The Capital Sins…
And Pride.
All of our sins have their root in one or the other of the seven capital sins, depending upon the nature of the transgression, and all of these capital sins have as their source, the sin of pride. I find it interesting that Tanquerey refers to the seven capital sins as “evil inclinations” or “tendencies” rather than sins. Although he clearly states, “They are called sins because they lead to sins; they are termed capital because they are the fountain-head or source of other sins.”
This is important for us to study, to know and be aware of, since we easily focus upon the symptomatic sins, and often ignore the root sin which is the source of a particular exaggerated act of the will. Our will has a “two-fold motion”, the tendency towards what is good, or the flight from what is evil. When these motions are exaggerated, excessive, or inordinate, resulting in consent and/or action, we identify these as faults, imperfections, or sin - mortal or venial, depending upon the degree of seriousness of the act, consent of the will, knowledge, and so on.
Exaggeration and sin.
If indeed, as recent Popes have said, there is a loss of a sense of sin in modern times, I also think there is a great ignorance of what constitutes sin, and most especially - what the root causes of these sins are. Since Vatican II the sacrament of penance gradually fell into relative disuse, although since the pontificate of John Paul II, that trend is rapidly reversing. Yet because fewer Catholics were frequenting the sacrament of penance on a regular basis, and Catholic schools, as well as many parish priests taught very little about sin, I think an understanding of sin may have been lost on many people.
For example, most understand that stealing, saying something mean about someone, or lying, and other such things are sinful, but we can often be unaware of the vice which motivated these faults. Many times, we are not conscious that every evil or sin arises from a capital vice. (Such as the sin of fornication arises from lust.) Of course it is necessary that we confess only “actual” sins that are mortal, nonetheless it is helpful for us to understand the root causes of our sins as we strive to amend our lives and make progress in the spiritual life.
For instance, it appears obvious that many people do not understand, (or if they do, they don’t think it is that bad), that “the first form of pride is to regard onself, explicitly or implicitly as one’s own first principle.” It seems to me this is a very common attitude in our times.
Explicit pride.
The athiest would be an example of one who explicitly regards himself as his own first priniciple, denying God and refusing to have him as his master, similar to the sin of Lucifer who refused to serve God. Just so the rationalists who refuse to submit reason to faith, as well as intellectuals who reject traditional interpretation of dogma, and distort or change them to conform with their own views.
Implicit pride.
Tanquerey says “A greater number of people fall into this fault implicitly by acting as if natural and supernatural gifts which God has freely bestowed upon them were in every sense their own. True, they recognize in theory that God is their first principle, but in practice they esteem themselves beyond measure, as if they were the source of the qualities they possess.”
God alone.
Pride is the root of all evil - not money, as the saying would have it. Tanquerey goes on to say; ”…pride, under one form or the other, is a very common fault, even among those who follow the path of perfection, a fault which stays with us through all stages of the spiritual life and disappears only when we die. Beginners are hardly aware of it because their study of self does not reach deep enough. Their attention must be drawn to this point; the more common forms of this fault must be indicated to them, so that they may make these the subject of their particular examination.”
I think this is what I’ll be working on for this Lenten season.
All quotes taken from: “The Spiritual Life” - by A. Tanquerey.
Art: Bosch - “Seven Deadly Sins” - detail: Pride.
