Venial sin

Divine Intimacy,
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene O.C.D.
#101 Venial Sin


Always be fearful if you do not feel sorry for the faults you commit, for even venial sin ought to fill you with sorrow to the very depths of your soul.... For the love of God, take care not to commit any deliberate venial sin, even the smallest... And can anything be small if it offends God? (St. Teresa of Avila, Way 41).



May His Magesty be pleased to make us fear Him whom we ought to fear and understand that one venial sin can do us greater harm than all the forces of hell combined (Teresa of Avila, Life, 25). Indeed the real evil, the only one I have to fear, is neither temptation, nor trial, nor interior or exterior contradictions, nor the loss of material things or of health, but only what is contrary in any way at all to my union with You, my sovereign Good! O Jesus, through the merits of Your Passion, deliver me from this great evil [...] may my faults serve only to humiliate me, not to offend you.

"Are you not aware that God sees you always? ... O true Sun, enter my soul and give me light; melt the ice of my self-love and kindle in me the fire of Your charity. Peccavi, Domine, miserere mei" (St. Catherine of Siena).

The picture in this post is by Matthew Brooks; His book and online gallery can be seen at Art for the Catholic Restoration