No. 11. etiam reis detentis in carcere, ad evadendam certam sententiam mortis, vel etiam carcerem perpetuum, ut num. 16." PERMITS THOSE WHO ARE CON- Here he mentions (without any mark of disapproval) the opinion of a certain Doctor, who teaches that a prisoner may put himself to death for the sake of avoiding the sentence of death being passed, or even to escape perpetual imprisonment ! On the subject of fasting he teaches, that a Carthusian may lawfully and laudably abstain from flesh meat, though he knows that death will be the certain consequence of that abstinence. He says: "Etsi carthusianus in extrema ægritudine possit servare vitam vescendo carnibus (etiam in probabili periculo mortis, ut Azor. Med. Vict. contra Vasq. Gran. et Salm. de Leg. cap, 2. n. 137. qui tamen primam sententiam sat probabilem vocant) idque probabiliter ei tum liceat, atque adeo non peccet, qui inscio præberet cibos ex carnibus, Sanch. Dian. part. 8. t. 7. r. 70. licite tamen, et laudabiliter etiam tum omittit, cum certo periculo mortis." "Although a Carthusian, who is afflicted with dangerous illness, may be able to preserve his life by eating flesh meat, and that probably may then be lawful for him: and moreover, he does not sin who would give flesh meat to him unconscious, however LAWFULLY and LAUDABLY, even then he may omit it, though death be the certain conse. quence." The Carthusian who is afflicted with sickness, which arises not from his abstinence as it is added, may absolutely refuse flesh food, though he is certain that death will be the result of that refusal. Such conduct in the estimation of the Church is laudable. 'Tis true he may avail himself of the prescription if he please, but he acts laudably if he virtually commit suicide by refusing that which is necessary for the restoration of his health. The Saint states that, while it is not lawful to inflict such pe nances as to bring death positively upon one's self, yet it is lawful to undergo the danger of losing life by the severity of penances, or not to adopt such proposed remedies as would avert the threatened calamity. He says; "Si macerationes fiant consilio prudentis prælati, vel confessarii esto vita etiam per 12. annos esset abbrevianda, ut alii ibi dicunt. Et revera, si licebit fabris ferrariis (dicit abbas Rancé, fundator reformationis Trappensis) vitam sibi minuere, laborando quotidie pene in medio ignis; a quo nequit non notabiliter consummari humidum radicale, quo tam indiget vita humana; si licebit studiosis sanitatem labefactare ad scientias addiscendas: si licebit militibus exponere vitam tot ærumnis, et periculis mortis, cur non licebit viro religioso austeritates corporales amplecti, ut rebellem carnem in servitutem redigat?" Hence he concludes: "Ideoque non teneri Carthusianum carnibus vesci, nec aliquem alium uti pretiosa, et exquisita medicina, ad mortem vitandum; nec secularem, relicto domicilio, quærere salubriorem aerem extra patriam. (Ut Lugo, Bon. Trull. cnm Salmant. ibid. num. 26. Sufficit enim uti mediis ordinariis.)" "If macerations are inflicted by the advice of a prudent confessor or prelate, although life should be shortened twelve years, as others there say. And in truth, if it be lawful for smiths (the Abbe Rancethe founder of the Trappist Reformation, says,) to shorten life by labouring every day almost in the middle of fire, by which the natural moisture, which is so needful for human life, is considerably wasted; if it be lawful for the studious to diminish health in the acquisition of knowledge; if it be lawful for soldiers to expose life to so many toils and dangers; why may it not be lawful for a religious man to embrace bodily austerities, that he may bring the rebellious flesh into bondage." "And therefore a Carthusian is not bound to eat flesh meat, nor any other person to use costly and choice medicines to avoid death. Neither is a secular person bound to leave home and seek for a healthy clime in a foreign land." It was upon this principle, I suppose, that Liguori justified his own austerities, alluded to in the brief memoir with which this work opens. THE SIXTH AND NINTH COMMANDMENTS. Liguori considers these two commands in conjunction. He opens his treatise with the following apology : "Nunc ægre materiam illam tractandam aggredimur, cujus vel solum nomen hominum mentes inficit. Det mihi veniam, quæso, castus lector, si plures quæstiones, et circnmstantias, a P. Busembao omissas, hic discussas, et declaratas inveniet. Utinam brevius, aut obscurius explicare me potuissem ! Sed cum hæc sit freqnentior atque abundantior confesssionum materia, et propter quam major animarum numerus ad infernum delabitur, imo non dubito asserere, ob hoc unum impudicitiæ vitium, aut saltem non sine eo, omnes damnari, quicunque damnantur. Hinc opus mihi fuit, ad instructionem eorum qui moralem scientiam cupiunt addiscere, ut clare (licet quo castissime fieri potuit) me explicarem, et plurima particularia discuterem. Oro tamen studiosos, qui ad munus audiendarum confessionum se parant, ut hunc tractatum de sexto precepto, quemadmodum et alium de debito conjugali, non legant, nisi cum fuerint ad excipiendas confessiones jam proximi: legant que ob hunc unice finem, omnem prorsus curiositatem abjicientes; atque eo tempore sæpius mentem ad Deum elevent, et Virgini immaculatæ se commendent, ne, dum aliorum animas Deo "With reluctance we enter upon the consideration of this matter, the very name of which alone pollutes the minds of men. Let, I beseech, the Chaste Reader pardon me, if he shall find many questions and circumstances here discussed and declared, which were omitted by B. Busembao; oh, that more briefly or more obscurely I could explain myself, but since this subject is a more frequent and abundant matter of confessions, and on account of which a greater number of souls perish; yea, I do not hesitate to assert, that on account of this one vice of unchasteness, or at least, not without it, all are damned who are damned; hence it was my object for the instruction of those who desire to know the moral science, that clearly, (although as chastely as it was possible to be done) I would explain myself and discuss many particulars. However I beseech the students, who prepare themselves for the office of hearing confessions, that they may not read this treatise concerning the sixth command, and the other concerning the * unless or the eve of hearing confessions, and let them read them altogether for that purpose, putting away completely student acquirere, ipsi suarum detrimentum patiantur." all curiosity, and at the same time let them more frequently elevate the mind to God, and commend themselves to the Immaculate Virgin, lest while they desire to gain souls for God, they themselves lose their own souls." Liguori thus enters upon this subject :— He says, that disobedience to the sixth and ninth commands is the more frequent and abundant matter of confession, and therefore he discusses every subject with great minuteness, that the confessor may be enabled, as an expert master, to conduct the conversations of the confessional. The treatise is most obscene, filthy, and foul. It enters with disgusting minuteness into all the details of sins which are scarce even heard of, yet this treatise is avowedly for the guidance of confessors; this treatise is the subject matter of that private conversation which takes place between the Priest and his Penitents, and if the very mention of these sins be enough to pollute the mind, according to the statement of Liguori himself, what must be the result when they become the subject of conversation in the confessional, the dark deeds of which no mortal eye beholds. Of what character must that man's mind be, whose great office it is in the first place to be instructed in such a system of immorality, and then to carry his instructions into practice, in conversing on every unholy, unrighteous, and unchaste thought and action, with thousands of his fellow sinners. The works of Liguori are only fit to be burned by the hand of the common hangman, and yet Rome declares that they contain "not one word worthy of censure.” I hope to consider more particularly the subject of the confessional by and bye. Here I cannot translate or even give in the original many of these passages of Liguori, but I would quote the headings of each chapter that some of my readers may perceive the various questions which are the subject of his disgusting consideration, as well as of conversation between the Priest and Penitent in the confessional. DUBIUM I. 'Quæ sit delectatio venerea, quæ sensitiva. 414. Quomodo sit malus omnis actus venereus. 415. An detur parvitas materiæ in re venerea. 416. An detur in delectatione sensitiva. 417. An oscula aliquando sint licita. 418. Et quando excusentur a mortali. 419. De tactu, et aspectu turpi proprii corporis, aut commixtionis brutorum. 420. De tactu, et aspectu turpi corporis alieni; ac de tactu genitalium brutorum. 421. An sit semper mortale aspicere pudenda sexus diversi: Vel pulchri adolescentis. Et an aspectus isti induant speciem objecti. 422. An liceat aspicere partes honestas diversi sexus. 423. An sit mortale aspicere pectus, crura etc. mulieris. 424. An sit mortale aspicere picturas turpes. 425. An liceat mulieri ornare, et faciem fucare. Quid si detegat ubera, vel vestiatur se veste virili. Remissive, ad 1. 2 n. 52 et 54. 426. Quando peccent graviter proferentes verba turpia. 427. An semper graviter peccent audientes comoedias turpes. An ad eas cooperantes pecunia, vel plausu. 428. An illas repræsentantes, et componentes. 429. An liceat choreas ducere. 430. An peccet mulier permittens se tangi. An mulier ad vitandos tactus impudicos teneatur clamare. 431. An liceant tactus etc., inter conjuges aut sponsos. DUBIUM II. 433. An peccet mu An fornicatio sit vetita de jure naturæ. lier non resistens turpi congressui ob metum mortis: si non consentiat. 434. An permitti possint meretrices. 435. Circa concubinatum, quæritur.I. An possit absolvi, qui nequit ejicere concubinam sine infamia. 436. Qu. II. An absolvi possit promittens se concubinam ejecturum. 437. Quær. III. An possit absolvi concubina ob necessitatem non discedens. 438. Qu. IV. An qui est in proxima occasione, causa exercendæ artis. Quid vero, si is, adhibitis remediis, semper eodem modo recidat. 439. Quær. V. An famula peccans cnm domino. 440. Quær. VI. An uxor peccans cum viro. 441. Quær VII. An tollenda occasio etiam cum gravi damno. 443. An stuprum sit speciale peccatum. 444. An quid teneatur raptor. 445. Quid de adulterio. 446. An sit adulterium copula sodomitica inter conjuges. |