CatholicTheology.info

Choose a topic from Part 2A:

• Man's Last End
• Human Acts
• The Passions
• Habits in General
• Virtues
• Vices and Sins
  • 71. Vice and Sin
  • 72. The Distinction of Sin
  • 73. The Standing of Sins Toward One Another
  • 74. The Subject of Sin
  • 75. The Cause of Sin
  • 76. Ignorance as a Cause of Sin
  • 77. The Sensitive Appetites as the Cause of Sin
  • 78. Malice as the Cause of Sin
  • 79. External Causes of Sin
  • 80. The Devil as the Cause of Sin
  • 81. Human Beings as the Cause of Sin
  • 82. The Essence of Original Sin
  • 83. The Subject of Original Sin
  • 84. One Sin as the Cause of Another
  • 85. The Effects of Sin
  • 86. The Stain of Sin
  • 87. The Debt of Punishment for Sin
  • 88. Venial and Mortal Sin
  • 89. Venial Sin
• Law
• Grace

89. Venial Sin

1. Venial sin does not leave a stain on the soul, as mortal sindoes. Venial sin is like a passing cloud which puts the soul intoshadow, butleaves no mark on the soul itself. Mortal sin islike an ink-dripping cloth which leaves a stain on what it hastouched.

2. St. Paul (I Cor. 3:12) speaks of venial sins under thenames of wood, hay, stubble. These are such things as may be foundin a man's house, and may be burned up without burning thehouse itself. And venial sins may be multiplied in a person, evenas wood, hay, and stubble may be stored up in quantity in a house.Such venial sins are capable of being "burned up" by thepenance of temporal punishment in this life or in purgatory, whilethe house of the soul still stands.

3. Man in his primal innocence could not have committed avenial sin. The first sin of man had to be a mortal sin. For venialsin comes of disorder in the sensitive appetites or in reasonitself. But man in the state of innocence had "an unerringstability of order." Until mortal sin brought disorder, theirregularities and imperfections which occasion venial sin did notexist. Therefore, the first human sin was a mortal sin.

4. The angels could not have sinned venially. The angelshave not parts or elements; they have no sentient appetites, nopassions to become inordinate. They are pure spirits. Noinordinateness is possible in an angel except complete, total,entire inordinateness. And such inordinateness is mortal sin. Hencethe fallen angels sinned mortally. The good angels are now in gloryand cannot commit sin. The fallen angels are in the essentialdisorder of mortal sin; this they reiterate or emphasize in alltheir acts; hence all these acts are mortal sins.

5. The sins of persons not of the faith are less grievousthan sins of Catholics. For unbelievers do not know the malice ofsin as believers do. When believers sin, they "sin against thelight"; unbelievers are always in at least partial darkness.In anyone, believer or unbeliever, the beginning or firstmovement of sensuality is not a mortal sin, for thisbeginning-movement has not yet the approval of the will which isrequired to make a sin mortal.

6. When an unbaptized person comes to the use of reason,he will, according to this capacity, begin to direct his life toits true end. If he knowingly fails to do this, he is guilty ofmortal sin. Before he comes to responsible life (that is, to theuse of reason), an unbaptized person is in the state of originalsin, but is incapable of committing actual sin. When he becomescapable of actual sin, and commits it, his first sin is necessarilymortal sin. It is impossible for a person to be guilty of venialsin with original sin alone.

"As the flesh is nourished by food, so is man supported by prayers"
St Augustine

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"God has no need of men."
St Philip Neri

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"It is not God's will that we should abound in spiritual delights, but that in all things we should submit to his holy will."
Blessed Henry Suso

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