From the
Great St. Alphonsus Liguori, on blasphemy
”Nothing,” says the holy
doctor,”is more horrible than blasphemy; for every sin, compared with
blasphemy, is small.” And here it is necessary to observe,
that blasphemies against the saints, against holy things or holidays such as
the sacraments, the Mass, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Holy Saturday are of
the same species as blasphemies against God; for St. Thomas teaches, that, as
the honour paid to the saints, to holy things, and holidays, is referred to
God, so an insult offered to the saints is injurious to God, who is the
foundation of sanctity.
Thus, from the
works of St. Jerome we may infer, that blasphemy is more grievous than theft,
than adultery, or murder. All other sins, says St. Bernardine proceeds from
frailty or ignorance; but the sin of blasphemy proceeds from malice. For it
proceeds from a bad will, and from a certain hatred conceived against God.
To the malice of
blasphemy is added the malice of scandal, which generally accompanies
blasphemy; for this sin is ordinarily committed externally and in presence of
others.
Woe to blasphemers, eternal
woe to them: for, according to Tobias, they shall be condemned. ”They shall be
condemned that blaspheme thee.”
A French village priest who smashed a statue of Jesus in his church has blamed the stress and fatigue of his job for an act which shocked his congregation.
Jean-Jacques Le Roy, 55, a priest in Plestin-les-Greves in Brittany, shouted out "one less!" as he threw the statue to the ground last Thursday during a visit by a sacred art commission.
Vicar-general Gerard Nicole said Le Roy did not like the style of sculpture and local media said he had previously smashed a religious statue in front of a future married couple.
However Le Roy said his act was not deliberate but that he had pushed the statue too hard while checking if it was properly attached to a wall.
"In our ministry, we are called upon from all directions, there aren't many priests, there is a certain fatigue, irritation, stress, it all came together at that moment," he told AFP.
He apologized to those present, but his congregation wrote a letter to the bishop to complain.
"We can understand that people are shocked," said Nicole. "I don't rule out a moment of difficulty, of distress."
Nicole said that Le Roy had been summoned to explain himself to the local bishop.
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