The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-02-23
AUNT BUSY HAS HER SAY

Dear Nieces and Nephews-Aunt Busy could
not think what to write about this week SO she
found Father Neds letter to his young readers in
me Newark Monitor and decided to publish it,
Read what Father Ned says dear children:
Il like to prattle on venal sin. little dears
cause ITS easy. like slidin down cellar door. No
sickers in it. What does the word 'veniaP come
from! 1t comes from the Latin word 'venia' which
means. pardon. So like putin a puzzle together
! see that venal means something that is oui+e
pardonabe. For example to tell tibs is a small
SIN, to steal candy, to pull pussys tail to talk in
church. TO holler al the pedder are all small sins:
YES SINS that little chicks easily commit therefore
they are easily pardoned, and so you see we call
them venlal They do not kill the soul or drive out
grace altogether like ugly mortal sins do They
lessen grace in the soul and make us chilly toward
God But because hey are venial or small no God
tearing child should commit these sins For all
sins displease Him. Then. too. little sins get MS
used TO SHINING and-the first thing you know-we
are committing mortal sins like sixty and the devil
gets US by the Listen to this nice liz poem
that Mickey sent over last night:
Nenial sin. Venial Sin.
| will never let you In
Thro the shutters of nv soul
For | know that you have stole
Peace and grace from many chicks
By your cunning little tricks.
When ] see you sneak along.
Humming out the same old song
will run. and hide away,
Then I'll kneel. and pray and pray
Till | know you've skipped away.
Ny dear lii toddlers. try to learn this rhyme by
heart. When those sweet young faces of yours are
older and harder. you may the sense in the
lines bettern you do now. First of all venial sin
lessons the flow of grace in the SOUL and grace is
necessary for your souls as water is for fish
Did you ever see fish that had been out of the
water for bout a week. 1t gets all dried and ugly
Now. guess what your darling little souls must
look like, without grace Oh / hate to think of it
But of course divine grace is not entirely driven
out of the soul by venal sin q came nearly MAX
ing a mistaze). but its varnish and brightness is
dimmed oh ever so much. If [ hold over sweet
III blossom Onto whose face the sun is pouring)
let us say-a piece Of smoked glass, what viii be
the effectl Why. the light that will be seen ON the
poor iii bud will be of a sickly yeowsh color,
like the smoke that curs out Of the chemical chin
altogether No, but it will change its brilliancy
in SO marked way, that you could scarcely say
that it is the suns light at all. Nenial sin isas
far as Gods grace is concerned-a deadly piece of
smoked glass. You can see then, little Nemos, how
the powers of the soul act less quickly when they
are doped by venal sin. Now it's all plain. isn't
it. Paddy? Why the soul of the little venial sin
ner loves God less, loves holy things less and gets
balky. when it is asked to pray to do anything
pious A soul in the state of venal sin is like a
sluggish liver. 1t can't perform its duties func-
1ions in proper way. And being in that state is
soon becomes target for lurking deadly diseases.
Therefore, | know that you'll say I'm right, when
| hold that venal sin is no trife
FATHER NED.