As we progress in the spiritual life we can often feel puzzled that, despite our knowledge of the Faith, our daily lives do not seem to reflect an upward trajectory toward holiness. We find ourselves confessing the same sins and our propensity to certain faults remains constant. We can feel frustrated that our sinful nature seems to rule our choices rather than the “new creation” we are in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).
Many saints have been aware of this condition and have directly addressed it with proven, practical advice for all who wish to cooperate with the many graces of God and progress toward union with Him. This advice consists of a daily examination of our conscience, sincerely recalling to mind the sins we have committed and the good we have failed to do, and following an effective method for overcoming sin and growing in virtue.
Let’s delve into the Examination of Conscience, what it entails, and why its practice is so powerful in propelling us toward holiness and ultimate union with God.
What is an Examination of Conscience?
“Before judgment, examine yourself, and in the hour of visitation you will find forgiveness” (Sirach 18:20)
The examination of conscience is a self-analysis in God’s presence. It is a form of mental prayer. It is not merely a quick overview of the day to see if any grave sins come to mind. But rather, a slowing down and meditating on God’s goodness and blessings and our response to Him that day. It is the intentional consideration of the life to which Christ has called us – the life of the cross, of sacrifice for the sake of love – and then the examination of our interior and exterior behaviors in light of this calling. The Examination of Conscience is a prayer for God to reveal where we have fallen short of His sacrificial love and how our choices have offended Him.
The Church identifies two types of personal examination, the General and the Particular. St. Josemaria Escriva stated,
“The general examination is a weapon of defense. The particular, of attack. The first is the shield. The second, the sword” (The Way, The Essential Classic of Opus Dei’s Founder, #38).
General Examination
We call the first examination General because we are considering all God’s commandments and whether or not we have cooperated with them since our last confession. In the General Examen, we review our thoughts, words, and actions each night before bed or periodically before Confession. Of course, if we wait too long between examinations we may forget sins we would have wished to confess and will struggle to make progress in overcoming them.
Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J. in his work, Practice of Christian and Religious Perfection, Vol I reminds us that many saints of old, as well as a fair number of pagan philosophers, understood the power of examining one’s life to make improvements toward virtue. Rodriguez tells us that St. Basil the Great wrote into his rule for monastics a nightly examination to facilitate progress in the spiritual life and many founders of religious orders followed suit. He points out that St. John Chrysostom advocated for a nightly examen so that by exciting sorrow for the defects that come to light, we should be better prepared the following day to do battle against them (#535). A daily General Examen prepares us for Confession, identifies repetitive sins, and increases awareness of situations that commonly tempt us.
Particular Examination
The Particular Examination is similar to the General but instead of looking at all the ways we have sinned, it focuses on one fault to overcome or virtue to develop. It involves careful consideration of habitual sins we commit during daily routines and interactions. The point here is to advance more rapidly in holiness by a clear and direct effort with the help of God’s grace, against a specific pattern of sin.
St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises, wrote guidelines for the Particular Examination seeing it as indispensable for working on distinct faults and imperfections concerning the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. He instructed his brothers in the Society of Jesus to examine themselves twice a day, concentrating prayerful effort to rid themselves of one sinful habit at a time, and in this manner, pressing forward toward Christian perfection. His methods have been widely used among religious in pursuit of holiness and encouraged by the saints for systematically overcoming vice and growing in virtue.
Why Should We Examine Our Conscience?
St. Ignatius wrote that because man is made for God, we are to “praise Him, glorify Him, and reverence Him” in all we do. This fulfills our purpose and leads us to eternal life. That’s why there is no other goal for us to set than the eradication of sin and advancement toward the praise and glory of God in our lives (Thomas, John P., Probing the Depths).
The Sacred Scriptures allude to the heart of man as a type of garden or field. When it is left untended it becomes overrun with weeds.
“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man without sense; and lo, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down” (Proverbs 24:30-31).
Rodriguez says these weeds are the deep-seated faults that take root in the man who does not reflect and examine himself. But the diligent examination of conscience in the light of the Holy Spirit is like a pruning hook to cut and dig the weeds of sin out of our lives. By plucking up our bad inclinations as soon as they appear we open our hearts to the flowers of virtue giving rise to the goodness that pleases God (#536).
But we don’t always notice our weeds. We can easily deceive ourselves, convinced that we are not so bad, that we don’t commit serious sins, and that we’re pretty good overall – especially if we compare ourselves with others. But remember: we tend to see the faults of others more easily than we see our own, and we often diminish and even forget our own offenses.
Venerable Fulton Sheen says we do not grow in our faith because “we do not will to be better.” We may wish it, but that is not enough. There are too many behaviors we don’t want to give up, so we hold back from the true holiness God calls us to. We convince ourselves that we are working on being better Christians, but the habits of sin, hidden deep within us, escape our awareness. Because of this, the reality of who we actually are becomes distorted in our minds. Sheen says that if we want to live joyfully in the goodness of God’s reality, we must see ourselves accurately. Just as Christ descended into hell, we too, he says, “have to go down into the hell in which we hide [our] unadmitted faults. This requires us to make a thoroughgoing analysis of ourselves in the light of God’s unchanging laws” (Way to Happiness #159-161). We must will – seriously intend – to be better. And we do this primarily through the power of grace, Examination of Conscience, and a genuine resolution to amend our patterns of behavior.
How Can We Profit by the Examination of Conscience
When we begin to practice the nightly examination we will improve simply by our commitment to review our behavior. Knowing there will be a prayerful assessment in the evening helps us to make better choices during the day. This is a form of recollection, keeping us mindful of how our behavior is measuring up to God’s commandments. This daily accountability spurs us on to greater growth and virtue.
Many of us have experienced standing in the Confession line and trying to think of sins we know we have committed but cannot recall. By the nightly practice of the General Examination, we begin to keep track of our sins, identifying patterns that emerge. By this, we prepare ourselves to make a good and holy confession, receiving through the sacrament the grace to battle these sins more successfully.
In addition, we can propel our spiritual growth forward by making a focused effort to conquer habitual sins revealed in the General Examen one at a time through the Particular Examination. As St. Josemaria says, “Ask [God] for light. Insist on it…until the root is laid bare (our sin) and you can get at it with your battle-axe: the particular examination (emphasis added)” (Escriva, The Way: The Essential Classic of Opus Dei’s Founder, #38).
Practical Advice for Getting Started
If we are already praying evening prayers, we can begin to incorporate the Examination of Conscience. If a routine examination is new to you, start with the General Examen and develop this into a daily habit. Notice if your confessions become a richer experience, more detailed, and spiritually consoling. Once you have gained consistency with the General Examen, you can pray about moving on to the Particular, but it’s not necessary to dive into both at once.
If we are not regularly praying in the evening before bed, this is a good time to start. We should set aside time each evening to recall God’s blessings, pray for ourselves and others, and thoroughly examine the day.
Following is the Ignatian step-by-step process to help us get started.
Guide to the General Examination
1. Make an Act of Thanksgiving
Begin with an act of thanksgiving to God for salvation and for His blessings and gifts to us. Even if we feel we have failed Him, we are called to give Him all our gratitude – “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess 5:17), reminding ourselves that “in all things God works for [our] good” (Romans 8:28).
2. Ask for light
After giving thanks to God, we invoke the Holy Spirit, asking Him to enlighten us and recall to our mind where and how we have offended Him during this day in thought, word, action, or omission of duty.
For example:
“Come Holy Spirit enlighten my mind that I may clearly know my sins. Move my heart that I may be sincerely sorry for them, honestly confess them, and firmly resolve to amend my life” (Catholic Prayer Book, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. #88)
3. Make an Examination of Conscience
At this point we examine ourselves, looking over the day’s events and interactions hour by hour, scrutinizing our interior and exterior behaviors. We can make a written or mental note of the sins and faults revealed. (Before Confession we can reread these notes or take them with us.)
4. Make an Act of Contrition
We should ask for and cultivate true sorrow for our sins. We can speak spontaneously to God in repentance, ask for His mercy, and sincerely pray an Act of Contrition.
5. Resolve, with God’s Grace to Correct Our Sins
We don’t have to wait until Confession to make a resolution to amend our lives. Each night we can ask for God’s grace to help us overcome temptation and to choose greater virtue the next day. We can meditate a bit on this, thinking about the events and people we are likely to face. Perhaps we can anticipate a potentially sinful encounter and imagine with God’s help how we will resist temptation or if possible, avoid the situation altogether. Our resolutions should be specific, but simple – something we can do – or not do – that is realistic.
Guide to the Particular Examination
When we are ready to focus on climbing the ladder of virtue and making a firm change for the better we can start the Particular Examination. Recall that St. Josemaria Escriva refers to this as the spiritual “battle-axe” because it destroys the faults and attachments that hinder our growth.
“And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire” (Matthew 18:8).
By the grace of God, the Particular Examen allows us to cut off the roots of sin and throw them far from us.
Meditation
The Ignatian method of the Particular Examen begins with a meditation on one of the truths of the Faith, perhaps a Gospel passage, something on Our Lord’s Passion, or a prayer such as the Our Father. We then ask the Holy Spirit for light to understand our habitual faults in the context of our meditation. We want to see clearly where we fall short in our love for God and our neighbor.
For example, we may be struck by Our Lord’s patience and silence during His Passion and note that we tend to talk excessively, defend ourselves, or perhaps interrupt when conversing with others. As we meditate on scripture we will understand that a tendency to be quick to speak indicates the vices of self-importance and impatience.
Seeing this, we may select impatience as the primary sin to work on and interrupting in conversation as its expression. It’s important to focus on a single expression. Otherwise, we will become overwhelmed trying to see all the manifestations of the root sin of impatience and give up on our particular examen. Choosing one expression allows us to tackle something specific, readily noting progress or failure. Even if we see many examples of impatience in our lives, by working on the one – in this case, interrupting – we will also gain victory over others. This is the gift of grace!
Our meditation may include a prayer expressing our sorrow for harboring this sin for so long and our desire with God’s grace to overcome it. Recalling Our Lady’s silent life, we ask for Her intercession.
Choose an Aspiration that Fits the Fault or Virtue
Aspirations are quick one-line prayers we can say throughout the day. They help us live the Ignatian idea of “prayer in action,” because during our busy day, they keep us recollected, obtain God’s grace to resist temptations, and are acts of reparation if we fall (Hardon, Catholic Prayer Book, #108-110). An aspiration should relate to the sin or virtue we are working on. We may choose one given by the Church or one we compose ourselves. For instance, for help with interrupting others, one might choose to use the aspiration: “My Jesus, mercy!” or devise one such as “Oh Virgin Mary, silent at the foot of the cross, pray for me!”
Monitor Oneself Throughout the Day
With God’s grace, we set about to monitor the one fault (or virtue) throughout the day. We start the morning in prayer, looking forward to our day and what events or interactions may cause us to struggle. We ask God for the grace to overcome the selected fault and practice the opposing virtue. Recall the aspiration prayer we have chosen and resolve to pray it frequently. We can check in at midday if there’s time, or just in the evening to assess our successes and failures concerning only this one fault.
If we see we have yielded to temptation in this area, we briefly consider what caused our fall. Did we become angry or impatient? Did we sin willingly, or was it almost unconscious? This assessment allows us to anticipate situations that may draw us into sin without our full consent and understand where a habit has been formed.
Act of Contrition and Resolution
After reviewing the day, if we have fallen into the sin we are working on, we acknowledge this before God and pray an Act of Contrition and our aspiration in reparation and for strength. Of course, we can do this throughout the day as well. We ask God for the grace of greater awareness, recollection, and fortitude against this sin until the next examination.
If we did not commit the sin or we practiced the opposing virtue, make an Act of Thanksgiving for God’s grace and strength. Then, continue to pray the aspiration prayer. As we work on this fault, whatever it may be, assessing our progress regularly, we hope to see its frequency diminish over time. It is generally advised that we stick with the fault we have selected for at least a few weeks to gain mastery over the sin and practice true virtue.
Stubborn Sins
We may find some sins very difficult to overcome. In these cases, it is important not to become discouraged. In addition to the Particular Examination, we may need to go to Confession more frequently, speak to our priest, and pray specific prayers, under his direction to break the chains that bind us up. Even if it takes a long while to overcome a particular sin, it is commendable in the eyes of God that we are diligent in the battle against it. Ultimately it is His grace that sets us free.
Purity of Heart, The Path to God
Jesus said those who are pure in heart shall see God. This is certainly a promise of Heaven, but also of true friendship with God here on earth. Sacred Scripture tells us how to be His friends, and how we can approach Him.
“Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord . . . ? The innocent in hands, and clean of heart.” (Psalm 23:3-4, Douay Rheims).
The ease and speed with which we ascend toward holiness and union with God is proportionate to our purity. And we are purified by His grace working through our efforts to fight against all that is ungodly in us.
Thanks be to God for giving us tools to tend the garden of our heart so that the weeds of sin do not turn it into a wasteland. Let us listen to the saints and use the Examination of Conscience to root out our faults and imperfections, so the pure flowers of virtue can grow. In this way, as His true friends, we will, indeed, ascend the mountain of the Lord.
