How to beat habitual sin this Lent

How the Scapular Can Help Your Lent

 

“Men do not fear a hostile and powerful army as much as the powers of Hell fear the name and protection of Mary” - St. Bonaventure.

 

Everyone has a different way of doing Lent. 

 

Some keep it simple. Some come up with a complex plan for what they are going to do. 

 

For some it’s the same thing every year, others like to try something new. 

 

Others keep their personal fast going from Ash Wednesday until the very end of Lent, but some Catholics believe it’s okay to relax your fast on Sundays. 

 

The Church gives us a basic blueprint for what we are required to do for Lent - abstain from meat on Ash Wednesdays and all Fridays (including Good Friday) and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. We should also confess our sins and receive Communion during the Easter season as well. 

 

Aside from this, whatever other pious and worthy practices that you decide to adopt for Lent is up to you, so far as it accords with Church teaching, prudence, and is chosen from a desire to grow in our love of God. 

 

What if you truly conquered a sinful habit this year? 

 

It doesn’t matter if it’s big or if it’s something relatively small, but what if this year was the year that you said “I’m going to get rid of this habit for love of Our Lord?”

 

Think about it. 

 

Commonly people give up things that they are attached to for the Lenten fast. While not required by the Church, it’s become a tradition to give up something that, while good, reflects a a strong attachment in one’s life. 

 

People give up chocolate, alcohol, watching television, etc. Things that are not evil in and of themselves, but to give up such things helps us to practice temperance, which is one of the cardinal virtues, and it also helps strengthen the will. 

 

The will is one of the principal faculties of the soul, and it is through the will that we choose to love God. The more that we strengthen our will and remain in a state of grace, the more that our will is inclined towards love of God and rejection of sin. 

 

Regardless of whatever you choose to fast from this Lent, you can attach to this fast the intention of overcoming some habitual sin that is getting in the way of your spiritual progress. 

 

Wherever habitual sin is present in our lives - whether it is mortal or venial sin - it represents temptation and is rooted in the demonic. 

 

Disclaimer: by calling temptation demonic we don't want to incite fear or superstition. 

 

But saying that temptation is demonic is a practical reality for Catholics. It doesn’t mean we have to live in fear of possession, it just means that spiritual warfare is a reality, and the best part of that is, we’re on the side that’s already won. 

 

And if you are one of Mary’s children who has devoted themselves to her through the Brown Scapular, then you have even more reason for confidence in the spiritual warfare that we are all engaged in. 

 

Satan and the demons hate Mary, and they are terrified of the Scapular. If you wear the Brown Scapular and practice the Brown Scapular devotion you can ask for the graces to overcome your particular habitual sin by invoking Mary and asking for her intercession. 

 

Blessed Alan de Roche, one of the Rosary’s foremost apostles, himself related a personal story when he struggled to overcome the temptation to sin and Mary appeared to him saying “if you had recommended yourself to me, you would not have run such a danger.” 

 

The moral of the story? Mary already has the strength you need. The battle has already been won.

 

Habitual sin is pernicious especially when it is attached to venial matter. It's precisely because we don't often view venial matter as urgently as grave matter that we tend to excuse it or accept it on some level. 

 

We tend to think it's “human nature” to have some venial sins when actually there is nothing about our human nature as God intended that should be attached to any sin. While a venial doesn't keep us from communion, we should see it as less of an obstacle or reason for guilt as we should see it as a great opportunity to grow in a greater love of God that brings joy.

 

And the best part is, any sin you suffer has already been defeated by Christ. Mary promises all the grace needed to conquer your sin through the Scapular. It is possible because it's already been done. 

 

Rededicate yourself this Lent to the pious practice of wearing the Brown Scapular. Be conscious of your devotion to Mary through the Scapular, and pray to her and ask Our Lady to bring you closer to her Son each time you are reminded of the Scapular around your shoulders. 

 

Know with a certainty that you can actually overcome habitual sin with God’s grace. Unfortunately, our culture is so narcissistic and neurotic at times that even many Catholics make little effort to truly overcome habitual sin. 

 

But you can. With the Scapular, you have Mary on your side, and she has already defeated the demons that tempt us to sin and she already has the grace to give you to overcome any habitual sin for good. 

 

This Lent whenever you are tempted, simply recall your Scapular and the fact that you are devoted to Our Lady and ask for her intercession and the grace to overcome temptation, and the fortitude to be strong in the face of suffering. Even if your Lenten fast is something very small and simple, God can pour grace into your soul so that your will is truly strengthened to turn from sin.