Suppose that for Bob the only way to escape a proximate danger of sin caused by ubiquitous and severe immodesty is to enter a monastery. However, Bob is not fully convinced of the truth of Catholicism and he knows that if he goes to a monastery he will not be able to buy obscure books and research stuff on the internet, etc. So you could say he is also in a proximate danger of doubt, schism or apostasy. Does this justify him not going to the monastery?
Is doubt a legitimate reason to stay in a proximate occasion of sin?
- Thread starter xqr768
- Start date
There would have to be other ways, to escape this "proximate danger of sin" (bad companions?), than to enter a monastery. However, this said, my best advice would be for the troubled person to go to that monastery, explain his situation, and ask whether they would be willing to take him in at least as some sort of postulant. Be entirely open about your doubts. I'm not sure if an absolute committment to orthodoxy, if one is in a state of doubt as to the Faith, is a bar to being allowed to stay for a time at the monastery, if you're not taking vows or making a similar kind of profession.
If you are referring to society in general as being this "proximate danger of sin", I would invite you to consider how other people of good will handle the situation. Again, the monastery would be able to help with this. Ask them what they would have you do.
If you are referring to society in general as being this "proximate danger of sin", I would invite you to consider how other people of good will handle the situation. Again, the monastery would be able to help with this. Ask them what they would have you do.
The main problem is that he can't go to the monastery because then he will have no way to resolve his doubts which would leave him in the danger of apostasy. You may disagree with the scenario, but I want to know if in theory having doubts about whether or not Catholicism is true is a legitimate reason to remain in the proximate danger of other sins.
I have read this through three times, and I am not seeing the connection between the two things. I can only say this:
The only way any doubts about the Faith should be resolved, is to become convinced of the truth. Error has no rights, and no claim upon our intellect. There couldn't be any better place to do this than a monastery, where error is given no quarter. In the secular world, error speaks very loudly, and many good people become seduced by it. In a monastery, a postulant would have ample opportunities to learn the truth and become convinced of it, not to mention the ready availability of the sacraments, sound spiritual direction, and an environment totally dedicated to prayer. If there is a monastery where error is tolerated, find another monastery.
All this said, I really don't think the solution to being exposed to, as you put it, "ubiquitous and severe immodesty", is to flee from the world into a cloister where these things don't exist. I strongly recommend that the person seek out a good confessor, loyal to the magisterium and to traditional Catholic teaching, explain how seeing this in today's world is creating a proximate occasion of sin, and do what he tells you to do.
I think you are making some assumptions of the monastery that are not quite true.
Are these assumptions necessary for the hypothetical to force in your particular direction?
BartholomewB
Member
Once again. xqr768, you are displaying what seems to be a strange fixation with “immodesty”. Would you be asking the same question about entering a monastery if the “proximate occasion of sin” had to do with the tempation to commit, let us say, the sin of gluttony (an irresistible urge to drink a quart of Coca Cola every day) or the sin of wrath (he feels his blood pressure rising uncontrollably every time he hears the word Gaza)?
I think it's more or less the same question for any proximate danger of committing a mortal sin, but what those are would depend on the person and their situation.
Cloisters
Well-known member
The Monks can offer spiritual direction for these issues, but he absolutely will not be admitted unless there's signs of a real calling.
Blessings,
Cloisters
I have to wonder if a compassionate monastery, recognizing the OP's predicament, would allow him simply to stay with them for a while, not taking vows, free to leave at any time, so that he could take advantage of a holy environment and get the spiritual direction he needs. And in the midst of that, signs of a calling could emerge. That would be up to the discretion of the abbot.
Cloisters
Well-known member
Same thing occurred to me. There's also such a thing as a claustral oblate. A few Benedictine monasteries in the US still have them.