46 SIN 



ye up the full armor of God, that ye may be able to resist 

 in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, 

 therefore, with your loins girt about with truth, and 

 having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod 

 with the preparation [to carry] the gospel of peace: tak- 

 ing up withal the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be 

 able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one. 

 And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword 

 of the Spirit (which is the word of God). With all 

 prayer and supplication pray at all times in the spirit ; and 

 in the same watching with all instance and supplica- 

 tion . . ," 48 



" When you are tempted," says the Venerable Don 

 Bosco, "shake off the thought of evil and do not wait un- 

 til temptation has gained possession of your heart, but 

 ward it off by work or prayer." 



II. Occasions of Sin. — An occasion is an 

 external circumstance which leads one to commit 

 sin. An occasion, therefore, is not a tempta- 

 tion ; but it may become a temptation by causing 

 evil thoughts to arise in the mind and thus in- 

 citing concupiscence. However, not every oc- 

 casion necessarily entails temptation, and many- 

 temptations arise without any external incite- 

 ment whatever. It is important for the confes- 

 sor to keep this fact in mind, because habitual and 

 occasional sinners must be treated differently. 49 



48 Eph. VI, 10-18.— Cfr. St. Au- in cordibus vestris." {P. L., 



gustine, Enarr. in Ps., 136, n. 22: XXXVII, 1774). 

 "Si vultis armati esse contra tenta- 49 Cfr. Pighi, De ludicio Sacra- 



tiones in saeculo, crescat et robore- mentali, pp. 39 sqq., 59 sqq.; E. Be- 



tur desiderium Ierusalem aeternae rardi, De Recidivis et Occasionariis, 



