Page 18         

                                                                                                                                                                    `                                                                                   

to make any advances toward reconciliation
unless the other person made them first?

20. Have I, by silence or approval, failed to prevent the serious defamation of another's
character when I could have done so?

II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I been miserly and grudging in giving alms for the relief of the poor?

2. Have I been careless and negligent in my care of the sick who were dependent on me?

3. Have I failed to consider the poverty of others in charging them for my services?

4. Have I complained about being asked frequently to give alms for the salvation of abandoned
souls at home or abroad?

5. Have I, as a well-to-do person, given far less than I could easily have contributed for the
relief of the needy?

6. Have I measured my charity only by . what others gave, or by what I might receive in
return, instead of by my ability to give and the need of others?

7. Have I demanded publicity and praise for every alms I gave?

8. Have I been ashamed or afraid to rebuke others for evil, even though I was not bound under pain
of mortal sin to do so?

9. Have I, as a parent or guardian, negligently permitted those under my care to go uncorrected in
their venial faults?

10. Have I nursed resentment against others, even though I did make an effort at
forgiveness?
11. Have I allowed my sensitiveness to lead to hurt feelings and coolness towards others?

12. Have I failed to try to make others happy and comfortable, giving in to morose, gloomy,
selfish moods?

13. Have I rejected ready-made opportunities to comfort someone in sorrow, or to encourage
someone in danger of despair?

14. Have I gone out of my way to evade an opportunity to enlighten someone on religious truth?

15. Have I permitted gossip and petty tale bearing to go on in my presence without an effort to
change the subject?


III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I tried to deepen my faith in the truth that every act of charity towards a neighbor is
also an act of love of God?

2. Have I tried to make some sacrifice in giving alms for the relief of the needy?

3. Have I cheerfully given as much as I could spare for the salvation of abandoned souls?

4. Have I supported and strengthened the St. Vincent de Paul Society either as a member or as a
contributor?

5. Have I frequently recalled the principle of the stewardship of wealth, viz., that I am to be
God's administrator of the things I possess or gain?

6. Have I faced the truth that I shall take nothing with me beyond death, and that the memory and
merit of deeds of charity will then be my greatest consolation?

                                                                                                                                                                    `