The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-02-28


His dying breath; amen say to thee,
this day shalt thou be with Me in
Paradise" And now consider that all
of these are types of the absolution
given by the successors of Christ's
Apostles, to whom He said, the eighth
We the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you
shall forgive, they are forgiven them"
John xx:23). How plain is the
goodness of this great and sovereign
God,' says De Ponte, "how plain His
desire to forgive us our sins, not sew
enty times seven times, as He had
commanded His Apostle Peter to for
give his wrongdoers Matt. xviii: 22),
but times without number or limita-
TONS o Merciful Jesus" that devout
writer exclaims, seventy times seven
and thousands of times more may the
angels of heaven praise Thee for the
favor Thou dost to us sinners upon
earth. AS often as we may sin, SO
often, if we ask pardon of Thee, Thou
wilt pardon us, for Thy mercy is so
many times greater than our mis-
cry" fluctuations, Sacrament of Pen
Yet again we must consider that the
effects of this sacrament are manifold,
for much more than forgiveness is be-
slowed, infinite though the value of
that boon be. For this fountain of
living water" Zach. xiii:D, besides
being a fountain that is never dry and
is always open to wash away the I'M
cleanness of our gilt, at the same
time instil1s into our souls hatred of
sin and love of virtue; and it gives us
the courage of champions of God in
our noble warfare for the future.
How often does a sinner kneel half
hearted to confess his sins, and rise
with heart wholly overfowing with
love of Jesus Crucifed? The deep in
terest of his father confessor, his ten
der sympathy for his difficulties, the
ardent zeal and the evident wisdom
with which he counsels him, the tran
quill patience with which he listens to
his panic-stricken and often petulant
tale-all this, if it'were merely human,
would make the confessional the
sweetest shrine for the pilgrimage of
our fallen nature But it is not human
but divine. Every word uttered there
is made holy by the breathing of the
Spirit of Christ. 1t is by the attraction
of the Holy Spirit that mems souls
are drawn to confession, as iron is
drawn to the loadstone. Multitudes
of penitents, especially those who
have been the worst of sinners, bear
witness that only the dread of the
deep pit fetched them to the priests
feet; they we're hunted to the con-
fessional by the wolves of an evil
memory. And when they leave there
they feel that they bear with them an
interior healing as palpable as was
the outward cure of the man in this
holy Gospel, to whom the Lord said:
arise, take up thy bed and go into
thy house.
The benefits of confession are-not
always, but very often-commensurate
with the sufferings of the penitent;
the law of cost and compensation is a
divine law. The very Calvary of the
sinners experience is confession, that
assemblage of "combats without fear
within" e Cor. vii:5), eternal strug-
giles to get away from bad companions,
internal alarms torturing the thoughts
with forebodings of relapse-the very
COLLINS of mortal terror blocking the
way. But the crucifixion of the soul
makes it's resurrection all the more
glorious. The noblest reward of Para.
disc is over and over again due to the
undaunted courage of that one act
going to that first confession after a
course of depravity; the most heroic
deed of the penitent's whole life The
after feeling of consolation is accord
ingly so deep flowing love of Jesus
Crucified as to bear marks of the grace
of predestination to eternal bliss. II
is the great event of his life He will
remember it with joy in the article OF
death. He will thank God for it with
unstinted gratitude through the eterna
years. And whosoever has by prayer
or advice or example brought about q
hard sinners confession, be he priest
or layman who does him that favor
has won a crown of eternal splendor
To this sacrament men come as tt
their best act of humility; low rating
of self is we'll done when it is the
uncovering of sinfulness. Hence the
reward is ample: 'He that humbletf
himself shall be exalted" Oukt
xviii: 40 The soul is in little danger
of Boosting of it's abnegation when the
process of it is confession, made to {
| felIow-mortal, made on account O
Christ's command, by inspiration O.
His grace, in cooperation with Hi:
appointed ministry of reconciliation
! e Cor v:-8). Confessions humilit!
elevates one above all mental aberra
tons of self-righteousness-al is Sc
cret self-contempt, no parade ant
pomp is conceivable in that lowliness
1t emancipates him from his sensua
appetites, nay, it raises him allow
even guileless nature with temperate
and chastened self-gratulation. Il
Holy Baptism, indeed, newness of lif
is impaired by the new birth of divin
grace, that sacrament being principal
ly given as the original divine recon
Citation. The Sacrament Of PENANG
is the second and more practical, an
the oft-repeated embrace of divin
love- It provides on Gods part Hi
Church's close scrutiny of her child
misery, her intimate communicate