By the grace of God and the power of the Sacraments, we have it in our power to avoid all mortal sins, to keep ourselves continually in the state of grace, and to allow nothing to separate us from the charity of Christ. Yet we must not take pride in ourselves and believe that we are perfect; "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John i. 8). Even the highest and the holiest of the friends of God are not perfect; with the one exception of the most blessed of women, to whom the special prerogative of sinlessness was accorded in order that the breath of evil should not approach to the Holy One of God. The saints are allowed to fall into lesser sins or imperfections, so that they may enjoy that claim to God's special tenderness which belongs to the condition of sinners. "In many things we all offend" (Jas. iii. 2). We fail in perfect vigilance, we are surprised through weakness, we are carried away by sudden impetuosity, we overlook or forget things, we grow insensible to certain small infidelities. In all this there is no serious command violated, there is no deliberate rejection of God, no worship of the creature in His place, no serious malice. Such are the things referred to by the wise man, "A just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again" (Prov. xxiv. 16). Humble yourself when you see the multitude of your sins, the imperfection in every act, the unworthiness of your service. "My iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head" (Ps. xxxix. 13).
