A Dead Soul

The angels are so beautiful because they are clothed in sanctifying grace. Indeed, if God should let us see our guardian angel, we could scarcely stand the sight of such brilliance and such splendor. St. John, one of the twelve Apostles, once saw an angel. So glorious was he that he thought he must be God and was going to adore him, when the angel stopped him, saying that he was only one of God’s messengers.

So, too, is the beauty of our souls very great when they are in sanctifying grace. If we could only see our souls, we should never want to look at anything else. Suppose that as we walked along the street, God let us see the souls of the persons we met. What a magnificent sight would be the souls of the soldiers in Christ’s army! There is nothing on earth like their beauty. Gorgeous flowers, glorious sunsets, deep starry skies, silvery moonlight, snow-capped mountains, rare plumaged birds, precious gems, nothing can compare with it.

“Would the souls of all be clothed in such dazzling beauty?” Alas! no. Only the souls of those who have been baptized. “Of all that have been baptized?” No, again, for many have deserted Christ of their own free will and joined the devil’s army. They have thrown away sanctifying grace and clothed themselves in the uniform of hell. As we neared them, the sight of their dead souls would sicken us so that we should have to run away. It would be pleasanter to handle the body of a leper than pass close to them. And, like lepers, they ought to call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn those in sanctifying grace to keep away, for, like lepers, they will likely cause death to the souls of those who go with them.

“But how can anyone kill his soul?” By committing big, deadly sins that we call mortal sins. “And can our souls really die?” No, our souls can never die, but we call a soul in mortal sin a dead soul, because it can do nothing to please God; it can never live in Heaven, unless it gets back sanctifying grace. It is far better to die than to commit a mortal sin, and no one on earth, not even all the devils in hell, can make us commit a mortal sin against our will. Thousands of men and women and little boys and girls have faced death rather than commit a mortal sin. But they prayed to Christ and He gave them strength, and we must pray to Christ and ask Him every day to let us die before we commit a mortal sin.

It was mortal sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.

Many, many sins are not as big as mortal sins, and we call them venial sins. Some venial sins are bigger than others, but they are all very bad, even though they do not take away sanctifying grace and do not kill the soul.

It is a venial sin to disobey our parents, to say mean things about other boys and girls, to steal pennies or apples or cakes, to tell lies, to lose our temper, etc.

Venial sins spot and stain our souls, even though they can not take away sanctifying grace as mortal sins do.

Oh, be careful of your uniforms! Keep them spotless, and if you do commit a sin, tell our Lord that you are very sorry and ask Him to forgive you and take the ugly stain away. Don’t play with anyone who gets you to sin, and be very careful not to lead anyone else into sin. Keep your thoughts nice, throw all other thoughts out; watch your words and don’t do anything you would be ashamed to have your angel see you do. There are some things we ought to close our eyes to; there are some things we ought to close our ears to; there are some things we ought to close our lips to; there are some things we ought to close our thoughts to.

There once lived a great king. He was king of France and his name was Louis IX. When he was a little boy, the queen, his mother, told him that she loved him very dearly, but that she would rather see him dead at her feet than have a mortal sin on his soul. And Louis never forgot his mother’s words, and he made up his mind that he would die rather than commit a mortal sin. And when he grew to be a man and sat on the throne and when he led the armies of France to battle, he always took the greatest care to keep his uniform of sanctifying grace bright and clean. And all the people loved him and he was so good that he will always be called St. Louis of France.

Henry was the name of a little boy who didn’t want to ever commit a mortal sin. When he made his First Communion he wore a little white necktie and he told his mother that he would always wear a white tie as long as he kept his soul clean from mortal sin. When Henry grew to be a man, he went to fight for his country, and was badly wounded. As he lay dying on the field, a friend of his knelt by him ready to carry his last message to his mother. And Henry took a little white tie and said: “Give this to my mother and tell her that I wore it till the end.”

Oh, if we want to keep away from mortal sins, we must fight against our venial sins. What is the sin we commit most often? Is it telling lies or stealing or swearing or saying mean things about others? If it is telling lies, what makes us tell them? Is it to throw blame on someone else and to keep ourselves out of trouble? To get away from scolding or some other punishment? If this is so, then we lie because we are afraid to tell the truth, and anyone who is afraid to do what is right is a coward.

Every lie you tell spots your soul and you do not really get out of trouble, you only put the trouble off, for God has to punish every sin we commit, either before we die or after.

Don’t be a coward. Tell the truth and take the punishment, no matter how hard it may be.

If at school the teacher says: “Did you spill that ink?” or “Did you throw that paper ball?” don’t be a coward, say “Yes.”

Some boys and girls cheat in school. They copy other children’s papers. But the teacher soon learns who they are and she never likes them. Stand on your own feet and if you fail, fail honestly.

If at home your mother says, “Did you take that sugar?” or “Did you break this cup?” don’t be a coward, say “Yes.”

When you say your prayers at night, count the number of lies you have told during the day; ask our Lord to please forgive you and try to make the number less next day. Fight against lying and in a month you will kill it, but watch out that it does not come alive again. Then take your next worst sin and fight it.