The Seven Deadly Sins and How to Overcome Them

1. What Are the Seven Deadly Sins?

The seven deadly sins are pride, avarice (greed), envy, wrath (anger), lust, gluttony, and sloth (also called acedia). The Catechism of the Catholic Church names them in a single sentence: "They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia" (CCC 1866). The Church more often calls them the capital sins, and the older name explains why they matter so much to anyone trying to change.

If you have landed here because one of these words describes your life right now, you are in good company. Every saint on the calendar fought at least one of them. St. Augustine fought lust for years. St. Francis de Sales, by the accounts of those who knew him, had to work hard at his temper. St. Peter, the first pope, gave in to fear and denied Christ three times. The list exists because these battles are common to every human heart, and the Church has two thousand years of experience in winning them.

Where the list comes from

No single verse of Scripture gives this list of seven. The Bible names many sins together, such as the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 and the seven things the Lord hates in Proverbs 6:16-19, which is a different list. The capital sins grew out of the experience of the desert monks. The Catechism says the list was "distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great" (CCC 1866). Cassian described eight principal faults in his Institutes in the early fifth century, drawing on the monk Evagrius Ponticus. Pope St. Gregory the Great reworked the list in his Moralia in Job (book 31), and placed pride at the root of all the rest. St. Thomas Aquinas then gave each sin its own careful treatment in the Summa Theologiae.

2. Why Are They Called Deadly or Capital Sins?

The capital sins are called capital because they "engender other sins, other vices" (CCC 1866). The word comes from the Latin caput, head. Each capital sin is a head, a source, from which a whole family of other sins flows. The Catechism gives an example with envy: "From envy are born hatred, detraction, calumny, joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor, and displeasure caused by his prosperity" (CCC 2539).

This is why the list is so useful. When you cut a weed at the surface, it grows back. When you find the root, you can pull it out. A man who keeps losing his temper with his children may discover that the real root is pride: he hates feeling disrespected. A woman who keeps overspending may find that the root is envy of what her friends have. Find the head, and you know where to aim.

Does "deadly" mean every one is a mortal sin?

The name "deadly sins" can frighten people, so precision helps here. The capital sins are deadly because they are sources that lead to death of the soul when they are allowed to grow. A single act of one of them may be mortal or venial depending on what was done and how freely it was done.

The Catechism teaches that "for a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent" (CCC 1857). Mortal sin "destroys charity in the heart" and turns a person away from God, while venial sin "allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it" (CCC 1855). A sharp word in a moment of irritation is anger in a light matter. A deliberate desire to seriously harm someone is anger in grave matter, and the Catechism calls that "a mortal sin" (CCC 2302).

The Church is also honest about the things that reduce our responsibility. "Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors" (CCC 1735). Only God sees all of that. The Catechism says that although we can judge an act to be a grave offense, "we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God" (CCC 1861). That includes judgment of yourself. Take sin seriously, let your confessor guide you, and leave the final verdict to the mercy of God.

3. How Does One Sin Become a Habit?

A single sin becomes a vice through repetition. The Catechism describes the process plainly: "Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil" (CCC 1865).

Anyone who has fought a habit knows this from the inside. The first time felt like a choice. The fiftieth time feels like gravity. The conscience gets quieter, the excuses get louder, and the sin starts to look normal. Gregory the Great noticed that each capital sin has what he called "daughters", the further sins it produces. Sloth breeds despair and faint-heartedness. Gluttony breeds foolish talk and dullness of mind. Lust breeds blindness of mind and inconstancy. St. Thomas Aquinas lists these families in his treatment of each sin (for example Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 35 on sloth and q. 153 on lust).

The same Catechism paragraph ends with a line of real hope: sin "cannot destroy the moral sense at its root" (CCC 1865). However deep the habit runs, something in you still knows the good and still wants it. That longing is the place where grace gets to work.

4. Which Virtues Overcome the Seven Deadly Sins?

Each capital sin is overcome by the virtue that opposes it. The Catechism notes that "vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose" (CCC 1866), and the tradition pairs them this way. A virtue, in the Catechism's words, is "an habitual and firm disposition to do the good" (CCC 1803). Vices are built by repetition, and virtues are built the same way, with the added help of grace.

• Pride is healed by humility. The Catechism calls humility "the foundation of prayer" (CCC 2559). Read the full guide to pride and the road to humility.
• Greed is healed by generosity and poverty of spirit. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3). See how to break the love of money.
• Envy is healed by good will and humility. "The baptized person combats envy through good-will, humility, and abandonment to the providence of God" (CCC 2554). See how to overcome envy.
• Wrath is healed by meekness and patience. "Blessed are the meek" (Matthew 5:5). See when anger is a sin and how to overcome it.
• Lust is healed by chastity. Chastity is "the successful integration of sexuality within the person" (CCC 2337). See how to overcome lust and grow in purity.
• Gluttony is healed by temperance. Temperance "disposes us to avoid every kind of excess" (CCC 2290). See how to overcome gluttony.
• Sloth is healed by diligence and the joy of charity. Acedia "goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God" (CCC 2094). See sloth, acedia and the noonday demon.

Virtue grows the way muscles grow: small, repeated acts against resistance. A proud person practises humility by letting someone else have the last word today. An envious person practises good will by praying by name for the colleague who got the promotion. Nobody becomes meek in a weekend. Everybody can make one meek choice this afternoon. For the wider framework of the moral virtues, see our guide to virtue ethics in Aristotle and Aquinas.

The capital sins also feed the specific sins people search for help with. Lust drives pornography use, masturbation, sex before marriage, and adultery and emotional affairs. Envy and pride drive gossip and detraction and much lying. Sloth, left alone, can slide toward despair. Each of those has its own guide in this series.

5. An Examination of Conscience on the Seven Deadly Sins

An examination of conscience is an honest, prayerful look at how you have lived, made before confession. The Church asks that confession "be prepared for by an examination of conscience made in the light of the Word of God" (CCC 1454). Begin by asking the Holy Spirit for light. Then go slowly. These questions are a mirror, held with love.

• Pride: Have I refused to admit I was wrong? Have I looked down on others, or needed to be seen as better than them? Have I treated God's commandments as optional when they inconvenienced me?
• Greed: Have I been stingy with the poor or with my family? Have I cheated, even in small ways? Do money and possessions get more of my worry than God does?
• Envy: Have I been sad at someone else's success or glad at their failure? Have I run someone down because I resented them?
• Wrath: Have I nursed resentment or wished harm on anyone? Have I shouted, insulted or frightened the people in my home?
• Lust: Have I deliberately entertained impure thoughts, viewed pornography, or used another person for pleasure? Have I been faithful in mind and body to my vocation?
• Gluttony: Have I eaten or drunk to excess, or used food and alcohol to numb myself? Have I kept the Church's days of fasting and abstinence?
• Sloth: Have I skipped Sunday Mass or prayer through laziness? Have I neglected my duties at work or at home? Have I let spiritual things bore me without fighting it?

When something surfaces, resist two temptations. The first is to excuse it. The second is to drown in it. Name it simply, tell God you are sorry, and plan to bring it to confession.

6. How Confession Breaks the Power of Sin

Confession is the ordinary way Christ forgives mortal sin after Baptism, and it is also a powerful medicine against venial sin and the habits behind it. Christ gave his apostles the power to forgive sins on Easter night (John 20:22-23), and the Church has never stopped using it.

The Church asks that all mortal sins you are aware of after a careful examination be confessed, "even if they are most secret" (CCC 1456). The same paragraph offers an image every ashamed penitent should hear: "if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know." Shame wants you to hide. Healing needs you to show the wound.

Frequent confession of venial sins is also "strongly recommended by the Church," because it "helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit" (CCC 1458). That sentence is a battle plan against a capital sin. Many people who have beaten a long habit will tell you that regular confession, often with the same priest, was the turning point.

And the fruit of a good confession is peace. Reconciliation "is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation" (CCC 1468). If you have not been in years, read our guide to the sacrament of confession and simply tell the priest at the start. He will help you through it. St. Padre Pio spent up to sixteen hours a day in the confessional because he knew what happens there. (See his life.)

7. A Practical Plan to Fight Your Root Sin

The most effective way to fight the seven deadly sins is to pick one, the one that drives most of your falls, and fight it on purpose. Spiritual writers call this your predominant fault. You will not be perfect in all seven by Lent. You can make real progress against one.

1. Find the root. Look at your last few confessions or your worst days. Ask: what was I protecting, chasing or avoiding? The answer usually points to one of the seven.
2. Pray every morning, briefly and specifically. Ask for the opposite virtue by name. "Lord, give me meekness today with my kids." The Catechism says the battle against temptation is possible "only through prayer" (CCC 2849).
3. Examine every night. Two minutes. Where did the root sin show up today? Where did grace win? Thank God, and say sorry.
4. Avoid the near occasions. Every habit has triggers: a time of day, an app, a person, a mood. Remove what you can. The Act of Contrition promises "to avoid the near occasion of sin" for a reason.
5. Use the three classic weapons. "Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving" (CCC 1434). Fasting trains the will. Almsgiving breaks greed. Prayer opens the door to grace.
6. Confess regularly. Monthly is a good rhythm. Use the same confessor if you can, so he knows your battle.
7. Tell someone. A spiritual director, a priest, a trusted friend. Sin grows in secret and weakens in the light.
8. Ask the saints for help. Each sin has saints who fought it and won. The guides in this series name them.

The Catechism is realistic about this work: "There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle" (CCC 2015). Expect a fight. Expect to win it slowly.

8. Is There Hope for Someone Who Keeps Falling?

Yes. A person who keeps falling and keeps getting up is doing exactly what the Christian life asks. The Catechism, speaking of chastity, says something true of every virtue: it "has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin" (CCC 2343). Growth in holiness is slow and uneven for nearly everyone.

The real danger is giving up. Despair tells you that you have fallen too many times, that God must be tired of you, that confession is pointless because you will only fall again. Every one of those thoughts is a lie. "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20, quoted in CCC 1848). "There are no limits to the mercy of God" (CCC 1864). Jesus told St. Faustina, "The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy" (Diary 723). If shame is the loudest voice in your head right now, read our guide on finding hope when you feel beyond saving.

There is also urgency in this hope. "Of that day or that hour no one knows" (Mark 13:32). The time to go to confession is the next time it is offered, and the time to start fighting is today.

9. When a Sin Feels Like a Compulsion

Some patterns of sin have become compulsive, and they need help beyond willpower. Pornography and sexual compulsions, alcohol and binge eating, rage that frightens your family, and a darkness that makes you think about ending your life all fall here. These are spiritual battles, and they often have a psychological or medical side too. The Church names "psychological or social factors" among the things that can reduce culpability (CCC 1735), and grace works through good doctors and counsellors as well as through the sacraments.

Asking for help is an act of humility, the very virtue that undoes pride, the root of all the others.