Article III: On Narrow and Scrupulous Conscience

123. A narrow conscience (conscience etroite; eng of nauw geweten) is one which, from a slighter cause, fears or increases the character of sin; to which pertains the scrupulous conscience, which anxiously fears and too greatly increases the character of sin (conscience anxieuse et scrupuleuse; angstig of beschroomd geweten): and so this differs from the former by a simple degree, and therefore the same principles hold for each according to a certain proportion.

Scruple is said metaphorically from scrupus, which is a rough little stone lying hidden in the shoe of one walking, yet bringing annoyance and impediment in walking; and therefore in morals it is a spiritual stumbling-block, which impedes a man from proceeding with unoffending foot and free step in the way of truth and Christian practice. Whence an empty apprehension is so called, and the fear and anxiety arising from it, that somewhere there is sin where there is not, or a greater sin than there is.

Whence scrupulous conscience in the proper sense is a dictate founded upon scruples; and it can be defined as one which, with anxiety, doubts, suspects, or probably thinks, and fears, on account of slight and contemptible reasons, that an act here and now to be placed is evil, though it is not, or is worse than it is, for example, that it is mortal when it is venial. - It is said:

a) properly, for by the name scrupulous conscience there is often called both scrupulosity, i.e., the habitual disposition by which we are inclined and prone to having a scrupulous conscience; - and also the actual anxiety caused thereby. For this can remain even with a sufficiently certain conscience by which someone judges that the act is licit, while at the same time, from light causes, he somewhat fears and is anxious lest it be illicit: mere scruple or apprehension, imagination, and anxiety of themselves are not conscience or a dictate of reason, but a shadow and likeness of conscience, and such a doubt, which is judged imprudent, does not impede the judgment of a practically certain conscience which despises scruples. Then the conscience itself is not formed from scruples or scrupulous, but well formed, although it is agitated, crucified, and vexed by scruples;

b) doubts, suspects, or probably thinks, and fears: thus it is distinguished from a conscience simply erroneous, which judges certainly; in which case the very judgment, i.e., the conscience, is no longer scrupulous, although it can have arisen from preceding scruples;

c) on account of slight reasons, that an act is evil which is not...: this is the proper object by which it is distinguished from every other positively doubtful and opinative conscience, and especially from lax conscience; - indeed also from a God-fearing or tender conscience, which judges serenely with foundation or according to truth;

d) here and now to be placed, and thus it is distinguished from a consequent scrupulous conscience, which judges a past act.

124. The nature and signs of scruples.¹ - A scruple, as we have already noted, is an empty apprehension and the fear and anxiety thence arising that somewhere there is sin where there is not, or that it is greater than it is. A certain mental obsession (obsession de l'esprit; kwelgedachte) and hyperesthesia of sin are accustomed to accompany this apprehension; and thus a scruple is already a mental disease, and indeed of the moral order: a morbid anxiety of soul concerning an obligation to be fulfilled, or concerning sins committed or to be committed.

¹ On scruples cf. Pitres and Regis, Les Obsessions et les Impulsions; P. Janet, Les Obsessions et la Psychasthenie; Les Nevroses; Dr. Raymond, Nevroses et Psychonevroses; Eymieu, Le Gouvernement de soi-meme (2nd vol.); Grasset, Demi-fous et demi-responsables; Le Psychisme inferieur; Gemelli, De Scrupulis; d'Agnel and d'Espiney, Psychotherapie des troubles nerveux; Le Scrupule. Likewise Scaramelli, Directorium asceticum; Reuter, Neo-confessarius, n. 255-274; Billuart, De Conscientia; St. Alphonsus, Th. M., I, n. 11-19; Praxis conf., n. 95-98; Raphael a S. Joseph, Institutiones fundamentales Theologiae moralis, de Conscientia; Dubois, L'Ange conducteur des ames scrupuleuses; P. Raymond, Le Guide des Nerveux et des scrupuleux; Grimes, Traite des Scrupules; Beaudoin, Tr. de Conscientia; and other authors in this treatise, such as Ballerini, Lehmkuhl, Theol. Mechliniensis, Prummer, and Vermeersch; Leroux in the periodical Revue Eccl. de Liege, 1912; Legrand in the periodical Coll. Brugenses, 1922 and 1923.

Therefore a threefold element is required for it: 1st, of the intellectual order, a futile reason which besieges the mind and whose solution does not appear, arising without deliberation in the manner of a fixed idea, violently forcing itself in, stubbornly recurring; - 2nd, of the affective order, an empty dread of sinning arising thence, which holds the attention fixed and impedes the will from turning the mind away from it and determining it to firm assent; - 3rd, an effect proceeding from both, agitation, unrest, and disturbance of mind. It can concern the past, as if someone from a futile reason fears lest he omitted some sin or circumstance in confession, lest he examined himself insufficiently, lest he consented to temptation; or it can concern the present or future, as if someone from a similar reason fears lest that which he is doing or is about to do is a sin.

The signs and manifestations of a scrupulous conscience are:

1. pertinacity in the argumentation of one's arguments and in judgment, by which someone, from fear of sin, acquiesces in no one's opinion;

2. on the contrary, at the same time timidity in conclusions, and therefore frequent change in judgment from a light appearance, so that he cannot pronounce definitively; and distrust of self, by which someone suspects defects either of the intellect in grasping or interpreting responses, or of words in proposing difficulties, or of memory in retaining counsels given or positive precepts, or even in his own deeds, so that he doubts about the door closed by him, about the light extinguished, about the hours recited, about the Mass heard. From both of these arise:

3. the desire of consulting books or questioning new confessors;

4. impertinent, lengthy, or repeated reflections, accusations, or questions, concerning several circumstances which were present in the action or could have been present, or concerning the response of the confessor;

5. disturbed and disordered ways and gestures in avoiding sins or treating affairs, and a manner, as it were compelled, of rushing into the action concerning which he was anxiously inquiring, and of proceeding as it were blindly in external works;

6. fear of sin in those things which are held by all as licit;

7. excessive unrest and anxiety concerning past actions (for example, concerning confession, the recitation of the breviary) done with moral diligence, and consequently the will of repeating them again and again;

8. inconstancy and defect of firmness in the purpose of preserving peace, of keeping silence concerning scruples, of omitting a new inquiry into the matter, or of simply obeying.

125. Causes and effects of scruples. - The causes of scruples are as many as weaken the nervous system and diminish the energy of the soul.

1st. Internal causes: a) mediate on the part of the body: a melancholic temperament, prone to suspecting evil and to sadness, which can also come from heredity or from a certain degeneracy;² - solitude or flight from all human conversation and recreation; - and weakness of the head, even proceeding from immoderation in abstinence, vigils, and studies; or from a weak and infirm constitution, insufficient nutrition and disturbance of the functions of nutrition, depressing emotions, a bodily illness gravely debilitating, or even psychasthenia, which scarcely permits the soul a more intense attention for forming an equitable judgment concerning practical matters;

² Melancholy is numbered among the causes because melancholic persons commonly are sharp in talent and suspicious by nature, and tenacious of the things which they apprehend: thus they are prone to every suspicion of evil, they wish to scrutinize even the smallest things, and with difficulty acquiesce in others; all of which predispose to scruples.

b) immediate causes on the part of the soul, whether in the intellect: subtlety of talent which easily finds reasons for doubting, or seeks mathematical certainty in all things; weakness of mind and defect of judgment (women are more often scrupulous than men); weakness and inconstancy of soul by which it follows vivid imaginations rather than mature judgment; - or in the affection: hidden pride clinging tenaciously to one's own judgment; pusillanimity, which does not know how to contemn fears and loses courage.

There is therefore a twofold kind of the scrupulous: some are rather intellectual, others too sensitive and timid from a certain phobia. In both cases there is present a defect, both 1) of practical judgment, or prudence in estimating particular circumstances; and 2) of energy, or fortitude, perseverance, or constancy, of the will which does not command the intellect to be content with practical and improperly so-called certitude, or does not moderate the imagination and sensitive appetite and thus does not move to a serene examination free from the influence of imagination and anxiety.³

³ Some, such as Grasset and Leroux (in the periodical Revue Eccl. de Liege, 1911-12), reduce scruples to diseases of the will; nevertheless their principle seems to be a defect of practical judgment, which precedes the exercise of the will. Grasset himself admits: "The fixed idea takes over the will an unjust and undeserved, uncontrollable, irresistible, disproportionate, senseless dominion." Besides, there does not seem to be a disease of the will which does not depend on mental disease, since the act of the appetitive power follows cognition and is essentially proportioned to it (cf. Vermeersch, Th. M., I, n. 94, citing St. Thomas, I-II, q. 10, a. 1). But if a disease of practical judgment is called a disease of the will, the manner of speaking is not correct, but the question will be about the name.

2. External causes are: a) God - by not granting light or strength - permitting scruples as punishment of sin, for amendment of conscience, greater generosity of soul, exercise in virtue and confidence, horror of sin, increase of merit, mystical trial, etc., or also on account of the good of others, so that we may learn to direct the scrupulous;

b) the devil exciting scruples in the imagination and sensitive appetite for tormenting the devout (especially by nourishing sadness), so that they may become weary in virtue, seek external consolations until they are led to despair of salvation, by which they decline toward laxity, indeed toward all vices, or even bring death upon themselves;

c) education too constricted or harsh, or too soft, conversation with the scrupulous, and the reading of rigid books or books treating of moral matters by one who does not know how to judge them rightly.⁴

⁴ On the discretion of scruples, whether they are from God, from the devil, or from corruption of nature, see Reuter, Neo-confessarius, n. 258-260.

But the harmful effects, and many and very great temporal and at the same time spiritual damages, can proceed from scruples to which consent is given, from whatever cause they arise. And indeed:

1. in bodily life, agitation and anxiety exhaust the powers, exasperate the nerves, weaken and disturb the nervous system, and prepare the way for neurasthenia, hysteria, and other diseases;

2. in intellectual life, they disturb the rectitude of practical judgment; indeed they lead to insanity if they are universal, to monomania if they are concerned with one object;

3. in social life, they diminish consideration of neighbor, take away aptitude for exercising social relations authoritatively or mercifully, and render one gravely troublesome to others;

4. especially in spiritual life, they cause loss of time in combating empty phantasms, negligence and unsuitability for the duties of state, dry up devotion and turn one away from prayer and reception of the sacraments, excite distrust toward God and pusillanimity of spirit, whence sadness arises, dejection of soul, despair, which sometimes leads to suicide or unbridled lust.

126. Remedies for scruples are:

1st. To remove or lessen their internal causes: melancholy and solitude by consolations and joyful recreations; weakness of the head by counsels of a wise physician; defect of practical judgment by instruction of conscience; pride by humility and submission of judgment; inconstancy and weakness of soul by exercise and strengthening of the will; timidity and pusillanimity by meditation on the goodness of God and confidence in God, etc.

In particular, the intellectually scrupulous should be persuaded that in moral matters mathematical certainty is not to be sought, that attention is not to be paid to all things which can happen, but only to those which will likely occur, and that the anxiety of the appetite is to be carefully distinguished from the judgment or state of the intellect.

On the contrary, let the timid learn to act firmly in every matter, to neglect bravely the anxiety which they experience in acting, trusting in the goodness of the divinity, and to retain in mind and often renew a firm purpose of vigorous battle against scruples.⁵

⁵ Thus for strengthening the will. On this cf. Eymieu, who describes methodically the process of cure, according to which 1) sensations not only sad but merely passive and emotive must be avoided; 2) a physiological cure must be instituted from rest, sleep, distractions, peaceful tranquility, without fatigue, having been sought, and after leaving behind the environment in which ordinary life is moved; 3) activity must be exercised and the will educated, by various means by which the scrupulous person may learn to will, to consent, to attend to physical or intellectual work, to apply effort, to will strongly, firmly, and constantly under a uniform and, whatever things stand in the way, unconquered discipline, and by acts frequently repeated.

2nd. To avoid external causes, that is, scrupulous persons or writings which are the occasion of scruples, and excess of intellectual labor.

3rd. To flee idleness and apply oneself diligently to work, especially that which delights more, in order, that is, to avoid empty thoughts.

4th. With a great and mortified soul to act against scruples, repelling them as evil and harmful thoughts, especially indirectly, by contemning them and applying the soul to other things, and never consenting to them, not even once.

5th. To act as other pious and God-fearing men do.

6th. Especially: to obey a superior or confessor (who must be chosen not as scrupulous, but as prudent, even rather than holy) in a humble, blind, and perfect manner, and often to ask this obedience from God with great confidence; which is almost the only efficacious remedy.

127. Special principles to be used for directing the scrupulous are:

I. The scrupulous person cannot be ruled by his own judgment, because his reason is impotent for this; therefore nothing remains except that he be governed by the reason of another, for example, of a superior or confessor, who says: that he is scrupulous and in what matter,⁶ and that in that matter he can and ought to follow the judgment of the superior and cannot sin by obeying, unless he is wholly certain both that sin is present and that the judgment of the superior cannot be applied here and now; - indeed even if he is certain, or if he says that everywhere he has evidence of obligation and sin, provided it is established that he is so scrupulous that his imagination forms for him the idea that he is certain. For, although by acting thus the scrupulous person may sometimes err, nevertheless he will not sin by reason of the obedience which he owes to the superior or confessor.

⁶ For in other matters he is lax. "From pusillanimity it follows that someone is withdrawn from works of the virtues on account of fear of sinning. Indeed sometimes, in order to avoid light sins, he is carried toward graver ones. This happens especially to one laboring under a scrupulous conscience concerning a special matter, for example, concerning the recitation of the hours, celebration of Mass, etc. For often other things are accounted as nothing, and with a scrupulous conscience a lax conscience is nourished. Nothing strange, since they proceed from the same root, namely, from smallness and levity of soul; for example, it not rarely happens that one anxiously repeating the words of consecration does not care about the cleanness of the vessels or of the corporal, nor attend to other duties of his office." Thus Beaudoin, Tr. de Conse., q. 4.

Namely, the presumption stands for the confessor as for the superior, who must be obeyed unless it is certainly established that he errs in prescribing the regimen, and that he cannot impose such a rule, and that the obedience is illicit. And the scrupulous person can follow such a universal rule, as being wholly necessary to him for a healthy moral life, even if from it in a particular case error could follow, or material sin: that effect can be considered as accidental and legitimately permitted on account of a proportionate cause. For he has the right to employ efficacious means, and means honest in themselves, for being healed.

II. The scrupulous person easily exaggerates or fears sin; hence in him a grave doubt, which in others would be reasonable, "that in the case sin is present," is judged empty and to be despised; and a light doubt, "that in the case there is not sin," is judged founded.

Let him not examine such doubts carefully in order to arrive at certitude: for he cannot arrive at this, and no one is held to what is useless. Whence it must be said to him that he may act freely, unless he is wholly certain that sin is present; indeed if he is certain, provided it is established that he is so scrupulous in this or that matter that his imagination forms for him the idea that he is certain.

III. A positive obligation, namely of an affirmative precept, for example, of integrally confessing sins, examining conscience, saying the hours, making fraternal correction, does not oblige with great inconvenience, whence the scrupulous person can more easily be exempted from it.

128. Thesis. Scrupulous conscience is not the rule of acting prudently, but must be laid aside at least by a judgment formed from indirect principles handed down by a confessor.

It is proved: It is not a rule of acting because it is uncertain and vincibly erroneous.

But it can be laid aside from some reflex principle which has been indicated by the director of conscience or by the confessor; for example, in the following way:

"Whatever may be the case concerning the material liceity or illicitness of this action, it is certain to me that in such doubts the confessor must be obeyed; or: that I can and ought to act as the confessor has said; or: that I can neglect my doubt or judgment; or: that by obeying I cannot sin, etc.

"But, in the case, such a doubt or such an apprehension is present.

"Therefore, in the case, it is certain to me that I can and ought to act as the confessor has said, etc."

Hence, although it is not licit to act against a scrupulous conscience, nevertheless one can act against scruples; indeed, lest he incur grave damage, he is sometimes bound, even under grave obligation: not indeed if he remains in full doubt, for to act with a doubtful conscience is illicit; but provided he in some way lays aside the doubt and forms for himself a certain conscience, by judging, for example from the judgment of the confessor, that it is a scruple and by contemning it. For a scruple, because it is an empty apprehension of the imagination, does not render the doubt serious, and does not prevent the judgment of conscience previously formed from being practically certain. Lessius speaks to the point, de Prud., c. 1, n. 2:

"Prudence is not always able totally to exclude a scruple. For this often perseveres with the judgment of prudence; nevertheless, in order that the judgment then be prudent, it must be accounted a scruple, and thus prudence also in some way excludes the scruple. For although the imagination of sin perseveres with a certain anxiety, nevertheless through prudence it is accounted a shadow, not truth."

But one must not always actually remember the principles and rules handed down above, and from them form for oneself an actual dictate concerning the honesty of the action, because this is often morally impossible for the scrupulous person. As St. Alphonsus says, Th. M., l. I, n. 19:

"Nor is there need that in each particular act he form this judgment... for it is enough that he act against the scruple from the judgment once formed; because, on account of past experience, that judgment exists in his conscience virtually or habitually, although obscured by darkness. Moreover, while the scrupulous person acts in that confusion, he often does not act with a scruple or deliberate fear, for ordinarily he would not wish to omit what he knew to be pleasing to the divine will."

Hence for practice certain conclusions must be noted:⁷

⁷ Vermeersch, Th. M., I, n. 382.

1. After the scrupulous person has been warned concerning scruples, the consents which he says he has given are to be ascribed to the phantastic order, whether to a wicked interior suggestion, or to a purpose here and now of acting even if it is evil, or to a purpose of sinning. For the scrupulous person imagines himself to say: I will; or: thus I will do, whether it be good or evil; or: I will sin and then expiate the sin by confession. But the imagination represented to him an assent of this kind, so that he seemed to himself as it were to behold himself thus acting. Nevertheless, no otherwise than in a dream, he gave no free consent to those suggestions or purposes; but perhaps he made this use of foreseen confession, that thence he might become more courageous for acting against scruples. Therefore for the scrupulous person who, for example from the counsel of the confessor, knows habitually that his doubts are to be contemned, it is lawful to act while the scruple remains. For this knowledge gives him a certain conscience.

2. It can happen that in the process of his doubts and little reasons the scrupulous person labors for a long time, and is so wearied and disturbed from the struggle that he rushes blindly into the action: then he lacks the true liberty necessary, at least for sinning gravely.

3. Similarly, promises, vows, and blasphemies can be held as fictitious, which some persons dream they have often, indeed almost daily, made or said. The confessor should simply refuse to hear or weigh these things.

4. Although the obligation of acting against scruples can be grave, since from them grave damage can be feared in spiritual progress (abandonment of spiritual exercises, despair, suicide) or in nervous depression and the health of body or mind, nevertheless the scrupulous person scarcely incurs subjective fault, provided that with his infirm will he wishes to strive against scruples in general; indeed it is often not expedient to insist, lest a new disturbance and perplexity arise and the danger of despair, which is especially to be feared in sensitive persons.

129. A threefold class of the scrupulous is chiefly distinguished:

1. Some are distressed by wicked thoughts concerning faith, chastity, charity (for example, by a rash judgment or a feeling of aversion), or concerning future things to be done under condition, or by blasphemies internally uttered, to which they often fear they have assented.

It must wholly be imposed upon them a) that they not fight directly against those thoughts (for example, by eliciting an act of faith, etc.): for that would excite them more and would be a great inconvenience; but b) that they despise the scruples, because not wicked thoughts but only consents, not fictitious consents but only voluntary ones, are sin; and c) that they not examine themselves concerning those thoughts or write them on paper; indeed d) it can fittingly be imposed that they abstain from confessing them, unless they knew so certainly that they had consented that they could swear it. For the very fear of consent is a sign of resistance or non-consent.

2. Others are anxious concerning duties A. already fulfilled:

a) Either on account of the integrity or contrition of past confessions; to these, if at some time they have made a general confession, or for a notable time have diligently made their confessions, it must be imposed that they no longer think at all about all those things nor say a word in confession, unless they continue to fear and can affirm these three things without any doubt, even with an oath: that the sin certainly was committed, that in their mind while they committed it it was mortal, and that certainly they had forgotten it. But if they do not at once affirm or swear, they are no longer to be heard; and even if they swear, they are not for that reason to be believed.

b) Or concerning the hearing of Mass, or the recitation of the hours; to these it must never be permitted to hear another Mass, or to repeat the hours, or a part.

c) Besides, those who suffer perpetual and grave anxieties concerning these things, on account of the great inconveniences of scruples, are excused from the material integrity of confession or of the hours, so that they are not bound to spend more time on the hours than upright persons are accustomed to spend, and they can omit the rest; indeed sometimes a part or the whole of the office could be prohibited to them, or a determinate space of time assigned, or the recitation suspended for a time.

B. Likewise the scrupulous are anxious concerning duties to be fulfilled:

a) Concerning the integrity or contrition of the confession to be made; upon these there must be imposed a moderate examination of conscience (or even the time of examination must be determined), an accusation concerning a few points or concerning exterior sins alone, and the simple recitation of the act of contrition.

b) Concerning fraternal correction; they must suppose themselves not bound to it unless they are wholly certain.

c) Concerning the intention of Mass, of the hours, of the sacrament, etc.; these cannot elicit any intention, but must begin absolutely and materially, and continue without hesitation and delay, without precipitation, strain of the head, or anxious solicitude: the very fear lest the intention has been lost or not renewed is a certain sign that the intention is present; - moreover, the intention of satisfying is not required, but of saying the office, hearing Mass, etc.; but it is as it were impossible that one using reason should not have such an intention.

d) Concerning Holy Communion; let them approach it with certitude that they would not sin, even if they were in the state of sin; indeed then per accidens they would likely obtain grace.

In all these matters a moderate diligence must be employed.

3. Others fear sinning in almost every action.

Upon these it must be imposed: a) that they act freely, without deliberation and according to the first glance, despise scruples and act against them, where evident sin does not appear, indeed even against evidence, if they were so scrupulous that their imagination formed for them the idea that they had such evidence; -

b) and it must be commanded that they conquer scruples, lest they become insane or wholly useless for acting; -

c) and that they abstain in confession from accusing themselves of such actions: for although they can sometimes err, nevertheless they do not sin, by reason of the obedience which they owe to the confessor.

But if they fear sin only in some particular genus, the same holds for this genus.

130. Warnings for the confessor. - 1. Before the confessor treats a penitent as scrupulous, let him inspect with great circumspection whether he truly is scrupulous: for there are some who are anxious about many things, but not without just and reasonable cause, for example, about restitution because they proceeded laxly; about past confessions because they approached without due preparation; about past sins which they more wish to expiate, as in new converts; about grave sins committed for the first time or by relapse and not yet confessed; about lighter sins in which, from tenderness of conscience, one now does not wish to offend God, etc.

2. When he has recognized the scrupulous person, let him require perfect obedience, asking the penitent whether he trusts him and steadfastly wishes to obey him; otherwise let him dismiss him.

3. Let him carefully examine in what matters the penitent is scrupulous: for ordinarily, on account of defect of judgment, in some matters he is scrupulous, in others rather lax; and therefore he must also be treated partially as lax. Whence let him tell him that he is scrupulous and in what matter: for the scrupulous person who persuaded himself that he was not scrupulous is incurable.

4. Let him try to know the cause of the scruples, in order to remove it, after the likeness of a physician, who first explores the disease and its cause before applying medicines.

5. That the scrupulous may obey more easily, let him try to win their confidence by paternal long-suffering; for which reason, with great goodness let him compassionate their miseries, act with them in much patience, and show that he has theological knowledge and competent acquaintance with scruples. Generally they must be treated with meekness and gentleness, especially if they are sensitive, but nevertheless with firmness; and they are to be rebuked only on account of disobedience, even, if necessary, strongly and with severity and rigor (for example, by depriving them of communion), yet not excessively. In this point, namely, they must be treated as though they were not scrupulous. But if they absolutely refuse to obey, let the confessor dismiss them and send them to another, saying that he can no longer procure their good.

6. Let him inculcate the reasons why one must act against scruples, for example, the dangers to which the scrupulous person exposes himself: of losing peace, of wasting time, of neglecting serious care for spiritual progress, of remaining destitute of all fortitude, of causing annoyance to others by his moroseness and becoming unfit for labors useful to neighbor; and the other things explained above.

7. Let him show the scrupulous firmness of countenance and speech, and respond without any hesitation, and hand down a few general rules, without many particular distinctions, for otherwise they will always doubt whether these hold for the occurring case. Let the response be clear, distinct, and brief. Let him not be lengthy in explaining counsels, lest among the motives alleged something less solid be found; let him always say the same thing; nor let him render reasons for the response, because they will inquire and doubt concerning their value, and thus they will be led not by another's judgment but by their own. Let him abstain from repeating the exposition which they have made of their difficulty, lest diversity be discovered; nor let him inquire much about the circumstances of the scruples, as if they had moment. Nor let him permit them often to recur to him, or to consult many others or books, or to commit to writing the declarations made to them.

8. Sometimes let him gently laugh at the penitent, when he proposes unfounded doubts; and let him command him to think what he himself would wish to answer if he were asked by another about such a thing, and let him tell him to do that very thing.

9. Let him gradually lead him to solving his own cases by himself, forbidding him to propose doubts more often, but only, for example, once in a week or in a month, nor to recite more than two or three, suggesting that he act in the way in which he would think others would act. Let the scrupulous person reject every way which others have as ridiculous.