The Sinner’s Guide

Book snippets (See all)

• p.n306 Who can love a world that has the devil as its governor?

• p.3 Introduction to the Sinner’s Guide

• p.13 Justice and Profit most help move the Will to good

• p.14 The Infinite Goodness and Perfection of God is the first and chief reason to Love and Serve Him

• p.14 Reasons why Justice demands we Love and Serve God

• p.16 The love we owe to God will not move hearts that dwell upon the earth

• p.17 Reasons and ways God is far superior to any created thing or being

• p.18 God’s perfections are infinitely above our understanding

• p.19 The perfections of God are infinitely beyond our senses

• p.21 The order and beauty of creation gives us an idea of the power and greatness of God

• p.22 St. Thomas Aquinas arguing the greatness of God

• p.23 The madness of loving or serving anything more than God

• p.24 Our obligates or offenses against God are infinitely more than those against men

• p.26 We are obliged to serve God because He created us

• p.26 The folly of those who live as though they created themselves for their own purposes

• p.28 God demands for our own sake that we acknowledge his benefits, especially of our creation

• p.30 If even pagans are grateful for their creation, how much more should a Christian be

• p.31 Whoever says they received life from nature is only giving God another name

• p.31 God created us in need so we might humbly turn to him to finish the work of our creation

• p.33 We are only rich when we have God and always poor when we don’t

• p.34 God also deserves our service because he continually sustains our existence

• p.35 The pure madness of offending the All-Powerful Giver of Life, Breath, and Everything

• p.36 All creation was given to us by God for our benefit, which we should be grateful to Him for

• p.38 If pagan philosophers knew we should be grateful to God for everything, shouldn’t Christians be far more so?

• p.39 Shall we be less grateful to God than wild beasts without even the light of reason are to us?

• p.42 The extreme madness of using God’s own gifts against him

• p.44 The benefit of our Redemption is almost beyond our ability to praise

• p.46 God’s unfathomable compassion on humanity after the Fall led Him to reconcile us to himself in the greatest way possible

• p.47 The manner of our redemption might be more marvelous than our redemption itself

• p.48 Jesus underwent such excessive torture out of his abundantly excessive Love for us

• p.50 The Passion of Jesus should move us to deepest gratitude and Love for God

• p.51 St. Anselm on the gratitude we owe God

• p.52 God’s immense love for us, especially on the Cross, should draw us away from sin

• p.53 If God has given us everything and even Himself, how can we outrage him by using his benefits to crucify him by sin?

• p.56 The 7 degrees of our Justification by the Holy Spirit

• p.56 The benefit of no longer being God’s enemy, but rather his own dear child

• p.58 By justifying us, God spared us from the many pains of Hell we deserved

• p.59 How by justifying man, God recreates and restores him from the damage of sin

• p.61 By justifying a soul, God not only imparts immeasurable beauty, strength and other gifts to it, but even dwells Himself within it

• p.62 By justification, we are made living members of the Body of Christ, and may confidently ask for whatever we need for His sake and benefit

• p.63 In justifying us, God also grants us the right to eternal life

• p.64 The change in our lives from our continuous justification should make us ever more grateful to God

• p.65 Some effects of the Holy Spirit in a just soul

• p.66 We owe the Holy Spirit both for maintaining our virtues and being prevented from sins

• p.68 The gratitude we ought to have for God for giving us Himself in the Sacraments

• p.70 The benefit of being chosen by God should motivate us to gratitude and to practice virtue

• p.72 We should be grateful if God has chosen us in his love from all eternity

• p.73 The various circumstances of our being Chosen should move us to deep gratitude and joy

• p.76 The Four Last Things are extremely powerful incentives to practice virtue and avoid sin

• p.77 Reflecting on our death and judgement will help us avoid sin

• p.78 Meditations on Death and its terrible circumstances

• p.81 Meditations on the fear of Death and our Judgment before God

• p.82 An example told by a Saint of the dreaded Judgment we will all have to face

• p.84 St. Gregory on the dread Judgment after death

• p.85 Now is the only time we have to prepare for the terrible Day of Judgment before God

• p.87 The severity and rigor of the Final Judgment should make every soul tremble with fear

• p.89 Some idea of the terror we will feel if condemned to Eternal Hell

• p.91 Our riches, honors, and pleasures will not help us in Hell but only increase our eternal torments

• p.121 People continue to sin because they think there’s no punishment, and to avoid virtue thinking there’s no benefit

• p.123 Virtue is not practiced because people think it’s difficult, but don’t know its secret beauty and hidden value

• p.124 Even in this life, God rewards and provides for those who practice His Virtues

• p.127 How Jesus rewards virtue a hundred-fold even in this life

• p.128 A short story about spiritual riches vs worldly pleasures

• p.130 God’s Fatherly Care for the Just is the greatest Privilege of Virtue

• p.132 Proofs from the Bible of God’s Fatherly Care for the Just

• p.133 God’s Fatherly care for the Just looks past our sins, and reaches even to our descendants

• p.134 Biblical descriptions of God’s Paternal Care for the Just

• p.136 God is the Good Shepherd of the Just

• p.137 Studying the various titles of God will comfort and encourage us

• p.139 Those who have God have everything

• p.140 If we sin, God will withdraw his Fatherly Protection and Care

• p.141 Those who Love Sin should be moved at least by Fear of God’s Providence being Armed Against Them

• p.144 What Grace is and does

• p.145 The many wonderful Effects of Grace in the Soul

• p.148 Grace enables us to know what we ought to do and not to do, and to act accordingly

• p.150 The Light of God can instruct our Understanding differently and better than Nature or Schools can

• p.151 The Wisdom of God explained and extolled in the Old Testament

• p.154 Everyone must submit to the teachings of the Catholic Church

• p.154 Those who love sin, live in thick darkness

• p.156 The Joyful Consolations of the Holy Spirit toward the Just

• p.158 The sweetness of God overwhelms the souls of the Just with Joy

• p.160 The Just enjoy the sweetest, loveliest joys especially during Prayer

• p.161 God helps and encourages beginners in virtue, by sparing them many sufferings, and giving them many joys

• p.162 God is generous even to those beginning in virtue, so why should we wait to begin?

• p.164 Conscience

• p.165 The conscience is a torment to the wicked

• p.166 The Book of Job describing the torments of an accusing conscience

• p.167 The Fathers and other ancient teachers on the torment of a guilty conscience

• p.169 The peace of a good conscience is already a taste of Heaven on earth

• p.170 Even the pagan philosophers understood the value of a good conscience, and the torment of a guilty one

• p.172 A clear conscience produces hope, which brings courage

• p.173 The Bible and Saints on Hope and the Confidence it brings

• p.175 The Just can rely on God, but Egypt will fail the guilty

• p.177 Everyone hopes in something, but hope in anything but God will fail us

• p.179 The True Liberty of the Just

• p.181 Slavery to Sin

• p.182 How degrading and yet common it is to hand our reason over to our instinct!

• p.184 Examples of the Tyranny of Slavery to Sin

• p.186 The effects of slavery to Lust

• p.187 The effects of slavery to Honors and Riches

• p.188 The state of those in Slavery to Sin

• p.190 Jesus has freed us from the cruel tyranny of Satan

• p.192 The grace of God frees us from slavery to sin

• p.193 A clear conscience and its effects helps free us from slavery to sin

• p.193 The liberty we gain by subduing the flesh to reason

• p.194 The joy experienced by those freed from slavery to sin

• p.195 Three kinds of peace that arise from Virtue

• p.196 Those who run after the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, never know peace in this life

• p.197 The prodigal son as an illustration of the tormenting anxieties of those without virtue

• p.198 The gratifications of this life can never satisfy our hearts, but only increase our hunger

• p.200 The peace of the virtuous in contrast with the torment and anxiety of the wicked

• p.202 Peace comes from our virtue, mastery over our desires, the gift of spiritual consolations, and confidence in God’s loving protection

• p.204 The sin of Adam and Eve left all humanity in deep misery

• p.205 In our misery, we have recourse only to God, as the Prophets, Apostles, and Jesus teach us

• p.207 The immeasurable promises of Jesus to the Just

• p.208 How God hears the prayers of the Just and Virtuous

• p.210 God consoles us in the hour of affliction

• p.212 Examples from the Bible of how God protects the Just in the hour of trial

• p.213 Virtue strengthens and encourages us under all tribulations

• p.215 Without virtue, tribulations overwhelm us and we act even more self-destructively

• p.218 God cares for the temporal needs of the Just

• p.221 The Virtuous are always restful and have all their needs met to a healthy degree

• p.222 God’s Curses on Sinful Nations, and Examples from the Bible and History

• p.227 Some reasons why the death of sinners is most terrible

• p.229 St. Peter Damian describes the Hour of Death

• p.231 Neither Riches, Honors, Pleasures, or Friends can help us at the Hour of Death; only Virtues will avail us then

• p.232 The virtuous Christian soul does not fear death, but embraces it with joy

• p.234 The Pearl of Great Price is more than worth seeking

• p.237 People who make excuses to continue in sin do so because they just want to sin

• p.238 We should not wait to turn to God, since we can’t promise ourselves even one more moment of life

• p.239 The many reasons why waiting to turn to God until later will be much harder

• p.241 If we wait to turn to God until later, our sins will be even heavier

• p.242 Lazarus’s Resurrection shows the strength of God’s grace needed to save us from strong habits of sin

• p.243 Reasons against quitting our sins later instead of now

• p.245 The foolishness of waiting until old age to quit sin

• p.246 How gravely unjust it is to defer our conversion to God until some later time

• p.247 The Bible exhorts us to give God our service in our youth, not to wait until old age

• p.249 St. Augustine on deathbed conversions

• p.251 Four Fathers and Doctors of the Church on deathbed penances

• p.254 Four reasons given by Blessed Duns Scotus on the danger of deathbed conversions

• p.257 Warnings from the Bible and Jesus against death-bed repentances

• p.260 Reasons the Good Thief and Ninevites are not meant to encourage deferring our conversion

• p.262 Although there’s not much hope in death-bed repentances, there is Hope now while we still have time to turn to God and away from sin

• p.264 Of Those who Continue in Sin trusting in God’s Mercy

• p.264 The foolishness of continuing in sin, trusting in God’s mercy

• p.266 An Example of God’s Terrifying Justice in the Fall of the Angels

• p.267 Examples of God’s Horrifying Justice in the Fall of Man

• p.269 God’s Justice allows sinners to fall into deeper and deeper blindness and destruction

• p.270 If we presume upon God’s Mercy without sight of His Justice, we may be lost to Hell

• p.272 We are inclined against Virtue because of the Fall of Man

• p.273 The Grace of God Encourages and Strengthens us to Practice Virtue

• p.275 Our sinful nature should not discourage us, since God has promised to help us

• p.278 The number of our sins should not discourage us, for God can and will help us if only we are willing

• p.279 Love of God makes virtue and self-sacrifice easy and pleasant

• p.281 The hardship of Virtue is less than the suffering of Hell, or the efforts of the Saints

• p.282 How the path of virtue is much easier than that of sin

• p.284 The grace of God makes the yoke of virtue easy, light, and pleasant

• p.285 Examples of changes in a soul by the grace of God

• p.286 The effects of the grace of Baptism on St. Cyprian, in his own words

• p.288 St. Augustine’s conversion shows us that God’s grace is within everyone’s reach

• p.291 Six drawbacks of the illusory happiness found in this life

• p.292 The happiness of this life is brief

• p.293 The happiness of this life is subject to innumerable sudden changes

• p.295 God’s Justice often punishes sin even in this life

• p.296 The happiness of this life is ruined even by our own passions

• p.298 The happiness of this life is full of snares and miseries caused by the darkness and blindness of the world

• p.299 The happiness of this life is ruined by universal injustice and madness

• p.302 Further reasons worldly happiness should not be trusted

• p.302 The happiness of this world is delusive and treacherous

• p.304 The sorrows of this life far outweigh its joys

• p.305 The happiness of this world is false, and it resembles Hell

• p.306 Reasons man’s happiness can only be found in God

• p.308 True happiness is not found in corporal or sensible pleasures

• p.309 An example of the emptiness of the happiness of this world from King Solomon

• p.310 The happiness this life promises is vanity and lies

• p.312 Virtue contains all the good we can desire in this world, and more perfectly

• p.313 Virtue will obtain for us God as our reward, and every good thing with him

• p.314 We ought to be persuaded by obligation, benefits, interest, and pursuit of happiness, to seek after God

• p.315 To abandon sin is of the utmost importance, and the flesh, the world and the devil will wage war against those who attempt it

• p.317 If we firmly resolve to abandon sin, the Angels, the Saints, and God Himself will be our defense

• p.318 Victory begins by maintaining a firm resolution never to commit mortal sin

• p.319 Examples from the Bible and Saints who refused to commit mortal sin

• p.320 The aim of our prayers and devotions must be an absolute resolution never to sin

• p.321 We must understand the true nature of virtue and sin if we would practice virtue and avoid sin

• p.323 Summary of the 7 Deadly Sins and their sources

• p.324 That Pride is the chief sin, and reflections on what it has done to Lucifer and his army

• p.325 Considerations of the birth, life, and death of man, to combat Pride

• p.327 The danger of vainglory, and considerations to remedy it

• p.328 The danger of ambition, and considerations to remedy it

• p.329 Our good works are no cause for pride, since they are rarely perfect and pure

• p.329 Pride makes us displeasing to everyone: the good, the bad, and even ourselves

• p.330 Humility comes from knowledge of ourselves, pride from ignorance of ourselves

• p.331 Considerations to cure a pride that considers ourselves better than others

• p.332 General considerations to cure pride and obtain humility

• p.334 Against Covetousness in General

• p.336 Worldly riches are far worse than spiritual riches, and they cannot both dwell in one heart

• p.337 Riches cannot satisfy our hearts, and God will never fail our needs

• p.338 We must part from our riches at death, so we might as well use them for our spiritual profit in this life

• p.339 Whatever riches God has given us are meant to help others, and we will give account for it all

• p.340 Not riches themselves, but our disposition to riches, is what profits or harms our souls

• p.341 Theft also consists in unjustly keeping someone else’s things from them

• p.342 Counsels against various types of covetousness

• p.344 Lust is a most fierce enemy, that stains our souls, defiles our bodies, and ruins our neighbor

• p.345 Lust catches souls easily and they only escape rarely and with great difficulty

• p.346 Lust is insatiable, and its punishment far outweighs its pleasure

• p.346 Some of the many evil effects of Lust

• p.347 Lust destroys the purity of the soul which renders us as beautiful as the Angels

• p.348 We must strive to maintain or at least restore our purity by resisting Lust

• p.349 To protect ourselves from Lust, we must guard our hearts, eyes, ears, and tongue from Lustful objects

• p.350 To guard against Lust, remember your Guardian Angel, the Devil, your final Judgment, and Hell

• p.351 A story from St. Gregory’s Dialogues to encourage us to guard against Lust

• p.351 To guard against Lust, absolutely avoid unnecessary familiarities

• p.353 The general nature and history of Envy

• p.355 Envy makes us resemble demons, and actually profits us nothing

• p.356 Considerations to cure our Envy

• p.358 Gluttony attempts to conquer us from within, and Jesus gave us an example of conquering it

• p.359 Considerations to cure our Gluttony

• p.360 Further considerations to remedy Gluttony

• p.362 Anger is not found even among the animals, yet is fitting only for a wild beast

• p.364 If we do not forgive others, God will neither forgive us nor accept any sacrifice we make

• p.365 Anger and hatred are always self-defeating

• p.366 We must not do or say anything wrong when angry, but wait until the anger goes away

• p.368 As Jesus and the Saints were so diligent, we should also avoid Sloth

• p.369 Examples of Diligence from Nature to encourage us to avoid Sloth and labor for Heaven

• p.370 We must labor for our eternal reward

• p.371 Have Courage on the Battle Field of Virtue vs Temptation

• p.374 Against the sin of saying “I swear to God” and other such uses of God’s name in vain or falsely

• p.376 How easy and common it is to seriously offend God when speaking of the faults of others

• p.377 Many evil effects of speaking evil of others

• p.378 Advice against the sin of speaking evil of others

• p.380 Speaking evil against virtuous souls, or against consecrated persons, is especially evil

• p.381 Some basics about making Rash Judgments

• p.382 Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation

• p.384 The dangers of Venial Sins

• p.385 Short remedies against the 7 deadly sins during temptation

• p.387 Short remedies against pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy

• p.388 Short remedies against rebellion, disobedience, envy, and hatred

• p.390 Short remedies against detraction, anger, arrogance, and imprudence

• p.391 Short remedies against sloth, covetousness, gluttony, talkativeness, and impurity

• p.394 The threefold obligation to virtue

• p.395 Virtuous persons should have an outward bearing of gravity, humility, and sweetness

• p.397 Modesty preserves devotion and purity in the soul, and makes us fit for society; whereas immodesty ruins all these things

• p.399 General advice against Temperance

• p.401 Considerations against Temptations of Taste and Feeling

• p.402 Advice for drinking alcohol and against using drugs

• p.404 Advice against other forms gluttony and intemperance

• p.405 Why we should especially guard our eyes and ears

• p.407 How to govern the Tongue

• p.409 The Mortification of the Passions

• p.412 The Reformation of the Will

• p.414 The Government of the Imagination

• p.416 Some Hows and Whys of Prudence

• p.419 Prudence in Temporal Affairs

• p.421 Three Ways to Get More Prudence

• p.423 Man’s Duty to his Neighbor is Charity and Mercy

• p.424 How much charity is praised and recommended in the New Testament Letters

• p.425 Practical proofs of charity

• p.426 How we can love our neighbor even though they’re not relatives

• p.429 Our duty to God, and how to generally fulfill it

• p.430 The Fear of God

• p.432 Confidence in God

• p.433 Zeal for the Glory of God

• p.434 Purity of Intention

• p.436 Basics of Prayer and Gratitude

• p.437 Obedience to God’s Counsels

• p.438 Obedience to Divine Inspirations

• p.441 If we prefer good deeds in secret, our souls will be safer and better rewarded by God

• p.441 Conforming ourselves to God’s will in all things, good or bad

• p.444 If sufferings are allowed by such a Good Father, why should we be afraid of it?

• p.445 The sufferings of this life are not worthy of comparing to the Rewards of Eternal Life

• p.445 All the suffering God allows us, is for our own good, and comes from his Love and Mercy

• p.447 Some considerations to encourage us in our sufferings

• p.449 The three degrees of Obedience

• p.450 When we obey our superiors, we obey God

• p.451 How Mothers and Fathers should discharge their duties to God and to their family

• p.454 Some distinctions between types of virtues

• p.455 The interior virtues serve God, and the exterior virtues serve the interior virtues

• p.457 How to preserve Devotion, which will preserve the other Virtues

• p.459 We need both the interior and exterior virtues

• p.460 We must prefer the virtues more pleasing to God than to men

• p.461 Virtues that are Less must sometimes yield to those that are Greater

• p.462 True and False Justice before God

• p.464 God hates virtues and sacrifices not motivated by Love of God

• p.465 Some hypocrisy comes from self-deception

• p.467 Those who are self-content are in more spiritual danger than others

• p.468 Timeless examples of hypocrisy in a great many Catholics

• p.469 Each person has their own spiritual needs

• p.470 There are many forms of devotion

• p.471 Devotions and virtues are only greater than each other within a subject, not objectively

• p.472 The diversity of gifts and grace comes from God

• p.473 Examples of God’s variety in vocation, grace, nature

• p.475 Diversity in Virtue by analogy of diversity in the Church and the Human Body

• p.477 The vigilance and care necessary in the practice of virtue

• p.479 The courage necessary in the practice of virtue

• p.482 Reasons why we should have courage in the pursuit of virtue

• p.483 The lives of the Saints and Martyrs should give us courage in the practice of virtue

• p.485 The sufferings of Christ and the Saints should encourage and inspire us