God says: "I would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth' (Apoc. iii. 15, 16).

The effects of sloth in general are: Neglect of the duties of our calling, ruin of property, lying, deceit, effeminacy, and a great many sins against the Sixth and Seventh Commandments. 'Idleness hath taught much evil' (Ecclus. xxxiii. 29). 'Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom' (Prov. vi. 6). The effects of Spiritual Sloth, or Lukewarmness, are: Aversion to all religious exercises, contempt of the word of God and of all means of grace, irritation at salutary admonitions, love of the world, pusillanimity, impenitence, infidelity.— Examples: The slothful servant;, the foolish virgins (Matt. xxv.).

28. What benefit should we reap from the doctrine of the Capital Sins?

We should carefully avoid them as the sources of all evil, and most earnestly endeavor to acquire the opposite virtues.

Application. Every morning, when you get up, resolve to guard most carefully during the day against your chief fault. At night examine your conscience on it; and if you have failed, repent, and purpose to confess it as soon as possible.

§3. The different kinds of Sin (continued).

29. Which are the Six Sins against the Holy Ghost? 1. Presumption of God's mercy; 2. Despair; 3. Resisting the known Christian truth; 4. Envy at another's spiritual good; 5. Obstinacy in sin; and 6. Final impenitence.

Examples: Cain, Pharao, the Pharisees, Elymas the magician (Acts xiii.).

30. Why are they called sins against the Holy Ghost? Because by them we resist, in an especial manner, the Holy Ghost, since we knowingly and willingly despise, reject, or abuse His grace.

'You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you

always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also (Acts vii. 51).

31. Why should we particularly avoid these sins?

Because they obstruct the entrance of God's grace into the heart, and therefore hinder our conversion, or render it very difficult.

Speaking of these sins, Jesus Christ says 'that they shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come' (Matt. xii. 32); that is to say, that they are hardly ever forgiven, because it is very, very seldom that people truly repent of them.

32. Which are the Four Sins crying to Heaven for vengeance?

1. Wilful murder; 2. Sodomy; 3. Oppression of the poor, of widows and orphans; 4. Defrauding laborers of their wages.

1. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth' (Gen. iv. 10). 2. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous. We will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord' (Gen. xviii. 20, and xix. 13). 3. 'Do not the widow's tears run down the cheek, and her cry against him that causeth them to fall? From the cheek they go up even to Heaven' (Ecclus. xxxv. 18, 19). 4. 'Behold the hire of the laborers, which by fraud has been kept back by you, crieth, and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth' (James v. 4).

33. Why are they called sins crying to Heaven for vengeance?

Because, on account of their heinous malice, they cry, as it were, for vengeance, and call on Divine Justice to punish them signally.

34. In how many ways may we become accessory to another person's sin, and be answerable for it?

In these nine ways: 1. By counsel; 2. By command; 3. By consent; 4. By provocation; 5. By praise or flattery; 6. By silence; 17. By connivance; 2 8. By partaking; 9. By defence of the ill done.

When we could and should prevent another's sin either by kindly admonishing him or by giving information to his parents,

his pastor, etc. 'If thou declare it not to the wicked, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand' (Ezec. iii. 18). When we could and should punish the sinner. Thus Heli sinned, 'because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them' (1 Kings iii. 13). 35. Why are we answerable for the sin which another commits?

Because, in any of the above ways, we are either the cause of his sin or co-operate with him in it, and thus are as guilty before God as if we had committed it ourselves; or, it may be, even more so.

'Not only they that do such things are worthy of death, but they also that consent to them that do them' (Rom. i. 32).

Application. Always receive wholesome admonitions willingly and gratefully. Never participate in the sins of others; on the contrary, endeavor, to the utmost of your power, to hinder them; and when, for that reason, you are to reveal them, do not say: 'I do not like to denounce others, because I should not like them to denounce me.' Ought you, then, to be sorry, if some one were to snatch from your hands the knife with which you were about to kill yourself?

CHAPTER V.

VIRTUE AND CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.

1. Should we be contented with avoiding grievous sins and crimes?

No; we should also diligently endeavor to become more and more virtuous, and to attain the perfection suitable to our condition.

'He that is just, let him be justified still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still' (Apoc. xxii. 11). 'Be not afraid to be justified even to death' (Ecclus. xviii. 22).—Example of St. Paul: 'Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect; but I follow after. . . . One thing I do; forgetting

the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before' (Philip iii. 12, 13).

§ 1. Virtue.

2. Why should we endeavor to become more and more virtuous?

Because man is only good, and pleasing to God, inasImuch as he is virtuous.

3. In what does Christian virtue consist?

Christian virtue, in general, consists in the perseverance of the will, and in its constant exertions to do what is acceptable to God.

4. How is Christian virtue divided with regard to its origin?

Into infused and acquired virtue.

5. What is infused virtue?

Virtue is called infused, inasmuch as it is a gift of God, which together with sanctifying grace is imparted. to the soul, in order to qualify and dispose us for the practice of supernatural virtues-i.e., for the performance of such pious actions as are worthy of life everlasting (Rom. v. 5).

6. Which virtues are chiefly infused into the soul? The three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity.

7. Why are they called 'Theological Virtues '? Because they come directly from, and directly relate to, God.

8. When should we make Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity?

We should make them frequently, but especially, 1. In great temptations against these virtues; 2. When we receive the Holy Sacraments; and 3. When we are in danger of losing our life, or on our death-bed.

9. How may we make Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity?

We may make them in this manner:

AN ACT OF FAITH.

O my God! I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I believe that the Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.

AN ACT OF HOPE.

O my God! relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits. of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

AN ACT OF CHARITY.

O my God! I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou are all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Charity here means love.

10. What is acquired virtue?

Virtue is called acquired, inasmuch as it is a faculty which, with the assistance of God, we acquire by constant practice.

II. What do we generally call those virtues which can be acquired by practice?

6

We call them Moral Virtues,' because they regulate our moral conduct according to the will of God.

or

12. Which among them are the four Cardinal'1 'Principal Virtues' in which all the others are included? 1. Prudence; 2. Justice; 3. Fortitude; and 4. Temperance (Wis. viii. 7).