Overcoming Spiritual Confusion
Today we contemplate how a steady growth in holiness defeats the vices of ignorance and spiritual confusion, learning how to surrender our love of temporal desires. Join us for this Part 4, Week 25 meditation on the virtue of holiness inspired by St. Hildegard of Bingen to shield your mind against false ideologies and keep your soul unshakeable in the truth of Christ.
Opening Prayer
Lord, I humbly ask for a growth in holiness to protect me from spiritual disorientation. Jesus, you know my heart, and the sins I am completely ignorant about. I’m inclined to choose my own wants over holy habits, and I find myself desiring things that make me feel safe, and comfortable, and easy. I make these kinds of choices daily in small things. I need more holy habits and attitudes. My forgetfulness and lack of fortitude in my small daily decisions lead me toward a general overall sense of spiritual confusion, and it is long lasting.
My nature is weak. It’s my own fault because I let myself grow complacent in my spiritual habits. I might be fervent one day and then the next day I will be easily distracted, or lazy. If I let it linger long enough—a few weeks or months—I become confused about your will for me. I’ll stop hearing your voice in the stillness of my heart. Sometimes I look for truth in others, finding none. I seem to trust too much in my instincts only to find my decisions often lead me down the wrong path. Please help me grow in holiness. Please, Holy Spirit, come to me softly and guide me by Your gentle power.
Let my life be a mirror of holiness, reflecting the light and love of Your Holy Spirit. Let me see you when I gaze on my own reflection. Let me follow your precepts all the remaining days of my life. Help me grow a deep love for you so that I can serve you in all my life’s activities as if it’s my second nature. Let me have the virtue of holiness.
AMEN.
Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin—an inclination to evil that is called “concupiscence.”
Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.
Catechism, 405
What Is The Virtue Of Holiness?
In simple terms, holiness isn’t an out-of-reach ideal or a soft feeling; it is the spiritual armor that keeps you grounded. To live in a state of authentic holiness simply means letting the grace of the Sacraments reshape your daily desires so you think, speak, and act like Jesus. It is an active spiritual battle where you choose God’s will over your immediate, worldly impulses. When you commit to a steady growth in holiness, you develop a supernatural traction. Instead of twisting in the wind of modern cultural trends, you become deeply rooted in the truth, learning to reject the false teachings and deceptive people in the world.
St. Hildegard teaches us that holiness clears away the heavy fog of spiritual disorientation and ignorance. She beautifully compares a holy soul to a bird that flies above worldly confusion, playing the “lyre of prayer” to adore the Creator. Without an intentional, daily growth in holiness, our weak human nature easily falls prey to laziness and distractions. Authentic holiness transforms your relationship with the Father from a secondary chore into your absolute second nature. By building non-negotiable habits of daily prayer, Scripture, and obedience, you firmly guard your heart against confusion and stand unshakeable in the faith.
On the Virtue of Holiness
by St. Hildegard of Bingen
How the Soul Pants for God
Just as the waters and the abyss show the strength of God’s power, so also man’s soul, which pants for God, shows its strength and power in good works.
Through the hidden mysteries of his secrets, God is in the strength of the soul, as from the top down to the soles of his feet. God also stands above the soul when it does good works since he breathes holiness into its just and faithful works, as it were, he stands above the abyss. And the strength of the soul has the courage and firmness of holiness to fight against the schemes of the devil through divine help, as it were, the strength of the virtues of this man.
This is because men restore all things to justice when they deny the devil and trust in God; they purify all things when they wipe away the dirt and infection of sin through the contrition of confession; they make all things holy when they avoid evil and the danger of death, doing only what is good; they uphold all things when they water their good works with their tears so that their works do not fail; and they carry all things when they do not stop being united with the blessed virtues because if they separated themselves from the virtues, they would then break all their good works open with true and sweet sorrow. By not doing this, they make their desire for heaven solid, just as God made the world solid so that it cannot be dissolved.
St. Hildegard of Bingen, Liber Vitae Meritorum (The Book of the Rewards of Life),
Part 5, Section 22, Para. 29 (Trans. Hozeski)
The Face of Forgetfulness
St. Hildegard’s own vision of Forgetfulness, from Liber Vitae Meritorum itself, gives her a head and body like a lizard. She appears among clouds that are black, stormy, and misty, intermixed with a dense white cloud — appearing, as St. Hildegard puts it, pleased with her own confusion even as it surrounds her.
St. Hildegard gives Forgetfulness her own voice too.
She says: “When God does not know me and I do not know him, why can I not do my own will since God does not want me or I him?… I do not want a lot of gods, that is, masters. If God does exist, he certainly does not know me.”
Liber Vitae Meritorum, Part 4, Section 5, Para. 8, trans. Hozeski
And Holiness answers her directly.
Holiness says, “O most rapid destruction, what are you saying? Who created you and who made you alive? God… I am like a bird with the knowledge of good, by which I also know God and play the lyre of prayer when I adore him.”
Liber Vitae Meritorum, Part 4, Section 6, Para. 9
From Numbness to Forgetfulness: When Neglect Becomes Denial
St. Hildegard tells us plainly how we arrived here. Forgetfulness “walks after numbness,” she writes, “because numb men are forgetful both in their service of God and in doing other things” (Liber Vitae Meritorum, Part 4, Section 29, Para. 39, trans. Hozeski). Numbness simply stopped caring; Forgetfulness takes that indifference one step further and starts questioning whether God was ever paying attention in the first place. It’s a short, quiet distance from “I don’t have the energy for this” to “maybe none of this was ever real.” Holiness answers not by arguing God’s existence, but by simply remaining faithful in the one place Forgetfulness has abandoned — daily, ordinary attention to the God she claims not to know.
Reflection:
This week we contemplate the virtue of holiness. St. Hildegard shows us that knowing God is possible when we practice authentic holiness. God reveals himself to the meek and humble of heart who are living a life of prayer. We know this by reading the lives of the saints. This is how we come to see God. We enter into relationship by taking an active role in the sacramental life of the Church and turning away from ourselves and putting our gaze on Christ. This sanctifies us and leads us to grow in holiness. As we grow in relationship with God and our understanding of scripture and tradition advances, we also grow in holiness.
Ask yourself, do I live my life in such a way that all my actions are somehow directed toward God? Is the Lord always on my mind, my lips, and in my heart? We are all called to holiness. Some are called to greater holiness than others, this is true. But God desires all of us to live authentic lives of holiness and be like the saints.
Holiness grows when we have a humble and obedient disposition and when we regularly practice good habits that please God. The Holy Spirit comes softly and brings His power to astonish non-believers through that faithful virtuous soul.
St. Hildegard writes: “When a man’s soul follows holiness, God many times works great miracles in it and through it so that others will be so frightened and astonished that they will remove their ignorance. For throught the strength of God’s gifts, the Holy Spirit comes softly to a faithful soul and wondrously brings all its strengths, leading the soul from virtue to virtue…”
Liber Vitae Meritorum, Part 5, Section 24, Para. 31, trans. Hozeski
Do you have non-negotiables? Are there certain spiritual practices that you do every single day no matter what? Some examples would be to pray the Divine Office, or the Mass readings for the day. Some might go to daily Mass. Some might pray a daily rosary, or a Divine Mercy chaplet. Do you spend at least 20 minutes a day in meditative prayer? These are all examples of daily devotions that you can incorporate into habits that will give you tremendous growth in holiness over time.
Growing in Relationship with God
Think for a moment about your prayer life and your walk with Christ. If you can look back over the years can you recognize sinful behaviors and bad attitudes or beliefs that you once held but now know are false? Maybe you lived a certain way that now you know you could never return to. These are signs that you have had a growth in holiness.
As we study and pray we begin to see things that we were once blind to. We understand truth better and as we come to know the Lord we also grow to love him and desire to imitate him. We are renewed in our minds and it changes our hearts.
We read in 1 Peter 1:13-16 about the importance of overcoming the vice of ignorance, which causes spiritual disorientation: “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy because I [am] holy.”
Going Further:
The Flight to Egypt highlights the holiness of Joseph and his trust in the Lord above all else. We clearly see through this story how obedience to God is vital, and how one act of disobedience can have dire consequences. If you want to do ‘extra’ you may spend some time reading Matthew 2:13–23 and journaling about what speaks to your heart. Give the Lord time to respond to you as you listen in silence.
Clearing the Fog of Ignorance:
Take a moment to pause, quiet your mind, and settle into the absolute, reverent stillness of this adoration chapel. Spiritual disorientation is a quiet, dangerous erosion of the soul—an exhausting habit of ignorance where we lose our traction, compromise our holy routines, and slowly begin to choose our immediate wants over God’s path. When we grow complacent in our daily devotions, we become blind to His promptings and easily twist in the wind of modern cultural trends, chasing false ideologies that leave our hearts empty and confused. Before we open the Word of God, let us offer up a sincere prayer of petition—asking for the spiritual armor of authentic holiness to shield our minds, anchor our desires in the Sacraments, and restore our clarity.
Prayer for Grace to Form Holy Habits
Eternal Father, You are the source of all sanctity who calls us to be holy as You are holy, yet You know the weak, easily distracted, and weary corners of my heart. I confess that I have often succumbed to spiritual disorientation—allowing bad habits to pull me off course, getting swept up in temporal desires, and trusting too much in my own flawed instincts instead of Your revealed truth. Forgive me for the times I have been lazy in my prayer life, and for the moments I grew silent and blind to Your presence. My nature is wounded and inclined to evil, and I desperately need the cleansing fire of Your grace.
Lord Jesus, grant me the supernatural virtue of holiness. Reshape my daily desires through the grace of the Sacraments, and give me a humble, obedient disposition. When I am tempted to fall into complacency or cut corners in my spiritual routines this week, catch my thoughts and infuse my soul with a holy fervor. Deliver me from the suffocating prison of spiritual confusion. Establish deep, non-negotiable habits of daily prayer and meditative reflection within me. Let my relationship with You become my absolute second nature, so that my entire life sounds like a beautiful lyre of prayer raised to adore You, making my soul an unshakeable mirror of Your truth in a loud and broken world.
AMEN.
Take a slow, deep breath. Settle your mind, drop your daily checklist, and lay down any lingering confusion you brought in with you today. As you prepare to encounter the living Word of God in this powerful letter to the Hebrews, remember that true holiness isn’t a soft, out-of-reach feeling—it is the very standard by which we are granted the grace to gaze upon the face of the Almighty.
Do not rush through these verses. Read the words slowly and let the immense majesty of the text shake away your spiritual slumber. Contrast the terrifying, blazing fire of the old mountain with the breathtaking, festive gathering of Mount Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem that you approach in the New Covenant. Look at the radical warning against harboring any bitter roots of immorality, and notice the absolute necessity of striving for that peace and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Ask Jesus to reveal where your own ignorance or compromise has hidden His face from you, and where He is calling you to establish an unyielding standard of daily devotion this week. When you are ready, pick up your pen and write His promptings directly into your prayer journal.
Advice for a Life of Holiness
From the Book of Hebrews Chapter 12
Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through which many may become defiled, that no one be an immoral or profane person like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit his father’s blessing, he was rejected because he found no opportunity to change his mind, even though he sought the blessing with tears.
You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them, for they could not bear to hear the command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.”
Indeed, so fearful was the spectacle that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.” No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.
See that you do not reject the one who speaks. For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much more in our case if we turn away from the one who warns from heaven.
Let us Pray:
Jesus, in your mercy do not let me reject your words to me when you speak. Let me hear your words in Scripture and let me know your ways and practice them all the days of my life. Give me the grace to be like St. Joseph in my obedience. Do not let me squander my inheritance like Esau. Lord have mercy on my soul.
Let me know your precepts and when I am ignorant and confused due to spiritual disorientation, enlighten my mind and heart toward the desire to pray and my heart to desire obedience.
Speak to my conscience and tell me my sins. Warn me by your Holy Spirit so that I might have truth growth in holiness and amend my life.
AMEN.
A Prayer for an Increase in Virtue for Others
Lord Jesus Christ, you say that when two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us. Jesus, in your name I lift up every person who has joined this prayer challenge or will join it in the future. I ask you to give us all the grace we need to grow in virtue and holiness so that we may love and serve you in our lives and through the people we love and care for. Help us in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Guide us all by your Holy Spirit and give us the strength to overcome every temptation from the evil one. We ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Flying Above the Confusion: Week 25 Send-Off
Thank you for committing to Week 25 and for your incredible dedication throughout this entire virtue meditation journey. Confronting the heavy fog of spiritual disorientation—shattering the pull of ignorance and choosing a steady growth in authentic holiness—takes profound interior maturity, and Jesus sees every single hidden effort you make to keep your daily holy routines. When you inevitably feel confusion creep back in, catch your holy habits slipping, or find yourself twisting in the wind of modern cultural trends this week, do not let discouragement take root. Overcoming spiritual disorientation is a slow process of establishing non-negotiable holy habits, not an overnight shift. Be gentle with yourself, take immediate accountability when you grow complacent.
As you walk out of this chapel and step back into a loud, secular world that constantly rewards false ideologies, promotes spiritual laziness, and demands that you satisfy your immediate wants over God’s path, guard your interior peace. True holiness isn’t a soft feeling or an out-of-reach ideal; it is an act of ultimate spiritual power that lets the grace of the Sacraments reshape your daily desires. To see exactly how the laity are marvelously called to consecrate the world itself to God—offering up their daily work, prayers, and even the hardships of life as spiritual sacrifices acceptable through Jesus Christ—let’s look in the Catechism:
“Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit—indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born—all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of
the Lord.And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.”
Catechism, 901
Make a Resolution
Take a moment to reflect on the virtue of holiness. What are the ways you can freely practice this virtue this week? Ask the Lord to give you opportunities, and when you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you, take action. Write down your resolutions for this coming week in your prayer journal. Remind yourself to complete these resolutions daily for this entire week, and as the Spirit prompts you, feel free to write about your experiences with this virtue throughout the week.
In My Thoughts:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my thoughts by… (make your intention).
In My Words:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my words by… (make your intention).
In My Actions:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my actions by… (make your intention).
Pray the Litany of Virtues prayer.
Join our Virtue Meditation Prayer Challenge
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