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The Four Pastoral Functions with a mourner. one who understands the word of s}mpathy, and then if he, a man who has th us shown himself a learned and merciful doctor, tells you to do anything, or gi ves ~0 11 an)' advice, do it. . , ,45 Finally, listening may aim to help the ministry of guidance by re· Becting back to the troubled person the inner mean ing of what he is saying. in order that he may hear clearl~- his o\\"n thou~ht$ when they are hidden from him, or confused, or equil·oca l. This kind of guiding develops insights in the belief th at self·understanding will provide one of the essential ke\"s both to the solution of the counselee's difficulties and to his spirituai growth_ A Cistercian monk. whose name we do not know, wrote sometime during the thirteenth century a beautiful and moving confession , a portion of which nea tl ), illustrates the importance of self-understanding to decision·maki ng. If I dared not look into my con~iencc I would remain in ignorance about myself. but now that I look within my soul. I am appalled by what I sec. The deeper I look, the morc terrible arc the things r find _ r hal'e not ceased to sin. flom the momen t when m" fi rst sin was committed long ago: nor do I cease 10 sin now. I am so .;:sed to sinning that I e:1Il look on the C\'il J ha"e done ,,-ilhoul 50110W at tea,s, 11,at ,,}one is like a sign of damnation . When one of the membrn of the body is without feeling. it is sometimes a sign th~t it is already moribund. One cannot cure an illness of which one is unconscioll S. ,t The modern psychological emphasis on uncoveling inner dissonances and repressions so tllat the counselee can work through with the therapist the dynamics of his inner Ch3 0S, has fi rm antecedents in the introspection of the monastic life and in the m~'st i ci\m that arose out of the medieval Christian monasteries. A1tllOugh our recen t psychology diverges greatly from that of the Cailiolic m ~ · s t ics. there appea rs between the two a similar profound con\'iction that Iroubles-especially those surrounding important decision.making ac! il'ity- abide in the human spirit, IV. T he Importatlu of DecisiotlS. The histo~' of the pastoral function of guiding shows constant effort 10 understand and describe human decisions and woes in their various detailed puts and yet sub specie aeternitatis. In the Catholic tradition, th is was accomplished mainly by discussing troubles in the language of dcmoni5m or by utilizing n Origen, In Pm/m :r>=ii. Hom. il.6. quoted b,' 11.. C . ~ I o , ti mt:r, The Origin, of Private P'nan« in th" \V"'t~ r n Church (OdOld: ,t tile Clarendon Press, 1939), pp. 2S-29. By ptrmission, 4~ From the f',-Icditatio !'iisima, II. Ceofi'e\" Webb .nd Ad,i.n \V ~ l~ er in The School 01 ~II-hlo,dtdge. t\ S)mPOI1~m -/lom .\lediae,al Sources (London: A_ R_ Mo ...·b•• y Ind Co .. LimIted, ]9;6). p. 3). B!' pt'lmiUJCI!.
T he Four Pastoral Furzetions the understanding of the capital sins. In Protestant circles, where the system of capital sins was rejected as too mechanical and anachronistic, th e church's guidi ng ministry still aimed at regarding human decisions as highly significant before Cod. If a man were possessed or obsessed by demons, he could make exceedingly detailed descriptions of his condition in a way that allowed him to acknowledge that he was a partiCIpant in a salvation drama of cosmic proportions. By the time of John Cassian [SEE: EXHretT 6). and with the subsequent modific .. tions produced by Benedict of Nursla and Gregory the Creat, a system of psycho l o l;:ic~ l understandings was articula ted t h~t was amazing in its detai l and depth. Pride was seen as the root sin, with six olhers arranged around it and nourished by it. Later on, even more details of the system of capital sins were: elaborated by considerinl;: each of the seven 10 be a breedim; ground fo r many other sins. Speaking of the e\'ih bred fr om pride, a late tv,'elfth - or eady thirteenth
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