Examination of Conscience for Adults A comprehensive examination of conscience based on twelve virtues By REV. DONALD F. MILLER, C.SS.R. Imprimatur: Joseph E. Ritter St. Louis, April 7, 1959 Introduction Self-examination has always been considered a necessary means of progress in vir- tue. All Religious Orders and congregations have provision in their rules for at least one daily examination of conscience. While the practice is also necessary for lay people, there have been few booklets offered to them whereby a systematic examination of conscience might be made at definite times. Lists of sins may be found in prayer books and pamphlets, but frequently they lack completeness, or they make no clear-cut distinctions between mortal and venial sin, or they make no reference to the helps and counsels that might build up virtue and prevent sin. The object of this booklet is to initiate lay people into the practice of concentrating their efforts at self-perfection on one virtue a month. It provides a fairly complete list of mortal sins to be avoided, of venial sins to be corrected, and of helps and counsels that may be practiced. For each month a short explanation of the virtue to be practiced is given, an aspiration is suggested for frequent use, and a prayer is added containing sorrow for the past and resolve for the future. The division of the obligations of the Christian life into twelve virtues is not one that can be made without some degree of arbitrary arrangement of material. There will be overlapping, some repetition, and not always a strictly logical inclusion of questions under a given head. The practical purpose has been kept in mind, rather than the theoretical; an effort has been made to bring into each month reminders of some of the fundamental obligations every Christian has, as these can be related to given virtues. A warning should be given to souls who are inclined to scrupulosity. Such souls are frequently disturbed by reading lists of sins, because they erroneously think themselves guilty where they are not guilty at all. They should have permission of their confessor before they undertake to make a minute examination of conscience, and in every doubt must obey their confessor blindly. Aside from the scrupulous, some persons may find doubts arising from certain questions because circumstances not mentioned may confuse particular issues. It is to be remembered at all times that a mortal sin is not committed unless three conditions are present, viz: 1) sufficient reflection, 2) full consent of the will, and 3) a violation of God’s law in a serious matter. The mortal sins listed represent only objectively serious matter; if one or both of the other conditions necessary for the commission of a mortal sin be lacking in a particular case, the guilt would not be incurred. In prudent doubt, a confessor should be asked for a solution. It is recommended that once a week during each month, the examen for that month be read carefully and thoughtfully. On some occasions this would be best done before confession. The ejaculatory prayer of the month should be said frequently every day. Bracketed numbers [] following prayers indicate the number of the indulgence according to the New Official List of Indulgences Preces et Pia Opera, dated December31, 1937, by The Sacred Penitentiary Apostolic in Rome. FAITH Faith is the theological virtue, infused by God, by which we firmly assent to all the truths that God has revealed to mankind because God cannot deceive or be deceived. Faith is the foundation of all justification, the beginning of all supernatural virtue, the starting point of sanctification and perfection. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” While faith is infused as a free gift by God, it nevertheless is given in strict accordance with the nature of man, and after it has been given it requires intelligent cooperation lest it be weakened or lost. This cooperation means three things: 1) Every Catholic must pray for the preservation and increase of his faith. Ordinarily, prayer is necessary for the attainment of any grace from God; since faith is the greatest grace, one who has received it must pray throughout life for perseverance and strengthening in his faith 2) Every Catholic must strive to be faithful to the obligations imposed through faith. To offend God deliberately and repeatedly is to run the risk of some day finding that faith has been lost through failure to cooperate with God’s grace. 3) Every Catholic must use his mind both to understand the motives for believing God’s word, which are perfectly satisfactory to human reason, and to know the truths revealed by faith, in which nothing contradictory, nothing inconsistent, nothing intellectually incredible is to be found. On the negative side, this means that every Catholic is bound to preserve himself, in so far as possible, from every influence that would prove dangerous to his faith. Therefore all sins against faith centre about either the denial of one’s faith, or the neglect of means to preserve and increase it, or the deliberate entrance into occasions that might destroy it. I. MORTAL SINS 1. Have I denied that I was a Catholic, or openly expressed my disbelief in any doctrine of the Catholic faith? 2. Have I affiliated myself, even for a short time, with a non-Catholic sect or religious body? 3. Have I suggested or encouraged doubts about the Catholic faith in the minds of others? 4. Have I seriously expressed the opinion that all religions are equally good or equally true or equally pleasing to God? 5. Have I neglected to settle, by reading, studying, consulting, etc., serious doubts about my faith, when such neglect was evidently leading to a loss of faith? 6. Have I, without the necessary permission, read or kept or given to others forbidden books, such as Protestant Bibles, books on the Index of Prohibited Publications, books that pretend or profess to disprove the truth of the Catholic faith or that profess to prove the truth of a religion contrary to my faith? 7. Have I, without a serious reason, associated with persons who tried to destroy my faith? 8. Have I attended meetings or listened to speeches or sermons which I knew would destroy or seriously weaken my faith? 9. Have I joined a secret society forbidden by the laws of the Church, such as the Masons, the Odd fellows, etc? 10. Have I taken part in a Protestant church service? 11. Have I contributed to the advancement of a non-Catholic religious sect or movement as such? 12. Have I consulted a fortune-teller in the serious belief that I could learn something about the future, or made others think that I could tell their future when I knew that there was no adequate natural means of doing so? 13. Have I attended a spiritualistic séance? 14. Have I planned to marry, or actually pretended to enter the state of marriage, before a minister, or a judge, or a civil magistrate? Have I approved of other Catholics doing this or stood up for them when they did it? 15. Have I, without the necessary permission or reason, sent my children to a non- Catholic grade school, or approved of other Catholics doing so? Or without serious reason approved by the diocesan authorities, to a non-Catholic high school or university? Or have I done these things without making any provision to safeguard the faith of my children? II. VENIAL SINS 1. Have I been irreverent in church and before the Blessed Sacrament? 2. Have I disturbed and distracted others in their prayers and devotions? 3. Have I kept others from prayer or devotions for some selfish reason? 4. Have I carefully avoided giving any sign that I was a Catholic because I might have been subjected to some ridicule if I did? 5. Have I read only such books and magazines as might be called dangerous, even though they are not strictly forbidden, e.g., books giving false and worldly views of life, novels that are frothy and barren of any principle? 6. Have I seldom, if ever, made an explicit act of faith? 7. Have I been slow in trying to banish or overcome doubts against faith? 8. Have I been careless and half-hearted in teaching my children to love their faith and to make acts of faith? 9. Have I deliberately passed up direct opportunities of informing others about the Catholic faith by going out of my way to avoid speaking of it? 10. Have I accepted the will of God and believed firmly in His providence in the sorrows of life? 11. Have I been irreverent in the use of sacramentals, such as holy water, the Sign of the Cross, etc.? III. HELPS AND COUNSELS 1. Have I frequently thanked God for my faith? 2. Have I prayed for stronger faith every day? 3. Have I purchased or borrowed books that could enlighten me further about my faith? 4. Have I read any Catholic newspapers or magazines to gain a better knowledge of my faith? 5. Have I thought at all about the important truths of faith: death, judgment, heaven, hell? 6. Have I tipped my hat, or bowed my head, when passing a Catholic church? 7. Have I greeted a priest, as a representative of Christ, when meeting one on the street? 8. Have I visited the Blessed Sacrament when opportunities presented themselves? 9. Have I sacrificed any time or self-interest to attend devotions or sermons not commanded? 10.