Repetition on Sin

Review last meditation: 

Preparatory Prayer [46]: I will beg God our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty.

Mental Representation:  The same as before.  To see in imagination my soul as a prisoner in this corruptible body, and to consider my whole composite being as an exile her on earth, cast out to live among brute beasts. My whole being, body and soul [47].

Grace:  I will ask God for what I desire: Here it will be to ask for a growing and intense sorrow and tears for my sins [55]

Additional Points for helping your meditation:

A deeper knowledge of my sin and abhorrence for them:

When a person wants to go to confession, the most important requirement is that they have true contrition.  Contrition is the most important part of the sacrament of confession; a person cannot receive absolution if they are not contrite.  It is a heartfelt sorrow and detestation of sins committed insofar as they are an offence to God, with the resolution to confess and to sin no more. This is the meaning of contrition.

The soul that is purged of its sins — brings into the light the unpleasant and displeasing parts of the soul.  When God allows a person to see these things about themselves, He seems to show sins and ugliness that they were able to see before.  It is not that these things were not present in the soul, but they were hidden.  Once they are seen, it is very positive thing because it means they can be expelled and annihilated.  (See,Dark Night of the Soul, Bk2, Ch10)

To have sorrow for sin is the beginning of spiritual progress.  Repentance opens the way to grace.

The disorder of sin:

It is proper for knowledge of our sins to make us abhor sin. When sin is seen for what it really is, it is no longer desirable. The mind must work to understand why sin is ugly.  There are times when we have not recognized the disorder of sin.  The assurance of the wicked comes from their pride and presumption which deceives them. (see Imitation of Christ, bk1,ch20).

Scripture: The example of King Saul’s corruption in sin

There was a man who had a son, a handsome young man.  There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he, from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people (Sam8.9). Saul was selected by God to be His anointed one and to be King over all his people.

At first, he was admired for his natural greatness, but sin corrupted what was once admired.  Because of sin, he became despicable in the sight of God and in the sight of God’s people.  At one of his lowest points, Saul became paranoid, fearful, and unwise.  Unable to hear the things of God, he disguised himself and sought counsel from a woman who called upon false gods. He put on other garments and went, he and two men with him; and they came to the women by night.  Saul said, “Divine for me by a spirit…” since Saul no longer relied on the power of God.  The woman said to him, “Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he has cut off such practices from the land of Israel.” But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing”(Sam28.8).

Scripture: The example of Samson’s downfall

The woman bore a son, and called him Samson; and the boy grew, and the Lord blessed him.  It had been told, even before his birth, of the special gifts that God would give to Samson.  No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines (Judges13,5).  He was blessed by God, but sin corrupted Samuel.  Giving himself over to sin, he lost his valor.  It says: “He did not know that the Lord had left him.  And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes…and bound him with bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison.”  And the Philistines, who stand for sin, rejoiced at their victory: “When the people saw him captured, they rejoiced and began to make sport of him.”

They became fools because of their sin–they are corrupted (Psalm 14,1).

The spirit of the world is opposed to God:

There is a spirit that leads a man to God and there is the spirit of the world. The two cannot be reconciled.  The devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and said to him, “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” (Mt4,8-9).

Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education, politics, and society.  The consequences of original sin and of all men’s personal sins put the world as a whole in a dire situation. The dramatic situation of the world makes this life a battle: the whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching from the beginning of history until the last day…man has to struggle to do what is right. (CCC 407-409)

Colloquy: Blessed Lady, Her Son, God the Father

Saint Ignatius wants us to enter into a conversation with the Blessed Mother, Christ, God the Father.  Revealing information, making specific requests, praising.

1. The First Colloquy will be with our Blessed Lady, that she may obtain grace for me from her Son and Lord for three favors:
   1. A deep knowledge of my sins and a feeling of abhorrence for them
   2. An understanding of the disorder of my actions, that filled with horror of them, I may amend my life and put it in order
   3. A knowledge of the world, that filled with horror, I may put away from me all that is worldly and vain.

Then I will say a Hail Mary. 

1. In the Second Colloquy I will make the same petitions to her Son that He may obtain these graces from the Father for me. After that I will say the Soul of Christ.
2. In the Third Colloquy I will make the request again, this time to the Father, that he Himself, the eternal Lord, may grant them to me. I will close with an Our Father.