It is a well-known fact that Saint Catherine of Siena had conversations with Jesus Christ. In one of those conversations, speaking about the Eucharist and why it produces more fruits of holiness in some souls than in others, Our Lord used the following comparison to help her understand: “If you, daughter, had a candle lit in your hand, and the whole world would come to take light and fire from it, would that candle multiply without diminishing its flame?” “Yes,” replied Saint Catherine.
And Our Lord continued: “If those who come to light their candles from yours bring small candles, others bring regular candles, and still others bring large, thick tapers, does it not seem to you that, although all receive light and fire, those who bring the large tapers will receive more fire and light than those who bring the small candles?” “Yes,” replied Saint Catherine again.
Then Jesus concluded: “Thus it happens with the sacrament of my love.” For it is true that the sacrament in itself produces a grace that all receive; yet it is also true that the amount of grace received depends on the dispositions with which one receives the Eucharist, the sacrament of Christ’s love.
This vision that Saint Catherine had teaches us that we do not receive all the grace we could receive from the Eucharist because of our poor dispositions. Among the things that contribute to having poor dispositions to receive the graces contained in the Eucharist, there is one to which we do not usually pay attention: venial sin.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul’s progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good”; however, although it weakens charity, it “does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity and consequently eternal happiness” (n. 1863).
That is to say, while venial sin is not an impediment to receiving the Eucharist — since it does not deprive us of sanctifying grace — it is a limitation on God’s grace because of the disordered affection it entails. Hence, the freer we are from this disordered affection, the greater our capacity to receive the graces God gives us through the Eucharist. If we wish to progress in the spiritual life and grow in God’s grace, we must actively work against deliberate venial sins, removing the obstacles to the work Jesus wants to accomplish in our souls.
Saint Bernard says that venial sin is like the dust that clings to our feet as we walk through this world, and that Our Lord, by washing the feet of the Apostles before eating the Last Supper with them, taught us that we must remove this dust of venial sin to better dispose ourselves to receive the Eucharist.
