The true lovers of Jesus Christ should examine their conscience twice daily: toward noon and in the evening.
In the Morning Examen, little formality is required. Hence, before noon, it will be sufficient to say the Confiteor and see how they have conducted themselves during the morning. Then, if there be found any fault, make an act of contrition and a good resolution to amend. If they are unable to discover any faults in examining themselves, let them humble themselves profoundly before God and render Him thanks, confessing, nevertheless, that they have committed many faults of which they have neither remembrance nor knowledge.
To make this examination easier, it will be very useful for them, whenever they fall into some fault during the day, to examine themselves at once and consider a little by what impulse they did so. Then, after humbling themselves before God, make a special mental note of it so as to remember it in the evening examination.
The Evening Examen shall be made as follows:
I return Thee thanks, O my God, for all Thy benefits, particularly for Thy Holy Passion, Thy Divine Sacraments, my life in Christ, and for having preserved me during this day, providing me, in Thy Sweet Goodness, with all my needs. I acknowledge and confess before Thee, that this day has not passed without my having in some way offended Thee, and since I am blind in my own concerns, I ask for Thy grace and the light of the Holy Spirit that I may rightly know my faults.
I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed. (Pause here for the examination of conscience. Examine your thoughts, words, deeds and omissions since your last examen.) Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I beseech Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints to pray to the Lord our God for me.
My God, my Creator and my Redeemer, I repent with all my heart for having offended Thee because Thou art my Lord and my God Whom I love above all things. With the help of Thy grace, which I most humbly beseech Thee to grant me, I firmly purpose to avoid all that can displease Thee, particularly . . . and to do what I think most agreeable to Thee in atonement for my sins. I offer Thee, O my God, the Life, Passion and Death of my Lord Jesus Christ, the merits of the Blessed Virgin, of the Angels and Saints. I hope, O Lord, that out of Thy Infinite Goodness and Mercy, and through the merits of Thy Precious Blood and Thy Adorable Heart, Thou wilt forgive me my sins and grant me the grace to serve Thee faithfully for the rest of my days. Amen.
My God, I recommend to Thy Divine Mercy my soul, my body and my whole being, my superiors, both of Church and State. My God, guard, bless and direct them in all things.
Remember, O Lord, the necessities of Thy Church. Through the merits of Thy Precious Blood and Thy Sacred Heart, convert the sinners and infidels, give Thy grace to the poor Christians that are persecuted and imperilled, sanctify the just, and deliver the souls from Purgatory. Protect also my relatives, friends and benefactors, both spiritual and temporal. O holy Virgin, my good Mother, be at my side and give me thy blessing. My holy Guardian Angel, my holy Patron and Protectors, I ask also your holy blessing. Obtain for me from God the grace to fulfill well the duties of my state in life and final perseverance. Amen. God be blessed. Our Father and Hail Mary. (Indulgence of 200 days)
Besides these two daily examinations, they may make a Particular Examen concerning the practice of some particular virtue adapted to their needs and directly opposed to those imperfections to which they are most inclined.
COMMENTARY
The Examination of Conscience has a very great bearing on the Christian life. All the moralists and all the Fathers of the spiritual life recommend it. "With desolation is all the land made desolate," says Jeremiah (12:11), "because there is none who considers in his heart." Most of our faults and bad habits result almost entirely from the absence of the examen.
The examen is so necessary that St. Francis de Sales recommends it twice a day. He even wants our examination of conscience to be continual, so to speak, because each time we fall into some fault, he wants us to examine and inquire into the motives for the fault, in order to add this new fault to the total of faults already committed, and enable us to remember it in confession.
If we do not watch over our conscience, we shall certainly make no progress.
Let us keep the mirror of our conscience continually before our eyes. Let us see what our sins are and where we stand. When we commit a fault, let us promptly analyze our soul to find out its real cause. Is it pride? Sensuality? Gluttony? We must do this rapidly. Let us hasten to sweep the house so as to have time to adorn and enrich it.
St. Francis de Sales foresees the very rare case when we might find nothing with which to reproach ourselves. Our life is composed of many actions. Certainly, many of these actions are not performed with all the perfection desired. There are many shortcomings and faults in our day. If, by chance, we are completely unaware of these shortcomings, we should say the prayer of the Psalmist, "From my hidden offenses, cleanse me." (Ps. 18:13). It is good for us to say this prayer at all times, even when we think that we see our sins clearly, because there are always many faults that we do not see. We are blinded by our passions, our self-esteem and our attachment to our own ideas and judgments. We are too sensitive. We are vexed by the lack of consideration or by a thoughtless word. We wound our neighbor without realizing it.
Must we, then, search our soul and scrutinize it? No, because we do not know our secret faults very well anyway. We must abandon them to the Divine Mercy and ask our Savior to forgive us and give us the grace to do better in the future.[1]
Prayer for Fidelity to the Article on the Examen
My Jesus, give me the grace to be very faithful to the examination of conscience. Every day, I will come before You and look at You and see what I should be. And I will look at myself and see what I am not. Please, give me the light to know my faults and the courage to overcome them.
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[1] Father Brisson, Commentary on the Directory.