THIRTY-FOURTH LESSON
On Conscience.
"For there is no other thing of more worth to thee than it. "—Ecclesiasticus 33:17
What is called conscience, my dear children, is that which enables us to discern good from evil; the natural law God has engraven in our hearts, the light which makes our way clear, the voice which speaks from the depth of our souls; you must listen to it, you must follow its dictates; and thus you will keep the Lord's commandments; by this means alone can you feel peace and be happy. My children, in order to make you understand properly, what is conscience, I have only to appeal to yourselves, to your own experience. When it happens that you disobey your parents, that for instance you commit, during their absence, an act you would not have dared to commit before them, you hesitate, you tremble, you blush. Why are you so agitated? You are alone; no one sees you; you are not afraid of being punished: no, but the still voice of conscience reproaches you with your sin; this voice says to you: "You are doing wrong." It is conscience, my dear children, which makes itself heard at that moment. It is that same voice which, even before you have taken time to reflect, shows each of you his duty.
So then God has put at our disposal, a sure and easy means of behaving well, since this divine law is, so to say, written in our very heart's core.
This faculty of which I speak, is given to all, to the ignorant, as well as to the learned, to very little children, as well as to grown people.
But we must listen to conscience if we wish to be guided by it; it does not speak loud; you can hear it only by showing good will and sincerity towards yourself. If you try to deceive yourself, to persuade yourself that what is forbidden is allowed; if you want to find a thousand pretences to satisfy a whim contrary to your conscience, you will not be able to excuse yourself by saying you were not warned, nor could you pretend not to know you were doing wrong. It is always a sin, my friends, not to follow the dictates of conscience; but if, on the contrary, you obey them, you are sure never to fail in any important duty, never to commit any serious fault.
The trouble caused by a bad conscience, the remorse which ensues, is, even in this world, a cruel punishment for our faults: the guilty soul, my children, no longer enjoys either peace or happiness. How many striking examples of this do we not meet with in holy Scripture! Cain, his brother's murderer, leads a wandering and a miserable life; fugitive and banished, he looks for rest everywhere but finds none. Judas, as soon as he had become traitor to his divine Master, is persecuted by awful remorse; the money he has earned so shamefully is too heavy a load, he cannot look at it, he throws it away; then, in despair, he kills himself.
Let me ask you, dear children, if when your conscience reproaches you with some fault, you are as happy as when you feel guiltless; do you not, even in the midst of enjoyment, feel a kind of sadness that takes away all pleasure and throws a gloom over all your mirth?
A good conscience, on the contrary, makes one happy and contented. It doubles our pleasures; and consoles us even in disappointment. It alleviates our sufferings, and in fact gives us peace, peace with God, peace with our brethren, with ourselves: this, my children, is the true Christians great happiness, in this world.
To deserve such happiness, my dear children, let these words of the holy Scripture sink deeply into your hearts: "In every action listen to the voice of thy conscience thou wilt never meet with a more faithful adviser."
The voice of the inward monitor, conscience, is always present to guide us aright. To your own strength, if you were left to yourselves alone, it would, of course, be very difficult, and even impossible, to walk in perfection, because we can do nothing without God's assistance. But God's help, following the guidance of your conscience, will render the work sweet and easy.
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