79: Hearts
Chapter 79, "The Heart," describes the heart as a powerful faculty meant to obey reason and discern true good, but which, when uncontrolled, becomes a source of inordinate lust and moral ruin. When intellect fails to guide affections, individuals become slaves to their passions, pursuing fleeting pleasures that lead to spiritual degradation. The text warns that allowing even "pure love" to degenerate, often through voluntary forgetfulness of one's human frailty and concupiscence, can lead to serious sin. Therefore, to maintain purity, one must maintain custody over their heart's affections, guided by right reason and faith, and be prepared to radically eradicate any wrong attachments through mortification and self-control.
For the full audiobook can be obtained here. The contents of this volume appeared originally in The Catholic Transcript, of Hartford, Connecticut, in weekly installments, from February, 1901, to February, 1903.
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