A fine se divertit but not avertit.
Let O be the origin of co-ordinates, representing
man's start in life. Let f be the last end. Let p be
the position of a soul in venial sin; q the position of
a soul in mortal sin. It will be seen that the soul at p has
travelled praeter finem, not contra finem:it will have to
he reduced to order by penance and pain, represented
by the value of the ordinate p p' along the axis of Y.
On the other hand, q represents a soul that has
wandered away in a negative direction, quite contra finem:
if it leaves the body at that point, that soul is lost. By
penance it has to be brought back to the origin at O,
and so on to the positive side. Thus represented at the
last day, by points moving to the left and to the right
along the axis of X, as well as upwards along Y, the
histories of human lives must make figures of wonderful
complexity.