The Malice of Mortal Sin, by St. Anthony Mary Claret

The Malice of Mortal Sin

by St. Anthony Mary Claret

(It is true to say that St. Anthony Mary Claret really was enriched by God with the gift of writing deeply so that one can truly think about and meditate upon what it is to sin against GOD.)

First Prelude

—Composition of Place —

Imagine you see God seated on a throne of majesty and grandeur as Judge, and yourself, guilty sinner that you are, with hands bound standing before the Judge, and an account concerning yourself is read of all the sins that you have committed in the whole course of your life, with all the circumstances of places and persons, with mention of your state in life and your age at the time. You cannot excuse yourself nor deny anything.

Prayer of Petition — My God and Lord, I beg that I may know the number and gravity of my sins, and may be sorry and repentant for having committed them.

First Point

The text of Saint Ignatius:

"... Recall to mind ... the particular sin of any person who went to hell because of one mortal sin. Consider also the countless others who have gone to hell for fewer sins than I have committed ... We speak of this as the third particular sin (the first being of Lucifer, the second of Adam and Eve).

"Call to mind the grievousness and malice of sin against our Creator and Lord. Let the understanding consider how in sinning and acting against Infinite Goodness, one has justly been condemned forever. End this reflection with acts of the will, as we said above ...

"I shall call to mind all the sins of my lifetime, considering them year by year, period by period. Three things will help me to do this: first, I will recall the place and home where I live; secondly, the associations I have had with others; thirdly, the positions I filled.

"The second point is to weigh my sins, considering the loathsomeness and malice which each mortal sin committed has within itself, even if it were not forbidden.

"Next, consider who I am ... Let me see myself as a sore and an abscess from which there have come forth so many sins, so many evils and very vile poison.

"... Next consider who is God, against Whom I have sinned, recalling His attributes and comparing them to their contraries in me."

Explanation

(1) In the very moment in which sin is committed, the soul, from being a likeness of God, becomes transformed into a very horrible monster. It is not possible for a man to comprehend the wonderful beauty with which a soul which enjoys God’s grace, is adorned. When in that state it is a portrait and a copy of the Divine Beauty. For its formation, nothing less is required than Infinite Wisdom and Power.

One day, when God had enabled her to see this beauty, a great saint, Teresa of Avila, declared that she would gladly give a thousand lives and suffer a thousand deaths, to preserve the beauty of a single such soul. But just as grace makes a soul lovely, sin makes it ugly. A soul in sin and a condemned spirit are quite equal in ugliness. Just as a man could not see a demon in any vision that would fairly represent it, without dying of fright, neither could he see a soul that is in sin without dying of terror.

(2) In the moment in which sin is committed, a soul becomes extremely repulsive to God. It is not possible for any intelligence in Heaven or on earth to come to a comprehension of how great the abhorrence is, how profound the hatred is, with which God regards sin. Yes, indeed! God hates sin and necessarily abhors it. Just as it is not possible for Him to cease loving Himself as the Supreme Good, likewise it is not possible that He cease hating sin as the supreme evil.

(3) The moment one sins, his soul, from being a child of God, becomes a slave of the devil. The condition of a possessed person moves us to compassion; for he is compelled to make room day and night within his body, for a demon from hell. But much more pitiful is the condition of someone’s soul who, by sin, becomes a slave of the devil and is constrained to live under his tyrannical power.

Someone possessed may happen to be a child of God and enjoy His grace, having full confidence that he will succeed in enjoying Him forever in Heaven. But one in sin is God’s enemy, is without His grace, and is liable to fall into hell at any time, with the same slave-master accompanying him to torment him there forever.

(4) The moment one sins, his soul falls into the vilest, most deplorable condition. There is nothing more shameful than sin, nothing more blameworthy than the sinner. Imagine, O my soul, that God opened everyone’s eyes so that they could look into your heart clearly and see all your vices, all the sins you have committed during your lifetime by thought, word and deed. Oh God! What embarrassment! What shame you would have!

Would you not first seek a hiding place in the grottos and caves of deserts rather than appear before men? Even in the judgment of the same natural right reason, there is nothing more shameful than sin, nor anything more vile than the sinner. Ah! How much you ought to blush before God, in Whose presence you have committed so many sins and before Whose eyes all the hideous things of your life continually lie bare!

Affective Acts

(1) Shame — O my God, how many sins I have committed! There is not a faculty of my soul nor a sense in my body that has not offended Thee. O unfortunate memory! How many unworthy recollections you have fed to yourself! O unhappy mind! How many bad thoughts have you not produced! O wretched will! How many bad desires you have entertained!

O unhappy tongue! How many loose words have you not uttered! O unworthy hands! How many forbidden acts have you not performed! O disorderly heart! How many objects have you not wrongfully loved or wrongfully hated!

O my God, if a single sin arouses in Thee a nausea, a horror and an infinite displeasure, how in Thy sight does my soul appear in which nothing else is seen but sin? Where shall I flee to hide myself and conceal my shameful guilt? O sin! How lovable you seem to one who commits you! How bitter and hateful you are after you have been committed! Truly, if everybody knew me as God does, there would not be a saint in Heaven nor a man on earth who would not look away in greatest horror ...

(2) Prayer of Petition — O my God, as I consider my madness I am ashamed and completely horrified. Ah, my God! To whom shall I turn but to Thee, O God of Eternal Goodness and Infinite Mercy! In Thy Pity deign to grant me a sorrow that will penetrate my whole heart and will have power to successfully purify my soul of all uncleanness. I cannot have this sorrow without a special help of Thy grace. Grant it to me, O Lord! And Heaven and earth will have another reason to praise and bless Thy Mercy.

Second Point

The evil of sin is something supreme by reason of the supreme meanness and lowliness of the man who offends God ... O my soul, reflect attentively on what you are, and then make your judgment about sin.

(1) You are a creature who possesses, of yourself, nothing good. For, what goodness can a creature possess — a creature which can be called nothingness? A few years ago such a creature was nothing. Now, as to the body, it is a handful of clay. In a little while it will be put in a grave, to change into powdery substance, to serve as food for very disgusting worms, and change back into dust.

Who can have an existence so contemptuous, the low status of which no mind can comprehend, and whose nothingness not even sovereign (angelic) intelligence, not even the Blessed Virgin’s intelligence, can fathom and measure? For that is something for God’s intelligence alone to do ... And yet this handful of dust, this worm of the earth, this wretched creature, has dared to be bold against God and oppose His Will, and its rashness has gone so far as to treat God lightly and say in deeds, if not in words, "Who is the Lord, that He should want me obedient to His voice? I know no master who is superior to myself ... "

(2) You are a creature with whom God has shown Himself to be infinitely generous. O my soul, God has loaded you with countless benefits and in all the course of your life there has not been a single moment in which you have not experienced some new effect of His loving kindness; and (if there is no failure on your part) in the future for all eternity there will not be an instant in which He will not do you some new favor.

He has shown this generosity toward you with an eternal love; for the Lord has not loved Himself at a time before He loved you. He has loved you with a love you did not deserve; for He had no need of you nor your works. He has loved you with a magnanimous love. He could have given the same graces to others who would have used them better than you have.

And in spite of this you have been so rash and ungrateful, O my soul, and have had the boldness to offend a God so kind to you, and offend Him so many times with so much shamelessness! How monstrous it would be for a son, in the sight of his father, to commit every kind of depravity and then spit in his father’s face! Ah! Have you not done something just as bad, O vile creature, against your God Who has ever shown Himself to be your loving Father?

(3) You are a creature who owes all of himself to God. Indeed, my soul, for all there is in you, you are indebted to your Creator. He it is Who gave it to you and Who preserves it for you. Oh, what impiety, to abuse the benefits and graces received from God and to use them in a way that is bold and outrageous toward His Infinite Majesty!

Would not it be a monstrous thing if someone whose paralyzed hand Jesus Christ had miraculously cured, were to use that very hand later to give Christ a beating? Would it not be a great example of unworthiness, if somebody who had been miraculously cured of muteness by Jesus Christ were to break out later into blasphemies against Him on the Cross? Ah, turn your eyes to yourself, my soul. Who gave you that tongue? those eyes? those ears? those hands and all other members of your body and powers of your soul, which you so often have used to offend your God? Is this how you have paid Him back for such great favors?

(4) You are a creature whom God has drawn from hell by the operation of His Power and Mercy. ("Thy mercy is great towards me: and Thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell." Ps. 85:13) My soul, if you forsake God’s friendship just once, you have deserved hell and are indebted to God’s pure Mercy for not being plunged into hell. Faith teaches you this.

Now does this circumstance not make your sins appear the more grievous? If today God delivered a damned soul from hell and gave it time to do penance, and in spite of this great favor it blasphemed Him again tomorrow, what would you think? God has delivered you from hell, ten, twenty, perhaps more times, and after having such extraordinary Mercy toward you, what have you done? Alas! to the dismay of Heaven, you have sinned!

Affective Acts

(1) Humility and sincere confession of guilt before God — My most lovable God, I tremble before Thy Divine Majesty, ranking myself as one belonging to the depths of hell. Indeed a more proper place for me could not be found. Am I any more than dust and ashes? Yet I have dared to treacherously rebel against the Most High God, from Whose Hand I have received all. All that I am, all that I have, all that I can do, is a gift of God, Who, like an immense river, floods me at all hours with ever new benefits. Yes, against God, Who has forgiven me by His overflowing Mercy after a vast number of sins.

O my God! I confess that my conduct has been more than diabolical; for I have deserved not one hell, but a thousand. You, O wretched damned spirits, you are not more wretched than I; for I have been more sinful. Indeed you are so unhappy because God was less merciful with you than He has been with me.

Your chances lasted but a moment; mine has lasted many years. You committed a single sin; I have committed countless sins. To you He gave just one grace. He has given me thousands. God condemned you for one sin, and has been willing to pardon me after many, many sins. In spite of all this, I have continued to offend Him. Ought my eyes not turn into a sea of tears and weep all the remaining hours of my life?

(2) Repentance — O my God, Thou dost penetrate all the corners of my heart. My will is to detest, hate, curse sincerely and with all the power of my soul, all the sins I have committed up to this moment. Ah, would that I could put together within my heart all the acts of sorrow and repentance of all the most contrite penitents, in order to deplore and detest my sins, if not as much as they deserve, then at least as much as is possible for me! In compensation I offer Thee the sorrow, the grief, the agony, which Jesus suffered for my sins, which made Him sweat blood in the garden.

Third Point

The infinite evil of sin is evident on account of the supreme Majesty of God, Whom we offend by sinning. The greater dignity of the person offended, so much the greater and graver is the offense which He receives.

To give a slap to the face of some high public authority for whom the common good requires great respect — would this not be a graver offense against good order than if this were done a hundred times to a criminal? Natural reason teaches this. According to this principle, my soul, evaluate the gravity of sin.

Who is God?

(1) God is One Who is infinitely good — He is a Being Who contains within Himself all possible perfections. He is Infinite Goodness, Infinite Power, Infinite Wisdom, Infinite Generosity, Infinite Mercy. To sum things up, He possesses Infinite Perfections. Now, as He is Supreme Good in Himself, so is He also the origin and source of all good things that there are in creatures.

There is no power, goodness, holiness, beauty, mercy nor generosity in Heaven or on earth, in angels or in men, nor in any other creature, which does not spring from God as the singular, inexhaustible Source that He is. To offend, to disregard, to dishonor, knowingly and deliberately, a God so great — oh, what malice!

(2) God is Infinite Majesty and Greatness — Raise your gaze to Heaven, my soul, and picture the Lord seated there on a throne with thousands of angels about Him, awestricken before the splendor of His Divinity, and who devote themselves to praising and blessing Him to the fullest extent of their powers. Knowing that they cannot honor Him as much as His Greatness deserves, they prostrate themselves humbly before His Face and confess that He ought to receive infinite love and glory — much more than they are capable of giving.

But, now all the while that this is done in Heaven where all blessed spirits vie in holy competition in praising and glorifying the Great Majesty of God, a vile man rises from the ground to do insult to that same Supreme Majesty, heaping that Majesty with reproach and abuse. Oh, what enormous and incomprehensible malice! Oh my soul, it is beyond explanation! Two reflections will be of use to give you some small idea about its enormity.

(1) Imagine that all angels came down from Heaven and took human bodies, and that all men who have lived from the beginning of the world emerged from their graves, and for a thousand year period all did the most rigorous, frightening penance, and that finally all shed their blood for love of God in the most painful martyrdom. With all this could they satisfy for the offense done to God by a single mortal sin? No. It is not possible; for mortal sin is an infinite evil, and this satisfaction would be limited.

(2) If all the angels of Heaven with all the power of their intelligence were to investigate sin for all eternity, they nevertheless could never fully comprehend the depths of its malice.

Affective Acts

(1) Sincere self-accusation — The light Thou givest me enables me to know, O my God, that my malice has reached a high point. I have offended Thee ... Who am I? Not a cherub, nor an angel, nor another noble spirit, but a wretched little man, a handful of dust, a worm of the earth. I have offended Thee! Who art Thou? Not a monarch, nor an angel, nor a seraph, but God, Supreme Goodness, Source and Origin of all Good, Supreme Lord of Heaven and earth.

I have offended Thee! And where? Not in secret, nor in Thy absence, but in Thy presence and in the midst of the splendor of Thy Majesty ... I have offended Thee! With what? With the eyes, the ears, the tongue, the hands, the heart, which Thou gavest me by Pure Mercy. I have offended Thee! But why? Not out of hope to gain a kingdom, nor from fear of being threatened with death, but for a vile satisfaction of the senses, for fear of some slight embarrassment. I have offended Thee!

When? During the very hour in which Thou were engaged in preserving my bodily health, in giving my soul new benefits, in checking the rage of the demon so that he would not drag me with him to hell. O my God! How enormous is my ingratitude, my folly, my madness, my malice! Still in Thy sight my (mortal) sin is something infinitely greater than what I can know. ("May I know myself, may I know Thee, that I may despise myself and love Thee." – Saint Augustine.)

(2) Repentance — This is how I have lived, O my God! And what has been the way I have offended Thee? And what kind of sorrow and repentance have I had after the offenses? From time to time I have made an act of contrition, I have struck my breast, and then continued living, unworried, as though I were now assured of pardon. How so?

After so many offenses against God, will I be content with a repentance so feeble and so hastily formed? Ought my heart not to be in deep continual grief, and should not my eyes shed continuous tears? I have offended the Supreme, Infinite Good. That fact is enough to let me never cease grieving. Ah! Would that I had never offended Thee! O Being Who art infinitely lovable, why did I not rather sacrifice my body and my life a thousand times?

(3) Resolution — The evil has now been done. I have let myself be deceived by my senses and be overcome and led astray by my evil inclinations. Forgive me, O my God, I beg Thee, by Thy Infinite Mercy and by the merits of the Precious Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ. I turn to Thee with all my heart and in Thy presence resolve to prefer death rather than ever sin again. O holy resolve! O blessed resolution! But is it sincere? Yes, my Jesus; I sincerely resolve it. Lord, Thou hast mastery over life and death. If Thou foresee that I am to commit another sin, I beg Thee to take me with Thee to Heaven before that sad day arrives...

Now pray the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

Are pre-Vatican II Church approved theologians free from error?

Note 1 from Ville Hietanen (Jerome) of ProphecyFilm.com and Against-All-Heresies-And-Errors.blogspot.com: Currently, I (but not my brother of the “prophecyfilm12” mail) have updated many of my old believes to be more in line with Vatican II and I no longer adhere to the position that Vatican II or the Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists or various Traditionalists Groups and Peoples etc. or the various teachings, Saints and adherents to Vatican II (and other canonized by Vatican II) such as Saint Mother Theresa or Saint Pope John Paul II etc. was heretical or damned or not Catholic (or not the Pope) – or that they are unworthy of this title. I have also embraced the sexual views on marriage of Vatican II, and I no longer adhere to the strict interpretations as expressed on this website and on my other websites. To read more of my views, see these articles: Some corrections: Why I no longer condemn others or judge them as evil I did before.Why I no Longer Reject Vatican II and the Traditional Catholic Priests or Receiving Sacraments from Them (On Baptism of Desire, Baptism of Blood, Natural Family Planning, Una Cum etc.)Q&A: Damnation and Eternal Torments for Our Children and Beloved Ones is "True" and "Good" but Salvation for Everyone is "Evil" and a "Heresy"?

Note 2: None of the teachings on our site must be deemed absolutely infallibly or true, and the reader must be advised to follow his own conscience. Even if our teachings proclaim this or that position to be true (according to our own interpretation), the reader must understand that this is our own private interpretation of saint quotes and church teachings, dogmas and encyclicals. Whatever the case may be, always follow what you think the church teaches on any matter; and do not trust blindly on what is taught on our site (even if we claim this or that position is a mortal sin) – even if our position may seem true and infallible (you may, however, follow what we teach blindly if you think this is the true position). If you have worries about any position, ask a knowledgeable friend or priest for guidance; and if you have further concerns, ask another priest or even several priests to see what he thinks about this or that position. No one can be forced to believe in any position that is uncertain, and the reader must be advised to follow his conscience. So if you think any position is uncertain according to your own conscience, make a reasonable judgment, and then ask for advice or continue to study the issue until you have made a right judgment – according to your conscience.

One common -- and extremely dangerous -- opinion today among traditionalists is the claim that all approved pre-Vatican II theologians essentially are "safe to follow", and that they are "without any error" and "faithfully express the teachings of the Church", as demonstrated in the conversation below.

But this is not true, unless, of course, one wants to argue that sodomy is not a mortal sin and even permitted to do in marriage and the marriage act! Yes, that's right, one so-called claimed "safe to follow and free from error" pre-Vatican II theologian, actually teaches this heresy, as we will see.

Junior RibeiroOctober 13, 2016 at 9:52 AM

You wrote that we must study the good Catholic theologians. What are they and what books you recommend? Thank you.

Introibo Ad Altare DeiOctober 13, 2016 at 3:40 PM

Dear Mr. Ribeiro, 

The "good theologians" are those learned men from the pre-Vatican II era whose writings were approved by Holy Mother Church as free from error and were used to educate Her priests. They faithfully express the teachings of the Church.

There are many of them, but three stand out as exemplary whose writings are in English.

1. Fr. Joseph Pohle. He had written 12 volumes of dogmatic theology, which you can now purchase in a set of six hardcovers for $319 on Amazon.com. If you get it and read through them, you will have an exemplary understanding of our Faith!

2. Fr. Ludwig Ott. His "Fundamentals of Dogmatic Theology" is one-volume and available at Amazon.com for only about $28. You will learn a great deal (obviously not as much, but it is excellent!).

3. Fr. Heribert Jone. His "Moral Theology" is also available from Amazon.com and contains all the moral principles and basic teachings in morality all in one volume for about $40.

If you can get at least OTT and JONE you will reap great benefits from your better understanding of the Church!

God bless,

---Introibo

Leaving dogmatic theology aside, I will focus only on the so-called "Moral Theology" of the pervert Fr. Jone.

Moral Theology, Fr. Heribert Jone, 1951: “I. Imperfect Sodomy, i.e., rectal intercourse, is a grave sin when the seminal fluid is wasted: Excluding the sodomitical intention it is neither sodomy nor a grave sin if intercourse is begun in a rectal manner with the intention of consummating it naturally or if some sodomitical action is posited without danger of pollution…” (“3. The Sins of Married People,” Section 757)

Here we can see Fr. Jone say that rectal intercourse between a husband and wife is not a grave sin as long as the husband does not spill his seed when sodomizing his wife. And according to Fr. Jone, this is not even sodomy! One must ask, then, “What is it?” and “What is the purpose of this filthy and perverted act?” It is sodomy, plain and simple! And the purpose is to mock God and to degrade and disgrace the wife. Not only is this sodomitical act by the spouses contrary to nature and cries out to God for vengeance, but it is also physically destructive to the health of both spouses.

However, Fr. Jone contradicts his above teaching within his same book. In Section 230 he gives the correct definition of sodomy as follows.

Moral Theology, Fr. Heribert Jone: “230. – II. Sodomy. 1. Definition. Sodomy is unnatural carnal copulation either with a person of the same sex (perfect sodomy) or of the opposite sex; the latter of heterosexual sodomy consists in rectal intercourse (imperfect sodomy). Either kind of sodomy will be consummated or non-consummated according as semination takes place or not.”

Therefore, whether the seed is spilled during sodomy or not, it is still sodomy, but one is called consummated sodomy and the other is non-consummated sodomy. Hence in Section 230 he correctly teaches that a husband who sodomizes his wife but does not consummate the sodomy is still guilty of sodomy, which he correctly classifies as non-consummated sodomy. His teaching in this section contradicts what he teaches in Section 757 when he says that the husband’s non-consummated sodomy is not sodomy at all. Nature itself tells even a pagan that any form of rectal intercourse for any reason as well as any kind of sexual activity outside what is necessary for procreation is intrinsically evil and selfish. 

Is it reasonable to believe that God would have allowed His Church to be eclipsed like this by the Whore of Babylon (the Vatican II sect) unless the majority of Catholics were already bad or displeasing to Him? Of course not. Indeed, we learn from Jacinta herself – the Prophetess of Fatima – that even before Vatican II, almost all people were in a state of damnation; and it is just a fact that the people of that time were many times more virtuous than the “Catholics” of our own time. “Jacinta, what are you thinking of?” Jacinta, the prophetess and seer of Fatima replied: “About the war which will come. So many people will die, and almost all of them will go to hell!” Consider that this statement by Jacinta was made before the Vatican II revolution. And many Catholic nations participated in the war. Yet almost all Catholics were damned. Are you any better than they were?

I would like to ask Introibo how he think the great apostasy even came into being if everything taught before Vatican II was safe and sound to follow? Is it not obvious that many teachings and practises before Vatican II must have been heretical, unsafe, and displeasing to God since He allowed the apostasy happen? Obviously. Why else would God allow the Vatican II apostasy to happen, unless, again, the majority of Catholics were displeasing to him?

Introibo: "The "good theologians" are those learned men from the pre-Vatican II era whose writings were approved by Holy Mother Church as free from error and were used to educate Her priests. They faithfully express the teachings of the Church."

In reality, there are a lot of heretical imprimatured books. It is illogical to presume that a Pope reads and thus personally approves all official decrees and responses from the Roman Congregations, along with all unofficial ones attributed to the Roman Congregations found in the many books that publish them, along with reading all books in the world with imprimaturs, along with ruling the Church spiritually and temporally, along with sanctifying his own soul by prayer and meditation, along with sanctifying Catholics as the chief shepherd, and along with calling non-Catholics to conversion.

Pope St. Pius X testifies to the impossibility of a pope’s inspection of every imprimatured book, even with the help of the Holy Office, and also testifies that there were many bad books that were given imprimaturs.

St. Pope Pius X, Pacendi Dominici Gregis, A.D. 1907: “51. We bid you do everything in your power to drive out of your dioceses, even by solemn interdict, any pernicious books that may be in circulation there. The Holy See neglects no means to put down writings of this kind, but the number of them has now grown to such an extent that it is impossible to censure them all. Hence it happens that the medicine sometimes arrives too late, for the disease has taken root during the delay. We will, therefore, that the Bishops, putting aside all fear and the prudence of the flesh, despising the outcries of the wicked, gently by all means but constantly, do each his own share of this work, remembering the injunctions of Leo XIII in the Apostolic Constitution Officiorum: “Let the Ordinaries, acting in this also as Delegates of the Apostolic See, exert themselves to prescribe and to put out of reach of the faithful injurious books or other writings printed or circulated in their dioceses.” In this passage the Bishops, it is true, receive a right, but they have also a duty imposed on them. Let no Bishop think that he fulfills this duty by denouncing to us one or two books, while a great many others of the same kind are being published and circulated. Nor are you to be deterred by the fact that a book has obtained the Imprimatur elsewhere, both because this may be merely simulated, and because it may have been granted through carelessness or easiness or excessive confidence in the author as may sometimes happen in religious Orders.”

The same logically applies to the official Roman Congregations’ decrees and responses, and more so to the unofficial decrees and responses found in the many books that list them.

Also consider our Lady’s prophecy in the Church approved apparition of La Salette:

“In the year 1864 Lucifer, together with a great number of devils, will be loosed from hell; little by little they will abolish the faith, and that even in persons consecrated to God; they will so blind them, that without a special grace, these persons will take on the spirit of these evil angels; a number of religious houses will lose the faith entirely and cause many souls to be damned. Bad books will abound over the earth, and the spirits of darkness will everywhere spread universal relaxation in everything concerning God’s service: they will have very great power over nature; there will be churches to serve these [evil doctrines or] spirits... and even priests, because they will not have lived by the good spirit of the gospel, which is a spirit of humility, charity and zeal for the glory of God.” (Prophecy of La Salette, 19th of September 1846)

The Great Apostasy—Vatican II, the Conciliar Church, and her apostate antipopes—did not come about overnight.

I would not trust any pre-Vatican II "Moral Theologians". Does anyone really think morality became better as time progressed, or worse? If you want to be safe, stick with St. Augustine and the Fathers and Saints of the Church!

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

Q&A: It is always so that when a person falls into heresy, he is doing something bad. Everything bad you are doing, tell it to me. Let me hear.

Answer: [Since this person accused me of heresy and asked the reason behind it and what bad things I do:] This is something I wrote down last day in a document, so it perhaps shows a bit where God is leading me right now or where I am trying to go:

• Make frequents acts of love of God everyday
• Try to think of God before everything you do
• Try to refer everything you do to God
• Try to become more fervent and recollected in your prayer
• Try to make 2 mortifications in food and drink for the love of God each day (holy days excluded)
• Try to mortify your self-will for the love of God in at least 2 things everyday
• Mortify yourself in your recreation in order to gain peace and gain humility

“2 things everyday” is only because I understand how weak and pathetic I am and perhaps do not dare to do more right now.

Other than that, I think I do nothing directly wrong, except eating a little more than I should some days and making too few mortifications and sacrifices. I am also too attached to winning in chess, and I am a bad looser – hence that I wrote the above about mortifying my self in my recreation.

I may also be wasting time in recreation; I should spend more time praying and loving God with desire instead. Yes I feel like a burning desire in me that wants to love God with my whole heart, but this desire is really weak; and I have always felt this since the beginning of my conversion, except for long periods of times when I am more lukewarm (which happens often with me). So because of this I never let it grow and hence I never really loved God. Who knows, perhaps "If you were as perfect as God wishes you to be, He would be ready to bestow many graces upon you. God wants you to be holier than many others." (A soul speaking from Purgatory)

I am also horribly tormented by bad thoughts; but such temptations are usually a good sign and not a bad sign I have often read. Some of my thoughts are so abominable that I am ashamed to even mention them (they happen quite often with me); and I wonder if it is even possible to be saved being like me. All I can do in these cases is to resist (however badly I do resist) and pray God to save me and help me not to fall. I do believe I can fall – and that I even will fall – into the worst crimes and sins if the Lord do not protect me. When it comes to my self, I always do think the worst and that the worst can or is true; and I even think I am damned and that there is no hope for me – unless the good Lord Jesus have mercy on me. Even if I am in mortal sin or even heresy, I know God can and will lead me out of it – provided I cooperate with Him. So I have no problem with Hope; that is the only thing I feel certain about; I see rather my self only as the problem because of my own uselessness.

I also gave up listening to music (psychedelic, goa, ambient) some time ago and now listen to nothing of such, except on my 3 hour recreation time, when I listen to sermons, interviews, or other such secular or religious things.

I also did read comments on youtube and yahoo news a little to often before, but stopped with this almost completely recently.^[1]

I believe God may call me to higher perfection, and that He wants more of me and that I should distract myself less. Hopefully, I will become better as time goes on – if only I do not resist Him. Perhaps it is good for me to be alone with God a little in my home; it makes me think more of God and how I should please Him and come to know Him and love Him better.^[2]

'For your love, O Lord, I will not see this,

nor hear that, nor taste that morsel,
nor take just now this sort of recreation.' (Source)

NOTES

^[1] I believe God wants me to move away more and more from secular things and distractions, but instead I indulged in it more recently! If God wants someone completely for Himself, or if a person is an all or nothing person, he may have to cut off all contrary things completely, since God cannot and will not be served halfheartedly by some.

I recently gave up chess (or I try do to it) since I can't play it; I am too much of a bad loser and I get angry when loosing. It also distracted me a lot and I think about good games, lost games, won games etc. That is what I mean with “an all or nothing person.” Some people get really into the things they do – and find a fondness and likeness for it that is hard for them to break with – and hence they will get distracted a lot by it. I am such a person. That is why such a person may have to break of all distractions; if not, they may never advance towards perfection since they will always be divided and never really come to know God. "If you were as perfect as God wishes you to be, He would be ready to bestow many graces upon you. God wants you to be holier than many others." (A soul speaking from Purgatory) I think it was Pope St. Gregory the Great that said something like: “Those whom God wants to be saints and do not become saints, will not be saved.”

Some things that helps against too much idleness is to have a set amount of time that can be spent on recreation (of which I view secular news as part of it). I have a max amount of 3 hour recreation a day. I also have an amount of hours put down for reading, and for prayer, that I do every day.

^[2] Concerning loving God, and the loving God point I made above, the following is something I have said frequently also in my heart and meant it since it “feels” like I do not mean it many times when I express loving words towards Him, since I feel like a stone and a hypocrite: “I do not love you Lord, please forgive me and help me to love you.” “I love you Lord, I do not love you Lord. Please help me to love you!” “I am a hypocrite, I do not love you, my Lord. Please help me to love you.” “Even if I do not mean these words, my Lord (i.e., I love you, my Lord), I ask you to change my heart so that I will mean it.”

I also fail in my points of: “Make frequents acts of love of God everyday” and “Try to think of God before everything you do” and “Try to refer everything you do to God”. I really don't know how to think of God every time and before every thing I do. But even if it's hard, I still try to do it and I certainly think a lot more of God now than before I made these resolutions.

This is also something helpful I found recently: On rising, members of the family are “[1] first, to thank God for having preserved their life during the night; [2] secondly, to offer to God all the good actions which they will perform, and all the pains which they shall suffer during the day; [3] thirdly, to implore of Jesus Christ and the most holy Mary to preserve them from all sin during the day.” (Liguori, “Sermon 36,” 274)

Against Errors: On Spiritual Reading

“The Saints also recommend us not to read much at one sitting, nor get through many pages, not to weary the spirit with lengthy reading instead of refreshing it. Very good and necessary advice for certain persons, who seem to place their happiness in reading much and getting through many books. As the body is not nourished by much eating, but by good digestion of what one does eat; so neither is the soul nourished by reading much, but by ruminating and well digesting what is read. For the same reason they say also that spiritual reading should not be of difficult things, but of plain things, rather devout than difficult, since difficult things are apt to fatigue and dry up devotion. Hugo of St. Victor quotes an example of a servant of God, who was admonished by revelation to drop the reading of those things, and read the lives and martyrdom of the Saints, and other plain and devout things, whereby he profited much.
        “Hence it follows that they do ill who, once having read a good book, throw it into a corner, and say, I have done with that. A good book is not meant to be read once over only: the second time over it will do you more good, and the third time more, and so you will ever find, it new as they find by experience who have a desire to profit. That is a very good thing also which some do, when they find anything in a book that moves them much and gives them particular satisfaction: they take a note and mark it, to have always at hand some arguments of greater weight and cogency, matter wherein they are more likely to find some marrow of devotion and consolation, suitable to the several times and occasions that occur.” (Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J., The Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues, p. 350)

Comment: There is nothing wrong with reading much, of course, but this is not absolutely necessary since it is more important, as it said, to well digest what one reads than reading a lot and not deriving any profit from it, so to speak.

I much rather prefer that a person reads (and prays) much and understands little, however, than that he wastes his time watching the television, netflix or youtube (or any other worthless or dangerous activities).

“To a spiritual life the reading of holy books is perhaps not less useful than mental prayer. St. Bernard says reading instructs us at once in prayer, and in the practice of virtue. Hence he concluded that spiritual reading and prayer are the arms by which hell is conquered and paradise won. ... As the reading of bad books [and media] fills the mind with worldly and poisonous sentiments; so, on the other hand, the reading of pious works fills the soul with holy thoughts and good desires.” (St. Alphonsus, The Importance of Spiritual Reading)

It is also not a problem to read more deep spiritual books, such as St. John of the Cross, but these spiritual books are much more complicated and not well read by many people. Generally, one must have patience and a liking for such books in order to be able read them through.

It is also important to re-read good and profitable books, as it said, and this is worth repeating so that people do not forget it. So why not re-read that great book that made you so much good again?

It also helps to shift between different books if one gets bored easily. This can easily be done by having two or three different pdf's open that one reads from.

It is also worth noting the advice to note down good passages in a document that is spiritually profitable and worth re-reading.

Q&A: Tell us about how you left bad influences like the media behind?

Quote from: Jacob on October 15, 2016, 10:15:33 PM

Quote from: Jacob on October 15, 2016, 03:32:13 PM

Jerome, tell us about how you left bad influences behind?  What changed in your life so that you were able to put aside things like anime and other forms of media?

Jerome, you must have missed this.  Thanks for replying.

Hi

First of all, it is always the grace of God which acts before any change can take place in a person; and this obviously was the case with me.

Secondly, prayers (meditations, rosaries etc.) need to follow, since it is a dogmatic fact that those who don't pray will be damned and not change [their life] (unless God's grace intervenes); but the opposite also is true, i.e., that just because one prays the Rosary, for example, does not mean - by that fact alone - that one will make the necessary changes in one's life. St. Alphonsus explains it thusly:

Quote

        “Some one may say, I do not make mental prayer [from the heart], but I say many vocal prayers [with the tongue]. But it is necessary to know, as St. Augustine remarks, that to obtain the divine grace it is not enough to pray with the tongue: it is necessary also to pray with the heart. On the words of David: “I cried to the Lord with my voice,” the holy Doctor [Augustine] says: “Many cry not with their own voice (that is, not with the interior voice of the soul), but with that of the body. Your thoughts are a cry to the Lord. Cry with in, where God hears.” This is what the Apostle inculcates. Praying at all times in the spirit. In general, vocal prayers are said distractedly [through mere habit] with the voice of the body, but not of the heart [as in mental prayer], especially when they are long, and still more especially when said by a person who does not make mental prayer [from the heart]; and therefore God seldom hears them, and seldom grants the graces asked [since they only or almost always pray by habit or custom and thus lack the real disposition of a true purpose, love, faith and desire required in order to be heard and receive graces]. Many say the Rosary, the Office of the Blessed Virgin, and perform other works of devotion; but they still continue in sin. But it is impossible for him who perseveres in mental prayer to continue in sin; he will either give up meditation or renounce sin. A great servant of God used to say that mental prayer and sin cannot exist together. And this we see by experience: they who make mental prayer rarely incur the enmity of God; and should they ever have the misfortune of falling into sin, by persevering in mental prayer, they see their misery, and return to God. Let a soul, says St. Teresa, be ever so negligent, if she persevere in meditation, the Lord will bring her back to the haven of salvation.” (St. Alphonsus, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, CHAPTER XV: MENTAL PRAYER, Moral Necessity of Mental Prayer for Religious)

[Note: Meditation is the process of deliberately focusing and thinking on specific thoughts (e.g. the evil of sin and the eternity of hell and the goodness of God) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God and one's own life; it is thus a prayer mostly of good and serious thoughts rather than of repetitive words. A person who seriously meditates in this way on various topics according to St. Alphonsus and St. Theresa, will not continue long in sin, since "he will either give up meditation or renounce sin."]

Many people, for instance, do not frequently give themselves enough time -- or perhaps don't even have time -- to perform all their desired vocal prayers, and especially longer prayers, and the consequence of this will be that many of them will pray very little, or seldom if their only form of prayer is vocal prayer. A good form of prayer, then, that is more easily performed by everyone, no matter how troublesome prayer may ever feel to you[*], or however little time you might imagine that you have to spare, is simply that you talk with God as with a real person at all times: in your car, in the toilet, in your work, when you eat... yes everywhere and at all times a man can talk with God, Our Creator and Father as with a real person in the same way as little children does towards their own Father, like when they tell Him how much they love Him, and mentioning all their troubles and worries and that He might help them and protect them, supplicating His help all the time. We should thus learn from these little Children and imitate them and behave as they do towards our own Father and Mother in Heaven, by telling Them that we love Them and that we want to love Them very much and that we need Their help to love Them even more and that we need Their help to resist sin and do good, whatever it might be. A person who prays with confidence in this way everyday will certainly not be lost or be neglecting his duty to pray well. Jesus Christ himself teaches us this very concept in the Bible. “And he [Jesus] spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint...” (Luke 18:1)

[*It is, however, a really bad sign when a person feels an aversion or contempt to holy prayers like the Rosary. A person should do his utmost to persevere in praying the Rosary and other vocal and mental prayers since the Devil often tempts people to stop praying them because he knows and feels how much they lessen his power over a person’s soul.]

Thirdly, and this is connected with God's grace; and that is that God allowed me (and I am thankful to Him for it, since I understand how much good it has done to me) to be almost always negatively affected by viewing or watching at things that are harmful to modesty and chastity. I just can't look at almost anything that to me is immodest or not modest enough without having a reaction (not necessarily sexual in every case) [even if a thing is modest, I can still be disturbed by it, which is why I generally avoid looking at people[1]]. It is hard for me to explain what this reaction is when not directly sensual [or sexual], but something within me is put in motion, and even my eyes become affected and I feel vulnerable and weak [and a war is waged inside me, like flesh and spirit being opposed to each other]. Perhaps it is partly fear of sinning; partly my conscience rebuking me for not being careful enough; and partly my lust tormenting me [and my weaknesses and psychology affecting me].

Fourth, because of my reactions, it started to get impossible for me to watch media or surf with images on, since to even see a woman [or sometimes even men] gave me disturbing thoughts or feelings many times [against my will], in that the devil suggested all kinds of sinful [or disturbing] thoughts in my mind[2]. Why did this happen? Because I put my self in a totally unnecessary occasion of being exposed, and those who do this will be abandoned by God to themselves; and without God's grace, a fall will eventually happen. This is explained by St. Alphonsus thusly:

“Brother Roger, a Franciscan of singular purity, being once asked why he was so reserved in his intercourse with women, replied, that when men avoid the occasions of sin, God preserves them; but when they expose themselves to danger, they are justly abandoned by the Lord, and easily fall into some grievous transgressions.” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Mortification of the Eyes, p. 221)

Fifth. Since I understood how easily a sin can be committed in one's thought, and since my sinful thoughts sometimes were so imposing that I actually feared I will consent to them, I greatly lamented and considered what I must do in order to diminish this from happening to me. This fear and understanding of my duty to avoid bad occasions is what eventually lead me to make many changes in my life.

St. Alphonsus explains how one bad thought, yes one single bad thought consented too, is enough to damn someone; and he shows us the most tragic and fearful example of this having happened to a person (to a parent's child!) who previously had never committed a single mortal sin!

Quote

        St. Alphonsus: “Listen to this example: A boy used often to go to confession; and every one took him to be a saint. One night he had a hemorrhage, and he was found dead. His parents went at once to his confessor, and crying begged him to recommend him to God; and he said to them: "Rejoice; your son, I know, was a little angel; God wished to take him from this world, and he must now be in heaven; should he, however, be still in purgatory, I will go to say Mass for him." He put on his vestments to go to the altar; but before leaving the sacristy, he saw himself in the presence of a frightful spectre, whom he asked in the name of God who he was. The phantom answered that he was the soul of him that had just died. Oh! is it you? exclaimed the priest; if you are in need of prayers, I am just going to say Mass for you. Alas! Mass! I am damned, I am in hell! And why? "Hear," said the soul: "I had never yet committed a mortal sin; but last night a bad thought came to my mind; I gave consent to it, and God made me die at once, and condemned me to hell as I have deserved to be. Do not say Mass for me; it would only increase my sufferings." Having spoken thus, the phantom disappeared.” (The complete ascetical works of St. Alphonsus, vol. 15, p. 167)

If one meditates on this seriously, one will quickly understand how serious this is. It is not a joke, and when one understands that one can be damned for even a single thought (or that one's child could be damned for having consented to a single wicked thought through the media you perhaps allow them to watch or surf[4]) and that this happens to people, then one must necessarily start to fear for oneself and others and make changes for oneself and them; for “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 110:10), but “The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools [and damned people] is infinite” (Ecclesiastes 1:15)

Notes:

[1] Saints also generally always avoided looking at people, whether male of female[3]. A person that does not try to mortify his eyes will of course never come to a full realization of the evil, and many times harmful effects that can (and often) come from looks. To give just a few examples from personal experience that most people probably also suffers from: Looking at people, especially in the media, often leads to judging them by their looks, by how they speak, by how they behave, etc.: he is a nerd/but I am not?; he is ugly/and what about your own interior?; she is hot/better not even think about it; he is homosexual or acts like one/but perhaps he is not; he is a liar/or is he?; he is a thief/really?; he is a rapist or a pedophile/am I sure?; he is a murderer or she has committed an abortion/do I have any evidence of this?; he is guilty of.../but what if he is not?; I am better than he/oh what pride!; he looks evil/and what do you think you are?; he looks like a creep/and how does God look at you?; what a fool/but you are a greater fool!; I would have done better/are you sure?; how could he...I would not have done that/oh stop fooling yourself...and because you thought like this, you better fear because God might perhaps let you fall into the very same thing yourself now! etc.), and this is something I really don't like; and this by itself makes me not want to watch videos.

But not only do one get thoughts that makes judgement against others based on their behavior or looks or deeds (even if one don't want such thoughts to happen, they do come; I don't say they come always, but they do come), but one may also start to judge their intentions, why they said this or that, or why they behaved in such a way, or why they did this or that movement (such as a hand movement, eye movement, how they walk and talk, their facial expressions etc., ad infinitum), which is also an evil. Temptations to sensuality and lust is obvious; and they are the worst, but not the most common; so not much have to be said about that. But since these other temptations to judgments are so much more common, they might be more dangerous; and they obviously affect a person in a negativ way in their spiritual life, and may even lead to the sin of rash judgment, slander, detraction and calumny, if not openly, at least interiorly. Another evil that affects a person is that one gets influenced by the people in the media. Sin happens frequently in the media. But how often does the viewer get the impression that the sinful action was WRONG? If the media distorts reality to suggest that sinful behavior is either neutral or good, or that such characters are to be praised, it is dangerous. And this happens almost all the time in the media today. This fact alone also makes me afraid to watch media and follow media characters, since I am afraid to be deceived to start looking upon the evil they do and/or condone as "good" or "praiseworthy", or even "neutral".

Another great problem with watching media is the constant distraction it causes within a person's mind which will almost completely extinguish his devotion; or at least, make him very distracted during prayer or reading. St. Theresa and St. Alphonsus is very clear on that the reading of worldly novels or romances is enough to completely destroy devotion in many in people, especially young women; and if this is so, what then are one to think about worldly media and distracting and many times harmful images?

St. Alphonsus: “Fathers should not allow their children to read romances. These sometimes do more harm than even obscene books; they put fantastical notions and affections into young persons heads, which destroy all devotion, and afterwards impel them to give themselves up to sin. "Vain reading," says St. Bonaventure, "begets vain thoughts and extinguishes devotion." Make your children read spiritual books, ecclesiastical histories, and the lives of the saints. And here I repeat: Do not allow your daughters to be taught their lessons by a man [or the media], though he be a St. Paul or a St. Francis of Assisi. The saints are in heaven.” (The complete ascetical works of St. Alphonsus, vol. 15, pp. 480-482)

Theresa, The Life Of: “What I shall now speak of was, I believe, the beginning of great harm to me. I contracted a habit of reading books; and this little fault which I observed was the beginning of lukewarmness in my good desires, and the occasion of my falling away in other respects. I thought there was no harm in it when I wasted many hours night and day in so vain an occupation, even when I kept it a secret from my father. So completely was I mastered by this passion, that I thought I could never be happy without a new book.”

Fr. Faber agrees completely with St. Theresa and St. Alphonsus on this point. In the middle of "Growth in Holiness" he suddenly breaks off to write a few pages describing how horrified he was by popular trend of the day in the 1850's for females to read romance novels like those of the Bronte sisters. He called this practice a "hothouse of every vice." Like St. Alphonsus, he believed that the long-term emotional damage caused by romance novels might be worse than the effect of reading outright immorality.

Media today is in fact one of the greatest - if not the greatest - reason why people pray so little and read so little. Many could have enough time to do this more if they wanted to, but since they spend their time badly, they choose rather to spend most of their time on things to their liking, such as watching the media!

[2] Fr. Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J., Practise of Perfection and Christian Virtues, Ninth Treatise, Chapter XVII: “Involuntary motions, bad thoughts occurring against purity, against faith, or against any other virtue whatsoever, for which many afflict themselves very much, are not sins. Wherefore the Saints bid us not to put ourselves at all in pain for them; it is not the feeling these impressions, but the consenting to them which makes the sin. When you loathe these temptations and endeavour to resist them, and do not entertain them or take satisfaction in them, they are no sin, but, on the contrary, an occasion of greater merit.
       “So of inclinations and evil emotions that we have of our nature, some more, others less, from which arise such evil stirrings in our appetite, and such repugnances and reluctances for virtue; it is not in this point that one is good or evil, perfect or imperfect, for the thing is natural and not in our own control, it is the inheritance of sin. St. Paul, though he was St. Paul, felt the contradiction and rebellion of his flesh, and said: "I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and leading me captive in the law of sin that is in my members" (Rom. vii. 23). St. Augustine explains to this effect the verse of the Psalm, "Be ye angry, and sin not" (Ps. 4): "That is, though there arise in your heart some first motion, which now being part of the penalty of sin is not in our power, at least let not the will consent to it, but in mind let us serve the law of God, though yet in flesh we serve the law of sin (Rom. vii. 25). Though there arise in your appetite the movement of impatience and anger, do not let yourself be carried away or consent to it, and you shall not sin."”

The Rev. Father Peter J. Arnoudt, S.J., The Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, The First Book, Chapter XIV: “1. The voice of Jesus… Do not be afflicted nor sad, My Child, because thou art assailed, against thy will, by various temptations; be rather rejoiced and consoled. For it is a sign that thou art in the state of grace[*], and that thou followest My standard. If thou didst adhere to the devil, he would surely not attack what is his own; but because thou standest by Me, therefore does he tempt thee, and endeavor to draw thee over to his ranks.
       “2. My Child, temptation is not prevarication; yea, so long as it is displeasing to thee, it is meritorious of a Divine reward. Therefore, however loathsome the things which the enemy may suggest, be not uneasy; however violently he may entice thee to evil, think not that thou art forsaken by Me. Never am I nearer to thee, or more ready to help thee, than when thou sufferest under these trials. When thou art tempted, Child, I stand by, looking on the struggle, and helping thee, that, being thus encouraged and aided, thou mayst not only withstand the foe, but gloriously triumph over him. Be, therefore, ready for the combat: no one shall be crowned, unless he has struggled lawfully; and he that shall overcome shall receive the crown of life. …
       “5. … He that prays amid temptation, as he ought, cannot be overcome; but he that neglects prayer, is usually vanquished. Resist generously from the very beginning of the temptation, and pray fervently in this, or a similar manner: O, Jesus! hide me within Thy Heart, that I may not be separated from Thee . . . O, God! my God! come to my assistance . . . Jesus and Mary! make haste to help me . . . I will rather die, O Lord, than commit sin. If the enemy continue to tempt, faithfully withdraw thy mind from the object of the temptation; and, having earnestly turned it to other things, either good or indifferent, persevere in prayer, persevere in thus resisting, not with anxiety or impatience, but calmly and steadily: and the foe shall either flee away, or stand abashed.”

[*] This and similar statements must not be understood or be applied to all persons as an infallible certitude, since many people can be tempted and yet be in a state of damnation. God often uses and allows temptations in order to influence bad people to make changes in their life. Being tempted is thus a good sign since this means one is not yet entirely abandoned by God. “The greatest of all evils is to be not tempted, because then there are grounds for believing that the Devil looks upon us as his property. The Devil only tempts those souls that wish to abandon sin [and that God mercifully grants temptations despite their unworthiness] and those that are in a state of grace. The others belong to him; he has no need to tempt them.” (St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney, The Cure d’Ars, 1786-1859)

[3] St. Francis of Assisi used to exhort his brethren frequently to guard and mortify their senses with the utmost care. He especially insisted on the custody of the eyes, and he used this parable of a King’s two messengers to demonstrate how the purity of the eyes reveals the chastity of the soul:

       “A certain pious King sent two messengers successively to the Queen with a communication from himself. The first messenger returned and brought an answer from the Queen, which he delivered exactly. But of the Queen herself he said nothing because he had always kept his eyes modestly cast down and had not raised them to look at her.
       “The second messenger also returned. But after delivering in a few words the answer of the Queen, he began to speak warmly of her beauty. “Truly, my lord,” he said, “the Queen is the most fair and lovely woman I have ever seen, and thou art indeed happy and blessed to have her for thy spouse.”
       “At this the King was angry and said: “Wicked servant, how did you dare to cast your eyes upon my royal spouse? I believe that you may covet what you have so curiously gazed upon.”
       “Then he commanded the other messenger to be recalled, and said to him: “What do you think of the Queen?”
       “He replied, “She listened very willingly and humbly to the message of the King and replied most prudently.”
       “But the Monarch again asked him, “But what do you think of her countenance? Did she not seem to you very fair and beautiful, more so than any other woman?”
The servant replied, “My lord, I know nothing of the Queen’s beauty. Whether she be fair or not, it is for thee alone to know and judge. My duty was only to convey thy message to her.”
       “The King rejoined, “You have answered well and wisely. You who have such chaste and modest eyes shall be my chamberlain. From the purity of your eyes I see the chastity of your soul. You are worthy to have the care of the royal apartments confided to you.”
       “Then, turning to the other messenger, he said: “But you, who have such unmortified eyes, depart from the palace. You shall not remain in my house, for I have no confidence in your virtue.” (The Works of the Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi, London: R. Washbourne, 1882, pp. 254-255)

St. Anthony Mary Claret writes:

       “What is more, I shall relate another instance which could not have been so, had I not received very special graces from heaven. While I was in the island of Cuba, for six years and two months to be exact, I confirmed more than 300,000 persons, the majority of whom were women, and young ones at that. If any one were to ask me what are the characteristics of the Cuban women’s features, I would say that I do not know, despite the fact that I have confirmed so many of them. In order to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, I had to look where their foreheads were, and this I did in a rapid glance, after which I shut my eyes and kept them shut all during the administration of the Sacrament.” (From the Autobiography of St. Anthony Mary Claret)

St. Alphonsus Liguori:

       “Hence, to avoid the sight of dangerous objects, the saints were accustomed to keep their eyes almost continually fixed on the earth, and to abstain even from looking at innocent objects. After being a novice for a year, St. Bernard could not tell whether his cell was vaulted. In consequence of never raising his eyes from the ground, he never knew that there were but three windows to the church of the monastery, in which he spent his novitiate. He once, without perceiving a lake, walked along its banks for nearly an entire day; and hearing his companions speak about it, he asked when they had seen it. St. Peter of Alcantara kept his eyes constantly cast down, so that he did not know the brothers with whom he conversed. It was by the voice, and not by the countenance, that he was able to recognize them.
       “The saints were particularly cautious not to look at persons of a different sex. St. Hugh, bishop, when compelled to speak with women, never looked at them in the face. St. Clare would never fix her eyes on the face of a man. She was greatly afflicted because, when raising her eyes at the elevation to see the consecrated host, she once involuntarily saw the countenance of the priest. St. Aloysius never looked at his own mother in the face.” (The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Modesty of the Eyes, pp. 252-261)

[4] A person who watches secular media (even religious media or movies can be, and many times are, unsafe to watch, as—to give only one example—the notoriously immoral religious film Becket shows!) or don't surf the internet with images blocked and with an ad blocker,—or let their children do these things,—can hardly be said to be “careful” or be a “good parent”, however “careful” and “good” he thinks he is, since he is exposing himself and his children daily to occasions of sinnings and immodesties; and since they do this they cannot be saved since they cannot be absolved: “He can sometimes be absolved, who remains in a proximate occasion of sinning, which he can and does not wish to omit, but rather directly and professedly seeks or enters into.” (Condemned statement by Pope Innocent XI, Various Errors on Moral Matters #61, March 4, 1679). And “Brother Roger, a Franciscan of singular purity, being once asked why he was so reserved in his intercourse with women, replied, that when men avoid the occasions of sin, God preserves them; but when they expose themselves to danger, they are justly abandoned by the Lord, and easily fall into some grievous transgressions.” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Mortification of the Eyes, p. 221). Here we can see that a person who does not avoid the occasions of sinning cannot be absolved and hence cannot be saved, and that those who do not avoid dangerous occasions will be abandoned by God and infallibly fall into sin. Yet despite this Catholic truth, this is almost exactly how all people live today,—or how parents let their children live,—whether they claim to be Traditional Catholics or not, as seen in this post and by their bad will and resistance to the truth. So what does this tell us? It tells us that few are saved indeed (Mt. 7:13), which is absolutely true,—and has been true in all ages,—but even more so today!