I am stupid and ignorant in many ways, have done no outside research, and have not been diagnosed with scrupulosity although it may be possible that I have a serious undiagnosed case,
who knows
, but from my readings on this forum and the readings of the saints, here is my best (and hopefully humorous not offensive) initial shot at helping to resolve the issue.
Scrupulosity is related to pride. (1) A scrupulous person focuses on the sins that they themselves have chosen out and not the sins preached out strongly in the church. A bit like how Annias and Saphias gave their property to the Church and lied about it, and St. Paul (?) pointed out:* this was yours in the first place, you didn’t HAVE to give it. No one told you to do so. * So the sins that the scrupulous wonder about can seem strange or excessive to others: rather than struggling with poverty, chastity, obedience, humility, charity, faith, true love of Jesus and Mary and the Church, suffering, and sacrifice they seem to have serious struggles with things that seem strange or unrelated to sin tor others, like they are going out of their way to do good deeds in unknown and strange paths for the Church or trying to be holy and self-sacrificing above their level while neglecting what is
really important. (2) Scrupulous people - instead of seeking out the best counsel possible and the sacraments and praying heavily and then trusting in God for direction - seem to desire direction but then ignore it. Others may wonder if their search for spiritual direction is a way to make themselves look holy instead of a genuine search and why they care whether others think they are holy or not. They also seem to struggle to take an interest in others - they hardly hear or analyze the direction that they receive whether from the saints or mere mortals and have little to no interest in deeply considering and analyzing the issues of others. Scrupulous people may have a very strong view of themselves as the highest judge of morality.
A person who loves God tries to be 100% perfect. St. Mary Faustina says, #112,
“There is nothing little in the spiritual life.” saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS3.shtml They are humble and think of others as better than themselves, so they welcome any advice that they receive in bettering themself and are constantly seeing the ways in which they fall short of the ideals given to them by those superior. They also depend on the mercy of God and his grace completely so they soon forget about even their most grievous sins if the Church tells them to forget about these sins and go on with happiness, knowing that they are miserable and worth spiritually less than toads, but happy that the ABUNDANTLY LOVING AND MERCIFUL LORD, SAVIOR, SPOUSE has loved them so much to raise them up in their misery and looked at the blood of the LORD instead of their own sins so that they can be in extremely close union with him forevermore. Mother Teresa, St. Louis Mary de Montfort, St. Mary Faustina, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Therese of Liseux, and St. Francis of Assisi all saw themselves as wretches unworthy of God, the end result is that they achieved saintliness by grace and merit. Quite possibly, their Merit would probably not have been so great if their Humility had not been so powerful. Maybe humility is the most important virtue in the church. NOTE: St. Louis Mary de Montfort even writes in
True Devotion to Mary montfort.org.uk/Writings/TrueDev.html
saintlouisdemontfort.com/consecration.cfm to basically spend a week knowing of one’s own wretchedness before performing an act of consecration.
In summary, scrupulosity versus humility in my possibly misguided and judgmental opinion. The humble person is failing a class and is not too smart, goes to the teaching assistant and professor for help. Takes their advice to heart and diligently applies it to herself, seeking all legitimate sources of help and eventually passes by dint of effort and pain. The scrupulous person is failing a class and is not too smart, buys books from
Amazon.com to help with class that end up leading her down the wrong path, goes to teaching assistant and professor but is too stung by the fact that they unconsciously look down on her for going to extra help that she doesn’t take any notes and gains nothing from the many meetings, cries self to sleep every night over struggles in class, exerts a lot of pain, fails class. In next class, when same problem repeats, thinks that she has no hope of passing the class because of scrupulosity diagnosis, chooses not to join a support group because of preference to go it alone, quits trying.
*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *
Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.
For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world! For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world! For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *
