Chapter II: The Extinction of Sin

— I. Extinction of mortal sin. 1. Necessity and things presupposed. Because sin remains in guilt, or moral imputability, there is place for its extinction. This can be had if the offender has offered a condign satisfaction, or if God has freely pardoned the fault to the penitent. But the extinction of mortal sin: a) supposes formal reconciliation with God, which succeeds to the state of enmity in which the sinner was miserably living; b) requires formal penance, or detestation of sin, so that only because of ignorance or forgetfulness is a virtual detestation accepted, which is contained in an act of perfect charity ¹.

2. Conditions. - For mortal sin, a mere man cannot offer condign satisfaction. Wherefore the restitution of grace and divine friendship with regard to us is always gratuitous. But divine goodness, accommodating itself to our condition as mutable men, is not only prepared to restore grace to the penitent, but itself invites and moves us to seek reparation.

3. Modes. - Reparation is made outside and within the sacrament. Outside the sacrament it is made by perfect contrition. For when man retracts sin from the motive of love of God above all things, he has done whatever he was able to do. It is then not fitting for God to do less than pardon the offense. And so equality by this reason of proportionality is had, while pardon stands to that which befits God as contrition stands to those things which the sinner can do. Under this respect perfect contrition is said from the nature of the thing to expel the guilt of fault (C. Billot, op. c., p. 71).

In the sacrament sin is taken away ex opere operato, provided that, through at least imperfect contrition, the sinner has removed the obstacle of affection to sin.

But because mortal sin induces a stain distinct from habitual fault only by reason, the pardon of sin can take place by way of washing away the stain, as in Baptism, or by way of remission of fault, as in the sacrament of Penance.

4. Effects. - Remission or washing away of sin must remove both elements of habitual sin: the imputation of sin and the consequent aversion of God. The aversion of God is taken away by the infusion of grace.

Once the friendship of God has been restored, the punishment of loss, which corresponded to violated friendship or to the aversion of God, is necessarily taken away. The punishment of sense as eternal is also necessarily taken away. For the eternity of the punishment of sense depended on the eternal punishment of loss; all eternity of punishment was founded in the permanent perversion of order, which has ceased; and it is repugnant that someone should at the same time, from grace, have a right to eternal beatitude and be obliged to pay eternal punishment for sin. But just as a friend, although he restores the old friendship, can demand compensation for the harm brought, so God can demand painful compensation for satisfaction unduly sought outside himself. And so temporal punishment to be paid will not rarely remain. But this, since it is to be tolerated patiently from a friend, or is undertaken by the man himself for spontaneous expiation, is less involuntary, and thus it preserves the notion of punishment only in a diminished way.

¹ Moreover, an act of charity is by its nature such that a man who becomes conscious of a grave offense of God, from that love spontaneously and necessarily breaks forth into formal detestation of sin.

— II. Extinction of venial sin. Contrary to what we were saying about mortal sin, the extinction of venial sin:

1. As to necessary conditions:

a) Does not of itself suppose any reconciliation properly so called, since it has not made man an enemy of God. Of itself, I say, because if it has been committed by a man constituted outside the state of grace, it will not be taken away before grace has been restored; b) It does require that the affection to that sin be taken away; but because of that virtual retraction, it does not seem to require a formal detestation of penance. Thus also among human friends, the guilty party of an action slightly displeasing can indeed ask and obtain formal pardon; but he can also repair the fault by a good affection and action, and the other friend can forget the fault, without formal conversation about that matter; c) The retraction of venial sin is not contained virtually in every act of charity, even perfect charity, since this can be composed with venial sin.

And so the reason why, outside the sacrament, perfect contrition is required for the remission of mortal sin, that is, the necessity of recovering the principle of reparation, or charity, here plainly fails, since the principle of charity subsists. Only the use of the principle of charity is required.

2. Which use? A twofold use can be had:

a) He who has sinned can have recourse to the sacrament of penance, which will directly remit the sin, if the obstacle of affection to sin has been taken away at least by attrition;

b) A just man also who has sinned venially can obtain pardon ex opere operantis, through a fervent act either of formal penance, or of goodness contrary to the disordered act, by which therefore it is virtually retracted.

All those acts are imperatively acts of charity.

For one sinning venially has neglected the law of present charity, and thus has created some difficulty, some obstacle, to the fervor of charity. It is necessary to remove this by the strong impulse or effort of a good act (Cf. S. Th., De malo, q. 7 art. 11, c.).

3. That remission, which ought to restore no habit, is a mere non-imputation of the past sin.

Once the fault itself has been remitted, the debt of punishment is not yet extinguished. But, besides the use of indulgences, that debt can be redeemed through the compensation of all good works, especially alms.

4. And so to the question whether, outside the sacrament of penance, an act of perfect contrition is required for the remission of venial sin, or whether attrition suffices, no simple affirmative or negative response can be given. Contrition is required in a man who is in the state of sin; attrition suffices in the just man, and therefore suffices because the state of justice denotes the principle of charity, with which existing, venial sin is simply and intrinsically reparable. Yet, as has been explained, formal attrition itself does not seem necessary.

— According to St. Thomas, those who depart from this life with venial sins not retracted obtain remission of the fault through an act of charity toward God, repugnant to those venial sins; but since they cannot merit absolution or remission of punishment, they have every punishment to be paid, unless it is lightened by the suffrages of the living or by intercession, for example, of the B. V. M.

— I. The extinction of mortal sin supposes formal reconciliation with God, and requires formal penance, so that only because of ignorance or forgetfulness of sin does the virtual penance suffice which is contained in an act of perfect charity. Since man cannot make condign satisfaction, the restitution of grace and friendship is always, with regard to us, gratuitous. Outside the sacrament it follows perfect contrition, by which man does whatever he himself can; or in the sacrament grace is restored through the sacrament itself, provided that the obstacle of grace has been taken away at least by attrition. But it is made in baptism by way of washing away the stain, in penance by way of remission of fault. Pardon, however, takes away aversion from God by the infusion of grace and at the same time takes away the imputation of sin. Once the friendship of God has been restored, the punishment of loss, which corresponded to aversion, and the eternal punishment of sense, which depended on the punishment of loss, are necessarily taken away. Temporal punishment can remain, but no longer punishment properly so called, since it is to be paid patiently by a friend.

II. The extinction of venial sin neither supposes formal reconciliation nor seems to require formal detestation of penance. Yet, since it can be reconciled with charity itself, not every act of charity, even perfect charity, contains its virtual retraction. To extinguish venial sin there is required a certain use of the principle of charity, whether sacramental or extrasacramental, which then is made through a fervent act either of formal penance or of goodness contrary to the disordered act. For, while one sinning venially has neglected the law of present charity, he has created some obstacle to the fervor of charity, which he must remove by the contrary effort of a good act.

But the remission of venial sin is a mere non-imputation, which nevertheless does not necessarily take away the debt of punishment.

Those dying with venial sins not retracted obtain, through a contrary act of charity toward God, remission of fault, the whole debt of punishment remaining.