23/05/2026
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πππππ ππ πππππ | Twenty-fourth Day
π ππππ§ππ§ππ’π‘π¦: CONSIDERATION UPON VENIAL SIN.
It is said, in an off-hand way, that venial sin is no great evil. But offending God is never a light thing. A God so great, a Father so good, a Spouse so pure, a Redeemer so merciful, cannot be offended by a Christian willfully, without the highest rashness and ingratitude. Would it seem to you a slight thing that the whole world should be reduced to ashes? Or what would you say if the whole of Paradise was to be cast into the abyss? And yet a single venial sin is a much greater evil, as being an offence of God. To commit a sin in a passion, from want of reflection, may be excusable; but to know that a certain lie or act of disobedience is a venial sin, and to commit it willingly again and again, this is as much as saying: "This little satisfaction to myself pleases me more, than offending God displeases me." And yet to displease Him habitually, to disobey Him at every turn, at every little occasion, without making any account of it, without trying to get the better of it, what a continual embittering of a Father's heart! What disregard, what contempt for Him in the heart of a son! If there were no hell, you would, with the same readiness, commit any atrocity, since it is plain that you make no account of God. But if you go on so, you will fall, sooner or later, into mortal sin too. How long, think you, will God dwell with a soul which is continually displeasing Him? And yet are you not aware that every day your strength is diminishing, and that you will fear death and hell less and less; and that God keeps retreating from you? Often you are upon the confines of mortal sin: you do not know yourself whether you have passed them: who can be sure that you have not committed it? You wish to be saved, and yet are always walking on the brink of the precipice.
πππ§ π’π ππ’π πππ: Behave with particular modesty in church, always keeping your eyes upon the ground at the time of the Holy Sacrifice.
π£π₯ππ¬ππ₯: "Munda me ab omni iniquitate mea, sancta Dei Genitrix."
" Thou who wert pure as driven snow, Make me as thou wert here below."
