21. THE QUESTION WAS
..Which of the following was believed by
St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.)?
A. each sin requires an equal penance
B. more wicked sins require harsher
penances
The Answer is
.B
.Augustine said bigger sins deserved bigger
penances
St.
Augustine, Doctor of Christianity, wrote:
Yet those who do penance in accord with the kind
of sin they have committed are not to despair of receiving Gods mercy
in the Holy Church, for the remission of their crimes, however serious. In the
penitential action, however, where the crime committed was such that he who
committed it is separated from the body of Christ, it is not so much the length
of time as the depth of sorrow that is to be considered. (Augustine, Enchiridion
of Faith, Hope, and Love, A.D. 421)
Sins
which are punished by an extremely lengthy period of penalties are committed in
an extremely short time (34); nor is there anyone who would suppose that the
punishments should be as quickly over as the offenses were quickly performed,
whether murder or adultery or sacrilege or any other crime whatsoever that is
to be measured, not by how long it took to do it, but by the magnitude of its
wickedness and impiety. (Augustine City
of God 21, 11)
But do not commit those sins on account of which you would have
to be separated from the Body of Christ; perish the thought! For those whom you
see doing penance have committed
crimes, either adultery or some other enormities: that is why they are doing penance. If their sins were light, daily
prayer would suffice TO BLOT THEM OUT.(emphasis mine) [8, 16] In the Church,
therefore, there are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in Baptism, in
prayer, and in the greater humility of penance; yet, God does not forgive sins
except to the baptized. (Augustine, Sermon
to Catechumens, on the Creed, AD 395)
"It is not enough to change our ways for the better and quit
the evil we have done, unless we make satisfaction to God for the evil we have
done, by the sorrow of repentance... and accompanying alms." St. Augustine,
ibid, p 252
St. Augustine wrote: The daily prayer, which
Jesus Himself taught and for which reason it is called the Lords Prayer,
certainly takes away daily sins, when we say daily: Forgive us our debts. (The Faith of the Early Fathers, Volume 3, p. 106)
Back to www.StillCatholic.com
Quick Links: Church Fathers, Life of
St. Augustine, St. Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons), Clement
of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, St.
Ignatius of Antioch, Pelagianism, The
Confessions by St. Augustine, The City
of God by St. Augustine, the Martyrdom
of Polycarp, Epistle to St. Polycarp, St.
Basil the Great, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St.
Cyprian of Carthage, St. Jerome, St.
Gregory of Nyssa, St. Barnabas, St.
John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, Eusebius,
The Faith of the Early Church Fathers book, Did the Church Fathers Believe in Sola Scriptura?
Foundations of Protestantism, Reformation,
Martin
Luther, John Calvin, Calvinism,
Ulrich
Zwingli, Henry VIII, Gnosticism,
Justification,
Grace,
the Catholic
Church, Suppression of Monasteries, Celibacy
of the Clergy, On Nature and Grace, Methodism, John Wesley, Church of England, Anglican Church, Summa Theologica,
Council
of Trent, Fathers of the Church, Life of
St. Augustine, Clement
of Rome, Pope Leo the Great, Pope
Gregory the Great, Apostolic Succession,
Still Catholic, Catholic Encyclopedia, Bible,
Catechism,
Catechism by Topic, Jesus
Christ, Vatican
Web Site, Catholic
Answers, Vatican Radio, U.S. Bishops, Saints,
Hot
Entertainment, Christian Pilgrimages, Catholic News Service,
Catholic World News,
Zenit (Pope News),
Catholic
Blogs, Catholic
Information Network, St.
Peter, Patron Saints, Church Fathers, St.
Augustine, The
21 Ecumenical Councils, Eternal World Television Network (EWTN), Catholic
Almanac, Our
Sunday Visitor, Ignatius Press, Tan Books, Google
News, Doctors of the Catholic Church, Young Adult
Groups, Online Dating, Ave Maria Singles,
Mass Times.org,
Marriage Encounter,
Today's Mass Readings,
Scripture and Tradition, Movie Reviews,
Real Presence Association, Eucharist,
Order
of the Mass, Church History, Catholic
Reformation, Annulments, Natural Family Planning, Catholic
Apologetics, How to Say the Rosary, the
Seven Sacraments, Lent, Purgatory,
Heaven,
Hell,
Catholic
Colleges, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St.
Catherine of Siena, St. Padre Pio, St.
Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II, Pope
Benedict XVI, Catholic
Distance University, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, Dr.
Scott Hahn, Jimmy Akin, Michael
Dubruiel, Amy Welborn, Catholic Exchange,
Catholic
Apologetics Network, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, Catholic
Apologetics Links, Catholic
Apologetics (Coronum), Scripture
Catholic, Catholic Theology Articles, Theology Library,
National
Catholic Bioethics Center, Catholic Culture, Summa Theologica,
Confessions,
City
of God, G.K. Chesterton, Existence
of God,. Still Catholic.