Saints who were sinners.
Posted by Terry Nelson on Oct 27th, 2007
“It is mercy I desire…”
I prefer the saints who were great sinners, they seemed to be especially compassionate towards other sinners. Here is a quote from St. Augustine concerning his request for clemency for a condemned criminal:
In no way, then do we approve of the sins that we want to be corrected, nor do we want the wrongdoing to go unpunished because we find it pleasing. Rather, having compassion for the person and detesting the sin or crime, the more we are displeased by the sin the less we want the sinful person to perish without having been corrected. For it is easy and natural to hate evil persons because they are evil, but it is rare and holy to love those same persons because they are human beings. - Vox Nova
October 27th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Absolutely!
October 27th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
God hates the evil they do, but loves the person who still does the evil–and wants nothing more than their conversion.
It’s almost comforting to know that so many of the saints were once great sinners–and God still loved them–rich or poor, sinful or holy, we are all called to love our fellow man–and pray for their conversions.
I still love when my Priest told me to pray for one of my co-workers who was a mean nasty person–after I prayed for her–she ended up coming to Church with me–what a lesson that was!
October 27th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I also prefer saints who were as bad as me - or worse - before their conversion.
October 27th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
& it’s difficult yet essential to continue to pray for those difficult people, who haven’t converted yet…
October 27th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
When I read of Ravensbruck and viewed the graphics, then read the Ravensbruck prayer scrawled on some brown wrap found near a child’s body, it blew me away. What greater contemporary example of loving one’s enemy could there be? Do we understand what malice also went into fashioning a crown of thorns? Then jamming it down and hitting it? And the scourging..ribboned and gouged to within an inch of His bleeding to death.. all while knowing he was an innocent, good man.. And he looked out at this evil bunch who would be breaking shins by dusk, tho’ not His, and looked well ahead to our own day of fetuses (not only aborted) cut out of wombs while the babe’s Mom is left to bleed to death, and looked ahead to much, much more.. and still, He said, “Father, forgive them..”
October 28th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Has anyone read Julian of Norwich? Fascinating.
http://www.gloriana.nu/sin.htm
October 28th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Just in case you can’t make the link, a portion (notice the part about falling):
“And in our spiritual bringing forth [Jesus] uses tenderness beyond comparison in keeping us - more than he used in our bodily bringing forth by as much as our soul’s worth is greater in his sight than our body’s.
He kindles our understanding, he prepares our ways, he eases our conscience, he comforts our soul, he lightens our heart, and gives us, in part, a knowing and loving in his blessed, blissful godhead, with the gracious mentality of his sweet manhood and his blessed passion, and with a courteous marvelling at his noble, surpassing goodness. He makes us love all that he loves for his love, and be well satisfied with him and with all his works….
And yet after this he allows some of us to fall harder and more seriously than we have ever done before, as we imagine. And then we suppose that we are not entirely wise, and that all we have begun is nothing. But this is not so. For it is necessary for us to fall, and it is necessary for us to see it.
If we did not fall, we would not know how feeble and wretched we are of ourselves, nor should we know so fully the marvellous love of our maker…. We shall se in truth that we never lost any of his love, nor were we ever of less worth in his sight. And by the test of this failure we shall have a noble and marvellous knowing of love in God…. (which) cannot be broken on account of trespass…..
He wills that we take ourselves with great strength to the faith of holy Church and find there our most precious mother in comfort and true understanding with the whole communion of blessed ones. For a person by himself can frequently be broken, as it seems to himself, but the whole body of holy Church was never broken and never shall be, without end. Therefore it is a sure thing, a good thing, and a gracious thing to will meekly and powerfully to be fastened and joined to our mother, holy Church - that is Christ Jesus.”