Verbalism, idle talk and curiosity

Misappropriation, foul profitability and covetousness

Msheloimstvo: what kind of dream is this?
This concept means greed, bribery and extortion. This sin is inherent not only to wealthy people, but also to poor people who strive to accumulate as many things as possible for a rainy day. The word comes from the adjective “mossy” - overgrown with mold and moss. Most of the things that greedy people accumulate disappear and become covered with moss. And greed, which contributes to such behavior, is one of the seven deadly sins. What is misappropriation and foul profit? If money-grabbing is greed and a passion for accumulating unnecessary things, then foul profitability is making a profit through unjust means. This includes weighting, measuring, deception and earnings based on inciting other sins and harmful passions. This includes forgery of documents, purchasing stolen items at a low price, and making a profit for work that was not completed.

Covetousness is understood as making a profit by violating justice and profiting from the problems of others. Appropriation of the fruits of someone else's work, inflated prices for scarce goods, burdening debtors with increased interest on the borrowed amount - all this is meant by the concept of extortion.

Position of Orthodoxy

A person, in pursuit of profit, often forgets about justice, love for neighbors and commandments that cannot be broken. There are only seven mortal sins, but punishment can also follow for other offenses that people knowingly commit. Despite the fact that the harm from mortal transgressions causes little harm to the sinner himself, the church condemns them. What is the sin of money-grabbing in Orthodoxy? This is an offense that harms not only others, but also the one who commits it.

In some cases, molesting is a pathological problem. The passion for acquiring and accumulating new things and exchanging them is not encouraged by the clergy, as it is a consequence of greed and selfishness. Those who suffer from this illness experience the fear of losing accumulated items. They are collected, collected, hidden. People who succumb to money-grabbing will never do the following:

• they will not sell unnecessary things;
• they will not give them to relatives and friends;
• they will not even use them for their intended purpose, since this will make the item unusable.

Sinners not only independently acquire or exchange things, but also receive them in the form of bribes. After this, they order special cabinets, racks, shelves and safes for storing them, hiding them from the eyes of others. Usually there is a collection of objects for one purpose - weapons, dishes, toys, watches, stuffed animals. Over the years, all this becomes covered with dust, because it cannot be fully used.

The Church approves the use of each item for its intended purpose. Msheloimstvo, in turn, does not imply this. Violation of this order is equivalent to ignoring biblical commandments. Storing and collecting things that have been purchased, donated or found is hidden under the concept of mschelomy. The meaning of the word comes from the term “mshel” - moss, because unused things are covered with dust and moss.

The Church says that each thing should be acquired only out of necessity, and not to satisfy pathological sinful inclinations. One of the commandments prohibits creating idols for oneself, and by storing a thing and worshiping it, a person makes an idol out of it.

Verbalism, idle talk and curiosity

The Optina elders often reminded people of prudent silence and warned against talking too much.

The Monk Ambrose instructed:
“Speaking well is scattering silver, but prudent silence is gold.

It is better to foresee and remain silent than to speak and then repent.

Intelligent silence is the most precious thing. If you put all the rules of prudence on one scale, and put prudent silence on the other scale, then silence alone will outweigh.

Silence is good, but timely and prudent, which is not followed by repentance.

When you feel that you want to say something out of passion, be silent. Hold back, don't speak. After all, this is a fight, you need to win, then you’ll only fall behind.”

"Be silent anymore"

The Monk Barsanuphius advised:
“Be silent more. And if they ask you anything, even in church, answer without any irritability, without showing a gloomy look.”

Reverend Nikon wrote:

“Remember the monastic rule: do not start speaking yourself without being asked.”

And although these words of the elder apply to monastics, those living in the world need to remember them more often. After all, how often do we give unsolicited advice, ask unnecessary questions, tell something deeply personal (which should be saved only for close people), and then repent of it.

“There are more disasters from careless words than from the deeds themselves.”

The Monk Ambrose warned:

“The word is not a sparrow: if it flies out, you won’t catch it. Often more troubles come from careless words than from the deeds themselves. That’s why a person is called a verbal person, so that he utters words that are reasonably thought out.”

Prayerful mood and peace in the soul

St. Nikon taught silence to preserve a prayerful mood and peace in the soul:

“After prayer, at home or in church, in order to maintain a prayerful, tender mood, silence is necessary. Sometimes even a simple insignificant word can disrupt and frighten away tenderness from our soul.

Silence prepares the soul for prayer. Silence - how beneficial it is for the soul!”

The Monk Moses instructed:

“Keep silence among yourselves, do not say anything extraneous except what is necessary, so that your mind will be pure in your prayers. Reproach yourself mentally and humiliate yourself and consider yourself the worst of all, and God will look upon your humility and protect you from all temptations.”

Verbalism and despondency

The Optina monks warned: those who cannot restrain themselves from talking a lot will not be able to free themselves from many painful excuses and the despondency and despair that follow these excuses. Venerable Leo wrote:

"W. when it is not necessary to completely guard the doors with barriers about her lips, then otherwise it is not possible for her to free herself from the embarrassment and torment of the most voluptuous excuses and the same thoughts and from the boredom and despondency that occurs, leading to thoughts of the most destructive despair.”

Idle talk and curiosity

The Optina elders also warned against idle talk and careless words. The Monk Nikon reminded his spiritual children:

“Beware of jokes and careless words when dealing with each other. This slander and idle talk can become a habit.”

The elders also warned about the dangers of curiosity.
The Monk Joseph taught: “Being curious about other people’s thoughts is sinful and can be harmful. This should not be allowed in any way.”

The Monk Barsanuphius said that curiosity, despite its apparent innocence, is nevertheless a mortal sin, because it has disastrous consequences:

“The Holy Fathers say: curiosity is a mortal sin. It seems strange to some how this curiosity is placed along with the gravest sins, for example murder, robbery, etc., but because it has disastrous consequences.”

Reckless silence

There can also be reckless silence out of resentment, anger or vanity, and such silence can be even worse than talking too much.

Reverend Nikon wrote:

“Silence is good for the soul. When we speak, it is difficult to refrain from idle talk and judgment. But there is bad silence, when someone is angry and therefore remains silent.”

The Monk Macarius warned:

“Reckless and irrational silence is worse than a lot of talking, but measured or small strengthening will not bring any harm, but will also humble you and give you strength to accomplish feats and works. But immensity in both cases brings very great harm.”

The warnings of the Optina elders about the dangers of verbosity, idle talk, careless jokes and curiosity are still relevant in our time.

Let us remember: “For every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12: 36-37).

Fighting Sin

Money-gathering - what is this sin and how to fight it? First you need to admit to yourself the sinfulness of your actions and the need to get rid of such passion. The fight against sin is as follows:

• it is necessary to carry out general cleaning in places where accumulated items are stored;
• It is better to throw away really unnecessary things that are stored indoors only as accessories;
• items that can still be used must be given to those in need - taken to orphanages or donated to the disabled, the elderly, or donated to the church.

It is possible to atone for sin only with full awareness and repentance of what you have done. The sinner must make a vow to himself that he will subsequently acquire any item only in case of extreme need. Every evening to atone for your guilt you need to read a prayer:

“I confess to my God and Creator, the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, my sins committed throughout my life in deeds, thoughts, dreams. Drunkenness, despondency, idleness, jealousy, anger, envy, greed, slander, condemnation, negligence, gluttony, money-seeking, rancor, foul language, hatred, covetousness and other sins with which I have angered You, which I regret, forgive me, Lord God my! Help me, Lord, I pray to You with tears, forgive my sins, deliver me from them. Amen".

The Church requires its parishioners not to create idols for themselves, to acquire and use each thing only according to need, not to violate the biblical commandments and to keep their souls pure and sinless.

Sins tortured at ordeals

THE ORDERAL OF BLESSED THEODORA - audio version

1. IN WORDS:

unspeaking, verbosity, idle talk, idle talk, vanity, slander, foul language, jokes, obscenity, vulgarity, distortion of words, simplifications, grandeur, absurdities, ridicule, laughter, laughter, name-calling, singing passionate songs, rumors, grumpiness, tongue-tiedness, vileness, incitement , blasphemy, desecration of people and the name of God, taking things in vain, rudeness.

2. LIE:

flattery, sycophancy, pleasing with cunning, meanness, cowardice, antics, vanity, isolation, imagination, artistry, perjury, perjury, concealing sins in confession, secrecy, breaking the promise given in confession not to repeat sins, deceit.

3. SLANDER:

insults, condemnation, distortion of the truth, sneaking, complaints, abuse, mockery, contributing to the sins of others, impudence, cynicism, moral pressure, threats, mistrust, doubts.

4. GLUTTONY:

overeating, drinking, smoking, secret eating, breaking fasts, feasting, drunkenness, drug addiction, substance abuse, etc., gluttony.

5. LAZINESS:

negligence, inattention, oblivion, oversleeping, idleness, despondency, carelessness, cowardice, weakness of will, idleness, forgetfulness, carelessness, hackwork, parasitism, unnecessaryness, coldness and lukewarmness towards the spiritual, carelessness about prayer, carelessness about salvation, insensibility.

6. THEFT:

theft, theft, division, adventures, scams, complicity, use of stolen goods, fraud, misappropriation in the form of seizure, sacrilege.

7. LOVE OF AVERAGE:

self-interest, search for profit, over-concern, acquisitiveness, greed, stinginess, hoarding, lent money at interest, speculation, bribes.

8. EXPENSIVENESS:

extortion, robbery, robbery, deceit, tricks, failure to repay debts.

9. NOT TRUE:

deception, falsehood, bribery, unjust trial, dishonor, extravagance, suspicion, concealment, complicity.

10. ENVY:

in material goods, in spiritual virtues, partiality, desire for someone else's.

11. PRIDE:

conceit, self-will, self-aggrandizement, exaltation, vanity, arrogance, hypocrisy, self-adoration, disobedience, non-concession, disobedience, contempt, shamelessness, dishonesty, blasphemy, ignorance, insolence, self-justification, stubbornness, unrepentance, arrogance.

12. MEMORIES:

rancor, gloating, revenge, vindictiveness, sabotage, bullying, tricks, slander.

13. ANGER:

intransigence, temper, hatred, rage, blows, kicks, insolence, embitterment, despair, quarrels, squabbles, hysterics, scandals, treachery, mercilessness, rudeness, resentment.

14. MURDER:

(thought, word, deed), fights, the use of all kinds of tools or drugs for murder, abortion (or complicity).

15. MAGIC:

fortune telling, divination, astrology, horoscopes, fashion seduction, healing (extrasensory perception) hiding behind the name of God, levitation, witchcraft, witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism, witchcraft.

20. NO MERCY:

insensibility, ruthlessness, persecution of the weak, cruelty, petrification, callousness, did not care about children, the elderly, the sick, did not give alms, did not sacrifice themselves and their time for the sake of others, inhumanity, heartlessness.

Source

Mischief: what kind of sin is it?

Interpretation

The meaning of this word can be interpreted in two ways. In the first version, it goes back to the ancient Russian word “mshel”, meaning “self-interest”, in another interpretation - “thing”, “property”, and in the church context of modern language it can be translated as “greed”. Extortion and bribery are in the same category. The love of greed is classified by the Orthodox Church as a passion, and a vicious, sinful one, akin to the love of money.

The second option is more down-to-earth. It is often associated with mossy, i.e. because it was overgrown with moss and mossy. This may mean collecting (usually senseless) old, no longer needed - mossy - things, putting aside food supplies just in case (as they say, for a rainy day).

A striking example of a msheloimtsa is Gogol’s Plyushkin, who was engaged in accumulating all sorts of rubbish for the sake of this process itself.

In the “Orthodox Prayer Book”, in the prayers of the evening rule there is a confession of everyday sins, among which money-grubbing is mentioned.

Plyushkin is a good example.

In former times, prayer books were compiled for monastics, and this sin was condemned when a monk surrounded himself with beautiful or valuable things, collecting and accumulating them, although he had absolutely no need for them in everyday life. Even a layman does not need them on such a scale.

What is sin? Well, a man collects his clothes and doesn’t offend anyone! And this is sinful, from the point of view of the church, for several reasons.

• Things should be used for the purpose for which they were created, and not be exhibits in a “home museum.”
• Buying unnecessary things is already catering to your weaknesses.
• Creating a material cult is essentially creating an idol for yourself, which the Bible warns against.

To accumulate, store, cherish, collect - is this what household items are created for? They must “work”, otherwise a person will become dependent on them and, without noticing it, become stingy and greedy.

A type of the sin of money-taking is bribery. What kind of sin is this? The ancient word “bribe” with a completely neutral original meaning is increasingly used with a negative connotation, speaking of corruption and bribery.

Bribery - receiving gifts, offerings for the purpose of bribery, outright bribes.

Over time, this type of money-grabbing also turns into collecting similar gifts, admiring them and boasting to friends, and often direct begging, if not extortion, for one or another object of desire.

The passion of collecting, by and large, is the same thing as msheloying. A man pays a lot of money for some “exhibit” that no one except him will see.

Msheloimstvo is materialism.

In the same way, Msheloimites also include avid shopaholics, for whom shopping is literally the meaning and purpose of life. Such people can buy so many new clothes that they will not be able to even wear them once. And the main thing is that you can do without them.

This is a kind of idolatry. As, indeed, is the habit of old, tried and tested things (clothes, shoes).

To summarize what has been said, this sin can be defined by a completely modern word - materialism. Its meaning is extremely transparent - pathological love for things, enslavement by them. In this case, the temporary and transitory harms a person’s concern for his fate in Eternity.

Is it possible to get rid of it?

If you sincerely desire, you can get rid of any sin by repenting of it in confession. It is necessary to fight money-grabbing by developing the opposite virtues:

• unselfishness,
• caring about the benefits and gifts of the spiritual plane, and not about perishable things,
• alms,
• mercy to those in need,
• reluctance to accumulate, acquire earthly riches, i.e. acquisitions,
• indifference to wealth
• generosity.

This concerns the spiritual component. The “household” part includes the ability to part with unused things, giving them to someone who needs it.

It wouldn't hurt to carry out frequent systematic inspections of the house and the bins, where deposits of unnecessary things or products may be found.

Before you decide to make your next purchase, carefully consider whether you really need it.

A good step would be, instead of a controversial purchase, which, it is possible, will then simply be shifted from place to place, to actually help someone, perhaps in the store itself, by buying something vital for them.

I would like to cite the point of view of Hieromonk Seraphim (Kalugin), according to which the laity, ideally, can get rid of this sin by literally giving their last shirt to the needy. But since not everyone is mentally prepared for this, it is enough to share at least the thing that is lying on your shelf as dead weight, but someone really needs it.

Untruthfulness - what is this sin in Orthodoxy?

Of particular interest is the following spiritual experience of Elder Jacob: “I began my priestly service in a monastery, the charter of which, along with daily services, also provided for the celebration of the daily Divine Liturgy.
Early in the morning we began the service and, before it was completely dawn, we finished the Liturgy. Thus, partaking of the Most Pure Mysteries every day, I felt such strength within myself that I was like a lion. There was such a Divine fire in my soul that all day I felt neither hunger, nor thirst, nor cold, nor heat. From morning to evening I worked tirelessly. And even in the summer, at noon, when other fathers retired to their cells, looking for a little coolness, I carried black soil and fertilized the gardens behind the monastery, which I cultivated.” Elder Jerome emphasized: “Whoever receives Communion correctly before Communion must have fear of God, reverence and contrition, and after it he must feel peace and joy.”

I separately repent of playing the following satanic games:

2) “Alice through the looking glass”: open Satanism, madness, a system of madness, satanic symbolism (a sign of anarchy, Antichrist...), demons, demons, playing for a “girl” who goes crazy, becomes a fallen spirit, communicates with fallen spirits, going increasingly crazy, he uses demonic murderous techniques, witchcraft, and tortures everyone and everything (this is the “entertainment” of fallen spirits in hell and in God-allowed areas of the Earth)

Source

Nasty profitability

What does this sin mean? The first half of the word is quite telling: bad means something unworthy, “a bad acquisition.” So it is, profit can be obtained in an unworthy way, in a dishonest and unjust way. These include:

Cheating the buyer is a bad profit.

• body kit,
• measurement,
• deception,
• shortchange.

This also includes earnings received from, say, playing cards in a casino, i.e. based on the use of human weaknesses and passions, on their incitement or satisfaction.

Enrichment through the use of one’s authority, official position, and if this concerns the church, then even the priesthood will also be a bad acquisition.

If a person forges or uses counterfeit documents, including a travel pass, or buys stolen goods, this can also be called foul behavior.

It may seem strange, but parasitism is also part of the same tribe. Why? According to the “Orthodox Catechism,” if a person receives payment for something that he does not perform or does not perform properly and does not bring benefit, then he seems to be stealing both payment and benefit.

Extortion

A bribe is also extortion.

This concept implies sinful passion, which consists in obtaining one’s benefit by depriving another person, taking advantage of his difficult or hopeless life situation.

Covetous people are able to acquire benefits by using other people's labor or property, the plight of their neighbor:

• assign a high loan percentage,
• load with unnecessary official duties for the same fee,
• raise prices for a particular product.

In a broader sense, covetousness represents elementary greed, love of money, thirst for enrichment. St. Theophan the Recluse classified covetousness as a passion for getting more and more, associated with unscrupulousness when concluding trade transactions, usury, theft, and taking bribes.

To cleanse yourself of this sin and be saved, you must not only realize and stop doing it, but also return what you received through unrighteous means to the offended person, and if this is impossible for some reason, simply perform acts of mercy.

What is molestation in Orthodoxy?

It should be noted that msheloimstvo comes from the old Russian word “mshel”, that is, a thing or things that are covered with moss (moss). The sinful act itself is a type of addiction such as love of money. This sin lies in the tendency to receive or buy more and more new things, without having any special need for oneself, collecting unnecessary things.

The Holy Fathers interpret the statements of the Saints that this is the sin of money-grabbing - a mania for collecting various property, excessive accumulation, acquisition of unnecessary things, as well as greed and bribery called money-taking, as follows:

Priest Pavel Gumerov: “Such traits as addiction to accumulation and greed are inherent not only to people with good incomes. This kind of sinful act is expressed in greed for things that are unnecessary for a person, when they become overgrown with moss from prolonged inactivity and storage. Also, quite poor people can be carried away by such an addiction, that is, buying and accumulating clothes, dishes or any other items, filling shelves, pantries, cabinets with them, and even often forgetting where everything is”;

Priest Leo of Optina: “As for such a sinful act (that is, in other words, an overabundance of various objects) and the love of things, that is, according to the reasoning of the Holy Fathers, such weakness is more disastrous and more sorrowful than the love of money.”

Self-justification, or False State

Whether we like it or not, people for the most part are such that they prefer to evaluate all their actions and deeds exclusively from the positive side. In everyday life, we constantly try to justify ourselves, reduce the degree of our guilt, or completely throw off the burden of responsibility from our shoulders, often shifting it onto others. A life position consisting of constant self-justification leads a person to always turn a blind eye to his shortcomings and weaknesses, to the point that he may gradually stop seeing them.

However, some psychologists consider this phenomenon as one of the most important protective mechanisms that protect the human psyche from the influence of negative circumstances. Thus, in fact, if not inevitability, then a kind of necessity, at least in some cases, of active self-justification is allowed.

In the Orthodox consciousness, self-justification is a disastrous sin

In the Orthodox consciousness, self-justification is a disastrous sin. The meaning of this vice is that a person does not see, or rather, does not want to see his guilt, does not recognize his sinfulness. In the eyes of other people, such a person tries to look unsullied, at the same time considering himself a standard in all respects. All this suggests that the basis of self-justification is the passion of pride, that is, the exclusive isolation of a person on his own person. With this understanding, it seems to him that everything revolves around him, everything is drawn to him, and he feels himself at the center of everything and gives everything the impulse of life. In such a state, a person ascribes the truth only to himself, and considers everything that disagrees with his opinion not worthy of attention, wrong and unfair. By removing the blame from himself, such a person makes anyone or anything the culprit of troubles and grief.

When it seems that injustice is everywhere, and a person, being convinced that he is right, is offended and indignant at others, it is important not to dwell on this, but to direct his thoughts in the right direction. You need to find the cause of problems not in others, but in yourself, remember all past sins and begin to mourn them in your own soul. It is important to seek excuses from God, rather than making excuses before Him.

Source

How to deal with sinful addiction

In order to prevent the accumulation of unnecessary things in the house, you should more often conduct an audit in the places where they are stored in the largest quantities. However, revision alone is not enough; you need to start changing internally, on a spiritual level, and learn the ability to part with things without pity.

If there are unnecessary and unused items in the house, then it is best to give them to those who really need them, and such people or even entire families may be found in your house. Also, those things that are no longer in use can be brought to the church or to collection points to collect shoes, clothes and other items for the needy.

You could read about what the word money-grabbing means above, and its mention can be heard in the daily evening prayer, in which you can ask for forgiveness for the sinfulness you have committed. The text of the prayer itself is as follows:

“I confess to You, Lord my God and Creator, in the One Holy Trinity, glorified and worshiped Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, all my sins, which I have committed all the days of my life, and for every hour, and now, and in past days and nights, deed, word, thought, binge eating, drunkenness, secret eating, idle talk, despondency, laziness, bickering, disobedience, slander, condemnation, neglect, pride, covetousness, theft, unspeaking, filthiness, money-gathering, jealousy, envy, anger , memory of malice, hatred, covetousness and all my feelings: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and my other sins, both mental and physical, in the image of my God and Creator I have angered You, and my neighbor has not been truthful; Regretting these things, I present my guilt to You, my God, and have the will to repent; “Indeed, Lord my God, help me, with tears I humbly pray to Thee: but I have passed over my sins with Thy mercy, forgive me, and absolve me from all these things that I have said before Thee, as I am Good and Lover of mankind.”

May the Lord protect you!

You might also be interested in watching a video about money-grabbing these days:

From the heritage of the Optina elders

The Optina elders often reminded people of prudent silence and warned against talking too much.

“Speaking well is scattering silver, but prudent silence is gold.

It is better to foresee and remain silent than to speak and then repent.

Intelligent silence is the most precious thing. If you put all the rules of prudence on one scale, and put prudent silence on the other scale, then silence alone will outweigh.

Silence is good, but timely and prudent, which is not followed by repentance.

When you feel that you want to say something out of passion, be silent. Hold back, don't speak. After all, this is a fight, you need to win, then you’ll only fall behind.”

The Monk Barsanuphius advised:

“Keep quiet. And if they ask you anything, even in church, answer without any irritability, without showing a gloomy look.”

Reverend Nikon wrote:

“Remember the monastic rule: do not start speaking yourself without being asked.”

And although these words of the elder apply to monastics, those living in the world need to remember them more often. After all, how often do we give unsolicited advice, ask unnecessary questions, tell something deeply personal (which should be saved only for close people), and then repent of it.

“There are more disasters from careless words than from the deeds themselves.”

The Monk Ambrose warned:

“The word is not a sparrow: if it flies out, you won’t catch it. Often more troubles come from careless words than from the deeds themselves. That’s why a person is called a verbal person, so that he utters words that are reasonably thought out.”

Prayerful mood and peace in the soul

St. Nikon taught silence to preserve a prayerful mood and peace in the soul:

“After prayer, at home or in church, in order to maintain a prayerful, tender mood, silence is necessary. Sometimes even a simple insignificant word can disrupt and frighten away tenderness from our soul.

Silence prepares the soul for prayer. Silence - how beneficial it is for the soul!”

The Monk Moses instructed:

“Keep silence among yourselves, do not say anything extraneous except what is necessary, so that your mind will be pure in your prayers. Reproach yourself mentally and humiliate yourself and consider yourself the worst of all, and God will look upon your humility and protect you from all temptations.”

Verbalism and despondency

The Optina monks warned: those who cannot restrain themselves from talking a lot will not be able to free themselves from many painful excuses and the despondency and despair that follow these excuses. Venerable Leo wrote:

"W. when it is not necessary to completely guard the doors with barriers about her lips, then otherwise it is not possible for her to free herself from the embarrassment and torment of the most voluptuous excuses and the same thoughts and from the boredom and despondency that occurs, leading to thoughts of the most destructive despair.”

Idle talk and curiosity

The Optina elders also warned against idle talk and careless words. The Monk Nikon reminded his spiritual children:

“Beware of jokes and careless words when dealing with each other. This slander and idle talk can become a habit.”

The elders also warned about the dangers of curiosity. The Monk Joseph taught:

“Being curious about other people’s thoughts is sinful and can be harmful. This should not be allowed in any way.”

The Monk Barsanuphius said that curiosity, despite its apparent innocence, is nevertheless a mortal sin, because it has disastrous consequences:

“The Holy Fathers say: curiosity is a mortal sin. It seems strange to some how this curiosity is placed along with the gravest sins, for example murder, robbery, etc., but because it has disastrous consequences.”

There can also be reckless silence out of resentment, anger or vanity, and such silence can be even worse than talking too much.

Reverend Nikon wrote:

“Silence is good for the soul. When we speak, it is difficult to refrain from idle talk and judgment. But there is bad silence, when someone is angry and therefore remains silent.”

The Monk Macarius warned:

“Reckless and irrational silence is worse than a lot of talking, but measured or small strengthening will not bring any harm, but will also humble you and give you strength to accomplish feats and works. But immensity in both cases brings very great harm.”

The warnings of the Optina elders about the dangers of verbosity, idle talk, careless jokes and curiosity are still relevant in our time.

Let us remember: “For every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12: 36-37).

Source