Part 2, Chapter 11
Many athletes after a competition take time to review the game film. They look at how they did, and what could be better. Reviewing what has happened before helps them to reflect on and to work on things for the future. The same is true for the spiritual life. This is why St. Francis De Sales has us in the evening reflect on what happened in our meditation and see how we are doing on our resolution. We need to refresh it in our memory so that we can live it ever more. This review is meant to do that. It is meant to help us grow and have some accountability in our life. By looking back, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we help to encourage ourselves to keep moving forward and to work on those things in our lives that we were reminded to earlier in our prayer.
St. Francis De Sales goes on to talk about a nightly examination of conscience that should be done. St. Ignatius of Loyola encourages this too. Sometimes this is referred as examination of consciousness. Either way before we go to bed we should ask for the grace of the Holy Spirit to come and shine in our hearts, recalling that we need God’s light to shine brightly to show us the truth. We can give thanks to God for those moments where we have been walking with Him throughout the day. We can also say to God that we are sorry for those moments that we failed Him in day. Either way, we should review our day with the Holy Spirit’s help so that we can see how we lived the devout life this day. At the end of this time of examination we should prepare for the day ahead and ask for God’s help in working on those issues that we continue to struggle with.
Much more could be said on this subject, and I recommend reading Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s book called The Examen Prayer. It is FANTASTIC!!! St. Francis De Sales says, “Neither this practice nor that of the morning should be omitted; by your morning prayer you open your soul’s windows to the sunshine of righteousness, and by your evening devotions you close them against the shades of hell” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 49). I have found that a nightly examination of consciousness really helps us to be more accountable to the Lord and more devout.