OF THE FRUITS of Penance.

PDF Pg. 138 (real pg. 262) of A Spiritual Retreat for one day (by Fr. Jean Croiset)

SECOND MEDITATION.

OF THE FRUITS

of Penance.

FIRST POINT. Penance is necessary for all sorts of men.

SECOND POINT. What the Fruits of that Penance ought to be.

FIRST POINT.

Consider that mortification and penance is the only way to heaven; Jesus Christ showed us no other way; and the saints who from their infancy were confirmed in grace, knew no other. 'Tis an error to imagine that penance is necessary only for great sinners, and no less an error to think that mortification is the virtue only of the perfect; if we be sinners we must do penance to endeavor to appease the wrath of God, and to obtain mercy and pardon; if we are so happy as not to have lost our innocence, penance is necessary for us to preserve that precious treasure; we have sinned, we may sin again, two powerful motives to do penance.

Since we all confess that men sin more frequently in the world, and that they are more exposed to the danger of offending God than in a cloister, can we reasonably believe that penance belongs only to monasteries, and that none but religious are obliged to mortifications? Do we consider that many of those religious whom we think indispensably obliged to do penance, never lost their innocence; & shall we who own ourselves guilty of many sins, and who are in danger of committing more every moment, shall we think to persuade ourselves that mortification and penance do not belong to us?

If we had nothing but our own passions to overcome could we reasonably hope to conquer them without the exercise of penance? and who can reasonably hope to be saved without subduing his passions?

It is an article of faith that none enter into heaven but those who do violence to themselves; and yet we pretend to enter there without mortification. The life of man upon the earth is a perpetual warfare, for S. Paul tells us that the desires of the flesh are contrary to the desires of the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are contrary to those of the flesh; how then can we hope to be victorious without the practice of penance?

We please our sensual appetites in everything, we are careful of our bodies even to excess, we follow blindly our natural inclinations, and in this condition we live without fear in the midst of the world where we are exposed to the greatest dangers. Certainly either we are of a different nature from the rest of mankind, or the devil stands in awe of us and respects us, or we are confirmed in grace, or else we are in danger (which is much more probable) to die in our sins: does heaven cost the most fervent and generous souls so much, and can we expect that the lazy and imperfect should gain it with less pains?

Saint Paul chastised his body, he joined a continual penance to the cruel persecutions he suffered, for fear of being perverted himself while he converted others: And shall men who dare not pretend to be anything near as perfect as S. Paul, imagine that they have no need to practice mortification?

Were the saints more frail than we? Did they expect another recompense? Did they follow another guide? or serve another master? Their lives were a continual mortification, are ours like them? And can we call ourselves the disciples of Christ while we neglect to do penance? Our Savior says, if any man will come after me let him deny himself and bear his cross daily.

True mortification is inseparable from true piety, not only because no virtue can subsist long without a constant an generous mortification, but also because no virtue is real that is not attended with it.

We have great reason to distrust our exercises of piety, our good works; everything is to be suspected in those whose passions are strong, & who are unmortified.

It does not seem that we are afraid of the difficulty, we dislike the motive, for what do we not suffer in the service of the world? Alas! if God required of his servants, all that the world exacts of those who serve it, I am afraid he would have but few servants.

How do we constrain ourselves everyday to please those whom our interest requires us to manage? what mortification so severe and so continual as a courtiers, a merchant's intent upon his trade, a soldier's, or a scholar's? Yet they are not discouraged, they seem satisfied amidst all their sufferings; but when God calls upon us to constrain ourselves a little, everything is uneasy, we find his yoke heavy, virtue frights us, we are disgusted, and the sole thought of mortification makes us lose courage.

But oh! we shall have other thoughts on a death bed; when the image of Jesus-Christ crucified is presented to us, will not the sight of it have a quite contrary effect? It will upbraid our delicacy and increase our regret for having lead so lazy, so sensual a life, for having neglected penance and mortification.

They present a crucifix to the dying, but my God! do all the dying find much comfort in contemplating a crucifix at their death? is it possible, my dear Jesus that the mortification which thou hast rendered so easy, should seem hard and insupportable only when we are to practice it in conformity to thy example, and for love of thee?

Oh! my God! what should I do, if thou hadst required of thy servants, if I were bound to do and suffer as much for salvation, as I do and suffer to ruin myself, thou requires less than the world does, less than I do and suffer in its service, and shall I refuse to do and suffer what is absolutely necessary for salvation, what I have deserved by my offenses, and what all the blessed spirits in heaven have done and suffered that they might imitate thee?

God forbid that I should glory in anything but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.

SECOND POINT.

Consider that by the fruits of penance is meant not only macerating our bodies, but chiefly the mortification of our passions, and the reformation of our lives; these are indeed the fruits which God expects from our contrition and penance; by these marks we may know whether we have made good use of the sacraments, and whether we be truly sorry for our sins, and faithful to the grace of God.

The exercises of devotion, the frequentation of the sacraments, and the practice of good works are powerful means of perfection; but while we retain our former passions with these powerful means, while we are as proud, and impatient, as peevish, as envious, as difficult to be pleased, as choleric, as unmortified, as full of self-love as before, can we reasonably rely no these pretended exercises of piety?

Mortification of the body is an exercise of penance, but that penance must have its fruit, which consists in suppressing our passions, in regulating our inclinations, and in repairing the disorders of self-love.

To what purpose do we confess so often, if in a whole years time we have not perhaps reformed any one of the faults that we confess? It is not enough for us to detest our sins, we must resolve to commit them no more, and how can that resolution be sincere if we do not likewise resolve to avoid the least occasion of sin? The execution of this resolution is properly the fruit of penance. In good earnest if we know the efficacy of this sacrament of penance only by the fruits we find of it in ourselves, should we have an high idea of it? It is much to be feared that our using ourselves by an unaccountable carelessness, and especially by want of contrition to reap no profit by the sacrament, will render our disease incurable.

A religious life as a continual penance, but is there no danger of its being unfruitful? What a miserable thing would it be for a religious to have done penance so long without any fruit? And what fruit can an unmortified religious who is of a worldly spirit, lukewarm and careless receive from all his penance? He is very much in the wrong who bears the cross, and will not taste the fruits of it? He would not suffer more, nay he would suffer much less, for those fruits are full of true sweetness.

It is certain that everybody has very much to suffer in this life; we shall meet with crosses everywhere, they who live most at their ease are not exempted: let us at least bear them patiently, let us unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Christ, this will not augment them, but it will make us reap fruit by them.

Another fruit of penance is a constant practice of mortification: My God! what fruit may we not gather from this practice? Everything in the world may give us an opportunity to curb our inclinations, there is no place, no time improper for it without deviating from the rules of good sense. Let him who loves Jesus Christ truly make a good use of these little occasions; have we a great desire to see any object, or to speak in some particular occasion? we may reap great benefit by casting down our eyes and holding our thoughts. If we have an opportunity to gain applause by saying something very seasonably, or by some witty piece of rallery, we have also an opportunity of making a great sacrifice. There is scarce an hour where in some subject of mortification does not present itself are we sitting or standing, we may choose an uneasy seat, or a painful posture without seeming to affect it. In fine, the inconveniences of the place, of the season, the disagreeableness of the company, born so that we seem not to mind them, are indeed little occasions of mortification, but the mortification itself is not little, in these small occasions. It is very meritorious, and I may say that the greatest graces and the most sublime holiness commonly depend upon a generous constant mortification in these small matters. A punctual performance of the duties of our community, an exact observation of our rule, a conformity to the common way of living in everything, without any regard to our age, are precious fruits of a mortification so much the more considerable as it is less subject to vanity, and more conformed to the spirit of Christ.

These are the true fruits of penance, what hinders our beating abundance of them? But there is another fruit of penance yet more necessary, and without which all the rest will avail us little for eternity; and that is the reformation of our manners, the victory over our domineering passion; let us observe what passion is most powerful, which habit is strongest, to what sin we are most subject, which is in some manner the source of all the rest, and of all the false maxims we frame to ourselves, in matter of conscience. All other sins may be strangers to us, but the domineering passion is our proper character, the fruit of a true conversion in to retrench our reigning vice, to conceive an holy destestation of that imperious passion, to fight against it without ceasing. The victory over this sin alone will deliver us from the strongest temptations: but we willingly attack our other sins and commonly spare this: and this is the true cause of our receiving so little benefit by our penance.

My God! what do we stay for to become fruitful? thou hast cultivate us with so much care, we are planted in a ground watered with thy tears and precious blood; how long shall we be unfruitful? what do we get by bringing forth only thorns? we feel their points, but we receive no benefit by our pain, because we fly from the cross. I am resolved my dear Savior to neglect nothing that I may not live such a barren life: I can do nothing without thy grace, I can do all things with it, since thou gives me this time for penance, suffer me not to abuse it anymore; my God I am resolved to begin this moment to bring forth fruits worthy of penance.

though the sinner's departure was gradual, his return must be immediate

VI. Consider sixthly, that although the sinner's departure from God was gradual, his return must not be so, but immediate ; for the particle as is not used here to denote proportion of similarity, but of quantity: and therefore it is not said, "Return as you had revolted," in which case the conversion would have to be of the same kind as the revolt; but it is said, "Return as you had deeply revolted," showing that the conversion should be in proportion to the depth of the revolt. There would be very little hope of any one succeeding in gradually climbing up so steep a precipice, since for each step that he made forward he would slip back more than one, so great is the power of inveterate habit, unless destroyed by acts which amount to the heroic. And, therefore, it will not do to walk up, he must run—he must fly; he must " take wings as eagles."1 Divine grace is waiting to supply him with them. With wings like these—wings not of nature but of grace, a Pelagia, a Thais, a Theodora, a William of Aquitaine flew swiftly to the summit of the most perfect virtue ; and shouldst thou require them, they will be ready for thee too if only thou trustest God as they did. All that He requires of thee is to set thy face resolutely towards Him, with the intention of drawing as near to Him as thou hast gone far from Him : "Return as you had deeply revolted, O children of Israel." It rests with Him to give thee such grace as will enable thee at once to accomplish what thou intendest. Thou mayest infer this, if thou art afraid, from the invitation which He gives thee. Does not He know that of thyself thou canst do nothing ? And yet He bids thee take a step of exceeding difficulty. This is a proof, then, that He has the grace ready for thee to enable thee to take it. Otherwise, what sort of an invitation would it be which He gives thee ? Not certainly that of so tender a lover as He is, but of one who mocks.

The Manna of the Soul

About Lent season

Some notable passages taken from the explanation about Lent Season from the book, "The Liturgical Year" by Gueranger

From: http://books.google.com/books?id=u_UCAA ... iQGMi6WnCg

During the two thousand and more years, which
preceded the Deluge, men had no other food than the
fruits of the earth, and these were only got by the
toil of hard labour. But when God, as we have
already observed, mercifully shortened man's life, (
that so he might have less time and power for sin,) —
he permitted him to eat the flesh of animals, as
an additional nourishment in that state of deteriorated
strength. It was then, also, that Noah, guided
by a divine inspiration, extracted the juice of the
grape, which thus formed a second stay for human
debility.
Fasting, then, is the abstaining from such nourishments
as these, which were permitted for the support
of bodily strength. And firstly, it consisted
in abstinence from flesh-meat, because it is a food
that was given to man by God, out of condescension
to his weakness, and not as one absolutely essential
for the maintenance of life. Its privation, greater
or less according to the regulations of the Church, is
essential to the very notion of Fasting.
Thus, whilst
in many countries, the use of eggs, milk-meats, and
even of dripping and lard, is tolerated,—the abstaining
from flesh-meat is everywhere maintained, as
being essential to Fasting. For many centuries,
eggs and milk-meats were not allowed, because they
come under the class of animal food : even to this
day, they are forbidden in the Eastern Churches,
and are only allowed in the Latin Church by virtue
of an annual dispensation. The precept of abstaining
from flesh-meat is so essential to Lent, that even on
Sundays, when the Fasting is interrupted, Abstinence
is an obligation, binding even on those who are
dispensed from the fasts of the week, unless there
be a special dispensation granted for eating meat on
the Sundays.
...For several centuries,
abstinence from flesh-meat included likewise the
prohibition of every article of food that belonged to
what is called the animal kingdom, with the single
exception of Fish, which, on account of its cold nature,
as also for several mystical reasons, founded on the
Sacred Scriptures, was always permitted to be taken
by those who fasted. Every sort of milk-meat was
forbidden ; and, in Rome, even to this day, butter and
cheese are not permitted during Lent, except on those
days whereon permission to eat meat is granted.

Dating from the 9th century, the custom of eating milk-meats during Lent began to be prevalent in Western Europe, more especially in Germany and the northern countries. The Council of Kedlimburg, held in the 11th century, made an effort to put a stop to the practice as an abuse; but without effect. These Churches maintained, that they were in the right, and defended their custom by the dispensations, (though, in reality, only temporary ones,) granted them by several Sovereign Pontiffs: the dispute ended by their being left peaceably to enjoy what they claimed. The Churches of France resisted this innovation up to the 16th century; but in the 17th, they too yielded, and milk-meats were taken during Lent, throughout the whole Kingdom. As some reparation for this breach of ancient discipline, the City of Paris instituted a solemn rite, whereby she wished to signify her regret at being obliged to such a relaxation. On Quinquagesima Sunday, all the different Parishes went in procession to the Church of Notre Dame. The Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians, took part in the procession. The Metropolitan Chapter, and the four Parishes that were subject to it, held, on the same day, a Station in the court-yard of the Palace, and sang an Anthem before the Relic of the True Cross, which was exposed in the Sainte Chapelle. These pious usages, which were intended to remind the people of the difference between the past and the present observance of Lent, continued to be practised till the Revolution.

But this grant for the eating milk-meats during Lent, did not include eggs. Here, the ancient discipline was maintained, at least this far,—that eggs were not allowed, save by a dispensation, which had to be renewed each year. In Rome, they are only allowed on days when Flesh-meat may be taken. In other places, they are allowed on some days, and on others, especially during Holy Week, are forbidden. Invariably do we find the Church, seeking, out of anxiety for the spiritual advantage of her Children, to maintain all she can of those penitential observances, whereby they may satisfy Divine Justice. It was with this intention, that Pope Benedict the Fourteenth, alarmed at the excessive facility wherewith dispensations were then obtained, renewed, by a solemn Constitution, (dated June 10, 1745,) the prohibition of eating fish and meat, at the same meal, on fasting days.

The same Pope, whose spirit of moderation has never been called in question, had no sooner ascended the Papal Throne, than he addressed an Encyclical Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic world, expressing his heartfelt grief at seeing the great relaxation that was introduced among the Faithful by indiscreet and unnecessary dispensations. The Letter is dated May 30th, 1741. We extract from it the following passage : "The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it, we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the Cross of Christ. By it, we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God's glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted, but that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe."

More than a hundred years have elapsed since this solemn warning of the Vicar of Christ was given to the world; and during that time, the relaxation, he inveighed against, has gone on gradually increasing. How few Christians do we meet, who are strict observers of Lent, even in its present mild form! The long list of general Dispensations granted, each year, by the Bishops to their flocks, would lead us to suppose that the immense majority of the Faithful would be scrupulously exact in the fulfilment of the Fasting and Abstinence still remaining; but is such the case? And, must there not result from this ever-growing spirit of immortification, a general effeminacy of character, which will lead, at last, to frightful social disorders ? The sad predictions of Pope Benedict the Fourteenth are but too truly verified. Those nations, among whose people the spirit and practice of penance are extinct, are heaping against themselves the wrath of God, and provoking his justice to destroy them by one or other of these scourges,— civil discord, or conquest.

All amusements and theatrical performances are not allowed in Lent:
http://books.google.com/books?id=u_UCAA ... iwHZyeWwCg

...Hunting, too, was for many ages considered as
forbidden during Lent;—the spirit of the holy season
was too sacred to admit such exciting and noisy sport.

few who can bring themselves to action

The Manna of the Soul Meditations for Each Day of the Year By Paolo Segneri: ""

how shall I cease to weep

The way of salvation, meditations for every day of the year, tr. by J. Jones By Alfonso Maria de' Liguori: ""

thoughts about penance

6. Thoughts about penance

Tell me, my dear brethren, what are the penances that are given to you? Alas! A few rosaries, some litanies, some almsgivings, a few little mortifications. Do all of these things, I ask you, bear any proportion to our sins which deserve eternal punishment? There are some who carry out their penance walking along or sitting down; that is not doing it at all. Unless the priest tells you that you may do it while walking along or sitting down, you should do your penance on your knees. If you do perform your penance while walking along or sitting down, you should confess it and never do it again.

In the second place, unless you are not able to do it as required, in which event you must tell that to your confessor when you go to Confession the next time, I must tell you that the penance should be done within the time indicated; otherwise you commit a sin. For example, the priest might tell you to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament after the services because he knows that you go around in company which will not bring you any nearer to God; he may order you to mortify yourself in something which you eat because you are subject to gluttony; to make an act of contrition if you have the misfortune to fall back into the sin which you have just confessed. At other times you may wait until the moment when you are ready to go to Confession to do your penance. You understand as well as I do that in all of these instances you are fully at fault and that you should not fail to confess that and that you should never do this again. In the third place, I tell you that you should perform your penance devoutly, that is to say, with reverence and with the sincere intention of giving up the sin. To say your penance reverently, my dear brethren, is to say it with attention to its spiritual importance and with devotion in your hearts. If you have said your penance with wilful distractions, you will not have said it at all and you are obliged to say it again. To perform it devoutly is to perform it with a strong confidence that God will forgive you your sins through the merits of Jesus Christ, Who made satisfaction for us by His sufferings and His death on the Cross. We should perform our penance overwhelmed with joy at being able to satisfy God, Whom we have offended, and at finding such an easy means of effacing our sins which should have earned eternal sufferings for us. Something which you should never forget is that all the time you are fulfilling your penance, you should be saying to God: "My God, I unite this slight penance to that which Jesus Christ my Saviour has offered to You for my sins." This is what will make your penance meritorious and pleasing to God. I repeat that we should always carry out our penance with the true desire to give up the sin altogether, no matter what it may cost us, even if it involves death itself. If we have not these dispositions, very far from satisfying the justice of God, we will outrage it again, which would make us even more guilty.

I have said that we should never content ourselves with the penance which our confessor imposes upon us because it is nothing, or almost nothing, if we compare it with what our sins really deserve. If our confessor is so very lenient with us, it is only lest he might give us a distaste for the work of our salvation. If you really have your salvation at heart, you should impose penances upon yourself.

Choose those which suit your case best. If you have the misfortune to be someone who gives scandal, you should make yourself so watchful of your behaviour that your neighbour will not be able to see anything in your life which would give him anything but good example; you should show by your conduct that your life is truly Christian. If you are one of those unhappy people who sin against the holy virtue of purity, you should mortify that sinful body with fasting, giving it only what it needs to sustain life and to fulfil its functions, from time to time making it sleep upon bare boards. If you are one of those who has to have something to eat which will gratify your gluttony, you should refuse this to your body and despise it as much as you previously loved it. When your body wants to cost you your soul, you must punish it. Your heart, which must often have thought of impure things, has carried your thoughts into Hell, which is the place reserved for the unchaste.

If you are attached to the things of this earth, you should give alms sufficient to enable you to punish your avarice by depriving yourself of all that is not absolutely necessary for life.

If we have been negligent in the service of God, let us impose upon ourselves the penance of assisting at all the exercises of piety which are going on in our parish. I would advise Mass, Vespers, catechism, prayers, the Rosary, so that God, seeing our eagerness, may be good enough to pardon us all our negligences. If we have spare time between the services, let us do some spiritual reading, which will nourish our souls -- above all, some reading of the lives of the saints wherein we may see how they behaved in order to sanctify themselves. That will encourage us. Let us make some short visit to the Blessed Sacrament during the week to ask God to pardon the sins we have committed. If we feel ourselves guilty of some fault, let us go and get rid of it so that our prayers and all our good works may be pleasing to God and more advantageous to our souls. Have we the habit of swearing or of flying into rages? Let us go down on our knees to say again this holy prayer: "My God, may your holy name be blessed for ever and ever! My God, purify my heart, purify my lips so that they may never pronounce words which would outrage you and separate me from you!"

Any time that you fall into this sin, you should immediately either make an act of contrition or give away something to the poor. Have you been working on Sunday? Have you been buying or selling without necessity in the course of this holy day?

Give to the poor some alms which will exceed the profit you have made. Have you been eating or drinking to excess? In all your meals you should deprive yourself of something.

Such, my dear brethren, are the penances which will not only suffice to make satisfaction to the justice of God, if joined to those of Jesus Christ, but which can even preserve you from falling again into your sins. If you want to conduct yourselves in this way, you will be sure, with the grace of God, of correcting your faults.

Sermons of St. Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney