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The Sinner's Guide

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The Sinner's Guide is jam-packed with practical spiritual advice for those struggling along the pilgrim path to God. Overcome by anger? Worn out by stress? Worried about apathy in prayer? The Sinner's Guide can help. A favorite spiritual manual of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Francis de Sales, it provides compelling soulful direction even now. If you're a sinner, you can benefit from this book!

I had read that this book converted over a million people in its day. I found it a little tedious in the beginning, but further into the book, it hit home with me as no other book ever has. It is difficult to describe how clearly this book made me see my faults, and how it drove me to amend my life. The specific practical advice was as timely today as it was in the 1500's. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, for anyone who is not afraid to take a good look at himself.

The first part of the book speaks to unrepentant sinners. Fr. Louis puts forth compelling arguments on why you should fear hell, why you should repent, and why you should repent NOW. The second part of the book offers advice to the repentant sinner--how to avoid the ever-present temptation to commit mortal and venial sins. One theme I enjoyed throughout the book was his depiction of God's dual nature: His outstretched arm and firm hand; His justice and His mercy. The repentant sinner will receive mercy, but for the unrepentant... Fr. Louis uses extensive Biblical citations and quotes from the Church Doctors to support his arguments. These references are always on point and frequently beautiful and moving. So, besides providing instruction on how to better your character, the book will deepen your understanding of the Bible and the roots of Catholic theology. Fr. Louis quotes St. Augustine extensively. For me, his "Confessions" had a much greater impact, maybe because it was so personal and so human a story. "The Sinner's Guide" is not a personal conversion story; it is more of an instruction manual. Good reading nonetheless!

This book is FANTASTIC old-school teaching. I recommend this book to everyone I know. I've bought 5 copies of the book and pass it out to everyone. It is a little deep, but once you get into the meat of the book, it speaks to you and shakes you up. It's real old-school teaching, could be offensive to some, but only because it speaks the truth. This is the book that should be read in Christian and Catholic schools alike. It's teachings are timeless. It may have been written in the 1500's, but I have not been able to find any thing that can dispute these teachings. Still relevant, if not more so in today's evil world.

Wake up world, read this book
Read this book and heed it's teachings or rue the day you didn't!

"The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good." This book aims to convince you why practicing the good is preferable to the fleeting pleasures of the world. Inherent in this argument is the incompatibility between everlasting happiness and worldly gratifications. Choosing one over the other is the difference between eternal wisdom and eternal damnation.

I urge you to acquire for yourself or at least read from an earlier edition if you can. The 1985 TAN edition is a mass-produced mockery of the reverence with which the earliest editions of The Sinner's Guide were paid. 16th century facsimile editions can be located on Amazon.com by searching for "EEBO Proquest Luis de Granada". Selected passages from the 1985 TAN Book edition:

I. "Is it not evident that all that are for you are stronger than all that are against you? Is not God stronger than the devil? Is not grace superior to nature? Are not the good angels more powerful than the fallen legions of Satan? Are not the pure and ineffable joys of the soul far more delightful than the gross pleasures of sense and the vain amusements of the world?" (p. 253).

II.i. "It now remains for us to prove that true happiness can only be found in God. Were men convinced of this, they would cease to pursue the pleasures of this world. My intention is to prove this important truth less by the authorities and testimonies of faith than by arguments drawn from reason.

ii. It will readily be granted that no creature can enjoy perfect happiness until it has attained its last end--that is, the highest degree of perfection of which it is capable. Until it has reached this it cannot enjoy rest, and therefore it cannot be perfectly happy, for it feels the want of something necessary to its completeness. Now, what is man's last end, on the attainment of which depends his happiness? That it is God is undeniable; for since He is our first beginning, He must necessarily be our last end. As it is impossible for man to have two first beginnings, so it is impossible for him to have two last ends, for this would suppose the existence of two Gods.

iii. God, then, is man's last end, and consequently his beatitude. For since it is impossible for him to have more than one last end, it follows that in God alone can his happiness be found. As the glove is only made for the hand, and the scabbard only for the sword, so is the human heart created only for God, and in God only will it find rest. In Him alone will it know happiness. Without Him it will be poor and miserable. The reason of this is because as long as the understanding and the will, the noblest faculties of the soul and the principle seats of happiness, are unsatisfied, man cannot be at peace.

iv. Now, it is evident that these faculties can only be completely satisfied in God. For, according to St. Thomas, the understanding can never be so filled that it will not desire to grasp more while there remains more to be learned; and the will can never love and relish so much good that it will not desire to possess more, if more be possible. Consequently these two powers will never know rest until they have attained a universal object containing all good, which, once known and loved, leaves no other truth to be known, no other good to be desired. Hence no created thing, were it the whole universe, can satisfy man's heart. God alone, for whom he was created, can do this. Plutarch tells of a man who, having risen from the rank of a simple soldier to that of emperor, was accustomed to say that he has tried all conditions of life, and in none had he found happiness. How could it be otherwise, since in God alone, man's sole supreme end, can he find supreme rest?

v. Let us illustrate this by an example. Consider the needle of the compass. God has given it certain properties which cause it invariably to turn to the north. Change its direction and you will see how restless it becomes until it resumes its normal position. Man, in like manner, naturally turns to God as toward the pole of his existence, his first beginning and last end. Let his heart be directed to any other object, and he becomes a prey to trouble and disquiet. The possession and enjoyment of all the world's favors cannot give him rest. But when he returns to God, he immediately finds happiness and repose. Hence he alone will be happy who possesses God, and therefore he is nearest to happiness who is nearest to God. For this reason only the just, who ever draw near to God, and whose joy is unknown to the world, are truly happy.

vi. To understand this more fully, remember that true happiness does not consist in sensible or corporeal pleasures, as the disciples of Epicurus and Mahomet assume. In the same class we may place bad Christians whose lips deny the doctrines of these men, but whose lives are entirely in accordance with them. For do not the majority of the rich, who spend their lives in the mad pursuit of pleasure, tacitly acknowledge with Epicureans that pleasure is their last end, and with Mahometans that sensual delight is their paradise? O disciples worthy of such masters! Why do you not abhor the lives of those whose teachings you profess to condemn? If you will have the paradise of Mahomet, you must expect to lose that of Christ.

vii. True happiness is not to be found in the body nor in corporeal advantages, but in the spirit and in spiritual goods, as the greatest philosophers have asserted, and as Christianity confirms, though in a far more elevated sense. The possession of these blessings will afford you more peace and happiness than the kings of the earth know amidst their power and splendor. How many of them have testified to this truth by joyfully forsaking their crowns after tasting the sweetness of God's friendship! St. Gregory, who reluctantly left his monastery to ascend the papal throne, never ceased to sigh for his humble cell as ardently as a captive among infidels sighs for liberty and his native land.

viii. As St. Augustine says, it is not merely the possession of goods, but the gratification of his just desires and the attainment of his real wants, that make man happy. These are to be found only in God. Whatever else man possesses, he knows not the blessing of peace. Aman, the favorite of Assuerus, and powerful by his wealth and influence, was yet so disturbed because Mardochai did not salute him that he declared he found no comfort in all he possessed. See how small a thing can poison all the happiness which prosperity gives.

ix. Observe further how much more accessible man is to misery than to happiness in this life; for but one ungratified desire suffices to make him miserable, and so many things are required to make him happy. Is there, then, any prince or potentate sufficiently powerful to have everything according to his will and thus free himself from contradictions? Even could he bend men to his will, what would protect him from the infirmities of nature, bodily pains, and the anxieties and groundless fears to which the mind is often a prey? How can you expect to find immunity from suffering and contradiction, which the greatest monarchs, with all their power, have never attained? Only that which contains in itself all good can give you happiness. Why, then, will you seek it so far from God, who is the supreme Good?

x. If these reasons be insufficient to convince you, listen to Solomon, than whom no man had a greater share of worldly happiness. What are the words in which he tells us the result of his experience? "Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, and all is vanity." (Eccles. 1:2). Do not hesitate to accept his testimony, for he speaks from experience. Do not imagine that you can find what he could not discover. Consider how limited anyone's knowledge must be compared to his; for was there ever a wiser, a richer, a more prosperous, a more glorious monarch than this son of David? Who ever enjoyed a greater variety of amusements? All things contributed to his pleasure, yet he gives this result of his almost unlimited prosperity: "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity."

xi. Can you, then, expect to realize what Solomon found impossible to attain? You live in the same world, and your resources for happiness are certainly not better than his. His pursuit of pleasure was constant, but in it he found no happiness, but rather, as St. Jerome supposes, the occasion of his fall. As men more readily accept the lessons of experience than those of reason, God may have permitted Solomon to drink so deeply at the fountain of pleasures to teach us how worthless they are, and to save others from a similar misfortune.

xii. How long, then, O sons of men, will you be dull of heart? Why will you love vanity and seek after lies? (Cf. Ps. 4:3). Wisely does the psalmist term them vanity and lies, for if there were nothing in worldly things but vanity, which signifies nothingness, their evil would be tolerable. But their most dangerous characteristic is the false assurance with which they persuade us to believe that they are what they claim to be. In this, the world manifests its excessive hypocrisy. Hypocrites endeavor to conceal the faults they have committed, and worldlings the miseries under which they groan. Some who are sinners would pass for saints. Others who are miserable would pass for the favorites of fortune. But draw near to them, study the pulsations of their restless hearts, and you will see what a difference there is between appearances and reality.

xiii. There are plants which at a distance appear very beautiful, but touch them and they give forth a disagreeable odor. So it is with the rich and powerful of this world. When you behold the dignity of their position, the splendor of their dwellings, and the luxury of their surroundings, you would suppose them the happiest of men; but draw near to them, search the secret recesses of their souls, the hidden corners of their homes, and you will find how false is much of the happiness they seem to enjoy.

xiv. O children of men, created to the image of God, redeemed by His Blood, destined to be the companions of angels, why do you love vanity and seek after a lie? Why do you seek in false blessings a peace which they cannot give? Why do you leave the table of angels to feed with beasts? Will not the calamities with which the world visits you determine you to break the chains of this cruel tyrant?

xv. Reason and experience clearly prove that the happiness we seek is to be found only in God. Is it not madness to seek it elsewhere? "Go where you will," says St. Augustine, "visit all lands, but you will not find happiness until you go to God."

xvi. As we have now arrived at the conclusion of our arguments in favor of virtue and in praise of its rewards, let us briefly resume what we have said. As there is no good which is not included in virtue, we must regard it as a universal good, comparable only to God Himself. God contains in His Being all perfections and all good. In a certain manner the same may be said of virtue. All creatures have each some characteristic perfection. Some are beautiful, others honest, others honorable, and others agreeable. Those among them that possess the greatest number of these perfections have most claims to our love. What, then, is more worthy of our love than virtue, in which all these perfections are combined?

xvii. If we seek honestly, what is more honest than virtue, the root of all honesty? If we look for honor, what is more honorable than virtue? If beauty attracts us, what is more beautiful than virtue, of which Plato said that were its beauty only seen the whole world would follow it? If we desire profit, what will we find more profitable than virtue, whose hopes are so exalted and whose reward is the Sovereign Good?

xviii. "Lengths of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory." (Prov. 3:16). If we seek pleasure, what is comparable to the pure pleasures of a good conscience, of peace, of charity, of the liberty of the children of God, of the consolations of the Holy Spirit which always accompany virtue? Do we desire renown? "The memory of the just is with praises; and the name of the wicked shall rot." (Prov. 10:7). If we aspire to wisdom, the greatest of all wisdom is to know God and to understand how to direct our life to its last end. If we would have the esteem and affection of men, nothing will secure it more effectually than virtue; for, to use a comparison of Cicero, as the corporeal beauty we admire results from the regularity and symmetry in the members of the body, so from the order and regularity of a good life results a beauty which is pleasing not only to God and the angels, but even to the wicked and to our very enemies.

xix. Virtue is an absolute good; it admits of no alloy of evil. For this reason God sends to the just this short but glorious message: "Say to the just man that it is well." (Is. 3:10). In all things, even in pain and toil, he shall find good, and therefore happiness, because "to them that love God all things work together unto good." (Rom. 8:28). Though the elements war upon him, and though the heavens fall, he can hold up his head without fear, for the day of his redemption is at hand. He shall be delivered from supreme evil, which is the company of Satan, for God, the Supreme Good, will be his portion. God the Father will adopt him as His son; God the Son will receive him as His temple. Having sought first the kingdom of God and His justice, every blessing has been given to him. From all things he has drawn profit. Every creature has been an aid to him in serving God. Will you, then, be so cruel as to deprive yourself of a help so powerful and so profitable?

xx. As philosophers tell us, good is the object of our will, which is the seat of love. Consequently the better a thing is, the more deserving it is of our love. What, then, has so corrupted your will that it rejects this incomparable good? Why will you not imitate David, who, though he had the care of a kingdom, tells us that he had the law of the Lord in the midst of his heart? (Cf. Ps. 39:9). He put all other considerations aside, and gave to virtue the noblest place, the center of his heart. How different is the conduct of worldlings, who give vanity the first place in their hearts, and God's law the lowest!

xxi. Do you desire any other motive to persuade you to follow this wise example and embrace so great a good? If you consider obligation, can there be any greater than the obligation which binds us to serve God because of what He is in Himself? We have already shown you that all other obligations compared to this are as if they did not exist. If you can be moved by benefits, what benefits are comparable to those you have received from God? Besides the grand benefits of creation and redemption, have you any good of soul or body that is not from Him? If interest be your aim, what greater could you have than to avoid eternal misery and gain eternal joy? If you aspire to happiness in this life, what happiness equals that of the just? The least of the privileges of virtue which we have described affords more true happiness than the possession of all the treasures of the world. If you reject these evidences in favor of virtue, you do so in willful blindness, for you close your eyes to the light of truth."
(pp. 243-250)

III. What is this brightness--with which God fills the soul of the just--but that clear knowledge of all that is necessary for salvation? He shows them the beauty of virtue and the deformity of vice. He reveals to them the vanity of the world, the treasures of grace, the greatness of eternal glory, and the sweetness of the consolations of the Holy Spirit. He teaches them to apprehend the goodness of God, the malice of the evil one, the shortness of life, and the fatal error of those whose hopes are centered in this world alone. Hence the equanimity of the just. They are neither puffed up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity. "A holy man," says Solomon, "Continueth in wisdom as the sun, but a fool is changed as the moon." (Ecclus. 27:12). Unmoved by the winds of false doctrine, the just man continues steadfast in Christ, immovable in charity, unswerving in faith.
(p. 116)

This book is for all generations and for any century. I read it twice and I am reading it again. My copy is worn so I am getting another. Listen if this book does not bring you back I dont know what will. This is old school teaching filled with Scripture verses from the Douay Rheims version; which is the only version you should read as it is without error. I highly recommend you read this book slowly and implement it in your life and SAINTHOOD IS YOURS. READ IT OR RUE IT.

This book was written by a true friend of humanity.
His love of God is perfectly reflected in his desire to guide us away from the fires of Hell.
It was a very real wake up call for me when I realized the seriousness of my careless actions in the sight of God.
The seriousness of sin is the theme here.
The world tends to treat what God sees as sin, as opportunities for pleasure, and the freedom of self-expression.
The author does not flatter the reader. He loves us too much for that. He seeks to make us deciples of Christ, not of himself. It is extremely rare to find an author so generous.
No matter if you're chained to porn, adultery, non-marital sex, or the false doctrines of protestantism, this book will shine a light on your chains and give you the perfect weapon to break them.
The author makes you aware of the sins you commit on a daily basis and why so much evil follows you like a shadow throughout your life.

This is an wonderful book. Not a quick read, very insightful. The binding leaves a bit to be desired, the glue separates from the spine.

This book is so accurate and eye-opening! It just tells the truth about heaven, hell and salvation! I have learned so much from this book I am going to read it a second time!

It is simply the most profound spiritural and thus the most important book I have ever read. It is not a religious book per se. John Morony