God is Pleased with Penance and Mortification, and not Sensual Gratification or Lust

God is Pleased with Penance and Mortification, and not Sensual Gratification or Lust

"The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle."

The Catholic Church hold that “mortification of the flesh”, literally, “putting the flesh to death”, is a worthy spiritual discipline when we mortify and put to death all our evil and sinful inclinations. Saint Paul, who speaks of joy in suffering in Colossians, writes: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake”. Saint Paul does not say that we shall rejoice in sensual pleasures, but “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake” since he knows that his sufferings produces direct graces for other people, similar to how praying for another person produces graces for him or her. Penance and suffering produces graces, not sensual indulgence. Saint Paul also writes, “I chastise my body and bring it into subjection...” (1 Cor. 9:27) and makes clear that his suffering helps other souls, saying that he “rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the Church.” (Col. 1:24).

The three children of Fatima who prophesied the amazing miracle of the Sun, where 70,000-100,000 people experienced and saw the miracle, confirms the fact that it is penance and mortification God is pleased with, and not sensual gratification. Wikipedia's article “Mortification in Roman Catholic teaching” says that “In the early twentieth century, the child seers of Fatima said they had initially seen an angel, who said: “In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for sinners. In this way you will bring peace to our country, for I am its guardian angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send you.” Lucia Santos later reported that the idea of making sacrifices was repeated several times by the Virgin Mary and that she had shown them a vision of hell which prompted them to ever more stringent self-mortifications to save souls. Among many other practices, Lucia wrote that she and her cousins wore tight cords around their waists, flogged themselves with stinging nettles, gave their lunches to beggars and abstained from drinking water on hot days. Lucia wrote that Mary said God was pleased with their sacrifices and bodily penances.”

[Update: If a person is attached to pleasures, such as of food (as I am), then it may be important to start living as if it were Lent all year round! This is something I will try to start doing, since, as I noticed: I had much more peace during Lent compared to now since I was not then as great a slave to the palate as I am now.]

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina who undoubtedly was one of the persons in the Church's history who produced most supernatural and documented miracles and “who received the stigmata wrote in one of his letters: “Let us now consider what we must do to ensure that the Holy Spirit may dwell in our souls. It can all be summed up in mortification of the flesh with its vices and concupiscences, and in guarding against a selfish spirit... The mortification must be constant and steady, not intermittent [i.e., not ceasing for a period and later resuming], and it must last for one's whole life. Moreover, the perfect Christian must not be satisfied with a kind of mortification which merely appears to be severe. He must make sure that it hurts.””

The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes. Interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance. Christ has suffered in the flesh and it is only fitting that we follow him with the same intent, although our suffering and penance is as nothing compared to his. It is right, too, to seek example and inspiration from the great saints of the Church. Pure as they were, they inflicted such mortifications upon themselves as to leave us filled with admiration. And as we contemplate their saintly heroism, shall not we be moved by God's grace to impose on ourselves some voluntary sufferings and deprivations?

The necessity of mortification of the flesh stands clearly revealed to anyone who is of good will, and natural reason itself dictates that justice requires suffering and some form of punishment for our sin, not sensual indulgence and pleasure. Just like we reasonably punish people who break the law with prison, or in other countries, with things like lashes from a whip, so too, it is unreasonable to think that God somehow are more inclined to listen to us if we search for more pleasures instead of penance and reparation for our sins. Sufferings draws us to God, not pleasures. And not only that, but sensual pleasures actually blinds our spiritual understanding according to St. Clement of Alexandria, “For as the exhalations which arise from the earth, and from marshes, gather into mists and cloudy masses; so the vapours of fleshly lusts bring on the soul an evil condition, scattering about the idols of pleasure before the soul. Accordingly they spread darkness over the light of intelligence, the spirit attracting the exhalations that arise from lust, and thickening the masses of the passions by persistency in pleasures.”

Being a champion of virtue and the highest moral perfection, St. Clement could thus safely assert that “The human ideal of continence… teaches that one should fight desire and not be subservient to it so as to bring it to practical effect. But our [Christian] ideal is not to experience desire at all. Our aim is not that while a man feels desire he should get the better of it, but that he should be continent even respecting desire itself. This chastity cannot be attained in any other way except by God’s grace. That was why he said "Ask and it shall be given you."…Where there is light there is no darkness. But where there is inward desire, even if it goes no further than desire and is quiescent so far as bodily action is concerned, union takes place in thought with the object of desire, although that object is not present. [Comment: this means if your desires are not for God, you will be putting yourself in constant union with fleshly or created objects rather then the Eternal God and Creator.]” (St. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata or Miscellanies, Book III, Chapter VII, Section 57)

St. Clement’s divinely inspired teaching that echoes the teaching in the biblical books of Tobit and St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians clarifies the Scriptural truth that “we should do nothing from desire” which in fact is the most perfect and evangelical teaching that should influence and direct all our deeds on this earth. St. Clement of Alexandria writes, “Our will is to be directed only towards that which is necessary. For we are children not of desire but of will. A man who marries for the sake of begetting children must practice continence so that it is not desire he feels for his wife, whom he ought to love, and so that he may beget children with a chaste and controlled will.” (The Stromata or Miscellanies, Book III, Chapter VII, Section 58)

If those wondrous words of the Holy Spirit that “we should do nothing from desire” truly influences and directs all our actions and thoughts, the Devil would never be able to cast us down to Hell and eternal torment which all people deserve who live for the sake of the flesh instead of for the spirit. “For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.” (Romans 8:13)

St. John Chrysostom, carrying on the apostolic tradition of despising our fleshly lusts and desires, writes that: “Our soul hath by nature the love of life, but it lies with us either to loose the bands of nature, and make this desire weak; or else to tighten them, and make the desire more tyrannous. For as we have the desire of sexual intercourse [or any other fleshly desire, such as for food or pleasures], but when we practice true wisdom we render the desire weak [by mortification], so also it falls out in the case of life; and as God hath annexed carnal desire to the generation of children, to maintain a succession among us, without however forbidding us from traveling the higher road of continence; so also He hath implanted in us the love of life, forbidding us from destroying ourselves, but not hindering our despising the present life.” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily LXXXV, John xix. 16-38, Ver. 24)

St. Augustine also agreed with this, teaching that the “lover of the spiritual good” hates and neglects the pleasures of the flesh: “Thus a good Christian is found to love in one and the same woman the creature of God, whom he desires to be transformed and renewed [in Heaven]; but to hate the corruptible and mortal conjugal connection and carnal intercourse: i.e. to love in her what is characteristic of a human being, to hate what belongs to her as a wife. … It is necessary, therefore, that the disciple of Christ should hate these things which pass away, in those whom he desires along with himself to reach those things which shall for ever remain; and that he should the more hate these things in them, the more he loves themselves.” (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, Book 1, Chapter 15:41, c. 394 A.D.) “What lover of the spiritual good, who has married only for the sake of offspring, would not prefer if he could to propagate children without it [lust] or without its very great impulsion? I think, then, we ought to attribute to that life in Paradise, which was a far better life than this, whatever saintly spouses would prefer in this life, unless we can think of something better.” (St. Augustine, Against Julian, Book IV, Chapter 13, Section 71, A.D. 421)

Indeed, “The chaste are not bound by a necessity to depravity, for they resist lust lest it compel them to commit unseemly acts; yet not even honorable procreation can exist without lust. In this way in chaste spouses there is both the voluntary, in the procreation of offspring; and the necessary, in lust. But honesty arises from unseemliness when chaste union accepts, but does not love, lust.” (St. Augustine, Against Julian, Book V, Chapter 9, Section 37) It is therefore clear that “there must be warfare against evil of concupiscence, which is so evil it must be resisted in the combat waged by chastity, lest it do damage.” (St. Augustine, Against Julian, Book III, Chapter 21, Section 43, A.D. 421)

Thus the conception of children is “the one alone worthy fruit… of the sexual intercourse.” (St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, Section 1) No other aspect of the marital act can be described as “worthy.” Therefore, when a husband engages in marital relations during those times when his wife is pregnant, nursing, or menstruating, the husband or the wife or both are seen as seeking the unworthy fruit of sexual pleasure. “There also are men incontinent to such a degree that they do not spare their wives even when pregnant. Therefore, whatever immodest, shameful, and sordid acts the married commit with each other are the sins of the married persons themselves, not the fault of marriage.” (St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, Section 5)

It is thus clear that “continence from all intercourse [within or without marriage] is certainly better than marital intercourse itself which takes place for the sake of begetting children.” (St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, Section 6; in "The Fathers Of The Church – A New Translation Volume 27")

This is also why the Church and The Council of Trent infallibly teaches in Session 24, Canon 10 that it is “better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony”, which, as we have seen, is a restatement of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s words in the Holy Bible (1 Corinthians 7).

St. Augustine offered married couples striving for the “better and more blessed” way some suggestions for ridding the elements of sexual desire and sexual pleasure from their lives. He proposed that a person’s love of heavenly realities would develop in direct proportion to a person’s hatred of earthly realities. Since there would be no sexual intercourse in the next life, Augustine taught that the virtuous husband would do well to hate sexual union in this earthly life. Being a lover of virtue, the bishop of Hippo wanted the husband to “love” the spouse created by God while hating “the corruptible and mortal relationship and marital intercourse.” St. Augustine reiterated: “In other words, it is evident that he loves her insofar as she is a human being, but he hates her under the aspect of wifehood.” (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, Book I, Chapter 15, Section 40-42)

St. Augustine, Against Julian, Book III, Chapter 21, Section 43: “It, [conjugal chastity] too, combats carnal concupiscence lest it exceed the proprieties of the marriage bed; it combats lest concupiscence break into the time agreed upon by the spouses for prayer. If this conjugal chastity possesses such great power and is so great gift from God that it does what the matrimonial code prescribes, it combats in even more valiant fashion in regard to the act of conjugal union, lest there be indulgence beyond what suffices for generating offspring. Such chastity abstains during menstruation and pregnancy, nor has it union with one no longer able to conceive on account of age. And the desire for union does not prevail, but ceases when there is no prospect of generation.”

Indeed, the Church’s view on sexuality has been clear from the beginning, teaching us that both married and unmarried persons who love each other passionately or immoderately exceeds “the bounds of moderation” and heaps up “the uncleanness of a more bestial intemperance.” (St. Augustine, On the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount; in "The Fathers of the Church", 19, 28, 139)

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

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.