Contrition

Contrition.—The first act of the penitent is contrition. It is defined by the Council of Trent as a sorrow and hatred for sin committed, with a resolution of sinning no more and a desire of doing what is necessary for the proper reception of the Sacrament of Penance.

(a) Thus, it presupposes a hatred of personal past transgressions, for one grieves only about that which displeases one, and the acts of the will begin with likes and dislikes.

(b) It consists essentially in sorrow or affliction of spirit, for contrition, being the chief act of repentance, looks to reparation to God for the injury done Him, and it therefore punishes the sinner by sadness for his misdeeds.

(c) It includes as a property or consequence the resolution to avoid future sin and to do what God requires for forgiveness; for no one is sincerely sorry for the past unless this sorrow makes him decide not to repeat the offense, and makes him desire to fulfill the conditions that God lays down for reconciliation.

The Two Kinds of Contrition.—(a) Perfect contrition is that which is caused by charity, or the love of benevolence or of friendship (1109, 1110) towards God. This love is had, whether the object of one’s affection is the divine being or persons, the divine and infinite perfections, or a single attribute; for all of these are really God Himself. This contrition justifies the sinner at once, for it includes charity and the will (at least implicit) to do what God wishes, and God takes up His abode with those who love Him (John, xiv. 23). Perfect contrition is necessary, both as a means and as a divine precept, whenever the duty of repentance or of the Sacrament of Penance obliges with a like necessity, and there is no opportunity of receiving the Sacrament; for it is then the only way of recovering grace.

(b) Imperfect contrition, or attrition, is contrition caused by a supernatural motive inferior to that of charity, i.e., by a less perfect motive suggested by faith that leads one to grieve over sin committed, for example, the heinousness of sin in itself, its eternal punishment by God (i.e., the pain of loss or the pain of sense), or its temporal punishment by God in this life or in Purgatory. This contrition does not justify the sinner without the Sacrament, for it does not rectify or retract the disorder introduced by sin as far as lies within the sinner’s power (that is, ex opere operantis). By his sin the sinner preferred the creature to God; by his attrition he does not go so far as to prefer God positively to every created good, else his contrition would be perfect. But attrition suffices for justification of the sinner with the Sacrament of Penance, for it includes the essentials of contrition in general, and thus removes the impediments to the activity of the Sacrament (that is, the production of grace ex opere operato). The same holds good also of the sufficient disposition for Baptism, and more probably of that for the Sacraments of the Living received in good faith by one who is not in grace.

Is Attrition Based Solely on Fear of Punishment Laudable?—(a) Fear of the world is sinful, because it offends God to escape evil (1044); slavish fear of God is sinful also, because it makes self the last end, avoiding sin solely because of the harm it will bring on self (1053). Sorrow for sin caused by slavish fear is not attrition, and is not laudable.

(b) Servile fear of God in itself is good and supernatural (1050), and the sorrow for sin or attrition based on such fear is also good; and if it includes a resolution of amendment, it suffices for justification with the Sacraments. The end (i.e., to escape punishment) is good (Matt., x. 28); the means (i.e., sorrow for sin) is good; and the use of the means for the end is good, for desertion of sin is the way to escape unhappiness (Luke, iii. 7, 8). Nor is it wrong to make a nobler good (such as avoidance of sin) a means to a lesser good (such as escape from punishment) when the lesser good is not made the last end, but only the immediate end, of the greater good. Thus, when we pray for temporal goods, we make a spiritual thing a means to a material end, but the Last End of the prayer is God Himself. Servile fear, unlike slavish fear (timor serviliter servilis), does not make self the last end (Denzinger, 818, 1146, 1525).

Attrition in the Sacrament of Penance.—Must attrition based on fear of punishment be joined with love of God to justify in the Sacrament?

(a) Some form of love is required, for all contrition is detestation of sin, and sin is not hated unless its opposite is loved. Hence, just as attrition must be accompanied by faith and hope, so it must also be accompanied by some form of love of God (2718).

(b) Disinterested love is not required. This is certain as regards love of friendship, for even the smallest degree of that love is charity and justifies even without the Sacrament (1112, 2730). This is commonly held in reference to love of benevolence, which seems practically to be always united with love of friendship or charity. A love that inclines to God for His own sake but that does not predominate over other loves is held by some to be necessary, but it is difficult to understand such a love or to see its possibility.

(c) Interested love (the love of concupiscence or of hope) is therefore necessary. The common opinion today seems to be that it also suffices, and that it need be only virtual or implicit. In other words, the prevalent view is that every attrition prompted by fear of punishment contains an initial love of God which suffices to turn the sinner to God and to remove any obstacle to the action of the Sacrament. For “the fear of God is the beginning of His love” (Ecclus., xxv. 16), the hope of pardon is a beginning of love of the Author of pardon and justice, the resolve to amend is an inclination to keep the great command of love of God (1556).

The Conditions for Valid Contrition and Attrition.—(a) It must be internal, for contrition is an act of repentance and must be in the heart. Merely pretended sorrow, and sorrow which one mistakenly thinks one has, are insufficient.

(b) It must be supernatural, for contrition is a disposition for the reception of the supernatural habit of grace. Sorrow for sin induced by natural motives, such as the punishments inflicted by human agencies, if these are not viewed in the light of faith, is not sufficient.

(c) It must be universal, that is, there must be sorrow for all mortal sins not yet forgiven, for it is impossible to be really sorry for one serious sin while retaining affection for another. But it is not necessary to repent of all venial sins before one is forgiven (see 2724).

(d) It must be sovereign, that is, if the contrition is perfect, God must be loved above every other good; if it is imperfect, sin must be hated above every evil that could lead to sin. If the sinner does not detest his dishonesty more than the privation he will suffer by being honest, he is not really contrite. It is, however, not necessary that contrition be sensibly felt, or be of supreme intensity, or that its act be of long duration; and it is rash to call to mind the kinds of evils or torments one would prefer to suffer rather than commit sin (see 1556).

Valid and Fruitful Reception of the Sacrament.—Some theologians, distinguishing between contrition as matter of the Sacrament and contrition as a disposition of the penitent, hold that it is possible to have a valid but unfruitful reception of the Sacrament, and that revival of its grace is possible. They explain thus:

(a) the contrition required for the matter and the validity of the Sacrament must be such as can be known with moral certainty by the confessor from external indications, and hence it suffices for validity that the sorrow be true and sincere and supernatural;

(b) the contrition required for the disposition of the penitent and the fruitfulness of the Sacrament must be such as excludes all affection for every grave sin and includes the resolution to avoid all mortal sin in the future, and hence it is required for fruitfulness that sorrow be also universal and sovereign. (This opinion has very few, if any at all, adherents among modern theologians. It is retained here solely as a matter of record.)

Properties of Contrition.—Since contrition belongs to the matter of Penance, it must have the properties of sacramental matter (2655 sqq.).

(a) Thus, the matter must be sensible, and hence contrition must be shown in some external way, as by a sorrowful confession, devout request for absolution, or, in the case of those who are unconscious, by a call for a priest or the practices or prayers of a Christian life.

(b) The matter must be united with the form, and hence contrition must be elicited at the moment of absolution, or a short time before (not more than a few hours before, according to some, or even a few days before, according to others). But if a penitent recalls immediately after absolution a forgotten mortal sin, and is then absolved from it also, more probably he is not obliged to renew his act of contrition, because the act just made virtually continues; in practice, however, he might be told to make another act of contrition and a new penance or the same penance may be imposed before the second absolution. Moreover, for absolution when one is unconscious and in danger of death, since an habitual intention suffices (2674), it seems that contrition made long ago, but not retracted, is sufficient.

(c) The matter must have at least a moral unity of its own parts, and hence the contrition must in some way be directed to the confession; that is, either before or during or after the act of contrition there must be an intention to confess with the sorrow for sin contained in that act of contrition, or to apply that sorrow to the confession just made. Otherwise it does not appear that one has the purpose to make a sacramental confession. But there is no practical difficulty, as every act of contrition contains implicitly the will to confess, or every sincere confession includes the will to use the contrition one has exercised or will exercise.