To be silent when we are impelled to utter words injurious to God or to our neighbour, is an act of virtue; but, to be silent in confessing our sins, is the ruin of the soul.
Interpretation
Silence can be virtuous when it prevents harm, but failing to confess our sins can lead to spiritual destruction.
This quote by Alphonsus Liguori emphasizes the dual nature of silence in moral contexts. It suggests that while remaining silent to avoid causing harm to others or to God can be considered virtuous, remaining silent about one's own wrongdoings—failures and sins—can be detrimental to the soul's well-being. The quote calls for a balance between the virtues of silence and the importance of honest self-examination and confession.
In practice
In a sermon about the importance of confession, this quote highlights why honesty about our wrongdoings is crucial for spiritual health.
My Lord Jesus Christ, who, for the love You bear to mankind, do remain night and day in this Sacrament, full of pity and love, awaiting, calling, and receiving all who come to visit You; I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar; I adore You from the depths of my own nothingness; I thank You for the many graces You have given me, and especially for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament.
"The flowers have appeared in our land: the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land." When the soul, like the solitary turtle-dove, retires and recollects itself in meditation to converse with God, then the flowers, that is, good desires, appear; then comes the time of pruning, that is, the correction of faults that are discovered in mental prayer.
In temptations against chastity, the spiritual masters advise us, not so much to contend with the bad thought, as to turn the mind to some spiritual, or, at least, indifferent object. It is useful to combat other bad thoughts face to face, but not thoughts of impurity.
What grieves me most in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love.
Certainly amongst all devotions, after that of receiving the sacraments, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament holds first place, is most pleasing to God, and most useful to ourselves. Do not then, O devout soul, refuse to begin this devotion; and forsaking the conversation of men, dwell each day, from this time forward, for at least half or quarter of an hour, in some church, in the presence of Jesus Christ under the sacramental species. Taste and see how sweet is the Lord.
The minister who keeps back hell from his people in his sermons is neither a faithful nor a charitable man.
For an occurrence to become an adventure, it is necessary and sufficient for one to recount it.
Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time and in the same place.
People think that I must be a very strange person. This is not correct. I have the heart of a small boy. It is in a glass jar on my desk.
So obscure are the greatest events, as some take for granted any hearsay, whatever its source, others turn truth into falsehood, and both errors find encouragement with posterity.
It is not the germs we need worry about. It is our inner terrain.
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