SUICIDE

Notonlyissuicideasin,itisthesin.Itistheultimateand absoluteevil,therefusaltotaketheoathofloyaltytolife. GKChesterton1

There can hardly be anyone, at least in the western world, who has not known someonewhohascommittedsuicide.Myfirstexperienceoftheeviloccurredsome fiftyyearsago:themostrecentoccurredjusttheotherday.Eachmankilledhimself inthesamefashion. OneSundayin1956or1957Peter,aGreekgardenerandhandyman,camelooking for work at our Norwood, South Australia, home. Every weekend for years thereafter he would cycle ponderously the ten or so miles from his home on the westernsideofAdelaidetoourhome.Heassistedwiththerenovationworkonthe oldbluestonehouse.Duringoneperiodofschoolholidayswhichcoincidedwithhis annualleave,Iworkedwithhimonthefirstfloorbalcony.Thenhisvisitsceased. Afewmonthspassedandhepaidusacourtesycallwithhisbride,agirlhehad broughttoAustraliafromGreecewithhishardwonearnings.Ourmotherinsisted on the proprieties so we children were brought in to meet the young couple in the loungeroom.Peterseemedhappyenough,buthisnewwife,constrainedbyalack ofEnglish,seemedbereftofenthusiasm. A month or two later two Greek men, his brothers, came to the house to collect Petersbelongings.MyfathertoldmeinasubduedvoicethatPeterhadriddenhis heavybicyleunderatrain.

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Suicidehastwoaspects,objectiveandsubjective. StThomasteachesthatthehigherthespeciesofGodscreatures,thegreateristhe varietytobefoundamongtheinstancesofthatspecies.Thereis,thus,morevariety betweenonehorseandanotherthanbetweenoneoaktreeandanother;andthereis much greater variety between one man and another than there is between horses. Whenitcomestotheangels,thevarietyissogreatthateachangelfillsitsspecies,so thattheangelsdifferfromeachotherspecifically.Theimmensevarietyamongmen manifestsitselfuniquelyineach.Nomanistheduplicateofanother. Whereonemancancopewiththegreatestadversity,anotherwillbebroughttohis knees. Where one man is invested with sensitivity; another has little, or none. Whereonemanisstrong;anotherisweak.Yeteverymanhashisstrengths,evena man his fellows may regard as contemptible. Every man, according to the judgement of St Thomas, is superior and inferior to every other man under some

Orthodoxy,London,1908,Ch.v,TheFlagoftheWorld;mycopyFontanaBooks,1963,p.71.

respect. The richness of society lies precisely in this diversity of the strengths and weaknessesofitsmembers. What, objectively taken, is more irrational for a man than to commit suicide? What can a man give in exchange for his soul?2 I have known six people who have killedthemselves.Threeofthesix,atleast,weresubjecttofitsofblackdepression. FourwereCatholics.Eachofthesefourwas,atleastnominally,awarethatwhilehe might destroy his body, he could never destroy his soul. Each was, at least nominally,awarethattheinevitableresultofhisactwasthathewouldbeconfronted by his Judge, Jesus Christ, God become man, who suffered and died for him; and thatatstakewashiseternaldestiny.Whywouldhecommitsuchanact?Aristotles judgementhardlyanswersthequestion.
Whilstitistruethatthesuicidebravesdeath,hedoesitnotforsomenobleobject buttoescapesomeill.3

Wecannotweighthesubjectivedispositionsofeachhumanheart.ThatisforGod alone.Wecanonlyregardtheobjectiverealityoftheevilthesuicidecommits.

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Human freedom is grounded in the absolute power to choose one course or another.Yetthis,naturalliberty,isnotthelibertypropertoman.Itisbutmatterto theformofthatlibertybywhichamanchoosesendswhichbefithisdignity.Inorder that his liberty be true liberty, then, it must be conformed to law, i.e., to the ordinationofreason,whethernaturalorpositivelaw.AsLeoXIIIsaid
Nothingmorefoolishcanbeutteredorconceivedthanthenotionthat,becauseman is free by nature, he is therefore exempt from law. [Libertas praestantissimum, 20th June1888,n.7]

Accordingtohisabsolutepower,amancankillhimself,ashecankillanother.But, suchanactisnotinconformitywithhismorallibertybecauseitisagainstreason. One hundred years ago no suicide could be buried in consecrated ground. The worldwasstilla(relatively)rationalplace:thevastmajorityofmenbelievedinGod and rejected the sneering philosophes. Even those not invested with theinestimable giftoftheCatholicfaithyetretainedarespectforthetruthIdidnotbringmyselfinto existence; I do not keep myself in existence; ergo I am dependent upon some greater being thanmyself.ThefullimplicationsoftherejectionofGodimplicitinthevirussownby Martin Luther and Henry Tudor had not yet manifested themselves. Suicide was seenbyProtestantandCatholicalikeforwhatitis,thebetrayalGodsbounty.Few wouldhavedisagreedwithChestertonsstringentanalysis
Themanwhokillsaman,killsaman.Themanwhokillshimself,killsallmen;as far as he is concerned, he wipes out the world. His act is worse (symbolically considered) than any rape or dynamite outrage. For it destroys all buildings: it insultsallwomen.Thethiefissatisfiedwithdiamonds;butthesuicideisnot:thatis hiscrime.Hecannotbebribed,evenbytheblazingstonesoftheCelestialCity.The thief compliments the thing he steals, if not the owner of them. But the suicide
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Matthew16:26 SaidtobefoundintheNichomacheanEthics.

insultseverythingonearthbynotstealingit.Hedefileseveryflowerbyrefusingto liveforitssake.Thereisnotatinycreatureinthecosmosatwhomhisdeathisnota sneer.Whenamanhangshimselfonatree,theleavesmightfalloffinangerandthe birdsflyawayinfury:foreachhasreceivedapersonalaffrontThereisameaning inburyingthesuicideapart.Themanscrimeisdifferentfromothercrimesforit makesevencrimesimpossible4

Noonechooseslife:itisgivenhim.Noonebringshimselfintoexistence:this,too, isgivenhim.Noonekeepshimselfinexistence.Thematerialisttakeseachofthese realities,andthegoodnessthatattendsthem,forgranted.Likeapetulantchild,he asksHowcouldtherebeaGodwhenthereissomuchevilintheworld?Thisisprecisely thewrongquestion.Itisnottheevilthatneedsexplanation;itisthegood.Whence comethegreatgoodsthataregivenus?5 Today the public attitude to suicide in the dissolute West is, at best, ambivalent and, at worst, indulgent. Anecdotal evidence indicates that more than half the populace are in favour of euthanasia. For all practical purposes they are atheists; hardly surprising considering how subjectivism and materialism dominate the publicpsychetheoneensuringtheindividualisdrivenbyopinionnotreality;the other,thattheonlypartofrealityhewillacknowledgeisthematerial. QuemJupiter vultperdere,dementatprius.HewhomJupiterwishestodestroy,hefirstmakesmad.6There is an essential link between the modern thinker and the suicide. Each behaves irrationally,foreachdeniesreality. Yettherootoftheproblemofeachliesnotintheintellectbutthewill,awillfixed indenyinganyconclusionbutthatwhichsuitshim.
[A]lthoughthewillcannotforcetheintellecttoseeanobjectotherthanitis,itcan turnitawayfromtheobjectaltogether,andpreventitfromconsideringthatthingat all.7

Asfreshaircanneverpenetrateasealedroom,neithercanreasonpenetratetheheart ofonewhohasclosedhismind;andhemayclosehismindinanynumberofways. One who lives in systematic denial of the duties he owes God and his fellow man willnotescapetheconsequences.

Suicideisjustasmuchmurderasmurderproperlysocalled:eachkillsaninnocent human being. The thin end of the euthanasia wedge is, of course, personal euthanasia,orsuicide.Andjustastheclamourforthefiatofselfdestructiongrows among decadent western Christians, it is answered by a cry which has long characterisedtheMuslimamanisjustifiedincommittingsuicideifindoingsohe kills others he deems guilty of some wrongdoing. So is the folly of the materialist answeredbyafollywhichisevengreater.
Orthodoxy,op.cit.,pp.712. Andthereismuchmorethanexistence.Fornotonlyisitgiventoamanthatheis,butalsowhatheis. Andthewhatisitselftobedistinguishedintothematterofwhichheiscomprised,andtheformthat makeshimbeamanandnotadonkey,amonkeyorafish. 6AttributedtoHomer;cf.JamesDuport(160679)HomeriGnomologia,1660,p.282. 7ThomasMerton,TheSevenStoreyMountain,1948,NewYork:myeditionElectedSilence,(editedand shortened),UniverseBooksedition,1961,atpp.1501.
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 The mind that advocates or defends murder, whether of another or of oneself, is formedintheinfluenceofmankindsancientenemy,theDevil. Hewasamurderer fromthestartnevergroundedinthetruthaliarandthefatheroflies.8 Theinevitable destinationofthesuicide,ofthemurderer,isHellunlessherepents.9

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Modernist priests, their faith grown feeble through disobedience and systematic abuse of the Churchs liturgy, are wont to console those mourning the death of a suicidebytellingthemnottoworryunduly;thatGodisgentleandwelcominginall circumstances.Nothingbetterdemonstratestheirstupidity. Yet there is hope for those confronted with the suicide of a family member or friendasthefollowing,takenfromthelifeofStJohnVianney,demonstrates.
One day [in 1855 or 1856] the Abb Guillaumet, for many years Superior of the ImmaculateConceptionatSaintDizier,wasonhiswaytoArsTheonlysubjectof conversation in the [train] compartment was the marvels that were taking place [there].Seatedbesidethepriestwasalady[inmourningforherlatehusbandwho had commited suicide] who was listening with rapt attention. On reaching the station of Villefranche, M. Guillaumet was about to alight when [she asked]: Monsieur LAbb, will you allow me to accompany you to Ars? I may as well go thereaselsewhere Thepriestconsentedtoactasguidetothestrangerwhenoncetheyhadreachedthe village.ThecarriagewhichtheytookatVillefranchesetthemdownrightinfrontof thechurch.Theelevenoclockcatechismwasdrawingtoaclose,soM.Guillaumet ledtheladytoaplacebetweenthechurchandthepresbytery.Theyhadnotlongto wait.SuddenlytheCurdArsappeared,stillwearinghissurplice.Hestoppedin frontoftheladyinblackwho,followingtheexampleofthecrowd,hadgonedown onherknees.Hebentoverherandwhisperedintoherear:Heissaved!.Agesture ofincredulitywastheonlyreplyofthestranger.Whereuponthesaint,stressingeach word, repeated: I tell you he is saved. He is in Purgatory and you must pray for him.Betweentheparapetofthebridgeandthewaterhehadtimetomakeanactof contrition.OurBlessedLadyobtainedthatgraceforhim.Remembertheshrinethat youputupinyourroomduringthemonthofMay.Thoughyourhusbandprofessed to have no religion, he sometimes joined in your prayers; this merited for him the graceofrepentenceandpardonatthelastmoment.10

Yes,thereishopeforthosewhoputtheirtrustinGod,andnotinhumanopinion. MichaelBaker 5thFebruary2010StAgatha,Virgin&Martyr

John8:44 Cf.Revelation21:8;22:15;1John3:15 10AbbFrancisTrochu,TheCurdArs,StJeanMarieBaptisteVianney,London,1927;mycopy,Tan Booksreprint,RockfordIllinois,1977,atpp.539,540.

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