Penitential spirit lead one away from the sacrament?

[Beautiful]

I’m reading a book about penitential spirit. In all fairness to myself I must admit that I haven’t finished reading it yet - but I will soon. It is a gripping topic for me at this time and perhaps in the end I’ll have the question I have answered by the author.
I was wondering if anyone knows if a truly penitential spirit can ever lead one away from the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist for a period of time only to return. Were there saints that rotated away from the sacraments before returning to them a more whole person?

 

[Trishie]

Dear Beautiful, however lovely and deep your book may be, do not allow it to seduce you from the Sacraments. Only a false spirit would persuade that.

Regarding Saints, Francis of Assisi ruined his sight weeping for his sins…but this was after his conversion, and he clung to the Church and the Sacraments ever after his conversion, as did St Augustine after his, St Ignatius also.

Spiritual life has its insights and its trials, but ones journey to God will be damaged rather than blessed if one deliberately chooses to to abandon the gifts Jesus offers in the hope of growing holier or more whole. Jesus comes to you in both Sacraments. Shall we leave Him looking down the road waiting for us to return, with unwanted gifts in His hands?

 

[bpbasilphx]

I was wondering if anyone knows if a truly penitential spirit can ever lead one away from the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist for a period of time only to return. Were there saints that rotated away from the sacraments before returning to them a more whole person?

How can one possibly be a whole person WITHOUT the Holy Mysteries, which directly link us with the Perfect Human–our Lord,k God, and Saviour Jesus Christ?

 

[Ruthie]

If one was to forsake the Sacraments because one thought they were so sinful they didn’t deserve them, or had sinned too deeply to be affected by them, they are denying the saving grace of Jesus, and that’s grave sin.

If one denies oneself the Sacraments as a form of penance, then they’re probably OK - as long as they are not in a state of mortal sin, and as long as they obey the Church’s command that they receive the Eucharist once a year. Foolish, but OK.

Saints are more likely to confess and receive as often as possible! There were even some that ate nothing but Jesus!

Blessings,

Ruthie

 

[puzzleannie]

it might be the case that someone who has come to a fuller realization of and contrition for their sins, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, does for a time fear or avoid confession and the other sacraments, but this is from a misplaced sense of guilt and and kind of inverted pride that says “my sins are too many and too much to forgive.” This mood however is not from the Holy Spirit but from the evil one, who uses even our contrition as a tool to turn us away from God and his Divine Mercy. A true penitential spirit that is a gift from God turns us inevitably toward the sacraments.

 

[Timothysis]

Christ gave us the sacraments as a means of bestowing His sanctifying grace upon us. Why would we, when we are properly disposed to receive, turn our backs on them?

 

[Beautiful]

The closest I have to an answer is from Dom Hubert Van Zeller in Spirit of Penance Path to God. He writes ~

It would be wrong to avoid prayer on the grounds that one might enjoy being seen at it, it would be equally wrong to avoid penance on the grounds that one might like getting a reputation for doing it secretly. Low motives can be laughed off – can indeed be mortified. And even if no absolute security can be found against them (which is bound to be the case anyway) it is always better to attempt a good in spite of its risks than to draw back from a risk in spite of its opportunities. Page 62

So in other words one should never avoid the Sacraments on the grounds of a penetential spirit. One should always attempt a good in spite of its risks.

On kinda’ the same note Zeller writes ~

The more laudable the object, the more disguised is the irregularity in the desire for it. If souls have had to be corrected by St. Teresa of Avila and others for the inordinate desire that they manifested for Holy Communion, then it shows how careful we should be to keep the balance. To hunger for work, as to hunger for Holy Communion (or for prayer or solitude or penance), is good. But once the hunger takes the place of the object hungered for, the entire scale of values alters.