The Ten Commandments

  Dr. Gyula Mago

Having been introduced two months ago to the Ten Commandments in general, in this article we continue to discuss from last month the First Commandment in particular.

External Adoration

Adoration is external when it is outwardly manifested. Bodily adoration consists in an external humbling of our bodies, offering them as marks of veneration to God.  Some acts of external adoration may also be performed privately, but many special acts of external adoration are confined to churches which are specially designated for religious ceremonies as an aid in the spirit of devotion.

The list includes making the sign of the cross, taking holy water, kneeling (expressing our insignificance), joining the hands in prayer, genuflections, prostrations, clasping the hands (helplessness), striking the breast (worthy of punishment), inclinations of the head, saying words of a prayer, singing hymns, etc. Even when praying alone, we may choose to express our reverence towards God by standing, as we often stand during Mass, e.g., at the reading of the Gospel. To stand up means we are in possession of ourselves, at attention, ready for action. It is the respect of the servant in attendance, of the soldier on duty.

External adoration has for its purpose the arousal of devotion, since man is naturally led from the material to the spiritual. To attempt to do away with such physical signs is to deny the reality of the physical side of human nature, and to increase the difficulty of discharging the debts of religion.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is the principal act of the external and public worship of God. It consists in the external offering of a sensible thing together with a real change or destruction of the thing, effected by the priest in honor of God as a testimony of His supreme dominion and our complete submission to Him. Under the New Testament there is no other sacrifice than the sacrifice of the Mass, which is the unbloody renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary.

The extended meaning of sacrifice

The word sacrifice is also used loosely, with an extended meaning, referring to anything offered to God. St. Thomas distinguishes three classes of goods possessed by man which may be offered as sacrifices in this wide sense: The goods of man are threefold: First, the goods of his soul—and these he offers to God by devotion, prayer and other interior acts. Second, the goods of his body—and these he offers to God perfectly by the act of martyrdom and by the acts of many other virtues, such as abstinence and continence. Third, external goods which he may offer to God either immediately, or mediately when he shares them for the love of God with his neighbor.

Offerings (Oblations)

Man usually offers his possessions to God in a way that does not involve their destruction (as does sacrifice proper). Such offerings tend to be used for some purpose connected with divine worship. They may be used directly for the worship of God: e.g., a gift of a chalice, vestments, candles or some church furnishing. They may be used for sustaining God's ministers: as "first fruits" and tithes were in ancient days, or stipends offered in modern times for the celebration of Mass, funerals, weddings and other religious services, or gifts to seminaries or monasteries. Or they may be used for sustaining the poor and the sick, such as the results of collections for charitable causes.

[The uses of the Divine Name as acts of worship will be discussed under the Second Commandment.—Ed.]

Sins Against Religion

One sins against religion by omission of the acts that it prescribes, and by superstition and irreligion.

Superstition

Superstition is the vice of excess in religious worship. Not as if it were possible to give God too much honor: it is not possible to worship God too much, any more than it is possible to love Him too much. The excess in superstition is not one of quantity, but rather an excess in direction or manner of worship. We may honor God in an unfitting way, or give to creatures the worship that is due to God alone.

Superstition is both an intellectual aberration and a moral fault, because it substitutes for the true faith and right worship of God a false belief and a wrong worship. Faith does not engender superstition. On the contrary, superstition is a child of unbelief: Unbelievers are the most credulous of men (Pascal). Since superstition is both foolish and dangerous, the firmer grasp a Catholic has on his religion, the more energetically will he reject every kind of superstition and unhealthy craving for miracles.

St. Thomas divides superstition into four classes: undue worship, idolatry, divination and magic (for which he uses the term "vain observance" or "superstition in observance").

Undue worship

The worship of the true God may be undue or unsuitable either because it is false, or because it is excessive and superfluous.

FALSE WORSHIP of the true God attributes something untrue to God. For example, certain Jewish rituals suppose that the Messiah is yet to come. Sometimes the falsity of the worship arises from the fact that it is offered by an unauthorized minister, e.g., when a layman pretends to hear confession. Ordinarily, false worship is mortally sinful.

Excessive or superfluous worship goes beyond the limits established by the Church for divine worship, so it is not suited to the purpose of religion because it does not tend to the honor and glory of God. Examples are believing that prayer will be infallibly answered if it is repeated a certain number of times (chain prayer), or if it is accompanied by a certain number, arrangement and color of candles; any attempt to add to the ceremonies of the Mass (e.g., intentionally singing the Gloria or the Creed in Requiem Masses), change the form of the Rosary, using fraudulent relics, inventing new forms of piety that lack the approval of the Church, etc. Ordinarily, excessive worship is venially sinful, but it can easily become mortal if scandal, contempt for religion or serious disobedience to Church authorities is involved.

Idolatry

Giving to a creature worship that belongs to God alone is called idolatry. It is one of the most grievous sins; 23,000 men were put to death at God's command because of this sin (Ex. 32:28). Idolatry may be formal such as worship of Satan, or worship of the sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains, fire, wind, animals or images. It may be implied, when a person devotes himself entirely to a creature: the avaricious man makes a god of gold (Osee 8:4); the unchaste, his own lusts (I Cor. 6:15); the glutton, his belly (Phil. 3:19).

When a perverted person makes a pact with the devil, by which he sells his soul for some favor expressly invoking the aid of the devil in some enterprise, we speak of "pacts with the devil," or "invocation of the devil." Such a contract with the devil may be implied by employing diabolical rites, such as witchcraft.

Idolatry is formal when it is rendered freely and knowingly. It is perfect when the person worships a creature thinking that it is God (as ignorant pagans would do). Formal idolatry is imperfect (and an even more serious sin) when a person renders divine worship to the evil spirits either out of hatred of God or for the purpose of obtaining some favor from the evil spirits. A person is guilty of material idolatry when he feigns idolatry exteriorly, without having the intention of engaging in false worship (as when Christians, in Roman times, out of fear of death reluctantly burned incense before an idol). Such an act is a grievous lie, and usually involves a sin against the precept of confessing one's faith. The guilt of idolatry may be incurred even by Catholics offering worship to God: in the adoration of the Eucharist there would be idolatry, at least material, if an unconsecrated host were exposed for veneration or given in communion.

In both divination and magic, there is a danger of collusion with evil spirits either because 1) evil spirits really intervene, or 2) the act performed is an implicit appeal for the intervention of such spirits. So before discussing divination and magic, we should briefly recall what the Church teaches about evil spirits. They are:

1) like the angels, entirely subject to God, and can do nothing without His concurrence and permission;

2) unable to work miracles, but by means of their superior insight and their control over the powers of nature are able to produce what seems to us extraordinary phenomena;

3) by themselves incapable of producing any good effects, but on the contrary, habitually practice falsehood and deception.

Understanding this is important because many wide-spread New Age practices involve evil spirits in one way or another. While some of these practices are explicit violations of the First Commandment, there are others whose chief danger lies in leaving one open and vulnerable to the influences of evil spirits, although they, in themselves, are not necessarily violations of the First Commandment. These include yoga, hypnosis, mesmerizing music, and the use of psychedelic drugs.

Contrary to the belief of most of its enthusiastic followers, there is nothing new about New Age: it goes back to Theosophy, the Cabala, Gnosticism and Hinduism. It prominently features pantheism, neopaganism and belief in reincarnation, but what it lacks completely is coherence and truth.

The utter confusion in New Age beliefs may partly be explained by the fact that New Agers are ignorant of some basic distinctions such as 1) preternatural versus supernatural, and 2) psyche versus spirit. [But apparently, so are their otherwise well-meaning Protestant critics, too.—Ed.] The first distinction is explained in every decent Catholic catechism, whereas the second one is best explained by Malachi Martin in his Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans (Reader's Digest Press, 1976, p. 386). In the fifth case of possession described in this book (entitled "The Rooster and the Tortoise") the demons, forced by the exorcist to explain how they faked "astral travels," clearly state:

Once spirit is confused with the psyche, we can let anybody see, hear, touch, taste, know, desire the impossible. He is ours. He is of the Kingdom (of Satan).

A large part of the appeal of New Age is that it "has something for everybody," including a seductive and often pseudo-scientific terminology, ethical relativism, androgyny and limitless opportunities for self-glorification. New Age illustrates G. K. Chesterton's dictum: "When men stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing; they believe in anything." "Spirit guides," "ascended masters," "more evolved beings" and "extraterrestrials" are just clever names for evil spirits, whose purpose is the establishment of the kingdom of Satan on Earth.

Divination

Driven by a prominent human weakness, curiosity, divination is the attempt to learn or foretell hidden, unknown things, particularly things that are to happen in the future, by express or tacit appeal to evil spirits for aid. To appeal to the devil for information is a great act of irreverence toward God, who does not wish us to become suppliants of His worst enemy. Furthermore, knowledge of the future free acts of men is strictly a divine attribute, so using divination for such purpose is treating the devil as if he were divine, an act of idolatry. The Old Testament contains many explicit prohibitions against divination:

Go not aside after wizards, neither ask any thing of soothsayers, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. (Lev. 19:31).

Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard, nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming....These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord thy God. (Deut. 18:10-12;14)

Many things that are to happen in the future can be foretold by science or conjectured with high probability by informed observers. We know when eclipses are to occur, when comets are to appear, meteorologists are perfecting their methods of foretelling the weather, and physicians are often able to predict quite accurately how long a patient is likely to live. When, therefore, we speak of "learning hidden things," we are speaking primarily of things that are unpredictable because they are due purely to chance or to the free acts of men, which only God knows with certainty. But we also include things that are hidden because effective methods of arriving at the answer are not employed. [One might use divination, for example, to attempt to learn when the next total eclipse of the sun is to occur in a certain part of the world, although astronomy could also be used for the same purpose.—Ed.]

Divination assumes many different forms: It is termed oracle, if wrought through the intermediary of idols; necromancy, if through the dead; pythonism, if through men possessed of the devil; palmistry, if through an examination of the lines and marks of the hands; phrenology, if through an examination of the skull.

HANDWRITING ANALYSIS (GRAPHOLOGY), by contrast, is a branch of psychology and not divination at all. Graphology limits itself to the study of the style of handwriting, and proves useful as a means of analyzing the character of the writer. It reveals the nature, inclinations and attitudes of the writer, not acquired qualities, not actions, and certainly not the future. In The Saints Through Their Handwriting, the handwriting of 32 saints is analyzed by the author, Girolamo M. Moretti, O.F.M. Conv.—saints whose identities were kept from him until his analyses were completed. In each case, graphology reveals the unique details of a human nature which grace then perfected into a well-known saint.

ORDEALS is a form of superstition wherein supernatural aid is invoked in the place of evidence, to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused person, as in trial by fire (mentioned in the Scripture quote above), water, poison or combat (e.g., the hand was plunged into boiling water, and if no injury appeared after three days, the accused was declared innocent). This was formerly conceived, mistakenly, as an immediate appeal to the judgment of God.

Other forms of fortunetelling (soothsaying) involve Tarot cards, tea leaves, coffee grounds, crystal balls, mirrors, or a small pool of ink or blood. Many fortunetellers exercise their art without any pretense at doing more than guessing the future, and they do so to amuse their clients. Other fortunetellers, however, believe in their own (supposed) preternatural powers and take their art very seriously. We may estimate the sinfulness of the various cases as follows:

1) If I consult a fortuneteller and she is serious about it, I am guilty of the grave sin of co-operation.

2) If she is not serious about it but I am, then I am committing a grave sin of irreverence toward God, for I am attributing to this creature knowledge which God alone has.

3) If the fortuneteller is not serious about it and I put only slight faith in it, I am guilty of a venial sin. Even in the last case, however, there is the danger, as experience has shown, that when in such circumstances one is told something (about a large inheritance of money or a great misfortune) that actually happens, faith in fortunetelling is enkindled.

An omen is a sign by which some future event can be foretold. If the sign is learned in a dream, it is called a DREAM OMEN. Since a dream may reveal something about the past, may give orders for the present, or may foretell the future, the question is whether we are free to believe in the dream.

A dream may have entirely natural causes (e.g., haunting worries, frayed nerves), it may come from the devil since he is sometimes able to influence our phantasms (at times God may allow him to do so), or it may be sent directly by God Himself.

St. Joseph was told in a dream that the child whom Mary was to bear had been conceived by the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:20, 21). The Magi were warned in a dream not to return home by way of Jerusalem (Mt. 2:12). Pilate's wife suffered many things in a dream on the day of the crucifixion, and sent word to her husband to have nothing to do "with that just man" (Mt. 27:19).

We are not permitted to accept as omens dreams that we think arise either from natural causes or from Satanic influences, but we must obey dreams that come from God. We may, in general, rest assured that if God makes use of such extraordinary methods to communicate with us, He can undoubtedly see to it that we realize clearly that it was He who sent us the dream.

We know that a dream is not from God:

1) If it does not influence one toward some good action (e.g., a person, involved in an embarrassing situation dreams of a lie that will solve his problem if used).

2) If what is suggested is something trifling, and not worthy of God (e.g., one dreams that one should unfailingly manicure one's nails on Sunday).

3) If it is contrary to the teachings of the Church (one dreamed that one was buried in hell, and now despairs of ever being saved).

It is a venial sin to be influenced at times in little things by dreams that are not from God; for example, to avoid a road that was pictured in a dream as dangerous.

ASTROLOGY is a false science which claims to foretell the future, and pretends to determine the influence of the sun, moon, planets and the stars on the fate and acts of individuals. Accepting astrology is equivalent to denying free will.

The use of the Ouija Board, automatic writing, use of the pendulum, and trance channeling (the New Age term for spiritism) are forms of divination especially widespread today.

THE OUIJA BOARD is a board marked with letters of the alphabet and digits and a sliding pointer (planchette) that spells out words in answer to questions asked by the players. [French oui, "yes" combined with the German ja, "yes."—Ed.] Invented in 1870, the Ouija Board has been implicated in numerous cases of demonic possession, and in 1967 it overtook Monopoly as America's most popular parlor game. A single experiment with this dangerous toy invites the co-operation of evil spirits, hence it constitutes a grave violation of the First Commandment of God (Father Connell Answers Moral Questions, Catholic University of America Press, 1959, p. 80).

AUTOMATIC WRITING is writing executed by a medium while in a trance. Without conscious intention, the writer is usually unaware of what is being written. Automatic writers have also produced mirror script and backwards writing, starting from the bottom right of the page and finishing at the top left. Sometimes, the message is in a foreign language unknown to the automatic writer, providing excellent proof that it is the product of an invading spiritual being.

The use of a pendulum grew out of DOWSING (RHABDOMANCY): discovering water or metals below the surface of the earth by using a so-called divining rod. This is thought to have some physical explanation, and this legitimate use, which is not considered divination, started in the 16th century in Germany. However, if the divining rod is used to locate a missing object, a missing person or the perpetrator of a crime, it becomes divination. In the early 20th century, a version of the divining rod, called a PENDULUM came into widespread use, first to enquire about the health of a human being (this practice became known as RADIOESTHESIA) then as a universal tool of divination. Especially insidious is the practice of "talking" to the pendulum, which suggests that a string and some weight on it is capable of answering any question whatsoever. The flippant "explanation" usually given is that the answer already exists "in the subconscious," and the pendulum only makes this manifest.

SPIRITISM was the name for attempts to communicate with the souls of the dead (which, called necromancy in Scriptures, is most strictly forbidden by God). It was usually attempted with the help of a human intermediary, called the medium, and a spirit intermediary, called the control. The control (an evil spirit) relays messages through the medium in trance. Spiritism partakes of the character of both necromancy and pythonism, since the medium is possessed by, or at least familiar with, the evil spirit called the control. Even if, on occasion, there is fraud involved on the part of the medium, and there are no spirits involved in a seance, the practice is sinful and forbidden, because the intention was contacting the spirits.

CHANNELING or TRANCE CHANNELING is the New Age version of spiritism. It is not restricted in its aim to contact with the souls of the departed. The trance channeler (the medium) is a living person whose body is used as a vehicle for communicating with spirits. The channeler yields control of his perceptual and cognitive capacities to a spiritual entity with the intent of receiving information from the spirit (i.e., the channeler or medium volunteers for possession by an evil spirit).

Magic

Much the same way as divination is concerned with knowing (or wanting to know), magic is concerned with doing (or wanting to do). Magic designates superstitious practices by which altogether inadequate or disproportionate means are employed to procure a certain and often surprising or wonderful effect. St. Thomas used the name "vain observance" to emphasize the inadequacy of means to bring about the intended effect.

Magic, a corruption of religion, tends to be epidemic during the decay of a civilization, as indeed it is in our days. The term "white magic" implies beneficent results (as the cure of bodily or mental afflictions), whereas "black magic," also called "sorcery," implies maleficent results (such as injury, sickness or death), alleged to be wrought on an unfortunate human victim through a wizard, sorcerer, or female witch, who summons the preternatural powers of demons. Both kinds of magic were forbidden by the Mosaic Law under penalty of death: "Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live" (Ex. 22:18). In modern speech, magic also means skillful manual deftness or sleight of hand, an innocent practice typically used for entertainment.

VISUALIZATION, also known as "guided imagery," is a New Age practice which emulates the age-old practices of shamans or medicine men. It involves an attempt to bring about change in the material realm by the power of the mind. The occultist practitioner believes he exercises his power by holding in his mind a mental picture of what he wishes to achieve. The obvious inadequacy of means implies the appeal to evil spirits for help. Randy England, Catholic author of The Unicorn in the Sanctuary (p. 112) describes her personal experience:

Bob chose that night to reveal to us that he was a witch....Most important, though, and the real source of his power, he told us, was the technique of visualization. "I killed a man once," he said. Everyone squirmed at his statement, but not one of us said a word in the darkness. Bob sensed our discomfort and explained:

"He was very bad and deserved to die. I would never use my power for evil purposes. The way I did it was like this: I sat on the floor in my room with my feet facing this guy's house. Then I went into a trance and began to visualize, over and over, this man having his brains beaten out with a hammer. I just kept that picture happening in my mind again and again. That night while driving, he lost control of his car on a curve. He was thrown out and had his skull crushed on the pavement."

FAITH HEALING AND WHITE MAGIC claim to cure ailments or diseases by using any of the following ways:

1) Natural Means. Such means are the use of medicine, heat, X-ray, surgery, or anything that depends upon the use of natural resources or agencies external to the one to whom they are applied.

2) Suggestion. Because of the relationship between mind and body, hope and courage tend to maintain or to restore health, while fear and depression produce an injurious effect on the body. It is therefore evident that a strong suggestion received from one in whom we have confidence may be beneficial to health. This is particularly true if the ailment is merely imaginary or if timidity, brooding, or a vivid imagination makes it worse. It is for this reason that doctors and nurses make it a point to be cheerful and optimistic in dealing with patients. Physicians today are rather commonly convinced that some human ailments should be looked upon as "psychosomatic" (due partly to the psyche or mind and partly to the soma or body) and that they should be treated accordingly. Even if the mind had nothing to do with the onset of the ailment, as could occur in the case of a ruptured appendix, the mind can influence the rate of the patient's recovery.

3) Miracles. At Lourdes and other shrines there have been many cases of miraculous healing that were clearly effected by divine intervention. All these cases have been intensely scrutinized by medical experts, and their details have been officially recorded.

4) Faith Healing. The faith healer says that he possesses a special gift and that this gift, upon the occasion of praying, anointing, or the imposing of hands, is allowed by God to function. He claims no occult power. The gift, he says, is a modern example of the charismata of Apostolic times. He cites Holy Scripture in support of his contention (Mk. 16:17,18).

Fr. Noldin gives the following criteria for distinguishing superstitious practices from the scriptural "grace of healing," of which St. Paul speaks (I Cor. 12:9), and which it is reasonable to believe that God even now occasionally bestows upon saints and other individuals for the common welfare (H. Noldin, S.J. Summa Theologiae Moralis, Vol. II, p. 176, cited in Koch-Preuss, Vol. IV, p.308). We should inquire, he says,

1) Whether the healer is the only one who is able to produce the effect in question, or whether it can be produced by others with the same means, and whether he has learned his art from others.

2) Whether the means employed are silly and inappropriate (e.g., the prayers and invocations used by the healer contain something wrong or inept); because if God makes a cure dependent upon external signs, as He sometimes does, these signs will never be silly or inept.

3) Whether the healer believes that his power of curing disease inheres in the words or signs employed (e.g., the healer attributes infallible efficacy either to the remedies he prescribes or to the formulas he employs), because God gives the grace of healing to persons and does not attach it to external signs.

The effectiveness of faith healers seems remarkable in cases of immoral habits, nervous ailments and drunkenness. It appears that the cures brought about by these healers are due merely to suggestion, and healing by suggestion is entirely licit. In certain cases religious considerations may prove the most effective form of suggestion. The Catholic priest in his daily rounds of service to the sick and poor exercises great powers of suggestion, by bringing hope into saddened lives. Yet we do not, of course, claim for the priest any special gift of healing.

Although faith healing or healing by suggestion is not sinful provided neither superstition, scandal, nor cooperation in fraud is involved in it, one must in serious illness have recourse to medical help, since to rely solely on a faith cure in such circumstances would be tempting God and practically demanding a miracle. Moreover, a Catholic may not go to a non-Catholic faith healer who claims to have a divine gift, for this might easily lead to religious indifferentism. Effective cures might induce Catholics to believe that these non-Catholic religions are approved by God. In most cases it would also involve scandal because it would give the impression that one accepted the false religious teachings of those who practice faith healing and might be the occasion for leading uneducated or poorly instructed Catholics astray.

5) Occult Methods, which in the past used to be called shamanism, witchcraft or white magic, but re-emerged in the past few decades in the West under the innocuous label of "holistic medicine." Even the United Nations World Health Organization has given its approval to a revival of witchcraft under the names of "traditional medicine" and "native cures."

Holistic (or wholistic) medicine claims to deal with the whole person: its stated goal is to treat "body, mind, and spirit" as opposed to merely treating a particular sickness. Practices that involve the mind are all dangerous, whereas some of the practices that involve only the body have no inherent connection with New Age, may genuinely promote health and involve no moral fault (for example, trigger-point massage, or biofeedback to control heart rate). Unfortunately, practitioners of holistic medicine often are not forthcoming about their New Age connection, so a Catholic must exercise extreme caution before choosing from among such potentially dangerous healing practices. Full-length books are needed (and are available) to sort out which practices of holistic medicine are acceptable from a Christian point of view.

In some fields of holistic medicine there is a tremendous amount of experimentation with techniques long practiced in shamanism, such as visualization, altered states of consciousness, hypnotherapy, meditation, and mental and emotional expression of will for health and healing. These all involve the development of alleged "mind powers," which are always connected with a "spirit guide" contacted through an altered state of consciousness. The shamanic technique of visualizing a spirit guide opens the door for an independent spiritual entity to reveal itself (which the Catholic knows to be an evil spirit).

 

Irreligion

Irreligion is the vice of defect in religious worship. Tempting God shows disrespect to God Himself, whereas sacrilege and simony show disrespect to sacred persons and things.

Tempting God

 A word or deed that puts God to the test to discover whether He possesses or will exercise some perfection (e.g., His love, power or wisdom) is called tempting God. It disregards the ordinary means of instruction and guidance appointed by God, and it is due to unbelief or presumption.

Tempting God is explicit if doubting God's attributes is involved. Explicitly tempting God is a direct insult to God and thus a mortal sin, involving two sins: one against faith and the other against religion. (See Deut. 6:16; Mt. 4:7.) Examples: 1) "If He be God, let Him come down from the cross," said some of those present at the crucifixion. The Jews here challenged Christ's power to free Himself. 2) A well-known atheist, with watch in hand cried out: "If there be a God, I will give Him three minutes in which to strike me dead." After three minutes had passed he said: "You see, there is no God."

I implicitly tempt God when, not doubting His attributes, I rashly require a manifestation of divine power, wisdom, etc., here and now. It is a result of rash, excessive self-confidence. Examples: 1) Gravely ill, I refuse all medical aid and expect God to cure me. 2) I place myself in a danger from which nothing short of a miracle can save me.

If, on the other hand, I refuse all medical aid because of imprudence or stubbornness or because of a desire to die to escape my sufferings, I am sinning against the Fifth Commandment by not taking due care of my health, but not against the First. And if I use the ordinary means for regaining my health and at the same time hope for a miraculous recovery, resigning myself to God's will in the matter, I am not in any way guilty of any sin.

Sacrilege

Sacrilege is the actual desecration or irreverent treatment of sacred persons, places, and things. A person, place or thing becomes sacred by being dedicated to the service of God by public authority. A priest is sacred through ordination, a nun through her vows, a chalice through its consecration by a bishop.

1) Sacrilege may be committed against persons. Such Personal Sacrilege is committed by laying violent hands upon, or robbing clerics or religious; by sins of impurity committed by or with persons consecrated to God by the vow of chastity or by the law of celibacy (the sin of sacrilege is committed not only by the cleric or religious sinning against chastity but also by the accomplice).

2) Sacrilege may be committed against places. Such Local Sacrilege is to perform in a church, chapel, or blessed cemetery any act that is especially repugnant to the holiness of the place. Examples include to kill someone or to commit adultery in such a spot, to sleep there without reason, to stage plays, house animals, or hold a banquet or dance there, to buy and sell there without necessity, or burn or destroy the place or to put the material of these places to profane use.

3) Sacrilege may be committed against things. Such Real Sacrilege is committed a) by treating with irreverence sacred things such as the sacraments, Holy Scripture, relics, and sacred images, and b) by theft of sacred objects. Abuse of sacraments include attempting to confer or receive them invalidly, administer or receive them unworthily (that is, without the required dispositions), or profaning the sacred species. Abuse of holy things includes quoting the words of Holy Scripture to prove heresy or make obscene jokes, using consecrated vessels for banqueting, treating with disrespect the relics or images of saints, altars, or aping holy ceremonies with ridicule.

Stealing a sacred object from a sacred place (e.g., a chalice from a tabernacle) is both a local and real sacrilege. Stealing a chalice from a priest's room is a real sacrilege. To steal money belonging to the Church (for example, from the collection basket or vigil-light box) would be a sacrilege, grave or slight, according to the size of the sum stolen.

Simony

Simony is a sort of real sacrilege, but on account of its grievous character, and the penalties with which the Church has always visited it, we speak of it separately. The term "simony" is derived from the name of Simon Magus, the first person in New Testament times, as far as we know, who committed this crime. It is written of Simon (Acts 8:18) that he sought to buy spiritual power (the power of imposition of hands) from the apostles.

Simony is to exchange—buy or sell—what is spiritual for what is temporal. It is a sin against religion because it bespeaks of irreverence for spiritual things by debasing them to the level of trade and commerce, by asserting falsely the power to dispose of them, as though human beings had full ownership of spiritual things, when in fact they are all gifts of God.

It is a sin of simony to receive anything as a price for the administration of the Sacraments and for preaching. But if the faithful make an offering, it is permitted to receive the same as an alms or a mark of gratitude.

It is a sin of simony to charge a higher price for a chalice because it is consecrated, or charge a higher price for a rosary because it is blessed. [Rosaries sold in this way lose all their indulgences.—Ed.]

It is a sin of simony to buy or sell relics. But it is not simoniacal to pay money to a pawnbroker in order to obtain possession of relics of saints, to rescue a sacred thing from profanation.

It is not simony to receive stipends for Masses for two reasons: 1) The money is given for the support of the priest and not in payment of the Mass. The Mass stipend is one source of revenue that provides the priest with a means of livelihood to which, of course, he has a perfect right, so that he can freely serve the faithful. 2) The money helps to defray the expenses of the materials used at Mass (wine, candles, light, vestments, purificator, etc.)

Dr. Gyula Mago was born in 1938 in Hungary and raised a Catholic. He lived under Communist rule for 20 years. Dr. Mago obtained his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, England, in 1970, and was a professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1970-1999). He presently lives in retirement in Durham, NC, and assists at the Latin Mass at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Raleigh, NC. There he presides over the meetings of the League of the Kingship of Christ.

 

Bibliography

Berthier-Raemers. Compendium of Theology, Vol. III. B. Herder, 1933.

Baer, R. N. Inside the New Age Nightmare. Huntington House, 1989.

Chapin, J., ed. The Book of Catholic Quotations. Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1956.

Crock, Clement. The Commandments in Sermons. Wagner, 1947.

Cunningham, F. L. B. Christian Life. The Priory Press, 1959.

Davis, Henry, Moral & Pastoral Theology, Vol. II. Sheed & Ward, 1949.

Healy, E. F. and J. E. Meara. Moral Guidance. Loyola University Press, 1958.

Koch-Preuss. Handbook of Moral Theology, Vol. I. Herder, 1924.

McHugh, J. A., and C. J. Callan. Moral Theology, Vol. II. Joseph F. Wagner, 1930.

O'Rafferty, N. Instructions on Christian Doctrine: The Commandments of God. Bruce, 1940.

Prummer, D. M. Handbook of Moral Theology. P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1957.

Rayo, A. & , J. Aumann. The Theology of Christian Perfection. The Priory Press, 1962.

Sheedy, C. E. Christian Virtues. University of Notre Dame Press, 1951.

Slater, Thomas. A Manual of Moral Theology (vol. I). Burns Gates & Washbourne, 1925.