St. Alphonsus, Moral Theology, Book 2: Requirements For Mortal Sin

In this article:

53. What things are required for a mortal sin?

54. From what causes can a mortal sin become venial? I. from imperfect notice.

55. II. From imperfect consent.

56. III. From the unimportance of the matter.

59. How venial sin becomes mortal, I. on account of the end attached to it.

60. II. On account of the final end that was intended.

61. III. On account of contempt.

62. IV. On account of scandal.

63. V. On account of the danger of falling into mortal sin.

64. Whether someone would be in the state of mortal sin who purposes to commit all venial sins?

52. How many different ways can a sin be mortal? Notable advertence must be made for those who condemn facile things as mortal sins.

52.—Resp. 2. A mortal sin is twofold, on the one hand it is deadly by its genus; on the other hand from its accident. It is deadly by its genus because in itself it wounds the charity of God, or of our neighbor in regard to his person, things or rights, or gravely corrupts our very person (Azor, l. 4, c. 9, Sanchez, l. 1, mor. c 3).

For that reason, the following are resolved:

1. Sins committed against someone’s good, as are venial by their genus, such as uselessness, vain concupiscence, vain delight, prodigality, curiosity, and superfluous worship or clothing, or trifles, laziness, excess in food, drink, sleep, laughter, marital relations, fear, sadness, appetite for money, praise, etc.

2. Sins against the theological virtues are mortal by their nature, because they harm some internal good of God, e.g. veracity, mercy, charity. Likewise, nearly all the things which are done against the Decalogue, because those which are committed against the first three precepts similarly harm the Godhead, knowledge, divine omnipotence, and His external or internal honor, which are done against some precepts, harm the person, good or right of their neighbor.

3. Those sins against the seven virtues, which are called capital sins, are not all mortal sins by their genus, because they do not all gravely wound God or neighbor, or corrupt our selves. Resp. 3. It is called mortal from its accident when some act is venial or indifferent, it becomes mortal per accidens, on which we will treat more below.

Here we must rightly notice what Roncaglia says (tract. 2. q. 1, c. 1, reg. 1, in practice) namely, “Where it is clear that something is not a mortal sin, the confessor would be far amiss in judging such a transgression to be grave, and to pronounce his judgment of such a sin on the penitent.” Still, it is very dangerous for confessors to condemn something as a grave sin, where certitude is not manifest, as St. Thomas teaches. “Every question in which it is sought on mortal sin, unless the truth were expressly held, a determination is dangerous.” (Quodlib. 9, art. 15). He adduces the reasoning of this doctrine a little later, namely that “an error, in which something is believed to be mortal that is not, binds to mortal sin by conscience.” This is why St. Antoninus says: “Unless one were to have express authority of Sacred Scripture, or a canon, or a determination of the Church, or at least evident reason, something will be determined to be a mortal sin only with very great danger. ... For if something were determined to be mortal, and it were not mortal, acting against it he will sin because everything that is against conscience paves the road to hell.” Next, we learn in such a distinction that those following rigid doctrines insert themselves, and easily condemn men for mortal sin in those things in which grave malice does not appear from evident reason, and so expose them to the danger of eternal damnation; the same thing must be said about those, who easily impress the mark of laxity on opinions which clearly do not seem improbable. (see what was said in book 1, n. 89).

53. What things are required for a mortal sin?

53.—Resp. 1: Three things are required for a mortal sin and if one of these is lacking, it becomes venial, but otherwise, it is mortal of itself. 1) On the side of the intellect, full knowledge and deliberation. 2) On the side of the will, perfect consent. 3) Gravity of the matter at least as much as possible. The reasoning of the first and second part is, because when one considers human frailty, it does not seem fitting to divine goodness to punish man with eternal punishments without full consideration and consent. The reasoning of the third part is, where the matter is of little moment, there a moderate offense is morally considered as much as possible.

54. From what causes can a mortal sin become venial? I. from imperfect notice.

54.—Resp. 2: A sin that is mortal by its genus, can become venial from three causes, as is clear from the aforesaid. The first is, if on the side of the intellect there was not perfect knowledge of the malice or perfect perfect deliberation. The signs of imperfect deliberation are: a) If one weakly apprehended that it is evil as if half-asleep. b) If after, where he might better consider, he would judge that he was not going to do it if he could have so apprehended it. c) If one labors with vehement passion, apprehension or distraction, or was exceedingly disturbed, so that it was almost as if he did not know what he did. (See what was said in n. 4).

55. II. From imperfect consent.

55.—The second cause is on the side of the will, if there was not perfect consent (as St. Thomas teaches 1.2. q. 88, art. 6. See the aforesaid on consensus n. 5). Moreover, the sins of imperfect consent are: a) If one was so disposed that, although he could easily carry out the sin, still he would not carry it out. b) If someone were hesitant whether he should consent, especially if he is a devout man. c) If someone usually is so affected that he prefers to die than expressly commit a mortal sin, because such does nor easily consent. d) If anyone were extremely fearful and anxious to recall what appeared. e) If one was half in a dream and not sufficiently composed, etc., and will judge that he would not have done it if he were fully awake. (See Sanchez, 1, mor. c. 10, Baldell., l. 10, d. 8)

56. III. From the unimportance of the matter.

56.—The third cause is on the side of the matter, if this would be of little moment. Moreover, when it is such, it must be discerned by a moral judgment of the prudent, for which the following rules will serve: 1) that it will be judged on the matter, not only itself secundum se must absolutely be considered, but also respectively to the end intended, for which if he does a little thing, it is light, but grave, if he does much, as Vasquez teaches, 1.2. d. 158. (The rule is, the smallness of the matter where on account of the smallness the reasoning of the offense is not excused, as happens in infidelity, hatred of God, simony, perjury, venereal matters and blasphemy.) 2. The circumstances must be attended to, because it often happens that a matter that is of itself light, with attention given to the circumstances of the common good to avoid scandal, etc., it may become grave. 3. Whether some part of the matter commanded is grave, these must be considered both absolutely and secundum se, and even in order to the whole. 4. In repeated transgressions, if a great many small matters, either secundum se or according to the effects produced by themselves, were morally joined the matter becomes grave, because then all are morally reputed as one. But on the other hand, then grave matter is not censed if the small matters, neither secundum se nor according to the effects left behind were united among themselves.

59. How venial sin becomes mortal, I. on account of the end attached to it.

59.—There are five modes in which a venial sin becomes a mortal sin, as the doctors in common, and particularly Sanchez, teach: 1. By reason of the enjoined end. 2. By reason of the final end. 3. By reason of contempt. 4. By reason of scandal. 5. By reason of danger. I shall speak briefly on each of these.

Resp. 1. A venial sin crosses over into mortal sin by reason of the enjoined end, that if someone would lie in a small way, but to extort carnal relations: because when the end is a mortal sin, it is also mortal. Still, it is not necessary to explain that lie in confession, but only the desire for fornication; because without the malice of mortal sin, it remains venial.

60. II. On account of the final end that was intended.

60.—Resp. 2. It also crosses into mortal sin, by reason of an excessive affect in some matter: e.g. one would constitute the last end in it. For this purpose it does not suffice to be imposed very intensely and vehemently in the object, but it is required that appreciatively one should virtually so esteem it that he will be prepared for his sake of transgressing the precept obliging under mortal sin, that if anyone would be so inordinately affected to stories, play, person, that he would prefer a feast and omit mass, etc., than be deprived of them. (In the case of one who omits Mass for the sake of games, it suffices for him to confess that he had omitted Mass. See what was said in number 10. If someone, however, by the love of games was prepared to commit any mortal sin, it would be a sin of temerity and indeed very serious, but without a species. The Salamancans tr. 20, c. 12, p. 2, n. 12, and 13, with Palaus, Azor, Bonacina, Reg.). Moreover, Bonacina notes this affect is not only habitual, but ought to be actual, so that sin is contracted because it is not imputed to that fault, to which he was prepared to commit by habit.

61. III. On account of contempt.

61.—Resp. 3. Venial sin becomes mortal by reason of absolute and formal contempt. I say, however, absolute and formal contempt, namely when a precept is violated formally and absolutely, because he refuses to be subject to it or a higher one, which is a sin of consummate pride: or when he does not wish to obey a precept because there is a precept, and it is a sin of formal disobedience, each of which is gravely opposed to charity due to a superior. (Therefore, it is one thing to scorn a law, or a legislator, even a human one, not quâ such a person, but quâ the legislator, which is a mortal sin, and another to scorn a matter commanded, which is venial if the matter is light. The Salamancans ibid., n. 18, and more profusely in tr. 11, c. 2, p. 2, §4 per totum. See also what is going to be said in book 5, n. 161, v. Quarta.)

From which the following are resolved:

1. It is not a mortal sin if you indeed meant to obey and be subject absolutely, but here and now refused in a modest matter; or if you would admit the authority of the law or the one that commands, but here and now pay no heed to the execution. The reason is, because it is not absolute contempt and simpliciter, but only secundum quid.

2. If a precept were abruptly violated from indignation, malice, bad custom, or another cause, and not from contempt of the power of the superior, it is not mortal because it is not formal contempt, but only interpretative.

3. It is a mortal sin to do or omit something from the contempt of a just human law. Likewise, from contempt of God the lawgiver, or even the counselor (which, for that reason, contains a tacit blasphemy, as if God commanded useless things, or merely gave advice); and then to do something from the contempt of a prelate, such a one having authority from God, but not such as a man, unlearned, imprudent, imperfect, because this by and by is not to scorn absolutely and simply, but only secundum quid. (See Sanchez, 1. mor. c. 5; Bonacina, de peccat. d. 2, q. 3, p. 5).

62. IV. On account of scandal.

62.—Resp. 4. Venial sin, or an indifferent work having a species of evil, crosses over per accidens into mortal sin, if the ruin through it that were caused to a neighbor were mortal. The reason is, because in such a work something gravely opposed to charity is superadded. (See what is going to be said on scandal, as well as Filliuci, t. 21, c. 5, q. 10, n. 212).

63. V. On account of the danger of falling into mortal sin.

63.—Resp. 5. A venial sin, or an indifferent work, crosses over into mortal sin by reason of the danger of falling into mortal sin when someone, without sufficient caution, does something from necessity through which he may come into moral and proximate danger of sinning mortally, because he has such contempt for his eternal salvation that he would expose himself rashly to such probable danger. For this reason, in confession the species of the sin must be explained, by the danger of which he opposes himself, because he sinned in the same genus of sin. Moreover, proximate danger is supposed because frequently men of a similar condition lead him into mortal sin.

Question: Whether one sins mortally who exposes himself to a merely probable danger of sinning mortally?

The first opinion with Sporer (de poen. cap. 2, n. 342), and Gob., Hozes, Lumbier, Murc., etc. all cited by Croix (l. 5, n. 257, etc.), rejects this, because (as they say), when in that case it is also probable that there is no danger of sinning, he does not act rashly who commits a sin on such an occasion; for where the danger is not certain, there cannot be present a certain obligation to avoid it. But the opposite must altogether be held, with Busembaum (as above), whom Croix (loc. cit.) follows, with Carden., Eliz., and others. The convincing reason is that if it is illicit to use probable opinion without a just cause with the danger of loss of another’s spiritual or temporal goods, it is also certain among all, how much more it will not be lawful where the danger threatens his own soul? Nor is it opposed to say that where the danger is probable, there also it is probable that there is no danger: for the response is made that in that case, although the sin will be uncertain, whether it were or were not committed, still it is certain that there is danger of sinning. We said without a just cause, for where a just cause is present, there is no obligation of avoiding such a danger, unless the fall into sin were morally foreseen as a certainty. (See what is going to be said in book 3, n. 26, v. Pariter). And so physicians are excused, if they expose themselves to the danger of death to heal women ... so also a parish priest...

The reason is because the danger that is proximate of itself both becomes remote by reason of the circumstance of necessity, and at the same time by reason of means to beware of, which the person proposes (as is held) to apply namely, diligently by adverting the mind from foul delectation or from another passion, and moreover by fortifying himself with pious thoughts, prayers and frequent use of the sacraments. Which means, although they do not suffice to excuse, where the just cause is not present, to the extent that God does not help rashly exposing himself to danger, still he furnishes his aid to one who, from a just cause does not forsake, while in that case he did not remain from affect to sin, but from a certain necessity in that occasion. Otherwise, it must be said about simple confessors who fell a great many times in hearing confessions, because they are held to abstain from such exercise... But indeed, if someone in those occasions had lapsed and did not show off hope of emendation? See what is going to be said in the same place, n. 438, where we will say this must be held with each lost occasion to desert and save his soul. (See also what is going to be said in book 6, n. 453.)

64. Whether someone would be in the state of mortal sin who purposes to commit all venial sins?

64.—Whether, however, there were in the state of mortal sin, one who proposed to commit all venial sins? See what must be said in book 5, n. 12, vers. Quaeriutur autem.

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St. Alphonsus, Moral Theology, Book 3: On the Precept of Hope. (Also Sermon "On the Number of Sins Beyond which God Pardons no More")

TREATISE II: On the Precept of Hope

20.—By hope, which is the second theological virtue, love longing for God is understood, in which we long for God more than all other desirable things so that we are prepared to lose all things rather than God, and divine things. It is often asked on this, when does its precept oblige?

Resp. 1. It is probable the precept of hope obliges per se, when man first attains the use of reason, God and beatitude, as an end, to which he ought to tend, has been sufficiently proposed so that in such a notable time he would not put it off. So Becan., c. 17, quaest. 7, n. 2; Turr. and others in common. And the reason is, because in the act of hope one is neither justified nor persists in divine justice, nor do we act in a meritorious matter. Schol.

Resp. 2. The precept of hope per accidens obliges 1) when an act of prayer, penance, charity, etc. are in a precept, which, without preceding an act of hope cannot be exercised. So think the cited authorities, and Filliuci, tr. 22, c. 8, n. 255. 2) When someone is so tempted that there would be danger of consent, unless the mind raised itself in hope. See Filliuci, loc. cit. 2., Laymann l. 2, t. 2, c. 2; Bonacina, d. 5, quest. 3.

Thus the following cases are resolved:

1. It is a mortal sin to hope in or to love (with the love of desire) earthly things more than heavenly ones, e.g. if anyone were so composed to desire to perpetually abide in this life and leave heaven to God if he would [or could] stay behind on earth.

2. It is likewise a mortal sin to despair of attaining God, or salvation and forgiveness of sins or the necessary means to obtain them, e.g. to despair of the divine assistance, and emendation emendation of life. Yet it cannot be a venial sin by reason of the smallness of the matter, since it would be injurious to the mercy of God. St. Thomas, q. 20, a. 3, Laymann, l. 2 t. 2. c. 2. n. 3.

3. It is also a mortal sin to presume upon the mercy of God, e.g. since someone hopes for that which is impossible according to the ordinary law; that if he were to hope for the remission of sins and salvation without penance, or through his own merits and natural strength [i.e., trusting in his own strength and merit rather than relying on God, who is the giver of all good and hence the ultimate cause of all our merits], or even if someone were to determine to persevere in sins as long as he would will, and yet hope that he was going to do penance before death. St. Th., q. 21, art. 1; Laymann, loc. cit.

4. Lastly, it is a mortal sin to hate God (viz. with a hatred of abomination or aversion), e.g. if God would displease us, so to speak, as hostile on account of the vengeance against sinners. See Laymann, loc. cit., Bonacina, disp. 3, q. 3. [Comment: It is not a sin to be tempted to hate God and complain against Him provided we resist such inclinations and they displease us, since our rebellious flesh, the devil and our concupiscence always will tempt us to do evil – and this is especially more true when we try to mortify this body of death of ours and try to better our life!]

21.—Hope is defined more briefly and fittingly as: “The virtue through which we place certain trust in the coming beatitude and expect the means to attain it through the help of God.” The primary material object of hope (namely, that which we hope for), is eternal beatitude, which is to enjoy God himself; the secondary object, however is divine grace and our good works obtained by the divine assistance. Yet, the formal object (or the motive on account of which we are held to hope) some say is the mercy of God, others the divine omnipotence, exactly as the Thomists hold in common; others say the divine promise, just as Jeuninus thinks; others, at length, say it is the divine goodness, inasmuch as he communicates the graces themselves to us to obtain salvation, and according to this understanding goodness is the same thing as divine mercy; if anyone would will the formal object of faith to be the goodness of God, inasmuch as he is the thing hoped for, the Continuator of Tournely rightly says that he would not speak correctly. (de praecept. Decal. cap. 1, art. 2, sect. 2, concl. 2).

Since we have posited these, I think it must be concluded that the first three aforementioned motives would constitute the formal object of hope, namely, mercy, divine omnipotence, whereby God bestows assistance upon us to conquer the enemies of our salvation and these two motives are expressly taught by St. Thomas in Quaestionibus disputatis, qu. un. de Spe, where he says: “So the formal object of hope is the assistance of divine piety and power, on account of which the movements of hope tend in goods hoped for, which are the material object of hope.” I think, in addition to these two, a third must be added, namely the divine promise, just as Jeuninus rightly thinks, or divine fidelity in regard to the promise which he showed to save us on account of the merits of Christ; otherwise, without this promise we would not avail to hope for salvation with certain trust.

The vices opposed to hope, however, as we said above, are despair and presumption. In regard to presumption it must be noted that one would sin by presumption who hopes for salvation either merely due to his own merits or due to the merits of Christ without any cooperation of their good works.

Busembaum says here (n. 3) that one sins gravely that wishes to persevere in sin until death, hoping perhaps that he will be sorry before death, and he cites St. Thomas and Laymann, but neither say this; rather St. Thomas merely says in 2.2. q. 21, a. 1, that presumption is, “to hope for forgiveness without repentance, or glory without merits.” Furthermore, he adds in a. 2, ad 3, that “to sin with a purpose to persevere in sin under the hope of forgiveness is presumption and increases the sin. But to sin under the hope of receiving forgiveness at some time with the purpose to stop sinning and do penance for sin would not be presumption [to the same degree] and decreases the sin [against hope as compared to the former] because by this it seems the will is less established in sin.”

This is why, according to St. Thomas, it is not a sin against hope to persevere in sin under the hope of being sorry at some time. But it is true that one can only with great difficulty be excused from grave sin against charity toward himself, since from the common consent of the Doctors, those who would so purpose would expose themselves to great danger of their damnation.

Hence, Bonacina and Sporer (de praec. spei c. 4, n. 17) and Croix (l. 2, n. 126) rightly say that one who delays penance under the hope of forgiveness does not sin against hope while that hope of remission stands only concomitantly in regard to the sin, but not efficaciously to him the motive or reason to sin. The same must be said about one who would sin under the hope of forgiveness. For then someone must be judged to sin against hope, when the readiness of hope for obtaining forgiveness would become his reasoning, or the motive influencing him to sin. Otherwise it must be said, that if he would sin from passion, by hoping concomitantly that sin would later be remitted. So then he would increase the sins under the pretext that God will forgive ten sins as easily as he will forgive five[*], he sins from presumption, as the Cont. of Tournely says, loc. cit. sect. 6, concl. 2, Raro.

Source:

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Moral Theology (Theologia Moralis), Book 3 - TREATISE II: On the Precept of Hope.

Footnotes:

[*]

On the Number of Sins You Commit
by St. Alphonsus Di Liguori

“Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evil without fear.”–Eccl. viii. 11.

FIRST POINT.

If God instantly chastised the man who insults him, we certainly should not see Him so much outraged as we do at present. But because the Lord does not instantly punish sinners, but waits for them, they are encouraged to offend Him the more. It is necessary to understand that, though God waits and bears, he does not wait and bear forever.

It is the opinion of many holy fathers – of St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and others – that as God (according to the words of Scripture, Wis. xi. 21: “Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight”) has fixed for each the number of his days, the degrees of health and talent which He will give to him, so He has also determined the number of sins which he will pardon; and when this number is completed, he will pardon no more. And these fathers have not spoken at random, but resting on the sacred Scriptures. In one place the Lord says that He restrained His vengeance against the Amorrhites, because the number of their sins was not as yet filled up: “For as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full.”–Gen. xv. 16. In another place He says, “I will not add any more to have mercy on the house of Israel.”–Osee i. 6. Again he says, “All the men who have tempted me ten times . . . . shall not see the land.”–Num. xiv. 22, 23. “Thou hast,” says Job, “sealed up my offences as it were in a bag.”–Job xiv. 17. Sinners keep no account of their sins; but God keeps an account of them, that when the harvest is ripe, – that is, when the number of sins is completed, – he may take vengeance on them. “Put ye in the sickles; for the harvest is ripe.”–Joel iii. 13. In another place he says, “Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin to sin.”–Eccl. v. 5. As if he said, O sinner! you must tremble even on account of the sins which I have forgiven you; for if you add another, it may happen that this new sin, along with those which have been pardoned, may complete the number, and then there shall be no more mercy for you. “The Lord waiteth patiently, that, when the day of judgment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness of their sins.”–2 Mach. vi. 14. God waits till the measure of iniquities is filled up, and then he chastises the sinner.

Of such chastisements there are many examples in the Scriptures. Saul disobeyed God a second time, and was abandoned. When he entreated Samuel to intercede for him, saying, “Bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me that I may adore the Lord,” (1 Kings xv. 25,) Samuel answered, “I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee.”–ver. 26. We have also the example of Balthassar, who, after having profaned the vessels of the temple at table, saw a hand writing on the wall, “Mane, Thecel, Phares.” Daniel came, and in explaining these words, among other things, said, “Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting.”–Dan, v. 27. By these words he gave the king to understand that in the balance of divine justice the weight of his sins had made the scale descend. “The same night Balthassar, the Chaldean king, was killed.” O, how many miserable sinners meet with a similar fate! They live many years multiplying sins; but, when the number is filled up, they are struck dead, and cast into hell. “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.”–Job xxi. 13. There are some who spend their time in investigating the number of the stars, the number of the angels, or the number of years which each shall live. But who can discover the number of sins which God will pardon each individual? We should, therefore, tremble. My brother, it may be that God will pardon you no more after the first criminal pleasure which you indulge, after the first thought to which you consent, or after the first sin which you commit.

Affections and Prayers

Ah! my God, I thank thee. How many, for fewer sins than I have committed, are now in hell! For them there is no pardon – no hope. And I am still living; I am not in hell; but, if I wish, I can hope for pardon and for paradise. I am sorry above all things for all my sins, because by them I have offended thee, who art infinite goodness. Eternal Father, look on the face of thy Christ; behold Thy Son dead on the cross for my sake; and through His merits have mercy on me. I wish to die rather than offend Thee any more. When I consider the sins I have committed, and the graces Thou hast bestowed on me, I have just reason to fear that, if I commit another sin, the measure shall be completed, and that I shall be damned. Ah! assist me by Thy grace; from Thee I hope for light and strength to be faithful to Thee. And if Thou seest that I should again offend Thee, take me out of my life, now that I hope to be in a state of grace. My God, I love Thee above all things, and I feel a greater fear of incurring Thy enmity than of death. For thy mercy’s sake do not permit me ever more to become Thy enemy. Mary, my mother, have pity on me; assist me; obtain for me holy perseverance.

SECOND POINT.

Some sinners say, “But God is merciful.” “Who,” I ask, “denies it?” The mercy of God is infinite; but though His mercy is infinite, how many are cast into hell every day! “The Lord hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart.”–Is. Ixi. 1. God heals those who have a good will. He pardons sins, but He cannot pardon the determination to commit sin. These sinners will also say, “I am young.” You are young; but God counts not years, but sins. The number of sins which God pardons is not the same for all; some he pardons a hundred; others a thousand sins; others he sends to hell after the second sin. How many has the Lord condemned to eternal misery after the first sin! St. Gregory relates that a child of five years, for uttering a blasphemy, was condemned to hell. The most holy Virgin revealed to that great servant of God, Benedicta of Florence, that a girl twelve years old was damned after her first sin. A boy of eight years died after his first sin, and was lost. In the Gospel of St. Matthew we find that the Lord instantly cursed the fig-tree the first time he saw it without fruit. “May no fruit grow on thee forever. And immediately the fig-tree withered away.”–Matt, xxi. 19. Another time God said, “For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I will not convert it.”–Amos i. 3. Perhaps some daring sinner may have the temerity to demand an account of God why He pardons some three sins, but not four. In this we must adore the judgments of God, and say with the apostle, “O depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and unsearchable His ways!”–Rom. xi. 33. The Lord, says St. Augustine, knows whom He spares, and whom He does not spare. To those who receive mercy He gives it gratuitously; from those who do not receive mercy, it is justly withheld.

The obstinate sinner may say, “But I have so often offended God, and He has pardoned me; I also hope He will pardon me the sin which I intend to commit.” But, I ask, must God spare you forever, because He has not hitherto chastised you? The measure shall be filled up, and vengeance shall come. Samson continued to allow himself to be deluded by Dalila, hoping that, as on former occasions, he would escape from the Philistines. “I will go out, as I did before, and shake myself”–Judges xvi. 20. But at last he was taken, and lost his life. “Say not, I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me?”–Eccl. v. 4. Say not, says the Lord, I have committed so many sins, and God has not chastised me; “for the Most High is a patient rewarder;” (Eccl. v. 4.) – that is, He will one day come and punish all; and the greater the mercy which He will have shown, the more severe shall be the chastisement which He will inflict. St. Chrysostom says, that God should be dreaded more when He bears with the obstinate sinner, than when He punishes him suddenly. Because, according to St Gregory, if they remain ungrateful, God punishes with the greatest rigor those whom He waits for with the greatest patience. And it often happens, adds the saint, that they whom God has borne with for a long time, die unexpectedly, and without time for repentance. And the greater the light which God will have given, the greater shall be your blindness and obstinacy in sin. “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of justice, than, after they have known it, to turn back.”–2 Pet. ii. 21. And St. Paul says, that it is morally impossible for a soul that sins after being enlightened, to be again converted. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gifts, . . . . and are fallen away, to be renewed to penance.”–Heb. vi. 4, 6.

The threats of the Lord against those who are deaf to His calls, are truly alarming. “Because I have called, and you have refused, . . . . I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared.”–Prov. i. 24. Mark the words – I also: they mean that, as the sinner has mocked God by his confessions, by promising fidelity, and afterwards betraying him, so the Lord will mock him at the hour of death. The wise man says, “As a dog that returned to the vomit, so is the fool that repeateth his folly.”–Prov. xxvi. 11. In explaining this text, Denis the Carthusian says, that as a dog that eats what he has just vomited, is an object of disgust and abomination, so the sinner who relapses into sins which he has detested in the tribunal of penance, renders himself hateful in the sight of God.

Affections and Prayers

Behold me, O my God, at Thy feet. I am that disgusting dog that has so often eaten the forbidden apples, which I before detested. I do not deserve mercy; but, O my Redeemer, the blood which Thou hast shed for me encourages and obliges me to hope for it. How often have I offended Thee, and Thou hast pardoned me! I promised never more to offend Thee, and I have afterwards returned to the vomit; and Thou hast again pardoned me! What do I wait for? Is it that Thou mayst send me to hell, or that Thou mayst abandon me into the hand of my sins, which would be a greater punishment than hell? No, my God, I wish to amend; and in order to be faithful to Thee, I will put all my confidence in Thee. I will, whenever I shall be tempted, always and instantly have recourse to Thee. Hitherto, I have trusted in my promises and resolutions, and have neglected to recommend myself to Thee in my temptations; this has been the cause of my ruin. Henceforth Thou shalt be my hope and my strength, and thus I shall be able to do all things. “I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me.”–Philip, iv. 13. Give me grace, then, O my Jesus, through Thy merits, to recommend myself to Thee, and to ask Thy aid in my wants. I love thee, O Sovereign Good, amiable above every good; I wish to love Thee alone; but it is from Thee I must receive aid to love Thee. O Mary, my mother, do Thou also assist me by Thy intercession; keep me under Thy protection, and make me always invoke Thee when I shall be tempted. Thy name shall be my defence.

THIRD POINT.

“My son, hast thou sinned? do so no more; but, for thy former sins, pray that they may be forgiven thee.”–Eccl. xxi. 1. Behold, dear Christian, the advice which your good Lord gives you because He desires your salvation. Son, offend me no more; but from this day forward be careful to ask pardon for your past transgressions. My brother, the more you have offended God, the more you should tremble at the thought of offending Him again; for the next sin which you commit shall make the balance of divine justice descend, and you shall be lost. I do not say absolutely that after another sin there shall be no more forgiveness for you; for this I do not know; but I say that it may happen. Hence, when you shall be tempted, say within yourself, “Perhaps God will pardon me no more, and I shall be lost!” Tell me; were it probable that certain food contained poison, would you eat it? If you had reason to think that on a certain road your enemies lay in wait to take away your life, would you pass that way as long as you could find another more free from danger? And what security, or even what probability, have you that, if you relapse into sin, you shall afterwards repent sincerely of it, and that you will not return again to the vomit? What just reason have you to believe that God will not strike you dead in the very act of sin, or that, after your sin, He will not abandon you?

O God! If you purchase a house, you spare no pains to get all the securities necessary to guard against the loss of your money; if you take medicine, you are careful to assure yourself that it cannot injure you; if you pass over a torrent, you cautiously avoid all danger of falling into it; and for a miserable gratification, for a beastly pleasure, you will risk your eternal salvation, saying, “I expect to go to confession after this sin.” But when, I ask, will you go to confession? “Perhaps on Sunday.” And who has promised that you will live till Sunday? Perhaps you intend to go to confession to-morrow. But who promises you to-morrow. How can you promise yourself that you shall go to confession to-morrow, when you know not whether you shall be among the living in another hour? “He,” continues the saint (St. Augustine), “who has promised pardon to penitents, has not promised to-morrow to sinners; perhaps He will give it, and perhaps He will not.” If you now commit sin, God, perhaps, will give you time for repentance, and perhaps He will not; and should He not give it, what shall become of you for all eternity? In the mean time, by consenting to sin, you lose your soul for the sake of a miserable pleasure, and expose yourself to the risk of being lost forever. Would you, for that vile gratification, risk a sum of one thousand ducats? Would you, for that momentary pleasure, expose to danger your all – your money, your houses, your possessions, your liberty and life? Surely you would not. Will you, then, for that wretched delight, lose all – your soul, heaven, and God? Do you believe that heaven, hell, and eternity, are truths of faith, or that they are fables? Do you believe that, if death overtake you in sin, you shall be lost forever? O, what temerity! what folly! to condemn yourself, by your own free act, to an eternity of torments, with the hope of afterwards reversing the sentence of your condemnation. No one is as foolish as to take poison with the hope of being preserved from death; and will you condemn yourself to eternal death, saying, I will, perhaps, be hereafter delivered from it? O folly which has brought, and brings, so many souls to hell! “Thou hast,” says the Lord, “trusted in thy wickedness . . . Evil shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know the rising thereof.”–Isa. xlvii. 10, 11. You have sinned through a rash confidence in the divine mercy; vengeance shall unexpectedly fall upon you, and you shall not know whence it comes.

Affections and Prayers

Behold, O Lord, one of those fools who have so often lost their souls and Thy grace with the hope of afterwards recovering them. And hadst Thou struck me dead in those nights in which I was in sin, what would have become of me? I thank Thee for Thy mercy, which has waited for me, and which now makes me sensible of my folly. I see that Thou desirest my salvation; and I too wish to save my soul. I am sorry, O infinite Goodness, for having so often turned my back upon Thee. I love Thee with my whole heart. And I hope in the merits of Thy passion, O my Jesus, that I will never again be one of those fools. Pardon me at this moment, and give me the gift of Thy grace. I will never leave Thee again. “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded.” Ah no; I hope, O my Redeemer, never more to suffer the misfortune and confusion of seeing myself deprived of Thy grace and love. Grant me holy perseverance, and give me the grace always to ask it of Thee by invoking Thy holy name and the name of Thy mother, and by saying, “Jesus, assist me; most holy Mary, pray for me.” Yes, my queen, if I have recourse to thee, I shall never be conquered. And when the temptation continues, obtain for me the grace not to cease to invoke thy aid.

ON THE NUMBER OF SINS BEYOND WHICH GOD PARDONS NO MORE

"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" – Matt., 4:7

A sermon by St. Alphonsus Mary De Ligouri (1696-1787), Bishop and Doctor of the Church. St. Francis Jerome, when he visited the parents of St. Alphonsus shortly after his birth, made this prophecy: "This child will be blessed with length of days; he shall not see death before his ninetieth year; he will be a bishop and will do great things for Jesus Christ." This prophecy certainly came true. One of the most accomplished of all the saints is Alphonsus Liguori. He was a lawyer in both civil and Church law before he dedicated his whole life to serving God. He was founder of a religious order, author of more than a hundred books, originator of modern moral theology, renowned preacher and confessor, bishop, musical composer and painter. For all of his 91 years on earth, he was also a man of prayer and deep personal holiness. He gives an example of true Christian living that all of us would do well to follow. Now his sermon:

In this day's Gospel we read that having gone into the desert, Jesus Christ permitted the Devil to set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and say to Him: "If Thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down"; for the angels shall preserve Thee from all injury. But the Lord answered that in the Sacred Scriptures it is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. The sinner who abandons himself to sin without striving to resist temptations, or without at least asking God's help to conquer them, and hopes that the Lord will one day draw him from the precipice, tempts God to work miracles, or rather to show to him an extraordinary mercy not extended to the generality of Christians.

God, as the Apostle says, "will have all men to be saved" – I Tim. 2:4; but He also wishes us all to labor for our own salvation, at least by adopting the means of overcoming our enemies, and of obeying Him when He calls us to repentance. Sinners hear the calls of God, but they forget them, and continue to offend Him. But God does not forget them. He numbers the graces which He dispenses, as well as the sins which we commit. Hence, when the time which He has fixed arrives, God deprives us of His graces, and begins to inflict chastisement. I intend to show in this discourse that when sins reach a certain number, God pardons no more. Be attentive.

1. St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine and other fathers, teach, that as God according to the words of Scripture, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" – Wis. 11:21 has fixed for each person the number of the days of his life, and the degrees of health and talent which He will give him, so He has also determined for each the number of sins which He will pardon; and when this number is completed, He will pardon no more.

2. "The Lord hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart" – Isa. 61:1 God is ready to heal those who sincerely wish to amend their lives, but cannot take pity on the obstinate sinner. The Lord pardons sins, but He cannot pardon those who are determined to offend Him. Nor can we demand from God a reason why He pardons one a hundred sins, and takes others out of life and sends them to Hell, after three or four sins. By His Prophet Amos, God has said: "For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I will not convert it" – 1:3. In this we must adore the judgments of God, and say with the Apostle: "O the depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments" – Rom. 11:33. He who receives pardon, says St. Augustine, is pardoned through the pure mercy of God; and they who are chastised, are justly punished. How many has God sent to Hell for the first offense? St. Gregory relates, that a child of five years, who had arrived at the use of reason, for having uttered a blasphemy, was seized by the Devil and carried to Hell. The divine Mother revealed to that great servant of God, Benedicta of Florence, that a boy of twelve years was damned after the first sin. Another boy of eight years died after his first sin, and was lost. You say: I am young; there are many who have committed more sins than I have. But is God on that account obliged to wait for your repentance if you offend Him? In the Gospel of St. Matthew (21:19), we read that the Savior cursed a fig tree the first time He saw it without fruit. "May no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And immediately the fig tree withered away." You must, then tremble at the thought of committing a single mortal sin, particularly if you have already been guilty of mortal sins.

3. "Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin to sin" – Eccl. 5:5. Say not then, O sinner: "As God has forgiven me other sins, so He will pardon me this one if I commit it." Say not this; for, if to the sin which has been forgiven you add another, you have reason to fear that this new sin shall be united to your former guilt, and that thus the number will be completed, and that you shall be abandoned. Behold how the Scripture unfolds this truth more clearly in another place. "The Lord patiently expecteth, that when the day of judgment shall come, He may punish them in the fullness of sins" – II. Mac. 6:14. God waits with patience until a certain number of sins is committed but, when the measure of guilt is filled up, He waits no longer, but chastises the sinner. "Thou hast sealed up my offenses as it were in a bag" – Job 14:17. Sinners multiply their sins without keeping any account of them; but God numbers them, that, when the harvest is ripe, that is, when the number of sins is completed, He may take vengeance on them. "Put ye in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe" Joel 3:13.

4. Of this there are many examples in the Scriptures. Speaking of the Hebrews, the Lord in one place says: "All the men that have tempted Me now ten times. . . . shall not see the land" – Num. 14:22, 23. In another place, He says, that He restrained His vengeance against the Amorrhites, because the number of their sins was not completed. "For as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full" – Gen. 15:16. We have again the example of Saul who, after having disobeyed God a second time, was abandoned. He entreated Samuel to interpose before the Lord in his behalf. "Bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord" – I Kings 15:25. But, knowing that God had abandoned Saul, Samuel answered: "I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee," etc. – 5:26. Saul, you have abandoned God, and He has abandoned you. We have another example in Balthassar, who, after having profaned the vessels of the Temple, saw a hand writing on the wall, Mane, Thecel, Phares. Daniel was requested to expound the meaning of these words. In explaining the word Thecel, he said to the king: "Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting" – Dan. 5:27. By this explanation, he gave the king to understand that the weight of his sins in the balance of divine justice, had made the scale descend." The same night Balthassar, the Chaldean king, was killed" – Dan. 5:30. Oh! how many sinners have met with a similar fate! Continuing to offend God till their sins amounted to a certain number, they have been struck dead and sent to Hell! "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to Hell" – Job 21:13. Tremble, brethren, lest if you commit another mortal sin, God should cast you into Hell.

5. If God chastised sinners the moment they insult Him, we should not see Him so much despised. But, because He does not instantly punish their transgressions, and because through mercy He restrains His anger and waits for their return, they are encouraged to continue to offend Him. "For, because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evil without any fear" – Eccles. 8:11. But it is necessary to be persuaded, that though God bears with us, He does not wait, nor bear with us forever. Expecting, as on former occasions, to escape from the snares of the Philistines, Samson continued to allow himself to be deluded by Delilah. "I will go out as I did before, and shake myself" – Judges 16:20. But "the Lord departed from him." Samson was at length taken by his enemies, and lost his life. The Lord warns you not to say: I have committed so many sins, and God has not chastised me. "Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me; for the Most High is a patient rewarder" – Eccl. 5:4. God has patience for a certain term, after which He punishes the first and last sins. And the greater has been His patience, the more severe His vengeance.

6. Hence, according to St. Chrysostom, God is more to be feared when He bears with sinners, than when He instantly punishes their sin. And why? Because, says St. Gregory, they to whom God has shown most mercy shall, if they do not cease to offend Him, be chastised with the greatest rigor. The saint adds that God often punishes such sinners with a sudden death, and does not allow them time for repentance. And the greater the light which God gives to certain sinners for their correction, the greater is their blindness and obstinacy in sin. "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of justice, than, after they had known it, to turn back" – II Pet. 2:21. Miserable the sinners, who, after having been enlightened, return to the vomit. St. Paul says, that it is morally impossible for them to be again converted. "For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, have tasted also the Heavenly gifts. . . and are fallen away, to be renewed again to penance" – Heb. 6:4, 6.

7. Listen, then, O sinner, to the admonition of the Lord: "My son, hast thou sinned? Do so no more, but for thy former sins pray that they may be forgiven thee" – Eccl. 21:1. Son, add not sins to those which you have already committed, but be careful to pray for the pardon of your past transgressions; otherwise, if you commit another mortal sin, the gates of divine mercy may be closed against you, and your soul may be lost forever. When then, beloved brethren, the devil tempts you again to yield to sin, say to yourself: “If God pardons me no more, what shall become of me for all eternity?” Should the Devil in reply, say: “fear not, God is merciful;” answer him by saying: “What certainty or what probability have I that, if I return again to sin, God will show me mercy or grant me pardon?” Behold the threat of the Lord against all who despise His calls: "Because I have called and you refused,...I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared" – Prov. 1:24, 26. Mark the words "I also"; they mean that, as you have mocked the Lord by betraying Him again after your confession and promises of amendment, so He will mock you at the hour of death. I will laugh and will mock. But, "God is not mocked" – Gal. 6:7. "As a dog," says the Wise Man, "that returneth to his vomit, so is the fool that repeateth his folly" – Prov. 26:11. Bl. Denis the Carthusian gives an excellent exposition of this text. He says that, as a dog that eats what he has just vomited, is an object of disgust and abomination, so the sinner who returns to the sins which he has detested and confessed, becomes hateful in the sight of God.

8. O folly of sinners! If you purchase a house, you spare no pains to get all the securities necessary to guard against the loss of your money; if you take medicine, you are careful to assure yourself that it cannot injure you; if you pass over a river, you cautiously avoid all danger of falling into it: and for a transitory enjoyment, for the gratification of revenge, for a beastly pleasure, which lasts but a moment, you risk your eternal salvation, saying: I will go to confession after I commit this sin. And when, I ask, are you to go to confession? You say: On tomorrow. But who promises you tomorrow? Who assures you that you shall have time for confession, and that God will not deprive you of life as He has deprived so many others, in the act of sin? "Diem tenes" says St. Augustine, "qui horam non tenes." You cannot be certain of living for another hour, and you say: I will go to confession tomorrow. Listen to the words of St. Gregory: "He who has promised pardon to penitents, has not promised tomorrow to sinners" – Hom. 12 in Evan. God has promised pardon to all who repent; but He has not promised to wait until tomorrow for those who insult Him. Perhaps God will give you time for repentance, perhaps He will not. But, should He not give it, what shall become of your soul? In the meantime, for the sake of a miserable pleasure, you lose the grace of God and expose yourself to the danger of being lost forever.

9. Would you, for such transient enjoyments, risk your money, your honor, your possessions, your liberty, and your life? No, you would not. How then does it happen that, for a miserable gratification, you lose your soul, Heaven, and God? Tell me: do you believe that Heaven, Hell, eternity, are truths of faith? Do you believe that, if you die in sin, you are lost forever? Oh! what temerity, what folly is it, to condemn yourself voluntarily to an eternity of torments with the hope of afterwards reversing the sentence of your condemnation! "Nemo," says St. Augustine, "sub spe salutis vult aegrotare." No one can be found so foolish as to take poison with the hope of preventing its deadly effects by adopting the ordinary remedies. And you will condemn yourself to Hell, saying that you expect to be afterwards preserved from it. O folly! which, in conformity with the divine threats, has brought, and brings every day, so many to Hell. "Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, and evil shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know the rising thereof" – Isa. 47:10, 11. You have sinned, trusting rashly in the divine mercy: the punishment of your guilt shall fall suddenly upon you, and you shall not know from whence it comes. What do you say? What resolution do you make? If, after this sermon, you do not firmly resolve to give yourself to God, I weep over you and regard you as lost.

A “venial sin is made mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering” according to Our Lord Jesus Christ

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