Word: venial
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...probably only a venial sin for healthy smokers, explains Father Connell, because evidence of danger is not yet conclusive. But if the immoderate smoker is not healthy, or if science succeeds in providing conclusive proof of danger, then the sin becomes more serious. Taking into consideration that some smokers do not inhale, and that some grind out each weed after a few drags (but without bringing filter tips into his calculations), Father Connell leniently set the sinful borderline for excessive smoking at three packs...
...take part in a competition where the winner is the one who eats or drinks most." On drinking: "'Perfect drunkenness' is definitely listed among mortal sins. 'Imperfect drunkenness,' which leads only to a befuddling of the mind, is generally only a venial...
François Mauriac, France's most famed living Catholic novelist, can say more in 150 pages than can most writers in twice that number. Mauriac seems to hold that the sins of a Robert Lagave are venial because he is the sort of mindless pagan who could scarcely recognize God if he met Him in a blaze of light on the road to Damascus. The real sinners are those who know God but love only themselves or their illusions. The killing of Robert Lagave brings with it a moment of shocked awareness that soon fades: Paula weeps...
Surely you received better explanations of Roman Catholic teaching on kissing in response to "The Venial Kiss" than the "I never heard of it being sinful" letter which you published [Oct. 29]. A kiss between unmarried persons which neither aims at nor arouses specifically sexual pleasure is not sinful. It was an excellent article on sinful kissing, but why not clarify that the Catholic Church doesn't consider all kissing sinful...
...Peccant Peck Sir: Apropos of the Catholic "venial kiss" discussion | Oct. 8]: one imagines countless exchanges like this on Irish lanes: "Gi! Said a me lad a to a venial lass, kiss." "To Hell wi' ye, son. I kiss mortal, like this...