I’m reflecting on the seven deadly sins this year, focusing on one each week as part of my Lenten examination of conscience. Will you join me? The internet is full of questions to use if you need help, just type in “examination of conscience, seven deadly sins” and find a set you like. Or you can do as I do: spend time reading what the Bible has to say about these sins, choose a few verses to meditate on and ask the Lord to examine my heart and bring things to mind. Then on Fridays, I add what I’ve discovered in myself as intentions when I pray with the Penitential Psalms. [It’s less complicated than it sounds – you can download instructions here: Praying-the-Penitential-Psalms-download.pdf]
Week 1: Psalm 6 — “From the sin of pride, O Lord, deliver me…”
Fittingly, the first and possibly most deadly of those sins is pride. Pride with a capital “P;” the “mother of all sins,” it has been called. To St. Gregory the Great, it’s even more than that. It is the “queen of sins,” which once it conquers and possesses a heart, surrenders it to other sins to do their destructive work.
Lucifer, because of pride, thought he could rise to heaven and reign as God—and fell to hell as a result (see Isaiah 14:12-14).
Gustav Dore’ (1886), The spiritual descent of Lucifer into Satan. Illustration for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Public Domain.
Adam and Eve, tempted by that fallen angel to be like God, but without God, fell by pride as well. “In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good” (CCC, 398).
And here we are, you and me, as a result: inclined to that same grave and deadly sin.
Pride is thinking too much of yourself. It’s the excessive love of your own excellence. It can begin simply enough. All it requires is a turning away from God, a withdrawing of our heart from him (see Sirach 10:12).
Pride is deadly because it leads to hatred of God.
We’ve all heard that “pride goes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18), and not just for Lucifer, Adam, and Eve. But why? What does pride look like? Consider some of the following in prayer, noting what you learn. In what ways are you guilty of pride? Bring anything you find to God for healing as you pray with Psalm 6, using this antiphon: “From the sin of pride, O Lord, deliver me…”
Download instructions here: Praying-the-Penitential-Psalms-download.pdf
Coming next
Week 2, Psalm 32 — “From the sin of greed, O Lord, deliver me…”
© 2025 Sarah Christmyer. Adapted from a series on the 7 Deadly Sins that appeared on this website during Lent 2014.
Thank you for this, Sarah! The timing is perfect, and i appreciate how you carry us through these deep and sometimes daunting reflections in an accessible way. I’ll be following you in this lenten reflection and prayer. May you have a blessed and fruitful Lent.