Mortal sin, as most of us know, destroys all sanctifying grace in the soul. Venial sin, on the other hand — and contrary to popular belief — does not even remotely tarnish this sanctifying grace.1 We can be saved with a million venial sins on our soul and damned with one unconfessed mortal sin.
What then is our impetus for avoiding venial sin?
The Traditionalist Conviction
Pertaining to liturgy, the common (and correct) conviction of traditionalists is that the Novus Ordo, the new Mass, is 100% valid, an entirely real Mass wherein the invisible sacrifice of the Cross is truly re-presented to the Father. Validity is absolute: a valid Novus Ordo is equally as valid as a Traditional Latin Mass.
The contention, then, rests exclusively on the fittingness of the ceremonies accompanying this valid mystery.
In other words, a valid Mass is a real Mass even in the presence of a million unfitting elements.
However, to traditionalists (and, frankly, to the Catholic faith in general), this matter of liturgical unfittingness is no small deal and is something that resonates deeply. This is public, divine worship, after all.
Liturgical Abuse in the Soul
If, then, the matter of fittingness and not just validity is of such a massive importance for public worship in chapels of stone, how should we not also be equally as convicted for this fittingness toward private worship in the chapel of our soul?
“It’s just a venial sin; it won’t send me to hell.” rests on the identical principle as “Either is valid; what’s the big deal?”.
Conversely, the very principle that drives us to traditionalist convictions on liturgy is the same principle that should drive us to clamp down on the liturgical abuses in the divine worship of your soul — those of venial sin.