Chapter IV. Mental causes of the corruption of the heart

Article I

Error amd false maxima.

We never have vices or imperfections, without, at the same time, having false judgments and false ideas, which are the cause of these disorders in our conduct ; for the xmderstanding and the will are the two sources of malice, as also of goodness, in creatures endowed with free will. Thus the imperfect have their minds full of practical judgments grounded on the false ideas which they conceive in accordance with the inclinations of corrupt nature. This it is that keeps us in such a pitiable state. The little good that we do so blinds us, that we imagine we have attained to a sufficient height of virtue, and the good opinion we entertain of ourselves makes it most difficult for us to correct ourselves of our faults. The common people followed our Lord. He said to them, " Blessed are the poor in spirit ;" and these good souls humbly received His doctrine. The Pharisees, the doctors of the law, the chief priest«, did not follow Him, vainly imagining that they were in possession of something far higher than the doctrine He preached.

ARTICLE II. Ignorance, They who do not follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, remain all their life involved in those three kinds of ignorance of which St. Lawrence Justinian speaks.

The first is what he calls nescientia veri et falsi, an inability to distinguish between what is true and what is false.

This ignorance is found in those who, taking no pains to watch the movements of their own interior, are unable to distinguish in themselves the dijQTerent operations of Grod, of nature, and of the devil ; so that having to choose, as often happens, between two contrary sentiments, they take the false for the true, an idea of their own imagination, or a suggestion of the enemy, for a divine inspiration ; their own inclination for an attraction of grace. They freely allow themselves every thing which does not appear to them to be wrong, every thing which in their judgment is sanetioned by reason and good sense. This is their sole nile ; and they follow the maxims of &ith only in that moderate and qualified form which their reason approves. To maintain themselves in the enjoyment of this liberty, they put forward some such pleas as these : that they wish to avoid scrupulosity ; that they are unwilling to weary their minds, or become theoretical, or act without a due regard to common sense.

It is dangerous for those who are called to a high degree of perfection to confine themselves to the guidance of reason and good sense, or to place more reliance on these than on the lights of the Holy Spirit.

For, in the first place, there is no mind so penetrating, no judgment so solid, which the devil cannot deceive. Secondly, such guidance is defective, because in many matters reason is too short-sighted, neither does it suffice for guidance in all cases. Thirdly, such guidance is purely natural ; it is of a low order ; it is limited in itself, and confines within a narrow scope the designs of God, which are high and of a vast extent. Fourthly, it usurps the rights of the Holy Spirit, making human reason the judge and ruler of divine inspirations and calls, instead of itself being in subjection thereto, and leaving to the Holy Spirit to control and dispense His own graces.

The second kind of ignorance is called by St. Lawrence Justinian nescierUia honi et mcUi, an inability to discern between good and evil. This is, properly speaking, the not knowing how to preserve that just moderation and mean, wherein virtue consists, between the two extreme vices which are opposed to it ; which knowledge can be obtained only by the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Moral virtues degenerate into vices when we carry them beyond a certain point, which point is not always the same, the least circumstance in matter of time, place, or persons bdng capable of changing it. Reason may sometimes hit it, but not always j it may easily be deceived in making this judgment. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to discern infallibly this true mean, and to persevere therein when it is found. He it is who teaches how to practise mortification without going to an excess injurious to health, or sparing ourselves under pretext of discretion ; to lean now to the side of tenderness, now to that of rigour ; and to give ourselves to prayer and penance at one time more than another.

Hence we conclude, first, that out of the true Church no moral virtue can possibly be possessed in its perfection : secondly, that what is good at one time is not so at another, and that thus many things which formerly were practised in the discipline of the Church are not so at present ; that many of the canons of ancient councils are now no longer in force, on account of the changes that have taken place from age to age : thirdly, that we cannot for this reason accuse the Church of laxity, as do the inventors of new opinions, who extol only the ancient Church, and its customs and usages, which they appear to wish to restore, not considering that the same Spirit who governed the Church of old governs it now, and accommodates His ways to the times and the different dispositions of the faithful.

The third kind of ignorance is called nesdentia commodi et noxii, an inability to discern between what is beneficial and what is injurious. This is displayed when from among such things as are really good in themselves we are unable to distinguish which are more or less conformable to the designs of God. Thus St. Paul, when he was assaulted with that importunate temptation in the flesh, knew not whether it were expedient or not that he should be delivered from it ; he entreated, therefore, that it might depart from him ; and the Holy Spirit revealed to him that the temptation was providentially ordained for the glory of God.

Hence it follows that this ignorance may sometimes be met with even in the holiest persons, at least as respects some particulars, although, generally speaking, in their actions and occupations they perceive what they ought to do and what is the better part, and have the light of the Holy Spirit to enable them to know the will of God, pretty much as we have the light of the sun to reveal to us the objects before our eyes. Secondly, that even were all the intellect and good sense now distributed amongst men concentrated in one individual, he would not be able to judge in such and such contingency what is best for us, and what enters into the order of providence in our regard. The very Angels could not tell ; for who can know what God desires of us, whither He is leading us, and by what road He would lead us ? the interior ways of the just being as various as their countenances. Thirdly, that the power of this discernment appertains, like the preceding, to the Holy Spirit, who fathoms the very depth of the heart of God, and knows all His designs and all His will, manifesting them to the souls which give themselves up wholly to His guidance.