21st-century women to act and behave like men in many ways. As well as Men acting and behaving like women. Domineering wives and women “priests” are all part of the drift of Christendom's women further and further away from God and His Word.

In the midst of all this, God needs women who will stay within the boundaries that He has been laid down in His Word, and taught to us through the centuries by the Fathers of the Church. God needs women who will manifest the true glory of womanhood throughout their lives. Determine with all your heart that you will be a woman after God's own heart, in these last days, in the midst of a sinful and adulterous generation and a compromising Christendom.

God will give you grace for this, if you earnestly desire it yourself.