Things to be considered so as to stir up contrition.
Things to be considered so as to stir up contrition.
§ 143. Furthermore, in order that contrition of heart and grief about the sins committed may increase in true repentance, we ought to embrace the following in our consideration and set them before ourselves.
(1) The inestimable punishments of hell which we have deserved because of our sins. Our finite intellect cannot comprehend their gravity, diversity, and eternity.
(2) The inestimable glory and happiness of eternal life, the hope of the possession of which is given up through our sins. We also cannot comprehend “the eternal weight of its glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).
(3) The severity of the final judgment in which the hidden things of darkness and the purposes of the heart will be revealed (1 Cor. 4:5). Then all things will be clear to God’s pure eyes and those of His angels, as if written by the rays of the sun.
(4) The multitude of sins. “Who understands sins?” (Ps. 19:[12]). “My iniquities have overtaken me; they are multiplied more than the hairs of my head” (Ps. 40:12). There must be a careful consideration of each of the commandments of the Decalogue, in what ways and in how many ways we have sinned. Inner and outward sins must be considered, sins of commission and omission, of ignorance, weakness, and malice, our own and those of others in which we participate.
(5) The enormity of our sins, which can become obvious on the basis of many considerations. Through mortal sins all this is lost: God’s grace, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, peace of conscience, salvation, and eternal life. Therefore as great as these goods are, so great must the evil of sin be by which we are deprived of all those goods. God is the greatest good, the infinite good. But now, through our sin we offend God. Surely, then, sin must be the infinite evil. Granatensis (Memorial., bk. 2, ch. 6, p. 28):
As often as we sin its practical judgment is being exercised in our heart, though we do not immediately feel it. On the one hand, we see the ease of sin, that is, the pleasure and advantage on account of which we sin; and, on the other hand, [we see] the offense with which we provoke God, and His friendship which we lose through sin, so that on the one side of the scale we put God and, on the other, the temporary advantage or momentary pleasure. The person who stands in the middle selects the loss of God’s friendship rather than the absence of a tiny advantage or pleasure. What more terrible thing can a person think up than to place so cheap a thing ahead of God the Creator?
God pursues sin with an infinite and, to us, an incomprehensible hatred, which the eternal and infinite punishments of the condemned reveal. Therefore, how much more fitting is it for us to hate it in ourselves with an infinite hatred (if that were possible)?
(6) The abundance of divine benefits, which we cannot understand with thinking nor express with words. As many creatures as there are in the whole universe, as many members of the body as there are, so many testimonies do we have of divine kindness. What shall we say about the benefit of redemption, calling, preservation from evil, etc.? Therefore must not the fact that we offend so benevolent and generous a Father with our sins, that we repay Him with such bad grace for His countless blessings, be detested? When each and every one of these points is considered distinctly and plainly, let the sinner turn to the Lord by devout prayers, humbly acknowledge and deplore his sins, and pray suppliantly that they be forgiven him. In this matter devout minds will be able to be served by the Enchiridion of meditations and prayers which we published a short time ago and also by the Hortulus animae published by Mr. Cramer.