rom lust, inasmuch as the latter enfeebles
a man's heart and renders it effeminate, according to Osee 4:11,
"Fornication and wine and drunkenness take away the heart [Douay:
'understanding']." Vegetius, too, says (De Re Milit. iii) that "the
less a man knows of the pleasures of life, the less he fears death."
Nor is there any need, as we have repeatedly stated, for the
daughters of a capital vice to agree with it in matter (cf. Q. 35, A.
4, ad 2; Q. 118, A. 8, ad 1; Q. 148, A. 6).

Reply Obj. 3: Self-love in respect of any goods that a man desires
for himself is the common origin of all sins; but in the special
point of desiring carnal pleasures for oneself, it is reckoned a
daughter of lust.

Reply Obj. 4: The sins mentioned by Isidore are inordinate external
acts, pertaining in the main to speech; wherein there is a fourfold
inordinateness. First, on account of the matter, and to this we refer
"obscene words": for since "out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34), the lustful man, whose heart is full
of lewd concupiscences, readily breaks out into lewd words. Secondly,
on account of the cause: for, since lust causes thoughtlessness and
rashness, the result is that it makes a man speak without weighing or
giving a thought to his words, which are described as "scurrilous."
Thirdly, on account of the end: for since the lustful man seeks
pleasure, he directs his speech thereto, and so gives utterance to
"wanton words." Fourthly, on account of the sentiments expressed by
his words, for through causing blindness of mind, lust perverts a
man's sentiments, and so he gives way "to foolish talking," for
instance, by expressing a preference for the pleasures he desires to
anything else.
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QUESTION 154

OF THE PARTS OF LUST
(In Twelve Articles)

We must now consider the parts of lust, under which head there are
twelve points of inquiry:

(1) Into what parts is lust divided?

(2) Whether simple fornication is a mortal sin?

(3) Whether it is the greatest of sins?

(4) Whether there is mortal sin in touches, kisses and such like
seduction?

(5) Whether nocturnal pollution is a mortal sin?

(6) Of seduction;

(7) Of rape;

(8) Of adultery;

(9) Of incest;

(10) Of sacrilege;

(11) Of the sin against nature;

(12) Of the order of gravity in the aforesaid sins.
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FIRST ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 154, Art. 1]

Whether Six Species Are Fittingly