|
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Importance
of Instruction on This Sacrament
Different Meanings of the Word
"Penance"
The Virtue of Penance
Meaning
of Penance
Penance Proved
to be a Virtue
The Steps Which Lead
Up To This Virtue
Fruits
of This Virtue
Penance as a Sacrament
Why Christ Instituted This Sacrament
Penance
is a Sacrament
This Sacrament May
Be Repeated
The Constituent Parts of Penance
The Matter
The Form
of Penance
The Rites Observed in the Sacrament of Penance
Effects of the Sacrament of Penance
The Necessity of the Sacrament of Penance
The Three Integral Parts of Penance
Their Existence
Their Nature
Necessity
of These Integral Parts
The First Part of Penance
Contrition
The Meaning
of Contrition
Contrition
is a Detestation of Sin
Contrition Produces Sorrow
Names
of Sorrow for Sin
Qualities of Sorrow for Sin
It Should
be Supreme
Sorrow
For Sin Should Be Intense
Sorrow For Sin Should Be Universal
Conditions Required for Contrition
Detestation
of Sin
Intention
of Confession and Satisfaction
Purpose
of Amendment
Reasons For These Conditions
Forgiveness
of Injuries
The Effects of Contrition
Means of Arousing True Contrition
The Second Part of Penance
Confession
Necessity
of Confession
Advantages
of Confession
Definition
of Confession
Confession Instituted By Christ
Rites Added
By The Church
The Law of Confession
Proof
of the Obligation
The Age
at Which the Law of Confession Obliges
At What Time
the Law of Confession Obliges
The Qualities of Confession
Confession Should Be Entire
Sins Concealed
Sins Forgotten
Confession Should Be Plain, Simple, Sincere
Confession Should Be Prudent, Modest, Brief
Confession Should
be Made Privately and Often
The Minister of the Sacrament of Penance
The Usual Minister
The Minister
in Danger of Death
Qualifications
of the Minister
The Confessor Must Observe
the Seal of
Confession
Duties of the Confessor
Towards Various Classes
of Penitents
The Well Disposed Should
be Exhorted to
Thanksgiving and Perseverance
The Indisposed Should
Be Helped
Those Who Seek
to Excuse Their Sins Should be
Corrected
Those Who
Are Ashamed to Confess Their Sins
Should be Instructed
The
Careless Should be Rebuked
The Unprepared Should
be Dismissed or Led to
Good Disposition
The Pastor Should Show
the Wrong of Human
Respect
The Third Part of Penance
Satisfaction
General Meaning
of the Word
"Satisfaction"
Various Kinds
of Satisfaction to God
Elements
of Sacramental Satisfaction
Necessity
of Satisfaction
Advantages of Satisfaction
It
is Required by God's Justice and Mercy
Satisfaction Atones
to the Church
Satisfaction Deters Others From Sin
By Satisfaction We Are Made Like Unto Christ
Satisfaction Heals
the Wounds of Sin
Satisfaction Disarms
the Divine Vengeance
Source of the Efficacy of Satisfactory Works
Conditions
For Satisfaction
Works
of Satisfaction Are of Three Kinds
One Can Satisfy For Another
Duties of the Confessor as Regards Satisfaction
Restitution Must Be Insisted On
Quantity
and Quality of Penances Should be
Reasonable
Voluntary Works
of Penance Should be
Recommended
Public
Penances Should Sometimes Be Given
Admonition
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Importance of Instruction on This Sacrament
As the frailty and weakness of human nature are
universally known and felt by each one in himself, no one can be
ignorant of the great necessity of the Sacrament of Penance. If, therefore, the diligence of pastors should be proportioned to the weight and
importance of the subject, we must admit that in expounding this
Sacrament they can never be sufficiently diligent. Nay, it should be
explained with more care than Baptism. Baptism is administered but once,
and cannot be repeated; Penance may be administered and becomes
necessary, as often as we may have sinned after Baptism. Hence the
Council of Trent declares: For those who fall into sin after Baptism the
Sacrament of Penance is as necessary to salvation as is Baptism for
those who have not been already baptized. The saying of St. Jerome that
Penance is a second plank, is universally known and highly commended by
all subsequent writers on sacred things. As he who suffers shipwreck has
no hope of safety, unless, perchance, he seize on some plank from the
wreck, so he that suffers the shipwreck of baptismal innocence, unless
he cling to the saving plank of Penance, has doubtless lost all hope of
salvation.
These instructions are intended not only for the
benefit of pastors, but also for that of the faithful at large, to
awaken attention, lest they be found culpably negligent in a matter so
very important. Impressed with a just sense of the frailty of human
nature, their first and most earnest desire should be to advance with
the divine assistance in the ways of God, without sin or failing. But
should they at any time prove so unfortunate as to fall, then, looking
at the infinite goodness of God, who like the good shepherd binds up and
heals the wounds of His sheep, they should not postpone recourse to the
most saving remedy of Penance.
Different Meanings of the Word
"Penance"
To enter at once on the subject, and to avoid all
error to which the ambiguity of the word may give rise, its different
meanings are first to be explained. By penance some understand
satisfaction; while others, who wander far from the doctrine of the
Catholic faith, supposing penance to have no reference to the past,
define it to be nothing more than newness of life. It must, therefore,
be shown that the word has a variety of meanings.
In the first place, it is said of those to whom
that which was before pleasing is now displeasing, whether the object
itself was good or bad. In this sense all those repent whose sorrow is
according to the world, not according to God; and therefore, worketh not
salvation, but death.
In the second place, it is used to express that
sorrow which the sinner conceives, not, however, for the sake of God,
but for his own sake, concerning some sin of his in which he once took
pleasure.
A third kind of penance is that by which we
experience interior sorrow of heart, or give exterior indication of such
sorrow for the sake of God alone. To all these kinds of sorrow the word
repentance properly applies.
When the Sacred Scriptures say that God repented,
the expression is evidently figurative. When we repent of any thing, we
are most anxious to change it; and hence when God has resolved to change
any thing, the Scriptures, accommodating their language to our manner of
speaking, say that He repents. Thus we read that it repented him that he
had made man, and also that He was sorry that He had made Saul king.
But an important distinction is to be made between
these different significations of the word. The first kind of penance
must be considered faulty; the second is only the agitation of a
disturbed mind; the third we call both a virtue and a Sacrament. In this
last sense penance is taken here.
The Virtue of Penance
We shall first treat of penance as a virtue, not
only because it is the duty of the pastor to lead the faithful to the
practice of every virtue; but also, because the acts which proceed from
penance as a virtue, constitute the matter, as it were, of Penance as a
Sacrament, and unless the virtue be rightly understood, the force of the
Sacrament cannot be appreciated.
The faithful, therefore, are first to be
admonished and exhorted to labor strenuously to attain this interior
penance of the heart which we call a virtue, and without which exterior
penance can avail them very little.
Meaning of Penance
Interior penance consists in turning to God
sincerely and from the heart, and in hating and detesting our past
transgressions, with a firm resolution of amendment of life, hoping to
obtain pardon through the mercy of God. Accompanying this penance, like
an inseparable companion of detestation for sin, is a sorrow and sadness,
which is a certain agitation and disturbance of the soul, and is called
by many a passion. Hence many of the Fathers define penance as an
anguish of soul.
Penance, however, in those who repent, must be
preceded by faith, for without faith no man can turn to God. Faith,
therefore, cannot on any account be called a part of penance.
Penance Proved to be a Virtue
That this inward penance is, as we have already
said, a virtue, the various commands which have been given regarding it
clearly show; for the law commands only those actions that are virtuous.
Furthermore, no one can deny that it is a virtue
to be sorrowful at the time, in the manner, and to the extent which are
required. To regulate sorrow in this manner belongs to the virtue of
penance. Some conceive a sorrow which bears no proportion to their
crimes. Nay, there are some, says Solomon, who are glad when they have
done evil. Others, on the contrary, give themselves to such melancholy
and grief, as utterly to abandon all hope of salvation. Such, perhaps,
was the condition of Cain when he exclaimed: My iniquity is greater than
that I may deserve pardon. Such certainly was the condition of Judas,
who, repenting, hanged himself, and thus lost soul and body. Penance,
therefore, considered as a virtue, assists us in restraining within the
bounds of moderation our sense of sorrow.
That penance is a virtue may also be inferred from
the ends which the true penitent proposes to himself. The first is to
destroy sin and efface from the soul its every spot and stain. The
second is to make satisfaction to God for the sins which he has
committed, which is clearly an act of justice. Between God and man, it
is true, no relation of strict justice can exist, so great is the
distance that separates them; yet between them there is evidently a sort
of justice, such as exists between a father and his children, between a
master and his servants. The third (end of the penitent) is to reinstate
himself in the favor and friendship of God whom he has offended and
whose hatred he has earned by the turpitude of sin. The foregoing
considerations sufficiently prove that penance is a virtue.
The Steps Which Lead Up To This Virtue
We must also point out the steps by which we may
ascend to this divine virtue. The mercy of God first goes before us
and converts our hearts to Him. This was the object of the Prophet's
prayer: Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted.
Illumined by this light the soul next tends to God
by faith. He that cometh to God, says the Apostle, must believe that he
is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him.
A salutary fear of God's judgments follows, and
the soul, contemplating the punishments that await sin, is recalled from
the paths of vice. To this (state of soul) seem to refer these words of
Isaias: As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her
delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs, so are we become.
Then follows a hope of obtaining mercy from God,
encouraged by which we resolve on improvement of life.
Lastly, our hearts are inflamed by charity, whence
springs that filial fear which good and dutiful children experience; and
thus dreading only to offend the majesty of God in anything, we entirely
abandon the ways of sin.
Fruits of This Virtue
Such are, as it were, the steps by which we ascend
to this most exalted virtue, a virtue altogether heavenly and divine, to
which the Sacred Scriptures promise the kingdom of heaven; for it is
written in St. Matthew: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. If, says Ezechiel, the wicked do penance for all his sins which he
hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and
justice, living he shall live. In another place: I desire not the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live, words
which are evidently understood of eternal life.
Penance as a Sacrament
Regarding external penance it will be necessary to
show that in it the Sacrament properly consists, and that it possesses
certain outward and sensible signs which denote the effect that takes
place interiorly in the soul.
Why Christ Instituted This Sacrament
In the first place, however, it will be well to
explain why it is that Christ our Lord was pleased to number Penance
among the Sacraments. One of His reasons certainly was to leave us no
room for doubt regarding the remission of sin which was promised by God
when He said: If the wicked do penance, etc. For each one has good
reason to distrust the accuracy of his own judgment on his own actions,
and hence we could not but be very much in doubt regarding the truth of
our internal penance. It was to destroy this, our uneasiness, that our
Lord instituted the Sacrament of Penance, by means of which we are
assured that our sins are pardoned by the absolution of the priest; and
also to tranquilize our conscience by means of the trust we rightly
repose in the virtue of the Sacraments. The words of the priest
sacramentally and lawfully absolving us from our sins are to be accepted
in the same sense as the words of Christ our Lord when He said to the
paralytic: Son, be of good heart: thy sins are forgiven thee.
In the second place, no one can obtain salvation
unless through Christ and the merits of His Passion. Hence it was
becoming in itself, and highly advantageous to us, that a Sacrament
should be instituted through the force and efficacy of which the blood
of Christ flows into our souls, washes away all the sins committed
after Baptism, and thus leads us to recognize that it is to our Savior alone we owe the blessing of reconciliation.
Penance is a Sacrament
That Penance is a Sacrament pastors can easily
show from what follows. As Baptism is a Sacrament because it blots out
all sins, and especially original sin, so for the same reason Penance,
which takes away all the sins of thought and deed committed after
Baptism, must be regarded as a true Sacrament in the proper sense of the
word.
Moreover - and this is the principal reason -
since what is exteriorly done, both by priest and penitent, signifies
the inward effects that take place in the soul, who will venture to deny
that Penance is invested with the nature of a proper and true Sacrament? For a Sacrament is a sign of a sacred thing. Now the sinner who
repents plainly expresses by his words and actions that he has turned
his heart from sin; while from the words and actions of the priest we
easily recognize the mercy of God exercised in the remission of sins.
In any event, the words of our Savior furnish a
clear proof: I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven
whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
The absolution announced in the words of the priest expresses the
remission of sins which it accomplishes in the soul.
This Sacrament May Be Repeated
The faithful should be instructed not only that
Penance is to be numbered among the Sacraments, but that it is one of
the Sacraments which may be repeated. To Peter, who had asked whether
pardon could be given to sin seven times, our Lord replied: I say not to
thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven.
If, then, (the pastor) happens to encounter those
who seem to distrust the infinite goodness and clemency of God, let him endeavor
to inspire their minds with confidence, and raise them up to
the hope of obtaining the grace of God. He will easily accomplish this
object by explaining the above and other passages which are frequently
met with in Holy Writ; as well as by using the arguments and reasons
which may be found in St. Chrysostom's book On the Lapsed, and St.
Ambrose's books On Penance.
The Constituent Parts of Penance
The Matter
There is nothing that should be better known to
the faithful than the matter of this Sacrament; hence they should be
taught that Penance differs from the other Sacraments in this that while
the matter of the other Sacraments is some thing, whether natural or
artificial, the matter, as it were, of the Sacrament of Penance is the
acts of the penitent - namely, contrition, confession and satisfaction
- as has been declared by the council of Trent. Now, inasmuch as these
acts are by divine institution required on the part of the penitent for
the integrity of the Sacrament, and for the full and perfect remission
of sin, they are called parts of Penance. It is not because they are not
the real matter that they are called by the Council the matter as it
were, but because they are not of that sort of matter which is applied
externally, such, for instance, as water in Baptism and chrism in
Confirmation.
As regards the opinion of some who hold that sins
themselves are the matter of this Sacrament, it will be found, when
carefully examined, that it does not really differ from the explanation
already given. Thus we say that wood which is consumed by fire is the
matter of fire. In the same way, sins which are destroyed by Penance may
properly be called the matter of Penance.
The Form of Penance
Pastors should not neglect to explain the form of
the Sacrament of Penance. A knowledge of it will excite the faithful to
receive the grace of this Sacrament with the greatest possible devotion.
Now the form is: I absolve thee, as may be inferred not only from the
words, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in
heaven, but also from the teaching of Christ our Lord, handed down to us
by the Apostles.
Moreover, since the Sacraments signify what they
effect, the words, I absolve thee, signify that remission of sin is
effected by the administration of this Sacrament; and hence it is plain
that such is the perfect form of the Sacrament. For sins are, so to say,
the chains by which the soul is bound, and from which it is freed by the
Sacrament of Penance. And none the less truly does the priest pronounce
the form over the penitent who, through perfect contrition, accompanied
by the desire of confession, has already obtained remission of his sins
from God.
Several prayers are added, not that they are
necessary to the form, but in order to remove every obstacle that can
impede the force and efficacy of the Sacrament owing to the fault of him
to whom it is administered.
How thankful, then, should not sinners be to God
for having bestowed such ample power on the priests of His Church!
Unlike the priests of the Old Law who merely declared the leper cleansed
from his leprosy, the power now given to the priests of the New Law is
not limited to declaring the sinner absolved from his sins, but, as a
minister of God, he truly absolves from sin. This is an effect of which
God Himself, the author and source of grace and justice, is the
principal cause.
The Rites Observed in the Sacrament of Penance
The faithful should take great care to observe the
rites which accompany the administration of this Sacrament. In this way
they will have a higher idea of what they obtain from this Sacrament,
that is, that they have been reconciled as slaves to their kind master,
or rather, as children to their best of fathers; and at the same time
they will also better understand what is the duty of those who desire,
as everyone should, to show their gratitude and remembrance of so great
a benefit.
The sinner, then, who repents, casts himself
humbly and sorrowfully at the feet of the priest, in order that by there
humbling himself he may the more easily be led to see that he must tear
up the roots of pride whence spring and flourish all the sins he now
deplores. In the priest, who is his legitimate judge, he venerates the
person and the power of Christ our Lord; for in the administration of
the Sacrament of Penance, as in that of the other Sacraments, the priest
holds the place of Christ. Next the penitent enumerates his sins,
acknowledging, at the same time, that he deserves the greatest and
severest chastisements; and finally, suppliantly asks pardon for his
faults.
All these rites have a sure guarantee for their
antiquity in the authority of St. Denis.
Effects of the Sacrament of Penance
Nothing will prove of greater advantage to the
faithful, nothing will be found to conduce more to a willing reception
of the Sacrament of Penance, than for pastors to explain frequently the
great advantage to be derived therefrom. They will then see that of
Penance it is truly said that its roots are bitter, but its fruit sweet
indeed.
First of all, then, the great efficacy of Penance
consists in this, that it restores us to the grace of God, and unites us
to Him in the closest friendship.
In pious souls who approach this Sacrament with
devotion, profound peace and tranquility of conscience, together with
ineffable joy of soul, sometimes accompany this reconciliation. For there is no
sin, however great or horrible, which cannot be effaced by the Sacrament
of Penance, and that not merely once, but over and over again. On this
point God Himself thus speaks through the Prophet: If the wicked do
penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my
commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and
shall not die, and I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath
done. And St. John says: If we confess our sins; he is faithful and
just, to forgive us our sins; and a little later, he adds: If any man
sin - he excepts no sin whatever - we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the just; for he is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.
When we read in Scripture that certain persons did
not obtain pardon from God, even though they earnestly implored it, we
know that this was due to the fact that they had not a true and
heartfelt sorrow for their sins. Thus when we find in Sacred Scripture
and in the writings of the Fathers passages which seem to assert that
certain sins are irremissible, we must understand the meaning to be that
it is very difficult to obtain pardon for them. A disease is sometimes
called incurable, because the patient is so disposed as to loathe the
medicines that could afford him relief. In the same way certain sins
are not remitted or pardoned because the sinner rejects the grace of
God, the only medicine for salvation. It is in this sense that St.
Augustine wrote: When a man who, through the grace of Jesus Christ, has
once arrived at a knowledge of God, wounds fraternal charity, and,
driven by the fury of envy, lifts up his head against grace, the
enormity of his sin is so great that, though compelled by a guilty
conscience to acknowledge and confess his fault, he finds himself unable
to submit to the humiliation of imploring pardon.
The Necessity of the Sacrament of Penance
Returning now to the Sacrament, it is so much the
special province of Penance to remit sins that it is impossible to
obtain or even to hope for remission of sins by any other means; for it
is written: Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish. These
words were said by our Lord in reference to grievous and mortal sins,
although at the same time lighter sins, which are called venial, also
require some sort of penance. St. Augustine observes that the kind of
penance which is daily performed in the Church for venial sins, would be
absolutely useless, if venial sin could be remitted without penance.
The Three Integral Parts of Penance
But as it is not enough to speak in general terms
when treating of practical matters, the pastors should take care to
explain, one by one, those things from which the faithful can understand
the meaning of true and salutary Penance.
Their Existence
Now it is peculiar to this Sacrament that besides
matter and form, which it has in common with all the other Sacraments,
it has also, as we have said, those parts which constitute Penance, so
to say, whole and entire; namely, contrition, confession and
satisfaction. On these St. Chrysostom thus speaks: Penance enables the
sinner to bear all willingly in his heart is contrition; on his lips
confession; in his actions entire humility or salutary satisfaction.
Their Nature
These three parts belong to that class of parts
which are necessary to constitute a whole. The human body is composed of
many members - hands, feet, eyes and the various other parts; the want
of any one of which makes the body be justly considered imperfect, while
if none of them is missing, the body is regarded as perfect. In the same
way, Penance is composed of these three parts in such a way that though
contrition and confession, which justify man, are alone required to
constitute its essence, yet, unless accompanied by its third part,
satisfaction, it necessarily remains short of its absolute perfection.
These three parts, then, are so intimately
connected with one another, that contrition includes the intention and
resolution of confessing and making satisfaction; contrition and the
resolution of making satisfaction imply confession; while the other two
precede satisfaction.
Necessity of These Integral Parts
The reason why these are the integral parts may be
thus explained. Sins against God are committed by thought, by word and
by deed. It is, then, but reasonable, that in recurring to the power of
the keys we should endeavor to appease God's wrath, and obtain pardon
for our sins by means of the very same things which we employed to
offend His sovereignty.
A further reason by way of confirmation can also
be assigned. Penance is a sort of compensation for sin, springing from
the free will of the delinquent, and is appointed by God, against whom
the offence has been committed. Hence, on the one hand, there is
required the willingness to make compensation, in which willingness
contrition chiefly consists; while, on the other hand, the penitent must
submit himself to the judgment of the priest, who holds God's place, in
order to enable him to award a punishment proportioned to the gravity of
the sin committed. Hence the reason for and the necessity of confession
and satisfaction are easily inferred.
The First Part of Penance
Contrition
As the faithful require instruction on the nature
and efficacy of the parts of Penance, we must begin with contrition.
This subject demands careful explanation; for as often as we call to
mind our past transgressions, or offend God anew, so often should our
hearts be pierced with contrition.
The Meaning of Contrition
By the Fathers of the Council of Trent, contrition
is defined: A sorrow and detestation for sin committed, with a purpose
of sinning no more. And a little further on the Council, speaking of the
motion of the will to contrition, adds: If joined with a confidence in
the mercy of God and an earnest desire of performing whatever is
necessary to the proper reception of the Sacrament, it thus prepares us
for the remission of sin.
Contrition is a Detestation of Sin
From this definition, therefore, the faithful will
perceive that the efficacy of contrition does not simply consist in
ceasing to sin, or in resolving to begin, or having actually begun a new
life; it supposes first of all a hatred of one's ill-spent life and a
desire of atoning for past transgressions.
This is especially confirmed by those cries of the
holy Fathers, which we so frequently meet with in Holy Scripture. I
have labored in my groaning, says David; every night I will wash my
bed; and again, The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. I will
recount to thee all my years, says another, in the bitterness of my
soul. These and many like expressions were called forth by an intense
hatred and a lively detestation of past transgressions.
Contrition Produces Sorrow
But although contrition is defined as sorrow, the
faithful are not thence to conclude that this sorrow consists in
sensible feeling; for contrition is an act of the will, and, as St.
Augustine observes, grief is not penance but the accompaniment of
penance. By sorrow the Fathers understood a hatred and detestation of
sin; in the first place, because the Sacred Scriptures frequently use
the word in this sense. How long, says David, shall I take counsels in
my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day. And secondly, because from
contrition arises sorrow in the inferior part of the soul which is
called the seat of concupiscence.
With propriety, therefore, is contrition defined a
sorrow, because it produces sorrow; hence penitents, in order to express
it, used to change their garments. Our Lord alludes to this custom when
He says: Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre
and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you,
they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes.
Names of Sorrow for Sin
To signify the intensity of this sorrow the name
contrition has rightly been given to the detestation of sin of which we
speak. The word means the breaking of an object into small parts by
means of a stone or some harder substance; and here it is used
metaphorically, to signify that our hearts, hardened by pride, are
beaten and broken by penance. Hence no other sorrow, not even that which
is felt for the death of parents, or children, or for any other
calamity, is called contrition. The word is exclusively employed to
express the sorrow with which we are overwhelmed by the forfeiture of
the grace of God and of our own innocence.
Contrition, however, is often designated by other
names. Sometimes it is called contrition of heart, because the word
heart is frequently used in Scripture to express the will. As the
movement of the body originates in the heart, so the will is the faculty
which governs and controls the other powers of the soul.
By the holy Fathers it is also called compunction
of heart, and hence they preferred to entitle their works on contrition
treatises On Compunction of Heart; for as ulcers are lanced with a knife
in order to allow the escape of the poisonous matter accumulated within,
so the heart, as it were, is pierced with the lance of contrition, to
enable it to emit the deadly poison of sin.
Hence, contrition is called by the Prophet Joel, a
rending of the heart. Be converted to me, he says, with all your hearts
in fasting, in weeping, in mourning, and rend your hearts.
Qualities of Sorrow for Sin
It Should be Supreme
That sorrow for sins committed should be so
profound and supreme that no greater sorrow could be thought of will
easily appear from the considerations that follow.
Perfect contrition is an act of charity, emanating
from what is called filial fear; hence it is clear that the measure of
contrition and of charity should be the same. Since, therefore, the
charity which we cherish towards God, is the most perfect love, it
follows that contrition should be the keenest sorrow of the soul. God is
to be loved above all things, and whatever separates us from God is
therefore to be hated above all things. It is also worthy of note that
to charity and contrition the language of Scripture assigns the same
extent. Of charity it is said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart.' Of contrition the Lord says through the Prophet: Be
converted with your whole heart.
Secondly, it is true that of all objects which
deserve our love, God is the supreme good, and it is not less true that
of all objects which deserve our execration sin is the supreme evil. The
same reason, then, which prompts us to confess that God is to be loved
above all things, obliges us also of necessity to acknowledge that sin
is to be hated above all things. That God is to be loved above all
things, so that we should be prepared to sacrifice our lives rather than
offend Him, these words of the Lord clearly declare: He that loveth
father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; He that will save
his life shall lose it.
Further, it should be noted that since, as St.
Bernard says, there is no limit or measure to charity, or to use his own
words, as the measure of loving God is to love Him without measure,
there should be no limit to the hatred of sin.
Sorrow
For Sin Should Be Intense
Besides, our contrition should be not only the
greatest, but also the most intense, and so perfect that it excludes all
apathy and indifference; for it is written in Deuteronomy: When thou
shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so if thou seek
him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul, and in
Jeremias: Thou shalt seek me and shalt find me, when thou shalt seek me
with all thy heart; and I will be found by thee, saith the Lord.
If, however, our contrition be not perfect, it may
nevertheless be true and efficacious. For as things which fall under the
senses frequently touch the heart more sensibly than things purely
spiritual, it sometimes happens that persons feel more intense sorrow
for the death of their children than for the grievousness of their sins.
Our contrition may also be true and efficacious,
although unaccompanied by tears. Penitential tears, however, are much to
be desired and commended. On this subject St. Augustine has well said:
The spirit of Christian charity lives not within you, if you lament the
body from which the soul has departed, but lament not the soul from
which God has departed. To the same effect are the words of the Redeemer
above cited: Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in
Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in
you, they had long since done penance, in sackcloth and ashes. To
establish this truth it will suffice to recall the well-known examples
of the Ninivites, of David, of the woman who was a sinner, and of the
Prince of the Apostles, all of whom obtained the pardon of their sins
when they implored the mercy of God with abundant tears.
Sorrow For Sin Should Be Universal
The faithful should be earnestly exhorted and
admonished to strive to extend their contrition to each mortal sin. For
it is thus that Ezechias describes contrition: I will recount to thee
all my years in the bitterness of my soul. To recount all our years is
to examine our sins one by one in order to have sorrow for them from our
hearts. In Ezechiel also we read: If the wicked do penance for all his
sins, he shall live. In this sense St. Augustine says: Let the sinner
consider the quality of his sins, as to time, place, variety and person.
In this matter, however, the faithful should not
despair of the infinite goodness and mercy of God. For since God is most
desirous of our salvation, He will not delay to pardon us. With a
father's fondness, He embraces the sinner the moment he enters into
himself, turns to the Lord, and, having detested all his sins, resolves
that later on, as far as he is able, he will call them singly to mind
and detest them. The Almighty Himself, by the mouth of His Prophet,
commands us to hope, when He says: The wickedness of the wicked shall
not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness.
Conditions Required for Contrition
From what has been said we may gather the chief
requisites of true contrition. In these the faithful are to be
accurately instructed, that each may know the means of attaining, and
may have a fixed standard by which to determine, how far he may be
removed from the perfection of this virtue.
Detestation of Sin
We must, then, in the first place, detest and
deplore all our sins. If our sorrow and detestation extend only to some
sins, our repentance is not salutary, but feigned and false. Whosoever
shall keep the whole law, says St. James, but offend in one point, is
become guilty of all.
Intention of Confession and Satisfaction
In the next place, our contrition must be
accompanied with a desire of confessing and satisfying for our sins.
Concerning these dispositions we shall treat in their proper place.
Purpose of Amendment
Thirdly, the penitent must form a fixed and firm
purpose of amendment of life. This the Prophet clearly teaches in the
following words: If the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath
committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice,
living he shall live, and shall not die: I will not remember all his
iniquities which he hath done. And a little after: When the wicked
turneth himself away from his wickedness which he hath wrought, and doth
judgment and justice, he shall save his soul alive. Still further on he
adds: Be converted and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity
shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, by
which you have transgressed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new
spirit. To the woman taken in adultery Christ our Lord commanded the
same thing: Go thy way, and sin no more; and also to the lame man whom
He cured at the pool of Bethsaida: Behold, thou art made whole, sin no
more.
Reasons For These Conditions
That a sorrow for sin and a firm purpose of
avoiding sin for the future are two conditions indispensable to
contrition nature and reason clearly show. He who would be reconciled to
a friend whom he has wronged must regret to have injured and offended
him, and his future conduct must be such as to avoid offending in
anything against friendship.
Furthermore, these are conditions to which man is
bound to yield obedience; for the law to which man is subject, be it
natural, divine, or human, he is bound to obey. If, therefore, by force
or fraud, the penitent has taken anything from his neighbor, he is
bound to restitution. Likewise if, by word or deed he has injured his neighbor's
honor or reputation, he is under an obligation of repairing
the injury by procuring him some advantage or rendering him some
service. Well known to all is the maxim of St. Augustine: The sin is not
forgiven unless what has been taken away is restored.
Forgiveness of Injuries
Again, not less necessary for contrition than the
other chief conditions is a care that it be accompanied by entire
forgiveness of the injuries which we may have received from others. This
our Lord and Savior admonishes when He declares: If you will forgive
men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your
offences, but if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father
forgive you your offences.
These are the conditions which the faithful should
observe as regards contrition. There are other dispositions which,
although not essential to true and salutary penance, contribute to
render contrition more perfect and complete in its kind, and which
pastors will readily discover.
The Effects
of Contrition
Simply to make known those things which pertain to
salvation should not be deemed a full discharge of the duty of pastors;
their zeal and industry should be exerted to persuade the people to
adopt these truths as their rule of conduct and as the governing
principle of their actions. Hence it will be highly useful often to
explain the power and utility of contrition.
For whereas most other pious practices, such as
alms, fasting, prayer and similar holy and commendable works, are
sometimes rejected by God on account of the faults of those who perform
them, contrition can never be other than pleasing and acceptable to Him.
A contrite and humble heart, O God, exclaims the Prophet, thou wilt not
despise.
Nay more, the same Prophet declares elsewhere
that, as soon as we have conceived this contrition in our hearts, our
sins are forgiven by God: I said, I will confess my injustice to the
Lord, and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin. Of this truth we
have a figure in the ten lepers, who, when sent by our Lord to the
priests, were cured of their leprosy before they had reached them; which
gives us to understand that such is the efficacy of true contrition, of
which we have spoken above, that through it we obtain from the Lord the
immediate pardon of all sins.
Means of Arousing True Contrition
To move the faithful to contrition, it will be
very useful if pastors point out some method by which each one may
excite himself to contrition.
They should all be admonished frequently to
examine their consciences, in order to ascertain if they have been
faithful in the observance of those things which God and His Church
require. Should anyone be conscious of sin, he should immediately accuse
himself, humbly solicit pardon from God, and implore time to confess and
satisfy for his sins. Above all, let him supplicate the aid of divine
grace, in order that he may not relapse into those sins which he now
penitently deplores.
Pastors should also take care that the faithful be
excited to a supreme hatred of sin, both because its turpitude and
baseness are very great and because it brings us the gravest losses and
misfortunes. For sin deprives us of the friendship of God, to whom we
are indebted for so many invaluable blessings, and from whom we might
have expected and received gifts of still higher value; and along with
this it consigns us to eternal death and to torments unending and most
severe.
The Second Part of Penance
Confession
Having said so much on contrition, we now come to
confession, which is another part of Penance. The care and exactness
which its exposition demands of pastors must be at once obvious, if we
only reflect that most holy persons are firmly persuaded that whatever
of piety, of holiness, of religion, has been preserved to our times in
the Church, through God's goodness, must be ascribed in great measure to
confession. It cannot, therefore, be a matter of surprise that the enemy
of the human race, in his efforts to destroy utterly the Catholic
Church, should, through the agency of the ministers of his wicked
designs, have assailed with all his might this bulwark, as it were, of
Christian virtue. It should be shown, therefore, in the first place that
the institution of confession is most useful and even necessary to us.
Necessity of Confession
Contrition, it is true, blots out sin; but who
does not know that to effect this it must be so intense, so ardent, so
vehement, as to bear a proportion to the magnitude of the crimes which
it effaces? This is a degree of contrition which few reach; and hence,
in this way, very few indeed could hope to obtain the pardon of their
sins. It, therefore, became necessary that the most merciful Lord should
provide by some easier means for the common salvation of men; and this
He has done in His admirable wisdom, by giving to His Church the keys of
the kingdom of heaven.
According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church,
a doctrine firmly to be believed and constantly professed by all, if the
sinner have a sincere sorrow for his sins and a firm resolution of
avoiding them in future, although he bring not with him that contrition
which may be sufficient of itself to obtain pardon, all his sins are
forgiven and remitted through the power of the keys, when he confesses
them properly to the priest. Justly, then, do those most holy men, our
Fathers, proclaim that by the keys of the Church the gate of heaven is
thrown open, a truth which no one can doubt since the Council of
Florence has decreed that the effect of Penance is absolution from sin.
Advantages of Confession
To appreciate further the great advantages of
confession we may turn to a fact taught by experience. To those who have
led immoral lives nothing is found so useful towards a reformation of
morals as sometimes to disclose their secret thoughts, all their words
and actions, to a prudent and faithful friend, who can assist them by
his advice and cooperation. For the same reason it must prove most
salutary to those whose minds are agitated by the consciousness of guilt
to make known the diseases and wounds of their souls to the priest, as
the vicegerent of Christ our Lord, bound to eternal secrecy by the
strictest of laws. (In the Sacrament of Penance) they will find
immediate remedies, the healing qualities of which will not only remove
the present malady, but will also have such a heavenly efficacy in
preparing the soul against an easy relapse into the same kind of disease
and infirmity.
Another advantage of confession, which should not
be overlooked, is that it contributes powerfully to the preservation of
social order. Abolish sacramental confession, and that moment you deluge
society with all sorts of secret and heinous crimes - crimes too, and
others of still greater enormity, which men, once that they have been
depraved by vicious habits, will not dread to commit in open day. The
salutary shame that attends confession restrains licentiousness, bridles
desire and checks wickedness.
Definition of Confession
Having explained the advantages of confession,
pastors should next unfold its nature and efficacy. Confession, then, is
defined: A sacramental accusation of one's sins, made to obtain pardon
by virtue of the keys.
It is rightly called an accusation, because sins
are not to be told as if the sinner boasted of his crimes, as they do
who are glad when they have done evil; nor are they to be related as
stories told for the sake of amusing idle listeners. They are to be
confessed as matters of self- accusation, with a desire, as it were, to
avenge them on ourselves.
We confess our sins with a view to obtain pardon.
In this respect the tribunal of penance differs from other tribunals,
which take cognizance of capital offences, and before which a confession
of guilt does not secure acquittal and pardon, but penalty and
punishment.
The definition of confession by the holy Fathers,
although different in words, is substantially the same. Confession, says
St. Augustine, is the disclosure of a secret disease, with the hope of
obtaining pardon; and St. Gregory: Confession is a detestation of sins.
Both of these definitions accord with, and are contained in the
preceding definition.
Confession Instituted By Christ
In the next place, it is a duty of greatest moment
that pastors should unhesitatingly teach that this Sacrament owes its
institution to the singular goodness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has ordered all things well, and solely with a view to our
salvation.
After His Resurrection He breathed on the
Apostles, assembled together, saying: Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins you shall
retain, they are retained. Now in giving to priests the power to retain
and forgive sins, it is evident that our Lord made them also judges in
this matter.
Our Lord seems to have signified the same thing
when, having raised Lazarus from the dead, He commanded His Apostles to
loose him from the bands in which he was bound. This is the
interpretation of St. Augustine. The priests, he says, can now do more:
they can exercise greater clemency towards those who confess and whose
sins they forgive. The Lord, in giving over Lazarus, whom He had already
raised from the dead, to be loosed by the hands of His disciples, wished
us to understand that to priests was given the power of loosing.
To this also refers the command given by our Lord
to the lepers cured on the way, that they show themselves to the
priests, and subject themselves to their judgment.
Invested, then, as they are, by our Lord with
power to remit and retain sins, priests are evidently appointed judges
of the matter on which they are to pronounce; and since, according to
the wise remark of the Council of Trent, we cannot form an accurate
judgment on any matter, or award to crime a just proportion of
punishment without having previously examined and made ourselves well
acquainted with the case, it follows that the penitent is obliged to
make known to the priests, through the medium of confession, each and
every sin.
This doctrine the pastors should teach as defined
by the holy Council of Trent, and handed down by the uniform doctrine of
the Catholic Church. An attentive perusal of the Fathers will present
passages throughout their works, proving in the clearest terms that this
Sacrament was instituted by our Lord, and that the law of sacramental
confession, which, from the Greek, they call exomologesis, and
exagoreusis, is to be received as true Gospel teaching.
If we seek figures in the Old Testament, the
different kinds of [sin offerings] which were offered by the priests for the
expiation of different sorts of sins, seem, beyond all doubt, to have
reference to confession of sins.
Rites Added By The Church
Not only are the faithful to be taught that
confession was instituted by our Lord. They are also to be reminded
that, by authority of the Church, certain rites and solemn ceremonies
have been added which, although not essential to the Sacrament, serve to
place its dignity more fully before the eyes of the penitent, and to
prepare his soul, so that, kindled with devotion, he may more easily
receive the grace of God. When, with uncovered head and bended knees,
with eyes fixed on the earth and hands raised in supplication, and with
other indications of Christian humility not essential to the Sacrament,
we confess our sins, our minds are thus deeply impressed with a clear
conviction of the heavenly virtue of the Sacrament, and also of the
necessity of most earnestly beseeching and imploring the mercy of God.
The Law of
Confession
Nor let it be supposed that, although confession
was instituted by our Lord, He did not declare its use to be necessary.
The faithful must be impressed with the conviction that he who is dead
in sin is to be recalled to spiritual life by means of sacramental
confession.
Proof of the Obligation
This truth is clearly conveyed by our Lord
Himself, when, by a most beautiful metaphor, He calls the power of
administering this Sacrament, the key of the kingdom of heaven. Just as
no one can enter any place without the help of him who has the keys, so
no one is admitted to heaven unless its gates be unlocked by the priests
to whose custody the Lord gave the keys. This power would otherwise be
of no use in the Church. If heaven can be entered without the power of
the keys, in vain would they to whom the keys were given seek to prevent
entrance within its portals.
This thought was familiar to the mind of St.
Augustine. Let no man, he says, say within himself: "I repent in
secret to the Lord. God, who has power to pardon me, knows the inmost
sentiments of my heart." Was there, then, no reason for saying
"whatsoever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven," no
reason why the keys were given to the Church of God? The same doctrine
is taught by St. Ambrose in his treatise On Penance, when refuting the
heresy of the Novatians who asserted that the power of forgiving sins
belonged solely to God. Who, says he, yields greater reverence to God,
he who obeys or he who resists His commands? God commands us to obey His
ministers; and by obeying them, we honor God alone.
The Age at Which the Law of Confession Obliges
As the law of confession was no doubt enacted and
established by our Lord Himself, it is our duty to ascertain, on whom,
at what age, and at what period of the year, it becomes obligatory.
According to the canon of the Council of Lateran, which begins: Omnis
utriusque sexus, no person is bound by the law of Confession until he
has arrived at the use of reason, a time determinable by no fixed
number of years. It may, however, be laid down as a general principle,
that children are bound to go to confession as soon as they are able to
discern good from evil, and are capable of malice; for, when a person
has arrived at an age when he must begin to attend to the work of his
salvation, he is bound to confess his sins to a priest, since there is
no other salvation for one whose conscience is burdened with sin.
At What Time the Law of Confession Obliges
In the same canon holy Church has defined the
period within which we are especially bound to discharge the duty of
confession. It commands all the faithful to confess their sins at least
once a year. If, however, we consult our eternal interests, we will
certainly not neglect to have recourse to confession as often, at least,
as we are in danger of death, or undertake to perform any act
incompatible with the state of sin, such as to administer or receive the
Sacraments. The same rule should be strictly followed when we are
apprehensive of forgetting some sin, into which we may have fallen; for
we cannot confess sins unless we remember them, neither do we obtain
pardon unless our sins are blotted out through sacramental confession.
The Qualities of Confession
But since in confession many things are to be
observed, some of which are essential, some not essential to the
Sacrament, all these matters should be carefully treated. Access can
easily be had to works and treatises from which an explanation of all
these things can be drawn.
Confession Should Be Entire
Pastors should teach, first of all, that care must
be exercised that confession be complete and entire. All mortal sins
must be revealed to the priest. Venial sins, which do not separate us
from the grace of God, and into which we frequently fall, although they
may be usefully confessed, as the experience of the pious proves, may be
omitted without sin, and expiated by a variety of other means. Mortal
sins, as we have already said, are all to be confessed, even though they
be most secret, or be opposed only to the last two Commandments of the
Decalogue. Such secret sins often inflict deeper wounds on the soul than
those which are committed openly and publicly.
So the Council of Trent has defined, and such has
been the constant teaching of the Church, as the Fathers declare. St.
Ambrose speaks thus: Without the confession of his sin, no man can be
justified from his sin. In confirmation of the same doctrine, St.
Jerome, on Ecclesiastes, says: If the serpent, the devil, has secretly
and without the knowledge of a third person, bitten anyone, and has
infused into him the poison of sin; if unwilling to disclose his wound
to his brother or master, he is silent and will not do penance, his
master, who has a tongue ready to cure him, can render him no service.
The same doctrine we find in St. Cyprian, in his sermon On the Fallen.
Although guiltless, he says, of the heinous crime of sacrificing to
idols, or of having purchased certificates to that effect; yet, as they
entertained the thought of doing so, they should confess it with grief
to the priests of God. In fine, such is the unanimous voice and teaching
of all the Doctors of the Church.
In confession we should employ all that care and
exactness which we usually bestow upon worldly concerns of great moment,
and all our efforts should be directed to the cure of our soul's wounds
and to the destruction of the roots of sin. We should not be satisfied
with the bare enumeration of our mortal sins, but should mention such
circumstances as considerably aggravate or extenuate their malice. Some
circumstances are so serious as of themselves to constitute mortal
guilt. On no account whatever, therefore, are such circumstances to be
omitted. Thus if one man has killed another, he must state whether his
victim was a layman or an ecclesiastic. Or, if he has had sinful
relations with a woman, he must state whether the female was unmarried
or married, a relative or a person consecrated to God by vow. These
circumstances change the nature of the sins; so that the first kind of
unlawful intercourse is called by theologians simple fornication, the
second adultery, the third incest, and the fourth sacrilege. Again,
theft is numbered in the catalogue of sins. But if a person has stolen
one golden coin, his sin is less grievous than if he had stolen a
hundred or two hundred, or an immense sum; and if the stolen money
belonged to the Church, the sin would be still more grievous. The same
rule applies to the circumstances of time and place, but the examples
are too well known from many books to require mention here.
Circumstances such as these are, therefore, to be mentioned; but those
which do not considerably aggravate the malice of the sin may be
lawfully omitted.
Sins Concealed
So important is it that confession be entire that
if the penitent confesses only some of his sins and willfully neglects to
accuse himself of others which should be confessed, he not only does not
profit by his confession, but involves himself in new guilt. Such an
enumeration of sins cannot be called sacramental confession; on the
contrary, the penitent must repeat his confession, not omitting to
accuse himself of having, under the semblance of confession, profaned
the sanctity of the Sacrament.
Sins Forgotten
But should the confession seem defective, either
because the penitent forgot some grievous sins, or because, although
intent on confessing all his sins, he did not examine the recesses of
his conscience with sufficient accuracy, he is not bound to repeat his
confession. It will be sufficient, when he recollects the sins which he
had forgotten, to confess them to a priest on a future occasion.
It should be noted, however, that we are not to
examine our consciences with careless indifference, or to be so
negligent in recalling our sins as to seem as if unwilling to remember
them. Should this have been the case, the confession must by all means
be made over again.
Confession Should Be Plain, Simple, Sincere
In the second place our confession should be
plain, simple and undisguised; not artfully made, as is the case with
some who seem more intent on defending themselves than on confessing
their sins. Our confession should be such as to disclose to the priest a
true image of our lives, such as we ourselves know them to be,
exhibiting as doubtful that which is doubtful, and as certain that which
is certain. If, then, we neglect to enumerate our sins, or introduce
extraneous matter, our confession, it is clear, lacks this quality.
Confession Should Be Prudent, Modest, Brief
Prudence and modesty in explaining matters of
confession are also much to be commended, and a superfluity of words is
to be carefully avoided. Whatever is necessary to make known the nature
of every sin is to be explained briefly and modestly.
Confession Should be Made Privately and Often
Secrecy as regards confession should be strictly
observed, as well by the penitent as by the priest. Hence, no one can,
on any account, confess by messenger or letter, because in those cases
secrecy would not be possible.
The faithful should be careful above all to
cleanse their consciences from sin by frequent confession. When a person
is in mortal sin nothing can be more salutary, so precarious is human
life, than to have immediate recourse to confession. But even if we
could promise ourselves a long life, yet it would be truly disgraceful
that we who are so particular in whatever relates to cleanliness of
dress or person, were not at least equally careful in preserving the luster
of the soul unsullied from the foul stains of sin.
The Minister of the Sacrament of Penance
The Usual Minister
We now come to treat of the minister of this
Sacrament. That the minister of the Sacrament of Penance must be a
priest possessing ordinary or delegated jurisdiction the laws of the
Church sufficiently declare. Whoever discharges this sacred function
must be invested not only with the power of orders, but also with that
of jurisdiction. Of this ministry we have an illustrious proof in these
words of our Lord, recorded by St. John: Whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are
retained, words addressed not to all, but to the Apostles only, to whom,
in this function of the ministry, priests succeed.
This is also most fitting, for as all the grace
imparted by this Sacrament is communicated from Christ the Head to His
members, they who alone have power to consecrate His true body should
alone have power to administer this Sacrament to His mystical body, the
faithful, particularly as these are qualified and disposed by means of
the Sacrament of Penance to receive the Holy Eucharist.
The scrupulous care which in the primitive ages of
the Church guarded the right of the ordinary priest is easily seen from
the ancient decrees of the Fathers, which provided that no Bishop or
priest, except in case of great necessity, presume to exercise any
function in the parish of another without the authority of him who
governed there. This law derives its sanction from the Apostle when he
commanded Titus to ordain priests in every city, to administer to the
faithful the heavenly food of doctrine and of the Sacraments.
The Minister in Danger of Death
In order that none may perish, if there is
imminent danger of death, and recourse cannot be had to the proper
priest, the Council of Trent teaches that according to the ancient
practice of the Church of God it is then lawful for any priest, not only
to remit all kinds of sin, whatever faculties they might otherwise
require, but also to absolve from excommunication.
Qualifications of the Minister
Besides the powers of orders and of jurisdiction,
which are of absolute necessity, the minister of this Sacrament, holding
as he does the place at once of judge and physician, should be gifted
not only with knowledge and erudition, but also with prudence.
As judge, his knowledge, it is evident, should be
more than ordinary, for by it he is to examine into the nature of sins,
and among the various kinds of sins to judge which are grievous and
which are not, keeping in view the rank and condition of the person.
As physician he has also occasion for consummate
prudence, for to him it belongs to administer to the diseased soul those
healing medicines which will not only effect the cure, but prove
suitable preservatives against its future contagion.
The faithful, therefore, will see the great care
that each one should take in selecting (as confessor) a priest, who is
recommended by integrity of life, by learning and prudence, who is
deeply impressed with the awful weight and responsibility of the station
which he holds, who understands well the punishment due to every sin,
and can also discern who are to be loosed and who to be bound.
The Confessor Must Observe the Seal of
Confession
Since each one is most anxious that his sins and
defilements should be buried in oblivion, the faithful are to be
admonished that there is no reason whatever to apprehend that what is
made known in confession will ever be revealed by the priest to anyone,
or that by it the penitent can at any time be brought into danger of any
sort. The laws of the Church threaten the severest penalties against any
priests who would fail to observe a perpetual and religious silence
concerning all the sins confessed to them. Let the priest, says the
great Council of Lateran, take special care, neither by word or sign,
nor by any other means whatever, to betray in the least degree the
sinner.
Duties of the Confessor Towards Various Classes
of Penitents
Having treated of the minister of this Sacrament,
the order of our matter requires that we next proceed to explain some
general heads which are of considerable importance with regard to the
use and practice of confession.
Many of the faithful, to whom, as a rule, no time
seems to pass so slowly as that which is appointed by the laws of the
Church for the duty of confession, are so removed from Christian
perfection that, far from bestowing attention on those other matters
which are obviously most efficacious in conciliating the favor and
friendship of God, they do not even try to remember the sins that are to
be confessed to the priest.
Since, therefore, nothing is to be omitted which
can assist the faithful in the important work of salvation, the priest
should be careful to observe if the penitent be truly contrite for his
sins, and deliberately and firmly resolved to avoid sin for the future.
The Well Disposed Should be Exhorted to
Thanksgiving and Perseverance
If the sinner is found to be thus disposed, he is
to be admonished and earnestly exhorted to pour out his heart in
gratitude to God for so great and so singular a blessing, and to
supplicate unceasingly the aid of divine grace, shielded by which he may
securely combat his evil propensities.
He should also be taught not to suffer a day to
pass without devoting a portion of it to meditation on some mystery of
the Passion of our Lord, and to exciting and inflaming himself to the
imitation and most ardent love of his Redeemer. The fruit of such
meditation will be to fortify him more and more every day against all
the assaults of the devil. For what other reason is there why our
courage sinks and our strength fails the moment the enemy makes even the
slightest attack on us, but that we neglect by pious meditation to
kindle within us the fire of divine love, which animates and invigorates
the soul?
The Indisposed Should Be Helped
But should the priest perceive that the penitent
is not truly contrite, he will endeavor to inspire him with an anxious
desire for contrition, inflamed by which he may resolve to ask and
implore this heavenly gift from the mercy of God.
Those Who Seek to Excuse Their Sins Should be
Corrected
The pride of some who seek by vain excuses to
justify or extenuate their offences is carefully to be repressed. If,
for instance, a penitent confesses that he was wrought up to anger, and
immediately transfers the blame of the excitement to another, who, he
complains, was the aggressor, he is to be reminded that such apologies
are indications of a proud spirit, and of a man who either thinks
lightly of, or is unacquainted with the enormity of his sin, while they
serve rather to aggravate than to extenuate his guilt. He who thus labors
to justify his conduct seems to say that then only will he
exercise patience, when no one injures him - a disposition than which
nothing can be more unworthy of a Christian. Instead of lamenting the
state of him who inflicted the injury he disregards the grievousness of
the sin, and is angry with his brother. Having had an opportunity of honoring
God by his exemplary patience, and of correcting a brother by
his meekness, he turns the very means of salvation to his own
destruction.
Those Who Are Ashamed to Confess Their Sins
Should be Instructed
Still more pernicious is the fault of those who,
yielding to a foolish bashfulness, cannot induce themselves to confess
their sins. Such persons are to be encouraged by exhortation, and are to
be reminded that there is no reason whatever why they should fear to
disclose their sins, that to no one can it appear surprising if persons
fall into sin, the common malady of the human race and the natural
consequence of human infirmity.
The Careless Should be Rebuked
There are others who, either because they seldom
confess their sins, or because they have bestowed no care or attention
on the examination of their consciences, do not know well how to begin
or end their confession. Such persons deserve to be severely rebuked,
and are to be taught that before anyone approaches the tribunal of
Penance he should employ every diligence to excite himself to contrition
for his sins, and that this he cannot do without endeavoring to know
and recollect them severally.
The Unprepared Should be Dismissed or Led to
Good Disposition
Should the confessor meet persons of this class
entirely unprepared, he should dismiss them without harshness, exhorting
them in the kindest terms to take some time to reflect on their sins,
and then return; but should they declare that they have already done
everything in their power to prepare, and there is reason to apprehend
that if sent away they may not return, their confession is to be heard,
particularly if they manifest some disposition to amend their lives and
can be induced to accuse their own negligence and promise to atone for
it at another time by a diligent and accurate scrutiny of conscience. In
such cases, however, the confessor should proceed with caution. If,
after having heard the confession, he is of the opinion that the
penitent did not entirely lack diligence in examining his conscience or
sorrow in detesting his sins, he may absolve him; but if he has found
him deficient in both, he should, as we have already said, admonish him
to use greater care in his examination of conscience, and dismiss him as
kindly as he can.
The Pastor Should Show the Wrong of Human
Respect
But as it sometimes happens that females, who may
have forgotten some sin in a former confession, cannot bring themselves
to return to the confessor, dreading to expose themselves before the
people to the suspicion of having been guilty of something grievous or
of looking for the praise of extraordinary piety, the pastor should
frequently remind the faithful, both publicly and privately, that no one
is gifted with so tenacious a memory as to be able to recollect all his
thoughts, words and actions; that the faithful, therefore, should they
call to mind some sin which they had previously forgotten, should not be
deterred from returning to the priest. These and many other matters of
the same nature demand the attention of priests in confession.
The Third Part of Penance
Satisfaction
Let us now come to the third part of Penance,
which is called satisfaction. We shall begin by explaining its nature
and efficacy, because the enemies of the Catholic Church have on these
subjects taken ample occasion to sow discord and division, to the
serious detriment of Christians.
General Meaning of the Word
"Satisfaction"
Satisfaction is the full payment of a debt; for
that is sufficient or satisfactory to which nothing is wanting. Hence,
when we speak of reconciliation to favor, to satisfy means to do what
is sufficient to atone to the angered mind for an injury offered; and in
this sense satisfaction is nothing more than compensation for an injury
done to another. But, to come to the object that now engages us,
theologians make use of the word satisfaction to signify the
compensation man makes, by offering to God some reparation for the sins
he has committed.
Various Kinds of Satisfaction to God
This sort of satisfaction, since it has several
degrees, can be understood in various senses.
The first and highest degree of satisfaction is
that by which whatever we owe to God on account of our sins is paid
abundantly, even though He should deal with us according to the
strictest rigor of His justice. This degree of satisfaction appeases
God and renders Him propitious to us; and it is a satisfaction for which
we are indebted to Christ our Lord alone, who paid the price of our sins
on the cross, and offered to God a superabundant satisfaction. No
created being could have been of such worth as to deliver us from so
heavy a debt. He is the propitiation for our sins, says St. John, and
not for ours only but also for those of the whole world. This
satisfaction, therefore, is full and superabundant, perfectly adequate
to the debt of all sins committed in this world. It gives to man's
actions great worth before God, and without it they would be deserving
of no esteem whatever. This David seems to have had in view when, having
asked himself, what shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that
he hath rendered to me? and finding nothing besides this satisfaction,
which he expressed by the word chalice, a worthy return for so many and
such great favors, he replied: I will take the chalice of salvation,
and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
There is another kind of satisfaction, which is
called canonical, and is performed within a certain fixed period of
time. Hence, according to the most ancient practice of the Church, when
penitents are absolved from their sins, some penance is imposed, the
performance of which is commonly called satisfaction.
By the same name is called any sort of punishment
endured for sin, although not imposed by the priest, but spontaneously
undertaken and performed by ourselves.
Elements of Sacramental Satisfaction
This, however, does not belong to Penance as a
Sacrament. Only that satisfaction constitutes part of the Sacrament
which, as we have already said, is offered to God for sins at the
command of the priest. Furthermore, it must be accompanied by a
deliberate and firm purpose carefully to avoid sin for the future.
For to satisfy, as some define it, is to pay due honor
to God: and this, it is evident, no person can do, who is not
entirely resolved to avoid sin. Again, to satisfy is to cut off all
occasions of sin, and to close every avenue against its suggestions. In
accordance with this idea of satisfaction some have defined it as a
cleansing, which effaces whatever defilement may remain in the soul from
the stains of sin, and which exempts us from the temporal chastisements
due to sin.
Necessity of Satisfaction
Such being the nature of satisfaction, it will not
be difficult to convince the faithful of the necessity imposed on the
penitent of performing works of satisfaction. They are to be taught that
sin carries in its train two evils, the stain and the punishment.
Whenever the stain is effaced, the punishment of eternal death is
forgiven with the guilt to which it was due; yet, as the Council of
Trent declares, the remains of sin and the temporal punishment are not
always remitted.
Of this the Scriptures afford many conspicuous
examples, such as are found in the third chapter of Genesis, in the
twelfth and twenty-second of Numbers, and in many other places. That of
David, however, is the best known and most striking. Although the
Prophet Nathan had announced to him: The Lord also hath taken away thy
sin, thou shalt not die, yet David voluntarily subjected himself to the
most severe penance, imploring night and day the mercy of God in these
words: Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin;
for I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. Thus did he
beseech the Lord to pardon not only the crime, but also the punishment
due to it, and to restore him, cleansed from the remains of sin, to his
former state of purity and integrity. This he besought with most earnest
supplications, and yet the Lord punished his transgression with the loss
of his adulterous offspring, the rebellion and death of his beloved son
Absalom, and with the other chastisements and calamities with which he
had previously threatened him.
In Exodus, too, we read that though the Lord
yielded to the prayers of Moses and spared the idolatrous Israelites,
yet He threatened the enormity of their crime with heavy chastisement,
and Moses himself declared that the Lord would take severest vengeance
on it, even to the third and fourth generations.
That such was at all times the doctrine of the
holy Fathers in the Catholic Church, their own testimony most clearly
proves.
Advantages of Satisfaction
It is Required by God's Justice and Mercy
Why in the Sacrament of Penance, as in that of
Baptism, the punishment due to sin is not entirely remitted is admirably
explained in these words of the Council of Trent: Divine justice seems
to require that they who through ignorance sinned before Baptism, should
recover the friendship of God in a different manner from those who,
after they have been freed from the thraldom, of sin and the devil and
have received the gifts of the Holy Ghost, dread not knowingly to
violate the temple of God and grieve the Holy Spirit. It is also in
keeping with the divine mercy not to remit our sins without any
satisfaction, lest, taking occasion hence, and imagining our sins less
grievous than they are, we should become injurious, as it were, and
contumelious to the Holy Ghost, and should fall into greater enormities,
treasuring up to ourselves wrath against the day of wrath. These
satisfactory penances have, no doubt, great influence in recalling from
and, as it were, bridling against sin, and in rendering the sinner more
vigilant and cautious for the future.
Satisfaction Atones to the Church
Furthermore (these satisfactions) serve as
testimonies of our sorrow for sin committed, and thus atone to the
Church which is grievously insulted by our crimes. God, says St.
Augustine, despises not a contrite and humble heart; but, as heartfelt
grief is generally concealed from others, and is not manifested by words
or other signs, wisely, therefore, are penitential times appointed by
those who preside over the Church, in order to atone to the Church, in
which sins are forgiven.
Satisfaction Deters Others From Sin
Besides, the example presented by our penitential
practices serves as a lesson to others, how to regulate their lives and
practice piety. Seeing the punishments inflicted on sin, they must feel
the necessity of using the greatest circumspection through life, and of
correcting their former habits.
The Church, therefore, with great wisdom ordained
that when anyone had committed a public crime, a public penance should
be imposed on him, in order that others, being deterred by fear, might
more carefully avoid sin in future. This has sometimes been observed
even with regard to secret sins of more than usual gravity.
But with regard to public sinners, as we have
already said, they were never absolved until they had performed public
penance. During the performance of this penance, the pastors poured out
prayers to God for their salvation, and ceased not to exhort the
penitents to do the same. In this respect, great was the care and
solicitude of St. Ambrose, of whom it is related that many who came to
the tribunal of Penance with hardened hearts were so softened by his
tears as to conceive the sorrow of true contrition. But in process of
time the severity of ancient discipline was so relaxed and charity grew
so cold, that in our days many of the faithful think inward sorrow of
soul and grief of heart unnecessary for obtaining pardon, imagining that
a mere appearance of sorrow is sufficient.
By Satisfaction We Are Made Like Unto Christ
Again, by undergoing these penances we are made
like unto Jesus Christ our Head, inasmuch as He Himself suffered and was
tempted. As St. Bernard observes, nothing can appear so unseemly as a
delicate member under a head crowned with thorns. To use the words of
the Apostle: We are joint-heirs with Christ, yet so if we suffer with
him; and again, If we be dead with him, we shall live also with him; if
we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
Satisfaction Heals the Wounds of Sin
St. Bernard also observes that sin produces two
effects: a stain on the soul and a wound; that the stain is removed
through the mercy of God, while to heal the wound inflicted by sin the
remedy of penance is most necessary. When a wound has been healed, some
scars remain which demand attention; likewise, with regard to the soul,
after the guilt of sin is forgiven, some of its effects remain, from
which the soul requires to be cleansed.
St. Chrysostom fully confirms the same doctrine
when he says: It is not enough that the arrow has been extracted from
the body; the wound which it inflicted must also be healed. So with
regard to the soul, it is not enough that sin has been pardoned; the
wound which it has left must also be healed by penance.
St. Augustine also frequently teaches that penance
exhibits at once the mercy and the justice of God - His mercy by which
He pardons sin and the eternal punishment due to sin; His justice by
which He exacts temporary punishment from the sinner.
Satisfaction Disarms the Divine Vengeance
Finally, the punishment which the sinner endures
disarms the vengeance of God and averts the punishments decreed against
us. Thus the Apostle says: If we would judge ourselves, we should not be
judged; but whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we
be not condemned with this world. If all this is explained to the
faithful, it must have great influence in exciting them to perform works
of penance.
Source of the Efficacy of Satisfactory Works
Of the great efficacy of penance we may form some
idea, if we reflect that it arises entirely from the merits of the
Passion of Christ our Lord. It is His Passion that imparts to our good
actions two greatest advantages: the first, that we may merit the
rewards of eternal glory, so that a cup of cold water given in His name
shall not be without its reward; the second, that we may be able to
satisfy for our sins.
Nor does this lessen the most perfect and
superabundant satisfaction of Christ our Lord, but, on the contrary,
renders it still more conspicuous and illustrious. For the grace of
Christ is seen to abound more, inasmuch as it communicates to us not
only what He merited and paid of Himself alone, but also what, as Head,
He merited and paid in His members, that is, in holy and just men. Hence
it can be seen how such great weight and dignity belong to the good
actions of the pious. For Christ our Lord continually infuses His grace
into the devout soul united to Him by charity, as the head to the
members, or as the vine through the branches. This grace always
precedes, accompanies and follows our good works, and without it we can
have no merit, nor can we at all satisfy God.
Hence it is that nothing seems wanting to the
just. Through their works done by the power of God, they are able, on
the one hand, to satisfy God's law, as far as their human and mortal
condition will allow; and, on the other hand, they can merit eternal
life, to the fruition of which they will be admitted if they die in the
state of God's grace. Well known are the words of the Savior: He that
shall drink of the water that I will give him shall not thirst for ever;
but the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of
water, springing up into life everlasting.
Conditions For Satisfaction
In satisfaction two things are particularly
required: the one, that he who satisfies be in a state of grace, the
friend of God, since works done without faith and charity cannot be
acceptable to God; the other, that the works performed be such as are of
their own nature painful or laborious. They are a compensation for past
sins, and, to use the words of the holy martyr Cyprian, the redeemers,
as it were, of past sins, and must, therefore, in some way be
disagreeable.
It does not, however, always follow that they are
painful or laborious to those who undergo them. The influence of habit,
or the intensity of divine love, frequently renders the soul insensible
to things the most difficult. Such works, however, do not therefore
cease to be satisfactory. It is the privilege of the children of God to
be so inflamed with His love, that while undergoing the most cruel
tortures, they are either almost insensible to them, or bear them all
with the greatest joy.
Works of Satisfaction Are of Three Kinds
Pastors should teach that all kinds of
satisfaction are reducible to three heads: prayer, fasting and almsdeeds,
which correspond to three kinds of goods which we have received from
God, those of the soul, those of the body and what are called external
goods.
Nothing can be more effectual in uprooting all sin
from the soul than these three kinds of satisfaction. For since whatever
is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of
the eyes, and the pride of life, everyone can see that to these three
causes of disease are opposed also three remedies. To the first is
opposed fasting; to the second, almsdeeds; to the third, prayer.
Moreover, if we consider those whom our sins
injure, we shall easily perceive why all kinds of satisfaction are
reduced especially to these three. For those (we offend by our sins)
are: God, our neighbor and ourselves. God we appease by prayer, our neighbor
we satisfy by alms, and ourselves we chastise by fasting.
As this life is checkered by many and various
afflictions, the faithful are to be particularly reminded that those who
patiently bear all the trials and afflictions coming from the hand of
God acquire abundant satisfaction and merit; whereas those who suffer
with reluctance and impatience deprive themselves of all the fruits of
satisfaction, merely enduring the punishment which the just judgment of
God inflicts upon their sins.
One Can Satisfy For Another
In this the supreme mercy and goodness of God
deserve our grateful acknowledgment and praise, that He has granted to
our frailty the privilege that one may satisfy for another. This,
however, is a privilege which is confined to the satisfactory part of
Penance alone. As regards contrition and confession, no one is able to
be contrite for another; but those who are in the state of grace may pay
for others what is due to God, and thus we may be said in some measure
to bear each other's burdens.
This is a doctrine on which the faithful cannot
for a moment entertain a doubt, since we profess in the Apostle's Creed
our belief in the Communion of Saints. For since we are all reborn to
Christ in the same cleansing waters of Baptism and are partakers of the
same Sacraments, and, above all, are nourished with the same body and
blood of Christ our Lord, as our food and drink, we are all, it is
manifest, members of the same body. As then the foot does not perform
its functions solely for itself, but also for the sake of the eyes, and
as the eyes see not only for their own sake, but for the general good of
all the members, so also works of satisfaction must be considered common
to us all.
This, however, is not true in reference to all the
advantages to be derived from satisfaction. For works of satisfaction
are also medicinal, and are so many remedies prescribed to the penitent
to heal the depraved affections of the soul. It is clear that those who
do not satisfy for themselves can have no share in this fruit of
penance.
These three parts of Penance, contrition,
confession and satisfaction, should be fully and clearly explained.
Duties of the Confessor as Regards Satisfaction
Restitution Must Be Insisted On
Above all, priests should be very careful not to
give absolution to any penitent, whose confession they have heard,
without obliging him to make full satisfaction for any injury to his neighbor's
goods or character for which he seems responsible. No person
is to be absolved until he has first faithfully promised to restore all
that belongs to others.
But as there are many who readily promise to
comply with their duty in this respect, yet are deliberately determined
never to fulfil their promises, these persons should be obliged to make
restitution, and the words of the Apostle are to be frequently pressed
upon their minds: He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather
let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he
may have something to give to him that suffereth need.
Quantity and Quality of Penances Should be
Reasonable
In imposing penance priests should do nothing
arbitrarily, but should be guided solely by justice, prudence and piety.
In order to show that they follow this rule, and also to impress more
deeply on the mind of the penitent the enormity of his sin, it will be
useful sometimes to remind him of the severe punishments inflicted by
the ancient penitential canons, as they are called, for certain sins.
The nature of the sin, therefore, will regulate the extent of the
satisfaction.
No satisfaction can be more salutary than to
require of the penitent to devote, for a certain number of days, some
time to prayer, not omitting to pray to God in behalf of all mankind,
and particularly for those who have departed this life in the Lord.
Voluntary Works of Penance Should be
Recommended
Penitents should also be exhorted to undertake of
their own accord the frequent performance of the penances imposed by the
confessor, and thus so to conduct their lives that, having faithfully
complied with everything which the Sacrament of Penance demands, they
may never cease earnestly to practice the virtue of penance.
Public Penances Should Sometimes Be Given
Should it be deemed proper sometimes to visit
public crimes with public penance, and should the penitent express great
reluctance or seek to escape from its performance, he should not be
listened to too readily, but should be persuaded to embrace with
cheerfulness and readiness that which will be salutary to himself and to
others.
Admonition
These things concerning the Sacrament of Penance
and its several parts should be taught in such a manner as to enable the
faithful not only to understand them perfectly, but also, with the
Lord's help, to resolve to put them in practice piously and religiously.
Also
See...
Penance /
Confession (Topic Page)
Penance (General Information)
Selections
From the Baltimore Catechism - Q
& A Format!
Tip: Select
"Display by Lesson", then select lesson number corresponding
to Penance / Confession.
Penance
/ Confession Reflections
Confession
/ Penance (Topical Scripture)
Catholic
Basics
Important
Notice: Items herein are provided for
informational purposes only and may not be comprehensive. Some items herein
may be subject to variation / change. Translation
/ wording may vary. We may change wording, punctuation,
capitalization, shorten items, etc. Certain
items herein, if applicable, may be relaxed by the Church in
danger of death or in other special cases. We make no guarantees
regarding any item herein. We are not liable for any occurrence
which may result from using this site.
Use of site is at your own risk and is subject to our terms
of use. Contact appropriate Church authorities for current
information, additional detail, etc. By using this site you
indicate agreement to all terms. For more terms information,
click
here.
By using
this site you indicate agreement to all terms. For terms information,
see "Important Notice" above and click
here.
|
