SCRUPLESScruples are a disease, physical and moral, which produces a sort of derangement of conscience, and causes one to harbor vain fears of having offended God. This is not restricted to beginners. Yet it is found in them as well as in the more advanced souls.
The term scruple was employed for ages past to designate a weight under which only the most sensitive scales would tilt. in the moral sense, it stands for some trifle which only the most delicate conscience would notice. Hence it is commonly used to designate the anxiety about having offended God which certain souls feel for little or no reason.
Scruples arise from purely natural causes, and sometime they are due to supernatural intervention.
A physical cause would be a nervous depression which hinders right judgement and tends to produce the obsessing idea that one has sinned.
A moral cause could be a meticulous mind that tends to lose itself amid the most trifling causes because it wants to reach absolute certitude about all things; also a beclouded mind that represents God not as a just judge but as a merciless one. Or a mind that confuses feeling with consent especially when the imagination is vivid and long alive. An obstinate mind can also be the cause in that it prefers its own judgement to that of the confessor and tends to let itself be led by impression rather than by reason.If both physical and moral causes are present, it is more deeply rooted and difficult to cure the problem.
Scruples can also arise from a preternatural intervention on the part of God or of the devil.
God allows us to be obsessed either as a punishment for our pride and/or vain complacency, or as a trial, either for the sake of expiating past sins or for the sake of purifying us, detaching us from spiritual consolations and leading us to a higher degree of sanctity.
The devil also at times injects his activity to create turmoil in a soul. He persuades us that we are in the state of mortal sin to keep us from receiving Holy Communion, or to prevent us from discharging the duties of our state. He strives to deceive us of the gravity of some act to cause us to sin because of a false conscience.
There are also many degrees of scruples. Meticulous conscience to transient scruples which are eased upon consultation with a spiritual director, too tenacious and obstinate.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN A SCRUPULOUS AND DELICATE CONSCIENCETheir starting point is not the same. The delicate conscience loves God ardently and, in order to please Him, wants to avoid the least fault, and the slightest wilful imperfection.
The scrupulous conscience is led on by a certain egotism which causes an inordinate eagerness for absolute certainty of one's state of grace.
The delicate conscience possesses a horror of sin, and knows its own feebleness. It has a rational, yet quiet fear of displeasing God. The scrupulous conscience harbors vain fear of sinning in every circuмstance.
The tender conscience knows how to discriminate between mortal and venial sin, and in case of doubt, abides by the judgment of the spiritual director; the scrupulous conscience peevishly questions the decisions of the spiritual director and submits to them only with difficulty.
Scruples are a real evil to be avoided.
But a delicate conscience is a treasure.
Sometimes scruples are universal, bearing in all subjects
More often scruples bear upon a number of particular subjects, such as past confessions, evil thoughts, blasphemous thoughts, charity, correct pronunciation of words of Consecration, integral recitation of the Divine Office, etc.
Disadvantages and Advantages of ScruplesScruples usually produce effects such as a certain weakening and unbalancing of the nervous system, which in turn depresses bodily health. They can even become a real obsession which can border on a type of insanity.They becloud the mind and distort judgment. Loss of true devotion often results because one begins to mistrust even God. And then of course faults, and even grave ones ensue.
If we know how to accept scruples as a trial and submit ourselves to a wise spiritual director, they can have the advantage of purifying the soul, increasing humility and obedience, and purifying our intentions.
The remedy for scruples is obedience!Once the spiritual director has the confidence of his penitent he must demand blind obedience from him. And if the penitent cannot promise that it should be suggested he seek another director.
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