80 SIN 



self into this condition is, as a rule, mortally sinful. Sins 

 committed in the state of drunkenness are morally im- 

 putable (voluntarium in causa) unless indeed one could 

 truthfully claim, like Noe, that he knew not the strength 

 of wine. To drink to excess, but not so as to lose the use 

 of reason, is per se a venial sin, but may become mortally 

 sinful per accidens, e. g., on account of serious harm to 

 one's health, grave scandal, neglect of important duties, or 

 when a man knows that excessive drinking is for him a 

 proximate occasion of grievous sin. 



The sinful character of intemperance in all its forms 

 is evident from the consequences to which this vice leads. 

 It involves a senseless destruction of food and drink, of 

 which others may stand in need, and injures both body 

 and soul by exciting the animal appetites, especially lust, 

 blunting the moral judgment, warping the finer sensibili- 

 ties, and ultimately destroying all interest in spiritual 

 things. 39 



39 Cfr. Gen. XXV, 29-34; Is. V, quis est, magnus est; magnidcet no- 



11, 22; Am. VI, 6; Prov. XX, 1; men tuum. Ego autem non sum, 



XXIII, 29-35; Eph. V, 18. — St. quia peccator homo sum." (Migne, 



Augustine, Confessiones, X, c. 31, n. P. L., XXXII, 798, 799).— Cfr. Ps.- 



44: "Quum salus sit causa edendi Augustine, Append. Serm., 294 



et bibendi, adiungit se tamquam pe- (a/. 231 de Temp.), n. 2-3 (P. /-., 



dissequa periculosa iucunditas et XXXII, 2304). — St. Bernard, Epist., 



plerumque praeire conatur, ut eius II, n. 10: "Quomodo potest esurire 



causa fiat, quod salutis causa me fa- vel sitire Christum plenus quotidie 



cere vel dico vel volo. Nee idem siliquis porcorum? Non potes bibere 



modus utriusque est, nam quod sa- simul calicem Christi et calicem 



luti satis est, delectationi parum est." dacmoniorum (1 Cor. X, 20). Calix 



— Ibid., n. 47: "In his ergo tenta- dacmoniorum superbia est, calix 



tionibus positus certo quotidie adver- daemoniorum dctractio et invidia 



sus concupiscentiam manducandi et est, calix daemoniorum crapula et 



bibendi; non enim est, quod semel ebrietas est; quae quum impleverint 



praecidere et ulterius non attingere vel mentem vel ventrcm tuum, 



decemam. Itaque freni gutturis Christus in te non invenit locum." 



temperata rclaxatione et constric- (Migne, P. L., CLXXXII, 8s). — 



tione tenendi sunt. Et quis est, Terence, Eunuch., IV, 5, 6: 



Domine, qui non rapiatur aliquantu- "Sine Cerere et Libero iBaccho] 



lum extra metas necessitatisT Quis- friget Venus." — Ovid, Rem. Am., 



