The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-02-28

prayer TO GOO, Dy serious m0QlCaL1On
upon the relations of our souls with
God and His eternal Kingdom.
u. Qualities of contrition (Continued)
(a) To be of avail in reconciling us
| with God, contrition must be univer-
salt must be such that it begets
in us sorrow for, hatred of, all our
| mortal sins. We cannot seek to
shuttle off one mortal sin, while we
hold fast to another. The reason is
plain. The motives leading to the
detestation of one sin, leads to the
detestation of all sins. If we are not
truly contrite for all our mortal sins,
we are not contrite for any one NOR
tai sin.
(b) Again our sorrow must be
sovereign. The word sovereign means
that which is supreme in it's own
order of things. Sovereign sorrow is
sorrow which surpasses in strength
and practical effect all other sorrows.
The greatest, the most dreadful
evil that can befall us is mortal sin.
Mortal sin gives grievous offense to
God, who is supremely good, to whom
in justice and gratitude we owe su-
preme love. Mortal sin sewers us
from the happiness of Heaven, our SUI
preme hope; it causes our condemna-
ton to He'll, our supreme misfortune
Sin being the sovereign evil, sorrow
for it must be the sovereign sorrow
"a sorrow leading us to detest sin
above all other evils or misfortunes, a
sorrow stronger and more meaning
full of effect than any sorrow begot-
ten of any other evil. God is to be
chosen above all else; mortal sin to be
Stunned above all other evil
(c) Sovereign sorrow, such as is
needed in the forgiveness of sin, has
it's seat in the intellect and the will,
not in our sensitive natures. Sen
sitive sorrow, such as stirs up feeling
and brings tears and weeping, is good
and desirable: but it is not under our
command. The essential in sorrow is
the act of the soul, condemning sin as
the supreme evil, and willing it's
avoidance above that of all other evil,
even of death itself.
III. The Motives of ContritIon.
(a) The motives of contrition or
sorrow for sin, should be well studied,
| we'll pondered over. There is the peril
| that forgiveness for sin be sought in
the tribunal of penance without &C
companying integral and effective
| contrition-and consequently sought
in vain.
(b) The love due to God in justice
and gratitude. God is supreme per-
lection: God is our supreme benefac-
tor-our Creator, our Saviour-con-
stantly pouring upon us favors tenn
poral and spiritual. And what is NOR.
tai sin? A deliberate insult flung into
the face of the Creator, the Saviour
a freely-chosen remuneration of His
| love-a setting up in His place OF
strange gods-those the things and
passions. Let us restore to our
hearts the love of God, and sin is
easily repented of.
(c) The fear of Gods justice-the
loss of Heaven, the penalty of He'll
The one hope for eternity is Heaven
| life with God, endless, uninterrupted
Mortal sin closes the gates of Heaven
God, infinite holiness, infinite justice
is compelled of His own attributes tc
forbid the passage. The one supreme
misfortune, with which none other is
for a moment comparable, is suffering
endless, uninterrupted in He'll. The
gates of Heaven closed, He'll is our
inevitable lot. Mortal sin, our own
deliberate act, condemns us to He'll
Heaven on one side, He'll on the
other, how easy to repent of sin, to
have ontrition-sorrow interior, SUI
pernatural, universal and sovereign!
(d) Contrition through love should
always be striven for. 1t is our debt
to the Almighty God: alone it implies
our sense of the full malice of sin
Still sorrow for sin, through fear OF
Gods judgment, is not to be neglected
It prepares the way to sorrow through
love: and in the sacrament of pen
ance, strictly speaking, it sufices fol
the remission of sin.
i Contrition through love is perfec
contrition: contrition through fear OF
Gods judgment is imperfect contrl
ton, or attrition.