1. That man may fulfill his duties, it is necessary that, before all else, he understand what his last end is, in which he can find his full happiness. The last end of man is to love and serve God in this life, and then to enjoy him eternally in the other. So God has placed us in this world, not to gain riches, honors, and pleasures, but to obey his precepts, and so to win for ourselves the eternal blessedness of Paradise.
2. To this end the Lord created Adam, who was the first man, and gave him for wife Eve, that they might propagate the human race. He created them in his grace, and placed them in the earthly paradise, signifying to them that from there he would afterward transfer them to Heaven, to enjoy a complete and eternal happiness. Meanwhile, on this earth, he allowed them to feed on all the fruits of that pleasant garden; but, to test their obedience, he forbade them to eat the fruit of one tree only, which he pointed out to them. Adam and Eve, however, disobeying God, chose to feed on the forbidden fruit, and for this sin they were deprived of the divine grace, and were at once driven out of the earthly paradise, and condemned, as rebels against the divine majesty, with all their descendants, to temporal and eternal death; and so for them and for all their children the heavenly paradise was closed.
3. This is original sin, in which we are all born, children of wrath and enemies of God, as the children of a rebel father. When a vassal rebels against his prince, all the descendants of that rebel become odious to the prince, and remain exiled from the kingdom. So original sin is for us a privation of the divine grace by reason of the disobedience of Adam.
4. Only the most holy Mary had the privilege, according to the pious and common opinion, of being exempt from the original stain. It is certain that she was free from every actual sin: this is the mind of the Church, as the Council of Trent declared, where it is said that no one “can, in his whole life, avoid all sins, even venial, except by a special privilege of God, such as the Church holds concerning the Blessed Virgin.” And this is a great argument to prove that Mary was free from original sin; for had she not been free from original sin, she could not have been exempt from every actual sin. But since the holy Virgin never contracted any sin from which she had to be redeemed, was she then not redeemed by Jesus Christ, as were all the other children of Adam? No; she was indeed redeemed, but redeemed in a more noble manner: other men have been redeemed after incurring original sin; Mary was redeemed before incurring it, being preserved from it. And this was a singular privilege justly granted to that woman singularly blessed, who was destined to be the Mother of a God.
5. All the rest of us are born infected by the sin of Adam, in punishment of which our mind is darkened in the knowledge of the eternal truths, and our will inclined to evil. But through the merits of Jesus Christ, by holy Baptism, we acquire the divine grace, and the remedy of all our evil; and so we become adoptive children of God, and heirs of Paradise—provided we know how to keep the grace acquired in Baptism unto death; otherwise, if we lose it by some mortal sin, we are condemned to Hell; and only by the sacrament of penance can such sins, committed after Baptism, be pardoned.
6. As to the actual sins that we commit, however, we must distinguish mortal sin from venial. And speaking first of mortal sin, it must be understood that, as the soul gives life to the body, so the grace of God gives life to the soul; so it is that the body without the soul remains dead and must be buried. In the same way, the soul, by sin, remains dead to the grace of God, and the burial of Hell awaits it. Therefore grave sin is called mortal, because it puts the soul to death: “The soul that sins, the same shall die” (Ezek. 18:20). I have said, the burial of Hell awaits it. But what is this Hell? It is a place that is beneath the earth, where those who die in sin go to suffer for eternity. “These shall go into everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46). And what pain is there in Hell? I answer, all the pains; there the damned soul must suffer in a sea of fire, tortured by all the torments, in despair, and abandoned by all for eternity.
7. But how can a soul suffer for eternity for a single mortal sin? Whoever speaks thus shows that he does not understand what mortal sin is. Mortal sin is a turning of the back upon God; so St. Thomas and St. Augustine define mortal sin: “a turning away from the unchangeable good.” So God says to the sinner: “You have forsaken me, says the Lord; you are gone backward” (Jer. 15:6). Mortal sin is a contempt offered to God: “I have brought up children, and exalted them; but they have despised me” (Isa. 1:2). It is a dishonor done to the divine majesty: “By the transgression of the law you dishonor God” (Rom. 2:23). It is to say to God: “Lord, I will not serve you”: “You have broken my yoke; you have said, I will not serve” (Jer. 2:20). This is what is meant by mortal sin. So one Hell is too little; a hundred thousand Hells would not suffice to punish a single mortal sin. If a man wrongs a peasant without cause, he deserves punishment; still more if he does it to a knight, to a prince, to a king. But what, before God, are all the kings of the earth, and even all the saints of Paradise? They are as a nothing: “All nations are before him as if they had no being at all” (Isa. 40:17). Now what punishment does an injury done to God deserve?—to a God, moreover, dead for love of us?
8. Let it be noted, however, that for mortal sin three things are needed: that there be full advertence, perfect consent, and that the matter be grave; one of these things lacking, the sin is not mortal, but either will be no sin, or will be only venial.
9. Venial sin, then, does not put the soul to death, but it does wound it. It is not a grave displeasure, but it is already a displeasure to God. It is not that great evil which is mortal sin, but it is more evil than all the evils that can befall creatures. A lie, a slight imprecation, is a greater evil than if all men, all the saints, and all the angels were sent to Hell. Of these venial sins, then, some are deliberate, others indeliberate; the indeliberate—that is, done without full advertence or without perfect consent—are less culpable; and into these all men fall; only the most holy Mary, as we said above, had the privilege of being exempt from them. More culpable, then, are the deliberate venial sins, done with full will and with open eyes; and more so if there is attachment to them, such as certain rancors, and certain ambitions, or certain rooted affections, and the like. St. Basil said: “Who would dare to call any sin slight?” Knowing that it displeases God is enough to bind us to flee it more than every evil. When St. Catherine of Genoa was given to see the ugliness of a venial sin, she marveled how, on seeing it, she had not died of horror. And let him who makes no account of venial sins know that, if he does not amend, he is near to falling into some mortal sin. The more of them the soul commits, the weaker it becomes, and the stronger the demon grows, and God diminishes his helps. “He that contemns small things shall fall by little and little” (Ecclus. 19:1).
10. Let us take care, then, to flee sins, which alone can make us unhappy in this life and in the other. And let us always thank the goodness of God for not having sent us to Hell for the sins we have committed; and from this day forward let us apply ourselves to saving our soul, and let us understand that all we do to save the soul is little.
11. St. Augustine relates that, the emperor Gratian being in the city of Treves, two of his courtiers went one day to a convent of certain good religious, which was outside the city. Having entered that holy solitude, they began to read the life of St. Anthony the abbot, which lay on the table of a religious of that convent; whereupon one of them, moved by a divine light, said to the other: “Friend, after so many troubles and labors that we suffer in this world, what can we attain? The most we can hope for, being at court, is to gain the favor of the emperor. This is the greatest fortune we can have. And even if we come to obtain it, how long will this fortune last? But if I wish the friendship of God, I can have it now.” And so saying, he went on reading; until God enlightened him still more, making him see on that occasion the vanity of the world. Then he said resolutely to his companion: “Now I will leave all, and save my soul. I resolve at this point to remain in this monastery, to think only of God. If you will not follow me, at least I beg you not to oppose my resolution.” The companion answered that he too wished to follow him, as they then did; and following their example two maidens, with whom they had contracted betrothals, hearing of their change, themselves also left the world, and consecrated their virginity to God.
12. But to be saved it is not enough to begin; one must persevere; and in order to persevere we must keep ourselves humble, always distrusting our own strength, and confiding only in God, asking him always for his help to persevere. Woe to him who confides in himself, or grows vain over his good works! Palladius relates that a certain solitary, being in a desert, prayed day and night, and led a most austere life, and therefore was honored by many. The wretched man grew to esteem himself, and felt sure that his virtues would carry him through to perseverance and salvation. But when the demon afterward appeared to him in the form of a woman, and tempted him to sin, the unhappy man knew not how to resist, and fell. As soon as he had fallen, the demon vanished, bursting into loud laughter. After this he left the desert, returned to the world, and gave himself up to all the vices; and so he gave proof of how dangerous it is to trust in one’s own strength. More terrible was the case of the celebrated Friar Justin, who, after refusing the offices of great honor that the king of Hungary had offered him, became a religious of St. Francis, and advanced so far in spirit that he had frequent ecstasies. One day, being at table in the convent of Ara Coeli, he was rapt into the air, and was seen by all to be borne aloft to venerate an image of the Blessed Virgin that was upon the wall. On this account Eugenius IV sent to call him, embraced him, and, seating him, held a long discourse with him. The wretched man grew vain over such a favor; so St. John Capistran, on seeing him, said to him: “Friar Justin, you went an angel, and have come back a demon.” In fact, from then on, growing in defects and in pride, he killed another friar with a knife. Afterward he fled into our kingdom of Naples, where he committed many other crimes, and died an apostate in prison.