it. This is the
mighty trio that takes possession of the whole being of man, controls
his superior and inferior appetites, and wars on the whole being on
God. And lust is the most ignoble of the three.

Strictly speaking, it is not here question of the commandments. They
prescribe or forbid acts of sin--thoughts, words or deeds; lust is a
passion, a vice or inclination, a concupiscence. It is not an act. It
does not become a sin while it remains in this state of pure
inclination. It is inbred in our nature as children of Adam. Lust is an
appetite like any other appetite, conformable to our human nature, and
can be satisfied lawfully within the order established by God and
nature. But it is vitiated by the corruption of fallen flesh. This
vitiated appetite craves for unlawful and forbidden satisfactions and
pleasures, such as are not in keeping with the plans of the Creator.
Thus the vitiated appetite becomes inordinate. At one and the same
time, it becomes inordinate and sinful, the passion being gratified
unduly by a positive act of sin.

This depraved inclination, as everyone knows, may be in us, without
being of us, that is, without any guilt being imputed to us. This
occurs in the event of a violent assault of passion, in which our will
has no part, and which consequently does not materialize, exteriorly or
interiorly, in a human act forbidden by the laws of morality. Nor is
there a transgression, even when gratified, if reason and faith control
the inclination and direct it along the lines laid down by the divine
and natural laws. Outside of this, all manners, shapes and forms of
lust are grievous sins, for the law admits no levity of matter. No
further investigation, at the present time, into the essence of this
vice is necessary.

There is an abominable theory familiar to, and held by the dissolute,
who, not content with spreading the contagion of their souls, aim at
poisoning the very wells of morality. They reason somewhat after this
fashion: Human nature is everywhere the same. He knows others who best
knows himself. A mere glance at themselves reveals the fact that they
are chained fast to earth by their vile appetites, and that to break
these chains is a task too heavy for them to undertake. The fact is
overlooked that these bonds are of their own creation, and that every
end is beyond reach of him who refuses to take the means to that end.
Incapable, too, of conceiving a sphere of morality superior to th