Victory Over Vice: The Seven Last Words and the Art of Overcoming the Seven Deadly Sins

World-renowned evangelist, Emmy Award winner and New York Times best-selling author Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen presents a collection of engaging sermons, encouraging the reader to understand that the seven deadly sins can be overcome.

Throughout this series of talks, Archbishop Sheen will provide some valuable insights on how to overcome the various forms of sin and vice.

Using the Seven Last Words spoken by Jesus from the Cross on Calvary as a backdrop, Sheen will address matters concerning various addictions and patterns of habitual sin. He will use his inimitable writing style, with immediacy, yet conveying joy and comfort in the subject matter.

These meditations on the Seven Last Words correlated to the seven deadly sins make no pretence to absoluteness. The Words are not necessarily related to the seven deadly sins but they do make convenient points of illustrations.

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF ANGER

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF ENVY

"This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF LUST

"Woman, behold thy son! (Son) Behold thy mother!"

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF PRIDE

"My God! My God! Why hast Thou hast abandoned Me?"

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF GLUTTONY

"I thirst."

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF SLOTH

"It is finished."

HELP IN OVERCOMING THE SIN OF COVETOUSNESS

"Father, into Thy Hands, I commend My Spirit."

This book has only one aim: to awaken a love for Our Lord and to give the reader an understanding of how the Seven Last Words can be used as a remedy to help one to overcome the seven deadly sins of anger, envy, lust, pride, gluttony, sloth, and covetousness. If it does that in but one soul, its publication has been justified.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a man for all seasons. Over his lifetime, he spent himself for souls, transforming lives with the clear teaching of the truths of Christ and His Church through his books, his radio addresses, his lectures, his television series, and his many newspaper columns.

The topics of this much-sought-after lecturer ranged from the social concerns of the day to matters of faith and morals. With an easy and personable manner, Sheen could strike up a conversation on just about any subject, making numerous friends as well as converts.

During the 1930s and '40s, Fulton Sheen was the featured speaker on The Catholic Hour radio broadcast, and millions of listeners heard his radio addresses each week. His topics ranged from politics and the economy to philosophy and man's eternal pursuit of happiness.

Possessing a burning zeal to dispel the myths about Our Lord and His Church, Sheen gave a series of powerful presentations on Christ's Passion and His seven last words from the Cross. As a Scripture scholar, Archbishop Sheen knew full well the power contained in preaching Christ crucified. With St. Paul, he could say, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

During his last recorded Good Friday address in 1979, Archbishop Sheen spoke of having given this type of reflection on the subject of Christ's seven last words from the Cross "for the fifty-eighth consecutive time." Whether from the young priest in Peoria, Illinois, the university professor in Washington, D.C., or the bishop in New York, Sheen's messages were sure to make an indelible mark on his listeners.

Given their importance and the impact they had on society, it seemed appropriate to reintroduce these reflections once again on overcoming the seven deadly sins.