What are the blessings of a holy tongue? And what are the dangers of a corrupt tongue?

The Holy Bible often warns us of the danger of not restraining our tongues. St. James the apostle says, “If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell” (James 3:2– 6). With just a few words, a person may lose his salvation; and with just a few words a believer can become worthy to join the choir of heaven by the grace of God, as did the righthand thief.

St. Augustine says, “Man tames the wild beast, yet he tames not his tongue! … he tames all else, yet he tames not himself! He tames what he was afraid of, and what he ought to be afraid of, in order that he may tame himself, that he does not fear … if no man can tame the tongue, we must have recourse to God, that He may tame it. For if you should wish to tame it, you cannot, because you are a man … Therefore let God be sought, that man may be tamed. Therefore, ‘O Lord, You have become our refuge’ … Shall the image of God [a human being] tame a wild beast; and shall not God tame His own image? In Him is our hope; let us submit ourselves to Him, and entreat His mercy … and until we are tamed, and tamed thoroughly, that is, are perfected, let us bear with our Tamer. For oftentimes does our Tamer bring forth His scourge too. For if you bring forth the whip to tame your beasts, shall not God do so to tame His beasts (which we are), who of His beasts will make us His sons?”²⁶

St. Jacob of Sarug puts forward his positive view of the tongue that is holy in the Lord, and his awareness of the tongue’s power and superior capabilities. His character in the Lord influenced his view of the tongue, each of them supporting the other and elevating the other. Thus, he speaks of the gift of a holy tongue in these terms:

• a. With a holy tongue the believer participates in the praise of those in heaven.

• b. The one who possesses a holy tongue is a king with authority — the devil and his powers have no authority over him.

• c. A holy tongue utters the name of the inner kingdom, so that the believer experiences the promise of heaven with all his being, while still in this world.

25 St. Cyril of Alexandria, A Commentary upon the Gospel According to St. Luke: Part II , trans. R. Payne Smith (Oxford University Press, 1859): 120: p. 559 amended.

26 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 5.1–4 (NPNF I/6:273).

• d. A holy tongue is the harp of the Holy Spirit, by which the soul sings in harmony with the body.

• e. The secret behind a holy tongue is the wisdom of God which impels a person to rise from glory to glory by the work of the Holy Trinity in the body as well as in the heart, mind, and soul.

• f. A holy tongue is a fertile mother because of which the soul knows neither barrenness nor deprivation of spiritual virtues.

• g. A holy tongue in the Lord is blessed with divine treasures and the believer becomes an ambassador of the Lord.

• h. God cherishes the words of a holy tongue because it speaks divine truth.

• i. With a holy tongue we experience the resurrected life, for it challenges death and all its authority through fellowship with the Savior who is risen from the dead.

• j. Through unceasing praise, Christ is formed within us, and the soul becomes the bride of the holy Christ.

• k. By sanctifying the tongue, fasting is sanctified, and the believer is not enslaved by the desires of the stomach or by gluttony.

St. Jacob of Sarug says,

“In his great beauty Adam was even more glorious than a crown, and among creatures there was no other beauty comparable to his …

He fashioned a brain to be a home for his mind, so that it might reside in a lofty dwelling like a god.

He made for him a palate that he might be able to discriminate tastes,

and He set taste therein that he might distinguish sweet from bitter …

In his breast is the heart wherein all his thoughts are gathered, so that as if from a great storehouse it may put forth all its treasures.

Speech is through his mouth and with his lips the distinction of sounds.”²⁷

27 Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Creation of Adam and the Resurrection of the Dead , trans., Edward G. Mathews (Gorgias Press, 2014) Memra 72.3: p. 26.