Section 2: The Seven Capital Sins

The so-called capital sins (peccata capitalia) must not be conceived as transient acts. They are rather the fundamental vices from which all sins flow, or the bad habits that manifest themselves in actual sins.¹ Hence the capital sins are neither by nature nor in their concrete manifestation always mortal, and it is a mistake to call them "deadly." The specific character and gravity of each may be determined by the presence or absence of certain marks or characteristics.

¹ Cfr. Hugh of St. Victor, Summa Sent., tr. 3, c. 16: "From these, as from seven fountains, all corruptions of souls flow. They are not called capital because they are greater than others, since others are equally great or greater, but capital because all the others arise from them. For there is none which has not arisen from one of these." (Migne, P. L., CLXXVI, 113). — St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, q. 84, art. 3: "A sin is called capital insofar as it metaphorically signifies the beginning or direction of others. Thus a capital vice is one from which other vices arise, especially according to the origin of the final cause, which is the formal origin; and therefore a capital vice is not only the beginning of others but is also directive and in a certain way leading of others. For an art or habit to which the end pertains always exercises primacy and command over those things that are for the end. Hence Saint Gregory compares capital vices of this kind to commanders of armies." (Moral., 1. 31, c. 45, n. 87-88; Migne, P. L., LXXVI, 620 sq.).

The capital sins are usually enumerated in the following order: Pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. From the initials of the Latin words superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia, the Schoolmen formed the catch-word saligia as an aid to the memory.

This septenary number, which may be traced back to St. Gregory the Great, became established at the time of Peter Lombard. Previously, theologians were wont to count eight or even nine capital sins.²

² Cfr. Greg. M., Moral., XXXI, c. 45; O. Zockler, Evagrius Ponticus, Munich 1893, p. 104.

I. PRIDE. —Pride (superbia, cenodoxia) is inordinate self-esteem or love of one's own preeminence, coupled with a desire of inducing others to accept the exaggerated opinion one has formed of oneself. This vice manifests itself in as many different ways as there are objects which man is able to claim as real or supposed excellences or prerogatives.³

³ Cfr. Luke XVIII, 9-14. —St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 93, n. 15: "Who is proud? He who does not do penance by confession of sins, so that he may be healed through humility. Who is proud? He who wishes to claim for himself even those few good things which he appears to possess and detracts from the mercy of God. Who is proud? He who, even if he attributes to God the good things he does, nevertheless insults those who do not do them and exalts himself above them." (Migne, P. L., XXXVII, 1203). —Cfr. S. Haidacher, Des hi. Johannes Chrysostomus Biichlein iiber die Hoffart, pp. 34 sqq.

Pride may take the form of vanity, presumption, ambition, or arrogance.

I. VANITY. —Vanity is pride inspired by an overweening conceit in one's personal appearance, attainments or characteristics, especially when coupled with an excessive desire for notice or approval. This vice makes a man foolish in the eyes of his fellowmen, injures the moral character, favors sensuality and extravagance, and often entails poverty and want. Intentional neglect of one's personal appearance or of the rules of taste and good breeding may also be put down as a kind of vanity.

2. PRESUMPTION. —Presumption is an exaggerated notion of one's intellectual or moral excellence, talents, virtues, etc., attended by the wish to undertake things that are above one's capacity. Intellectual presumption renders a man ridiculous, while moral presumption is destructive of religion and morality and often entails hypocrisy.⁴ 3. AMBITION. —Inordinate ambition (prava ambitio) is an unreasonable striving after dignities, honors, or power. Ambition is commonly only a venial sin, but becomes mortal when it employs grievously sinful means and disregards the distinction between true and false honor.⁵

⁴ Cfr. Matth. VI, 1-6; VII, 1-5; Luke XVIII, 10-14; 1 Tim. VI, 4. —St. Jerome, Epist., 148 (a/. 14), n. 20: "It is one thing to possess virtue, another to possess the likeness of virtue; one thing to follow the shadow of things, another the truth. Far more hideous is that pride which lies hidden under certain signs of humility. For I do not know how it is that vices concealed under the appearance of virtues are more shameful." (Migne, P. L., XXII, 1214).

⁵ Cfr. St. Thomas, Summa Theof., 2a 2ae, qu. 131 sq.

There is a just ambition which moves a man to desire dignities and honors with moderation for the purpose of being able to accomplish more for the glory of God and the welfare of his fellowmen. "If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work/' says St. Paul.⁶

⁶ 1 Tim. III, 1. —Cfr. C. Gennari, Consultazioni Morali-Canoniche, Vol. I, 2nd ed., Rome 1902, p. 638. — Homer, Iliad, VI, 208. —It is not honors and titles as such that are forbidden, but the inordinate desire for them.

4. ARROGANCE (superbia completa sive perfecta) is that haughtiness and proud contempt of others which leads a man to despise and transgress human and divine laws. This vice frequently accompanies wealth, high social position, noble birth, etc., and sometimes develops into tyranny, nay rebellion against God and self-deification.⁷

⁷ Cfr. Gen. III, 5; Is. XIV, 14; Judges VII, 2; IX, 38; 1 Mace. VII, 34; 2 Mace. V, 21; Matth. IV, 9. —St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 162; Ovid, Metamorphoses, VI, 193, sqq.; Horace, Satyrae, I, 6, 5, 10, 64; IDEM, Epod., IV, 5 sq.

Arrogance often leads to boastfulness, which is the habit of bragging inordinately about one's own good qualities or talents, nay, even defects or sins, and to hypocrisy, i. e., feigning virtues that one does not possess.

Pride "is so serious an evil because it strikes at the root of the primary obligations of reverent obedience towards our Lord God and love of our neighbor, because it is opposed to the truth, and because of its universality; it is in the heart of every man and quickly grows to fearful dimensions unless corrected or subdued." ⁸ That there is a legitimate pride appears from I Cor. XV, 10: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and the grace he gave me hath not been fruitless; nay, I have labored more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” Still the Apostle warns against "being more wise than it behooveth," ¹⁰ and "being wise in your own conceits."¹¹ n Opposed to pride is the virtue of humility, which keeps a man in his proper place both with respect to God and his fellowmen. Humility is highly recommended by our Divine Lord as the fundamental virtue of the Christian life, and He has set Himself up as a model thereof. Matth. XI, 29: "Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart."¹²

⁸ Th. Slater, S.J., A Manual of Moral Theology, Vol. I, p. 155. "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not fruitless; rather, I labored more than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me."

¹⁰ Rom. XII, 3, 16.

¹¹ 1 Tim. VI, 17. —Cfr. Homer, Iliad, I, 244; Odyssey, IX, 20; Horace, Carmina, IV, 2, 40: "Sapere av.de," i. e., boldly strive for wisdom.

¹² Cfr. Ecclus. X, 15; Matth. V, 3; XVIII, 3; Luke XIV, 1; John V, 14; James IV, 6. —St. Bernard, Tract. de Gradibus Humilit. et Superbiae, IV, n. 14 sqq.: "The great and thick beam in the eye (Matt. VII, 5) is pride in the mind, which by a certain vain bulk of self—unhealthy, swollen, and not solid—darkens the eye of the mind and overshadows the truth, so that, if it occupies your mind, you can no longer see yourself or perceive yourself as you are or as you are able to be; rather, as you love yourself, so you think yourself to be or hope that you will be. For what else is pride but love of one’s own excellence? Therefore, one who takes care to know the truth fully in himself must remove the beam of pride that shuts the eye away from the light, arrange ascents in his heart by which he may seek himself within himself, and thus attain the first degree of truth." (Migne, P. L., CLXXXII, 949).

II. COVETOUSNESS. —Covetousness or avarice (avaritia, philargyria) is an inordinate love of earthly things, an immoderate desire to possess, keep, and increase them (tenacitas). With regard to no other sin is it so difficult to draw a line of demarcation between what is licit and what is forbidden as with regard to avarice, which loves to hide under the cloak of duty, frugality, and other virtues. It is sinful to attach one's heart to earthly goods, to serve Mammon instead of God,¹³ to be niggardly toward one's fellowmen and unscrupulous in the satisfy one's greed. Avarice leads to mendacity, deceit, perjury, treason, theft, and every other kind of injustice.¹⁴ St. Paul no doubt had these consequences in mind when he censured avarice as "the root of all evils." ¹⁵ Among the consequences of covetousness are insatiability, discontent, fear of persecution and poverty,¹⁶ and that "infatuation of self-love," as Blair calls it, which so often ends in impenitence.¹⁷

¹³ Cfr. Matth. VI, 21, 24; Eph. V, 5; Col. III, 5. —Cfr. St. Polycarp, Epist. ad Philipp., c. 11: "If anyone does not abstain from avarice, he will be defiled by idolatry and will be reckoned as among the Gentiles, who do not know the judgment of the Lord." (Ed. 2a, F. X. Funk, p. 308).

¹⁴ Cfr. Gen. XXXI, 7; Ecclus. XXXI, 5-7; Is. V, 8; Jer. XXII, 17; Am. VIII, 5-6; John XII, 4-6.

¹⁵ 1 Tim. VI, 10.—Cfr. St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 84, art. 1. —Sophocles, Antigone, 221 sq.

¹⁶ Cfr. Matth. XIII, 22.—Ps.-Augustine, Append. Serm., 293 (a/. 250 de Temp.), n. 1: "Avarice, I say, must be despised; like fire, the more it receives, the more it seeks." (Migne, P. L., XXXIX, 2301). —Horace, Carm., Ill, 16, 17: "Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam." —IDEM, Satyrae, I, i, 28 sqq. —Juvenal, Satyrae, XIV, 28-29. —When these pages were being prepared for the printer, the Fortnightly Review (St. Louis, Mo., Vol. XXIV, No. 9) published the following: "Mrs. Hetty Green, who died not long ago, leaving an estate of about $100,000,000, according to testimony filed in a surrogate's court by her son, lived under at least six assumed names, and probably many others, hoping thus to elude schemers who might be seeking her money, and murderous cranks, such as the one who tried to kill her friend Russell Sage. She never owned in New York so much as a three-legged stool in the way of furnishings for what men call a home, and moved from one $10 to $15 boarding-house to another, in constant fear that her fellow-boarders would learn her identity. This immensely wealthy woman, who possessed the means to gratify her every whim, lived almost like a criminal dreading arrest. She dreaded to lose the very wealth which oppressed her, and the world's richest woman was perhaps more familiar with the fear of poverty than many a penniless clerk on the pay-roll of her estate.... If she had labored to reduce her own fortune by wise and unselfish giving, her journey might have been more cheerful, for thus she might have escaped the limitations of poverty and at the same time divested herself of the heaviest burdens of wealth." VI, 9.

¹⁷ Cfr. Luke XII, 15-21; 1 Tim.

Ordinary sins of covetousness are in themselves venial, but become mortal if they lead to the transgression of precepts that bind under pain of grievous sin. Al- though covetousness is in itself but a venial sin, "yet it is very dangerous because of man's proneness to it, and because the vice is apt to grow fast by what it feeds upon, until it becomes mortally sinful. Holy Scripture frequently condemns it and warns us against it." ¹⁸ III. LUST. —Lust (luxuria)¹⁹ is an inordinate desire for the pleasure which has its seat in the organs of generation. Sins of lust may be internal (thoughts and desires) or external (words and acts). In these sins there is no smallness of matter (parvitas materiae), but every act of wrongful indulgence in venereal pleasure, if directly sought or consented to, is grievously sinful. No sin against chastity is venial except that which remains internally incomplete (actus imperfectus), not on account of outward circumstances, but because the will resists.

¹⁸ Th. Slater, S.J., A Manual of Moral Theology, Vol. I, pp. 157 sq. —Cfr. 1 Tim. VI, 9, etc.

¹⁹ Cfr. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2a 2ae, qu. 153 sq.: St. Alphonsus, Theol. Moralis, 1. Ill, n. 412 sqq. (ed. Gaude, Vol. I, pp. 665 sqq.).

Not all sins against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, therefore, are mortal. If an impure thought, word, or act is freely willed, or, a fortiori, if it is deliberately excited, it is a mortal sin. Not so if it arises in the mind against one's will or without one's deliberate consent. External acts, such as immodest touches, looks, etc., are mortally sinful if due to lust; they are venially sinful if due to curiosity or inadvertence, and transient in character; and they are not sinful at all if performed for some reasonable cause, even though accompanied by venereal pleasure, provided, of course, no consent is given to such pleasure.

1. Some sins of lust or impurity are according to the order of nature, others are against nature. a) Sins according to the order of nature (in or dine naturae) are all acts of sexual intercourse committed by unmarried persons, e. g., fornication, concubinage, etc. b) Sins against the order of nature (contra ordinem naturae) are those which frustrate the divinely ordained purpose of sexual intercourse, é. g., onanism, self-pollution, pederasty, sodomy, etc.²⁰ Certain sins of impurity derive additional gravity from the attending circumstances, e. g., double adultery, incest, fornication committed by persons vowed to celibacy,²¹ seduction practiced by persons in authority upon their subjects, etc.

²⁰ Cfr. Gen. XIX, 5-7; XXXVIII, 9; Ex. XXII, 19; Lev. XVIII, 22 sq.; XX, 13, 15 sq.; Judg. XIX, 22 aqq.; Wisd. XIV, *6; Rom. I, 26 •q.; x Cor. V, x; VI, 9 sq.; 1 Tim. I, 9 gq.

²¹ Cfr. Gen. XIX, 31 sqq.; XXVIII, 13 sqq.; 2 Kings XLI, 4; XIII, n sqq.—Cfr. 1 Cor. VI, 15, 19; St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 154, art. 6-10.

2. Lust or impurity is a sin which ought "not so much as be named" among Christians.²² It involves most serious consequences for the individual as well as for society. a) "Know you not," says St. Paul, "that your bodies are members of Christ? Am I then to take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid! Or know you not that he that cleaveth to a harlot is one body [with her]? The two/ it is said, 'shall become one flesh/ But he that cleaveth to the Lord is one spirit [with him]. Flee from impurity. Every [other] sin that a man committeth is [a thing] outside the body; but the impure sinneth against his own body. Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own, for you have been bought at a price. Glorify God, then, in your body." ²³ With every other sin (avarice, pride, anger, gluttony, etc.) either the object, or the means of its attainment, lie outside of the subject, whereas in the case of impurity the sinner makes his own body the direct means of wrong-doing (materia peccandi). This vice is especially offensive in a Christian whose body has been raised to the supernatural order by Baptism. God has not only redeemed us from the servitude of the devil and ransomed us at a tremendous price (the life of His only begotten Son), but He has made us temples of the Holy Ghost and members of the mystical body of Christ. For this reason impurity in a Christian involves a kind of sacrilege, a desecration of the temple of God and a violation of the property rights of Jesus Christ.²⁴

²² 1 Cor. V, 1; Eph. V, 3.

²³ 1 Cor. VI, 15 sqq. (Westminster Version).

²⁴ Rom. III, 23-25; 1 Cor. III, 16; VI, 13; Eph. V, 30; 1 Thess. IV, 7 sq.; 1 Pet. I, 18 sq.

These considerations will explain why of all the capital sins impurity is most injurious to the body and the moral character. b) Impurity not only causes concupiscence to grow stronger,²⁵ but leads to self-deception, inconstancy in the keeping of good resolutions, indifference toward considerations of honor and property, intemperance in eating and drinking, disgust for spiritual things, dread of eternity, hatred of God, unbelief, and suicide.²⁶ The effects of this vice on the bodily and spiritual health of its victims and the welfare of their descendants are incalculable. "Sexual intercourse outside of marriage/' says a modern penologist, "is the cardinal crime from which, directly or indirectly, most other crimes spring." ²⁷ There is an intimate connection between lust and cruelty, especially rape and murder.²⁸

²⁵ Cfr. St. Jerome, Epist., 123 (al. 11), n. 14: “Lust, when its act is past, always leaves remorse for itself; it is never satisfied, and when extinguished it is rekindled. It grows by use and fails; nor does that which is driven by impulse obey reason.” (Migne, P. L., XXII, 1055).

²⁶ Os. IV, 1 1; 2 Kings XI, 4 sqq.; XIII, 11 sqq.; Prov. V, 1 sqq.; XXIX, 3; Ecclus. XIX, 2 sq.; Luke XV, 13, 30. —St. Ambrose, Epist., 27, n. 2\ "The lustful man detests the work of virtue; the glutton flees it. Thus the Egyptian body, which loves enticements, opposes the virtues of the soul, abominates command, flees the disciplines of the virtues and all works of this kind." (Migne, P. L., XVI, 1047). —IDEM, Epist., 58, n. 16: "When anyone begins to live lustfully, he begins to stray from the true faith. Thus he commits two very great crimes: disgraces of the flesh and sacrileges of the mind." (P. L., XVI, 1182).— St. Bernard, In Cant., s. 39, n. 7: "The chariot of lust likewise rolls on four wheels: gluttony of the belly, lust of intercourse, softness of clothing, and relaxation in idleness and sleep. It is drawn by two horses alike, prosperity of life and abundance of possessions; and two drivers preside over these, the torpor of sloth and faithless security." (P. L., CLXXXIII, 980).—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 153, art. 5: "Through the vice of lust the lower appetite, namely the concupiscible, tends most vehemently toward its object, namely the pleasurable, because of the vehemence of passion and delight. Consequently, through lust the higher powers, namely reason and will, are especially disordered." —J. Gerson, De Examinatione Doctr., P, I, consid. 6 (.Opera, I, 18): "Just as no passion is more vehement than lustful desire, so none is more dangerous for falling into error and teaching falsehood."

²⁷ Beneke, Gefängnisstudien, p. 54. —Horace says (Carm., III, 6, 17 sqq.): "The ages fruitful in guilt have polluted marriage, offspring, and homes; the calamity derived from this source has flowed into country and people." Cfr. the same writer's Satyrae, Book III, 3, 107 sq.: "Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus deterrima belli causa...."

²⁸ Cfr. Ez. XVI, 49; Am. II, 7. — Jos. Müller, Die Keuschheitsideen in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung und praktischen Bedeutung, Mayence 1897, pp. 152 sqq.

"It is vanity to follow the lusts of the flesh and to desire that for which thou must afterwards be grievously punished.... For they who follow sensuality, defile their conscience and lose the grace of God," says Thomas a Kempis.²⁹

²⁹ De Imit. Christi, I, 1. Cfr. S. J. Auer, O. Praem., De Virtute Castitatis, eiusque Laesionibus, Innsbruck 1920; P. Merkelbach, O.P., Quaestiones de Castitate et Luxuria, Paris 1926.

IV. ENVY. —Envy (invidia) is defined as sadness on account of another's good (tristitia de alienis bonis). To be sad because an unworthy man has obtained a post of honor or wealth, of which he is sure to make wrong use, or to which we ourselves have a better claim, or which will be employed to our disadvantage, is not envy. Such sadness generally results from shortsightedness or a mistaken idea of Providence; but it does not exclude charity; in fact there is a species of sadness which is extolled as a virtue. Cfr. Ps.

CXVIII, 136: "My eyes have sent forth springs of water, because they have not kept thy law." Matth. V, 5: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." 2 Cor. VII, 9 sq.: "Now I am glad, not because you were made sorrowful; but because you were made sorrowful unto penance. For you were made sorrowful according to God...." ³⁰ Sadness combined with selfishness, however, is always sinful because incompatible with, nay directly opposed to, charity. The envious man seeks to injure his neighbor rather than advantage himself, whereas charity inclines us to rejoice in the wellbeing of others. Through the envy of the devil sin and death came into this world.³¹ Envy inspired the first recorded murder and the crucifixion of Christ.³² It is the lowest form of selfishness because it aims solely at destruction. This vice is mortally sinful in itself, but admits of a parvitas materiae.

³⁰ Cfr. St. Augustine, Serm., 254 (al. 151 de Temp.), n. 2; St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 36, art. 1-4.

³¹ Cfr. Gen. III, 1; IV, 5; Wisd. II, 24.

³² Cfr. Matth. XXVII, 18; 1 Cor. X, 24; XIII, 4 sqq.; Gal. V, 26.

Envy engenders hatred, revenge, malignant joy at the misfortunes of others, calumny, slander, and crimes against life and property.³³ More than any other vice envy entails its own punishment, for it destroys peace of mind and sometimes even injures the body.³⁴ Sacred Scripture graphically compares this vice to "rottenness of the bones" ³⁵ and intimates that it consumes its victim body and soul.³⁶

³³ Matth. XXVII, 18-25; cfr. Gen. IV, 8; XXVI, 14 sq.; XXVII, 41; XXXVII, 4, 11.

³⁴ Matth. XXVII, 18-25. Cfr. Gen. IV, 5-6; XXXI, 2-5.

³⁵ Prov. XIV, 30.

³⁶ Wisd. VI, 25.

V. GLUTTONY. —Gluttony (gula) is an inordinate desire for earthly goods in general and food and drink in particular.³⁷ Man is expected to use food and drink according to right reason. Inordinate use of these things (as if they were an end in themselves), degrades him to the level of the brute. Besides this grosser form of gluttony (voracitas, ingluvies, ebrietas), there is a more refined though equally sinful variety, which consists in craving for food and drink solely for the pleasure they give and making them the principal object of one's thoughts and desires (cupedia). This epicurean gourmandise (sybaritism), like the grosser forms of gluttony, confuses the end with the means. Saint Paul says of those addicted to it that their "God is their 38 belly."

³⁷ Cfr. St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 148, art. 1: "Gluttony does not denote every appetite for eating and drinking, but an inordinate one. An appetite is called inordinate because it departs from the order of reason, in which the good of moral virtue consists. But something is called a sin because it is contrary to virtue. Hence it is manifest that gluttony is a sin." 33 Phil. III, 19; cfr. Rom. XVI, 18.

A very common form of gluttony is drunkenness (ebrietas). Complete drunkenness (ebrietas perfecta) temporarily deprives man of the use of his highest prerogatives —reason and free-will. Voluntarily to put one- self into this condition is, as a rule, mortally sinful. Sins committed in the state of drunkenness are morally imputable (voluntarium in causa) unless indeed one could truthfully claim, like Noé, that he knew not the strength of wine. To drink to excess, but not so as to lose the use of reason, is per se a venial sin, but may become mortally sinful per accidens, e. g., on account of serious harm to one's health, grave scandal, neglect of important duties, or when a man knows that excessive drinking is for him a proximate occasion of grievous sin.

The sinful character of intemperance in all its forms is evident from the consequences to which this vice leads. It involves a senseless destruction of food and drink, of which others may stand in need, and injures both body and soul by exciting the animal appetites, especially lust, blunting the moral judgment, warping the finer sensibilities, and ultimately destroying all interest in spiritual things.³⁹

³⁹ Cfr. Gen. XXV, 29-34; Is. V, 11, 22; Am. VI, 6; Prov. XX, 1; XXIII, 29-35; Eph. V, 18. —St. Augustine, Confessiones, X, c. 31, n. 44: "Although health is the reason for eating and drinking, dangerous pleasure attaches itself like a handmaid and often tries to go before, so that what I say or wish to do for the sake of health may be done for its sake. Nor is the measure of each the same, for what is enough for health is too little for pleasure." —Ibid., n. 47: "Placed amid these temptations, therefore, I certainly strive daily against the desire for eating and drinking; for this is not something I can decide to cut off once and never touch again. Thus the reins of the throat must be held with measured relaxation and restraint. And who is there, Lord, who is not carried a little beyond the bounds of necessity? Whoever he is, he is great; let him magnify Your name. But I am not he, because I am a sinful man." (Migne, P. L., XXXII, 798, 799). —Cfr. Ps.- Augustine, Append. Serm., 294 (al. 231 de Temp.), n. 2-3 (P. L., XXXII, 2304). —St. Bernard, Epist., II, n. 10: "How can one who is filled daily with the husks of swine hunger or thirst for Christ? You cannot drink at the same time the chalice of Christ and the chalice of demons. Pride is the chalice of demons; detraction and envy are the chalice of demons; gluttony and drunkenness are the chalice of demons. When these have filled either your mind or your belly, Christ finds no place in you." (Migne, P. L., CLXXXII, 85). — Terence, Eunuch., IV, 5, 6: "Sine Cerere et Libero [Baccho] friget Venus." —Ovid, Rem. Am., 805 sqq. —Seneca, Epist., 95, 23: "Innumerabiles esse morbos non miraberis: coquos numera." 40 Cfr. Gen. XIX, 32 sqq.; Prov. XXXI, 4. —Homer, Odyssey, IX, 360 sqq; Iliad, VI, 258 sqq. —Horace, Carm., Ill, 21, 9 sqq.—A. Egger, Der Klerus und die Alkoholfrage, 4th ed., Freiburg 1909. —Jos. Keating, S.J., The Drink Question, London 1914. —Austin O'Malley, The Cure of Alcoholism, St. Louis 1913.

Drunkenness as a habit (ebriositas) is deserving of the severest censure, because it involves waste, destroys family life, creates dissensions, causes crimes and diseases, and entails the physical and moral ruin of individuals, and sometimes of entire nations. "Drunkenness," says Origen, "seduced him whom Sodom had not seduced." 40 Hence the Apostle's admonition: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury; but be ye filled with the holy Spirit." ⁴¹ VI. ANGER. —Anger (ira, iracundia), broadly speaking, is a craving for vengeance. It is not necessarily sinful, because, to quote St. Thomas, "vengeance may be sought either well or ill." ⁴² a) There is a righteous anger which inveighs against evil and in favor of goodness. Holy Scripture frequently attributes such anger to God. John the Baptist angrily denounced the Pharisees and Sadducees as a "brood of vipers," who "flee from the wrath to come."⁴³ "With anger" (μετ’ ὀργῆς) and grief "for the blindness of their hearts," ⁴⁴ Christ pronounced woe upon the Pharisees,⁴⁵ drove the money changers from the temple and overthrew their tables.⁴⁶ Filled with righteous indignation St. Peter invoked the judgment of God upon Ananias and Saphira,⁴⁷ St. Stephen rebuked the Jews for resisting the Holy Ghost,⁴⁸ and St. Paul upbraided the Athenians.⁴⁹ Righteous anger is no sin, and parents and superiors are justified in reprehending and punishing their children or subjects for a just cause. "If one is angry according to right reason," says the Angelic Doctor, "then to get angry is praise ⁵⁰ worthy." b) To be angry, even for a just cause, becomes sinful when a man loses control of himself and indulges in feelings of hatred or enmity. This is true a fortiori when anger lacks a just cause. Note, however, that as long as anger remains internal, it is as a rule not sinful, but merely a temptation. Only when it vents itself in oaths or blasphemies, or leads to acts of violence and destruction, is it more or less grievously sinful.

⁴¹ Eph. V, 18; cfr. Luke XXI, 34; 1 Pet. V, 8.

⁴² Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 158, art. 1-7.

⁴³ Matth. III, 7.

⁴⁴ Mark III, 5.

⁴⁵ Matth. XXXIII, 13 sqq.

⁴⁶ Matth. XXI, 12.

⁴⁷ Acts V, 3 sqq.

⁴⁸ Acts VII, 51 sqq.

⁴⁹ Acts XVII, 1 6 sqq.

⁵⁰ Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. 158, art. 1: "If someone is angry according to right reason, then being angry is praiseworthy." —Cfr. Saint Augustine, Tract, in Epist. loa., VII, n. n: "Love is severe, charity is severe; it is severe in a manner without gall, in the manner of a dove, not of a raven." (Migne, P. L., XXXV, 1235).

Man is bound under pain of mortal sin to keep the mighty passion of anger under control. "Be angry and sin not," says St. Paul, "let not the sun go down upon your anger; give not place to the devil." ⁵¹ The meaning obviously is that man should not permit his anger to ex- ceed the bounds of reason, nor nurse grievances.⁵² St. James says: "Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger ; for the anger of man worketh not the justice of God." ⁵³ VII. SLOTH. —Sloth (acedia) is frequently caused by an abnormal condition of the body. It may be defined as a sluggishness of the soul that makes it dread physical and mental labor in the exercise of virtue. Sloth, as a vice, may be accompanied by great energy of mind and body in matters not pertaining to the spiritual domain. Sloth usually begins with lukewarmness, especially neglect of prayer and religious exercises. It manifests itself:

⁵¹ Eph. IV, 26 sq.

⁵² Cfr. St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 25, s. 2, n. 3 (Migne, P. L., XXXVI, 189): "Although anger creeps upon a Christian from the very human condition and the weakness of mortality which we bear, it must not be held for long or allowed to last into the next day. Cast that anger out of your heart before this visible light sets, lest that invisible light forsake you." (Migne, P. L., XXXVI, 189).

⁵³ Jas. I, 19 sq.

(1) As indifference to virtue and spiritual things (desidia, inertia), accompanied by distraction and neglect of duty and by pleasure in sentimentalities and day-dreaming. The ordinary symptoms of this form of sloth are: mental unrest, frequent change of work or profession, shiftlessness, inconstancy, etc.

(2) As disgust (taedium) for the moral and religious duties which every man is bound to perform. This disgust may develop into positive aversion for Catholic principles and practices and regret of having been received into the Church. At this stage sloth is generally accompanied by loss of courage and results in spiritual and moral decay.

Sloth is a mortal sin whenever it leads to the neglect of duties to which one is obliged sub gravi. The dire consequences of religious indifference are adumbrated in the Apocalypse: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot! But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." ⁵⁴ "Think not that one who falls deeply, strikes bottom at once. Do you wish to learn the cause? For a long time this man was very lukewarm, and as a consequence his soul lost strength unnoticed, while the evil inclinations grew stronger.”⁵⁵

⁵⁴ Apoc. III, 15 sqq.; cfr. Matth. XXV, 26 sqq.—St. Bernard, De Consideratione, II, c. 13: "Idleness, the mother of trifles and the stepmother of virtues, is to be fled." (Migne, P. L., CLXXXII, 756).

⁵⁵ John Cassian, Collationes, VI, 17*

READINGS. —St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 84, art. 2 sq. —IDEM, De Malo, qu. 8 sqq. —Th. Slater, S.J., A Manual of Moral Theology, Vol. I, pp. 154 sqq. —O. Zockler, Das Lehrstilck von den sieben Hauptsunden, Munich 1893. —Ph. G. Laborie, Les Pechcs Capitaux, Paris 1908. —A. Tanquerey, Synopsis Theol. Mor. et Pastor., Vol. II, pp. 287 sqq. —Natalis Alexander, De Peccatis (Migne, Theol. Curs., XI, 707-1168). —Paulhan, Les Caractéres, Paris 1903—H. Noldin, S.J.. Summa Theol. Mor., Vol. I, 11th ed., pp. 375 sqq.—Sabetti-Barrett, Comp. Theol. Mor., 22nd ed., pp. 129 sqq. —A. Vermeersch, S.J., Theol. Mor., Vol. I, pp. 418 sqq.