The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-28
whose sins We shall retain they are re

whose sins We shall retain they are re-
| tained.''
In the solemn tribunal of the con-
fessional, the priest as a man exists
no longer. He is there as the fieshly
representative of Christ whose mouth
piece he becomes when he pronounces
the mighty words, ''absolve." etc.
Imagine then, my friends, the mag
nitude and the multitude of the terri
Bile condolences which pass each day
through that middle man, the priest,
to the ear of the all-suffering Christ.
There is no assimilation in the con-
fession as it flows from the remorse-
wrung soul of the, repentant sinner 10
the ear of his all merciful God.
Gentlemen, / shall now tell you the
story of my first penitent.
1t is the one episode of my life which
in all the worlds to come l believe 1
shall never forget.
He poured into my ear the particulars
of crime so atrocious, a murder so in
human and appalling in the unnatural
and treacherous circumstances of its
committal, that for weeks after 1 had
heard it 1 suffered the agonies of the
damned. In fact l was on the eve of
leaving the church in order to be able
to divulge the secret. 1t seemedsto me
so terrible that my solemn oath and
duty as priest should prevent me from
so horrible a murder.
For days and weeks an awful strug-
gle went on in my soul between my
binding duty of silence as the minister
of God, and what l believed to be my
duty as man of the state. There
were times when / almost resolved to
leave the church and give the man up
to justice. Finally, one hot August
night. when almost on the verge of in
he "a IF ba ore III
mental struggle, as l sat at my window
feverishly turning the thing over and
over again in my mind, a divine inSIi-
ration touched my soul with it's balm.
1t said: why not go to your bishop.
and without mentioning names or be-
traying condolences, explain all to him.
Shift the responsibility of decision
from your young, inexperienced soul to
the calm, clear judgment and ripe ex-
perience of his
Obey him-that is all.
Next morning l FASTENED to the
bishop, and in a long private interview
l explained everything to him, dwell
ing particularly on the great tempta-
ton and desire which seemed urging
me on to expose the criminal.
After hearing all the bishop told me.
there could be no release from my
duty as the consecrated priest of God.
That duty bound me solemnly to keep
forever the secret of the confessional.
Should 1 break my vow of silence, that
moment l fell from the high estate of
Gods ministry, and would be excom-
municated from the membership of the
church.
In conclusion, the bishop said to me:
Leave the sinner in the hands of him
who has said, Justice is mine
Gentlemen, l obeyed, and every day
of my life l thank God that did So
Just then the dining-room door swung
open, and Mr.. Van Doran, the long
detained host, appeared on the thresh-
old. As he stood there a moment,
beaming on his guests. he presented a
picture of perfect manhood. Six feet,
broad-shouldered and magnificently
built, handsome, we'll groomed and
we'll preserved, he looked just what he
was-the prosperous. happy, con-
tented man of the world
Fastening toward his old friends, he
passed around the table and warmly
grasped and wrung each proffered
hand, meanwhile apologizing profusely
for his unavoidable delay in joining
them.
Finally he reached Friar d'Arcy's
chair. which was beside his own, and,
throwing his arm with affectionate
abandon around the priests shoulders,
he said. You will forgive me, father,
know you will, for you have forgiven
me many things. Gentlemen, 1 was
Friar dArcy'S first penitent."
KATHI ZEN MATTHEW