Examination of conscience

Examination of conscience is a review of one's past thoughts, words, actions, and omissions for the purpose of ascertaining their conformity with, or deviation from, the moral law.

In the Catholic Church, penitents who wish to receive the sacrament of penance are encouraged to examine their conscience using the Ten Commandments as a guide, or the Beatitudes, or the virtues and vices.

"The excellence of this practice and its fruitfulness for Christian virtue," preached Pope Pius X, "are clearly established by the teaching of the great masters of the spiritual life.

This point has become a highly developed part of Ignatian spirituality in modern times, and has led to many more positive practices, generally called examen of consciousness.

Basil of Caesarea, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and founders of religious orders generally made the examination of conscience a regular daily exercise of their followers.

[9] Edgar Morin's questioning of his own motives as a defender of Algeria popularised the term; other well-known examples include Jawaharlal Nehru's anonymous dissection of his own personality and drive in the Modern Review.