Bad thoughts
“And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts.”—Matthew 9:4
In the gospel of this day we are told that a paralytic was brought to Jesus Christ to be healed. The Lord healed not only his body but also his soul, saying to him: “Be of good heart, son; thy sins are forgiven thee” (v. 2). As soon as some of the Scribes heard these words, they said within their hearts: He blasphemeth. But our Savior at once let them know that he saw their evil thoughts, saying: “Why do you think evil in your hearts.” Let us come, then, to the subject of this discourse.
God sees the most secret evil thoughts of our hearts; he sees them, and he punishes them. Human judges forbid and chastise only outward crimes, for men see only what appears outwardly. “Man seeth those things that appear; but the Lord beholdeth the heart” (1 Kings 16:7). God forbids and punishes bad thoughts as well. We shall examine, in the first point, when bad thoughts are sinful; in the second, the great danger of bad thoughts when they are indulged; and in the third, the remedies against bad thoughts.
First Point.—When bad thoughts are sinful.
1. Men go astray about bad thoughts in two ways. Some, who have the fear of God but are of little understanding and are scrupulous, are afraid that every bad thought presenting itself to the mind is a sin. This is a mistake. It is not the bad thought, but the consent to it, that is sinful. All the malice of mortal sin consists in a bad will—in willing to consent to the sin with full advertence to its malice, and with perfect consent. Hence St. Augustine teaches that where the will does not consent, there can be no sin. Nullo modo sit peccatum, si non sit voluntarium—“In no way is there sin, if it is not voluntary” (On True Religion, chapter 14). However violent the temptation, the rebellion of the senses, or the evil motions of the lower part may be, there is no sin as long as there is no consent. Non nocet sensus, ubi non est consensus—“Sense does not harm where there is no consent,” says St. Bernard (On the Interior House, chapter 19).
2. Even the saints are tormented by temptations. Indeed, the devil labors far harder to make the saints fall than to make sinners sin, for in them he thinks to seize the greater prey. The prophet Habakkuk says that the saints are the choice food of the enemy. “Through them his portion is made fat, and his meat dainty” (Hab. 1:16). And therefore the prophet adds that the evil one spreads his net for all, sparing no one, that he may rob them of the life of grace. “For this cause, therefore, he spreadeth out his net, and will not spare continually to slay the nations” (Hab. 1:17).
Even St. Paul, after he had been made a vessel of election, groaned under temptations against chastity, as he himself confesses: “There was,” he said, “given me a sting of the flesh, an angel of Satan to afflict me” (2 Cor. 12:7). Three times he prayed to the Lord to deliver him from these temptations; but the Lord answered that his grace was sufficient for him. “For which thing thrice I besought the Lord, that it might depart from me. And he said: My grace is sufficient for thee” (v. 8, 9). God permits even his servants to be tempted, both to try their fidelity and to purify them from their imperfections.
And, for the consolation of timid and scrupulous souls, I will here set down a fine teaching that the theologians commonly hold. They say that when a soul which fears God and abhors sin is in doubt whether or not she gave consent to a bad thought, she is not bound to confess it so long as she is not certain of the consent; for it is then morally certain that she did not consent to it. Had she really fallen into grievous sin, she would have no doubt about it; for mortal sin is so horrible a monster that one who fears God cannot possibly admit it into his soul without knowing it.
3. Others, who are not scrupulous but are lax of conscience and ignorant, think that evil thoughts, even when consented to, are not mortal sins unless the act is consummated. This is a mistake far worse than the former. What we may not lawfully do, we may not lawfully desire. Hence a bad thought to which a person consents has the same malice as the bad act. As evil works separate us from God, so also do evil thoughts. “Perverse thoughts separate us from God” (Wis. 1:3). And as all bad actions are known to God, so too all evil thoughts lie open before him, to be condemned and punished. “The Lord is a God of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts prepared” (1 Kings 2:3).
4. Not all bad thoughts, however, are equally sinful; nor have all those that are sinful the same malice. In a bad thought three things may come together: the suggestion, the delectation, and the consent. The suggestion is the first bad thought that presents itself to the mind; this is no sin—rather, when we reject it, it becomes a source of merit. “As often as you resist,” says St. Antoninus, “so often are you crowned.” The delectation takes place when a person pauses, as it were, to look at the bad thought, which by its pleasing appearance gives delight. So long as the will does not consent to it, this delectation is not a mortal sin; but it is already a venial sin, and, if it is not resisted, the soul puts herself in danger of consenting to it. When this danger is not proximate, however, the sin is only venial.
But here it must be noted that, when the thought which excites the delight concerns an unchaste matter, the theologians commonly hold that we are then bound, under pain of mortal sin, to resist the delectation positively; for if it is not resisted, the delight easily draws on the consent of the will. “Unless a person repels the delectation,” says St. Anselm, “the delight passes into consent, and kills the soul” (St. Anselm, Similitudes, chapter 40). Hence, even though a person should not consent to the sin, yet if he delights in the unchaste object and does not strive to resist the delectation, he sins mortally by exposing himself to the proximate danger of consent. “How long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee?” (Jer. 4:14). Why, says the prophet, do you let the hurtful thought remain in you, and make no effort to drive it from your heart?
God wills that we guard the heart with all possible care; for upon the heart—that is, upon the will—our life depends. “With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it” (Prov. 4:23). The consent, finally, which is the cause of mortal sin, takes place when a person already knows clearly that the object is a grievous sin, and embraces it perfectly with his will.
5. A person may sin grievously in thought in two ways: by desire, and by taking pleasure in the thought. He sins by desire when he wills to do the evil that he desires, or would wish to do it if he had the opportunity; and the desire is grievously or lightly sinful depending on whether the act he desires to do is grievously or lightly sinful. In practice, however, the external act, once committed, always increases the malice of the will—either because of the greater pleasure that ordinarily accompanies the completed outward act, or at least because that pleasure lasts longer. Hence, if the act followed upon the desire, it must always be mentioned in confession.
A person sins by taking pleasure in the thought when he does not wish actually to commit the sinful act, but delights in it as though he were committing it. This is called morose delectation. It is called morose, not because the pleasure taken in the thought of the unchaste act lasts for any length of time, but because the will pauses to take delight in the thought. Hence this sin of delight may, as St. Thomas teaches, be committed in a single moment. Dicitur morosa, non ex mora temporis, sed ex eo quod ratio deliberans circa eam immoratur revolvens libenter quae statim respui debuerent—“It is called morose, not from any delay of time, but because the deliberating reason dwells upon it, willingly turning over what ought to have been at once rejected,” says the holy doctor (Summa I-II, q. 74, a. 1, ad 3).
He says “libenter” (willingly) in order to free from scruple those souls who fear God and who at times suffer, against their will, certain carnal motions and delights, though they do all in their power to drive them away. Even though the lower part should find a certain delight in them, there is no sin so long as the will does not consent—or at least no grievous sin. I repeat with St. Augustine that what is not voluntary is in no way sinful. Malum nullo modo sit peccatum, si non sit voluntarium—“Evil is in no way sin, if it is not voluntary” (On True Religion, chapter 14). In temptations against chastity the masters of the spiritual life advise us not so much to labor at rejecting and contradicting the bad thought, as to turn the mind to some other object, whether spiritual or at least indifferent. With other bad thoughts it helps to fight face to face, but not with thoughts of impurity.
Second Point.—The great danger of bad thoughts.
6. We must guard ourselves with all possible caution against bad thoughts, which are an abomination to God. “Evil thoughts are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 15:26). They are called “an abomination to the Lord” because, as the holy Council of Trent says, bad thoughts—particularly those against the ninth and tenth commandments—sometimes wound the soul more deeply, and are more dangerous, than external acts. Nonnunquam animam gravius sauciant, et periculosiora sunt iis quae in manifesto admittuntur—“Sometimes they wound the soul more gravely, and are more dangerous, than those things which are committed openly” (Session 14, On Penance, ch. 5). They are more dangerous for several reasons. First, because sins of thought are more easily committed than sins of action. The occasions of sinful acts are often wanting, but sins of thought are committed even without occasion. When a soul has turned her back on God, the heart is continually bent on willing the evil that allures it, and so multiplies sins without number. “All the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times” (Gen. 6:5).
7. Secondly, at the hour of death sinful actions cannot be committed, but sins of thought can be committed in the mind; and one who has formed the habit of consenting to bad thoughts in life will easily indulge them at death. The more so because the temptations of the devil are then most violent: seeing that he has but little time left to gain that soul, he tempts her with all the greater force. “The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12). St. Eleazar, as Surius relates, was so severely tempted with bad thoughts when he lay in danger of death that, after his recovery, he said: “Oh, how great is the power of the devils at the hour of death!” The saint conquered the temptations, because he kept the good habit of rejecting bad thoughts. But wretched are those who have formed the habit of consenting to them!
Father Segneri relates that there was a certain sinner who often consented to evil thoughts during life. When he came to die, he confessed all his sins with true sorrow; but afterward he appeared to a certain person and said that he was damned. He disclosed that his confession had been good, and that God had already pardoned him; but that, before he died, the devil represented to him that, should he recover from his illness, it would be an act of ingratitude to forsake a certain woman who loved him so much. He drove off this first temptation; a second came, and he drove that off too; but after a while, having paused to dwell on it, a third came, and he consented to it—and so, he said, he was damned.
Third Point.—On the remedies against bad thoughts.
8. The prophet Isaiah says that to be freed from bad thoughts we must take away the evil of our thoughts. “Take away the evil of our devices” (Isa. 1:16). What is it to take away the evil of our thoughts? It is to take away the occasions of evil thoughts, to flee dangerous conversations, and to keep away from bad company. I knew a young man who was an angel; but, because of a single word he heard from a bad companion, he had an evil thought and consented to it. I believe this was the only grievous sin he committed in his whole life; for he afterward became a religious, and, after some years, died a holy death. So too we must abstain from reading books that are obscene or otherwise corrupted with error; and, still more, from dances with women and from profane comedies—at least from such dances and comedies as are not wholly decent.
9. Some young man will ask me: Father, does a man sin who pays court to a young woman? I answer: of itself I cannot assert absolutely that it is a mortal sin; but such persons easily place themselves in the proximate occasion of mortal sin, and experience shows that few of them are found free from grievous faults. It is useless for them to say that they have neither a bad motive nor bad thoughts. This is how the devil deceives them: in the beginning he does not suggest bad thoughts; but afterward, when by frequent conversation together and frequent talk of love their affection has grown strong, he will no longer let you see what you are doing, and you will find—almost without knowing how—that you have lost your soul and your God by many sins of impurity and scandal.
Oh, how many poor young men and women does the devil win in this way! And of all these sins of scandal God will demand an account above all of the fathers and mothers, who ought to prevent these dangerous conversations and do not. They are therefore the cause of all these evils, and shall be severely chastised by God for them.
10. Above all, if we would escape bad thoughts, let men beware of gazing at women, and women at men. I repeat that passage of Job which I have so often quoted to you: “I made a covenant with my eyes, that I should not so much as think upon a virgin” (Job 31:1). He says, with my eyes, that I should not think; but what have the eyes to do with thinking? The eyes do not think; the mind alone thinks. Yet Job spoke well in saying that he made a covenant with his eyes that he would not think upon women; for St. Bernard says that through the eyes the darts of impure love, which then kills the soul, enter into the mind. Per oculos intrat in mentem sagitta impuri amoris—“Through the eyes the arrow of impure love enters into the mind.” Hence the Holy Ghost warns us: “Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up” (Ecclus. 9:8). It is always dangerous to look at a young woman elegantly dressed; and to look at her deliberately, without just cause, cannot be excused at least from venial sin.
11. When thoughts against chastity come—and they often come even without any present occasion—it is necessary, as I have said, to drive them off at once, without setting yourself to argue with the temptation. The instant you perceive the black face that such a thought carries with it, reject it, without giving it a hearing, and without going on to spy out what it says or represents to you. It is related in the book of the sayings of the fathers (§4) that St. Pachomius one day saw a devil boasting that he had often made a certain monk fall, because, when tempted, the monk, instead of turning to God, gave the devil a hearing and set himself to argue with the temptation. But the saint heard another devil complaining that he could gain nothing from the monk he tempted, because that monk at once had recourse to God, and so was always victorious.
This was the counsel of St. Jerome: As soon as lust suggests evil, let us cry out, The Lord is my helper. Statim ut libido titillaverit sensum, erumpamus in vocem: Domine auxiliator meus—“As soon as lust shall tickle the sense, let us break forth into the cry: Lord, my helper” (Ep. 22, to Eustochium).
12. Should the temptation persist, it is very useful to disclose it to your confessor. St. Philip Neri used to say that “a temptation disclosed is half conquered.” In the assaults of impurity, some saints have chosen to practice very severe mortifications: St. Benedict rolled his naked body among thorns; St. Peter of Alcantara threw himself into a frozen pool. But the best counsel for overcoming these temptations, I judge, is to have recourse to God, who will surely win us the victory. “Praising, I will call on the Lord,” said David, “and I shall be saved from my enemies” (Ps. 18:3).
And when, even after we have had recourse to God, the temptation does not cease, then we must not leave off praying, but must press our prayers the harder; we must sigh and groan at the foot of the most holy sacrament in the church, or before a crucifix when we are at home, or before some image of most holy Mary, who is the mother of purity. It is true that all our efforts and devices are of no avail unless God sustains us with his own hand; but at times he wills these efforts on our part, that he may then supply what is wanting and win us the victory. In such combats it helps first to renew our resolve never to offend him, and to lose our life sooner than his grace; and then we must at once repeat our prayers: Lord, give me strength to resist; do not permit me to be separated from you; let me die rather than ever lose you.
Points for Reflection
1. “It is not the bad thought, but the consent to it, that is sinful” (§1)
2. “It is to take away the occasions of evil thoughts, to flee dangerous conversations, and to keep away from bad company” (§8)
3. “The instant you perceive the black face that such a thought carries with it, reject it, without giving it a hearing, and without going on to spy out what it says or represents to you” (§11)