# Works of the Right Rev. Bishop Hay of Edinburgh/Volume 1/Chapter 17

CHAPTER XVII.
Of Repentance
Q. What is repentance?
A. Repentance, which is also called penance, is the sincere conversion of the heart from sin to God. To understand this we must observe that in sin there are two great evils, which Almighty God Himself describes in these words, "Be astonished, O ye heavens! at this, ... for My people have done two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water," Jer. ii. 12 . In every mortal sin, then, there are these two enormous evils - to wit, the turning away from God, Who is infinitely good, and the very fountain of goodness and life, and the embracing in His stead the monster sin, by the allurements of some deceitful appearance of an imaginary happiness, justly compared to a broken cistern that can hold no water, but only filth and mud. Wherefore repentance, which is the opposite of sin and its destroyer, must likewise have these two conditions - the turning away from sin with horror, detestation, and sorrow for having offended so great a God, and the returning back to God to embrace Him by love, and faithfully to obey His Holy law.
Q. 2. What are the principal parts of which true repentance is composed?
A. The principal parts of true repentance are these three: (i.) A sincere regret and sorrow of heart for our having offended so good a God by sin. (2.) A firm and determined resolution of never offending Him again, followed by an effectual change of life and manners. (3.) A voluntary punishing of ourselves for the sins we have committed, in order to repair the injury done to God by sin, and to satisfy, in some measure, His offended justice.
Section I: Of The Sorrow Of Repentance
Q. 3. What is meant by sorrow for having offended God by sin?
A. Sorrow is a painful feeling of the mind when any evil comes upon ourselves or on those we love; and if we ourselves have been the occasion of bringing evil upon those we love, our displeasure and pain at their suffering are all the greater. When, therefore, we have a sincere love of God, and consider our sins as a grievous outrage and injury by which we have offended Him, and on that account feel a regret in our heart, a pain and displeasure in our mind, that pain, that regret, that displeasure is the sorrow which constitutes true repentance.
Q. 4. What are the qualities which this true sorrow of repentance ought to have?
A. Chiefly these following: (i.) It ought to be internal - that is, seated in the heart and mind; not consisting of mere words or other external signs, nor even a more sensible sorrow, which some tender, affectionate people frequently have, and which shows itself in sobs and tears, but without any real change of heart; but it ought to be in the mind and heart - in the mind, by a full conviction of the evil of sin, and the injury it is to so good a God; and m the heart, which, having a sincere love of God, feels a real pain and regret for having ever displeased Him. Where this is there is true sorrow, though there be neither sighs nor tears; but where this is not, sighs and tears will be of no avail. (2.) It ought to be supernatural - that is, a rising from supernatural motives through the grace of God. A person may be sorry for his sins, because by them he has brought suffering, loss, or disgrace upon himself. A sorrow of this kind will never find mercy with God. This is a mere sorrow of the world, not a sorrow according to God. Now the Scripture tells us that it is only "the sorrow that is according to God which worketh penance steadfast unto salvation; but the sorrow of the world worketh death," 2 Cor. vii. 10. The sorrow of true repentance must arise from our having offended so good a God, from our ingratitude to Jesus Christ, from the danger to which our sins expose us of being for ever separated from God Whom we love, of being eternally condemned among His enemies to hell fire, from the fear of God's judgments, and from the horror of sin on account of its opposition to God. These are supernatural motives which our faith teaches us, and which, by the help of God's grace, excite the true sorrow of repentance in our souls. (3.) It ought to be exceeding great - that is, our sorrow for having lost our God and His grace by sin ought to be greater than if we had lost all that we love in this world; because, as our sorrow for the loss of any good is always in proportion to the love and esteem we bear towards it, so our sorrow and regret for having lost God by sin ought to be greater than if we had lost all things else, seeing we are obliged to love Him above all things. (4.)
It ought to be universal - that is, we ought to have this sorrow for all and every one of our sins without exception; for if we love any one mortal sin, though we should perfectly hate all others, we can never be said to have true repentance. (5.) It ought to be accompanied with a firm resolution of sinning no more, and a willingness to satisfy for past sins; of which afterwards. (6.) It ought also to be accompanied with a firm hope of obtaining pardon through the mercy of God.
Q. 5. Is this sorrow absolutely necessary for true repentance?
A. It is the very essence of true repentance, as appears from innumerable testimonies of Scripture. Thus David says to God, " If Thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it; with burnt-offerings Thou wilt not be delighted; a sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit; a contrite and humbled heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise," Ps. 1. 18; where we see that no outward means of appeasing the wrath of God, even by sacrifices appointed by Himself for this purpose, will find acceptance with Him unless they be accompanied with a true and sincere sorrow of the heart, which humbles it, and breaks it, as it were, to pieces, and with affliction of the spirit, or regret of the mind, for having offended so good a God, but that an afflicted spirit and contrite heart will never be despised by Him. So also the Scripture says, "When thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him; yet so, if thou seek Him with all thy heart, and with all the affliction of thy soul," Deut. iv. 29. Again, the prophet Moses says to his people, " Now, when thou shalt be touched with the repentance of thy heart - and return to Him - the Lord thy God will have mercy on thee," Deut. xxx. 1 , 2, 3. So likewise Jeremiah exhorts sinners in these words to true repentance: "Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes; make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation," Jer. vi. 26. And God Himself, by His prophet Joel: "Now, therefore," saith the Lord, " be converted to me with all your heart in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, patient, and rich in mercy," Joel, ii. 12. Such was the true sorrow of David, which he describes in these words: " There is no health in my flesh, because of Thy wrath; there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins; for my iniquities are gone over my head, and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me.... I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end; I walked sorrowful all the day long," Ps. xxxvii. 4. Such was the repentance of King Ezekias, when he said to God, " I will recount to Thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul," Is. xxxviii. 15. Such, in fine, was the repentance of all true penitents who found mercy with God - the Ninivites, the humble publican, St Mary Magdalene, St Peter, etc.
Q. 6. How many kinds of this sorrow are there?
A. It is considered as divided into two kinds, which agree in all the above-mentioned qualities, and differ only in the motives from which they arise, and in the effects they produce. Of the supernatural motives mentioned above, some are most perfect and excellent, because founded on charity, or the pure love of God for Himself alone - as when we are sorry for our sins, purely because by them we have offended so good a God, Whom we love above all things, without any attention to the evils sin brings upon ourselves. Such was the sorrow of St Mary Magdalene, of whom our Saviour says, " Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much." A sorrow that arises from this motive is a perfect sorrow, and is called perfect contrition. Others of the supernatural motives above mentioned are less perfect, because they include an attention to our own interest, accompanied with an initial and less perfect love of God, considering Him more as being good to us than as infinitely good in Himself. Of this kind are our fear of losing heaven, or of being condemned to hell; our fear of the judgments of God, and the like. A sorrow for sin which arises from these motives is therefore called imperfect contrition, and attrition.
Q. 7. How do contrition and attrition differ in their effects?
A. Perfect contrition, as it arises from a perfect love of God for Himself alone, is so pleasing in His sight that the moment a person has it, God is reconciled to him, and forgives his sins; for, as the Scripture says, " Charity," or the perfect love of God, " covereth a multitude of sins," i Pet. iv. 8 ; and such was the effect it had in St Mary Magdalene. It is to be understood, however, that such contrition does not free a person from the obligation of having recourse to the sacrament of penance, where it can be had - the command of receiving that sacrament being laid upon all without exception. Attrition of itself, on the other hand, in no case obtains the remission of sin, but only disposes the soul for receiving that grace by means of the sacrament of penance.
Q. 8. Is this sorrow for sin, which arises from the fear of hell, or of God's judgments, or of losing heaven, a virtuous and laudable sorrow?
A. Most certainly; it is a gift of God, and therefore David prays for it: " Pierce Thou my flesh," says he, " with Thy fear: for I am afraid of Thy judgment," Ps. cxviii. 120 ; and Christ Himself commands us to have this fear of God: " Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do; but I will show whom ye shall fear; fear ye Him Who, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say to you, fear Him," Luke, xii. 4.
Section II: Of The Purpose Of Not Sinning Again
Q. 9. What is meant by a purpose of not sinning again?
A. It is a firm and resolute determination of the will carefully to avoid all sin for the time to come, and all the dangerous occasions of sin, arising from the same supernatural motives on which our sorrow for sin is grounded. In fact, this purpose and resolution is a necessary consequence of true sorrow, and an essential part of sincere repentance; for it is impossible sincerely to hate sin, as the greatest of evils, and to be heartily sorry for having offended God, by being guilty of it, without also firmly resolving to fly from that monster for the future, and to use every necessary means for avoiding it.
Q. 10. What are the effects of this sincere purpose of amendment?
A. A total change of our whole behaviour; "a putting off, according to our former conversation, the old man; and a being renewed," not only " in the spirit of our mind," but also " putting on the new man, who, according to God, is created in justice, and holiness, and truth," Ephes. iv. 22 ; or, as the same apostle expresses it more particularly, " Now put you also away all anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, filthy speech out of your mouth; lie not one to another, stripping yourselves of the old man, with his deeds.... Put ye on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy and benignity, humility, modesty, patience, but, above all things, have charity, which is the bond of perfection," Col. iii. 8. So that true repentance changes the whole man, his sentiments, his affections, his behaviour; makes him love what he did not love before, God and His Holy law; and makes him hate what he loved before, his sinful pleasures and employments. And this is the great favour which Almighty God promises to bestow upon His people by the prophet Ezekiel, saying, " I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels; and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My commandments, and keep My judgments, and do them; and that they may be My people, and I may be their God," Ezek. xi. 19.
Q. II. Is this conversion and change of life strictly required of true penitents?
A. Nothing is more strongly inculcated throughout the whole Scripture, as a necessary condition of being reconciled with God. Thus, " As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; and why will you die, O house of Israel?" Ezek. xxxiii. 11. And to show wherein this turning consists. He says, " Cast away from you all transgressions, by which you have transgressed, and make to yourself a new heart and a new spirit, and why will you die. Chouse of Israel?" Ezek. xviii. 31. "When you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away My eyes from you," says God to sinners, " and when you multiply prayer I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood;" that is, you are hateful to Me by reason of your sins. But what must be done to find favour?. He immediately adds, " Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from My eyes; cease to do perversely, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow, and then come and accuse Me, saith the Lord. If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool," Isa. i. 15. " Seek the Lord," says the same holy prophet, " while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He is bountiful to forgive," Isa. lv. 6. And no wonder that this conversion should be so strictly enjoined; for how can we expect that God should be reconciled with us, if we still continue to offend Him? This is what we ourselves would not do to one that injures us. Hence we find that all true penitents were remarkable for their great change of life- David, St Paul, St Mary Magdalene, Zachaeus, and others.
Q. 12. But considering the weakness of human nature, the strength of evil habits, and the violence of temptation, how is it possible for one to be thus thoroughly changed all at once? Such a perfect change is the work of years?
A. This perfect conversion to God is no doubt the effect of His grace more than the work of man; and Almighty God has not failed to give the world examples of the power of His grace by working all at once a perfect conversion of the whole man, as in the case of the penitents last mentioned. But this is not the ordinary course of His Divine Providence. A change of heart, a firm and determined resolution of the will never more to offend God, is absolutely and essentially required in true repentance. This resolution, though it greatly fortifies the superior will against all passions, evil habits, and temptations, does not entirely and at once destroy them, and therefore does not give the sinner an absolute security against all relapses into sin, which indeed he can never have in this life; but this resolution of amendment, if it be sincere, must work an effectual change, at least in the following particulars: (i.) In avoiding with the utmost care all dangerous occasions of sin; for if he expose himself to the danger, this clearly shows he has no sincere resolution to avoid the sin, seeing the Word of God assures us that " He that loves the danger shall perish in it." (2.) In being most attentive to resist all temptations, especially at the beginning; for if he willingly entertain and dally with the temptation, it is evident that his horror for the sin is not what it ought to be. (3.) In using the proper remedies, especially such as are prescribed by his spiritual director, for subduing his passions and destroying his evil habits; because if he be sincere in desiring the end, he must be assiduous in using the means. (4.) In being most fervent in the duties of prayer, spiritual reading, assisting at Mass, frequenting worthily the sacraments, and the like, as these are the most assured helps to avoid sin, and fortify the soul against it. When a penitent sinner is assiduous in these particulars, his conversion is real, and if he persevere in his efforts, he will avoid falling back into his sins, and in time obtain a perfect victory over them; but if he be negligent in these things, and take little or no more care to avoid sin than he did before, his conversion is unreal, and by no means such as will find favour with God.
Section III: Of Doing Penance For Sin
Q. 13. What is meant by doing penance for sin?
A. The voluntary punishing of ourselves in order to satisfy the justice of God for the offences committed against Him.
Q. 14. Does sin of its own nature require to be punished, or is punishment inflicted only as a warning to others, and for the correction of the guilty themselves?
A. Some people of free-thinking principles in these modern times seem to suppose that sin in itself requires little or no punishment, and that the principal, if not the only, design of punishing is to correct the guilty, and to act as a warning to others. But the whole conduct of the Divine Providence, as well as the feelings of our own heart, manifestly show that sin, of its own nature, essentially requires to be punished, and that wherever the guilt of sin is found, the justice of God acquires a full and perfect right to punish the offender. For ( i.) When great numbers of the angels fell into sin, the justice of God pursued them with immediate punishment, and condemned them to hell-fire, which was prepared for that purpose. This surely was not for their correction, but for their eternal destruction; neither was it as a warning to others, for there were no others to be warned by it, the good angels by their allegiance being then confirmed in eternal happiness. So severe a punishment, from a God of infinite goodness, clearly shows that the guilt of their crime most justly and necessarily required it. (2.) The punishment inflicted on all mankind for the sin of our first parents, in being deprived of original justice, shows the same truth beyond reply. This punishment was not for the correction, but for the destruction of the whole race of Adam, which would have effectually followed had not the goodness of God provided a remedy; neither was it for warning, for there were no others to be warned by it, all were already involved. (3.) The eternal torments of hell, inflicted upon all impenitent sinners, no less clearly show the same thing. (4.) The Holy Scripture everywhere speaks of the punishment inflicted by God on sinners as being what their sins necessarily deserve from God's justice, without the smallest hint of its being sent for correction or warning, though this, no doubt, is also commonly intended in the punishments of this life. Nay, in some places it is said that certain more grievous sins cry to heaven for vengeance, and that justice absolutely demands that they should be punished. Correction and warning, therefore, are accessary causes of punishment; but the essential source of punishment is the malignity and guilt of sin, which necessarily deserve and demand it; and justice absolutely requires this satisfaction by the punishment of the guilty. (5.) As God is a being of infinite justice, it is impossible He should always and on every occasion punish sin even with temporal punishments, much less with eternal torments, if sin of its own nature did not justly require it; because in numberless instances, especially in the eternal punishment, His doing so could neither serve for correction nor warning; and as He is a being of infinite goodness, it is impossible He should take pleasure in the sufferings of His creatures. In the order of justice, then, sin absolutely requires punishment, and we find it frequently declared in Scripture that it is the fixed rule of God's justice to render to every one according to his works - rewards for doing good, and punishment for sin; and sin is every where held forth as the primary cause of all our sufferings, both in this life and in the next.
Q. 15. Is it a rule of God's justice never to let sin go unpunished?
A. It is, as appears from the following declarations of Holy writ: " I feared all my works," says Job, " knowing that Thou didst not spare the offender," Job, ix. 28. And again, " Far from God be wickedness, and iniquity from the Almighty; for He will render to a man his work, and according to the ways of every one He will reward him," Job, xxxiv. 10. " God hath spoken once; these two things have I heard, that power belongeth to God, and mercy to thee, O Lord! for Thou wilt render to every man according to his works," Ps. lxi. 12. "I am the Lord," says the great God Himself, "that search the heart and prove the reins; Who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices," Jer. xvii. 10. "For God is great in counsel, and incomprehensible in thought, Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of Adam, to render unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his devices," Jer. xxxii. 19. Christ Himself assures us that " the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will render to every man according to his work," Mat. xvi. 27. "For we must all appear before the judgment - seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil," 2 Cor. v. 10. And St Paul, addressing himself in particular to sinners on this subject, says, "According to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgments of God, Who will render to every man according to his works. To them, indeed, who according to patience in good works seek glory and honour, and interruption, (He will render) eternal life; but to them that are contentious, and who obey not the truth, but give credit to iniquity, wrath and indignation. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil,... but glory, honour, and peace to every one that worketh good," Rom. ii. 5.
Q. 16. How does it appear that the sufferings of this life are in punishment of sin?
A. This also is taught everywhere throughout the Holy Scripture: thus "justice exalteth a nation, but sin maketh nations miserable," Prov. xiv. 34 ; and when our Saviour cured the sick man at the pool of Bethsaida, He said to Him, " Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee," John, v. 14. So also the wise man, speaking of the miseries of this life, says, " Such things happen to all flesh, from man even to beast, and upon sinners are sevenfold more. Moreover, death and bloodshed, strife and sword, oppressions, famine, and affliction, and scourges, all these things are created for the wicked," Ecclus. xl. 8. Besides, we find that all the striking instances of God's justice, in sending extraordinary sufferings upon men, are declared in Scripture to be the just fruits of their sin - such as the Deluge, the destruction of Sodom, the plague, famine, and war so often sent upon His people, untimely death of individuals, loss of children, and the like; and lastly, that God often threatens sinners with all these and other temporal miseries in punishment of their sins. Not that the punishing of sin is the only reason why God sends these temporal miseries upon His creatures: in this life mercy is always mixed with justice; and, for the most part, He has in view the correction, improvement, and warning of souls; but sin is the radical source from which all miseries flow.
Q. 17. What do we learn from these truths?
A. We learn (i.) That it is a fixed rule of God's justice that every sin must be punished; (2.) That the final punishment of sin will be in the next world; (3.) That the punishments inflicted on sin in this life are always united with designs of mercy, either as a warning to others or to move the sinner himself to repentance.
Q. 18. Whence arises the obligation of punishing ourselves for our sins? and how comes this to be a part of true repentance?
A. By the appointment and express command of God, Who requires our doing penance, or at least our sincere will to do so, as a necessary part of true repentance, and a condition of obtaining pardon.
Q. 19. How does this appear from Holy Scripture?
A. From the following testimonies: (i.) " Gird yourselves with hair-cloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us;... wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem! that thou mayest be saved," Jer. iv. 8 , 14. "Gird thyself with sackcloth, O daughter of my people! and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation," Jer. vi. 26. " Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin," Ezek. xviii. 30. " Now therefore, saith the Lord, be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning," Joel, ii. 12. In which texts we see that performing penitential works is joined with the other conditions of true repentance, as necessary to avert the anger of God, and find mercy with Him. (2.) When the people went out to St John the Baptist to be baptised by him, he said, "Ye offspring of vipers, who hath shown you to flee from the wrath to come? " And immediately teaching them the means to avoid this wrath, he adds, " Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of penance," Luke, iii. 7. St Paul also declares that the great object of his preaching to the Jews was, " that they should do penance, and turn to God, doing works worthy of penance,"' Acts, xxvi. 20. Now by doing works worthy of penance cannot be meant 'not committing sin',' for this is not doing any work at all, but only abstaining from evil work; neither can it mean doing "-works of virtue and piety" as such, for to this we are obliged, whether we have ever sinned or not. By " works or fruits worthy of penance" then, can only be meant works of piety and virtue performed in a penitential spirit, with a view of punishing ourselves for past sins, and good works, especially those most contrary to our self-love, offered up with the same intention. Hence when the people asked the Baptist, "What then shall we do?" he recommended to them one of the principal penitential works, alms-giving, and mercy towards others: "He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner," Luke, iii. 11.
(3.) Our blessed Saviour, when He entered upon His public life, began to " preach and to say, Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Mat. iv. 17. And to show the necessity of doing so, He says in another place, "Except ye do penance, you shall all likewise perish," Luke, xiii. 5. In like manner when the Jews who were converted at St Peter's first sermon asked, "Men and Brethren, what shall we do?" though the Scripture expressly observes that "they had compunction in their hearts," yet St Peter answered, " Do penance, and be baptised for the remission of your sins," Acts, ii. 37 , 38. Which shows that compunction or sorrow of the heart alone is not sufficient, and that doing penance is also required.
St Paul also, in his famous sermon to the great council of Athens, says, " God now declareth to men that all should everywhere do penance," Acts, xvii. 30. It is true that in these texts the Protestant bibles, instead of Do penance, translate it repent, meaning by that the sorrow of the heart alone, without any outward penitential works. But we must observe that the Christian world, in all former ages, understood these passages as commanding the doing penance; so that this translation is a novelty: besides, it is manifest from other parts of Scripture that the repentance which Christ requires is a sorrow of the heart, accompanied with penitential works painful to self-love. Thus Christ Himself condemns the people of Corazaim and Bethsaida for not " doing penance, sitting in sackcloth and ashes," after the works He had done among them, as the people of Tyre and Sidon would have done had they received the like favours , Luke, x. 13. And He lays it down as an essential condition of our belonging to Him that we " deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Him," Mat. xvi. 24. Finally, that doing penance is the true sense of the above texts appears beyond all contradiction from the examples of both saints and sinners who are recorded in Scripture to have been most assiduous in performing that duty.
Q. 20. What examples have we of this in Scripture?
A. St Paul, as we have just seen, affirmed in his sermon at Athens that "God now declareth to men that all should everywhere do penance," where, by saying all and everywhere, he shows that none are excepted - the just as well as sinners being obliged to it; sinners, as a necessary part of that repentance by which they move God to mercy, and avert His just anger; and the just, as a satisfaction to God for their former offences, which His mercy has already pardoned; those who have sinned, in punishment of their past sins; and those who have lived in innocence, as the best preservative of that treasure, and the most effectual means to obtain great favours from God. Hence we find the most striking examples of each in Scripture. ( i.) Of sinners: of Achab, King of Israel, it is said, " there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord," 3 Kings, xxi. 25 ; therefore God at last sent the prophet Elias to him, to denounce the dreadful punishments which He had decreed to send upon him: " And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put hair-cloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sack-cloth, and walked with his head cast down." See here the penitential life he led, which so moved the compassion and mercy of the Almighty that He said to Elias, with a kind of surprise and pleasure, " Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before Me? therefore because he has humbled himself for My sake, I will not bring the evil in his days," 3 Kings, xxi. 27 -29.
King Manasses, in punishment of his sins, Avas overcome by the Babylonians, and they " took him and carried him bound with fetters and chains to Babylon. And after that he was in distress, he prayed to the Lord his God, and did penance exceedingly before the God of his Fathers; and he entreated Him and besought Him earnestly; and He heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom," 2 Chron. xxxiii. II. The wickedness of the people of Ninive was so great that God was resolved to destroy it, and He sent His prophet Jonas to preach, " Yet forty days, and Ninive shall be destroyed. And the men of Ninive proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least;... and the king cast away his robe from him, and was clothed in sackcloth, and sat in ashes;... and God saw their works, that they were turned from their evil way; and God had mercy with regard to the evil which He had said that He would do to them, and He did it not,"Jonas, iii. 4. From this example of the Ninivites our Saviour takes occasion to inculcate the necessity of doing penance in the strongest terms: " The men of Ninive," says He, " shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here," Mat. xii. 41. (2.) Of saints and holy people who had been sinners. David, after his repentance for his unhappy fall, even though he knew his sin was pardoned, led a most penitential life, which he thus describes: " I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me. I am taken away like the shadow when it declineth; and I am shaken off as locusts: my knees are weakened through fasting," Ps. cviii. 22. " My bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire; I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered, because I forgot to eat my bread; through the voice of my groaning my bone hath cleaved to my flesh.... I have watched, and am become as a sparrow, all alone on the house-top,... for I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping; because of His anger and indignation," Ps. ci. 4. St Paul had been a persecutor of the Church of Christ; but when he was perfectly reconciled to Christ, and made an apostle, his constant preaching to the Jews was the necessity of doing penance. Now to understand that the penance he preached was not a mere sorrow of the heart alone, but such a sorrow as manifested itself by doing works worthy of penance, see his own example: though he was a chosen vessel, an apostle, a friend of Christ, that had been taken up to the third heaven, yet he says, "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection; lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway," i Cor. ix. 27. St Paul! the chosen vessel! is afraid of losing his soul! and, as a necessary means to prevent that, " chastises his body, and brings it into subjection!" Can anything more incontestably show the necessity of doing penance? and that a repentance which brought forth such fruits of penance was the repentance so constantly inculcated by this apostle?
(3.) Of those who had preserved their innocence, at least, from mortal sin. Job, an upright man, and one who feared God and avoided evil, yet says of himself, " I have spoken unwisely,... therefore I reprehended myself, and do penance in dust and ashes," Job, xlii. 3 , 6. Judith, a holy woman, who was " greatly renowned among all because she feared the Lord very much, neither was there any one that spoke an ill word of her " ( Judith, viii. 8 ), yet, after her husband's death, led a most penitential life, for she made herself a private chamber in the upper part of her house in which she abode, shut up with her maids; and she wore hair-cloth upon her loins, and fasted all the days of her life, except the Sabbaths and new moons, and the feasts of the house of Israel," ver. 5. Daniel, a most holy youth, and a prophet, thus describes his penitential works: " I set my face to the Lord my God, to pray and make supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes," Dan. ix. 3 ; and again, " In those days, I Daniel mourned the days of three weeks, I ate no pleasant bread, and neither flesh nor wine entered into my mouth, neither was I anointed with ointment till the days of three weeks were accomplished," Dan. X. 2. St John the Baptist, though sanctified in his mother's womb, led a most austere and penitential life in the wilderness. And Anna, the prophetess, is praised in Scripture because she departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day," Luke, ii. 37. Finally, we frequently read in the Acts and Epistles of the apostles of their fastings and watchings. Bestow what could induce so many, both saints and sinners, to employ themselves in works so distasteful to flesh and blood, so opposed to self-love and every natural inclination? What could influence them but the conviction that all sin must be punished, and that God requires of penitents, as a part of true repentance, that they should co-operate with the Divine justice in punishing themselves?
Q. 21. But is it not injurious to the infinite satisfaction paid by Jesus Christ to the Divine justice for our sins to say that we are still obliged to do penance for them? are not His sufferings more than sufficient to satisfy for the whole world?
A. To this it is replied, (i.) That Jesus Christ Himself, and His holy apostle St Paul, did not think it injurious to the satisfaction paid by Him for our sins, when they so strongly inculcated the necessity of our doing penance in their preachings, and when St Paul confirmed it by his example. (2.) Jesus Christ not only suffered in the flesh for our sins, but He was also oppressed in the garden with the most dreadful sorrow that ever entered into the heart of man, on seeing the sins of the whole world laid upon Himself, from the clear knowledge He had of their enormity, and the greatness of the offence done to God by them. He also shed tears on our account, and poured forth most fervent prayers to obtain mercy for us. Now the sorrow, tears, and prayers of Jesus Christ were of no less infinite value than His bodily sufferings, and sufficient to cancel the sins of ten thousand worlds. Shall we say, therefore, that no son-ow, tears, nor prayers are required from us? or that it is injurious to the infinite merits of His sorrow and tears, and of the prayers which He offered up for our sins, to believe that we are still obliged to be sorrowful, to weep, and to pray? (3.) The sorrow, tears, prayers, and sufferings of Christ are doubtless of infinite merit before His Eternal Father, and the most superabundant satisfaction to the Divine justice for the sins of men; but to be available to us, they must be applied to our souls, and this is done only when we perform the conditions Christ demands; for Christ " is become the cause of eternal salvation to all that obey Him," Heb. v. 9 , and to none else; for those "who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction," 2 Thes. i. 8. Now as all agree that, notwithstanding the sufferings of Christ, we are still strictly obliged to be sorrowful, and to pray for our sins, as a condition required for applying His merits to our souls, and that we do so without the least injury to His sorrow and prayers, so the above testimonies and examples of Holy Writ clearly prove that, notwithstanding all His sufferings for our sins, we are still strictly obliged, by His command, to suffer for them, by punishing ourselves, as a condition required for applying the merits of His sufferings to our souls, and that without the least prejudice to the infinite satisfaction paid by Him. But (4.) if we consider the matter properly, we shall see that, instead of injuring the satisfaction of Christ, we highly honour it by doing penance. For suppose a man owing a debt which he is utterly unable to discharge, and another to become his security, would it not be the height of ingratitude if on that account he cast off all responsibility? Or would he not be bound in gratitude and justice to do his utmost to pay at least as far as he was able? This is our case, and the application obvious, especially as we have seen that our Divine Surety expressly requires this of us. And, indeed, if Jesus Christ, the innocent, the Holy Lamb of God, suffered so much for the sins of others, does not every motive of gratitude and justice demand that guilty sinners should themselves suffer something? Hence we find that eternal life is promised only on condition that we suffer with our innocent Surety; we are " heirs, indeed, of God, and joint heirs with Christ; yet so if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him," Rom. viii. 17. "A faithful saying; for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him," 2 Tim. ii. 11. And St Peter assures us that " Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps," i Pet. ii. 21 ; which manifestly shows that, among the many other views Christ had in suffering, one expressly was to encourage us by his example to follow His steps, by voluntary sufferings for our sins. Therefore, by doing penance for our sins, we truly honour the sufferings of Christ, as He requires we should honour them; and hence the Scripture says, " The dead that are in hell, whose spirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not give glory and justice to the Lord; but the soul which is sorrowful for the greatness of the evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, giveth glory and justice to Thee, O Lord," Baruch, ii. 17.
Q. 22. If it be so absolutely necessary to do penance for our sins, and to imitate the sufferings of Jesus Christ, who shall be saved? for do we not see wickedness and vice everywhere reign, and penitential works in a manner banished from among us? Does not self-love universally prevail, and every one study only his own interest, ease, pleasure, and convenience? Nay, have not the generality of mankind a settled aversion to penance? And do not even those who acknowledge and believe the obligation of it in theory commonly seek to avoid it in practice?
A. In answer to all this, it can only be said that these too true observations are the most convincing proof of that dreadful sentence of Jesus Christ, that " many are called, but few are chosen," and that " many walk in the broad road that leads to destruction, and few in the narrow path that leads to eternal life."
Q. 23. What advantage, then, have we from the infinite satisfaction paid by Jesus Christ for our sins if we be still obliged to do penance for them?
A. Immense and admirable are the advantages we receive from the satisfaction of Christ: for (i.) It is through the merits of His sufferings alone that any penitential works we do can be acceptable to God; for if our penitential works were separated from the merits of Christ, they would be of no value before God, nor of any profit to our souls; but being united to the merits of Christ, they acquire a supernatural value and dignity, which makes them available to our salvation; so that the satisfaction paid by Christ sanctifies our sufferings, gives them a supernatural lustre, and raises them to a great value before God, through which they are accepted by the Divine justice as a satisfaction on our part for our sins; just as the sorrow, tears, and prayers of Christ sanctify these actions in us, and make them agreeable to God; without His sufferings this could never possibly have been the case, nor could we have found any acceptance with God, though we had suffered all the torments of hell for eternity. (2.) It is the satisfaction of Christ alone that delivers us from the eternal punishment due to our sins, changing it into the small temporal punishment which he demands from us; for without Him nothing we ever could do or suffer, could have delivered us from these never-ending torments. (3.) In the sacrament of baptism, Almighty God, with the most unbounded mercy, applies the merits of Christ to our souls without restriction, and accepts of His satisfaction in its full extent, so as to deliver us at once from all our sins, both original and actual, and from the punishment due to them, adopts us as His children, and gives us a full right and title to His eternal kingdom. So that whatever sins a person may have committed before baptism, yet if, after receiving that sacrament worthily, he should immediately die, nothing could hinder him from the immediate possession of eternal bliss. Here the Divine justice gives up all its claim against the offender himself - accepting the satisfaction of Christ, so fully applied for that purpose; here the infinite merits of Christ have their full effect, and the mercy of God appears in all its lustre.
Q. 24. Why does not God treat sinners in the same manner when they repent of the sins committed after baptism?
A. It does not belong to us to inquire into the reasons of the Divine conduct. We should be satisfied with, and adore what He has done; and all the testimonies which we have seen above prove, beyond reply, that it is His will to treat us in a different manner for the sins we Commit after baptism than for those before it. Yet a little reflection will show us that His conduct in this is most reasonable, and that both justice and mercy concur to require it. For, with regard to justice, we must observe that when we are first received into His favour by baptism, for the sake, and in honour of the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, He treats us with unlimited mercy. Justice, with regard to the offender, seems to forego its own rights; all that He requires of us, to entitle us to such amazing mercy, is to believe in Jesus Christ, and be sorry for having offended Him, with a solemn promise to be faithful for the future; and even this faith, repentance, and promise Pie does not actually require when we are baptised in infancy, but receives the promise made in our name. Now, if notwithstanding all this goodness we afterwards return to sin, breaking this solemn vow, this implies such contempt of God, and such unparalleled ingratitude, that in all justice the sinner deserves the most rigorous punishment; and it would be unreasonable, and in some degree unjust, to admit him again into the possession of the same glorious privileges upon the same terms as before; therefore the Divine justice here resumes its rights against the sinner, and absolutely requires he should now suffer in his own person. Even among ourselves this is what common sense dictates. On receiving a first injury, we cheerfully forgive our enemy, are reconciled to him, and do him good offices, without requiring other satisfaction than his asking pardon and promising amendment; yet, if this person should repeat the same or greater injuries, would we again receive him into our friendship on the same terms? Hence the great council of Trent says, " The fruits of the sacrament of penance are different from those of baptism; for by baptism we put on Christ, and become in Him altogether a new creature, receiving the full and entire remission of all our sins; but (if we lose this happy state by sin) we can by no means acquire the same newness and integrity by the sacrament of penance, without great weeping and labours upon our part, the Divine justice so requiring it." - Sess. xiv. cap. 2.
Q. 25. But does not this seem to exclude mercy entirely?
A. By no means • the mercy of_God even here appears in the strongest light. For, considering the dreadful evil of sin when committed after baptism, a sinner, by committing it, forfeits all title to mercy, and God could, without injustice, condemn him to eternal punishment, treating him with the same rigour of justice with which He treated the fallen angels. It is therefore the effect of infinite mercy in God to receive us again into favour on any terms; and it is through the infinite merits of Christ alone that He is moved to do so. In baptism He suspends His justice, and applies to us only the infinite effects of mercy; but when after so much goodness we return to sin, and by so doing render ourselves altogether unworthy of mercy. He alters His conduct towards us; He is still willing, through the merits of Christ, to receive us into favour, but upon condition that we endeavour to satisfy His justice. He treated the fallen angels with the most rigorous justice, without mercy. In baptism He treats us with unbounded mercy, without regard to justice; but in being reconciled to us for sins committed after baptism, He positively requires that justice and mercy should no more be separated, but go together. Through the merits of Christ, on our sincere repentance. He forgives us our sins, and the eternal punishment which they deserve; but He absolutely demands that, by penitential works, we punish ourselves for our ingratitude. So that the effect of mercy here is not to free us entirely from punishment, as in baptism, but to change the eternal into a temporal punishment which we are able to perform, and the performance of which is attended with the greatest advantage to the soul. What still further shows that it is the greatest mercy to require us to do penance is this, that " it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," Heb. x. 31 , even in regard to temporal punishments, as appears from the many examples in Scripture of the severity with which His justice punishes sinners in this life, even for sins which to us would seem small. Almighty God, in commanding us to do penance, remits, in a manner, His own right to punish us, accepting small sacrifices on our part, instead of much more severe chastisements which we would have to suffer, if they were inflicted by His Divine justice. What were all the penances done by Achab and the Ninivites compared to what God had decreed to inflict upon them? and yet because they punished themselves by these small afflictions He remitted the greater. Besides, the great design of the Divine mercy in pardoning sinners is doubtless to procure their salvation. Now, mere pardoning past sins would not effectually procure this, if proper care were not taken to prevent the sinner from falling into sin again. Seeing, therefore, that all the unmerited mercies bestowed on him in baptism were not sufficient for this purpose, a more severe method is required to secure his perseverance - that of doing penance, the most powerful means to fortify him against relapse.
Q. 26. What are the advantages that doing penance brings to the soul?
A. (i.) It makes us sensible of the grievousness of our sins. Our great misfortune is, that we have not a just idea of sin; we think too lightly of it; and if we had nothing to suffer for it in this world, we would be apt to lose all horror of it, and consequently would take no care to avoid it; but when we see that Almighty God absolutely requires that we should do penance for sin, this shows us that there is something more dreadful in sin than we had imagined. This reminds us of what we have to expect in the next life, since a good and just God requires sin to be so strictly punished here, and consequently renders us more cautious and careful to avoid it. (2.) The very pain of doing penitential works is a great check to our proneness to sin, and experience teaches that those who diligently punish themselves for their faults find in this a powerful help to amendment. (3.) Many of the penitential works strike directly at the very root of our sins, and extirpate the inordinate affections and vicious inclinations from whence our sins proceed. (4.) Many of them also tend to destroy the bad habits of sin which we have contracted, by obliging us to practise the contrary virtues. (5.) They powerfully appease the wrath of God enkindled by our sins, proving the fervour and sincerity of our repentance; they move Him to be liberal in His graces to us, that we may be enabled effectually to preserve our innocence, and advance in solid virtue.
Q. 27. What is the conclusion to be drawn from all these truths?
A. It is comprehended in these particulars: (i.) That the doing penance for our sins is a necessary part of true repentance. (2.) That by sin we contract a heavy debt of punishment, both temporal and eternal, due to the Divine justice. (3.) That our repentance for sin is not sincere, neither will it obtain the remission of the guilt of sin, nor of the eternal punishment due to it, unless it be accompanied with a sincere will and resolution to discharge the debt of temporal punishment by doing penance. (4.) That therefore this debt of temporal punishment remains due, even though the guilt of sin and its eternal punishment be remitted. (5.) That as justice absolutely demands this debt from sinners, it must be paid, either by voluntary penance inflicted on ourselves, or by more severe sufferings sent by God, and received by us in a penitential spirit. (6.) That if a person should die in the grace of God, but before this debt be discharged, he will be thrown into the prison of purgatory, where he shall remain till he has paid the utmost farthing. (7.) That as no man can know the full amount of this debt, and is perhaps daily increasing it by venial sins and imperfections, it is therefore the greatest Christian wisdom to endeavour constantly to discharge some part of it, by leading a penitential life of daily mortification and self-denial, according to what our Saviour Himself enjoins, saying, " Be at agreement with thy adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest, perhaps, the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go from thence till thou pay the last farthing," Mat. v. 25. The present life is the way, the Divine justice our adversary, God the judge, purgatory the prison. And to the same purpose the Church of Christ, in one of her greatest and most respected general councils, declares, that " The whole life of a Christian ought to be a perpetual penance." - Council of Trent, Sess. xiv. on Extreme-unction, Introduct.
Section IV: On The Spirit Of Penance
Q. 28. What is meant by the spirit of penance?
A. The spirit of penance is that sincere sorrow and contrition for our sins the necessity of which we have seen above; it is that " sorrow, according to God, which worketh penance steadfast unto salvation," 2 Cor. vii. 10. The effects which this sorrow worketh in the soul arise from the various lights which it brings to the soul, in the view of which the sinner is excited to the exercise of those penitential works which contribute most powerfully to secure his eternal salvation. For (i.) The true spirit of penance shows the sinner the multitude and grievousness of his sins in their true colours, excites a horror and detestation of them, and a proper sense of his own demerits for being guilty of them, and renders him willing to undergo any sufferings as a just punishment. In this view the spirit of penance is a spirit of justice, condemning the criminal to condign punishment. (2.) It shows the sinner the greatness of the injury done to the God of heaven by sin, fills him with grief and sorrow for having so often and so grievously offended and dishonoured so good a God, excites in him a sincere desire of repairing the Divine honour to the best of his power, and for this purpose makes him cheerfully condemn himself to works of humiliation and penance. In this light the spirit of penance is a spirit of restitution and satisfaction, by which the honour of God, injured by sin, is repaired. (3.) It convinces the sinner that his unmortified passions and affections, besides being the declared enemies of God, are his own greatest enemies, having so often dragged him into sin and exposed him to the danger of eternal damnation; it therefore excites in his soul a just hatred against these his mortal enemies, by which he rigorously chastises his body and brings it into subjection, both as a just punishment for past offences and to prevent its betraying him again, lest he should at last become a castaway. So the spirit of penance is a spirit of hatred and revenge against our self-love in all its branches. (4.) It gives the sinner a just sense of all the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and of the infinite obligations we owe Him; shows him the base ingratitude of renewing these sufferings by sin, and excites in his soul a tender compassion and ardent love of Jesus Christ, a sincere sorrow for having been the guilty cause of so much torment to Him, and an earnest desire of resembling Him, and bearing the Cross along with Him; in consequence of this he cheerfully condemns himself to works of penance, that he may honour the sufferings, and follow the example of his beloved Master. In this view, the spirit of penance is a spirit of compassion and love of Jesus Christ, and of conformity to His holy example.
Q. 29. What are the signs by which we may know if we have the true spirit of penance?
A. " By their fruits ye shall know them." The surest signs that this holy spirit resides in the soul are the effects it produces. These we have in a great measure seen already, but they are minutely enumerated by St Paul in these words: " Behold this self-same thing, that you were made sorrowful according to God, how great carefulness doth it work in you; yea defence, yea indignation, yea fear, yea desire, yea zeal, yea revenge," 2 Cor. vii. II. (i.) Carefulness about the great concerns of salvation, convincing the sinner of the supreme importance of that great work, and of the vanity of all other pursuits, and therefore renders him careful and diligent to secure it. (2.) Defence - this carefulness is not an idle anxiety of mind, but an active principle, which makes us use all necessary means for defending our soul against all its enemies, by prayer, spiritual reading, frequenting the holy sacraments, and other such helps to salvation. (3.) Indignation and hatred against sin, and all the dangerous occasions of sin, which the spirit of penance makes us fly from and avoid, though otherwise as useful or dear to us as a hand or an eye. (4.) Fear of the judgment of God and of hell-fire, and especially the fear of offending again so good a God, which is the beginning of true wisdom, and makes us " work out our salvation with fear and trembling." (5.) Desire of flying as far from sin as possible, and of daily advancing our soul in the union and love of God, giving " us a hunger and thirst after justice." (6.) Zeal for the glory of God, and for destroying all His and our enemies, our own passions, by self-denial and mortification; and for promoting His honour to the utmost of our power, considering our infinite obligations to His goodness. (7.) Revenge vindicating the rights of the Divine justice, by cheerfully punishing ourselves for past sins. Happy those in whom these blessed fruits of the true spirit of penance are found!
Q. 30. What are the means by which we may obtain the spirit of penance?
A. (i.) The spirit of penance is the gift of God, as our holy faith teaches; for when St Peter gave an account to the brethren of the conversion of the Gentiles, in the person of Cornelius and his friends, " they glorified God, saying, God then hath also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life," Acts, xi. 18. And St Paul exhorts Timothy, "with modesty to admonish them that resist the truth, if peradventure God may give them repentance to know the truth," 2 Tim. ii. 25. Nay, it is one of the most necessary gifts we can receive from God, as without it there is no salvation for sinners. Now the Scripture assures us that " our heavenly Father will readily give His Holy Spirit to them that ask it," Luke, xi. 13. Consequently the first and principal means to obtain the holy spirit of penance is humble and fervent prayer. This the holy servants of God well knowing were assiduous in their prayers for this purpose: " Convert, me, O Lord, and I shall be converted," saith Jeremiah, "for Thou art my God," Jer. xxxi. 18 ; and David, "Convert us, O Lord! and we shall be converted; show Thy face, and we shall be saved," Ps. lxxix. 4 , where this prayer is frequently repeated. (2.) We must avoid and fly from all those things which would hinder the spirit of penance from coming to our souls - such as idle company, dissipating diversions, plays, dancing, jesting, profane reading, vain apparel, &:c. All which things dissipate the heart, fill the mind with a world of idle ideas, carry off the thoughts, are destructive of the spirit of penance, and therefore particularly unbecoming, and unworthy to be thought of in penitential times. (3.) We must apply ourselves seriously to the consideration and practice of those things which promote and excite truly penitential dispositions in the soul; such as serious meditation on the four last things, and the great truths of eternity, the practice of self-denial and mortification, with works of charity and mercy; for experience shows that as those who live pleasant lives and pamper the body never acquire sentiments of penance, so those who practise the works of penance soon obtain the true spirit of it. (4.) Serious and frequent meditation on the great evils of sin contributes in a particular manner to excite the spirit of penance in the soul, giving us a just sense of the heinous evil of sin, of the greatness of the injury done by it to God, and of its dreadful consequences to ourselves. The want of this knowledge, or the failing to reflect upon it, is one of the principal causes why we fall so easily into the misery of sin.
Section V: Of The Works Of Penance
Q. 31. What is understood by works of penance?
A. Works of penance are any kind of punishment which the sinner willingly undergoes, in order to satisfy for sin; and as the nature of punishment requires that it be painful and afflicting to self-love, so anything whatsoever that is naturally painful and afflicting to us, and which we willingly undergo with the view of satisfying for our sins, is a penitential work.
Q. 32. Why do you say that is naturally painful and afflicting to us?
A. Penance or punishment is what naturally gives pain; if it gave no pain it would be no punishment. Now it may sometimes happen that a penitential work which naturally gives pain, yet in certain circumstances may give none to a person when he uses it; but it does not cease on that account to be a penitential work even to him. Thus some find no difficulty in abstaining from flesh-meat; others experience little or no pain in fasting; yet if these people, when obedience requires it, perform these works out of a penitential spirit, to them they are truly penitential works. In like manner a person may be so far advanced in the love of God, and in the virtue of holy mortification, as to have, in a great measure, conquered the natural inclinations of flesh and blood, and even to find pleasure in those things which are naturally painful; yet this, so far from lessening the value of the penitential works of that person, greatly increases it, and shows the ardour of his love to God, from which they proceed.
Q. 33. Why do you say, with a view of doing penance?
A. Because, though the work be ever so painful, yet, if we undergo it without the intention of doing penance, it will be no penance at all; and, if done with any evil view, will even be displeasing to God: as our Saviour expressly declares of the three great penitential works of fasting, alms-giving, and prayer, if they be done with the view of gaining " praise from men," Mat. vi. The reason is, because in order to be a penitential work it must proceed from the spirit of penance. This is the root, the principal part of penance, without which the exterior works signify nothing. And God Almighty sets such a value upon this internal disposition, that though the external work be small, yet if it proceed from, and be accompanied with, a truly penitential spirit, it becomes of great value before Him. What can be easier than to give a cup of cold water to a thirsty person? yet Christ Himself declares that, if done for His sake, it shall not lose its reward. In like manner, what can be a smaller penitential work than to deprive one's self of a cup of water? Yet it is recorded in sacred writ as a very great action of David, that when three of his valiant men, at the risk of their lives, brought him water from a cistern, which he had taken a longing for, " he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord," 2 Kings (Sam.) xxiii. 16. This ought to be a comfort to those who are not able to do great things: let them do the little they can, with a truly penitential spirit, and it will be accepted.
Q. 34. Into how many classes are penitential works divided?
A. Into three classes, (i.) Those which we are commanded to undergo, under pain of sin, if we disobey. (2.) Those which are left to our own free choice, according to our particular wants, without any other command than the general one of doing penance for sin; and (3.) Those which we are forced to undergo by the order of Providence, whether we will or not; but where it is left to ourselves to make the proper penitential use of them.
Q. 35. What are the penitential works which we are commanded to undergo, under pain of sin if we disobey?
A. Chiefly these following: - (i.) The confession of our sins in the sacrament of penance. This is a great penance and humiliation to our corrupt nature and to self-love; but it is imposed upon us by Almighty God, in place of that shame and confusion which will overwhelm sinners at the last day, continue for all eternity, and prove one of the greatest punishments of sin in the next life. Now, as the penitential works of this life are laid upon us by the justice and mercy of God, in exchange for those of eternity, therefore He has been pleased to appoint the momentary shame and confusion of confessing our sins here to one man like ourselves, in exchange for that eternal confusion which we must otherwise undergo in the next life. Hence this is a penance laid by God Himself upon all, without exception, who have offended Him by mortal sin; and it is commanded with such strictness, that the guilt of sin will not be washed away from our souls unless it be properly complied with. (2.) All those penitential works which our pastor enjoins us in the sacrament of penitence. This also is a penance which we are obliged to perform by the express command of God; and it is without doubt one of the most profitable for our souls; because, being a part of the sacrament, it is sanctified by the grace annexed, and therefore raised to a much higher value in the sight of God than other penitential works, though perhaps more painful, which we do of our own choice. It has also the merit of obedience, which gives it still a greater merit. Now, the obligation we are under of performing this sacramental penance is shown by the works of our Saviour to the pastors of His Church, in the persons of the apostles, when He said, "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," Mat. xvi. 19. For, as by the latter words. He assures us that when our pastor looses us from our sins here on earth, we are loosed from them in heaven; so by the former He equally declares that when we are bound on earth by them to perform penance, this obligation is ratified in heaven; for the general term whatsoever includes all. But we must not imagine that, when we have faithfully performed our sacramental penance, we have thereby discharged all we owe to the Divine justice. Alas! what proportion is there between the penances commonly enjoined in the sacrament and the sins by which we have offended God? In ancient times the penances imposed on sinners were exceedingly severe, and often continued for years; but as the love of God waxed cold, the Church was obliged to moderate this discipline, lest through weakness and tepidity Christians should fail to perform them. At present the penances imposed in the sacrament are small, much being left to the penitent's own devotion; and if he is deficient, it must be exacted by God Himself, either here or hereafter. (3.) The public fasts commanded by the Church. These also we are obliged, by the command of God, faith fully to observe; and if we do so with a truly penitential spirit, they will prove exceedingly useful in discharging the debt we owe to the Divine justice, especially as by them we also partake of what the whole Church is doing at the same time.
Q. 36. What are those works of penance which are left to our own choice?
A, They are divided into three classes, and consist in punishing ourselves either in our external senses, or in the passions and affections of the mind and heart, or in the flesh. The two first are seldom attended with any danger from excess, and in them consists the exercise of that self-denial and mortification of the will so much recommended in the Gospel, and so strictly required by Jesus Christ from His followers; therefore, in practising them, we are sure of doing what is most agreeable to God. The third class contains bodily mortifications, by which, with St Paul, we " chastise the body, and bring it into subjection;" but as the indiscreet use of these may be attended with consequences dangerous to health, proper caution and advice ought to be taken in practising them. The practice of each class is as follows: (i.) As to the external senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, kc, by them we in many ways offend God; and doing penance consists in depriving them of what is agreeable to them, even though the object be innocent, but especially if it be sinful or dangerous. Thus Job "made a covenant with his eyes, that he should not so much as think upon a virgin," Job, xxxi. 1. And David would not hear another speak ill of his neighbour in his presence: " The man that in private detracted his neighbour, him did I persecute," Ps. c. 5. Daniel also says of himself, " Desirable bread I did not eat, and wine and flesh did not enter my mouth." It also consists in forcing the senses to undergo what is disagreeable, but not hurtful, as David did when " he mingled ashes with his bread." To this class also belongs doing penance in the tongue by silence, speaking ill of none, defending the absent, and the like. (2.) As to the passions and affections of the soul, as they are the principal springs of all our sins, the doing penance in them is of a wide extent, and of the greatest necessity for the amendment of our life, as well as for the punishment of past offences. The chief way of doing penance here is to force ourselves to the practice of those virtues which are contrary to our vicious affections; to mortify avarice by alms-deeds; hatred, by speaking well of, doing good to, and praying for our enemies; pride, by acts of humility and obedience; gluttony, by eating things unpleasant to the taste; drunkenness, by a total abstinence from strong drinks, and the like. Under this class comes also the mortifying all idle curiosity of seeing or hearing things which do not belong to nor concern us; all vanity in dress, furniture, and the like. (3.) As to bodily penances, they are included under the three general heads of prayer, fasting, and alms-deeds, which are most profitable to those who properly practise them. Under this head are included some particular kinds of bodily penances taken notice of in Scripture, such as hair-cloth, of which it is recorded that Judith wore a " hair-cloth next her loins all the days of her life," Judith, viii. 6. And David says of himself, " I was clothed with hair-cloth, I humbled my soul with fasting," Ps. xxxiv. 13. "I covered my soul with fasting.... I made hair-cloth my garment," Ps. lxviii. 11 , 12. And when he saw the destroying angel causing the plague among his people, in punishment of his sins, " both he and the ancients, clothed in hair-cloth, fell down flat on the ground," i Chron. xxi. 16. So also, in the famous siege of Samaria, the king " rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall, and all the people saw the hair-cloth which he wore within next his flesh," 4 Kings, vi. 30. In this manner did these holy persons do penance for their sins, and appease the wrath of God. St John the Baptist, also, though most innocent, is a great model of this kind of penance, being clothed with a garment made of hair.
Watching is another work of penance much recommended by examples in Scripture. " Oh God, my God," says David, " to Thee I watch by break of day," Ps. lxii.; and, "' I rose at midnight to give praise to God," Ps. cxviii. Of the truly wise man also it is said, "He will give his heart to resort by daybreak to the Lord, and will pray in the sight of the Most High," Ecclus. xxxix. 6 ; and the manna, " which could not be destroyed by fire, being warmed with a little sunbeam, presently melted away, that it might be known to all that we must prevent the sun to bless Thee, and adore Thee at the dawning of the light," Wisd. xvi. 27. Our Saviour Himself watched whole nights in prayer, St Paul exhorts us to approve ourselves as servants of Christ, " in fasting, in watching," 2 Cor. vi. 5 ; and tells us that it was his own practice to chastise his body " in labour, in toil, in many watchings," 2 Cor. xi. 27. In all which we see that this holy penitential work of watching consists in moderating the quantity of our sleep, in interrupting it, and getting up early in the morning to praise God and pray to Him.
Hard lying also is another penitential work pointed out to us strongly in the Word of God. When David's child was sick he "fasted and lay upon the ground" seven days, to move God to mercy, and to obtain the life of the child. Among the penitential works by which Achab found mercy with God, one was that he " slept in sackcloth;" and Joel exhorts the people to have recourse to the same means of finding mercy: " Gird yourselves and lament, O ye priests.... Go in and lie in sackcloth, ye servants of my God," Joel, i. 13. Ah, if the saints of God did penance in this manner, what ought we sinners to do!
Q. 37. What are those penitential works which we must undergo whether we will or not?
A. The miseries and troubles to which we are daily exposed in this life, and which we cannot avoid. Were we diligent in performing the penitential works contained in the former classes, we might easily discharge a great part of the debt we owe to the Divine justice, but, alas! our backwardness in that respect is most deplorable, and therefore Almighty God, out of His infinite goodness, sends us many trials and afflictions of different kinds, as it were to force us to our real good. Now the sufferings He sends are surely the most proper for us; and, as we must unavoidably undergo them, it becomes an easy matter to discharge our debt by their means. All that is required is to bear them with a penitential spirit, receiving them with patience and submission from the hand of God, and taking them as a penance sent by Him for our sins. Penitential works of this class are innumerable, (i.) The toils and labours of our state of life, are a penance laid upon us by God from the very fall of Adam, in punishment of which God said to Adam, " Cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life, in the sweat of thy brow thou shalt earn thy bread," Gen. iii. What a field of penitential works does this give to servants, husbandmen, tradesmen, etc.? (2.) The inclemencies of the weather, heat, cold, rain, frost, snow, etc., afford to all abundant matter for the same purpose.
(3.) Distractions, aridities, and desolations in time of prayer, are a just punishment for the many times we have been deaf to the calls of God, resisted His graces, and given place to idle, unprofitable, or sinful thoughts; but if borne with a penitential spirit, will be an effectual discharge of the debt we have contracted by these faults. (4.) Your children are obstinate, and a torment to you; remember how you behaved towards your parents, your negligence in bringing up your own children, and take the pain they give you as a penance sent from God for these sins. (5.) Servants, your masters and mistresses are harsh and ill-tempered: Masters, your servants are disobedient and careless; what noble opportunities does this give to each of offering up a daily penance most acceptable to God? Sickness and pain attack you; here also is a large and excellent field for making up your account with God to your great advantage. And so of all the other crosses which God sends upon us in this life, which there is no avoiding, but which may easily be turned to the best account by bearing them in penance for our sins. But, oh! how contrary is our conduct in all these cases to what it ought to be! And how often do we abuse these occasions which God sends us, and turn them into occasions of increasing our guilt and our debt by impatience and murmuring under them! How unreasonable is our conduct in this respect! How great our folly!
Section VI: Of The Effects Of True Repentance In The Remission Of Sin
Q. 38. Does true repentance remit sin, or wash it away from the soul?
A. By no means; the remission of sin is solely the work of God, and nothing but His grace can wash away the stains of sin from the soul.
Q. 39. What part then has repentance in the pardon of sin?
A. It (i.) Disposes the soul for receiving from God the pardon of sin; for without repentance the soul is utterly incapable of being restored to the favour and mercy of God, seeing that, as long as the soul loves sin, God must infallibly hate her. (2.) It efficaciously moves God to grant us pardon, because, as Jesus Christ has merited for us the pardon of our sins, on condition of sincere repentance, and as God has repeatedly promised pardon to the repenting sinner, consequently true repentance can never fail to obtain from God the pardon of sin; He is bound in justice to Jesus Christ, and in fidelity to His own promises, to grant it. Besides, true repentance is a gift of God; it is His holy grace that first moves the sinner to it; it is holy grace which enables the sinner to complete it, insomuch that, without the grace of God, it is impossible truly to repent; consequently, when God gives to a sinner the grace of repentance, undoubtedly He will also give the pardon of his sins, with a view to which the grace of repentance was bestowed.
Q. 40. What is meant by the pardon or remission of sin; - in what does it consist?
A. We have seen above that sin defiles, pollutes, and stains the soul in a most miserable manner, and renders her hateful in the sight of God, hideous, loathsome to Him and His holy angels. Now, as long as these defilements of sin remain in the soul, it is impossible God should be reconciled to her. When, therefore, upon the sinner's sincere repentance, Almighty God, through the merits of Christ, pardons sin, He cleanses the soul by His justifying grace; this renders her beautiful and agreeable to God, and restores her to His friendship and favour. So that the pardon or remission of sin, properly speaking, consists in delivering the soul from the guilt of sin, adorning her with the grace of God, and restoring her to His favour.
Q. 41. How does it appear that Almighty God takes away and destroys all the stains and guilt of sin from the soul when He pardons sin?
A. This is manifestly shown from many clear testimonies of Scripture, (i.) From those which expressly affirm it; thus God promises by His prophet, " I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness," Ezek. xxxvi. 25 . God "will turn again and have mercy on us; He will put away our iniquities, and He will cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea,"Micha, vii. 19. Before David fell, he said to God, " Thou hast tried me by fire, and iniquity hath not been found in me," Ps. xvi. 3 . But after his unhappy fall he prayed, " Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sins, . . . and blot out all mine iniquities," Ps. 1. 4, 11. And afterwards, describing the pardon he had received, he said, " As far as the east is from the west, so hath He removed our iniquities from us," Ps. cii. 12 . The angel also touched Isaiah's lips with a coal, and said, " Behold, this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquity shall be taken away, and thy sins shall be cleansed," Isa. vi. 7 . St Peter also, in his sermon to the Jews, says, " Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out," Acts, iii. 19 . (2.) From those texts where this is expressly declared to be the benefit obtained for us by Jesus Christ; thus, He is " the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," John, i. 29 . " The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin," i John, i. 7 ; for " He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His Blood," Rev. i. 5 ; " For if the blood of goats and of oxen, etc., sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the Blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from dead works?" Heb. ix. 14 . (3.) From those texts which declare this to be done from the sacrament of baptism; thus, " Arise and be baptised, and wash away your sins," Acts, xxii. 16 ; and St Paul, speaking of different grievous sins, says, "And such some of you were, but you are washed, but you are sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God," I Cor. vi. II.
Q. 42. By what means does Almighty God wash our souls from the guilt of our sins, when He grants us pardon for them?
A. By His holy grace, or Divine charity, which He pours into the soul; by His Holy Spirit, which washes away all the stains of sin, and also beautifies the soul, making her just and holy in His sight; " Because the charity of God is poured abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us," Rom. v. 5 .