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Chapter 3

Duties Of A Spiritual Director Towards Penitents
With Formed Consciences

406. A spiritual director must always keep in mind the sublime purpose of his holy ministry. He must lead those he is directing 1. to purify themselves of all moral defects, and 2. to grow in Christian perfection. If they have a true conscience, it is obvious that he must help them to conform their life completely to it. But what must he do in the case of an erroneous conscience? The answer to this question is the subject of this chapter.

407. No one doubts that a director must always speak the truth, but he must speak it prudently, and it is here that disagreement begins, because what is thought prudent by some, is not by others. Before discussing this problem, let us see in general what must be understood by speaking the truth prudently.

408. The prudence in question is obviously not restricted to purely human purposes or secondary interests. It would clearly be wrong for a confessor to take a prudentially softer approach in order to retain a penitent's goodwill or the material benefits dependent upon the favour of some powerful person. We are not dealing with worldly prudence and human aims, but with holy prudence whose purpose is the very end of priestly ministry, namely, the moral good, purification and greater perfection of the person under direction. Clearly the supreme rule of this priestly prudence is 'to speak words of truth and justice in such a way and to such an extent that what is said must be as profitable as possible to the hearer.' Catholic theologians do not dispute this, nor can they.

409. The problem therefore is to know 'how words of truth must be spoken to the penitent so that they are most advantageous to spiritual progress.' The best solution will determine the confessor's or director's prudence. However, this problem must be restricted for present purposes. We are not concerned here with deciding the gentleness, firmness and diligence proper to a confessor. We wish only to investigate 'whether he must dispel any erroneous consciences a penitent may have, and whether he must always do this or can temporarily leave the penitent in error.' It is understood that the intention is always to help the penitent make greater progress in virtue.

410. Before undertaking the enquiry, we must first establish two certain principles.

First: 'When the penitent has sinned formally, the confessor must 1. consider the sin and above all judge it correctly before giving or denying absolution, as the case demands: here he acts as judge; 2. admonish the penitent about his sin, and instruct him if he does not know it, before giving absolution: here he acts as teacher; finally 3. correct him by making him see the gravity of his fault, exhorting him to repentance (with the imposition of relevant satisfaction), and suggesting means to avoid the sin: here he acts as healer.'

Second: 'When a penitent has sinned materially, the confessor must instruct him only in so far as it is helpful for the penitent's spiritual progress. In order to prevent material sin from becoming formal sin, the confessor must carefully avoid the danger of overburdening the penitent.'

411.These two principles, it seems to me, need no demonstration, and can be applied to our problem about erroneous consciences of which we have distinguished two kinds: those containing formal sin, and those without formal sin but containing so-called material sin, which is not sin.

The first principle must be applied to the first kind of conscience. Further action on the confessor's part must be guided by results. The second principle must be applied to the other kind of conscience. Here the confessor must follow the principle as his rule of conduct.I think this is clear. But because the matter is important and delicate, many uncertainties can arise, calling for further clarification, which I will now try to present.

412. We have seen that erroneous consciences classed as formal sin (considered not in their cause but in themselves, in the judgment constituting them) are those which we form in opposition to the moral dictate in the depth of our spirit (direct knowledge) which declares an action unlawful. These consciences spring from irrelevant reflection, dependent either upon simple, hasty judgment(279) or upon disordered affection. They absolve us from sin by declaring as lawful actions which we would certainly have considered unlawful if we had applied upright, dispassionate judgment to them.

413. On the other hand, if the norm or moral dictate(280) is lacking deep in our spirit, there is no formal sin in conscience itself (although sin may have been present as the cause of the conscience if our ignorance or lack of a dictate sprang from negligence or aversion to justice). When forming conscience in such a case, we have no norm to apply, and hence are not free to form it in any other way.

414. The dictate is not normally lacking in rational law, but sometimes we do not wish to apply it to a particular action and use it to form an upright conscience.(281) Instead, we form a conscience with other reflections and arbitrary principles (bypassing the true dictate within us), because these give us a conscience more in keeping with our passions. This is an unjust, willed judgment, although not always adverted to because of mental blindness, and hence formal sin. The same can happen, although infrequently, in the case of positive law, when we do not wish to apply the law rightly; we find pretexts or vain reasons to excuse ourselves without any remorse from its observation.

415. However, it can happen that the dictate is lacking even in the case of the rational law, if we are dealing with remote consequences of the law. If so, such ignorance may be a fault due either to simple neglect to draw the consequences or to passionate aversion to the law. Nevertheless the conscience itself cannot be at fault, because there was no dictate to be applied, and therefore no freedom to apply it.

416. We have said that 'when the dictate is present but not applied through defect of will, the resulting conscience contains a formal error which, however, is not always mortally sinful.' Consequently, actions which depend on this conscience are also sins; in each of them we posit a new act in which we neglect to apply, as we could and should, the true dictate present in us.

417. I have dealt with this matter in order to answer an objection that can easily arise. The objection is: theologians accept the principle that 'habits neither merit nor demerit.' If an habitual passion has already altered our understanding, and we have an erroneous conscience, the conscience does not apparently increase our demerit, because it is present in us in the same way as habits.

I first reply that when we fall into sin, we place ourselves in a state of sin, because our guilt remains as long as we do not obtain remission by a contrary act and opportune means. We cannot say that this state of sin demerits of course, but it is very different from and less harmful than that state of sin in which we are not only burdened with guilt but also with a habit of sin understood as an inveterate affection and an habitual inclination of the will to renew the sin. This state is much more blameworthy than the other, and we are certainly obliged to oppose immediately the inclination to which we explicitly consented. The malice of the state corresponds to the length of time we are content to rest in it because, during this time, we delay our opposition to the evil which we could and should oppose promptly and instantly; this is willed inaction, the equivalent of willed action.(282)

418. Secondly, even if living for a long time with a spirit disposed to sin did not (as it in fact does) increase the fault in proportion to the time we obstinately live with such an evil will, and the demerit did not increase as long as a habit(283) of this kind endures, it would be undeniable:

1. that guilt is present in the acts which gave rise to the stable propensity and habitual consent of the spirit to the sin;

2. that whenever, as a result of the habit or of the conscience produced by the habit, another action is posited, demerit is attached to this action, both because it is an act and not a habit, and because the just dictate is once again rejected and error acknowledged in its place.

419. As judge, a confessor must obviously assess all the formal sins of his penitent. He must therefore take into account any sins due to false consciences in order to decide whether the penitent merits sacramental absolution, and in order to impose fitting satisfaction.

420. As teacher, the confessor must of course admonish the penitent about all formal sins and remove culpably erroneous consciences. However he may doubt whether he can lawfully defer a clear explanation of the penitent's serious, formal sin. In fact, before receiving absolution, a penitent must be instructed about any formal, grave sin of which he is ignorant through blindess, and must show clear signs of sorrow. Thus, the confessor may have to defer absolution if he sees the penitent is so badly disposed that he cannot obtain any profit from the truth, especially if the truth were to give occasion for greater evil. In this case charity and prudence allow the confessor to continue the instruction over a period, provided absolution is withheld until the instruction is finished and the penitent has fully acknowledged and repented of his formal sins.(284)

421. Finally, as healer, the confessor must give the penitent every help to eradicate these truly fatal consciences. Such assistance will bring him to see his profound illness and the need to eradicate it. If the consciences are embedded in him as they were in the Pharisees, the confessor must bear in mind he is not only a healer but also a surgeon. His strength lies in acting as a priest, the sublime duty of those constituted on the earth as ministers of God and sent by Jesus Christ. He must use the freedom and power of speech that Jesus Christ used when he rebuked the Pharisees. At the same time he must employ all prudence in avoiding rash judgments, and in distinguishing one disease from another. Only extreme cases demand extreme remedies.

422. If, however, the dictate to be applied is lacking in the penitent so that his conscience is erroneous through simple ignorance, not evil judgment, no fault is present in the conscience or in actions dependent on it. At most, fault is present in the cause, which may depend upon negligence in instructing oneself, or aversion to the law and to the virtue consequent upon the law.

The confessor must investigate these causes. Since there is no aversion to good, he will find that ignorance arising from simple negligence depends on indifference or lack of necessary affection. In this case he must distinguish wisely whether this absence of sufficient affection is due to simple-mindedness, as in the case of the uneducated who do not reflect on the importance of moral good and live naturally according to the impression made by sensible things. Tepidity, which is much more serious and often conceals its roots in the depths of our heart, is another cause of insufficient affection. Tepidity can also result from the moral inertia and insensitivity we inherit at birth in common with other evils. The confessor must instruct the simple-minded and give them the desire to learn; he must rouse the tepid from their sleep.

423. But in particular he must not lose sight of anything concerning the rational law which, by coinciding in great part with the divine law, is raised to a level more sublime than natural law.(285) The confessor must provide much more instruction about the rational law than about positive law with due regard, however, for the abilities of his penitents. Indeed instruction about the positive law can sometimes offer the best way to instruction in the rational law, and this is possibly its most important function. Consequently instruction must often begin from the positive part of law but in such a way that everything is finally directed to the rational and eternal in moral law, which is then confirmed and completed by divine positive law. Usually, this is precisely what is neglected.

We have mentioned that necessary, simple instruction enabling the penitent to avoid material sins can in part be deferred till after absolution. The instruction should be given gradually, with prudence as the guide to what promotes the penitent's true good, that is, moral not intellective good.

424. Here I must make an observation. Anyone who considers the matter carefully will see that inculpable, natural and intellective limitations are the foundation of different spirits and of the division of graces which God grants in so many different ways. Although the love of good is one in all the saints, the practical, proximate concepts of this good differ. Thus the same love is divided and takes on many different forms and, as it were, different colours. The confessor must take careful note of this so that he can distinguish the intellective limitation, which harms the progress of good and must be gradually removed, from the limitation which is of assistance and perhaps natural to us. This last kind of limitation is impossible or at least difficult to remove, for it is sanctified by God himself by means of good will which nourishes itself on, and derives merit from, the limitation.

425. But the source of the ignorance can be aversion to good from which a passionate spirit, distracted by temporal good, flees. The confessor must prudently reveal this evil cause to the penitent (as we mentioned in the case of a culpably erroneous conscience), and he must require proof of change.

As we said, however, this must be done wisely. The confessor must not invent a cause; it is not for him to penetrate the closed doors of the penitent's heart. He has a sacred duty to presume well of his penitent and, in judging the cause, depend upon external indications which give him moral certainty or great probability about it. As long as he is doubtful, he must be content to investigate and examine the spirit of the penitent by relevant and wise questions. If he does not find any logical reasons for certainty or positive doubt, he must pronounce in favour of the penitent.

426. In order to know better the importance of destroying the false consciences which passions furtively introduce into our hearts, we must consider:

1. that an upright conscience is the first means to virtue;

2. that all vices come from a non-upright conscience, just as all virtues originate from an upright conscience.

427. Hence, there is nothing which scripture inculcates and recommends more than an upright, sincere conscience, a conscience that is not sly and deceitful. We read in Joshua: 'Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a PERFECT and MOST SINCERE heart,'(286) that is, with an upright conscience. St. Paul says: 'Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.'(287) What is this light that Christians are, if not the formed, upright conscience that was absent before the Lord shone in their souls? There is a light that is in the human being, and a light that is the human being: the light in the human being is grace and the law of truth; the light that is the human being is an upright conscience. Indeed, we become light when we share in the light of the law of truth by means of an upright conscience in conformity with the light. The Apostle continues: 'Walk then as children of the light', that is, according to the upright conscience which makes us children of the light. With an upright conscience we ourselves take on the nature of light, participating in the truth which is already light. What will happen if we walk according to an upright conscience? We will acquire virtue, says the Apostle: 'The fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice and truth.' A little further on he insists again: 'See, therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise but as wise.' The 'wise' are those who, by judging their own actions in the right way, have an upright conscience, the 'unwise' those who judge contrariwise and so form a less than upright conscience. Again he says: 'Become not unwise: but understanding what is the will of God.'(288) The will of God is not understood by our erroneous conscience, which conceals his will from us. According to St. Paul uprightness of conscience, the root of all virtues, is so important that it is the first thing to be attended to by anyone who wishes to make progress in virtue: 'For the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice and truth.'

428. Just as an upright conscience brings with it the fruit of all virtues, so a willed erroneous conscience blinds us, depriving us of all virtues. St. Peter says that those people are blind and groping(289) who do not 'minister in their faith, virtue: and in virtue, knowledge: and in knowledge, abstinence: and in abstinence, patience: and in patience, godliness, and in godliness, love of brotherhood, and in love of brotherhood, charity.'(290) To minister virtue in faith means to exercise virtue as a result of the light of faith, through which we form upright consciences. Consequently, those without this light of faith to make judgments about things cannot form an upright conscience. They stagger about blindly, incapable of being helped by the virtues which accompany the clear vision of an upright, truthful conscience. Thus, when the prophet David ceaselessly cries to the Lord: 'Take away the veil from my eyes', 'Give me understanding', 'Teach me thy justifications',(291) he is asking for a pure, enlightened conscience free from darkness and stubbornness.(292)

We can understand, therefore, that an enlightened confessor must above all dispel the darkness of such false, malicious consciences, which prevent all progress; virtue must be firmly founded on uprightness of consciences.

429. I must now digress to discuss the way God educated the human race in virtue. The digression is not irrelevant because I want to offer the spiritual director God's own example and most wise providence which truly does everything for the salvation of all. Confessors must regard this providence as a true, sublime teacher. They, and all spiritual directors, should look upon it as their pattern for imitation.

After Adam's fault, or after the Flood, human beings formed erroneous consciences and thus justified their sin. Sinning is the first step; persuading oneself that evil is good is found as human wickedness develops.

The book of Wisdom tells us that as time passed idolatry became custom and finally law, so that not to be an idolater was considered a crime against society (cf. 354).(293) The abominable, unnatural practices of the Canaanites and Egyptians passed into custom, habit and law. Leviticus calls them their statutes.(294) Little by little fornication first became lawful,(295) then virtuous, then meritorious and finally sacred and divine.(296) In some places a cleverly devised theft was considered worthy of reward,(297) and was divinised. Murder became a boastful game; vendettas were lawful and praised. Subduing others and lording it over them was thought the greatest of ventures. All these false consciences threw the world into an abyss in which, with all ideas swept away, it could only submerge itself in ever greater darkness. A light from heaven was necessary to dispel these consciences; hence the reason and origin of God's positive promulgation on Sinai of the rational law. This law, implanted in the human spirit, was in danger of being darkened. St. Ambrose says: 'If human beings had been able to preserve the natural law infused in them by God, the law would not have been necessary. The law, written on tablets of stone, bound and restricted human infirmity rather than release and free it.'(298) The Mosaic law was given to human beings, whose minds had been darkened by passions, not so much to help them do good as to know good. It was given not because direct knowledge of virtue was absent in the world but because this knowledge no longer became conscience for guiding actions. It lay in the depths of the unenlightened heart, badly received, unacknowledged, and unapplied to life's actions.

430. The Mosaic law rectified many opinions and consciences that were either false or becoming irremediably false. But how long did these consciences, rectified and maintained by the new and clearly visible light, endure in their uprightness? If we examine the history of the Hebrew people and of their malice, we see that with the Mosaic law a new period of wickedness begins which ends with the time of Christ.

By the time of Christ, human malice, which continually advanced even amongst the Hebrew people, was extreme. It had found every means to abuse the law and dim the new light added by God to the light of natural reason. Every erroneous conscience, whether dull, cauterised or pharasaical, had surfaced; erroneous consciences had become erroneous opinions which were then formed into theories. Jesus Christ wonderfully describes the customs of his time when he says to the crowds gathered around him: 'This generation is an evil generation.'

He attacks all his generation, showing how the falsification of consciences had become universal: 'It asks a sign, and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet.' He then indicates the blindness of minds incapable of acknowledging him as Messiah. They could have known him, for he had given them the clearest proofs of his mission, but they did not wish to acknowledge him. 'The queen of the south will rise in the judgment with the men of this generation and shall condemn them: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold more than Solomon here. The men of Nineveh shall rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it; because they did penance at the preaching of Jonah. And behold more than Jonah here.'(299) He condemned them because they behaved like people hiding a light under a bushel, as the Hebrews did with the resplendent light of Christ. They turned their mental gaze elsewhere so as not to see what they hated and did not wish to see. By willing the darkness they hoped to quell the remorse that would have disturbed them so much.

When the world had once again reached this state, Christ was sent upon the earth to rectify erroneous consciences, and to pronounce as foolishness everything the world believed it knew, although its knowledge was nothing more than self-made deception. In this way Christ fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men: Therefore, behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord.'(300)

People who have formed false consciences are appropriately called deep of heart because in the depth of their hearts lies the truth (the norm of uprightness) which they never allow to come to the surface; they bury it under false applications and false judgments. Instead of acknowledging the truth, they affirm the opposite of what it tells them. They are deep of heart because their heart is difficult to penetrate; deep in their heart lie iniquity and evil. They reshape the truth with learned opinions, under the pretext of devout, honest excuses. This allows them to avoid knowledge of themselves and to consider themselves just, although they are full of iniquity and deceit. Such was the state of the Hebrews at the time of Christ; they thought they could deceive the Lord and hide from the one from whom nothing is hidden: 'So that you may hide your thoughts from the Lord.'

Humanity could not recover from such an unhappy state with the aid of rational law, nor through the addition of positive law. It had learnt all too well how to abuse both laws, interpreting and applying them to avoid their force and worth. But it was fitting that new help be given, Christ himself, who revealed false judgments, destroyed the cavilling by which people drew a thick veil over their consciences, and demonstrated with the marvellous light of his grace the foolishness of the wise, according to the prophecy: 'For wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.'

431. This economy exercised by God towards humanity must also be followed by the confessor as minister of Christ. With the light of the law and the unction of the word of grace he must enlighten darkened consciences, where human wickedness continually tries to hide.

432. Because the formation of false consciences is subject to the law of progress, we will conclude this chapter with an observation relevant to this law.

The first stage of human corruption was from Adam's sin to the Flood. This corruption of the external sense came to an end at the Flood. The period from the Flood to Abraham comprised the corruption of the imagination, of which idolatry was a product. The remedy against this very extensive evil was Abraham's call to save one people from such an incurable disease. The period from the call of Abraham to Moses was a time of darkness in regard to the natural law, and the first period of the corruption of reason (false consciences). The remedy was the new light of the Mosaic law, which is substantially the positive promulgation and declaration of the natural law. The period from the Mosaic law to the Messiah, a time of darkness in regard to the positive law, was the second period of the corruption of reason (false consciences sank lower). Only a supernatural power could remedy this, Christ, the divine Word, and light that enlightens all things, 'and pierces to the division of soul and spirit' [Heb 4: 12].(301)

433. What we see happening in the case of natural and divine legislation as a whole, constantly occurs in particular legislation. For example, as soon as civil law is promulgated, the principle of evil seeks to evade it and to interpret and apply it evilly. This continues until the law is rendered useless through false interpretations and artificial decisions clothed in sophisms. This is the meaning of the popular saying: 'A law enacted is evil invented'. Hence the continual need for new written laws and new declarations of old laws, producing an immense volume of legislation, impossible for the human mind to hold.

434. The same observations can be made about legislation in every lesser society. They explain in a wonderful way the decline of religious orders, or at least the different stages of their decline. The holy founders understood their laws to have a sublime power, which was the light of gospel perfection. As time passed, the light weakened. Succeeding generations religiously and carefully retained the same material words of the law, but no longer sought the deep, moral sense given them by the first members, for whom the words, which had been full of fire, were now insipid, ordinary, and troublesome. The words had truly changed their meaning, and the obligation of the rule was now understood differently. Insensibly, the point had been reached where the perfection contained in the noble rule came to be ignored, and, in fact, the contrary of what was expressly found in the rule became the practice. And this happened unnoticed. Perhaps, in the examination of conscience at the end of the day, the religious found nothing with which to accuse himself, because he understood the written rule in the way he saw it carried out or it had been explained to him. Thus, the laws that were divine in origin became, as Isaiah and Christ say, 'doctrines and commandments of men.'(302)

435. An enlightened confessor must bear all these considerations in mind so that his penitents do not remain in the darkness of their own ignorance and malice. Leaving them to sleep peacefully in such darkness means destroying them. He would not be encouraging virtue but a false peace; he would imitate and minister to Satan, not God and Christ. The solemn words written in the book of Ezekiel are very apposite: 'If I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you will have saved your life. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you will have saved your life.'(303) Confessors should consider all these words, and from them learn how much discretion and holy freedom they require in their divine ministry.

Notes

(279) In this case the sin is often light.

(280) This moral dictate does not mean any dictate whatsoever, but the proximate dictate which, when present and applied, results in a perfect conscience. Some moral dictate or formula is always present, but not always the dictate that must be applied. For example, although a person does not know that today is a fast day, he may certainly understand that we must eat with sobriety, etc. However such a dictate is not sufficient for him to form an entirely true conscience which in this case tells him that he must also fast today, etc. We are speaking therefore of the absence of the dictate or particular proximate formula which causes error in a conscience.

(281) This explains why we feel no remorse. St. Thomas, in his Commentary on part two of the Sentences (dist. 39, q. 3, art. 1, ad 3), explains the sin of those who persecute the just, although they do not know or feel remorse for their sin. One reason he gives amongst others is: 'Because those deprived of the light of faith are blind, their synderesis does not reproach them for things contrary to faith. Or else we must say that although synderesis always reproaches evil in general, it does not reproach the heretic in particular because of his error of reason in applying the universal principle.' This is the synderesis or dictate which we do not apply because we do not wish to apply it.

(282) St. Thomas, too, recognises that inaction is willed and sinful when we have an obligation to act (S.T., I-II, q. 6, art. 3, ad 3).

(283) 'Habit' implies two things:

(284) There can also be the rare case where the prudence of the Christian teacher is guided by the words of Christ: 'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine' (Mt 7: 6). In this way the teacher imitates the wisdom and goodness of God who hides many of his mysteries from idolaters. When St. Augustine speaks of the economy of divine providence towards the Gentiles, he says: 'When Christ knew the early world to be full of such unfaithful people, why should we be surprised that he justly did not want to appear and preach to them; he already knew they would not believe his words and miracles?' (Ep. 102, 14). Nevertheless, we must not entirely despair of the conversion of the sinner; we must use all the charity we can towards him.

(285) Christ will judge the world according to rational, divine law, whose dictate, as the law of charity, is present in everybody (Mt 25: 31-45). The confessor must therefore encourage in everyone charity towards our neighbour. Origen rightly says: 'We must not be surprised that God has placed in the spirit of all mortal beings the seeds of those things which he taught through the Prophets and the Saviour. In the light of divine judgment, therefore, they are inexcusable, because the mandate of the law is written in their hearts' (bk. 1, Contr. Cels.).

(286) Josh 24: [14, Douai].

(287) Eph 5: [8].

(288) Eph 5: [9, 15, 17 Douai].

(289) 'For he that does not have these things with him is blind and groping' (2 Pet 1: [9, Douai]).

(290) 2 Pet 1: 5-7 [Douai].

(291) Ps 118 [18, 34, 26 Douai].

(292) St. Thomas says that one meaning given to the words 'blindness' and 'stubbornness' in scripture 'is the action of the human spirit adhering to evil in opposition to divine light' (S.T., I-II, q. 79, art. 3).

(293) '. . . and he now honoured as a god what was once a dead human being, and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations. Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law, and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshipped' (Wis 14: 15, 16).

(294) 'You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in THEIR STATUTES' (Lev 18: 3).

(295) St. Thomas observes: 'Amongst the pagans, fornication was not considered unlawful because of the corruption of natural reason' (S.T., II-II, q. 154, art. 2, ad 1).

(296) The existence of temple prostitution and obscene divinities is well known. Cf. Frammenti d'una Storia dell' Empietà, Giuditta Pogliani, publishers, 1834.

(297) Amongst the Spartans.

(298) Ep. 41, ad Iren., n. 1 (in the Paris edition, 1836, Ep. 74).

(299) Lk 11: 29, 31, 32 [Douai].

(300) Is 29: [13-15, Douai].

(301) According to divine scripture, God's greatest punishment for human perversity lies in abandoning it to its own blindness. Nothing is more fearsome than Isaiah's prophecy about the Hebrews (29: [10-12]): 'For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets, and covered your heads, the seers. And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."' The natural law is a sealed book for evil fabricators of false consciences. If the positive law opens it before them, they do not read because they cannot. Those who are masters in cavilling about the law (theologians should take note) are called by Isaiah 'all who watch to do evil. . ., who by a word make a man out to be an offender' (29: [20, 21]). They watch not in order to know the truth, but to know evil. This vigilance is not Christ's but the devil's, for the devil also watches.

(302) In Isaiah (29: [13]) God says: 'Their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote.' He says they feared him, as required by the divine law, but they did not fear him by means of this law. They had preserved only the material part of the divine law, which had become truly human law and custom. They feared God because human beings told them they should, and because that was common practice. 'In vain do they worship me,' says Jesus, applying the proghecy to his time, 'teaching as doctrines the precepts of men' (Mt 15: [9]).

(303) Ezek 3: [18, 19, 21].

Chapter 4

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