Overcoming Dark Emotions.

St. Francis de Sales’ wrote,

“The persons for whom I write are those only who are determined not to commit any fault deliberately, though many [fall into] them through surprise, inadvertence, and weakness, notwithstanding their resolution. It usually happens that such persons are astonished and troubled at their faults, conceive a false shame for them, and fall into vexation and discouragement. These are the effects of self-love, and are much more pernicious than the faults themselves. We are surprised at falling: an evident mark that we scarcely know ourselves.

“We ought, on the contrary, to be surprised at not falling more frequently, and into more grievous faults, and to return thanks to God for the dangers from which He preserves us. We are troubled every time that we are beguiled into some fault, lose interior peace, are agitated, and spend hours, even days, thinking of it. We should never be troubled; but when we find ourselves on the ground, arise tranquilly, return to God with love, ask His forgiveness, and reflect no more on what has occurred, unless when it is necessary to accuse ourselves of it….[in Confession]”

— Consoling Thoughts on Trials of an Interior Life

— Repentance Rosary