Nine day novena divine Mercy

We pray today for the lukewarm souls, one of the obstacles to gain all the graces of the Divine Mercy is the state of lukewarm.

A lukewarm soul is in a state of blindness caused by the passions that tyrannize it, by the continual dissipation in which it lives, by the multitude of venial sins it commits, and by rejecting the graces of Heaven caused by its resistance.

This blindness is the cause of the formation of a false conscience which causes even someone who frequents the sacraments to persist in considerable sins, but hidden or concealed by his passions, because he had no will or resolution to make amends.

But what makes this situation even more dangerous, and what obliges Jesus Christ to cast out a lukewarm soul, is his somewhat incurable state, because lukewarmness is almost never cured. Since the sins committed by a lukewarm soul are not so gross and scandalous as to cause horror, because they are purely interior and are committed only in the heart, they are easily concealed in a not very delicate examination of conscience, and a soul inattentive to itself, which does not know the gravity of its evil (which does not want to know the gravity of its evil), He does not fatigue himself in remedying it.

The signs by which we can tell if we are in this unhappy state of lukewarmness are the effects it usually produces on the soul.

First, there is a great negligence in all spiritual exercises: prayer without attention, confessions without the intention of amendment, communions without preparation, without fervor and without fruit.

The second is a continual distraction of a heart which is almost never attentive either to itself or to God, but which pours itself indifferently into all sorts of objects, and occupies itself with a thousand impertinences.

Thirdly, a bad habit of acting without any rectitude of intention, but from inclination or habit, there being scarcely anything that is not contaminated by passion, self-love, and human respect.

Fourthly, laziness in acquiring the virtues proper to his state.

Fifthly, not finding pleasure in spiritual things , and, above all, a lack of application to acquire the great virtues. The yoke of Jesus Christ begins to seem heavy, the practices of piety become annoying, the maxims of the Gospel about self-aversion, love of effort and contempt, the necessity of doing violence and walking on the narrow path are not fully understood: it becomes intolerable to exercise oneself continually in modesty. in mortification and interior recollection. The lives of solidly virtuous people seem dreary, and the practice of virtue is regarded as impossible.

The sixth effect of lukewarmness is a contempt for small things, a disregard for ordinary faults and relapses, and, finally, to commit all kinds of venial sins with open eyes, with slight motive, and with all warning and deliberation.

The first remedy is to have a great desire to attain holiness.

Second remedy: A firm resolution, to prefer to die rather than sin. Preferring to lose all other possessions rather than lose friendship with Godor do or say something that pleases Him.

Third remedy to take away lukewarmness: meditation.

The fourth remedy to take away lukewarmness and attain perfection: frequent Communion.

The most necessary means of all: prayer.

St. Augustine, explaining these phrases, adds: "If prayer is not lacking on your part, you can be sure that on God's part there will be no lack of generous help." And St. Jerome warns: "Help is always reached from God, every time we pray." St. John of the Cross, master of prayer, repeated: "From God we obtain what we hope to obtain from Him with fervent prayer, if it is convenient for our soul."