EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. —
I. NATURE
An ascetical exercise by which a person desirous of spiritual perfection, through reflection on his own actions, corrects their defects and raises them to greater perfection.Already the ancient philosophers considered it necessary for the improvement of life to devote some time to taking account of one’s own thoughts, words, and actions. Pythagoras prescribed the e. of c. to his disciples, and Cicero stated that he practiced it every evening with regard to what he had said, heard, and done during the day. Seneca’s phrase is famous: « Quotidie apud me causam dico, totum diem mecum scrotur facta et dicta remeitor. Nihil mihi abscondo; nihil transeo I » (cf. Ep. 83, 2; De ira 3, 36, 1).
The use of the e. of c., however, in the strictly ascetical sense became widespread with the eremitical and cenobitic life of the first centuries of the Christian era. The holy Fathers eloquently recalled that God searches the reins and the heart (Ps. 7:10), and that, according to the saying of Jesus Christ, every idle word will also be examined on the day of judgment (Mt. 12:36). Before them, too, St. Paul had said that if we judged ourselves, we should avoid divine judgment (I Cor. 11:31). Voluntary expiation was strongly recommended as protection against God’s punishment. The Fathers generally recalled that humiliation leads to exaltation and repentance to forgiveness, as in the case of the publican in the Gospel parable, who acknowledged himself to be a sinner and with a contrite heart had recourse to the mercy of God, obtaining II. St. Augustine writes: « Before judging others, be the judge of yourself. Enter into yourself, turn your attention to your actions, examine them, hear your own case... Have you examined, judged, and punished yourself? Behold, you are spared » (PL 38, 110).
The practice of the e. of c. passed from monasticism, both Eastern and Western, into medieval spiritual life: it was strongly recommended by St. Bernard (1090–1153) and widely practiced by families inspired by Benedictine, Carthusian, Victorine, and Dominican spirituality. In the modern age it became universal, and its methods multiplied. It assumed particular importance in the spirituality inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556); ecclesiastical authority introduced it into seminaries; today its use is universal in colleges, boarding schools, and religious institutes, and it is usually performed at a fixed time for a period ranging from half a quarter of an hour to a quarter of an hour. This universality indicates the esteem in which it is held in the Church because of its salutary influence on Christian life.
The advantages of the e. of c. relate especially to « purity of conscience and the attainment of particular virtues » (G. B. Scaramelli, Dirett. ascetico, I, trat. I, a. IX). To obtain purity of soul, it is necessary, besides knowing one’s faults and the external occasions that cause one to commit them, to feel genuine sorrow for them and to resolve to amend them. Now, knowledge of one’s evil inclinations, failings, and their roots is almost impossible for anyone who never, or almost never, reflects on the state of his soul.
The acquisition of virtues depends essentially upon intimate reflection on oneself and on the circumstances in which one lives. Beginning with the virtue of humility,
the basis and foundation of all true perfection, defined by St. Bernard as « that virtue by which a person, through the truest knowledge he has of himself, holds himself in low esteem », it arises from frequent e. of c., which demonstrate that without God a person is nothing, can do nothing, and corrupts and spoils the gifts of the Lord; thus, from this knowledge the soul arrives at a sense of confusion that prevents it from becoming proud, detaching it from blind pride, from the aspiration to dominate, and from considering itself greater than it is.
The practice of the e. of c. is evidently extremely useful for preparing more suitably for sacramental Confession and for deriving greater fruit from the Sacrament, by fostering a more precise accusation of one’s sins and more present and intense sorrow and resolution to amend. Seriously performed every day, it also becomes an excellent preparation for death and for the judgment of God.
Two kinds of e. of c. are distinguished: the general and the particular.
The former essentially concerns the faults committed during a day (or half-day), beginning with the time of rising and continuing until the moment of the exercise, reviewing the various hours and occupations. Various methods have been proposed (v. sotto). Ascetical authors, however, dwell especially on recommending that, during the e., acts of contrition be made, emphasizing the more perfect motives for detesting the evil committed. Sincere repentance of perfect contrition immediately obtains forgiveness of sins and restores purity to the soul, even though the person guilty of mortal sin remains gravely obliged to make expiation in the subsequent sacramental Confession, lest he otherwise fall again from the grace of God through transgressing a grave obligation imposed by Him. If sorrow is as it must be, there will also be a resolution to avoid sins in the future. But since the human will is frail and weak, it is recommended that the examination be concluded by turning to prayer to obtain divine Grace, which strengthens II.
The particular e. of c. is the concentration of attention and effort upon a specific point. It is an application to the moral life of the strategic principle of avoiding the dispersion of forces. It is therefore directed toward eradicating, one at a time, the individual’s principal defects, in accordance with the celebrated phrase from the Imitation of Christ: « If every year we eliminated one vice, we should soon be perfect ». Every person ordinarily has one or more weak points, or predominant passions, which are the root of his daily failings. It is precisely against these tendencies that a particular e. of c. is to be practiced, that is, special vigilance and more intense and specific resolutions. This is a very reasonable device, already used among the sages of antiquity. Plutarch employed it to overcome anger and indignation. To facilitate its practice, spiritual masters advise beginning with the defects that are easiest to overcome and then moving on to the more difficult ones; first targeting external defects, which also offend others, and then those that are purely internal. With regard to the resolution to amend, the principal element of the particular examination, one must strive to make it truly serious and energetic, because mere wishes or half-measures are insufficient to achieve the goal.
BIBLI: On the e. of c. in general: L. La Palma, Tratado del examen de la consciencia, Barcellona 1903; G. Broia, Metodo facilissimo per far bene l'e. di c. e accostarsi con le necessarie disposizioni ai santi sacramenti della Confessione e Commissione, 3ª ed., Lecce 1904; G. Sapieter, L'examen de conscience, Lilla 1932; T. Nono, Spiegazione a pratica dell'esame generale e particolare, Torino 1932; O. Zimmermann, Lehrbuch der Anzebik, 3ª ed., Friburgo in Br. 1935.
On the particular e. of c.: J. Deharbe, Examen ad usum Cleri in gratum praecipue sacerdotum sacra exercitib obtinunt, Ratisbona 1906; C. Pontineau, Nouveau traité d'examen particulier, Bruxelles 1912; L. Sempé, Actes et mystique. L'examen particulier, principe, méthode, origine, Tolosa 1923; A. J. Willwerding, Examination of conscience for boys and girls, St. Louis 1927; C. Imba, A Particular Examen. A constructive method,
ivi 1930; P. Gocka, Der asseitsche Wert des Particularexamens, Giogas 1938; O. Marchetti, E. di c. per il clero durante i santi esercizi, Roma 1934; id., E. di c. per i giovani, ivi 1939; id., E. di c. per gli adulti, ivi 1942; W. Siero, Näher, mein Gott, an Dir! Handbuchlein für die tödliche Geschwulferforschung, Warendorf in W. 1940. Arnaldo M. Lanz
II. PRECEPT AND METHOD
In particular, following the appeals to the spiritual life made by Pius X (Haerent animo: cf. Acta Pii X, 4 [1908], pp. 237–64) and by Pius XI (Ad catholici Sacerdotii, 20 Dec. 1935, in AAS, 28 [1936], pp. 5–53), the e. di c. has become one of the most important practices of religious life. The CIC indirectly commands it of all clerics: «Curent locorum Ordinarii ut clerici omnes... quotidie... conscientiam suam discutant» (can. 125).The legislator leaves the method of the e. di c. entirely free.
The general e. di c. according to the method of s. Ignatius contains five points: thanksgiving to God, the request for grace, a careful examination of our conduct from the first awakening in the morning until the moment of the examination, the request for forgiveness, and the resolution (Modus faciendi examen generale et continet quisque puncta). The method of the particular e. di c. is more complex. It begins with the first awakening in the morning (the preliminary examination) and is carried out at two times, before lunch and after dinner. It also requires written notation of faults (a kind of balance sheet of losses and gains), so that comparisons may be made between one day and another and between one week and another. This complex system made the particular e. according to s. Ignatius less acceptable to several masters of the spiritual life, among them s. Francesco di Sales (Lettere alla suora di Soulfour, in Oeuvres de St François de Sales, XII, Annecy 1902, p. 167 ff.) and s. Alfonso (La vera sposa, ed. Rome 1935, chap. 21).
The Ignatian methods for both the general and particular e. di c. reflect the spirit of s. Ignatius, a methodical spirit, hostile to the abstract, which regards the spiritual life as a struggle and a conquest. He does not propose renouncing sin in general, but this sin; nor does he propose simply wishing to be perfect, but conquering this or that virtue. He proceeds from the principle that man must do everything as though everything depended on him.
Alongside the Ignatian methods there are other methods, among which the methods called Sulpician are of particular importance; their fundamental ideas come from Cardinal De Bérulle, De Condren, and Ollier. Since the central idea of the Sulpician method is union and adherence to the Incarnate Word, in order to offer God the acts of religion that are his due and to reproduce in the soul the virtues of N. S. Gesù Cristo, adoration and placing oneself before Jesus as model and judge are added to the five acts of the general examination of s. Ignatius. Moreover, the direct object of the examination will not be the removal of a particular defect or the acquisition of a particular virtue, but rather the abuse of the dispositions toward virtue that Gesù Cristo has given us, by rejecting his inspirations and impeding his inspirations and motions (cf. M. Ollier, Lettres, ed. E. Levesque, I, Paris 1935, pp. 311–17). The Church, in recommending the e. di c. to all the clergy, as stated above, has not intended to impose any particular method, but leaves each person the widest freedom of spirit.
III. ACT OF THE PENITENT
The examination of conscience as an act of the penitent, presupposed to the confession of one’s sins, is called by the Council of Trent (sess. XIV, chap. 5) diligens sui discussio (can. 501). The teaching of the most authoritative moralists regards it as necessary, first of all, as a means of fulfilling the duty of making an integral confession of all mortal sins, and also as a means of making confession spiritually more fruitful. However, only one who neglected it while being aware of the danger that he might subsequently fail to confess mortal sins would commit grave fault. The diligence required is the ordinary diligence that people customarily exercise in matters to which they attach genuine importance; therefore, the utmost diligence will not be necessary, nor even diligence of an extraordinary kind. For this reason, it is held in theological doctrine that no penitent is obliged to write down his sins or to use an interpreter when he does not know the language of the confessor; for the same reason, examination of conscience may be forbidden or reduced to a minimum for the scrupulous. In principle, the confessor would also have the right to send away as unprepared a penitent who had seriously failed to make an examination of conscience; in practice, however, the teaching of the most authoritative moralists recommends that he not do so, because those who failed to make it through incapacity, if left on their own, will be back where they started; and with regard to those who omitted it through unwillingness, there is a danger of extinguishing the smoldering wick. The Roman Catechism (De Poenit., n. 60) adopts a broad criterion when it states: « Si audita confessione iudicaverit (confessarius) neque in enumerandis peccatis diligentiam, nec in detestandis dolorem poenitenti omnino defuisse, absolvi poterit ».BIBLI: In addition to the works cited in the text, cf. Werns-Vidal, II, n. 88, p. 117; F. M. Cappello, De Poenitentia, 4ª ed., Torino-Roma 1944, nn. 205-208, 229, pp. 175-70, 191-93; E. Génic et J. Salamans, Institutiones theologiae moralis, 16ª ed., II, Bruxelles 1946, nn. 301-303, pp. 265-67. Luigi Oldani