the tenth, then none of the sins would be forgiven. If
you committed a thousand mortal sins, and were sorry for all but one,
none would be forgiven. Why? Because you can never have God's grace and
mortal sin in the soul at the same time. Now this mortal sin will be on
your soul till you are sorry for it, and while it is on your soul God's
grace will not come to you. Again, you cannot be half sorry for having
offended God; either you must be entirely sorry, or not sorry at all.
Therefore you cannot be sorry for only part of your mortal sins.

*200 Q. What do you mean when you say that our sorrow should be
sovereign?
A. When I say that our sorrow should be sovereign I mean that we should
grieve more for having offended God than for any other evil that can
befall us.

201 Q. Why should we be sorry for our sins?
A. We should be sorry for our sins, because sin is the greatest of evils
and an offense against God our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, and
because it shuts us out of Heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains
of Hell.

We consider an evil great in proportion to the length of time we have to
bear it. To be blind is certainly a misfortune; but it is a greater
misfortune to be blind for our whole life than for one day. Sin,
therefore, is the greatest of all evils; because the misfortune it
brings upon us lasts not merely for a great many years, but for all
eternity. Even slight sufferings would be terrible if they lasted
forever, but the sufferings for mortal sin are worse than we can
describe or imagine, and they are forever. The greatest evils in this
world will not last forever, and are small when compared with sin. Sin
makes us ungrateful to God, who gives us our existence.

"Our Preserver," because if God ceased to watch over us and provide for
us, even for a short time, we would cease to exist.

"Our Redeemer," who suffered so much for us.

*202 Q. How many kinds of contrition are there?
A. There are two kinds of contrition: perfect contrition and imperfect
contrition.

*203 Q. What is perfect contrition?
A. Perfect contrition is that which fills us with sorrow and hatred for
sin because it offends God, who is infinitely good in Himself and worthy
of all love.

It can be a very hard thing to have perfect contrition, but we should
always try to have it, so that our contrition may be as perfect as
possible. This perfect contrition is the kind of contrition we must have
if our mortal sins are to be