Monthly Spiritual Retreat - November

Theme: The Spirit of Penance

We are all bound to do penance; none of us has a right to dispense himself from it, for none of us is without sin or without great need of expiation. For a soul, however, that is called to walk in the way of Christ’s counsels, penance and prayer are the most important works, the most efficacious means of salvation for the soul itself and for others, the most useful instruments in the task of reparation to which chosen souls are called.

It is necessary first to possess the spirit of penance, and I must obtain it by means of renunciation, humility, and the complete union of my will with that f God. I will ask God to show me more and more how insignificant I am, and all that He has done for me. I will examine my conscience with merciless severity regarding even the smallest defects.

I will practice penance under its twofold form of suffering and mortification.

Suffering. I must accept all the sufferings that God sends me, not merely bearing them – as I do sometimes, with cowardly acquiescence, or yielding to inward despondency – but welcoming them with a glad heart and cheerful face, remembering that each of them is a fragment of my Savior’s Cross, and offering them up for the welfare of souls and the glory of God, on behalf of those dear to me and to make reparation.

Mortification. I must accept all the mortifications, spiritual or corporal, which it is God’s will that I should undergo. Further, I must seek out the mortifications of heart and mind which abound in daily life – if only we know how to find them – and also bodily mortifications arising from my state of health or from food and other outward things. I should never do anything imprudent which might injure my health or go against the wishes of others regarding myself, but there are many bodily mortifications that would do me more good than harm, and that would tend to making my body entirely subject to my soul, that would punish it a little without hurting it, and would greatly benefit my soul. I must often practice mortification as a prayer, or in the spirit of reparation.

I must accept or seek sufferings and penances in secret, doing nothing that would attract attention, but, on the contrary, showing more kindness and friendliness than usual.

From “The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: the Woman Whose Goodness Changed Her Husband from Atheist to Priest,” Sophia Institute Press®, Manchester, New Hampshire, © 2002