JESUS LIVING IN MARY:
HANDBOOK OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT
SIN
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Summary
I. Introduction.
II. The Context of Saint Louis Marie’s Doctrine on Sin: 1. Montfort, the parish missionary; 2. Montfort’s overarching theology; 3. Montfort’s sanctity.
II. The Nature of Sin: 1. Sin in general; 2. Sin as rupture of covenant love; 3. Sin as lack of harmony.
III. Kinds of Sin: 1. The sin of the angels; 2. Original sin; 3. Actual sin.
IV. Consequences of Sin: 1. Weakness of sinful man: a. A Christological statement; b. Nature and grace.
V. Forgiveness of Sins: 1. Jesus, friend of sinners; 2. Jesus, redeemer of sinners; 3. Mary and sinners.
VI. Means of Avoiding Sin: 1.
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. . more envious than serpents, greedier than pigs . . . we have nothing in us but sin” (TD
79). Montfort does not exclude himself when speaking to sinners: “be- cause of our sins” (SM 36). II. The Nature of Sin
1. Sin in general
“But thou, our God, art kind and true and patient. . . . To know thee is the whole of righteousness, and to acknowledge thy power is the root of immortality. We have not been led astray by the perverted inventions of human skill or the barren labors of painters, by some gaudy painted shape, the sight of which arouses in fools a passionate desire for a mere image without life or breath. They are in love with evil” (Wis.
15:1–6). Sin is choosing resentment over compassion, ugliness over beauty, deceit over wisdom.
Sin is a moral evil. And as Montfort tells us, sin is rarely presented as evil but rather as good. “In general, they do not teach sin openly, but they speak of it as if it were virtuous, or blameless, or a matter of indifference and of little consequence. This guile which the devil has taught the world in order to conceal the heinousness of sin