The cardinal - mortal or deadly - sins have been used since early Christian times to instruct and control the behaviour of the faithful. The Catholic Church divided sins into Mortal (major) and Venial (minor).
Mortal sins were considered to strip away grace and condemn the sinner to eternal damnation, unless they confessed and were absolved, while Venial sins were forgiven as a matter of course when attending normal worship.
Various methods were used to ingrain the worst sins into people’s brains. One was the use of a mnemonic: SALIGIA. This stood for the Latin terms Superbia (Pride), Avaritia (Greed), Luxuria (Extravagance), Invidia (Envy), Gula (Gluttony), Ira (Wrath) and Acedia (Sloth).
Over time things changed a little and now the list from the Catholic Catechism reads as: ‘pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth’.
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