The difficulty of this post is the on the whole earlier science of casuistry and the practical textbooks that it spawned.
The origins of casuistry can be traced back to Aristotle, but it is greatest a great deal coupled with the Catholic Priestly, and with the Jesuit order in exact. It is predetermined by the 1911 "Catholic Encyclopedia" as "[t]he advantage of in style sense of right and wrong of dissipation to unquestionable and steady hand baggage of material help, for the article, predominantly, of determining what one want to do, or want not to do". In fundamental, it deals with said hand baggage of indiscretion or clear indiscretion, and analyses whether the protagonist has acted irregularly and what s/he want to do.
In this post, I long to disinter some of the dilemmas posed in the classic textbooks of casuistry, the "Casus Conscientiae" or Hand baggage of Conscience. Such as modern exam questions, these hand baggage often mix open situations and behaviour with shrewdly artificial elements that persistence up the genuine issues at picket. I find it ripe to read them, and I inclination that you desire too. I haven't quoted the answers to the hand baggage, like intimates intellect to be of gain really to strain with a inclination for the sinister byways of Catholic completely theology.
(Avoidable to say, the classic "Casus Conscientiae" were written in Latin. Such as follows are my free, and erratically condensed, translations.)
Benjamin Elbel (Augsburg, 1744)
Titius got Gaia having a baby. In order to escape the slur that threatened him as a verdict, and to give fiscal loss, he daub the rumour not far off from that she had been ended having a baby by dissimilar man, a unthinking Sempronius. He knew that he was soberly slandering not really Gaia but Sempronius too, and that he had not all-inclusive his obligations in report to the observance of the child.
Augustin Lehmkuhl (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1902)
Luke, a teenager, often attends disorder shows with his parents. He more to the point attends sweet performances with them, and frequents their neighbours' cut up, anywhere a lot of families are in the swing of things to catch. On all these occasions, calm down, he has often fallen clothed in immoral requirements, the same as he hears and sees kit and styles of dress that are honest not much. His parents, not realising the hassle, long their son to cover some knowledge of the
world so that in time he can kindness his suds of life over as expected.
On the day ahead of time he is to be fated as a subdeacon [i.e. two ladder up your sleeve from the priesthood], Evaristus is agonized by a inlet inner struggle. He was induced to enter holy preparation really at the same time as his parents pleaded with him insistently to do so. He cannot deduce that he is psychologically obedient of unshakable celibate. If he withdraws now, calm down, he desire be conveyed a critical opposition with his parents, and he dares not incur their nippiness. So he goes eat with the others and receives ordination as a subdeacon. In the manner of, he is fated as a deacon and as a priest. Some time ago a few existence, he tells his confessor that he is pessimistic with his suds of life, that he is besieged with a depraved thing, and that he is forever committing sacrileges [by celebrating the sacraments even if in a suds of sin].
Amelia, a maidservant, has unremittingly been seduced by her master. She is instructed by her confessor to provisions her post. Such as he learns of this, her master begs her not to go nonstop with this: if she does, his spouse desire mindlessly learn what he has been piece of legislation and their marital freshness desire be gone for ever. Such as Amelia persists, he goes to the dreadfully confessor himself and asks him to allow the servant girl to rest in her post. He promises that in the distant he desire not commit or stab to commit any sin with Amelia.
Lambert often goes to the pub. He with time finds that he is on average feat drunk in attendance. He gets committed in foolery, and he each causes harm to his populate life and unremittingly blurts out blasphemies. His confessor tells him that he stipulation attitude departure to that pub so. He replies that this is not feasible, and that he has to do manufacturing in attendance in order to relinquish fare for himself and his populate.
Getulis is appreciatively in love with Anna and requests to walk down the aisle her, but his parents are abhorrent to the marriage. All the same, he hopes that their rebellion desire fall up your sleeve with time, and he continues to square Anna. He often visits her in order to foresee that she defense unsullied to him, but does not do so sincerely for intuition of felon his parents. He confesses that he has sometimes tried to hang on their close association to a over suggestion level, but the girl has equivalently refused. He says that he has really done this at the same time as he diplomacy to throw his parents to ready to the marriage, as it desire turn out to be suitable for them to get connubial and his parents desire realise that.
Johann Reuter (Odor, 1753)
James and Anna are connubial and stand three daughters. Their daughters stand been brought up sensibly mildly, and are share the credit to the foolish kit of the world sensibly than to the glorification of God. Their parents see that they stand reached the age of marriage, and they allow them to mix with green men and to go to dances, games and dark gatherings of green strain of each sexes. In the course of this, the eldest preschooler, Agatha, is crush by the heartwarming attentions of a man who has a minor job in the navy, a man of socially lesser grade. Lovestruck, she promises to walk down the aisle him, but her populate, creature of impressive blood, deter the marriage. Also her mother and her institute sanity, but in foolish. The man succeeds in slumbering with the preschooler and gets her having a baby. She marries the man ahead of time a services chaplain. Her populate are bitter at this, and jetsam to let Agatha journey or see them. Some time ago a rendezvous, calm down, they give in, and fineness her similar to a occurrence of the populate again. Her mother, calm down, does not allow herself to be inspired by Agatha's entreaties, tears or shame pleas to justification her indiscretion. She resolves that she desire never let Agatha see her again.
Damasus attended a dinner with Damian, whom he meditation was a good Catholic. He steered the swap over onto the difficulty of religion and naked that he was a heretic. Damian thought that it was loads for a man to be saved that he meant in God and Christ, and that very innumerable Protestants had good principles.
Fr. Alban has been in office all day in the confessional and listening to a series of penitents. He found one of them to be a lot shingly and ready: he did not know how to make his act of contrition [a prayer thought in wave], and he had more to the point sinned nonstop impenetrability in matters of chastity and unthinking other kit. Original prejudicial ended mention to assorted sins that he had fervent in the course of his previously life, and confessed, in the midst of other kit, that he had fervent sins of the flesh with his wife's sister ahead of time his marriage. Fr. Alban realised that this had raised a canonical trouble to the marriage, but thought emptiness. A third peintent just as confessed to committing sins of the flesh with his wife's mother ahead of time his marriage. From the court case, Fr. Alban was uninviting whether it had been a fully-fledged act of fornication, obedient of conceiving inheritor, so he thought emptiness about this either.
Fr. Menolphus is a priest who leads a very immoral life. He has been slumbering with his maidservant for innumerable existence in the abide by of a live-in girlfriend, albeit persuading her that this is not a sin. He is under arrest by an virus - not a vital one, to be solid, but a epic one. For instance he is unhealthy, the meditation enters his self of the eternal act of vengeance that awaits the sacrilegious in hell, so he calls a man priest and makes his wave to him. The priest is rigid and hesitates to exempt Fr. Menolphus absolution unless he dismisses the maidservant. Fr. Menolphus assures him by harm an promise that he desire expel her on the flanking feasible rupture. The confessor is reliable by this feature, and, having questioned him in peripheral nature about his sins, grants him absolution. A month gone, Fr. Menolphus is on the rim of death. The dreadfully confessor is summoned again and finds that the maidservant has not yet been dismissed from service.
Fr. German is a priest who leads an admirable life. He prefers to capture the confessions of peasants and other lower-class strain sensibly than intimates of gentlemen. This is at the same time as he can deal with them in the absence of using circumlocutions and ambiguities, and he can disbelieve them, caution them and prescribe beneficial preparations for them. Gentlemen are not rarely maltreated by such an trend. They chronicle about it afterwards with others and do a hatchet job on the confessor.
Jean-Pierre Gury (Regensburg, 1865)
Dafrosa was connubial at a green age, and she was presently inclined a lesson in the gracefulness of material relatives. Her group rashly slay ill, and she realised that he was quickly nearing death. She wept and howled and filled the air with groans and cries. "My life is wretched!" she thought, "Such as am I departure to do? I wish that I might be diligent up your sleeve together with my cherished group." Getulius, a friend of the populate, heard her saying this. He had what time been thoroughly committed with Dafrosa. He thought to her, in a snug manner: "What's the matter? If you lose one group, trusty you'll cheerfully find dissimilar one? Do you long to walk down the aisle me if your group dies?" She smiled pretty and gleefully no problem. Such as the group died, calm down, dissimilar suitor right appeared, a man called Fidelinus. He claimed that Dafrosa want to walk down the aisle him and not the other man at the same time as she had promised to walk down the aisle him ahead of time she had connubial her deceased group.
Ernest is a servant. He is often bad-tempered the same as he speaks to his master. He mocks him, he offends him by criticising him, and he neglects his orders. Such as his master is up your sleeve, he has very often fetid his work. Now, previously his master has docked some of his pay at the same time as he was off unhealthy for an unusual extent of time, he has furtively diligent the money for himself.
Titius is a man who does not disturb about his own helping hand and has no central part for the principles of his servants. He does not procession an eye on them at all. Members of his address of each sexes stand inappropriately tie relations with each other and with strain from outside. They miss departure to church and provisional Bump on Sunday. They never go to wave or fetch communion at Eastertide. Titius sees all this and says emptiness.
'Eduard G'enicot and Joseph Salsmans (Brussels, 1947)
Demetrius, a doctor, discovers a ointment which is very effective in preventing and medicinal sexually transmitted diseases. Dispel, he asks his confessor's allude to as to whether he can publicise this therapy, like he is horrible that willful men asset be tempted to commit sins with a upper suffer of financial guarantee.
