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As daylight waxes, we, gazing into a mirror, see more plainly the
soils and stains upon our face; and even so as the interior light
of the Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience, we see more
distinctly the sins, inclinations and imperfections which hinder
our progress towards real devotion. And the selfsame light which
shows us these blots and stains, kindles in us the desire to be
cleansed and purged therefrom. You will find then, my child,
that besides the mortal sins and their affections from which your
soul has already been purged, you are beset by sundry inclinations
and tendencies to venial sin; mind, I do not say you will find
venial sins, but the inclination and tendency to them. Now, one is
quite different from the other. We can never be altogether free
from venial sin,--at least not until after a very long persistence
in this purity; but we can be without any affection for venial
sin.
It is altogether one thing to have said something unimportant
not strictly true, out of carelessness or liveliness, and quite a
different matter to take pleasure in lying, and in the habitual
practice thereof. But I tell you that you must purify your soul
from all inclination to venial sin;--that is to say, you must not
voluntarily retain any deliberate intention of permitting yourself
to commit any venial sin whatever. It would be most unworthy
consciously to admit anything so displeasing to God, as the will
to offend Him in anywise.
Venial sin, however small, is displeasing to God, although it
be not so displeasing as the greater sins which involve eternal
condemnation; and if venial sin is displeasing to Him, any
clinging which we tolerate to mortal sin is nothing less than a
resolution to offend His Divine Majesty. Is it really possible
that a rightly disposed soul can not only offend God, but take
pleasure therein?
These inclinations, my daughter, are in direct opposition to
devotion, as inclinations to mortal sin are to love:--they weaken
the mental power, hinder Divine consolations, and open the door to
temptations;--and although they may not destroy the soul, at least
they bring on very serious disease. "Dead flies cause the ointment
to send forth a stinking savour," says the Wise Man. (1) He means
that the flies which settle upon and taste of the ointment only
damage it temporarily, leaving the mass intact, but if they fall
into it, and die there, they spoil and corrupt it.
Even so venial
sins which pass over a devout soul without being harboured, do not
permanently injure it, but if such sins are fostered and
cherished, they destroy the sweet savour of that soul--that is to
say, its devotion.
The spider cannot kill bees, but it can spoil
their honey, and so encumber their combs with its webs in course
of time, as to hinder the bees materially. Just so, though venial
sins may not lose the soul, they will spoil its devotion, and so
cumber its faculties with bad habits and evil inclinations, as to
deprive it of all that cheerful readiness which is the very
essence of true devotion; that is to say, if they are harboured in
the conscience by delight taken therein.
A trifling inaccuracy, a little hastiness in word or action,
some small excess in mirth, in dress, in gaiety, may not be very
important, if these are forthwith heeded and swept out as
spiritual cobwebs;--but if they are permitted to linger in the
heart, or, worse still, if we take pleasure in them and indulge
them, our honey will soon be spoilt, and the hive of our
conscience will be cumbered and damaged.
But I ask again, how can a generous heart take delight in
anything it knows to be displeasing to its God, or wish to do what
offends Him?
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