Is this the only defect which touches the principal act of prudence?
No, there is also another called negligence, which is opposed to the principal act of prudence on the side of solicitude which this act entails (LIV.).
What is negligence?
It is the want of readiness in putting into execution, by way of command, the resolutions of the judgment, made after due enquiry and counsel, as regards the attainment of the end of virtue (LIV. 1).
Is negligence a great sin?
Yes; for it paralyzes all virtuous action; at times it hinders a virtuous act altogether, or it effects that the act is done only half-heartedly, in such wise that it loses most of its worth and merit (LIV. 3).
When negligence reaches also to the external act by enervating it, what is it called?
It is called laziness or torpidity (LIV. 2, Obj. 1).
Are these two sins distinct from negligence properly so-called?
Yes, for strictly the sin of negligence consists in the want of readiness and energy in the act of command in so far as this defect is due to the interior weakness of the will (LIV. 2).
Is it important to keep careful watch over the sin of negligence?
Yes, it is of extreme importance, for negligence attacks the very root of virtuous action and is opposed to the principal act of the practical reason from which the realization of every virtuous act depends.
Is negligence sometimes a mortal sin?
It is always a mortal sin when it affects whatever is of precept that concerns salvation; even when it is not a mortal sin, unless one is on one's guard, it causes a spiritual sickness that leads inevitably to spiritual corruption and death (LIV. 3).
Next - The Catechism of the Summa - SECOND SECTION - A DETAILED SURVEY OF MAN'S RETURN TO GOD - XV. OF THE SINS THAT ARE OPPOSED TO PRUDENCE, VIZ., OF IMPRUDENCE; HASTINESS; LACK OF THOUGHT; INCONSTANCY; NEGLIGENCE; FALSE PRUDENCE; PRUDENCE OF THE FLESH; SLYNESS; DECEIT; FRAUD; FALSE SOLICITUDE (F)
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