Passions

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Bypassions we are to understand here motions of the sensitiveappetite in man which tend towards the attainment of some real or apparent good, or the avoidance of someevil. The more intensely the object is desired or abhorred, the more vehement is the passion.St. Paul thus speaks of them: "When we were in the flesh, the passions ofsin, which were by thelaw, did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto death" (Romans 7:5). They are called passions because they cause a transformation of the normal condition of the body and its organs which often appears externally. It may also be noted that there is in man a rationalappetite as well as a sensitiveappetite. The rationalappetite is the will; and its acts oflove,joy, and sorrow are only called passions metaphorically, because of their likeness to the acts of the sensitiveappetite. They are classified bySt. Thomas and theSchoolmen as follows: The sensitiveappetite is twofold, concupiscible and irascible, specifically distinct because of their objects. The object of the concupiscible is real or apparent good, and suitable to the sensitive inclination. The object of the irascibleappetite is good qualified by some special difficulty in its attainment. The chief passions are eleven in number:

To explain the passions in their relation to virtue it isnecessary to consider them first in the moral order. Somemoralists have taught that all passions are good if kept under subjection, and all bad if unrestrained. Thetruth is that, as regards morality, the passions are indifferent, that is, neither good nor bad in themselves. Only in so far as they arevoluntary do they come under the moral law. Their motions may sometimes be antecedent to any act of the will; or they may be so strong as to resist every command of the will. The feelings in connexion with the passions may be lasting, and not always under the control of the will, as for example the feelings oflove, sorrow, fear, andanger, as experienced in the sensitiveappetite; but they can never be so strong as to force the consent of ourfree will unless they first run away with our reason.

These involuntary motions of the passions are neither morally good nor morally bad. They becomevoluntary in two ways:

In regard to virtue the passions may be considered in the three stages of the spiritual life:

When regulated by reason, and subjected to the control of the will, the passions may be considered good and used as means of acquiring and exercisingvirtue.Christ Himself, in whom there could be nosin nor shadow of imperfection, admitted their influence, for we read that He was sorrowful even unto death (Mark 14:34), that He wept overJerusalem (Luke 19:41), and at thetomb ofLazarus He groaned in the spirit, and troubled Himself (John 11:33). St. Paul bids us rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15). The sensitive is given to man byGod, and therefore its acts have to be employed in His service. Fear of death, judgement, andhell prompts one to repentance, and to the first efforts in acquiringvirtue. Thoughts of the mercy ofGod produce hope, gratitude, and correspondence. Reflections on thesufferings of Christ moves to sorrow forsin, and to compassion andlove for Him in His sufferings.

The moral virtues are to regulate the passions and employ them as aids in the progress of spiritual life. A just man at times experiences greatjoy, great hope and confidence, and other feelings in performingduties ofpiety, and also great sensible sorrow, as well as sorrow ofsoul, for hissins, and he is thus confirmed in hisjustice. He can also merit constantly by restraining and purifying his passions. Thesaints who reached the exalted state of perfection, have retained their capacity for all human emotions and their sensibility has remained subject to the ordinarylaws; but in them thelove ofGod has controlled themental images which excite the passions and directed all their emotions to His active service. It has been justly said that thesaint dies, and is born again: he dies to an agitated, distracted and sensual life, by temperance, continency, and austerity, and is born to a new and transformed life. He passes through what St. John calls "the night of the senses", after which his eyes are opened to a clearer light. "The saint will return later on to sensible objects to enjoy them in his own way, but far more intensely than other men" (H. Joly, "Psychology of the Saints", 128). Accordingly we can understand how the passions and the emotions of the sensitiveappetite may be directed and devoted to the service ofGod, and to the acquisition, increase, and perfection ofvirtue.

All admit that the passions, unless restrained, will carry a man beyond the bounds ofduty and honesty, and plunge him intosinful excesses. Unbridled passions cause all the moral ruin and most of the physical and social evils that afflict men. There are two adverse elements in man contending for the mastery, and designated by St. Paul as "the flesh" and "the spirit" (Galatians 5:17). These two are often at variance with each other in inclinations and desires. To establish and preserve harmony in the individual, it isnecessary that the spirit rule, and that the flesh be made obedient to it. The spirit must set itself free from the tyranny of the passions in the flesh. It must free itself by the renunciation of all those unlawful things which our lower nature craves, that right order may be established and preserved in the relations of our higher and lower nature. The flesh and itsappetites, if allowed, will throw everything into confusion and vitiate our whole nature bysin and its consequences. It is therefore man'sduty to control and regulate it by reason and a strong will aided byGod's grace.

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