Chapter 22: The Predominant Fault
After
treating of the principal sins to be avoided and of their roots and
consequences to be mortified, it is fitting that we discuss in a special way
the predominant fault that exists in each of us. That we may proceed with
order, we must first see in what this fault consists, then how to recognize or
discern it, and lastly how to combat it.
DEFINITION
OF THE 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.(1) There are temperaments inclined to effeminacy,
indolence, sloth, gluttony, and sensuality. Others are inclined especially to anger
and pride. We do not all climb the same slope toward the summit of perfection:
those who are effeminate by temperament must by prayer, grace, and virtue
become strong; and those who are naturally strong, to the point of easily
becoming severe, must, by working at themselves and by grace, become gentle.
Before
this progressive transformation of our temperament, the predominant defect in
the soul often makes itself felt. It is our domestic enemy, dwelling in our
interior; for, if it develops, it may succeed in completely ruining the work of
grace or the interior life. At times it is like a crack in a wall that seems to
be solid but is not so; like a crevice, imperceptible at times but deep, in the
beautiful facade of a building, which a vigorous jolt may shake to the
foundations. For example, an antipathy, an instinctive aversion to someone,
may, if it is not watched over and corrected by right reason, the spirit of
faith, and charity, produce disasters in the soul and lead it to grave
injustice. By yielding to such an antipathy, it does itself far more harm than
it does its neighbor, for it is much more harmful to commit injustice than to
be the object of it.
The
predominant fault is so much the more dangerous as it often compromises our
principal good point, which is a happy inclination of our nature that ought to
develop and to be increased by grace. For example, a man is naturally inclined
to gentleness; but if by reason of his predominant fault, which may be
effeminacy, his gentleness degenerates into weakness, into excessive
indulgence, he may even reach the complete loss of energy. Another, on the
contrary, is naturally inclined to fortitude, but if he gives free rein to his
irascible temperament, fortitude in him degenerates into unreasonable violence,
the cause of every type of disorder.
In
every man there is a mixture of good and bad inclinations; there is a
predominant fault and also a natural quality. If we are in the state of grace,
we have a special attraction of grace, which generally perfects first of all
what is best in our nature, and then radiates over that which is less good.
Some are thus more inclined toward contemplation, others toward action.
Particular care must be taken that the predominant fault does not snuff out our
principal natural quality or our special attraction of grace. Otherwise our
soul would resemble a field of wheat invaded by tares or cockle, of which the
Gospel speaks. And we have an adversary, the devil, who seeks to foster the
growth of our predominant fault that he may place us in conflict with those who
work with us in the Lord's field. Christ Himself tells us: "The kingdom of
heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men
were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his
way." (2)
Christ
explains that the enemy is the devil,(3) who seeks to destroy the work of God
by creating disunion among those who, in a holy manner, ought to collaborate in
the same work for eternity. He is skillful in exaggerating in our eyes the
defects of our neighbor, in transforming a grain of sand into a mountain, in
setting up, as it were, a magnifying glass in our imagination, that we may
become irritated at our brethren instead of working with them. Considering all
this, we can see what evil may spring up in each of us from our principal fault
if we are not most attentive to it. At times it is like a devouring worm in a
beautiful fruit.
HOW
TO RECOGNIZE THE PREDOMINANT FAULT
Evidently
it is of primary importance that we recognize our predominant fault and have no
illusions about it. This is so much the more necessary as our adversary, the
enemy of our soul, knows it quite well and makes use of it to stir up trouble
in and about us. In the citadel of our interior life, which is defended by the
different virtues, the predominant fault is the weak spot, undefended by the
theological and moral virtues. The enemy of souls seeks exactly this easily
vulnerable point in each one, and he finds it without difficulty. Therefore, we
must recognize it also.
But
how can we discern it? For beginners who are sincere, this is quite easy. But
later the predominant fault is less apparent, for it tries to hide itself and
to put on the appearances of a virtue: pride clothes itself in the outward
appearances of magnanimity, and pusillanimity seeks to cover itself with those
of humility. Yet we must succeed in discerning the predominant fault, for if we
do not know it, we cannot fight it; and if we do not fight it, we have no true
interior life.
That
we may discern it, we must first of all ask God for light: "Lord, make me
know the obstacles I more or less consciously place in the way of the working
of Thy grace in me. Then give me the strength to rid myself of them, and, if I
am negligent in doing so, do Thou deign to free me from them, though I should
suffer greatly."
After
thus asking sincerely for light, we must make a serious examination. How? By
asking ourselves: "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?" We should keep in mind that the predominant fault,
which easily commands all our passions, takes on the appearance of a virtue
and, if it is not opposed, it may lead to impenitence. Judas fell into
impenitence through avarice, which he did not will to dominate; it led him to
impenitence like a violent wind that hurls a ship on the rocks.
A
second step in discerning the predominant fault, is to ask ourselves:
"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?" Then we must seek
sincerely to know the motive of the soul's refusal to return to the good.
In
addition, we must ask ourselves: "What does my director think of this? In
his opinion, what is my predominant fault? He is a better judge than I
am." No one, in fact, is a good judge in his own case; here self-love
deceives us. Often our director has discovered this fault before we have;
perhaps he has tried more than once to talk to us about it. Have we not sought
to excuse ourselves? Excuses come promptly, for the predominant fault easily
excites all our passions: it commands them as a master, and they obey
instantly. Thus, wounded self-love immediately excites irony, anger,
impatience. Moreover, when the predominant fault has taken root in us, it
experiences a particular repugnance to being unmasked and fought, because it
wishes to reign in us. This condition sometimes reaches such a point that, when
our neighbor accuses us of this fault, we reply that we have many bad habits,
but truly not the one mentioned".(4)
The
predominant fault may also be recognized by the temptations that our enemy
arouses most frequently in us, for he attacks us especially through this weak
point in our soul.
Lastly,
in moments of true fervor the inspirations of the Holy Ghost ask us for the
sacrifice of this particular fault.
If
we have sincere recourse to these different means of discernment, it will not
be too difficult for us to recognize this interior enemy which we bear within
ourselves and which enslaves us: "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin," (5) says our Lord.
It
is like an interior prison that we bear about with us wherever we go. We must
earnestly aspire to deliverance.
It
would be a great grace for us if we were to meet a saint who would say:
"This is your predominant fault and this your principal attraction of
grace which you must follow generously to reach union with God." In this
way Christ applied the name, "sons of thunder" (Boanerges) (6) to the
young apostles James and John who wished to call down fire from heaven on a
city that had refused to receive them. We read in St. Luke: "He rebuked
them, saying: You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of man came not to
destroy souls, but to save." (7) In the school of the Savior, the
Boanerges became such gentle souls that toward the end of his life St. John the
Evangelist could say only one thing: "My little children, . . . love one
another." (8) When asked why he always repeated the same exhortation, he
used to reply: "This is His commandment. . . . And he that keepeth His
commandments, abideth in Him and He in him." John had lost nothing of his
ardor, of his thirst for justice, but it had become spiritualized and was accompanied
by a great gentleness.
HOW
TO COMBAT THE PREDOMINANT FAULT
Because
the predominant fault is our principal interior enemy, we must combat it. When
it is conquered, temptations are no longer very dangerous, but are rather
occasions of progress.
The
predominant fault is not conquered, however, as long as there is no true
progress in piety or the interior life, as long as the soul has not attained to
a true and stable fervor of will; in other words, to that promptness of the
will in the service of God which is, according to St. Thomas, the essence of
true devotion.(9) In this spiritual warfare, we must have recourse to three
principal means: prayer, examination of conscience, and a sanction.
Our
prayer must be sincere: "Lord, show me the principal obstacle to my
sanctification, the one that hinders me from profiting by graces and also by
the exterior difficulties that would work to the good of my soul if I had
greater recourse to Thee when they arise." The saints went so far as to
say, as St. Louis Bertrand did: "Lord, here burn, here cut, and dry up in
me all that hinders me from going to Thee, that Thou mayest spare me in
eternity." Blessed Nicholas of Flue used to pray: "Lord, take from me
everything that hinders me from going to Thee. Give me all that will lead me to
Thee. Take me from myself and give me to Thyself."
This
prayer does not dispense us from self-examination; on the contrary, it leads to
it. And, as St. Ignatius says, it is especially suitable for beginners to write
down each week the number of times they have yielded to their predominant fault
which seeks to reign in them like a despot. It is easier to laugh fruitlessly
at this method than to apply it fruitfully. If we keep track of the money we
spend and receive, it is still more useful to know what we lose and what we
gain from the spiritual point of view for eternity.
It
is also highly proper to impose a sanction, or penance, on ourselves each time
we fall into this defect. This penance may take the form of a prayer, a moment
of silence, an exterior or an interior mortification. It makes reparation for
the fault and satisfaction for the penalty due it. At the same time we acquire
more circumspection for the future. Thus many persons have cured themselves of
the habit of cursing by imposing on themselves the obligation of giving an alms
in reparation each time they fail.
Before
conquering our predominant fault, our virtues are often, to speak more
properly, natural good inclinations rather than true and solid virtues that
have taken root in us. Prior to victory over this fault, the fountain of graces
is not yet adequately opened on our soul, for we still seek ourselves too much
and do not live sufficiently for God.
In
addition, we must overcome pusillanimity, which leads us to think that our predominant
fault cannot be eradicated. With grace we can overcome it, because, as the
Council of Trent says, quoting St. Augustine: "God never commands the
impossible; but in giving us His precepts, He commands us to do what we can,
and to ask for the grace to accomplish what we cannot do." (10)
It
has been said that the spiritual combat is in this case more necessary than
victory, for, if we dispense ourselves from this struggle, we abandon the
interior life, we no longer tend toward perfection. We must not make peace with
our faults.
Moreover,
credence must not be given to our adversary when he seeks to persuade us that
this struggle is suitable only for the saints that they may reach the highest
regions of spirituality. The truth is that without this persevering and
efficacious struggle we cannot sincerely aspire to Christian perfection, toward
which the supreme precept makes it a duty for all of us to tend. This precept
is, in fact, without limit: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy
mind: and thy neighbor as thyself." (11)
Without
this struggle, there is no interior joy or peace, for the tranquility of order
or peace comes from the spirit of sacrifice. It alone establishes us interiorly
in order by putting to death all that is inordinate in US.(12)
Lastly,
charity, the love of God and of souls in God, finally prevails completely over
the predominant fault; it then truly occupies the first place in our soul and
reigns there effectively. Mortification, which makes our principal fault
disappear, delivers us and assures the predominance in our soul of our true
natural qualities and of our special attraction of grace. Thus little by
little, we grow to be ourselves, in the broad sense of the word, that is, to be
supernaturally ourselves minus our defects. We do not have to copy in a more or
less servile manner another's qualities, or enter a uniform mold that is the
same for all. There is a great variety in human personalities, just as no two
leaves or flowers are perfectly similar. But a person's temperament must not be
crushed; it must be transformed while keeping whatever is good in it. In our
temperament, our character must be the imprint of the acquired and infused
virtues, especially of the theological virtues. Then, instead of instinctively
referring everything to self, as is the case when the predominant fault reigns,
we will turn everything back to God, think almost continually of Him, and live
for Him alone; at the same time we will lead to Him those with whom we come
into contact.
NOTE
That
we may know ourselves better, we should vary the examination of conscience,
making it at times according to the order of the commandments of God and the
precepts of the Church; at other times, following the order of the moral and
theological virtues; or considering the sins opposed to these different
virtues, indicated in the two following outlines: [See
this link]
Footnotes
1.
Our individual temperament is generally quite determined along one line,
according to the principle, natura determinatur ad unum. This is why it must be
perfected by the different virtues, which will permit us to act in a reasonable
and Christian manner, under different circumstances, in relation to different
people: for example, in relation to superiors, inferiors, and equals, and
according to the various situations in which we are placed.
2.
Matt. I3:24f.
3.
Ibid., 39.
4.
St. Thomas would see in this an application of the principle formulated by
Aristotle, which the saint quotes often: Qualis unusquisque est, talis finis
videtur ei; that is, "Every man judges of what is good according to his
good or evil interior dispositions."
5.
John 8: 34.
6.
Mark 3:17.
7.
Luke 9:55 f.
8.
See I John 3: 18, 23.
9.
Cf. IIa IIae, q.82, a. 1 f.
10.
Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 2.
11.
Luke 10:27.
12.
Sloth is one of the predominant faults most difficult to overcome. However,
success is possible with the help of grace.
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