96 SIN 



3. Devil Worship. — Sometimes the sin 

 against the Holy Ghost culminates in a deliberate 

 and complete surrender of the soul to the evil 

 one, resulting in actual devil worship. 10 The 

 leading characteristic of this terrible sin is hatred 

 of God, which manifests itself in deadly antago- 

 nism to all that is good, joy in evil things, a 

 burning desire to seduce others and to commit 

 sin for its own sake. 11 Devil worship is the 

 climax of human malice and embraces all the 

 capital vices, the sins that cry to Heaven for ven- 

 geance, and especially those by which a man 

 becomes accessory to the sins of others. Some- 

 times the soul sinks so low as to enter into a 

 formal union with the powers of darkness 

 (demonism, deification of evil). This relation 

 is, as a rule, purely moral, but it may develop into 

 a mystic marriage of the human mind with 

 Satan, accompanied by a desire to employ dia- 

 bolic help in unraveling the mysteries of life and 

 eternity (astrology, fortune-telling, necromancy) 

 or performing feats that exceed the ordinary 

 powers of nature (black magic, sorcery), 



12 



Readings. — St. Augustine, De Serm. Domini in Monte, I, c. 

 22. — Idem, Enchiridion, c. 83. — Idem, Sermones, 71 (al. 11 De 

 Verbis Domini), c. 13, 14, 21. — Richard of St. Victor, Tractatus 



lOCfr. Matth. XII, 43 sqq.; John Germania, XIX: "Corrumpere et 



VI, 70; VIII, 44; XIII, 2; 1 John corrumpi saeculum vocatur." 



Ill, 8, 10. 12 "Flectere si nequeo superos, 



11 Cfr. Gen. IV, 3-5, 8; Is. V, 20; Acheronta movebo." (Aeneis, VII, 



1 John III, 12-13. — Cfr. Tacitus, 312). 



