Imatges de pàgina
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scriptions were the following: Let tears run down like a torrent day and night, give thyself no rest, and let not the apple of thy eye cease.— I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.—Turn, O my soul, into thy rest.-Go, and now sin no more. He that hears you, hears me.— Come to me all you that labour, and are heavý laden, and I will refresh you. The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me.-See if there be in me the way of iniquity and lead me in the eternal way. From heaven the Lord hath looked, upon the earth; that he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain. And indeed these inscriptions are very expressive of the spirit and effects of the sacrament of penance.

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CONCLUSION.

THE doctrine of the Catholic church touching penance and sacramental confession, is then as ancient as Christianity itself. It is in fact the only sound and natural construction which can be put upon the tenth article of that admirable symbol which was framed by the Apostles under the direction of the Holy Ghost, and which is universally received throughout the Christian world. There must, unquestionably, have been a particular reason, and a reason worthy of the Holy Ghost, who inspired the Apostles, which prompted them to insert in their Creed, their belief in the forgiveness of sins, immediately after the article relating to the Catholic church. The same eternal wisdom which regulated the beautiful order that reigns in the material world, has in like manner regulated that which reigns in the creed.

For what else could they have intended by this admirable order of the articles of our faith, if it be not, that they wished to let us know thereby, that the forgiveness of sins is one of the greatest advantages of the church; that it is a prerogative granted to and held by her; that it is in her bosom, and in her bosom only, man can enjoy this precious advantage; that she is the true Jerusalem, (a) in which the true Temple exists, and the true Probatic Pond, (b) which heals all sorts of disthat in her only are found the true waters of the Jordan, which cleansed Naaman,(c) of his leprosy,; that she is that mysterious Inn, in which the true Samaritan effects the cure of the traveller (d) whom he finds wounded on the road to Jericho?

eases;

It is indeed true and unquestionably true, that to pardon sin in it. self, to wash away its stain, to efface its character, to restore to the soul her lost charms, her original beauty, is a right which belongs in so peculiar a manner to God, that no creature however powerful, or however perfect he may be supposed, can ever dare pretend to it. This divine right, is a title which he attributes to himself in the scripture,

(a) Gall. 4. v. 16. (b) John 5, 9. (c) 4 Kings, 5. 14. (d) Luke 10. v. 33.

to the exclusion of all others. I am, does he say by the mouth of his Prophet, I am he, that blot out thy iniquities for thy own sake.(a)

He alone is the creditor who can forgive this debt, which is due to him only; he alone the physician capable of healing this wound; it is incurable to every one else. It is God who is offended by sin, and infinitely offended; he alone can forgive man this infinite injury.

He alone who has created man, has the power to renew him, to purify him, to sanctify him, to create in him a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within his bowels (b). If the Jews blasphemed against Jesus Christ, because he had said to the man sick of the Palsy: Son, be of good heart; thy sins are forgiven thee, (c) if they were mistaken, it was not because they said, that it belonged but to God, to forgive sin; but because they refused to acknowledge him to be God who had wrought so divine a work, and which demonstrated to them the truth of this invisible miracle, which he had just operated in the soul of the man sick of the palsy, by the visible miracle which they themrelves had witnessed, and which he had wrought upon the body of this sick man.

But this power of remitting sin, which God alone has by nature, Jesus Christ has as God, because he is the same God with his Father, and all that belong to the Father, belong to him. (d) He has it likewise as man, in consequence of the hypostatical union of his sacred humanity, with the divine person of the word. And this he gives us evidently to understand by these words, which he addresses to the Jews, when healing the man sick of the palsy : But, that you may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, then, saith he to the man sick of the palsy: Rise up, take thy bed, and go into thy house.(e) He possesses this power as Saviour, because he has purchased it at the price of his blood. It was to exercise it, that he came down from heaven. The prophets had foretold, that he would come to blot out our iniquity. The adorable name of Jesus, which heaven had given him before his birth, and which he received eight days after, (f) was a pledge of the salvation and remission which he brought us. He is called Saviour, but because he came to save his people and to save them from their sins.(g) If St. John the baptist announces him, it is(h)

(a) Isaiah, 43. 25. (e) Math. 9. 6.

(b) Ps. 50. v. 12. (c) Mat. 9. 2. (d) John, 17.10. Math. 2. 21. (g) Luke 2. 21. (h) John, 1. 29.

as the lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. If he dies on a cross, it is to blot out the hand-writing of the decree which was against us.(a) If he sends his Apostles throughout the world, it is to preach every where the remission of sins.(b)

But this is not yet all, this power so divine, so peculiar to God, se consoling to the sinner he imparts to man, to sinful man, in order to fa cilitate to him, that precious grace which had cost him his life and blood. He imparts it to his Apostles. He imparts it through his Apostles to their successors. He imparts it in their person to his church, to be exercised by his ministers, through all succeeding ages.

Go, said he to his Apostles, (c) As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. He has sent me to save the world, (d) you also shall become in some sort its saviours. He has sent me to destroy sin, to sanctify sinners, to reconcile man with him. Go and complete the great work. Preach every where the remission of sin. It is the fruit of my death; it shall be the end and effect of your ministry.

But in order that it should not be understood, that they had to aunounce or proclaim it only, or to promise it on his part, he associates them with him in this divine power. He wishes that they themselves should remit sin; that they should remit it in his name and on his part. In quality of sovereign judge, both of the living and of the dead, he constitutes them his subalterns; he imparts his authority to them, to raise even the dead to life, and to save sinnners. He engages himself, to ratify in heaven, the sentence they shall have pronounced on earth.

This is in effect what he promised to St. Peter and to all his apostles, and what he imparted to them all after his resurrection Thou art Peter, said he to the prince of the apostles, (e) and upon this rock I will build my church,....And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. He made afterwards the same promise, and in the same terms to his other apostles. (f) Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in

(a) Coloss. 2. 14. (6) Luke, 24. 47.
(d) John, 3. 17. (e) Matt. 16. 18, 19.

(c) John, 20. 21.
(ƒ) 18. 18.

heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. And in order that no doubt might be ever entertained ei ther of the sense of his promises, or of the nature of the power promised; he himself explained it when he gave it to them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost, said he to them breathing on them after his resurrection, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, (a) whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; and whose you shall retain, they are retained.

It can therefore be no longer said, If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf: but if a man shall sin against the Lord who shall pray for him? (b) This is no longer impossible from the time that the Son of God became man, and imparted his power to man. But is it to the person of the apostles he has limited and confined this power? No; he imparted it equally to the church in the person of the apostles. It passes from the apos tles to their successors, they impart it to those whom they appoint to succeed or assist them in the functions of the priesthood, and whom they associate with them in the divine work with which they are charged. As the fruit of the death of Jesus Christ was to subsist always, so it was to be always applied and communicated. As the sacred ministry of the sanctification of man was to pass from the apostles to their successors, so this power of remitting sin was in like manner to be transmitted to them. They have sent others as they themselves were sent.

The power of remitting sin is like that of baptising, teaching and imparting the Holy Ghost, which the apostles have transmitted to their successors together with the episcopacy or priesthood. Jesus Christ, according to his promise, is with them, teaching, baptising, and remitting sin, to the consummation of the world (c). And consequently, to the consummation of the world, they teach, baptize, and remit sin, in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ, or rather it is Jesus Christ who remits it through their ministry. "The priests, says St. Chrysostom, "lend their tongues and hands to Jesus Christ; "but it is God himself who does all in them and through them."

It is then to the church and for her benefit, that this power is given, and it is to last as long as she herself lasts. It is an irrevocable gift which Jesus Christ has conferred upon her, and his gifts are without

(a) John 20, 22, & 23. (6) 1 Kings, 2. 25. (c) Matt. 28, 19.

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