Part II, Chapter XIX

Of Holy Confession

Our Saviour has left the holy sacrament of penance and confession to his Church, that in it we might cleanse ourselves from all our iniquities, as often as we should be defiled by them. Never suffer your heart then, O Philothea! to remain long infected with sin, since you have so easy a remedy at hand. As the lioness, having been with the leopard, runs in haste to wash herself, and get rid of the stench which the meeting has left, lest the lion should be offended and provoked; so the soul, which has consented to sin, ought to conceive a horror of herself, and cleanse herself as quickly as possible, out of the respect she ought to bear to the divine Majesty, who incessantly beholds her. Alas, why should we die a spiritual death, since we have so sovereign a remedy at hand!

Confess yourself humbly and devoutly once every week, and always, if possible, before you communicate, although your conscience should not reproach you with the guilt of mortal sin, for by confession you not only receive absolution from the venial sins you confess, but likewise strength to avoid them, light to discern them well, and grace to repair all the damage you may have sustained by them. You will also practise the virtues of humility, obedience, sincerity. charity; nay, in a word, in this one act of confession you shall exercise more virtues than in any other whatsoever.

How small soever may be the sins which you confess, you must always conceive a sincere sorrow for them, and make a firm resolution never to commit them for the time to come. Many who confess their venial sins merely out of custom, and for the sake of order, without any thought of amendment, continue, by this means, their whole lifetime, under the guilt of these sins, and thus lose several spiritual advantages. If, then, you confess that you have spoken some word that was not proper, or that you have played excessively, repent, and form a determined resolution to amend; for it is an abuse to confess any kind of sin, whether mortal or venial, without a will to be delivered from it, since confession was instituted for no other end.

Make no superfluous accusations, such as these: I have not loved God as much as I ought; I have not prayed with as much devotion as I ought; I have not cherished my neighbor as I ought; I have not received the sacraments with as great reverence as I ought, etc., etc.; for in saying this you will say nothing that can make your confessor understand the state of your conscience, since all the saints in heaven and on earth might say the same thing if they were to come to confession. Examine, then, what particular reason you may have to make these accusations; and when you have discovered it accuse yourself sincerely and distinctly. For example, you accuse yourself, that you have not loved your neighbor as much as you ought; perhaps, because having seen some poor person in distress, whom you might easily have assisted, you took no notice of him. In this case, you should have said, “Having seen a poor man in necessity, I did not assist him as I might have done,” through negligence, hard-heartedness, contempt, or according to whatever you may discover to have been the occasion of this fault. You must not accuse yourself either of not having prayed to God with as much devotion as you ought; but if you have admitted any voluntary distraction, or neglected to choose a proper place, or time, or posture, requisite for engaging your attention in prayer, accuse yourself of it with simplicity, without those general allegations which signify nothing in confession.

Content not yourself with confessing your venial sins, merely as to the fact, but accuse yourself also of the motive which induced you to commit them. For example, be not content to say you have told a lie, without prejudice to any person; but also declare whether it was vainglory, to praise or to excuse yourself, or whether in jest or through obstinacy. If you have sinned in play, express whether it was from the desire of gain or from the pleasure of conversation, and so of the rest. Tell, also, how long a time you have continued in your sin; for the length of time is an aggravation of the evil, there being a great difference betwixt a vain thought that has slipped into the soul for a quarter of an hour, and one which she has entertained for the space of two or three days. We must, then, tell the fact, the motive, and the continuance of our sins. For though we are not bound to declare venial sins, nor absolutely obliged to confess them, yet those who desire to cleanse their souls perfectly, and attain to holy devotion, must be careful to make their spiritual physician acquainted with the evil of which they desired to be cured, no matter how small it may be.

Fail not, then, to tell what is requisite, that he may perfectly comprehend the nature of your offence. For example, a man with whom I am displeased speaks a light word to me in jest, and I put myself into a passion, whereas, if another, more agreeable to me, had said something more harsh, I should have taken it in good part; in this case I would not fail to say, I have spoken angry words against a certain person, and been affronted at some things he said to me, not so much on account of the words, as of my dislike to him. Moreover, if, to make the matter more clear, it was necessary to express what the words were, I think it advisable to declare them, as by doing so, you not only discover the sin, but also your evil inclinations, customs, habits, and other roots of the sin, by means of which your confessor acquires a more perfect knowledge of the heart he treats with, and of the most proper remedies to be applied. But you must always conceal the person who has had any part in your sin, as much as lies in your power.

Be upon your guard against a number of sins which are apt to conceal themselves and reign insensibly in the soul. In order that you may confess them and be able to free yourself of them, read attentively the 6th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 35th, and 36th chapters of the third part, and the 7th chapter of the fourth part.

Change not easily your confessor, but, having made choice of one, continue, from time to time, to give him an account of the state of your conscience, with candor and sincerity, at least once every month or every two months. Let him also know the state of your inclinations, though you may not have sinned by them; for instance, if you should be tormented with sadness or with melancholy, or if you should be inclined to mirth, or to the desires of acquiring worldly goods and such like inclinations.

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