September 6

The Malice Of Venial Sin

Preparation. - After mortal sin the greatest evil we should rid of is deliberate venial sin. Let us consider, first, its malice in reference to God, and secondly, the severe punishments He inflicts on those who commit it. Are we not of the number of those who say: “That is only a venial sin; only a trifle.” We should never allow ourselves to think or say this, for, says the Holy Ghost, “he that feareth God, neglected nothing” (Eccles. 7. 19), for nothing that displeases God, is little in His sight.

I. Malice Of Venial Sin

It is unquestionably a great evil to wound our soul, the master-piece of God; but how much a greater evil it is to wound God Himself! And this is what venial sin does. It is in itself a want of respect for the majesty of the Creator, and act of ingratitude towards His infinite goodness, a resistance to His grace, to His will, an insult, light indeed if compared to mortal sin, to His adorable perfections, but immensely grievous if we consider the immense distance between the offender and Him who he offends. Does not a vile, helpless being that refuses to submit to the wish of Him who is infinitely great, commit a deplorable evil, an evil that ought to be regretted as dutiful children regret having displeased their father?

How much more to be dreaded is the evil of transgressing a formal law of the Almighty, even in a trifle, for nothing is to be considered a trifle, when it is commanded by so great a God. “I would prefer casting myself into a blazing pile,” said St. Edmund of Canterbury , “rather than commit the slightest offense against my God.” The mere thought of a venial fault caused St. Catherine of Siena a burning fever that consumed her and endangered her life.

And this is not without reason, for venial sin is an evil more frightful than all physical evils. If we could by a slight act of disobedience, by a single willful distraction at prayer, deliver from purgatory all the souls suffering therein, and even free all the reprobates and the devils from hell, we should not be allowed to commit such a slight fault, and why? Because to offend the Creator, the infinite Being, is a greater evil, than to leave all those creatures to be reduced to nothing or to endure the most terrible sufferings, sufferings which they have richly deserved.

How, then, do we dare to fail so many times against the law of God, by so many complaints, murmurs, criticisms, suspicions and backbiting; by so many faults against humility, docility, submission to God, forbearance with our neighbor, by so much sloth in practicing recollection, mortification, watchfulness and prayer?

O Jesus, my life is a tissue of weakness and unfaithfulness. Deign, then, through thy infinitely precious blood, to inspire me with the most intense horror of whatever displeases Thee, and enable me to put a stop to my tepidity, my negligence, and my indifference in Thy service.

II. Punishments Of Venial Sin

God is infinitely just; He never acts through passion, but always with a perfectly self-possessed wisdom, which never punishes any one beyond his deserts. And yet what do we see? Mary, the sister of Moses, being momentarily displeased, murmured against him. God immediately struck her with a hideous leprosy, and ordered her to be expelled a whole week from the camp. David, in punishment for an act of vanity, beheld seventy thousand of his subjects carried off by a pestilence. St. Clara of Montefalcone, not having at once repressed a feeling of impatience in her heart, was punished for eleven years with bodily sufferings and interior desolation. O how these and so many other examples evidently prove the immense evil of venial sin, for even on earth, the special place for divine mercy, it draws such great punishments on men.

What will it be in the next life, where is manifested the justice of the supreme Judge? The fire of purgatory, says St. Thomas, is identical with the fire of hell, and burns with equal intensity. Tertullian calls it a “momentary hell,” that is, a hell that will end, indeed, but of which the sufferings are, during the time of a twinkling of an eye, more painful than the roasting of St. Lawrence on the gridiron, says St. Augustine. He adds that a single day in that place of expiation may be compared to a thousand years of earthly torments. Hence, says St. Anselm, we cannot conceive the punishments reserved in the next life for the slightest offense committed against God.

Such, then, is venial sin which we fear so little together with its consequences; it is like a monster threatening us with the most horrible tortures. It stirs up against us the furnaces of heavenly wrath, of which we but too often forget the rigor, and prepares for us a pain unequaled on earth, the pain of loss or privation for a time of the beatific vision. A thousand fires greater than that of hell, says St. John Chrysostom, are not so painful as this torment, the most keenly felt of all. For to be deprived through her own fault of the supreme Good after this life, is for the soul in the state of grace an anguish as immeasurable as the infinite Good Himself.

O my God, I so often fear to inconvenience myself in order to avoid a light fault, and I am foolish enough to expose myself by my unfaithfulness to punishments more excruciating than the torments of the martyrs! Deign to preserve me from so many venial sins to which I am inclined. Enable me to conquer my impatience and irascibility, and my ill-humor which, at times, rules over me and exposes me to resist Thy grace. Grant that I may be more attentive and respectful at my prayers, more careful in keeping silence, in making a good use of my time, and that I may refer to Thy glory all my occupations and all the moments of my life.