Because we are sinners, justice requires each of us to make recompense to God for the honor we have denied Him by our sins. Because we have misused our goods, our souls and bodies -- as well as those of others -- the natural law requires us to strive to restore the order we have disturbed by our sins. Thus, the natural law and the Divine Law bind us in a general way to perform acts of penance. In order to help us fulfill this requirement, Holy Mother Church, knowing our weakness and laziness, binds us under ecclesiastical laws to perform works of penacne at certain times.
Throughout the centuries, these ecclesiastical laws have changed, sometimes becoming more strict, sometimes relaxing the discipline of penance. Regardless of the changes to the Church laws, which exist to make our obedience to the natural and Divine laws of penance easier, the fundamental requirement remains: "Unless you do penance, you shall likewise perish." Considering the alternatives of unending bliss in heaven or unending misery in hell, and considering that the effects of original sin and our own sins make us lazy and apt to forget our duty towards God, it seems much more reasonable to err on the side of too much penance, especially in times of relaxed Church discipline such as our own, rather than on the side of too little.
Only the Church can hold us guilty of mortal sine for failing in this or that specific act of penance, but we can certainly offend God mortally by neglecting penance completely over a length of time. This principle should be kept in mind when deciding on concrete penitential practices in accordance with the requirements and guidlines listed below. "Requirements for Penitential Days Under Present Church Law" details the bare minimum of penance which we much accomplish if we are to hope to stay out of mortal sin. Nevertheless, we will easily fall into mortal sin if we confine our entire penance for the year to those days and acts required by the current law. "Guidlines for Observing Traditional Penitential Days" spells out the strongly recommended practices which held sway until the Second Vatican Council. |
