Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/41

 incautious glance  of  the  eye  fell  first  into  adultery  and then committed  murder. Guard then  against  the  least spark, resist  at  the  very  commencement,  and  "  dash  thy little  ones  against  the  rock"  (Ps.  cxxxvi.  9),  that  is,  annihilate at  once  the  very  motions  of  sin.

III. From slight  wounds,  when  neglected,  it  frequently happens that  severe  indispositions  ensue,  and  not  unfrequently  even  death. The same  happens  to  the  soul from venial  sin. Examine therefore  all  your  actions,  and discover in  which  you  are  most  liable  to  receive  spiritual wounds. Guard against  them  in  time,  and  endeavor  to refrain  not  only  from  evil,  but,  as  the  apostle  advises, "from all  appearance  of  evil." (1 Thes.  v.  22.)  No caution  can  be  too  great  when  eternity  is  at  stake.

I. We  ought  to  avoid  venial  sin;  not  only  because  it disposes  to  mortal  guilt,  but  also  in  consequence  of  its own intrinsic  deformity. St. Augustine  says  that  venial sins are  to  the  soul  what  ulcers  are  to  the  body:  they deface its  spiritual  beauty  and  disfigure  it  in  the  eyes  of its  heavenly  spouse. Those who  are  dressed  in  white clothes are  cautious  when  they  pass  over  muddy  roads. Souls invested  with  habitual  grace  are  "  whiter  than snow,  purer  than  milk,  fairer  than  the  sapphire"  (Lament, iv.  7.)  What  care  then  ought  to  be  taken  to  preserve  their purity from  the  least  blemish,  as  we  pass  through  the contaminated ways  of  this  world.

II. There are  other  evils  which  venial  sins  entail,  particularly if  they  be  frequent. 1. They  cool  the  fervor  of charity,  and  weaken  our  attention  to  the  one  thing  necessary. 2. They  retard  the  soul  in  its  progress  in  virtue, and press  upon  it  "  like  a  heavy  burden." (Ps. xxxvii.  5.)