Mary’s School of Sanctity

In the second, third, and fourth exercises, we address sin in its other aspects and with a greater intensity of understanding of what exactly sin is.

The preparatory prayer is the same as the first exercise: I ask God Our Lord the grace that all my intentions, actions, and works may be directed purely to the service and praise of the Divine Majesty.

THE SECOND EXERCISE {personal sin}

For this exercise the usual preparatory prayer is used which is given above. 

The second exercise’s meditation is in some ways a repeat of the first exercise.  In this meditation the FIRST PRELUDE is the same mental image of seeing one’s own soul in his corruptible body as St. Ignatius says, “the mental image will consist in imagining, and considering my soul imprisoned in its corruptible body, and my entire being in this vale of tears as an exile among brute beasts.  By entire being, I mean both body and soul."       

The SECOND PRELUDE is to ask God Our Lord for what I desire.  I shall here beg for an ever increasing and intense sorrow and tears for my sins.

THE FIRST POINT is the review of my sins.  I shall recall to my mind all the sins of my life, looking at them year by year, and period by period.  Three things will help me to do this: first, I shall recall to my mind the place and house where I lived; secondly the associations I have had with others; thirdly, the positions which I have filled.

 The SECOND POINT is to weigh my sins, considering the loathsomeness and the malice that every mortal sin has in itself, even though it were not forbidden.

The THIRD POINT is to consider who I am and abase myself by these examples:

1. What am I in comparison to all men?

2. What are men in comparison with the angels and saints of heaven?

3. What is all creation in comparison with God? Then myself alone, what can I be?

4. Let me consider all my own corruption and foulness of body.

5. Let me see myself as a sore and an abscess from whence have come forth so many sins, so many evils, and the most vile poison.

The FOURTH POINT is now to consider who God is, against whom I have sinned, recalling His attributes and comparing them to their contraries in me: His wisdom to my ignorance; His omnipotence to my weakness; His justice with my iniquity; His goodness with my sinfulness.

The FIFTH POINT is to be struck with amazement and filled with a growing emotion as I consider how creatures have suffered me to live, and have sustained me in life.  How the angels, the swords of Divine Justice, tolerated me, guarded me, and prayed for me.  How the saints have interceded and prayed for me.  How the heaven, moon, and stars, and the elements; fruits, birds, fishes, and animals have all served my needs.  How the earth has not opened and swallowed me up, creating new hells that I might suffer eternal torment in them.

COLLOQUY. I will end this meditation with a colloquy directing my thoughts to God’s mercy.  I will give thanks to Him for having granted me life until now, and I will resolve with the help of His grace to amend my life for the future.  Close with an “Our Father.”

In this second exercise St. Ignatius has us take a hurried glance over our past life in order to convince ourselves of our sinfulness.  Without entering upon an exact examination of our conscience, he wants us to consider the ten, twenty, forty, or more years which we have lived thus far.  Perhaps we will not be able to find a year without some grievous sin in it.  Perhaps there are many grievous sins.

In our examination St. Ignatius would have us not forget to examine the five senses of our body and the powers of our soul which are all desecrated and withdrawn from the service of God.  For indeed, we have sinned with our eyes, our ears, our tongue, through stubbornness, self-love, self-will, willfulness, and selfishness; we have abused all our faculties.  We must bear in mind the commandments of God and His Church which we have broken.  Likewise, we must not forget our duties-of-state which we have neglected; the capital sins of which we are guilty; the graces and the sacraments which we have abused.  Let us recall the places, hidden and public, where we stayed and not forget to recall the persons against whom we have sinned, in thought, word, and deed; our parents, our superiors, our brethren, our inferiors.  We should not forget those whom we have induced to commit sin by our bad example and by the scandal we gave.

St. Ignatius knows that this short examination is very beneficial because it wakes us up from our sleep of sin because we have indeed become lethargic and are callous to sin.  This review of our lives also reminds us of our debt to God and urges us on to do penance and return like the Prodigal Son.

Because St. Ignatius wants us to be convinced of the grievousness of sin, he sets forth his points to help us see the enormity of sin.

In his Sketches for the Exercises of An Eight Days’ Retreat, Fr. Hurter, S. J. presents many good points to help us see this enormity.  He discusses the abyss of ingratitude, the abyss of misery; the abyss of malice; and the horror of sin, both mortal and venial!!!!

Let us consider his points one by one.

I) THE ABYSS OF INGRATITUDE

Sin encloses within itself an abyss of the most hateful ingratitude because of the nature of what man does when he sins.

a. He returns evil for good.  Instead of thanking God for His innumerable benefits, he offends Him and despises His holy Will.

b. But the ingratitude of the sinner is still more contemptible because he abuses the very benefits of God to offend his Benefactor.  With the eyes which God gave him; with the tongue which God loosened for him; with all the powers and abilities which God bestowed upon him.

c. This ingratitude becomes still greater because man offends God at the very moment in which God is conferring benefits upon him and is thinking of new benefits.    For the very moment in which God preserves us in being, gives us health and strength of body and soul, and protects us against the heavenly powers who are but too eager to avenge themselves on us wretched creatures for offending their Lord and God.  [Ponder also that He brings us to a better knowledge of ourselves, brings us to contrition, and to return to Him, and then, makes us partakers of eternal bliss].[1]

Fr. Hurter relates the example of St. Polycarp being asked to deny his faith saying, “It is eighty-six years since I began to serve the Lord, and never has He done anything against me:  How can I now have the heart to blaspheme my King Who has redeemed me?”  This tremendous and edifying example is something to keep in mind when we are sorely tempted.  We see that we must ever shun ingratitude to God and we must give Him what we owe Him with devotion and love.

II) THE ABYSS OF MISERY

Grievous sin contains unspeakable misery.  Here is how Fr. Hurter sets forth some of the sad consequences which grievous sin produces in the soul:

a. The soul loses its baptismal grace.  Baptismal grace is so beautiful because God’s light shines in the soul.  But through mortal sin, the soul becomes deformed and is not acceptable to God.  Therefore, the soul that departs this life in this state must hear the words, “Depart from Me, ye cursed.”[2]

b. The innocent soul in the state of grace is a child of God, a brother of Jesus Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost; by sin he becomes a child of wrath, a slave of the evil spirit.  Can we think of a greater degradation?  The debasement of a lost son, a child well brought up, of good parents, is but a faint picture of the degradation of a human being fallen into mortal sin.[3]

c. Before the sin the innocent one was rich in graces and merits; for all the good done in this state has a golden value, meritorious for eternity, and in the days of innocence so much was done.  But all this is lost by mortal sin.  To the sinner these words may be applied: “Because thou sayest: I am rich and made wealthy, and have need of nothing; and knowest thou not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor and blind, and naked.” (Apoc. 3:17)[4]

In addition to these consequential points, Fr. Hurter explains further,

Before sinning, the innocent man led a supernatural life, a life of grace. Sin robs him of this life. He dies, and how gruesome is his death! Death is the more disastrous, the higher the scale of life in which the creature was.[5] 

Fr. Hurter goes on to compare the life of a flower with that of an irrational animal and says that of course the death of an animal is more unpleasant because the animal is a higher form of life.  The death of an irrational animal is not as unpleasant as the death of a man[6] because man is the highest material creature. Then he says:

The corpse of a man scares us, and it takes time and self-conquest to become accustomed to the sight.  Why?  Because human life is considered more perfect.  But how much higher and more perfect is the supernatural life of grace.  Therefore, in the light of faith and in the eyes of the angels and saints, the condition of the soul that has lost this life is much more gruesome.[7]

This simple comparison really tells us the serious reality of the disaster of mortal sin.  Fr. Hurter’s words are striking when he adds:

No earthquake, no conflagration, no flood in the richest field of the earth can bring about a devastation as great as mortal sin does in the paradise of an innocent soul.  What a folly the sinner commits who at such a loss flings away the grace of God.[8]

III) THE ABYSS OF MALICE

Mortal sin contains an abyss of malice because grievous sin is an offense against God. The gravity of an offense is based upon the difference between the person offended and the offender.   The higher the dignity of the person offended, the more grievous is the offense.

This is the reason why St. Ignatius has the exercitant make the comparisons of himself with all men; men to the angels and saints in heaven; and then all creation to God. 

Fr. Hurter draws these comparisons out, as follows:

a. What is one man compared to the entire human race?  A mere cipher, a speck of dust, a drop of water compared to the ocean.  What are all men in comparison with the heavenly court? Miserable beings.  And what are all the angels when weighed against God? ‘Behold the gentiles are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance; behold the islands are as a little dust.’ (Isaias 40:15) hence what am I in comparison with God?[9]

To further illustrate the wretched malice connected with sin, Fr. Hurter addresses St. Ignatius’s FOURTH POINT here:

And to become still more penetrated with my nothingness when compared with God, let me review the perfections of God.  God is so infinitely wise, and I so ignorant; God all-powerful, who poises the universe in His fingers, I so impotent, scarcely able to move a rock from its place; God immense, and I bound to space and place; God from eternity, I but from yesterday; God infinite and perfect, and I so limited and imperfect.  And yet I, a mite, have dared to say to God: ‘I will not serve.  You have indeed forbidden, but for all that I’ll do it, I do not care for Your Will.’  What malice![10]

This description is so appalling and yet an absolutely true picture of what the mortal sinner does to God, his Creator.

Fr. Hurter adds still more sobriety in his last two sub-points:

b. To this malice is allied presumption.  Or is it not rashness to sin before His eyes, in His presence? If children wish to violate the precepts of their parents, they do so secretly, behind their backs; not so the sinner, who breaks the command of God openly, before His very eyes.[11]

c. The sinner’s demeanor is indeed very bold, because he dares to offend Him in Whose Hands he is.  On His Hands depends life and death, heaven and hell.[12]

These last two points certainly show how with unspeakable audacity we humans offend God and manifest an utter lack of the gift of the Holy Ghost, that is, fear of the Lord.  We should shudder at such boldness!

If all of the above material has not yet brought the fruit of this meditation, namely intense sorrow and tears, we should beg for spiritual help from our heavenly helpers as we dig deeper into the concept of the horror of sin.  So far, we have been focusing on mortal sins; however, we must not forget that venial sins are infinite offenses against God as well!!

Are we in earnest when we resolve to avoid mortal sin above all things?  Then we must extend our resolution also to venial sin.  Without this resolution we can hardly succeed in always avoiding mortal sin.[13]

The Church also wants us to avoid venial sin.  She shows this in the conditions She requires for obtaining a plenary indulgence.  Not only are Holy Confession and Holy Communion required, but also is the intention to not have any attachment to deliberate venial sin.

Likewise, we must remember Our Dear Lord’s words, “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth Me.  And he that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (St, John 14:21).  We cannot fool Our Lord.  We cannot claim to care about Him if we have no regard for His commandments.

The following are some key points given by Fr. Hurter to help rouse in us a true horror of all sin.

I.  We can look at the great multitude of our venial sins.

We can take a look at our lives in a similar way in which St. Ignatius had us examine our possible mortal sins—looking at the places we have lived, the persons we have associated with, at the senses of our bodies, the powers of our soul (which we have desecrated), at the duties we have neglected, at the graces we have abused, and bad examples we have given, by word and deed.  Truly as it says in the Mass prayers, we have “innumerable sins, offences, and negligences.”

Even though our sinfulness should startle us, we should not give up in despair, but blush for shame, and learn humility.  We should strive to diminish our daily faults and weaknesses.[14]

II. We can consider the grievousness of venial sins.

These sins are offences against God Who is infinitely great.  Thus, even the least offence to infinite majesty is a very great evil.  If we are careful so as not to offend our loved ones or friends, how much more should we take the greatest care not to offend God Who is supreme goodness and Our heavenly Father?

Venial sin defiles the soul.  Because our souls have been given sanctifying grace and thus made stately in the image and likeness of God, it is a horrific thing to stain the soul with venial sin. We would be ashamed if we were to appear before the angels in a filthy condition, let alone appear before God in this soiled state.  Therefore, it is perfectly understandable that soiled souls prefer to plunge themselves into Purgatory because they know they are unworthy to appear before God.

Venial sin shows its malicious character in the fact that it paves the way to mortal sin.  Because venial sin weakens the will, it especially weakens the soul and makes the conscience callous to sin; the soul can fall when a storm of temptation to commit a mortal sin arises. “He that contemneth small things, shall fall little by little” (Eccl. 19:1).  Therefore, it is all the more crucial to make a firm resolution not to play with venial sin, so one will not fall into mortal sin.  The saints worked to keep their consciences delicate and were truly frightened away from mortal sins.[15]

The causes of venial sin and the means to become free from deliberate venial sin.  Another helpful aspect of Fr. Hurter’s treatment of sin is his accurate assessment of the causes of venial sins and the means to become entirely free from deliberate venial sins, and at least to diminish the number of our faults and failures.

He says, “The first cause is sloth.  When this vice rules us, venial sin and faults thrive luxuriantly.  The remedy for it is fervor, for experience tells us that venial sin will disappear as a fog before the sun when we are all aglow with fervor.” 

He tells us, “The second cause is a want of watchfulness and of mortification of the senses.  If we let our senses roam about freely, the spirit of the world will soon take hold of us.  All kinds of distraction will appear, and with them temptations. The spirit being already weak will be taken by surprise and yield, now to this, then to that fault.”

Then he tells us, “The third cause is conceit.  Whoever over-estimates his own powers, is overconfident in himself, takes too little heed of danger, and is less careful to avoid occasions, will soon learn from his own experience how weak he is.  And the Lord will the sooner permit him to take a false step, the more he trusts in himself and prefers himself to others.  Pride goes before a fall.”[16] 

The means to avoid deliberate venial sins are based upon St. Ignatius’s Rules for the Discernment of Spirits.  We can see by what he says below that certainly agere contra[17] is needed to combat sin.

Fr. Hurter says, “If we are in earnest when we make a resolution against grievous sin, we must take up the fight against venial sin with unshaken firmness, and consider it no small evil with which we can afford to play.  We must be zealous, watch the various occasions, not trust too much to ourselves, and be discreet and humble.  Then with the grace of God we shall avoid all deliberate venial sin and shall considerably diminish the cloud of human weakness and miseries.”[18] 

Along with the resolution to avoid deliberate venial sin, St. Ignatius’s main goal in this Exercise is for the exercitant to have true repentance.  We have asked for intense sorrow and tears.  With all of the above considerations about mortal sin and venial sin, we certainly have much to inspire compunction of heart.  Let us try to see the entire malice of sin, and by the awareness of our own sinfulness, we shall be filled with repentance.  “My eyes have sent forth springs of water: because they have not kept thy law” (Ps. 118:136).  We must tell ourselves that for no price will we commit another grievous sin (if we have had the misfortune to have committed them in the past). This is the greatest misfortune that can befall us.

Let us beg God’s Mercy and not cease to beg Him to preserve us from such a horrific calamity!

THE THIRD EXERCISE

This is a repetition of the first and second Exercises, with three colloquies.

After the preparatory prayer and the two preludes, the first and second Exercises are to be repeated.  I [the exercitant, that is] will note and dwell upon the points in which I have felt the greatest consolation or desolation, or the greatest spiritual relish.  I will then make these colloquies in the following manner:

THE FIRST COLLOQUY is with Our Lady, that she may obtain grace for me from her Son and Lord for three things:

1.  That I may have a thorough knowledge of my sins and a feeling of abhorrence for them.

2. That I may comprehend the disorder of my actions so that detesting them, I will amend my ways and put my life in order.

3. That I may know the world, and being filled with horror of it, I may put away from me worldly and vain things.

Conclude with the “Hail Mary.”

THE SECOND COLLOQUY is with the Son of God.  I will beg Him to intercede with the Father to obtain these graces for me.  Conclude with the “Anima Christi.”[19]

THE THIRD COLLOQUY is with our Eternal Father.  I will request that He Himself grant these graces to me. Conclude with the “Our Father.”

THE FOURTH EXERCISE

 This is a résumé[20] of the third exercise.

I [St. Ignatius] have called this a résumé because the intellect, without digression, is to recall and review thoroughly the matters contemplated in the previous Exercises.  The same three colloquies should then be made.

Although we have covered three exercises in this lesson, St. Ignatius intends each of them to be done separately.  As one can see, they build off of each other but are intended to be done one at a time.  The exercitant is asking for a more intense awareness of the malice of sin and to have a true sorrow for sin and an extreme horror of sin.  We cannot build a fervent love for God if we do not fear to offend Him.

In our next lesson we will do the FIFTH Exercise ON HELL–THE PAIN OF THE SENSES.[21]