Queen Maria Theresa of France abhorred venial sin

March 10, 2014

Queen Marie Thérèse and her son the Dauphin of France, painted by Charles Beaubrun.

Queen Marie Thérèse and her son the Dauphin of France, painted by Charles Beaubrun.

Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV, had a great horror of sin. One day someone asked her to do something which was wrong.

She answered: “No, I will never willfully consent to offend God.”

“But,” said the other, “after all, it is a very small offense; at most it is only a venial sin.”

The pious Queen answered: “Only a venial sin! And do you think it is nothing to commit a venial sin? A venial sin is an offense against God, and whatever offends Him is grievous enough, no matter how small it may appear.”

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Rev. D. Chisholm, The Catechism in Examples (London: R & T Washbourne, Ltd., 1919), 391.

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 366

 

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