The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-01-14

s IN ( 34 i
mate TO legitimate children is IN ~
Thus coming to details, we find DR.. Fon-
sagriyes' proportion, OF Legitimate
Protestant births 10 1 Catholic verified
with singular persistence. Now what is
the explanation of this uniform result?
Let US quote another passage from DR..
Forbes:
"1he result OF all my enquiries is that
- ' this instrument Of confession
is, among the Irish Of the humber clas-
ses, q direct preservative against certain
forms of immortality. So far
from corruption resulting from the con-
fessional, it is the general belief in Ire
land-.a b lief expressed to me by many
trustworthy men in all parts Of the
country, and by Protestants as we'll as
Catholics that the singular purity of fe-
male lifs among the lower classes there
IS. in q considerable degree, dependent
on this very circumstance" viz, that
they practice confession.
Alike result points TO similar cause.
In countries where confession is prac-
ticed, statistics show, that there is a.
greater purity Of life, and there is also a
marked absence of that crime SO COM
mon in England and Scotland, namely,
infanticide. Mr.. James Anthony Froude,
in g lecture delivered in New York, in
1872 lsee Times, Nov. l6, 1a72l saws:
IL the last hundred years at least, i'm
purity has been almost unknown in Ire
land. This absence of vulgar crime and
this exceptional deliescy and modesty of
character is due, to their everlasting
honor, to the influence of the Catholic
clergy" An influence, We must add, OK
,ercised through tho much abused con-
fesaional. s
Id the plan of Divine Providence, con-
feesion was intended as a preventive of
sin Confession of sin is not new idea.
In Numbers, ', 6, we road: when q
man or woman shall commit any sin
that men commit ** then shall
they confess their sin which they have
done, and when st. John the Baptist
was preaching in the desert, the Jews
came ont to be baptized by him, ''confes-
sing their SINS (St Matt. iii, 6). just as
our Lord took the ancient ceremony Of
potfipg water IN the aign Of spiritual
cleansing, and endowed the ceremony
with grace-giving powerin his new Sac
rament Of Baptism, SO he took the an
cient practice of confessions of sin, and
raised the informal practice into the
orace-giving Sacrament Of Penance.
When did he do this? WhenH He breathed
on His Apostles, and said to them Gas
My Father has sent Me, even 80, Z aeud
you Receive ye= the Holy
Ghost; whosoever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them, and whosoever sins
ye retain, they are retained (St. John
Xxx, %, 23).
Here q twofold power is given, the
power to remit and the power to retain
These powers are not to be exercised
anyhow, but with Judgment and discre.
tion. Therefore, judgment is to be OK
ercised upon sin. But the majority of
sins are known only to the person. who
commits them, and how can these be
known, 90 that judgment may be passed
on them, In order to their remission
"whose sins ye remit" unless they are
made known by confession? The Apos-
ties, the bishops and priests of the
Church, as ministers OF Christ, can only
exercise q aministerial power; they can
not forgive or retain sin according to
their own pleasure, but must use their
Judgment. Hence the minister Of Christ
must know the sins Of the person seek
ing forgiveness, and this knowledge can
be obtained only by confessing them.