SECOND COMMANDMENT
165. The second commandment is: Do not take His Holy Name in vain.
166. In the second commandment it is commanded to pronounce the Name of God with respect and reverence, and to fulfill the vows and oaths.
Naming God and holy things by anger, laughter, playing, or otherwise disrespectful way is venial sin. [Remember that a venial sin of which we do not want to repent, is enough to go to hell]
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The vow
The vow is a promise made to God of a better good, with the intention of binding.
He who has made a vow has an obligation to fulfill it.
Before making a vow, one should think carefully and ask the confessor for advice.
The vow can be fulfilled by doing something better than what was promised.
Where the fulfillment of a vow is very difficult, commutation or dispensation may be requested.
The purpose of doing a good thing in itself does not compel.
For example: one makes the purpose of hearing the Mass or reciting the Rosary daily; if you do it, you will gain a lot; but if you do not do it, you commit no sin.
167. In the second commandment it is forbidden to swear without truth, without necessity or without justice, and to blaspheme against God, the Blessed Virgin or the Saints.
168. To swear is to put God as a witness of something.
169. To swear without truth is to swear against what one feels. [More clearly: it is to swear against what one knows to be true or against what one feels to be true (moral truth)]
170. To swear without necessity is to swear without serious cause or for things of little importance.
[Remember that Our Lady of la Salette came to warn us of a famine and plague of death to children if the people were not converted, and in fact it overtook all Europe and England the following year, except for the village of Corps, where Maximin was, because they heeded Our Lady’s advice. What She said about the third and second commandment was:
“I gave you six days to work; I kept the seventh for Myself, and no one wishes to grant it to Me”. This is what weighs down the arm of my Son so much.
“Those who drive carts cannot speak without introducing the Name of my Son in their swears.
“These are the two things which weigh down the arm of my Son so much. If the harvest is spoiled, it is only because of you.]
171. To swear without justice is to improperly swear something that causes harm to the neighbor
172. He who has sworn without justice cannot keep his oath, and must repent of having done so.
173. He who swears or makes a vow to do something good, must fulfill it.
To swear with lie is always mortal sin, even in a slight thing.
To put God, infinite Truth, as a witness of the false, is a grave irreverence.
To swear without justice in a grave thing is mortal sin; in a slight thing it is venial.
To swear without necessity is a venial sin.
It is also sin to swear in vain by the creatures, because one swears to the Creator in them.
Swear by the creatures, that is, v. gr.: I swear by my soul, by heaven, by earth, etc., that this is so.
174. In order not to swear unnecessarily we have to get used to saying yes or no, as Jesus Christ teaches us.
175. The second commandment also prohibits blasphemy.
176. Blasphemy is an abominable sin that consists in speaking words injurious to God, the Blessed Virgin or the Saints.
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The blasphemy
Blasphemy is saying or doing something injurious to God or the Saints.
It is a gravest sin: it is the language of hell; if it were not heard, one could not believe that there were men capable of blaspheming.
All the reasons given to defend such detestable vice are mere excuses of no value.
If the blasphemer should pay a large sum for each blasphemy, it would certainly be corrected immediately.