"Whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to judgment; Whoever says to his brother, 'Raka,' shall be liable to the Sanhedrin; but whosoever shall say, 'Fool,' shall be liable to hell fire" (Matt. 5:22).

"But now put away all things: wrath, wrath, malice, slander, foul language in your mouth" (Col. 3:8).

84. Anger is the feeling of a heart disease born of resentment, which is expressed either in deed or in word.

85. 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 the various members of the body. Eyes blush and sparkle like sparks with anger; the veins swell from anger, the eyebrows and hair rise; gnashing our teeth with anger, foaming with our lips, nodding our heads, turning and turning our heads. His face darkens with anger. The action of anger is that we squeeze our hands and clap them, we strike our feet on the ground; in anger we strike at the breast, we tear our hair and clothes; filled with anger, he shouts, screams, sheds tears, complains, blasphemes and often vomits out, which he later regrets. In a word, the whole man is changed in anger, the whole appearance is like a demoniac appears. If such vile external signs are shown, if the body is so ugly from anger, what is already inside, in the heart, which spews out such a stinking smell? How vile and ugly is the soul of the angry, how vile it is in the sight of God, when only the sight of the angry one seems unbearable to us, who ourselves bear the same evil inside! In a word, it is impossible to depict the vile state of the poor soul. And this can be noticed not only in an adult, but also in a small child and infant: how he screams, rages, turns away from everything, until his anger is quenched! From this we can see what a great poison from the devil the human heart is filled with, what a great evil is hidden within us, which we cannot mourn enough. And this teaches us to sigh unceasingly and pray to God that our heart, so cruelly corrupted, may be corrected and renewed. "Build up a pure heart in me, O God, and renew the spirit of righteousness in my womb" (Psalm 50:12). But when it is corrected and good, then its fruits will also be good, that is, deeds, words, and thoughts.

86. Anger turns into malice and rancor if it is long restrained and nourished in the heart. Therefore we are commanded to cut it short quickly, so that it does not grow into hatred and malice, and so the greater evil is not added to evil. "Let not the sun go down on your anger; and give no place to the devil," says the Apostle (Ephesians 4:26-27). As a fire, if it is not extinguished quickly, eats up many houses, so anger, if it is not soon stopped, causes much evil and is the cause of many misfortunes. Therefore, according to the admonition of the Apostle, anger must soon be expelled from the heart, when it begins, so that, having intensified, both we who are angry and those against whom we are angry will no longer harm and destroy.

87. Both anger and malice are born of immeasurable self-love. For the self-lover seeks his own gain, glory and honor in everything; and when he sees something in an obstacle to his intention and desire, he is troubled, sad and angry with the one who hinders, therefore he tries to bring his anger into action, that is, to take revenge, which is characteristic of malice.

88. Malice is committed in various ways: 1) By taking away the life of the one against whom the evil occurs. Thus Cain, incited by envy and malice, rose up against the innocent Abel and killed his half-brother. 2) Beating, poisoning, taking away health, possessions, damage to livestock, etc. 3) Hatred and persecution of the friends of the one against whom malice is nourished in the heart. For the wicked one, if he cannot harm the one against whom he is angry, tries to persecute and embitter his friends and those who love him. Thus Satan, being angry with Christ and hating Him, persecutes and embitters Christians, His servants, who love Him and are loved by Him. People follow this evil and spiteful spirit, and in its likeness they commit malice. 4) Backbiting and slander. Hence it happens that so many innocently endure grievous reproaches and slander, and both ecclesiastical and secular histories are full of examples of such evil. And in the present age, many will know the same evil action and its abominable fruits. 5) Many have a heart filled with such malice, that, having fulfilled it, they boast. It is a great folly to boast of what one should regret! You have done harm to your neighbor; the law of God, holy and eternal, has been violated; God Almighty, great and terrible, was angered; they have written themselves down to Satan and subjected them to eternal torment - and they boast of this lawless deed.. So malice darkens the eye of the soul that the poor man does not see his obvious destruction. He sins twice. He sins and boasts of sin: "Look, I gave it to him, let him know me." True, he knows you, he knows your malice, he knows that you have injured him. But do you know yourself? Where are you and what condition are you in? Do you know that you have injured yourself more than him? You have destroyed his body, but you have destroyed your own soul. People despise and condemn him because of your slander, but God condemns you. Thou hast subjected it to its disgrace and temporal reproach, and thou hast subjected thyself to eternal reproach. Listen to what the Psalmist sings to you: "Why do you boast of malice, O mighty one?" and note that he further adds: "Therefore God will destroy you to the end; He shall uproot thee, and carry thee away from thy dwelling, and thy root from the land of the living" (Psalm 51:3, 7). That is why St. Chrysostom says: "When we are angry and deceitful against others, then we sharpen the sword against ourselves, and we wound ourselves with wounds much greater than theirs" (Discourse 51 on the Evangelist John). 6) Many out of malice fall into such madness and blindness that they prefer to destroy themselves rather than abandon vengeance. I, they say, will die myself, and I will take revenge on him.. Why do you say and rage, you blinded and poor creature? Do you want to destroy yourself, so that your brother may perish, for whom Christ, the Son of God, died? Look around, what and whose spirit is acting in you? Is it not the one who himself perished and our forefathers, and with them destroyed us? He always breathes malice for our destruction. Christ wants to save both you and him, but you want to destroy both yourself and him. But see against whom you rise up and arm yourself; He says: "He who is not with Me is against Me" (Matt. 12:30). By your own destruction you seek your neighbor's destruction, and therefore you are not with Christ, but against Christ, Who wants to save you and your neighbor in such a way that He shed His Blood for this. And by this you show that you are philosophizing in the same way as that evil spirit which in every way wants to drag you and your neighbor and all people into destruction. And, as it seems, you do worse than the demon. For the demon does not rise up against the demon, but they all arm themselves against one man and seek how to destroy him. But you rise up against a man like yourself and want to destroy your brother, who recognizes the same Creator and Lord as you do; he has the same father in the flesh Adam as you do; of the same nature as you; by the same Redeemer Christ redeemed from the devil and hell, just as you are; He is washed by the same bath of baptism, as you are; I am called to the same eternal life as you are. Yet in the fire of your anger you cry out: I myself will perish, and I will take revenge on him.. True, you will destroy yourself, if you will, but not your neighbor, if he lives in the grace and help of the Highest. Do you not know that there is destruction, which you wish both for yourself and for your neighbor? Put your hand to the fire, and you will know in part what destruction is. If you cannot endure this little fire, as you can endure the eternal fire, which burns and does not shine; burns, and does not eat; torments, and does not kill? By this fire, the wicked, if they do not repent like iron, will be red-hot, and from without and within they will be devoured and tormented without end. But the blinded man does not see this, and in his rage he cries: "I will perish myself, and I will not leave him..

Oh, malice, devil's daughter, - malice, how you blind the poor man! The wicked one wants to destroy himself, so that his neighbor may perish. There can be no greater madness than to seek one's neighbor's perdition by one's own destruction. Many of the wicked abstain from fish, milk, eggs, meat, which God has not forbidden, but even with thanksgiving and prayer has allowed to be consumed; but they want to sacrifice the living people of God as a sacrifice! Many eat nothing on Wednesday and Friday; but out of malice they do not want to fast even for one minute - what God forbids under the threat of eternal torment. Such a great and terrible evil is malice! So miserably does malice captivate the heart and blind the mind! And surely there is a vice, the devil's own, who himself died, and tries to attract others to the same destruction.

89. Since the poison of malice is hidden in the heart of wicked people; and they secretly weave various stratagems against the one against whom they are angry; and now in one way, then in another, then in a third way they plot to commit their malice, and therefore it is impossible to protect oneself from them. The pious soul has only one refuge left - holy prayer, patience, unshakable hope in the Providence of God, before Whom nothing is hidden, Who rewards everyone according to their deeds.

90. Wicked people, if they believe that God exists and rewards all according to their deeds, must put aside malice and forgive their neighbor, according to the word of Christ: "Forgive, and you will be forgiven," and heed what Sirach says: "He who avenges will receive vengeance from the Lord, who will not forget his sins. Forgive your neighbor's offense, and then through your prayer your sins will be forgiven. Man harbors anger towards man, but asks the Lord for forgiveness; He has no mercy for a person like himself, and prays for his sins; Himself, being in the flesh, nourishes malice: who will cleanse his sins? Remember the latter and cease to be at enmity; remember corruption and death, and keep the commandments; remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbor" (Sir. 28:1-7). Nothing destroys a person like malice. Whatever virtues he may have, malice destroys everything. And even then it happens that into the pit which the wicked dig for their neighbor, they themselves accidentally fall and find their own destruction before the time. And so the psalm's word comes true for such people: "He dug a pit and deepened it, but he will fall into the pit which he made. His malice shall be turned upon his head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown" (Psalm 7:16-17).

Chapter 4: On Slander and Condemnation

"Judge not, that ye be not judged: for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you also. And why do you look at the mote in your brother's eye, and do not feel the beam in your own eye? Or how wilt thou say unto thy brother, Let me take the mote out of thy eye, and behold, there is a beam in thy eye? Hypocrite! first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see how to take the mote out of your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:1-5).

91. Condemnation, slander, and backbiting are inherent vices and are the fruits of an unbridled tongue and heart, unguarded by the fear of God. Condemnation not only with the tongue, but also with thought, gesture, nodding the head, sighing, laughing, and other things happens.