Section 4: A Scrupulous Conscience

Scrupulosity or scrupulousness is a peculiar irregularity by which the conscience is led to exaggerate obligations or to regard harmless actions as sinful. A scrupulous man is harassed by groundless doubts and worries, which sometimes cause desperation or religious dementia.

Scrupulosity is often simulated by penitents for egoistic ends, e. g., to make a good impression on the confessor. A prudent confessor will therefore treat such cases with great caution, especially when women are involved. What appears to be a scrupulous conscience is sometimes mere hypocrisy, which, after the manner of the Pharisees, strains at gnats and swallows camels, i. e., pretends to worship the letter of the law without regard for its spirit, and loads down others with burdens which it declines to assume itself.¹ Such a conscience is called conscientia pharisaica, and is almost impossible to cure because it springs from that most tenacious of all vices, —pride.

¹ Cfr. Matth. XXIII, 2 sqq., 13 sqq.; John XVIII, 28.

A scrupulous conscience, on the other hand, can usually be cured by the timely application of suitable remedies.

a) The first step to take is to determine the cause. In the majority of cases the confessor will discover a pathological condition of either the body or the mind. The penitent must be enjoined under strict obedience to remove the cause of his scruples by applying the remedies suggested to him. There is no other cure because the victim of scrupulosity nearly always seeks the cause of his disorder outside himself. Where scruples are merely a trial of the soul, or a penalty for previously committed sins, or a test of virtue, they may be regarded as a disposition of Providence, and the penitent should be admonished to be patient, humbly put his trust in God, and use his affliction as a means of acquiring greater perfection.

If scrupulosity is the result of diabolical obsession and the confessor decides to perform an exorcism, he should not let the penitent know anything about it.

A second reason for enjoining strict obedience to the directions of the confessor is the inclination of scrupulous persons to reject the advice of others and obstinately adhere to their own notions. Such people need, and generally desire, a firm guide, and it is safe to say that a scrupulous penitent will never sin if he follows the advice of his confessor. For the same reason a prudent confessor should inexorably send a scrupulous penitent back to his former confessor, or, when this is impossible, accept him only on condition that he promises strict obedience, Priests do well to be lenient toward scrupulous penitents in all other things, but they should punish disobedience with firmness, even by denying absolution. b) The specific remedies indicated in each individual case must be applied after a careful consideration of all the symptoms. When a scrupulous person is haunted by temptations against purity, or by the fear of consenting to blasphemous thoughts, he should be instructed to accuse himself of such things only if he can make oath to the effect that he has consented. Men and women who have a tender conscience do not usually commit a grievous sin without being aware of the fact. Where scruples have reference to past confessions, they are generally caused by a false notion of the requirements of valid confession or by the apprehension of losing the right disposition at any moment. In such cases it may be advisable to instruct the penitent regarding the necessary requisites of confession. If a general confession is likely to afford relief, let it be suggested or permitted, on condition that the penitent confess no sins of his previous life, unless he is ready to take an oath that he actually committed and never confessed them before. As a rule scrupulous penitents should be dissuaded from brooding over or mentioning past sins. This is a wise rule to follow, because, even though something serious may occasionally be left out, the preservation of bodily and spiritual health is a higher duty than the material integrity of sacramental confession.

Another class of persons labor under the fear of committing a sin every time they act. These should be advised to disregard their apprehensions and to go ahead resolutely without trying to solve their doubts, because no one who earnestly strives to serve God is likely to commit a grave sin without being aware of the fact.

The rule bidding men to abstain from acting as long as their conscience is in a state of doubt, does not apply to the scrupulous. If it did, they would never act at all, as they are never free from doubt. Such persons should be taught to disregard the maxim, "In dubio pars tutior est sequenda," and they will rarely sin, except in a material sense, because they will not act against conscience, but merely against unreasonable fears and scruples.

Finally, scrupulous persons should be forbidden to repeat prayers, penances, etc., which they think they have performed imperfectly. Of course, where harm has resulted to another by an incomplete performance of duties, even the scrupulant can not be dispensed from repetition, e. g., if a scrupulous priest had mispronounced the formula of absolution, he would be bound to repeat the same. Usually, however, scrupulous persons only think they have erred in such cases, and since their doubts are unfounded, there is no obligation to repeat. E. Boyd Barrett, S. J., pleads “for a frank recognition of the fact that 'scruples' is a mere nerve disease, though concerned with facts of the moral order. The central interest of the pious man or woman,” he says, “is his state of soul. The obsession that grips his exhausted or weakened mind deals naturally with the chief interest of his life, religion, and hence the 'content' of the obsession of a pious person concerns sin.” (The New Psychology, N. Y. 1925, p. 118).

READINGS.—Thos. Slater, S.J., A Manual of Moral Theology, Vol. I, pp. 76 sqq.—IDEM, Questions of Moral Theology, New York 1915, pp. 329 sqq.—J. F. Delany in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. III, pp. 640 sq.—Sabetti-Barrett, S.J., Compendium Theologiae Moralis, 27th ed., New York 1919, pp. 39 sqq.—De Lehen, S.J., The Way of Interior Peace, New York 1888, pp. 268 sqq.—A. Lehmkuhl, S.J., Theologia Moralis, 11th ed., Vol. I, pp. 76 sqq.—A. Konings, C.SS.R., Theologia Moralis, 2nd ed., Vol. I, New York 1876, pp. 19 sqq.—Fr. a Barbens, O. M. Cap., Introductio Pathologica in Studium Theol. Mor., Tarracona 1917, pp. 121 sqq.—Aug. Gemelli, O.F.M., De Scrupulis, Florence 1913.—A. Eymieu, Le Gouvernement de Soi-même, Essai de Psychologie Pratique, 2 vols., esp. Vol. II, Obsessions et Scrupules, Paris, 27th ed., 1922.—A. Poulain, S.J., The Graces of Interior Prayer, tr. by S. Yorke Smith, 2nd ed., London s. a., pp. 420 sqq.—N. Turco, Il Trattamento “Morale” dello Scrupolo e dell’ Ossessione Morbosa, 2 vols., Turin 1920.—L’Ange Conducteur des Ames Scrupuleuses ou Craintives, Bruges 1905.—E. Boyd Barrett, S.J., The New Psychology, N. Y. 1925, pp. 103 sqq.