Seven Deadly Sins NCSU LYFE 25 February 2018

Why Did God Leave Us Worse Off from the Fall? Intellect Will Passions

Seven Deadly Sins “Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. ” CCC 1866

Predominant Fault “The predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail over the others, and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting. It is a defect that has in each of us an intimate relation to our individual temperament. ” Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, Three Ages of the Interior Life, Book II, Ch. 22

Uncovering Your Predominant Fault 1) Pray to the Holy Spirit—”Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: …” Jn 16: 7 -8 2) Examine Yourself through your motivations 3) Where am I particularly tempted

Uncovering Your Predominant Fault 1) "Toward what do my most ordinary preoccupations tend, in the morning when I awake, or when I am alone? Where do my thoughts and desires go spontaneously? " 2) "What is generally the cause or source of my sadness and joy? What is the general motive of my actions, the ordinary origin of my sins, especially when it is not a question of an accidental sin, but rather a succession of sins or a state of resistance to grace, notably when this resistance persists for several days and leads me to omit my exercises of piety? "

Fighting Your Predominant Fault 1) 2) 3) 4) Specific Mortification Particular Resolution Particular Examination Frequent Communion

Frequent Communion “A right intention consists in this: that he who approaches the Holy Table should do so, not out of routine, or vain glory, or human respect, but that he wish to please God, to be more closely united with Him by charity, and to have recourse to this divine remedy for his weakness and defects. ” Pope St. Pius X, On Frequent Communion “After Communion, let us not lose so good an opportunity of negotiation. God does not repay with ingratitude the abode in which He is well received. ” St. Teresa of Avila

Capital Vices in Scripture “…the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life” 1 John 2: 16

Pride “Pride is so called because a man thereby aims higher [supra] than he is; wherefore Isidore says (Etym. x): ‘A man is said to be proud, because he wishes to appear above (super) what he really is’; for he who wishes to overstep beyond what he is, is proud. Now right reason requires that every man's will should tend to that which is proportionate to him. ” ST II-II q. 162 art. 1 “So let your light shine that others may see it and give glory to your heavenly Father. ’” Mt 5: 16

Four Kinds of Pride “…either when they judge that they have their goodness from themselves, or when if they believe that their goodness has been given to them from above, they think that they have received it because of their merits, or surely when they boast that they have what they do not have, or when, despising others, they desire to appear to have in a singular way what they have” St. Gregory the Great, Morals of Job XXIII, 13

The Myth of the Self Made Man “Self-made men […] are the men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education; who are what they are, without the aid of any of the favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world and achieve great results. ” Frederick Douglass “every good thing comes from above, ” James 1: 17

Second Species of Pride “…when if they believe that their goodness has been given to them from above, they think that they have received it because of their merits…”

Boasting of What He has Not “surely when they boast that they have what they do not have…”

The Most Interesting Man in the World "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get. ’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. “ Luke 18: 9 -14

The Daughters of Pride 1) Presumption 2) Ambition 3) Vanity

Vanity “Pride is not the same as vainglory, but is the cause thereof: for pride covets excellence inordinately: while vainglory covets the outward show of excellence. ” ST II-II q. 162, art 8

The Remedies for Pride Humility--The moral virtue that keeps a person from reaching beyond himself. It is the virtue that restrains the unruly desire for personal greatness and leads people to an orderly love of themselves based on a true appreciation of their position with respect to God and their neighbors. Religious humility recognizes one's total dependence on God; moral humility recognizes one's creaturely equality with others. Magnanimity—Greatness of soul. It looks especially to honor and seeks to perform noble deeds. Its object is to perform actions that faith tells a person are great in the eyes of God, no matter what people may think of one's conduct.

Magnanimity God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling” Blessed John Henry Newman

Envy—The Second Sin Envy— Sadness or discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or success of another person. “It is by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it” Wisdom 2: 24

Daughters of Envy 1) Gossip, Detraction, Calumny 2) “I just don’t like him” 3) Misjudgment of a Person

Remedies for Envy 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Charity Prayer and sacrifice Think well of others Gratitude Emulation

Sloth “Sluggishness of soul or boredom because of the exertion necessary for the performance of a good work. ” “Sadness in the face of a spiritual good”

Daughters of Sloth 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Procrastination Boredom Curiosity Need for Novelty Pusillanimity

Remedies for Sloth 1) Spiritual Reading 2) Gratitude 3) Magnanimity

Anger “First, in relation to the appetible object to which anger tends, and that is revenge. Wherefore if one desire revenge to be taken in accordance with the order of reason, the desire of anger is praiseworthy, and is called ‘zealous anger’ [Cf. Gregory, Moral. v, 45. On the other hand, if one desire the taking of vengeance in any way whatever contrary to the order of reason, for instance if he desire the punishment of one who has not deserved it, or beyond his deserts, or again contrary to the order prescribed by law, or not for the due end, namely the maintaining of justice and the correction of defaults, then the desire of anger will be sinful, and this is called sinful anger. ” ST II-II, q. 158, art. 2

Remedies for Wrath 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Reflect before acting Mortify the emotion Distract/mortify memory imagination Patience Meekness Pray

Avarice An excessive or insatiable desire for money or material things. “the love of money is the root of all evil” 1 Tim 6: 10

Remedies for Avarice 1) Examine Intentions 2) Generosity 3) Poverty of Spirit

Gluttony “Gluttony denotes, not any desire of eating and drinking, but an inordinate desire. Now desire is said to be inordinate through leaving the order of reason, wherein the good of moral virtue consists: and a thing is said to be a sin through being contrary to virtue. ” ST II-II q. 148, art. 1

Remedies for Gluttony 1) 2) 3) 4) Fasting Sacrifice at every meal Temperance Chastity

Lust An inordinate desire for or enjoyment of sexual pleasure. The desires or acts are inordinate when they do not conform to the divinely ordained purpose of sexual pleasure, which is to foster the mutual love of husband wife and, according to the dispositions of providence, to procreate and educate their children.

Remedies for Lust 1) Chastity 2) Custody of the Eyes 3) Avoid Idleness and Near Occassions