How God Sees Our Soul in Sin

God made us to His Own image and likeness. He bestowed upon us an intelligence and a will, a heart and a conscience, so that we are intelligent and moral beings. So, the malice of sin consists in this: that an intelligent creature, having the power of will, deliberately and consciously opposes the will of its Maker, and thus becomes, like Lucifer, a rebel spirit against God.

To understand, then, what sin is, it would be necessary for us to understand the greatness of God, Himself. Since God is infinitely Good, then likewise, evil must be infinitely malicious, for the greater a good is, the greater evil must be to that which it opposes.

In other words, we should never be able to comprehend the great evil and malice of sin, because, in this life, we shall never be able to understand Whom God is. But, besides this truth, we may obtain some idea of the magnitude of Mortal Sin by considering its effects to our soul. Sin is called Mortal or Deadly, because it kills the soul.

When God forbade Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, He said, "On what day soever thou shall eat of the fruit of this tree, thou shall die." Those same words, God addresses to every one of us, "On what day soever thou shall eat of the fruit of sin, on what day soever thou shall break one of my commandments, thou shall die." If, for instance, we stay away from Mass, through our own fault, on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation, if we wilfully eat meat on Friday or a day of fast, if we take wilful pleasure in an immodest thought, though it be but for a moment, the sentence is passed against us, "thou shall die." The moment we have committed a Mortal Sin, we are morally or spiritually dead.

But then you may ask, "How can I be dead? My face is not pale, there is no coffin, no grave dug for me. I can eat, laugh, talk, and walk about, just as well as I did before the Mortal Sin was committed. How, then, can I be dead?" Ah! there is a death far more terrible than the death of the body. It is the death of the soul! And as truly as the God of Heaven has said it, the man who has fallen into Mortal Sin is dead, for "the soul that sins, shall die." Ezekiel

The soul has a twofold life: the Natural and Supernatural. The natural life of the soul cannot be lost, even in hell, because the soul is immortal. The supernatural life of the soul, which is called the Life of Grace, is the life received in Baptism called Sanctifying Grace, and this life is destroyed by Mortal Sin. God Himself is this life.

The very instant a Mortal Sin is committed, God leaves the soul, and it becomes spiritually dead. The supernatural life of the soul or sanctifying grace is gone.

The time of temptation came. It was a fearful time for the poor soul. The devils were near to tempt, along with God and His angels to assist. A single prayer, a single good desire, would have saved the soul. But no! the sinner closed his eyes to the light, stifled the voice of conscience, turned away from God and His angels, and consented to sin. At this very moment, the supernatural life of the soul or sanctifying grace, the noblest of God's works, created to the image and likeness of the Most High God, redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, was crushed and ruined.

And who benefited by its ruin? The devil.

After that Mortal Sin had been committed, did the stones cry out from the walls against the dead soul? Did the beasts of the field shun the sinner? Did the people in the street shriek as it passed, and flee in horror from the dead soul? No! all went on as usual, as though a mortal offence had not been committed against God. But! there is One in Heaven Who sees the leprosy of that soul, and hates the sin with an infinite hatred, as He punishes it with an everlasting punishment.

If a member of our family dies, we weep and mourn. If a friend or acquaintance dies, we are grieved, nay, if a senseless beast sinks in the field and dies, for the dead beast, there is sorrow. But if a member of our family kills his soul by Mortal Sin, which has been created in the image and likeness of God, not a tear is shed, not a moan is uttered, not even a word of sorrow is spoken.

Father or brother, husband or child, has forsaken one of God's commandments through his own fault, has drunk or eaten to excess, has consented to an impure or wicked thought, has committed a sinful action; goes home with a dead soul -- a soul killed by Mortal Sin. When he opens the door and brings a dead soul into the midst of us -- a soul, in which, instead of purity, there is impurity; instead of justice, there is injustice; instead of truth, there is falsehood; instead of mercy, there is cruelty; instead of meekness, there is anger; instead of the perfections of God, there is the direct contrary of those perfections -- do we then cry out in lamentations? Do we fly in terror from the murderer of his own soul? Not so.

But, were God to open our eyes and show us the hideousness of a dead soul, we should die of terror. Had we light to discover the real deformity of sin, we could not behold it and live. "One sin," says St. John Chrysostom, "has rendered the demons so horrible, that if God should cause them to appear visibly before us, the sight of them would strike us dead."

St. Frances of Rome says, "she would willingly have cast herself into a burning furnace to avoid the sight of a demon that has appeared to her."

St. Catherine of Sienna assures us that, "she would rather walk through flames than behold for the shortest space one of those hideous forms."

God showed one day, to St. Francis of Assisum, a soul in the State of Mortal Sin. The great saint was so frightened at it that he took flight, and hid himself in a dark corner.

Many centuries ago, there was a certain man condemned to suffer an extraordinary punishment. A dead body, black as night, was taken out of the grave and fastened in such a manner to the body of the unhappy man that it was impossible for him to free himself from it. The poor soul shrieked and shook with horror when he saw the terrible burden that he was condemned to bear. But when he felt its cold weight pressing upon him, the shudder of death froze the very blood in his veins. In the light of the day, he saw the frightful load of black death. In the darkness of the night, that dead body was his only companion. It soon began to rot, and the stench of it became intolerable. The worms came out of the corpse and crawled over the body of this poor soul. They crept into his ears, eyes, mouth, and nostrils -- never was there so shocking a sight! The people who saw this man at a distance shrieked with terror and ran away. The very beasts fled from him when he passed. At last, the unfortunate man, lost his senses, and finally death came...

Those who are in a State of Mortal Sin, carry about with them day and night a load far more hideous and loathsome than the poor miserable man. They carry a dead soul, that is rotten and corrupting in Mortal Sin. The better a thing is in itself, the more detestable it becomes when it is corrupted; and as there is nothing under Heaven so precious as a human soul, there is nothing, consequently, so thoroughly detestable and hideous as a soul destroyed by Mortal Sin.

Our Divine Savior Jesus Christ speaks of those who are outwardly fair and lovely, but whose souls are dead, "O ye whitewashed tombs, without you are fair and beautiful, but within you are full of filth and rotteness and dead men's bones." Matthew

Those in the State of Mortal Sin are like a grave filled with corruption; not the corruption of flesh and blood, but the corruption of the soul, of thoughts and desires, of words and actions. The soul, while in that state, is as yet a sealed grave; as no one on earth can see the rottenness within. Outwardly, perhaps, all is fair and beautiful. The tomb is yet wreathed with flowers and fine linen, but the day shall come when the clanger of the dreaded trumpet shall ring throughout the universe, and then the sealed grave shall burst asunder, and all the black and hideous corruption of the soul within it shall be revealed and made manifest to all.

Again, see that young man, with his appearance and stature, he shows you that he knows something of this world, that life has no longer any secrets for him. He has tasted the forbidden fruit, the poisoned cup of pleasure. It was sweet as honey to his lips, but bitter as gall to his heart. And yet, there was a time when that young man was pure and innocent. He was once a good Christian. His soul glistened with the brightness of Baptismal Grace, which sancified his soul. He was beautiful as an angel in God's eyes...

But, a day came when he was tempted. He neglected to pray. He closed his eyes to the light. He choked up the warning voice of conscience, and, turning away from God and His angels, he yielded to the temptation and fell. From that moment forward he became an altered being. He had committed his first Mortal Sin. Oh! the wailings of the angels of Heaven, and the blasphemies, the wild shrieks of the demons, as they rang out in glee from the depths of hell!

He sees nothing. He hears nothing. His brain is on fire, his heart is consumed with passion. The pleasures of the world open before him, and he is perverted. He no longer likes the Sacraments, Church, or prayer. He finds his delight only in committing more sin, in drinking and debauchery, and falling from one sin into another, he becomes at last utterly miserable.

Perhaps, he goes to confession occasionally, but he contines to fall back into the old sins, and finally gives up altogether. Then he begins to curse God's holy things, to wander farther and farther away from God, the most tender and liberal Father, the center of all happiness and glory, and the source of all peace and contentment. He begins to place himself in a state furthest from Heaven, and to live, as it were, in a strange country, in a dark land covered with the shades of death and filled with misery. He serves a most cruel master, who mistreats him, refuses him even the husks of swine, and suffers him to go about naked and poor, and dying from hunger. Outwardly, all may be fair and beautiful with him; perhaps he is the life and ornament of society, praised and admired by all; but within, his heart is full of corruption.

There was a time when this soul was rich beyond measure. It was then a child of God. During happy years, God kept an account of all the thoughts, words, and actions of that soul, of everything that it had done for His sake, and for everything there was treasured up for it a reward in Heaven -- a reward such as no eye has seen, no ear heard, and which never entered into man's heart to convieve. But, the storm of temptation came, the soul was shipwrecked by Mortal Sins, and all the fair treasures were lost. For all the good works there shall be no reward. The moment we commit Mortal Sin, even if it be but a sin of thought, even if it be for just a moment, that very instant, we lose the merit of all the good works we have ever performed, even including those of the days of childhood. And though, we should have lived for a hundred years in the practice of the most rigorous penance, and have acquired the virtues and merits of the greatest saints in Heaven, we lose it all, the moment we commit a Moral Sin. This is no exaggeration. God Himself declares it to us in the plainest terms, "If the just man forsakes the path of justice and commits sin, I shall no longer remember his good works, says the Lord." Ezekiel

What an incomparable loss! All the merits acquired during so many years, acquired with so much pain and so many tears -- merits which would have gained for us in Heaven so many new degrees of never-ending glory -- all are lost; and if we die in the State of Mortal Sin, they are lost forever.

How great is our pain if we lose all our property and find ourselves suddenly reduced to beggary! How great is our grief when we are forced to leave our native land! How bitter is our sorrow when we have to part from a beloved friend or relative, from a kind father or loving mother! How deeply we mourn the loss of her who watched over us in childhood! And for what have we lost all these treasures?

For what have we chosen to lose our God? For the basic trifle; for a desire; for a revenge; for a beastly, a momentary pleasure; for a small gain.

If a man breaks in pieces the chairs and tables, and all the articles of furniture in his house, if he sets his house on fire, and burns it to the ground, if he throws all his money and all his valuable treasures into the river, people instantly cry out that he has lost his senses. They seize him, bind him, and carry him away to the mad-house. Why? Because he wilfully destroyed his own property. But the moment we commit a Mortal Sin, we wilfully destroy all our treaures of infinite value. We cast away Heaven, our soul, our God. We have acted indeed like madmen, and unless we strive earnestly to recover those treasures, we shall assuredly be shut up in that frightful mad-house, in that dismal prison, where all those demented ones shall be confined forever, who, like us, have foolishly cast away their souls and their God.

By Mortal Sin, we have lost everything, and as long as we remain in that state, our arm is withered. We cannot earn even a single merit for Heaven. By our good works, we may indeed obtain the grace of conversion, but we shall receive no reward for them in Heaven, for they are not written in the Book of Life.

Indeed, when living in the State of Mortal Sin, our soul is pershing with hunger. The Holy Ghost no longer inspires us with good thoughts and pious knowledge. He will enlighten the mind, but at long intervals, with a pale and feeble light, like that of a winter's sun. In proportion, as the will weakens, the imagination grows strong, and fixes itself without restraint on foolish and dangerous objects, until at length the beautiful soul, created by God for Himself and to His Own likeness, finds it difficult to look up to its Divine Creator and say even a single "Our Father."

Turning aside from its Creator, it attaches itself to creatures, and grows careless about the great business of salvation. It finds the exercises of piety, interior and exterior mortification, obedience, and other religious duties, tedious and insupportable. Like the lost prodigal who wandered from his father's house, the heart craves only after the husks of swine -- sinful pleasures. And as we have abandoned our Heavenly Father, He allows us to go our way, withdraws His special and sustaining grace from us. God does not lead the soul to the execution of any good designs, since it has none, or, if it has some, they are ineffectual, and consequently come to nothing. God leaves the soul to do as it pleases in spiritual things; to dash against rocks -- that is, to lavish its affections on creatures who may become its utter ruin.

God permits the devil to have more power over one's soul in this state, to inflame the passions, and darken the intellect. Then the devil, having full sway, drives the soul wherever he wills. He tells it to stay away from confession; to enter a secret society; to go to the bar-room; to the gambling house; to the house of debauchery; to commit those secret and shameful sins; thus doing the devils bidding in all things. And thus the soul, created for Heaven, becomes the slave of the devil. The devil is ever at its side. He holds the soul bound fast with an iron chain. Day and night, he is accusing it, and begging God to suffer him to take it with him to hell.

Behold! the soul in a State of Mortal Sin, when God leaves and withdraws His Sanctifying Grace! He does not fail, it is true, to excite, protect, and direct it in the way of salvation; but, as the understanding is so preoccupied in sin and the devil's grasp, the will is weighted down with frivolous things, so this urging, this protection, this direction of God will not save a soul in such a sinful disposition, because His graces are too weak and too few for those in Mortal Sin.

In order to be saved, a certain number of graces are necessary for the understanding and the will. If God gives them to us, we shall certainly be saved. If He withdraws them, even partially, from us, we shall infallibly be lost; because, when occasions of sin present themselves, we fall, and, though we may rise again, we shall soon relapse, and after a series of relapses we fall at length so low that we shall never be able to rise again.

The salvation of a man often depends on a small thing, as great rivers sometimes have insignificant sources. The torrent of our misfortune may originate in a very trifling matter. A leak can destory a ship. A bad lock may give entrance to thieves, who will carry off the accumulated treasures of years. To kill a man, the sword, fire, or presilence is not always necessary. A crumb of bread, an insect, may do it, if God did not prevent it. A man, quietly returning to his house, encounters his enemy, and a quarrel ensues, swords are drawn and in a few moments he is killed. A traveller sees two roads. He takes what seems to him the better one; but it leads to a band of robbers, who rush out upon him, and take away his life. Had he taken the other road, he would have remained unharmed. Similar accidents are of daily occurence, which would not happen if God gave an inspiration. God does not give this inspiration, because men rejected Him when they are in the State of Mortal Sin, and thus have rendered themselves unworthy of such an inspiration.

God loved even the angels with an unspeakable love, and yet, for one Mortal Sin, He cast them into hell, to burn there for all eternity. And it is God who does this, Whose justice cannot inflict greater punishments than are deserved, Whose mercy always punishes less than is deserved, Whose wisdom can do nothing inconsiderately and without reason, and Whose sanctity cannot admit of either passion or imperfection. And yet, it is this God, so just, so wise, so holy, and so good, Who punishes those heavenly spirits with so much severity as soon as they committed a single Mortal Sin. Those princes of Heaven, masterpieces of the Divine Omnipotence, adorned with all the gifts of nature and of grace, whose number surpasses the imagination, who would have loved God, had they been able to repent -- they are all, without a single exception, cast into the eternal flames of hell for one single Mortal Sin -- a sin in thought alone. O sin! what a dreadful evil you are!

Even in this life, God punishes sin with frightful rigor. It was sin that caused men and beasts to be swept away by a universal flood. It was sin that brought down fire and brimstone from Heaven upon the impious cities of Sodom and Gomorrha. It was sin that scourged Egypt with such fearful plagues. It is sin that has brought on all evils and now afflicts mankind. This is an article of faith. "Sin brings misery opon the nations of the earth. " Psalms

Look around on all the evils that now afflict mankind. Call to mind all the evils that afflicted the world in past ages. Imagine all the evils that shall befall mankind until the end of the world. Unite together all diseases and poverty, all the tears and sadness, all the passions and ignorance, all the quarrels and hatred, all the famine and pestilence, the wars and earthquakes, all the graves filled with bones and dust, then say to yourself: All this misery, all this ruin, is the just punishment of sin.

Sin brings on sickness, shortens man's life, and leads to an unhappy death. The Holy Ghost assures us that sinners shall die before their time. Psalms

This is no surprise, for sin is the sting of death; its wound is always deadly. What destroyed the Canaanites and Amorrhites in Palestine? Their crimes. The measure of their iniquities was full. What tore the sceptre from Saul and his race? The sin of disobedience to God's commands. What robbed Roboam of ten of his provinces? The sin of idolatry of his father Solomon. What took the great Nebuchadnezzar from his throne, despoiled him of his purple, and reduced him for seven years to the condition of a beast? The sin of pride, with which he was inflated beyond measure. Intemperance, vanity, and above all, the sacrilege committed by the profanation of the Sacred Vessels of the temple, deprived Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, of his kingdom and of his crown.

Where, today, are the powerful and wealthy empires of the Assyrians, Medes, Greeks, and Romans? Where is the great Republic of Carthage, which so long disputed the sway of Rome? What has become of the famous cities, the superb republics, the great Troy, the wise Athens, the stern Sparta, the rich Thebes, and Corinth? They are no more. There remains of them only what is found in history. If the question be asked: "Why were those mighty cities destroyed?" It may be answered, that time, which destroys all things, that fire, war, and enemies, have brought about these misfortunes. But it may be said, with more truth, that their sins have been the time that destroyed, the fires which devastated, and wars which exterminated, and the enemies that depopulated them. For, as the wise man says, "Virtue elevates a nation and sin renders the people miserable." Proverbs

What is true of kingdoms and republics is true also of private houses and families. How often do rich and noble families fall suddenly or perish insensibly, and sometimes by unknown and secret ways! What is the cause of their fall? Without doubt, it is sin. The foundation of these homes is worth nothing, for they are built on injustice, ambition, and other crimes. They cannot last long; they must necessarily fall. "If the Lord build not the house," says Holy Writing, "they labor in vain that build it." Psalms

Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of Constantinople, after having employed all the resources of art to render his palace fortitifed, heard, one night, a voice from the seashore saying, "Emperor, you build high walls; but though you should raise them to the heavens, it will always be easy to take thy city, because sin is within it." And, in fact, the very day the fortifications were completed, this unfortunate emperor was assassinated. His sins drew upon him the terrible effects of God's vengeance, depriving him of his honors, riches, empire, and his life.

If the sin of Adam caused the death of all men, it is not surprising that the sins which men themselves commit hasten their end, as we see by many examples. God often punishes sins by depriving us of a fond parent or a beloved child. "Behold the days come, " said God to the high-priest Heli, "and I will cut off they arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house!" 1 Kings "The fear of the Lord lengthen days, " says the wise man, "but the years of the impious shall be shortened." "Sinners," says holy Job, "have been taken from the world before their time was come."

Where we turn our eyes, we behold the sad effects of sin, and the infinite hatred God bears to sin. If we look up to Heaven, we shall see that its brightest angels have been cast out for one single Mortal Sin. If we look into Paradise, we shall see how our first parents were banished from that abode of happiness for one single Mortal Sin. If we look into the abyss of hell, we shall see torments there, and hear howling and gnashing of teeth forever and ever, and all on account of Mortal Sin. But neither Heaven, nor on earth, nor in hell, nowhere in the wide universe, is the dread effect of sin so fearfully displayed as on Mount Calvary.

So great is the enormity of one Mortal Sin that it has brought on the earth all the misery and woe that men have suffered since the beginning of the world, and that they will suffer until the day of doom. So great is the malice of one Mortal Sin, that it kept Heaven closed against us for four thousand years, and it has opened wide the mouth of hell, which never ceases to swallow up its countless victims. So great is sin that God Himself had to become man, God Himself had to suffer and die, in order to atone for its effects. All the labors, all the sufferings, and all the virtues of the saints would would not have sufficed to cancel one single Mortal Sin. Had millions of the holiest souls endured, with incredible patience and constancy, torments more acute than the fire of hell, in order to blot out one Mortal Sin, they would not have been able to expiate it.

God, being infinitely Good, could not be appeased except by the shedding of the Blood Divine, by the death of His only-begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is of faith that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, suffered and died, in order to atone for the sins of the world. Jesus was most innocent and holy. Jesus was the only Son of God, and God loved Him with an infinite love. And yet, because Jesus charged Himself with all our sins, because He took upon Himself the semblance of a sinner, God punished Him with merciless rigor.

On the night of His bitter Passion, when our Blessed Redeemer knelt in the garden of Olives, His soul was sad unto death. His face deadly pale. He trembled in every limb, and in His agony His heart's blood oozed out through every pore of His body. He struggled and prayed. He wept and implored his Heavenly Father to deliver Him from the shame, from the torments that awaited Him. "O my Father! if it be possible, take away this chalice from me." But no, God's outraged justice must be satisfied. Jesus has taken upon Himself all our sins, therefore, He must also endure all our punishment.

God treats His Own beloved Son with justice, without mercy, in order that He might treat us with unbounded mercy.

For our sakes, God delivered up His Own beloved Son to the fury of His enemies; to all the malice of the demons; to the most infamous outrages; to the most atrocious punishments.

For our sakes, He made His only-begotten Son to become an object of horror and malediction; for it is written in the Word of God, "Accursed is he who hangs on the cross." Deuteronomy And Jesus, the God of all glory, hung on the cross, and died there, because we chose sin.

Alas! Everyone condemns the conduct of the Prodigal Son; everyone detests his ingratitude. But, after consideration, what conduct is more blameworthy, more damnable, more detestable and abominable, than that of a Christian who commits Mortal Sin? So let us turn to ourselves and see what we have done...

God has given us a being, a soul, far superior to all that we can see in nature. He has given us a soul that can never die. He has made us like Himself, free, intelligent, immortal. He preserves and nourishes us from day to day, every hour, every moment of our existence. He watches over us as the apple of His eye. But, more than all this, He has made us His children. He has made us Christians. He has chosen us to be of His royal race of priests -- that holy nation, that chosen people, whom He Himself has purchased, not with silver and gold, but with His Own Precious Blood.

Thousands and thousands lie buried in the darkness of heresy and idolatry, and God has chosen us, in preference to them all, to be children of His own true Church. He has given us His angels to be our guides. He has given us His Own dear Mother to be our loving Mother. He has fed us with His Own Divine Flesh, and nourished us with His Own loving Heart's Blood.

He has prepared for us a Heaven, where we shall reign with Him as kings in never-ending happiness, in the brightness of eternal glory. He has promised even to give Himself to us as our exeedingly great reward. And what return have we made for all these favors?

God has given us food and drink, and we have abused these gifts by eating meat on forbidden days, by gluttony, by drunkeness.

God has given us reason and a free will, and we have made them slaves of the most foolish superstition, the most degrading passions. We have defiled our memory and our imagination by the most shameful thoughts and images.

God has given us eyes to gaze on the beautiful works of His creation, and afterwards to see Him face to face in Heaven; and we have dimmed those eyes by gazing on immodest books, pictures, and sinful objects.

God has given us our ears, that we might listen with pleasure to His Word, and we have made those ears deaf to Him by listening to slander, to uncharitable discourses, and immodest conversation.

God has given us a tongue, that we might pray to Him, praise Him, and bless Him; but how often have we polluted that tongue by curses and blasphemies, by false oaths, by slander, by immodest songs and discourses.

God has given us hands, that we might help the poor, that we might lift them up in holy prayer; and we have soiled those hands by fraud, injustice, and secret abominations.

God has given us our feet to bear us to the hosue of God, and we have used them to hasten to the theater, dance halls, and places of debauchery.

God has given us a heart, that we might love Him in this life and the next; but we have loved some weak, sinful creature even more than God.

God has given us a body, to be the living temple of the Holy Ghost, and see how we have corrupted that body by the most shameful excesses.

Let us look back upon our past life. See how often God has preserved us from death and hell. God has made us His children in Baptism, and in return, we have crucified Him by our sins.

God has given us the Sacrament of Penance, and the Precious Body and Blood of His only-begotten Son to wash away our sins; yet, by our bad confessions, by our unworthy communions, we have trampled on the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

God has given us the Sacrament of Marriage, to preserve us from sin and to sanctify us; yet, we have dishonored that sacrament by marrying a heretic, by marrying out of the Church, by being married in a State of Sin, without even going to confession. We have degraded this sacrament by many abominable sins committed under the veil of marriage.

Ah! Is this the return we make to God for all His favors?

Listen to the sad complaint of God, our Heavenly Father:

"Ah!" He says, "had my enemy done this, had pagans and heretics dishonored and reviled me, I might have borne with it; but you, my friend -- you, whom I have adopted as My child in Baptism; you, whom, I have chosen to be My living temple, my dwelling place; you, whom, I have sanctified with My graces, whom I have nourished with My Own Heart's Blood; you, for whom, I had prepared a crown and a throne in Heaven -- that you should dishonor me, should crucify me by your sins! This indeed is the most detestable ingratitude."

If, after these reflections, we can still yield to our passions and commit Mortal Sin, we may be hopeless, we may be beyond redemption, and must prepare for that hell which the devil, for whom it was first created, had merited by such a wilful choice.

Let our eyes weep bitter tears for having gazed immodestly on forbidden objects. Let our face grow pale with grief, which blushed with sinful passions. Let our lips now move in prayer, which were moved so often with unchaste words. Let our heart, which glowed so long with sinful desires, be now crushed and broken with unbounded sorrow.

Prayer of St. Alphonus Liguori

O my God, Who are worthy of infinite love! How great has been my ingratitude! I acknowledge that my sins are multiplied beyond the number of the hairs of my head, or the grains of sand on the seashore. But, if I had committed only one, by committing it, I have offended Thy infinite perfections. Oh! Why then is not my heart penetrated with infinite grief and regret? I have sinned against Thy goodness, which I ought ever to have loved. A vile creature, a petty honor, a miserable pleasure, some vain interest, has been preferred by me to Thy sovereign majesty, which I ought to have adored, served, and honored.

Ah! My God, pardon my sins. O infinite Beauty, infinite Goodness! How could I have the audacity to insult and dispise Thee? Why was I born to receive so many benefits from my God, and still to offend Him so often and grievously as I have done? How could I employ in offending Him the hands, the feet, the tongue, the ears, and the heart, which He gave me to use in His service? O! Unhappy eyes! O! Criminal hands! O! Unfaithful heart! By my sins, have been the cause of the pains, the torments, and the cruel death which the Son of God suffered upon the Cross.

But, I now heartily repent of my ingratitude and disloyalty. I wish sincerely that I had never offended Thee, and I resolve never to offend Thee again! Yes, I would rather sacrifice all that I possess, and forfeit my honor and my life, than to ever offend so good a God.

Amen

Source

The Prodigal Son

Original 1875 Publication

Fr. Michael Muller, 1825 - 1899

CSSR or the Redemptorists founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori