The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-25
CLASS OF 7S CONFIRMED BY
 BISHOP EDWARD P. ALLEN
Thrtyhree Boys and Thirtysix Girls and Nine Adults Formed Large Confirmation Class at St. Peters
 Catholic Church Yesterday Afternoon.


 meaning in the following parallel pas- sage of St. Matthew: If you forgive men their sins. your Heavenly Father will forgive you your offences" There fore we should be compelled to interpret thus: If you preach to men the for. giveness of their sins. your Heavenly Father will preach to you the forgive ness of your sins''--a meaning which makes a mockery of Gods Holy Word and is another evidence of the absurdi- ties to which private interpretation of the Scriptures leads eventually. Of what benefit would preaching forgiveness be, if sin were not actually forgiven?
 With regard to the declaration of for giveness we may remark that Christ did not say. whose sins you shall declare forgiven" but "whose sins you shall for give''-activeiy. showing that the words accomplish what they mean. It is only the malicious principle of reading into words a meaning pre-conceived that can pervert the evident simplicity of the gos- pei narrative. The power of forgiving sins has without any shadow of doubt been conferred on the apostles by our Divine Lord, to be delegated by them in ordination to their lawful successors under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is accordingly the special prerogative of every legitimately ordained priest. If any doubt remained 1t would be. at once removed by the universal testimony of Tradition.
 Men recognize the principle that what has been at all times and in all places held as truth, must be truth.
 Falsehood lacks universality Men eane l not be always and everywhere deceived. The history of the church is one long vindication of her claim to the power of remitting sin in the Sacrament of Penance. In the second century Pope St. zephyrinus, Tertullian tells us. in- voked the authority of the church against the Montanists who denied the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance, and St. Cor nelius in the third century condemned as heretics the Novattans because they dared deny the power of forgiving sin. In the same century Tertullian and Origen wrote explicitly. the former ask ing the question, was it better to keep ones sins hidden and be damned, or con- fess them and be absolved." and the lat ter asserting that sins are forgiven if wa confess not only to God. but also to those who can heal our wounds. that is. the priests of the L.ord.'
 St. Ambrose in the fourth century tes- tifes similarly, and in the fifth St. Leo tells us that secret confession as we have it, is in accordance with apostolic discipline" So the testimony continues through the centuries to the days of Saints Anselm and Bern ard. and to the period of the fourth Lateran Council, until finally the Coun- ell of Trent realizing the universality of the belief, and the fact that this belief was founded on truth, made it of faith and silenced for ever any doubts that might arise as to its institution or its reality. 'If any one shall say that the words of our Lord and Saviour are not to be understood of the power of re- hitting and retaining sins in the Sacra- ment of Penance. as the Catholic Church has understood them from the beginning. let him be anathema''-accursed. This Sacrament,'' tho Council adds, lis neces- sary for salvation to those who have fallen after Baptism" Not only then is 1t of faith that Penance is Sacra- ment, but 1t is also of faith that 1t Is a necessary Sacrament, A Sacrament may be necessary in two ways, either by means or by precept. It Is necessary by a necessity of means. when we cannot be saved without 1t. Thus Baptism is necessary by a necessity of means for we cannot enter Heaven if we do not re- ceive It's grace. A Sacrament is neces- sary by a necessity of precept when 1t Is commanded. Thus we are commanded unueE Pdll OL SiH Dy tCbAAaAobO authority to go to confession at least once a year and to receive the sacra- ment of the Holy Eucharist during the Easter season. The Sacrament of Pen ance is necessary by a necessity of pre- cept and of means-of precept because we are bound to avail ourselves of 1t once a year and whenever we have fallen into mortal sin, and of means because even though we may be saved by an act of perfect contrition or of perfect charity when 1t Is impossible for us to confess, we are saved by such acts only in so Var as they implicitly contain the desire of going to confession and receiving the Sacrament of Penance. The Sacrament of Penance, or Confession, from its Di- vine institution is the only ordinary means of salvation for those who after Baptism have fallen into mortal sin, and it's necessity is of Divine origin. From the words of the institution of the Sac rament-"Receive ye the Holy Ghost whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them. and whose sins you shall retain they are retained"--as well as from Tradition, we have seen that a true power of forgiving sin is really ex- ercised in the Catholic Church. We also perceive that the words forgive" and retain imply judgment. The priest Is a judge deciding when to forgive and when to retain. Now judge cannot de- eide a case of which he is ignorant. The facts must first be presented to him. In the Sacrament of Penance this is done by Confession. and therefore confession Is as much divine in It's origin as are the words conIerring the power of forgiveness and Is essential to obtain re- mission of our sins.
 The Catholic Church Is accused of in- venting Confession, which is said to be an ecclesiastical institution of the Fourth Lateran Council, introduced by Pope In- nocent III. This assertion is another of the many libels on our teachings. The Fourth Lateran Council dld not institute Confession. What 1t did do, was to make Confession, which then and always ex- isted, of obligation at certain periods. It fixed a time for going to Confession. Even tradition traces back Confession 10 Apostolic times. At the birth of Protes- tantism 1t was universally in vogue, and in the 12th. 11th and 10th centuries. St. Bernard, The Venerable Peter of Cheny, and St. Anselm testify to It's existence In the 3rd Council of Cabillo held in sol, it Is commanded that all priests care fully impose a salutary penance on those who confess to them their sins" In the 7th century St. Isidore, in the sth St. Gregory the Great, in the 9th St. Leo and St. John Chrysostom speak of those who are ashamed to confess and do pen- ance, but are not ashamed to sin" St. Basil. in the 4th century, wrote that it was necessary "to confess ones sins to those who could forgive them" and in the srd and End centurieA Origen and Tertullian tells us that leach one must