The teaching of Christian morality ought to foster dignity, confidence, and contentment. Knowledge of the Commandments, the Gospel, Church doctrine, and natural law can help Christians make decisions that are pleasing to God. Strengthened by grace, we can live holy lives and hope for the salvation that God has promised. After all, the Psalmist encourages, “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just; exalt, you upright of heart” (Psalm 32).
The Martyrdom of Scrupulosity
Some individuals feel unable to rejoice, despite strenuous efforts to live moral lives. Obsessing about morality becomes their stumbling block. They see serious sin in what others recognize as minor faults. They feel tortured over trivial matters, a passing thought, a slight exaggeration in telling a tale. Confession is a veritable minefield of possible sacrilege, as they analyze their contrition and their explanation of each transgression. At Mass, they fret over their worthiness to receive the Eucharist. These individuals suffer from what St. Therese of Lisieux called the “martyrdom” of scrupulosity.
Spiritual scrupulosity is the subject of many books, articles, and blog entries, where it may or may not be adequately treated. One writer aptly calls scrupulosity “a good intention gone bad” (Johnson). Others acknowledge its connection to the mental illness, OCD. Some represent scrupulosity as a lack of trust, a focus on self, or, surprisingly, a result of pride, claiming that the scrupulous person does not believe the confessor’s words of absolution.
Some of those explanations sound unfair, as though one is blaming the scrupulous for their own suffering. People who have experienced scrupulosity can best judge which of the explanations, if any, reflects their own experience.
A Catholic who is troubled in his spiritual journey should speak with a priest. Counseling and spiritual direction are the essence of pastoral care. Finding a good confessor is one recommendation in the excellent article entitled “12 Ways to Overcome a Scrupulous Conscience”.
A Brief History of Moral Theology
Although I am not qualified to diagnose OCD or spiritual scrupulosity, I can share some relevant information I learned while researching Catholic morality for an RCIA presentation recently. It concerns the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and the evolution of Catholic moral theology over the centuries since his tremendous work.
In his writing on Christian morality, St. Thomas included sections on happiness, virtue, law, human acts, conscience, and sin (Pinckaers 32). For a treatise on morality to include happiness may at first seem odd. But humans naturally long for happiness, which is found only in our Maker. In their inmost hearts, all long for God, even those who have no idea for Whom they are longing. Morality exists for our own happiness, as God wills only good for us. St. Thomas’ teaching on morality includes virtue, by which one can live well and have happiness in this life and the next. Next, the topic of law intuitively relates to morality. An astute psychologist, St. Thomas includes a section on human acts, as they respond to law. It follows that conscience, which ought to direct human acts, has a place in the treatise, as does sin, which results from the failure to follow conscience.
Thus, St. Thomas couches prickly topics like law, conscience, and sin within the fullness of moral truth. That fulness includes blessings that assist us: virtue, grace, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Declared a Doctor of the Church 300 years after his death, St. Thomas greatly influenced the way in which Christian morality was taught.
Moral Obligation vs. Virtue
In the Middle Ages, religion teachers sought a simpler way to present morality, particularly to prepare future priests for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They wrote manuals on morality that omitted the sections on happiness, virtue, and grace which St. Thomas had included. The Manualists, as they came to be called, focused on moral obligations, whereas St. Thomas had prioritized virtue over moral obligations (Pinckaers 32).
The Manualists did provide a valuable foundation for teaching morality. However, their philosophy, called Morality of Obligation, limited itself to moral imperatives. Obedience to law overshadowed virtue (Pinckaers 41). Without consideration of the Holy Spirit’s gifts or the interior spiritual life, Morality of Obligation led to legalism.
Legalism as a Catalyst
Legalism has done its share of damage. A stringent moral code, detached from any discussion of happiness, eternal life, virtue, and the saving grace of God, is discouraging. Discouraged individuals may give up and lose their faith. Some Catholics, presented with this legalistic view of morality, develop painful scrupulosity.
To blame Morality of Obligation completely for the scourge of scrupulosity that has afflicted some Catholics over the past several centuries is probably not reasonable. Some people are just prone to this kind of thinking. Innate anxiety will manifest itself in some way. However, a legalistic presentation of rules and lists of sins that warrant eternal damnation certainly could be the catalyst for a psyche prone to anxiety.
Vatican II, Restoring a Full Discussion of Morality
Fortunately, the Vatican II fathers strove to bring back the full discussion of morality. The Council’s Decree on the Training of Priests declares, “Special care should be given to the perfecting of moral theology. Its scientific presentation should draw more fully on the teaching of Holy Scripture and should throw light upon the exalted vocation of the faithful in Christ and their obligation to bring forth fruit in charity for the life of the world” (Pinckaers 44). The Council acknowledged “a certain narrowness of focus” that was “part due to a certain legalism,” and put forth remedies to restore spiritual and pastoral aspects of morality (44).
The evolution of moral teaching suggests how some wound up with legalistic tendencies. The Vatican II fathers urge teachers of religion to perfect moral theology. How might individuals who suffer scrupulosity perfect their moral perspective? What can they restore that the Manualists omitted from St. Thomas’ moral theology?
The Study of Virtue for the Scrupulous
One possibility is the study of virtue. Today’s adults who were children of the 20th century may have memorized the theological and cardinal virtues in their catechism classes. But a more mature study of the virtues may be in order for an adult with scrupulosity. It is not that scrupulous people lack virtue. Rather, contemplating human and Christian virtues may take one’s mind off of evil and sin. The Catechism instructs that virtues help us “to grasp the beauty and attraction of right dispositions towards goodness” (CCC 1697). A right disposition toward goodness makes for a healthy conscience and a rich moral theology.
As a primer on the topic of virtue: The Church recognizes three theological virtues and four cardinal virtues. The theological virtues are faith, hope, and love, and are gifts from God. They relate directly to God, and “dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity” (CCC 1812). The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, courage, and temperance. All of the virtues, both theological and cardinal, act in both a natural way and a supernatural way. In other words, virtues help people to organize their worldly lives, to be fair and persevering and disciplined. Virtues also can be raised by God’s grace to a supernatural level, so that the person pleases God in his or her earthly life. Natural virtues help to live well in this world. The goal of supernatural virtue is to please God and to live with him in eternity (Groeschel 20).
A Positive Action
Notice how the explanation of virtue did not mention sin, evil, mortal, venial, unworthy, or penance. Those words are necessary for Catholic moral teaching, but the scrupulous person thinks about them to excess. The study of virtue can reset one’s focus, perhaps temporarily, but effectively to offer a new perspective. An individual might even choose one virtue to work on at a time, practicing that virtue and praying regularly for grace to improve in it. This positive action may interrupt negative scrupulous thoughts long enough to begin a real recovery.
I do not propose that studying virtue will magically erase scrupulosity. Again, a first step for scrupulous Catholics is to seek a priest. If a particular priest is especially helpful, it would be best to confess to him on a regular basis. Meanwhile, distraction from scrupulous thoughts may provide some relief. Virtues are positive attributes that help one to be his or her best. Pondering them can prove a healthy distraction.
There is much more to the study of virtue. The Catechism has a good beginning in #1803-1845. In fact, it would make a good sequel to this column.
Works Cited and Consulted
Brugger, E. Christian. National Catholic Register. “12 Steps “. 10 Nov 2021. www.ncregister.com/blog/12-ways-to-overcome-a-scrupulous-conscience.
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 1997.
Groeschel, Benedict. The Virtue Driven Life. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 2006.
Johnson, Charlie. Catholic Stand. “Scrupulosity: What It Is and How to Overcome it”. 21 May 2016. catholicstand.com/scrupulosity-what-it-is-and-how-to-overcome-it/.
Pinckaers, Servais. Morality, the Catholic View. South Bend, Indiana: St. Augustine’s Press, 2001.
St. Clare, Jacqueline. Catholic Stand. “Spiritual Scrupulosity and OCD Awareness Month”. 18 October 2022. catholicstand.com/spiritual-scrupulosity-and-ocd-awareness-month/.
9 thoughts on “Interrupting Scrupulosity”
Also, saying a person going through the symptoms of OCD/scrupulosity is committing idolatry is not helpful. We may seek omniscience, but idolatry is a serious sin. And to say we’re committing idolatry when we fall into the trap of trying to alleviate our anxiety compulsively is saying we’re giving full consent to a serious sin. We aren’t. In fact, full consent is diminished when we compulsively try to relieve our anxiety.
A heads up to my fellow scrupulous Catholics: even growing in virtue and looking to grow in the spiritual life can be hijacked and twisted by OCD. OCD often takes a person’s desire to the right thing and makes it unhealthy. OCD is like playing Whac-A-Mole. I can tell you with confidence that God does not want this for you. Chasing after the desire to do the right thing gone haywire is not pleasing to Him.
Often, we scrupies feel that we are not doing enough to be holy and grow in the spiritual life. And more often than not, this is a lie that OCD has told us.
While God does indeed challenge us, it is not in the way OCD tells us. OCD is a trickster. God is not. He never was. And He never will be.
As some who suffers from scrupulosity/OCD, I can definitely say that in my experience, while scrupulosity is self-centered, it is not a sign of spiritual pride. This column is a Godsend! Thanks for writing it!
You’re very welcome. Thank you for your kind words and thanks for reading the column. I agree with you in that scrupulosity is not a sign of spiritual pride. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He surely holds us close to his heart.
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Captcrisis,
Thank you for your comment. I see that you agree with my thesis, which is that the legalism of the Middle Ages has resulted in a painful scrupulosity. Without a focus on virtue, the gifts God gives to humans that result in goodness and holiness, we are left to a list of rules and regulations to which we always find ourselves coming up short. My suggestion that we focus on virtues is a promotion of the confidence, self-esteem and good potentialities of the human self, which you identify as a prevention against scrupulosity.
I’m sure you have not counted my article as one of the six which has a negative message. To judge it so would be to have missed the point entirely.
No! I didn’t mean to count your article. Thanks for your response.
Catholics are subjected to a drumbeat of denigration. “The problem with the world is me.” This is especially true at this site. We are born sinful, we must always seek repentance, we are going to Hell unless the Church saves us — and emphasis on confidence, of self-esteem, on the potentialities of the human self, on the idea that humans are naturally good-hearted, is dismissed as a product of “the Left” or “New Age” or “secular culture”. Of the last ten articles at Catholic Stand, six have this message. To anyone who listens to this drumbeat and takes it to heart, scrupulosity is the natural result.