Practical Devotion of the Day: 3 Ways to Atone for Sin

Mortification. This virtue so easy and dear to the Saints, who missed no opportunity to exercise it, a virtue so difficult for the worldly, forgotten by them, because it is opposed to the will to enjoy, offers us an easy means of daily penance for the sins of every day. You should do at least as many mortifications every day as there are sins you commit. But it is not enough, let's get used to them, and let's practice them to do penance for our sins. Examine and number the ones you do.

Indulgences. The merits of Jesus, the Virgin, and the Saints form a spiritual treasure that God and the Church apply to our souls, to enrich our poverty and satisfy our debts. By means of Indulgences, Jesus pays for us; and, with penance and with the pains suffered by him, he compensates for the punishment we must endure. Yet, with such ease of earning plenary and partial indulgences, how do I care?

Good works. Every virtuous action, requiring some fatigue or violence from corrupt nature, is a kind of penance and has an expiatory virtue; indeed, every holy work, meeting the taste of God, is a reward for the disgust and offenses done to him with sins. The Saints never said enough for the good; and it seems to you that you have already done too much ... Prayers, alms, works of charity, do not spare anything to compensate for the debts with God; remember; one day you will be repaid with ineffable joys.

PRACTICE. - Spend a day of mortification; recites the Litany of Our Lady.