We cannot, of course, read the soul of anybody.  If, however, we suppose knowledge and consent, there are certain sins that are always mortal.  Such are blasphemy, luxury, heresy, etc.  When these sins are deliberate, they are always mortal offenses.  Others are usually mortal, such as a sin against justice.  To steal is a sin against justice.  It is frequently a mortal sin, but it may happen that the amount taken be slight, in which case the offense ceases to be mortal.

Likewise, certain sins are usually venial, but in certain circumstances a venial sin may take on such malice as to be constituted mortal.

Our conscience, under God, is the best judge of our malevolence and consequently of our guilt.

CHAPTER VII.  HOW TO COUNT SINS.

The number of sins a person may commit is well-nigh incalculable, which is only one way of saying that the malice of man has invented innumerable means of offending the Almighty—­a compliment to our ingenuity and the refinement of our natural perversity.  It is not always pleasant to know, and few people try very hard to learn, of what kind and how many are their daily offenses.  This knowledge reveals too nakedly our wickedness which we prefer to ignore.  Catholics, however, who believe in the necessity of confession of sins, take a different view of the matter.  The requirements of a good confession are such as can be met only by those who know in what things they have sinned and how often.

There are many different kinds of sin.  It is possible by a single act to commit more than one sin.  And a given sin may be repeated any number of times.

To get the exact number of our misdeeds we must begin by counting as many sins at least as there are kinds of sin.  We might say there is an offense for every time a commandment or precept is violated, for sin is a transgression of the law.  But this would be insufficient inasmuch as the law may command or forbid more than one thing.

Let the first commandment serve as an example.  It is broken by sins against faith, or unbelief, against hope, or despair, against charity, against religion, etc.  All these offenses are specifically different, that is, are different kinds of sin; yet but one precept is transgressed.  Since therefore each commandment prescribes the practice of certain virtues, the first rule is that there is a sin for every virtue violated.

But this is far from exhausting our capacity for evil.  Our virtue may impose different obligations, so that against it alone we may offend in many different ways.  Among the virtues prescribed by the first commandment is that of religion, which concerns the exterior homage due to God.  I may worship false gods, thus offending against the virtue of religion, and commit a sin of idolatry.  If I offer false homage to the true God, I also violate the virtue of religion, but commit a sin specifically different, a sin of superstition.  Thus these different offenses are against but one of several virtues enjoined by one commandment.  The virtue of charity is also prolific of obligations; the virtue of chastity even more so.  One act against the latter may contain a four-fold malice.