Salesian Literature

Chapter 6:  How temptation and pleasure can be sinful

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The princess mentioned earlier was not responsible for the dishonourable proposal made to her, since as we have assumed, it was made against her will.  But on the contrary, if she had by some attitude given encouragement to the proposal, willing to give her love to him who courted her, she would obviously be responsible for the solicitation itself.  And even if she then drew back from it, yet she would still be worthy of blame and punishment.  It could happen sometimes that a temptation itself is a sin if we are the cause of it.  For example, I know, I give way readily to anger and blasphemy when I play. Such games are an occasion to sin.  I sin as often as I play.  So I am guilty of all the temptation and sin, and I go there willingly, I am certainly responsible for all the temptations which I face there.

 

The pleasure arising from temptation can be avoided.  It is always a sin to welcome it, depending short or long duration of the pleasure taken and on the partial or full consent given.  If the princess already mentioned not only listens to the impure and dishonourable proposal made to her but after listening to it also takes pleasure in it, allowing her heart to dwell upon it with delight, she is certainly worthy of blame.  Though she may not wish to consent to the realization of what is suggested to her, yet she consents to it interiorly, fixing her heart on it by the pleasure she takes in it.  It is always a sin to turn either the heart or the body to what is sinful.  However, the sin consists so much in the consent of the heart that without it even the consent of the body cannot be a sin.  When you are tempted to some sin consider whether you voluntarily gave occasion to the temptation.  In that case the temptation itself puts you in a state of sin since you exposed yourself to the risk.  This means that you could have easily avoided the occasion and foresaw or should have foreseen the coming of the temptation.  If you have given no occasion to the temptation, it can in no way be attribute to you as sin.

 

When the pleasure which follows the temptation could have been avoided, but was not, there is always some kind of sin.  The sin depends on the length of time we have dwelt on it, and the cause of the pleasure taken.  A woman who has not encouraged anyone to flirt with her, and yet takes pleasure in it, is blameworthy if the pleasure arises from the flirtation itself.  For example, if the person who flirts with her plays the lute beautifully and she takes pleasure, not in the flirtation, but in the harmony and sweetness of the sound of the lute, there is no sin.  Btu she should not indulge in this pleasure for long, lest it leads to delight in the flirtation itself.   In the same way, suppose someone suggests to me an ingenuous and cunning proposal to take revenge on my enemy.  I take no pleasure in the revenge proposed to me, and do not consent to it at all, but take pleasure only in the ingenuity of the proposal, then certainly I do not sin in any way.  However it is not proper to entertain this pleasure too long lest little by little I be led to take some delight in the revenge itself.

 

At times we are surprised by some feeling of pleasure which immediately follows the temptation before we have had time to be aware of it.  This can be at the most a very light venial sin.  It becomes more serious if, seeing the evil, we are negligent and bargain with the pleasure for a long time whether we should accept or reject it.  The sin is greater still if, after perceiving the pleasure, we continue in it for some time through real negligence without any intention of rejecting it. But if we willingly and deliberately resolve to accept such pleasure, even this deliberate intention is a grave sin if the object of pleasure was not notably evil.  It is seriously wrong for a woman to wish to entertain a sinful love, even though she may have no intention of actually yielding herself to the lover.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE

PART IV: 

Counsels required for overcoming the more common temptations