The Irish standard., 1890-12-20

COmulaLlng klOWleuke OL Sill HAAC
is ever being more perfectly system
atized by her writers on moral theology
These works are written in Latin SO 2
to be bevond the reach Of those VIII
might derive harm from reading them
Tue Church, through regularly consti
tuted channels, is ever supervising
these books, so-as to keep them In TIN
way of her teaching and to exc,ude anv
thing likely to prove q breach Of tn
seal of secrecy; In the same way tina
medical text books contain no breach o
! individual confidence. These are th'
text. books of spiritual medicine which
the confessor uses with his own expert
ence when administering the sacrament
OF penance. DR.. Talmage, the we'll
known Presbyterian preacher CT Brook
lvn, felt the need Of knowing the sins o.
his people when he spent six nights
visiting the haunts OF vice in the great
American city; and the experience ol
those nights he published ia six les
lures. The Catholic Church does not
publish her experience ia the vulgar
tongue, because harm might be done
but she is ever gaining it ali Che same
In the econfesslonal the Church generally
gets q knowledge Of all sin AID new
sins. The sinner better understands
how bad SIN Is when he feels the dill
Guilty in telling 1t. He gets advice how
best to avoid relapses, He is made ia
repair the evil he has done. With such
a system there must be absolute Conf
dence; and the Church not onlV binds
the confessor by sacred oath. but Sc
lects him for extreme seal IN her cause
by debarring him from her ministry
unless he remains cellbate. THERE'S no
Obligatron that the penitent need In
| any way reveal his identity to the con.
| fessor, and all Catholics are taught
properly how to confess. Every Catho
lie prayerbOok contains instructions
from which I give this extrrct: s'Lst
your confession be humble, without
seeking excuses for your sins, or laying
the fault on others; let it be entire as to
the kind and number Of your SINS. and
such cireumsta noes as quite change the
nature of the sin, or greatly increase Its
guilt. Be modest in your expressions,
and take care not to name other per-
sons" Confession is only one part OF
the sacrament of penance, which con-
sists Of cOutrltiOn, or sorrow TOR a sin.
confession of that sin TO DrOphrly Or
dained and authorized priest, and salts,
faction, or repairing. so far as in you
| lies, of all evil you have caused. These
three parts combined are necessary for
absolution. The Catholic believes chat
| when He was on earth the liedeemeI
| founded an institution Identical With
the Catholic Church, and which con.
talns the confessional as one OF the
means BY which that institution Carries
ON Its crusade against sin. The Catho-
lie further believes that when the Re
deemer departed, the Holy Spirit caTue
at Pentecost In special manner to
abide with the Church, in order that the
Church might be kept IN all eruth, even
to the end of the world, thus guiding
the conduct of men. The Catholic &C
cepts confession solely because it comes
from divine institution and in the
name OF Christ. With all this knoWl-
edge before him the instructed Catholic
looks on ''The Village Priest" as mis-.
representation at best; or more likely
an attempt of the French irreligloni sts
to iDjure the Church. The Able Dubois
Of the play made bad use of the classes
OF moral theology IN his seminary days,
or he would have known better how 10
ha ye acted both at the confession and
afterwards. It, therefore, stands to
reason from what have here said that
the rule Of secrecy aud confidence must
Ia the first place. before all other con-
siderations. stand paramount and Su-
preme.
I- r = ..