Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Thoughts from The Dark Night-Reviewing the Predominant Fault Posts
The knowledge of self and one's sins is one of the reasons for purification. If one is attempting to cooperate with grace regarding the destruction of the predominant faults, one may find that the fault is connected to another and another.
For example, pride can morph into vainglory and presumption. Sloth may be easily attached to Gluttony and Greed. Envy, Anger and Lust sometimes "work together". One sees a pattern.
Now, because of concupiscence, we shall be tempted all our lived until the moment of death. Even the greatest of saints experienced trials in the last months of their lives. St. Therese the Little Flower is only one example.
One must learn to avoid temptations as these occur immediately. Here is a reminder from Garrigou-Lagrange on the predominant fault. I have already written on the predominant fault, but this truth bears repeating. My highlights....
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.
When one is attempting to live in community, the devil attacks by putting the predominant faults of others "in one's face" constantly. If one is aware of what is happening, one can avoid this deception and turn to prayer and compassion for the other.
to be continued...
08 Apr 2014
Firstly,
St. Alphonsus reveals that anyone who gets upset with sin in one's own
life is not humble, but proud, and may be exhibiting the predominant
fault of anger. Anger is not merely focused on other or events, but one
can ...
07 Apr 2014
Use
the tags and labels to read the posts on one's predominant fault, if
you have not done so already. Hard stuff, but necessary for the road to
perfection. There are 45 posts dealing with that topic directly. And,
speaking of ...
27 Nov 2013
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 ...
18 Sep 2013
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 ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com
21 Jul 2012
Garrigou-Lagrange
states that "it is of primary importance that we recognize our
predominant fault and have no illusions about it. This is is so much the
more necessary as our adversary, the enemy of our soul, knows it
quite ...
23 Jul 2012
Perfection
Series continued-the predominant fault--four. Posted by Supertradmum.
St. Augustine tells us, using Garrigou-Lagrange, that God never asks us
to do the impossible. If God desires us to be one with Him and He ...
25 Sep 2013
Youth
can spot a hypocrite a mile away and the bad priests and neglectful
husbands and fathers will have to face God as to why they did not work
on their predominant fault. Being a Catholic man, like being a Catholic
woman, ...
20 May 2014
In
Chapter 22, the great Dominican writes of "The Predominant Fault".The
holy priest lists most of the obvious sins, but I want to highlight one,
but in a different manner. We know that Pride is most likely the worst
of all sins and .
18 Sep 2013
The
greatest fault is pride. Thinking that one knows better than a bishop
or that one can judge a liberal bishop as unauthorized to make a
statement on a visionary is pride. Period. But, those with a predominant
fault of sloth or ...
18 Sep 2013
Garrigou-Lagrange
helps us on our way. The graph at the very end of this post indicates
how to break the sins of the predominant fault. This is hard work. This
takes time and reflection. One must be ruthless with one's self to a ...
18 Sep 2013
For
without dealing with our predominant fault, there is no moving on into
the Dark Night, Illumnative and Unitive states. Later on, I can show how
the predominant fault, unless dealt with in this life, is the reason we
go to ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
26 Sep 2013
The
Predominant Fault of Some Women. Posted by Supertradmum. Just to be
fair, I have been talking with lovely, good Catholic women who want to
become saints. They would be in the category of the really beautiful
women ...
26 Sep 2013
The
second most common predominant fault of women could be pride. This is
the primordial sin and one easy to fall into. But, if this is the main,
underlining fault of all faults, it must be rooted out through serious
attention, ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
21 Jul 2012
Predominant
Fault Three-perfection series. Posted by Supertradmum. Promptness of
will and intolerance of our faults are part of the battle against our
predominant faults. This is a battle from which we cannot escape if
we ...
05 Dec 2013
For
those interested in most of the postings on the predominant fault, I
have tried to find most of the links on this subject, which is a
Catholic idea, btw, and not a protestant one. As one who is being
dragged into looking at my ...
08 Apr 2014
St.
Francis de Sales on His Predominant Faults-Two. Posted by Supertradmum.
After being greatly insulted by a Knight of Malta for not giving a
benefice to one of his servants, “the bishop‟s brother …asked him how it
was he ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
03 Aug 2014
As
we have already spoken of the predominant fault, we here insist on
precipitation to be avoided or, as the expression goes, on
impulsiveness, which inclines one to act without sufficient reflection.
With rash haste many ...
13 Jul 2014
It
is very good to find a devotion which specifically leads to the removal
of our predominant fault. We all need to crack the deep sin, deep
weakness which keeps us from God, stops virtue, hinders grace. I now
belong to a third ...
28 Jul 2014
However,
some physical and mental pain is given by God for our purification, for
the removal of the predominant fault. Too often I hear people say, "Oh,
she is a suffering soul, or a victim soul" when in reality, the person
is ...
29 Sep 2013
one
can have more than one predominant fault. A good priest and I were
discussing this today. He said that if the faults are close in nature,
it is easy to have two. This makes it much harder to cooperate with
grace and burn the ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
27 Sep 2013
Obviously,
a mother may have the same predominant fault as her girls or girls.
When the Bible states that a woman is saved by child-bearing, one of the
meanings of that pregnant (pun intended) phrase is that one sees
one's ...
06 Feb 2014
The
Dark Night is the time of purgation of the predominant fault or faults.
I have written about these here and one can follow the tags. The call
is to cooperate with grace so that one can move into the Illuminative
State, which is ...
05 Nov 2013
Unless
one has had spiritual director for years, one who can tell one the
predominant fault, one needs to do this on one's own. A sign of the
movement towards the Dark Night is the movement into regular
meditation, ...
30 Jan 2013
More
than fear as a great evil, the state of living in a hidden sin,
allowing one to keep on sinning and not dealing with the predominant
fault, keeps people from the Truth, Who is a Person. Garrigou-Lagrange
makes it clear in ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
31 Jan 2014
But,
sloth is the great sin which is hidden in our society. It is "too ok"
to have a lot of down time these days. . For my friend who is working to
get rid of this predominant fault, God bless you. Remember, a lukewarm
Catholic is ...
02 Sep 2013
Want
to overcome the predominant fault and be brutally honest with one's
self. Want to become love for the sake of Love, not for one's own sake,
but for God's alone, Want all who one meets to experience not the "me"
but the ...
20 Jul 2012
In
Chapter 22, the great Dominican writes of "The Predominant Fault".The
holy priest lists most of the obvious sins, but I want to highlight one,
but in a different manner. We know that Pride is most likely the worst
of all sins and ...
17 Sep 2013
Subtle
temptations are connected to our predominant fault, about which I have
written many times. If we know what are main fault is, we can catch the
temptations and stop the process which leads to sin. Satan, as St.
Ignatius ...
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/
25 May 2014
This
could be a predominant fault for some. The old phrase, "Let go and let
God" applies to the egoist, if he wants to attain heaven. Egoism is like
a cancer of the will, which ravages it more and more, whereas
sanctifying grace ...
12 Apr 2014
beg
God to reveal your predominant fault beg God to take the suffering for
repararton of your sins offer the suffering for the sins of others,
especially family members be patient be calm be resigned read the lives
of the saints
10 Feb 2014
The
predominant fault is discussed at length on my blog, when I did an
unpacking of Garrigou-Lagrange and other writers on perfection and in
the Doctors of the Church series on perfection. Over 600, more than 10%
of my ...
21 Mar 2014
Eight,
the predominant fault has been utterly destroyed. Nine, the person
walks in light, and is no longer affected by the dark, but transcends
the darkness with the awareness that God is always with him. Ten, good
works, great ...