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 SUPERSTITION

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SUPERSTITION

swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world" (Wisdom, xiii, 1-2). It is to this ignorance of the true God, coupled with an inordinate veneration for human excellence and the love of artistic repre- sentations appealing to the senses, that St. Thomas ascribes the origin of idolatry. \\'hile these arc dis- positive causes, the consummative cause, he adds, was the influence of demons who offered themselves as objects of worship to erring men, giving answers through idols and doing things which to men seemed marvellous (II-II, Q. xciv, a. 4).

These causes explain the origin and spread of superstition in the pagan world. They were to a large extent eliminated by the preaching of Chris- tianity; but so deep-rooted was the tendency to which they gave rise that many of the ancient practices survived, especially among peoples just emerging from barbarism. It was only by degrees, through the legislation of the Church and the advance of scientific knowledge, that the earlier forms of super- stition were eradicated. But the tendency itself has not wholly disappeared. Side by side with the Ra- tionalistic philosophy and the rigorous scientific methods which are characteristic of modern thought, there are still to be found various sorts of superstition. So far as this includes the worship of things other than God, it is not only an es.sential part, liut the foundation also of the Positivistic system (Comte), which sets up humanity as the object of religious worship (see Positivism). Nor can Pantheism (q. v.), which identifies God and the world, lead consistently to any but superstitious practices, however it may in theory disclaim such a purpose. The human mind, by a natural impulse, tends to worship something, and if it is convinced that Agnosticism is true and that God is unknowable, it will, sooner or later, devise other objects of worship. It is also significant that just when many scientists supposed that belief in a future hfe had been finally proved an illusion. Spirit- ism (q. v.), with its doctrines and practices, should have gained such a strong hold not only on the ignor- ant, but also, and in a much more serious sense, on leading representat ives of science itself. This may in- deed he interpreted as a reaction against Materialism; but it is none the less, at bottom, an evidence of man's restless desire to penetrate, by any and every means, the mystery that lies beyond death. While it is easy to condemn Spiritism as superstitious and vain, the condemnation docs not do away with the fact that Spiritism has become widespread in this age of en- lightenment. Now as in the past the rejection of Divine truth in the name of reason often opens the way to beliefs and practices which are at once unworthy of reason and dangerous to morality.

SiNF0LNESs OF SuPER.STiTioN IN GENERAL. — Super- stition of any description is a transgression of the Fir.st Commandment: "I am the Lord thy God, — thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath . . . thou shalt not adore them nor serve them" (Exod., xx, 2-5). It is also against the positive law of the Church, which visits the worst kinds of superstition with severe punishments, and against the natural law inasmuch as it runs counter to the dictates of reason in the matter of man's rela- tions to God. Such objective sinfulness is inlicrent in all superstitious practices from idolatry down to the vainest of \'ain observances, of course in very different degrees of gravity. With regard to the subjective guilt attaching to them it must be borne in mind that no sin is mortal unless <'Oinmittc(l with full knowledge of its grievous wickedness and with full deliljcralion and consent. Of these essential factors the first is often wanting entirely, and the second is only imper- fectly present. The numerous cases in which the

event seemed to justify the superstitious practice, and the universality of such incongruous beliefs and performances, though they may not always induce inculpable ignorance, may possibly obscure the knowl- edge and weaken the will to a point incompatible with mortal sin. As a matter of fact, many supersti- tions of our own day have been acts of genuine piety at other times, and may be so still in the hearts of simple folk.

Special Superstitions. — The principal species of superstition, viz., idolatry, divination, occult arts, have received adequate treatment in other articles. Something remains to be said on (1) cidlus indcbitus, or the pious vagaries which people intermingle with Catholic religion; (2) vain observances in daily life.

(1) Improper worship (citllus indebitiis) consists in introducing false or superfluous elements into the practice of true religion. Such false elements, be their origin culpable deceit or inculpable credulity, vitiate the virtue of religion by substituting error for truth in the service of God. A layman performing priestly functions, a pardoner selling spurious indul- gences, a fanatic devotee inventing false miracles and answers to prayers in order to introduce or spread his own favourite devotion, wholesale believers in super- natural apparitions, visions, revelations, which serve no good purpose — aU these are guilty of superstition, at least material. As regards formal guilt, this is often reduced to the vanishing point by the prevaiUng credulity and common practice of the period. The worship of imaginary saints or relics, devotion based upon false revelations, apparitions, supposed mira- cles, or false notions generally, is usually excusable in the worshipper on the ground of ignorance and good faith; but there is no excuse for those who use similar means to exploit popular credulity for their own pe- cuniary profit. The originators of such falsehoods are liars, deceivers, and not rarelj' thieves; but a milder judgment should be pronounced on those who, after discovering the imposture, tolerate the improper cultus. For it is no easy matter, even for the highest authorities, to eradicate beliefs or to check the growth of devotions which have taken a strong hold on the popular mind: the long struggle of the Inquisition with the Spiritual Franciscans, who, on the assump- tion that the rule of St. Francis was a direct revela- tion from hea\-en, attributed to the practice of pov- erty an ex:(iri;ii';i'i'<l importance, and cheerfully went to the stake iMilii r ihan relinquish their ways, is but one exampli' anmiif; scores that could be cited. There is always the fear of uprooting the wheat with the tares, and the hope of seeing the improper worship die a natural death; for devotions also have their changing seasons. The pope and the bishops are the proper authorities to act in these matters, for to them belongs the regulation of worship, both public and private, and it is the dutj' of every Catholic to abide by their decision.

The same reflections apply to another kind of im- proper worship, the cidlus supcrjhnis which consists in expecting from certain pre-arranged circumstances a greater efhcacy of the religious performance; e. g. to ex^pect a gi-eater benefit from Masses said before sun- rise with a certain number of candles disposed in a cer- tain order, by a priest bearing a special saint's name or being of the sujiposed stature of Christ. Triduums, novenas, First Friday Communions, nine consecutive First Friday Communions, Saturday fasting, though they seem to attach special im])ortance to number and dates, are apjiroved by the Church, because these dates and numi)ers are convenient for shaping and regulating certain excellent devotions. The Catholic devotions which are connected with holy places, holy slirines, holy wells, famous relics, etc. are commonly treated as .superstitious by non-Catholics who either reject all worship of saints and relics or assume pious frauds on the part of the priests who benefit by the