If your faults are burdening you, take this advice from St. Paul of the Cross

His striking image is sure to bring peace to your soul.

On October 20, the Church celebrates St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionist Order.

The visionary gives striking advice for moments when we might feel burdened by our faults and shortcomings:

Beginners in the service of God sometimes lose confidence when they fall into any fault. When you feel so unworthy a sentiment rising within you, you must lift your heart to God and consider that all your faults, compared with divine goodness, are less than a bit of tattered thread thrown into a sea of fire.

Suppose that the whole horizon, as far as you can see from this mountain, were a sea of fire; if we cast into it a bit of tattered thread, it will disappear in an instant.
So, when you have committed a fault, humble yourself before God, and cast your fault into the infinite ocean of charity, and at once it will be effaced from your soul; at the same time all distrust will disappear.

Found in “Flowers of the Passion -Thoughts of St Paul of the Cross” gathered from the Letters of the Saint by Rev Louis Therese de Jesus Agonisant C.P. , published by Benzinger Brothers, 1893.

Learn about this 18th-century priest here.