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In the first place, if the soul does not darken and
quench the joy which may arise within it from the
things of sense, and direct its rejoicing to God, all
the general kinds of evil which we have described as
arising from every other kind of rejoicing follow
from this joy in the things of sense: such evils are
darkness in the reason, lukewarmness, spiritual
weariness, etc. But, to come to details, many are the
evils, spiritual, bodily and sensual, into which the
soul may fall through this rejoicing.2. First of
all, from joy in visible things, when the soul denies
not itself therein in order to reach God, there may
come to it, directly, vanity of spirit and
distraction of the mind, unruly covetousness,
immodesty, outward and inward unseemliness, impurity
of thought, and envy.
3. From joy in hearing useless things there may
directly arise distraction of the imagination,
gossiping, envy, rash judgements and vacillating
thoughts; and from these arise many other and
pernicious evils.
4. From joy in sweet perfumes, there arise
loathing of the poor, which is contrary to the
teaching of Christ, dislike of serving others,
unruliness of heart in humble things, and spiritual
insensibility, at least to a degree proportionate
with its desire for this joy.
5. From joy in the savour of meat and drink, there
arise directly such gluttony and drunkenness, wrath,
discord and want of charity with one's neighbours and
with the poor, as had that Epulon, who fared
sumptuously every day, with Lazarus.[602] Hence arise
bodily disorders, infirmities and evil motions,
because the incentives to luxury become greater.
Directly, too, there arises great spiritual
torpor, and the desire for spiritual things is
corrupted, so that the soul can derive no enjoyment
or satisfaction from them nor can even speak of them.
From this joy is likewise born distraction of the
other senses and of the heart, and discontent with
respect to many things.
6. From joy in the touch of soft things arise many
more evils and more pernicious ones, which more
quickly cause sense to overflow into spirit, and
quench all spiritual strength and vigour. Hence
arises the abominable vice of effeminacy, or the
incentives thereto, according to the proportion of
joy of this kind which is experienced.
Hence luxury increases, the mind becomes
effeminate and timid, and the senses grow soft and
delicate and are predisposed to sin and evil. Vain
gladness and joy are infused into the heart; the
tongue takes to itself licence and the eyes roam
unrestrainedly; and the remaining senses are blunted
and deadened, according to the measure[603] of this
desire. The judgment is put to confusion, being
nourished by spiritual folly and insipidity; moral
cowardice and inconstancy increase; and, by the
darkness of the soul and the weakness of the heart,
fear is begotten even where no fear is.
At times, again, this joy begets a spirit of
confusion, and insensibility with respect to
conscience and spirit; wherefore the reason is
greatly enfeebled, and is affected in such a way that
it can neither take nor give good counsel, and
remains incapable of moral and spiritual blessings
and becomes as useless as a broken vessel.
7. All these evils are caused by this kind of
rejoicing -- in some more intensely, according to the
intensity of their rejoicing, and also according to
the complacency or weakness or variableness of the
person who yields to it. For there are natures that
will receive more detriment from a slight occasion of
sin than will others from a great one.
8. Finally, from joy of this kind in touch, a
person may fall into as many evils and perils as
those which we have described as concerning the good
things of nature; and, since these have already been
described, I do not detail them here; neither do I
describe many other evils wrought thus, such as a
falling-off in spiritual exercises and bodily penance
and lukewarmness and lack of devotion in the use of
the sacraments of penance and of the Eucharist. |