As we have
already seen, the Church’s official teaching that condemns
the statement that “the [normal, natural and
procreative] act of marriage exercised for pleasure only
is entirely free of all fault and venial defect”
shows us that all unnatural and non-procreative sexual acts are
mortally sinful. This teaching of Blessed Pope
Innocent XI, however, does not say that it is only a venial sin to
perform the normal, natural and procreative
marital act for pleasure only, but merely condemns the unnatural and
selfish opinion and heresy that this vile act “is entirely free
of all fault and venial defect”.
This teaching of Pope Innocent XI does not specify whether even the
normal, natural and procreative “act of marriage exercised for
pleasure only”
is a mortal or
a venial sin, and
so, it is still possible that this act could be a mortal sin rather
than a venial sin.
Pope
Innocent XI, Various Errors on Moral Subjects #9, March 4,
1679: “THE ACT OF MARRIAGE EXERCISED FOR PLEASURE ONLY IS
ENTIRELY FREE OF ALL FAULT AND VENIAL DEFECT.” – Condemned
statement by Pope Innocent XI. (Denz. 1159)
Although a venial
sin does not separate us from God as does a mortal sin, a venial sin
can still lead a person to Hell, since it might cause him to commit
other graver sins, and, because he did not care to stop doing what he
knew was a danger to his soul, but even took great delight in it,
though he knew it was offending God. To consent to deliberate venial
sins is of course very bad. We can learn this truth from Jesus Christ
Himself, because according to Jesus Christ: “a venial
sin is made mortal
if a human being delights in it with the
intention of persevering.”
This shocking truth was expressly revealed to St. Bridget in the
following Revelation, in which Our Lord spoke, saying:
“Moreover,
know that just as all mortal sins are very serious, so too a venial
sin is made mortal
if a human being delights in it with
the intention of persevering.”
(The Revelations
of St. Bridget,
Book 7, Chapter 27)
According to this
definition by Our Lord Jesus Christ, if a person were to commit a
venial sin but does not want to or intend to continue committing this
sin again in the future, such a
person would not
be in a state of damnation because of his sin, even if it
turned out that he committed it again in the future,
because his will at the time was not to continue doing it.
In contrast, if
another person has “the
intention of persevering” in a venial sin and
does not repent with a firm resolution or will to stop doing this sin
again in the future, but intends to continue doing it and are
unrepentant for his sin, then he is in a state of damnation.
Our Lord’s
words are crystal clear that a “venial
sin is made mortal
if a human being delights in it with
the intention of persevering.”
Thus, the venial sin that is practiced “with an
intention of persevering” and “if a human being delights in it”
is made mortal, and all mortal sins must always be wiped away by
perfect contrition and repentance if one wishes to be saved. Unless a
person repents and firmly resolves to change and stop doing the
venial sin that he had “an intention of persevering” in, he will
be damned. So don’t think that you are “safe” just because
you’re “only”
sinning venially. For the fact of the matter is that you in fact are
in mortal sin
and will be damned to burn in Hell for all eternity because of the
venial sin if
you intend to persevere in it!
It is thus clear that “the
smallest
sin,
lusted after, is enough to damn anyone from the kingdom of Heaven,
who does not repent.”
(Jesus speaking to St. Bridget, Book 1, Chapter 32)
The Angelic
Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, has the following interesting things to
say about how a venial sin can become a mortal sin, and about the
evil action of choosing sin before choosing to love God:
“The
very fact that anyone chooses something that is contrary to divine
charity, proves that he prefers it to the love of God, and
consequently, that he loves it more than he loves God.
Hence it belongs to the genus of some sins, which are of themselves
contrary to charity, that something is loved more than God; so that
they are mortal by reason of their genus… Sometimes, however, the
sinner’s will is directed to a thing containing a certain
inordinateness, but which is not contrary to the love of God and
one’s neighbor, e.g. an idle word, excessive laughter, and so
forth: and such sins are venial by reason of their genus… It is
written (Sirach 19:1): "He that contemneth small things shall
fall by little and little." Now he that sins venially seems
to contemn small things. Therefore by little and little he
is disposed to fall away together into mortal sin.” (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second
Part, Q. 88, Art. 2 & 3, Reply to Objection 1/On the contrary)
And further on,
he says:
“Whether
a venial sin can become mortal? I answer
that, The fact of a venial sin becoming a mortal sin… This
is possible, in so far as one may fix
one’s end
in that venial sin, or
direct it to some mortal sin as end, as
stated above (Article 2). [Excerpt from article 2:] … it happens
sometimes that a sin which is venial generically by reason of its
object, becomes mortal
on the part of the agent, either because he
fixes his last end
therein, or
because he directs it to something that is a mortal sin in its own
genus; for example, if a man direct an
idle word to the commission of adultery.” (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica,
First Part of the Second Part, Q. 88, Art. 4 & 2)
A good example
that demonstrates the difference between venial and mortal sin is the
sin of drunkenness. For instance, a person who only gets a “little
drunk” has committed a venial sin, while the person who gets
“drunk” has committed a mortal sin. However, the first moment the
person who committed the venial sin of getting a “little drunk”
have made up his mind (or intention) to persevere in his venial sin
of drunkenness, that is, he has no intention of stopping to commit
this sin against God, then this venial sin
has turned into a mortal and damnable one
because of his deliberate contempt and scorn of the all good God whom
he is willfully offending.
These facts,
then, demonstrates that all those people who have an “intention of
persevering” in performing even the normal, natural and procreative
marital act for the sole sake of sensual pleasure are in a state of
damnation, and that they would be condemned to Hell for this sin
alone. And this is just speaking about those who perform the normal
sexual act without any other immoral or sinful act. Today, it is
indeed true to say that a huge part of both men and women in the
western world not only have an “intention of persevering” in
performing the normal sexual act for the sole sake of pleasure until
death, which is damnable in itself, but that almost all of them have
an “intention of persevering” in committing all kinds of damnable
sexual perversions in the sexual act as well, such as masturbation of
self or of spouse, foreplay, anal or oral sex, and shameful and
sensual kisses or touches on different body parts, etc., which are
acts so shameful, detestable and wicked that they scream to Heaven
for vengeance! Eternal Hell and insufferable,
indescribable torments will rightly and justly be the lot
of all those people!
Considering the
above facts, for a person then to deliberately and consciously live
in venial sin or to commit even a single venial sin (even without an
intention of persevering) is of course very bad, since it has always
been a wide gateway into committing more grave sins. Many people, for
instance, fail to see (or don’t think about) that most mortal
sinners (like alcoholics and perverts) did not start out their life
in this way. In the beginning, people are generally lured by the
Devil by first committing a venial sin, and then, gradually, when
he’s got a grip on them and has fooled them and made them
comfortable in their sin, he easily inspires them into committing
graver sins, such as mortal sins. No person starts out as a rapist or
a child molester. This is a gradual process of evolution in
wickedness. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance to fight
against all venial sins and to do one’s utmost not to consent to
them.
A clearer
demonstration of this fact can also be found in the following
revelation in St. Bridget’s Revelations:
The
Son of God speaks to the bride (St. Bridget), saying:
“What are you worried and anxious about?” She answered: “I am
afflicted by various useless thoughts that I cannot get rid of, and
hearing about your terrible judgment upsets me.” The Son answered:
“This is truly just. Earlier you found pleasure in worldly desires
against my will, but now different thoughts are allowed to come to
you against your will.
“But
have a prudent fear of God, and put great trust in me, your God,
knowing for certain that when your mind does not take pleasure in
sinful thoughts but struggles against them by detesting them, then
they become a purgation and a crown for the soul. But if
you take pleasure in committing even a slight sin, which you know to
be a sin, and you do
so trusting to your own abstinence and presuming on grace, without
doing penance and reparation for it, know that it
can become a mortal sin.
Accordingly, if some sinful pleasure of any kind comes into your
mind, you should right away think about where it is heading and
repent.
“…
God hates nothing so much as when you know you have sinned
but do not care, trusting to
your other meritorious actions, as if, because of them, God
would put up with your sin,
as if he could not be glorified without you, or as if he
would let you do something evil
with his permission, seeing all the good deeds you have done, since,
even if you did a hundred good deeds for each wicked one, you still
would not be able to pay God back for his goodness and love. So,
then, maintain a rational fear of God and, even if you cannot prevent
these thoughts, then at least bear them patiently and use your will
to struggle against them. You will not be condemned because of their
entering your head, unless you take pleasure in them, since it is not
within your power to prevent them.
“Again,
maintain your fear of God in order not to fall through pride, even
though you do not consent to the thoughts. Anyone who stands firm
stands by the power of God alone. Thus fear of God is like the
gateway into heaven. Many there are who have fallen headlong to their
deaths, because they cast off the fear of God and were then ashamed
to make a confession before men, although they had not been ashamed
to sin before God. Therefore, I shall refuse to absolve the sin of a
person who has not cared enough to ask my pardon for a small sin. In
this manner, sins are increased through habitual practice, and
a venial sin that could have been pardoned through contrition becomes
a serious one through a person’s negligence and scorn,
as you can deduce from the case of this soul who has already been
condemned.
“After
having committed a venial and pardonable sin, he augmented it through
habitual practice,
trusting to his other good works, without thinking that I might take
lesser sins into account. Caught
in a net of habitual and inordinate pleasure, his soul neither
corrected nor curbed his sinful intention, until the time for his
sentencing stood at the gates and his final moment was approaching.
This is why, as the end approached, his conscience was suddenly
agitated and painfully afflicted because he was soon to die and he
was afraid to lose the little, temporary good he had loved. Up
until a sinner’s final moment God abides him, waiting to see if he
is going to direct his free will away from his attachment to sin.
“However,
if a soul’s will is not corrected, that soul is then confined by an
end without end.
What happens is that the devil, knowing that each person will be
judged according to his conscience and intention, labors mightily at
the end of life to distract the soul and turn it away from rectitude
of intention, and God allows it to happen, since the soul refused to
remain vigilant when it ought to have...”
(The
Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden,
Book 3, Chapter 19)
Again,
Our Lord’s words are crystal clear: a deliberate venial sin becomes
a mortal sin if it’s done with
an intention of persevering in it. Our Lord also explained that even
a slight sin without an intention of persevering in it “can become
a mortal sin” if
a person does not do “penance and reparation for it” and if they
don’t feel any sorrow for their sin.
But why? Jesus goes on to explain that as well, saying that “sins
are increased through habitual practice”
and that “a
venial sin that
could have been pardoned through contrition
becomes a serious one through a person’s negligence
and scorn,
as you can deduce from the case of this soul who has already been
condemned.”
He then proceeds to describe this sorrowful and condemned person that
tragically was living in sin even until death: “After
having committed a venial and pardonable sin, he augmented
[increased] it through habitual practice”
and “Caught
in a net of habitual and inordinate pleasure, his soul neither
corrected nor curbed his sinful intention, until the time for his
sentencing stood at the gates and his final moment was approaching.”
Considering all
of the above, what then does God think of married couples who come
together in the marital act in sinful lust and concupiscence and
about those who work on inflaming their sinful lust rather than
quieting it?
The
Son of God speaks to St. Bridget: “They
seek a warmth and sexual lust that will perish and love flesh that
will be eaten by worms.
… When the
couple comes to bed, my Spirit leaves them immediately and the spirit
of impurity approaches instead, because they only come together for
the sake of lust and do not discuss or think about anything else with
each other. … Such
a married couple will never see my face unless they repent.
For
there is no sin so heavy or grave that penitence and repentance does
not wash it away.
…
“For
that reason, I wish to turn to the spiritual marriage, the kind that
is appropriate for God to have with a chaste soul and chaste body.
There are seven good things in it opposed to the evils mentioned
above: First, there is no desire for beauty of form or bodily beauty
or lustful sights, but only for
the sight and love of God. Second, there is no desire to
possess anything else than what is needed to survive, and just the
necessities with nothing in excess. Third, they avoid vain and
frivolous talk. Fourth, they do not care about seeing friends or
relatives, but I am their love
and desire. Fifth, they desire to keep the humility
inwardly in their conscience and outwardly in the way they dress.
Sixth, they never have any will of leading lustful lives.
Seventh, they beget sons and
daughters for their God through their good behavior and
good example and through the preaching of spiritual words.
“They
preserve their faith undefiled when they stand outside the doors of
my church where they give me their consent and I give them mine. They
go up to my altar when they enjoy the spiritual delight of my Body
and Blood in which delight they wish
to be of one heart and one body and one will with me,
and I, true God and man, mighty in heaven and on earth, shall be as
the third with
them and will fill their hearts. The worldly spouses begin
their marriage in lustful desires like brute beasts, and even worse
than brute beasts! But these
spiritual spouses begin in love and fear of God and do not bother to
please anyone but me. The evil spirit fills and incites
those in the worldly marriage to carnal lust where there is nothing
but unclean stench, but those in
the spiritual marriage are filled with my Spirit and inflamed with
the fire of my love that will never fail them.”
(Jesus
Christ speaking to St. Bridget, in the Revelations
of St. Bridget,
Book 1, Chapter 26)
As we can see,
Jesus Christ views such foul, impure spouses as described above as
eternally condemned. (But look what nice words He speaks about the
spouses who are not governed by their lust in their marital acts!)
Therefore, a couple may not do anything before, during or after the
procreative act that is against the primary or secondary purpose of
marriage: the begetting of children, and the quieting of
concupiscence.
So contrary to
modern day notion and common opinion (even amongst those who dare to
call themselves by the name of Catholic and who should live like
angels), a husband and wife are never allowed to “help”
themselves with their hands or do other things to enhance their lust
and in this way make themselves “ready” before the act as they so
call it and their shameful and sinful excuse is. If a couple really
believes in God they should pray to God before coming together and
God will hear their prayers and make them ready without any further
need by the couple to inflame their lust in a sinful way. Lubricants
are of course also acceptable and the non-sinful and honorable way to
use if there is a problem to complete the marital act. However,
lubricants that increase sexual pleasure and that now are being
manufactured and sold are of course totally unacceptable.
Likewise, if a
woman was not able to quiet her concupiscence before the completion
of the procreative act, it is unlawful for her (or her husband) to
help herself afterwards. If husband and wife engage in unlawful
activities such as masturbation, oral sex, or
any other unnecessary or non-procreative evil act, they always
commit a mortal sin. Barren couples and people with defects or old
age still fulfills the primary end of marriage through normal
intercourse by being open to conception and desiring children and not
being against conception if it should occur. Husband and wife are
forbidden to indulge in all
unnecessary sexual acts, that is, to masturbate themselves or
their spouse or to fondle with their hands in improper, shameful
bodily places (like the genital and breast area) and in this way
enhance their lust. Masturbation, lewd or sensual kisses and touches
is as forbidden during the procreative act as it is at any other time
for any person. To avoid falling into mortal sin, a good husband and
wife must learn to pray to God for relief in their concupiscence and
lust. (The Most Holy Rosary is also the best weapon to use in order
to conquer the Devil’s temptations.) If a pious couple really wants
help from God, He will help them and remove the concupiscence and
sinful lust from them. It is also many times necessary to offer up
penances to God like fasting and eating less tasty food in order to
acquire this goal. These small penances coupled with spiritual
reading and prayer will help a couple to stem their sinful
inclinations, as long as they stay out of mortal and venial sins.
God almost never
allows sinners to be freed from their attachment to sin unless they
first offer up “penance
and reparation for it.” Our
Lord is crystal clear that penance is a great necessity for freeing
the soul from the bondage of sin.
Jesus
Christ speaking to St. Bridget: “But if you take pleasure in
committing even a slight sin, which you know to be a sin, and you do
so trusting to your own abstinence and presuming on grace, without
doing penance and reparation for it,
know
that it can become a mortal sin.”
(St.
Bridget’s Revelations,
Book 3, Chapter 19)
It is also of the
greatest importance that husband and wife are not influenced by the
evil and demonic teachings that are rampant in the secular world –
even amongst those who dare to call themselves “Catholic” or
“traditional Catholic”, or even worse, “Priest” or “Bishop”.
These perverted people will tell you things such as, “that
almost nothing is wrong in the marital act as long as the primary
purpose of the act was achieved at some point. Whatever happens
before, during or afterwards, was part of that act and is therefore
licit and permitted.” This statement, as we have seen, is
clearly false and have been thoroughly refuted by the teaching of
Pope Pius XI that condemns all non-procreative sexual acts, as well
as from the teaching of Pope Innocent XI that condemns the heretical
idea that the marital
act performed for pleasure only is without any fault or venial
defect.
In truth, all men
and women of good will can of course see that the words of Holy
Scripture – that prophesies and directly describes our lamentable,
evil time where almost universal perversion rules all of society –
has been directly fulfilled to the letter by those who hold such
perverted views concerning the marital sexual act. “Knowing this
first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers,
walking after their own lusts...” (2 Peter 3:3) “Now the
Spirit manifestly saith, that in the last times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of
devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience
seared...” (1 Timothy 4:1-2)
Anyone
therefore that agrees with or acts upon the teachings of such
demonically inspired people will lose their souls, since they are
rejecting the natural
law that God has imprinted on their hearts, which tells them that
such activities are inherently wrong, evil, selfish, unnecessary, and
above all, shameful. “For
the things that are done by them in secret are shameful, even to
mention.”
(Ephesians 5:12)
This is also why
Pope Pius XII teaches that a Christian has “a dignity which
restrains the excess of sensuality” even in
marriage, and non-procreative sexual acts are precisely “excess of
sensuality” as they are not necessary for procreation, and thus are
excess of sensual desire. Pope Pius XII is clear, as is the Holy
Bible, that “sexual excess” is evil and sinful even in marriage
and between two married spouses in their sexual acts. In truth, that
is also why Our Lord in the Holy Scripture speaks of those who
“pervert the gracious gift of our God to sexual excess
and deny Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord” (Jude 1:4) and
why Pius XII condemns those spouses who tries to make “more
intense the pleasure, in the preparation and in the performance of
the conjugal union”, and this absolutely condemns all
non-procreative sexual acts, such as foreplay and sensual lewd kisses
and touches. “This anti-Christian hedonism too often is not
ashamed to elevate itself to a doctrine, inculcating the ardent
desire to make always more intense the pleasure, in the preparation
and in the performance of the conjugal union...”
Pope
Pius XII, Address to Midwives, October 29, 1951: “Now, instead, all
this is subordinated and ordered to that unique, great law of the
"generatio et educatio prolis" [procreation and education
of children] namely the accomplishment of the primary end of
matrimony as the origin and source of life. Unfortunately, unceasing
waves of hedonism invade the world and threaten to submerge in the
swelling tide of thoughts, desires and acts the whole marital life,
not without serious dangers and grave prejudice to the primary duty
of husband and wife. This anti-Christian hedonism too often is
not ashamed to elevate itself to a doctrine, inculcating the ardent
desire to make always more intense the pleasure in the preparation
and in the performance of the conjugal union, as
if in matrimonial relations the whole moral law were reduced to the
normal performance of the act itself, and as if all the rest, in
whatever way it is done, were to be justified by the expression of
mutual affection, sanctified by the Sacrament of Matrimony, worthy of
praise and reward before God and conscience. There
is no thought at all of the dignity of man and of the Christian—a
dignity—which restrains the excess of sensuality.
No; the gravity and sanctity of the Christian moral law do not admit
an unchecked satisfaction of the sexual instinct tending only to
pleasure and enjoyment; they do not permit rational man to let
himself be mastered to such an extent, neither as regards the
substance nor the circumstances of the act.”
For those who want to read and learn a lot more on sexual ethics, I can recommend the following interesting and informative article that is absolutely packed with quotes from the popes, saints and fathers of the Church:
Sexual Pleasure, the Various Sexual Acts, and Procreation
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