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Elder Ephraim on Curses: 'Bless and Do Not Curse' (Romans 12:14)
8:58
What the video says
The preacher expounds on the Apostle Paul's commandment, 'Bless and do not curse' (Romans 12:14), warning that curses, especially those spoken by mothers in anger, can take root and bring real harm. He gives two examples: a mother who cursed her disobedient son with death by rifle, and years later he accidentally shot himself while hunting, and a bishop who cursed a silent pauper who turned out to be deaf, so the curse returned on the bishop himself.
The preacher urges parents to respond to disobedience with prayer, love, and instruction instead of curses, and closes with the assurance that God forgives everything when a person repents.
Key moments
- The Apostle Paul commands, 'Bless and do not curse' (Romans 12:14), and our mouth should voice only blessed words, not thorns that wound our brother.
- Curses are usually voiced by parents, particularly mothers, toward disobedient children in moments of anger, making them guilty before God, since God gives parents no such right.
- Instead of cursing, a mother should kneel and pray with tears for her child's prudence and obedience; the enemy can fulfill a mother's curse and take possession of the child, starting a chain reaction of worse behavior and more anger.
- Mothers should advise children with love, teach them to pray, encourage church attendance, and edify them by personal example, so the children find the path to salvation.
- A mother in a Greek village cursed her insubordinate son, who kept secretly taking his uncle's rifle to hunt, saying, 'May you die by the rifle.'
- Years later the son went hunting, never returned, and was found dead: while jumping a fence the rifle's trigger engaged and he shot himself; his mother and bride then dressed in black.
- The devil's method is to deprive mourners of God's consolation, lock them at home, isolate them, and surround them with destructive thoughts, often leading to suicide.
- A bishop cursed a pauper who did not answer his greeting; his deacon saw a crow come from the bishop's mouth, circle, and return to him, and they found the man was deaf: an unjust curse returns on the one who voiced it, so we must always bless, and prayer with repentance is the remedy.
Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona preaches on the Apostle Paul's commandment, 'Bless and do not curse' (Romans 12:14). He says the mouth should voice only blessed words, not thorns that wound a brother. Curses are usually spoken by parents, especially mothers, toward disobedient children in moments of anger.
God gives parents no such right, and they become guilty before God when they curse. Instead of cursing, a mother should kneel and pray with tears for her child's obedience, advise the child with love, teach prayer and church attendance, and edify by her own example. Elder Ephraim warns that the enemy can fulfill a mother's curse and take possession of the child, starting a chain of worse behavior and more anger.
He gives two examples. In a Greek village, a mother cursed her insubordinate son, who kept secretly taking his uncle's rifle to hunt, saying, 'May you die by the rifle.' Years later the son went hunting and never returned. While jumping a fence the rifle's trigger engaged and he shot himself; his mother and bride then dressed in black.
Elder Ephraim also describes the devil's method with mourners: to deprive them of God's consolation, lock them at home, isolate them, and surround them with destructive thoughts, often leading to suicide. The second example concerns a bishop who cursed a pauper who did not answer his greeting. The bishop's deacon saw a crow come from the bishop's mouth, circle, and return to him.
The man turned out to be deaf, so the unjust curse returned on the one who voiced it. Elder Ephraim concludes that we must always bless, that prayer with repentance is the remedy, and that God forgives everything when a person repents. The homily is available in the book 'The Art of Salvation' from the Holy Monastery of Saint Nektarios in Roscoe, New York.
Main points
- The Apostle Paul commands, 'Bless and do not curse' (Romans 12:14); the mouth should voice only blessed words, not thorns that wound our brother.
- Curses are usually spoken by parents, especially mothers, toward disobedient children in anger; God gives parents no such right, so they become guilty before God.
- A mother in a Greek village cursed her disobedient son, 'May you die by the rifle'; years later he accidentally shot himself while hunting.
- The devil's method with mourners is to deprive them of God's consolation, isolate them at home, and surround them with destructive thoughts, often leading to suicide.
- A bishop cursed a silent pauper who was deaf, and the curse returned on him; prayer with repentance is the remedy, and God forgives everything when a person repents.