84 SIN 



regret of having been received into the Church. 

 At this stage sloth is generally accompanied by- 

 loss of courage and results in spiritual and mor- 

 al decay. 



Sloth is a mortal sin whenever it leads to the 

 neglect of duties to which one is obliged sub grain. 

 The dire consequences of religious indifference 

 are adumbrated in the Apocalypse : "I know thy 

 works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I 

 would thou wert cold or hot! But because thou 

 art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will 

 begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. 



» !S4 



"Think not that one who falls deeply, strikes bottom 

 at once. Do you wish to learn the cause? For a long 

 time this man was very lukewarm, and as a consequence 

 his soul lost strength unnoticed, while the evil inclinations 

 grew stronger." 53 



Readings. — St. Thomas, Summa Theol., ia, 2ae, qu. 84, art. 2 

 sq. — Idem, De Malo, qu. 8 sqq. — Th. Slater, S.J., A Manual of 

 Moral Theology, Vol. I, pp. 154 sqq. — O. Zockler, Das Lehrstiick 

 von den sieben Hauptsilnden, Munich 1893. — Ph. G. Laborie, Les 

 Pcchcs Capitaux, Paris 1908. — A. Tanquerey, Synopsis Theol. 

 Mor. et Pastor., Vol. II, pp. 287 sqq. — Natalis Alexander, De 

 Peccatis (Migne, Theol. Curs., XI, 707-1168). — Paulhan, Les 

 Caractcrcs, Paris 1903. — H. Noldin, S.J., Summa Theol. Mor., 

 Vol. I, nth ed., pp. 375 sqq. — Sabetti-Barrett, Comp. Theol. Mor., 

 22nd ed., pp. 129 sqq. 



64 Apoc. Ill, 15 sqq.; cfr. Matth. noverca virtutum." (Migne, P. L., 



XXV, 26 sqq.— St. Bernard, De CLXXXII, 756). 



Consideratione, II, c. 13: "Fu- 65 John Cassian, Collationes, VI, 



gienda est otiositas, mater nugarum, 17. 



