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IN THIS second part we shall consider: first, final
impenitence; secondly, good death; thirdly, the
unchangeableness of the soul, whether in good or in
evil, after death; fourthly, the knowledge which the
separated soul has; and fifthly, the particular
judgment.
Since our life in eternity depends on the state of the
soul at the moment of death, we must here speak of
final impenitence. By contrast, we speak of deathbed
conversion.
Impenitence is the absence, the privation, of that
contrition which alone can destroy in the sinner the
moral consequences of his revolt against God. These
consequences are destroyed by satisfactory reparation,
that is, first, by sorrow for having offended God,
secondly, by an expiatory compensation. As St. Thomas
[45] explains, these acts of the virtue of penance are
demanded by justice and charity toward God, and also by
charity toward ourselves.
Impenitence is the absence of contrition or of
satisfaction. This impenitence can be either temporal,
lasting throughout the course of our present life, or
final, existing at the moment of death. [46]
Dispositions toward Final Impenitence
Temporal impenitence is the cause of final impenitence.
Final impenitence presents itself under two different
forms: impenitence of fact, the simple absence of
repenting, and impenitence of will, namely, the
positive resolution not to repent. In this last case we
have the special sin of impenitence, which, in its
final development, becomes a sin of malice. In
illustration, think of a man who signs an agreement to
have no religious funeral.
There is certainly a great difference between these two
forms. But, if a man is seized in death in the simple
state of impenitence of fact, this state is for him one
of final impenitence, even though it has not been
directly prepared by a special sin of hardening of
heart.
Temporal impenitence of will leads directly to final
impenitence, even though at times the Lord, by special
mercy, preserves the soul from final impenitence. The
soul on this road perseveres in sin, deliberately and
coldly. It repels all thought of penance which might
deliver it. Thus, as St. Augustine says, it is not only
a sin of malice, it is also a sin against the Holy
Spirit, that is to say, a sin which contradicts
directly that which would save the sinner. [47]
The sinner, therefore, must do penance at the proper
time, for example, at the time of Easter Communion,
otherwise he falls from impenitence of fact into
impenitence of will, at least by a deliberate omission.
One cannot stay long in mortal sin without committing
new mortal sins which accelerate his downfall. [48]
Hence we must not put off the time of repentance.
Scripture urges us to do penance without delay. "Humble
thyself
before thou art sick." [49] St. John the Baptist [50]
unceasingly urges the necessity of repentance. Jesus,
too, from the beginning of His ministry, cries out:
"Repent and believe the gospel." [51] Again He says:
"Except you do penance, you shall all perish." [52] St.
Paul writes to the Romans: "According to thy hardness
and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the
just judgment of God, who will render to every man
according to his works." [53] In the Apocalypse word
comes to the angel of Pergamus: "Do penance ! If not I
will come to thee quickly." [54] This is the visit of
divine justice, if one has not paid attention to mercy.
The degrees of temporal impenitence are numerous. [55]
Passing from forms of impenitence which are least
grave, but which for that reason are already very
dangerous, we find those who are hardened by culpable
ignorance, who are fixed in mortal sin, in a blindness
that makes them continually prefer the goods of today
to those of eternity. They drink iniquity like water.
Their conscience is asleep because they have gravely
neglected to instruct themselves in their numerous
duties. Further, we have those who are hardened by
neglect, who, though they are more enlightened than the
preceding and more culpable, do not have the energy to
break the bonds which they themselves have forged,
bonds of luxury, of avarice, of pride, of ambition.
They do not pray to obtain the energy they lack.
Finally we have those who are hardened by malice,
those, for example, who never pray, who are in revolt
against providence, on account of, say, some
misfortune. Further, free livers, who are sunk in their
disorders, who blaspheme, who become materialistic, who
speak of God only to insult Him. Lastly, sectaries who
have a satanic hatred of the Christian religion and
cease not to write against it.
There is a great difference between these classes, but
we cannot affirm that, to arrive at final impenitence,
we must start with the hardening of malice, or at least
with the hardening that comes from neglect or voluntary
ignorance. We cannot affirm that God does mercy to all
other sinners who are less culpable. Neither must we
say that all those who are hardened by malice will be
condemned, because divine mercy at times has converted
great sectarians who seemed to be obstinate in the way
of perdition. [56]
The Church Fathers and the great preachers have often
threatened with final impenitence those who put off
their conversion from day to day. [57] After such long-
continued abuse of God's grace, will they ever have the
efficacious grace necessary for conversion?
Return Difficult but Possible
Return is difficult. Hardening of heart supposes
blindness of mind, and a will carried on to evil, with
feeble movements toward good. The soul no longer
derives profit from good advice, from sermons, it no
longer reads the Gospel, no longer frequents the
church. It resists even the warnings of genuine
friends. It falls under the indictment of Isaias: "Woe
to you that call evil good and good evil, that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put
bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to you that
are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own
conceits! " [58] This condition is the consequence of
sins often reiterated, of vicious habitudes, of
criminal entanglements, of erroneous reading. After
such abuse of grace, the Lord may refuse a sinner, not
only the efficacious succor of which every sinner is
deprived at the moment when he falls, but also the
grace, proximately sufficient, to make obedience
possible.
But return to God is still possible. The sinner, even
though hardened, receives remotely sufficient graces,
for example, during a mission or during a trial. He can
begin to pray. If he does not resist, he receives
efficacious grace to begin praying effectively. This is
certain, because salvation is still possible, and,
against the Pelagian heresy, conversion is not possible
except by grace. If the sinner does not resist this
last appeal, he will be led from grace to grace, even
to that of conversion. The Lord has said: "I desire not
the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
his way and live." [59] St. Paul says: "God will have
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth." [60]
Return is always possible. Calvinism indeed says that
God destines certain souls to eternal damnation and
that consequently He refuses them all grace. The truth,
on the contrary, says with St. Augustine and the
Council of Trent: "God never commands the impossible,
but He warns us to do what we can, and to ask of Him
the grace to accomplish that which we of ourselves are
unable to do." [61] Now there lies on the hardened
sinner a grave obligation to do penance, and this is
impossible without grace. Hence we must conclude that
he receives from time to time sufficient graces that he
may begin to pray. Salvation is still possible.
But if the sinner resists these graces, he steps into
quicksand, where his feet sink down when he attempts to
emerge. Sufficient grace blows from time to time, like
a fresh breeze, to renew his forces. But if he
continues to resist, he deprives himself of the
efficacious grace which is offered in sufficient grace
as fruit is offered in the blossom. Hence when, later
on he wishes for that efficacious grace, will he have
that succor which touches the heart and converts him in
truth? Difficulties grow greater, the will grows
weaker, graces diminish.
Temporal impenitence, if it is voluntary, manifestly
disposes the soul for final impenitence, although
divine mercy at times saves the sinner, even on his
deathbed.
Impenitent Death
It is possible to die in the state of mortal sin, even
though the thought of such a death has not presented
itself to the spirit. Many die suddenly, and we say,
looking at their abuses of graces, that they have been
surprised by death. They did not pay attention to
warnings received beforehand. They have not had
contrition, or even attrition, which with the sacrament
of penance would have justified them. Such souls are
lost for eternity. Here we find final impenitence,
without any special previous refusal of the last grace.
If, on the contrary, death is foreseen, we are met with
an impenitence that is final. This last rejection of
grace, offered before death by infinite mercy, is a sin
against the Holy Spirit, which takes on different
forms. The sinner shrinks back from the humiliation
involved in acknowledgment of his sins, and chooses
consequently his own personal evil. At times he even
scorns the duty of justice and reparation before God,
scorns the love which he owes to God by the supreme
precept: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy
strength and with all thy mind." [62] These terrible
lessons show us the importance of repentance, a state
quite different from remorse, which can continue to
exist in hell without the least attrition. Condemned
souls do not repent of their sins as guilt against God,
though they see that for these sins they are punished.
They hate the pain which is justly inflicted. They hate
the worm of remorse which arises from their sin. They
are at war with everything, especially with themselves.
Judas had remorse and anguish, but he did not have
repentance which gives peace. He fell into despair
instead of confiding in infinite mercy and asking
pardon. [63]
It is terribly dangerous to put off conversion. Father
Monsabre [64] dwells on this subject: "First, in order
to profit by our last hour, we must foresee it.
Everything conspires to hide this moment when it
arrives: the sinner's own illusions
his negligence, the lack of sincerity on the part of
those who surround him. Secondly, to profit by this
last hour, if he foresees it, he must wish to be
converted. But it is greatly to be feared that the
sinner does not wish this. The tyranny of habit gives
to his last acts a character of irresolution.
Calculated delays have weakened his faith, have blinded
him to his own state. Hence even the last hour does not
move him, and he dies impenitent. Thirdly, to profit by
this last hour, even if he wishes for conversion, the
conversion must be sincere, and for this the soul needs
efficacious grace. Yet the delaying sinner counts
rather on his own will than on grace. If he does count
on grace, he does so with a cowardly look toward the
mercy of God. Will he thus reach a true regret for the
offense done against God, to a genuine and generous act
of repentance? The sinner who delays may forget what
penitence is, and runs great risk of dying in his sin.
Hence the conclusion: Seize the grace of repentance
now, lest you lack it then when you must have it to
decide your eternity." [65]
Deathbed Conversion
Deathbed conversion, however difficult, is still
possible. Even when we see no sign of contrition, we
can still not affirm that, at the last moment, just
before the separation of soul from body, the soul is
definitively obstinate. A sinner may be converted at
that last minute in such fashion that God alone can
know it. The holy Cure of Ars, divinely enlightened,
said to a weeping widow: "Your prayer, Madame, has been
heard. Your husband is saved. When he threw himself
into the Rhone, the Blessed Virgin obtained for him the
grace of conversion just before he died. Recall how, a
month before, in your garden, he plucked the most
beautiful rose and said to you, 'Carry this to the
altar of the Blessed Virgin.' She has not forgotten."
Other souls, too, have been converted in extremis,
souls that could barely recall a few religious acts in
the course of their life. A sailor, for example,
preserved the practice of uncovering his head when he
passed before a church. He did not know even the Our
Father or the Hail Mary, but the lifting of his hat
kept him from departing definitively from God.
In the life of the saintly Bishop Bertau of Tulle,
friend of Louis Veuillot, a poor girl in that city, who
had once been chanter in the cathedral, fell first into
misery, then into misconduct, and finally became a
public sinner. She was assassinated at night, in one of
the streets of Tulle. Police found her dying and
carried her to a hospital. While she was dying, she
cried out: "Jesus, Jesus." Could she be granted Church
burial? The Bishop answered: "Yes, because she died
pronouncing the name of Jesus. But bury her early in
the morning without incense." In the room of this poor
woman was found a portrait of the holy Bishop on the
back of which was written: "The best of fathers."
Fallen though she was, she still recognized the
holiness of her bishop and preserved in her heart the
memory of the goodness of our Lord.
A certain licentious writer, Armand Sylvestre, promised
his mother when she was dying to say a Hail Mary every
day. He kept his promise. Out of the swamp in which he
lived, he daily lifted up to God this one little
flower. Pneumonia brought him to a hospital, served by
religious, who said to him: "Do you wish a priest?"
"Certainly," he answered. And he received absolution,
probably with sufficient attrition, through a special
grace obtained for him by the Blessed Mother, though we
can hardly doubt he underwent a long and heavy
purgatory.
Another French writer, Adolphe Rette, shortly after his
conversion, which was sincere and profound, was struck
by a sentence he read in the visitors' book of the
Carmelite Convent: "Pray for those who will die during
the Mass at which you are going to assist." He did so.
Some days later he fell grievously ill, and was
confined to bed in the hospital at Beaune, for many
years, up to his death. Each morning he offered all his
sufferings for those who would die during the day. Thus
he obtained many deathbed conversions. We shall see in
heaven how many conversions there are in the world,
owing to such prayers.
In the life of St. Catherine of Siena we read of the
conversion of two great criminals. The saint had gone
to visit one of her friends. As they heard, in the
street below, a loud noise, her friend looked through
the window. Two condemned men were being led to
execution. Their jailers were tormenting them with
nails heated red-hot, while the condemned men
blasphemed and cried. St. Catherine, inside the house,
fell to prayer, with her arms extended in the form of a
cross. At once the wicked men ceased to blaspheme and
asked for a confessor. People in the street could not
understand this sudden change. They did not know that a
near-by saint had obtained this double conversion.
Several years ago the chaplain in a prison in Nancy had
the reputation of converting all criminals whom he had
accompanied to the guillotine. On one occasion he found
himself alone, shut up with an assassin who refused to
go to confession before death. The cart, with the
condemned man, passed before the sanctuary of Our Lady
of Refuge. The old chaplain prayed: "Remember, O most
gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that
anyone who had recourse to thy intercession was
abandoned. Convert this criminal of mine: otherwise I
will say that it has been heard that you have not
heard." At once the criminal was converted.
Return to God is always possible, up to the time of
death, but it becomes more and more difficult as
hardheartedness grows. Let us not put off our
conversion. Let us say every day a Hail Mary for the
grace of a happy death.
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