NINETEENTH INSTRUCTION.

Tenth Article-Continued.

Actual Sin Mortal

and Venial Sin.

Q. What is actual sin?

A. Every sin which we ourselves commit.

Q. How is actual sin divided?

A. Into mortal sin and venial sin.

You will remember, my dear children, that in our last instruction we were speaking about the sin which was committed by our first parents in the garden of paradise, and which we commonly call original sin. I told you that the guilt of that great sin has come down like a black stain on the souls of all mankind, and that every one is born in it, except the Blessed Virgin, who was preserved from it through the merits of her Divine Son by a special grace or privilege, which we call her Immaculate Conception. We now come to speak of those sins which we ourselves commit by our own act and deed, and which we call actual sins. These actual sins are, as your catechism says, either mortal or venial, according as they kill the soul or only render it less pleasing to God. For it is with the soul as it is with the body. There are some wounds, you know, which, if they are inflicted on the body, are sure to produce death; for example, if a man be stabbed to the heart or shot through the head; mortal sins are like these. But there are other wounds, which only make a person less strong and able to work; for

example, if he gets a cut on the finger or a bruise on the leg. These wounds, you see, are like venial sins, which do not kill the soul outright, but render it less strong and healthy, less pleasing to God, and less able to do good works. The catechism speaks first of mortal sin. Tell me, then,

Q. What is mortal sin?

A. It is a grievous offence against God.

Q. Why is it called mortal?

A. Because it kills the soul and deserves hell.

Q. How does mortal sin kill the soul?

A. By depriving the soul of its supernatural life, which is the grace of God.

Yes, my dear children, mortal sin is a grievous, that is to say, a "very great" offence against God. In other words, it is doing what we know will displease God very much indeed, and make us lose altogether his grace and friendship. It is called mortal, because it kills the soul, for mortal means "that which will kill," or, in other words, "deadly." Thus we speak of a mortal wound or a mortal disease, meaning a wound or disease which is sure to produce death. Now, there are some sins, as I told you, which are like mortal wounds and diseases in the soul, because they are so opposed to and so displeasing to God, as to deprive the soul altogether of his grace and friendship. The soul then becomes dead in the sight of God, for it is the grace of God which is, as the catechism says, its supernatural life. It is true that in the sight of men the soul still appears to be living, since it is still united to the body, and the sinner can think, speak, and act as he could before he fell into sin; but, for all that, the soul is dead in the sight of God and his Angels. You will see from this that the words supernatural life mean "that life which we

have in the sight of God by being his friends and his children; our natural life is "that which we have in the eyes of men by our souls being still united to our bodies." This last kind of life is of little value compared with the first.

See, then, my dear children, what a dreadful evil mortal sin must be, since he who has committed it carries about in his living body a dead soul, which is hideous and loathsome beyond expression. Which

of

you would like to carry about a dead body in your arms, and how much less would you like to sleep with it in your beds! But he who is stained with the guilt of mortal sin, carries about with him continually a frightful corpse, namely, his dead soul. Whether he walks or sits, or lies down to sleep, he has it with him in the closest embrace, for it is within his body; nor does it ever leave him, until, by true repentance and a good confession, it is restored to life by recovering the grace of God. It is true that we cannot see our souls in this state, and it is well we cannot, for the very sight of it would strike us dead, it is so ugly and frightful; but God sees it, the Blessed Virgin sees it, our Guardian Angel sees it, and they are struck with horror at the sight.

But worse than all this, mortal sin makes us enemies of God and children of hell. While we live, the anger of God is for ever stretched over us, and if we die in this state, we fall at once into the eternal flames of hell. Ah! my dear children, have a great horror of mortal sin, which inflicts so many evils on both soul and body. Avoid it as you would the plague or death itself; and if ever you have the unhappiness to fall into it, seek at once the pardon of God by a sincere sorrow and a good confession. Shun carefully the occasions that are likely to lead you into sin, particularly dangerous places of amusement, bad books, and wicked companions.

THE FALL OF THE ANGELS.

Many thousand years ago, before Almighty God created Adam and Eve, and placed them in the garden of paradise, he created millions of pure spirits, who are called Angels. These noble beings were endowed by God with many admirable qualities. They were made by him of surpassing beauty, gifted with great power, and had knowledge and intelligence bestowed on them at their first creation far beyond what man can hope to attain to. They were created by God to love him and praise him, to be his messengers and carry his commands to every part of the universe, and to enjoy for ever the glory of his presence and the delights of heaven. Before bestowing upon them, however, the eternal possession of these favours, Almighty God put them to a trial, as he afterwards put Adam and Eve to a trial, that they might, by an act of their free will, show themselves worthy of the happiness he intended for them. He laid upon them a command; we do not exactly know the nature of it, but it is commonly thought that it was to adore his Divine Son made man for our salvation. The greater portion of the Angels gladly embraced this opportunity of showing their love and fidelity to that Good God who had lavished so many favours upon them, and, in reward for their obedience, God confirmed them in possession of all the graces he had given them, and bestowed upon them an eternity of happiness. But very many of them unhappily, led by the proud spirit Lucifer, one of the brightest and most glorious of the heavenly host, refused to obey the command of God. So far from adoring the God who made them, made man for the salvation of the world, they sought themselves to become as gods, and raised aloft the standard of revolt. In an instant the vengeance of the Almighty God fell heavily upon their guilty heads. At the command of God, the good Angels, headed by the brave Archangel St. Michael, hurled down Lucifer with all his followers from their bright thrones in heaven into the bottomless pit of hell, which God created for their eternal punishment. Our Blessed Lord, in warning his Apostles not to be proud and presumptuous, reminds them of this dreadful fall, when he says, "I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven." *

See, my dear children, the dreadful evil of sin, since one single mortal sin turned millions of beautiful Angels into ugly devils, and buried them for ever in the flames of hell.

*Luke x. 18.

Q. What is venial sin?

A. That sin which does not kill the soul, yet displeases God.

We now come to speak of the other kind of sin which we commit ourselves, namely, venial sin. Venial sin, as the catechism says, is that sin which does not actually kill the soul, as mortal sin does, but which, nevertheless, displeases Almighty God. Hence it

follows that venial sin is, after mortal sin, the greatest evil that is to be found in the world, since God is offended by it, a God infinitely Great and Good and Amiable, and worthy of all our love and homage. No evil can for a moment compare with the evil of an offence against Almighty God; it were better that the whole world should be destroyed, than that God should be offended in the smallest point.

But even if we look at ourselves only, we shall easily see how dreadful an evil venial sin is, and that it would be better that any misfortune should befall us, rather than that we should give way to the smallest venial sin. In the first place, it robs us, though not entirely, at least in part, of the grace and friendship of God. Now there is nothing more precious in the world than the grace of God; therefore, whatever deprives us of this should justly be considered a lamentable evil. It is true that venial sin does not separate us entirely from God; it does not drive him altogether from our souls, but it grieves him, puts an obstacle to his grace, and renders him less likely to assist and protect us. Hence it is that persons, who go on committing venial sin wilfully and deliberately, soon fall away into mortal sin. For, not being strengthened and supported by the same powerful grace which God formerly gave them, and which they have gradually lost by their own fault, they easily fall away when a strong temptation