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The following quotations will shew the nature of the instruction given to Penitents about the Doctrine of Confession, the Necessity of Confession, and the method of Making a Confession.

It is plainly declared that "it is necessary to Salvation to receive the Sacrament:" that "we must die eternally if we will not receive Christ's Body :" that "we must eat Christ's Flesh and drink His Blood if we are to be saved:" and that "we do eat His Flesh and drink His Blood when we receive the Sacrament."

But it is also said that "to many, through unworthy receiving, the Sacrament is damnation, and that precisely for lack of the very ordeal of Confession:" But "if we go to Confession before receiving the Blessed Sacrament, we escape the danger of receiving unworthily." "To receive unworthily is to bring a curse upon ourselves instead of a blessing:" "This most Holy Sacrament brings destruction and injury to those who profane it by receiving it when they are not fit. A man who has committed great and grievous sins, may well pause before he ventures to receive the Blessed Sacrament, even though he is sorry for what he has done. It may be well for him to wait a bit even though he wishes very much to come to the Lord's Table. But how long to wait? That is the question; and that question a Priest will answer if he goes to Confession. Then, WHEN THE PRIEST TELLS HIM he may receive the Blessed Sacrament, he knows HE IS SAFE in receiving it; for he has not acted upon his own opinion, but upon the judgment of one whom Christ has appointed to judge in this matter, saying, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt. xviii. 18.) And if he does wrong in receiving, the "blame rests upon the Priest and not upon him."*

"The

* In a Book, published by R. Coyne, Roman Catholic Bookseller, Dublin, 1821, called Fifty Reasons which induced His Serene Highness, Anthony Ulrick, Duke of Brunswick, to abjure Lutheranism; it is stated under the fiftieth head, [Roman] Catholics to whom I spoke, concerning my conversion, assured me, that if I were to be damned for embracing the [Roman] Catholic Faith, they were ready to answer for me at the day of judgment, and to take my damnation upon themselves, an assurance I could never extort from the Ministers of any sect, in case I should live and die in their religion. From whence I inferred, the Roman Catholic Faith was built upon a better foundation than any of those sects that have divided from it." It has been said that Christianity must be Divine, or it would never have survived the misrepresentations, corruptions, and misdoings of its professed supporters. It must indeed be Divine to survive such a "damnable doctrine" as this. II. Peter, ii. 1.

It is difficult to say which is the worst, Roman or Anglo-Catholic: both are indeed vile.

"Before we

Further, it is said, "We go to Confession before receiving the Sacrament that we may come holy and clean to it." sit down to the Supper of the Lord, we wash our feet in the bath of Absolution."

For sins after Baptism, "to which all are prone," "there is no remedy, save that which Christ has ordained, even the remission of sins, on due repentance and Confession, by the Holy Absolution, given on earth and sealed in heaven."

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"Sin after Baptism were the destruction of the Spiritual Life, if there were no means of removing its foul stains from off the soul." 'The power of the remission of sins is ordained in the hands of the Priesthood, and NO OTHER CHANNEL WHATSOEVER is appointed for our ASSURED forgiveness."

"Absolution is complete forgiveness, the pardon uttered on earth is irrevocable for ever and ever in heaven." "The sins then and there forgiven utterly, shall never be recorded for our condemnation at the judgment." "Though our sins have been as scarlet, yet now [by Absolution] doth God make us white as snow."

"There must be on the part of the Penitent, a deep and adoring conviction that when the human hands of him who has received the Holy Ghost for this express purpose, are laid upon the Penitent's head, and the words uttered by the human voice, 'I absolve thee from all thy sins,' then invisibly the very omnipotent Hand of Christ Himself is laid thereon, with that of His Anointed Servant; and then unheard, the Voice that said unto the sick man, "Thy sins are forgiven thee, go in peace," re-echoes the absolving sentence of His representative, with His Everlasting Fiat."

"The Priest is to be regarded as one possessed of nothing less than the authority of the Lord Christ Himself." "The stupendous nature of his Ordination gift must be well considered." "It is nothing less than the Communication of the Very God, the Holy Ghost Himself."

"The first great effort of the Penitent, therefore, must be to dispossess her mind of all thought of the personality of the Priest as a man, and to see in him only the consecrated representative of her Lord." "Viewed in this light we must consider him as the father of our souls, * * and it is precisely that honour and unquestioning obedience due from a child to her parent, which we are bound to render to the Priest."

"Whatever be the individual differences of Priests, it is none other than the Holy Ghost Himself, Who speaks through their mouth." "We should hold any advice, given in sincerity by them, to be indeed the Will of God for the Penitent."

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"No Spiritual Father would wish to hedge us in too much, but we MUST LEAVE IT TO HIM TO SETTLE THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR FREEDOM, for in Confession it scarce can fail that we should touch on ALL the springs and influences of our inner life, and for EVERY THING therein made known, our sins, temptations, trials, and dangers, in all their bearings, WE ARE BOUND TO SUBMIT ourselves to the remedies and preventions prescribed, whatsoever they may be."

"Whether he leave us much liberty," or "rather find it needful to bind our wayward hearts in chains," "it suffices for the Penitent that the Priest is the Ambassador of Christ to her, and she must accept his words as from the LORD."

"Generally speaking, the very earliest period at which Confession is used, is immediately before Confirmation. Well were it for the Church of Christ, if none ever came to their first Communion without the holy, purifying rite of Confession."

"A first Confession must comprise a large portion of the life;" "it must be distinct, unshrinking, and complete:" "a partial confession cannot avail for the due reception of Absolution." "In truth, it were utterly impossible for the Priest to give Absolution, unless he had a perfect knowledge of all the sins that burden the conscience of the Penitent."

Instructions are given for the preparation of a FIRST Confession. The Penitent is directed "not to let the mind dwell on the anguish of disclosure, or the greatness of the shame it will involve." It is said to the Penitent, "And now in making the actual record of your offences in thought, word, and deed, as you would desire to detail them to the Priest, you will find it, we believe absolutely necessary to note them down in writing one by one as they recur to you." 66 Nothing should be left undone on your part to make the revelation perfect."

"Power," it is declared, "is given to the Priest not only to remit but to retain to bind as well as to loose-and he may not dare to exercise the Absolving portion of this two-fold authority, without possessing an absolute certainty, that there is naught in the Penitent's condition, to compel him to use that other and more awful function.”

"The true Penitent must detail every sin of thought, word, or deed, she can ever remember to have committed, as fully, unreservedly, and strictly," as at the Judgment-day sin will be declared.

The Penitent is cautioned against with-holding any sin. She is told that it is a temptation of the devil "which prompts the Penitent to pass in silence over some degrading thought, or word, or deed."

"The whole truth must be told in Confession." "If one sin however slight be wilfully withheld, the Confession is Sacrilegious."

Expressly "to facilitate" the performance of "this work," a "list of questions on each one of the Commandments" is given, and a hope is expressed that by their aid, the Penitent may be enabled "to sound the depths of [his or her] most hidden guilt." Reference is specially made to the sixth and seventh Commandments.

This list occupies more than fifty closely printed 16mo. pages.

A few examples may be given, but although the Book from which they are taken is put into the hands of Penitents, whether lads or lasses, it is not possible to insert some of the questions in these pages. Ephesians v. 12.

It will be seen that the questions are far-reaching indeed.

"Have you ever indulged your human affections at the expense of your soul's welfare? Have you chosen as objects of your love, any who loved not your Lord?

Have you to please others ever disobeyed the Commandments and Rules of the Church? Have you ever scoffed at, or spoken ill of, this very ordinance of Confession, or prevented any from using it?

Have you at the Consecration failed to recognize the Actual Presence of the Lord, and to make an act of worship inwardly, whilst outwardly the body was maintained in a posture of reverential awe? Have you failed to join in the Sacrifice therein offered by the Great High Priest, through the agency of His earthly representative?

Have you failed to be respectful and deferential to your Parish Priest? Have you ever spoken against him or ridiculed him? Have you failed to be perfectly obedient and submissive to your Spiritual Father [the Priest]? or Perfectly open? concealing nothing from him concerning your spiritual condition? Have you ever spoken lightly or irreverently of a Priest, or a person appointed to any holy function whatever? Have you shown any signs of disapprobation of the preacher, or failed to attend with reverence to his instruction? Have you when in Church, suffered your thoughts to wander ?

Have you failed in duly fasting at the Season of Lent, and have you done so without the permission of your Spiritual guide?

Have you ever cherished any intimacy with persons of unsound faith, unless for the purpose of reclaiming them, and that only if so advised by a Spiritual guide? Have you ever read any books of like tendency?

Have you expended your substance, or an undue portion of it, on those you love, to the hurt of God's poor, and the cause of His Church? Have you ever in any way

defrauded the Church of God, or the poor, of their just claims [the Priest being judge!] on your property? failing to give ever to the utmost of your power?

Have you ever by any means caused your actions to seem prompted by motives different from the reality?

Have you indulged in any ambition for rank; advancement in life; to shine in society by beauty, accomplishments, or wit? Have you thought and talked much of marriage and of earthly love; letting your mind be filled with such matters to the exclusion of higher aspirations? Have you ever prevented any one from devoting themselves to a single life for the kingdom of Heaven's sake? or ridiculed or blamed such a course?

Have you ever permitted yourself to cherish a special affection towards any person to whom you were not bound, nor promised in marriage, and who might therefore become the wife or husband of another, and have you allowed yourself much intimacy with them? openly or secretly?

Have you ever felt any dislike to your Priest, or on the other hand, any undue personal affection? Have you permitted any trait of earthly feeling whatever to mingle with this Spiritual relation? Have you ever joined in, or gone to a religious service, from personal feeling towards any of the Clergy?

Have you ever received the Blessed Sacrament in order to be with any you loved? or In order to receive from any particular Priest? Have you ever permitted yourself to think with preference of one officiating Priest rather than another, from personal feeling towards them? Have you been conscious of pleasure in receiving from any particular Priest ?"*

*A few examples of the questions furnished by another writer for the use of intending Communicants, may not be uninstructive.

Persons, who, after examination, have any doubts as to their fitness to receive the Sacrament, are directed to make Confession of their sins to a Priest; who, if he think them penitent, will grant them Absolution.

"Have I reverenced God's Priesthood? Have I readily submitted my judgment to that of the Church? Have I read any books calculated to shake my faith in God or in the Catholic Religion? [There is also a question about Newspapers.] Have I joined in any schismatical or dissenting worship?

Have I made a point of being present at the offering up of the Holy Eucharist at least once on the Sunday? Have I devoutly worshipped our Lord Jesus Christ as Really Present after the Act of Consecration?

How have I passed this day? Have I longed for pleasures which I know I cannot gratify without sin? Have I flattered any one? and if so, with what motive ? Have I tried to make people think me good, or clever, or learned? Have I been vain of my person? Have I tried to gain notice from the opposite

sex ?"

One of the questions for a wife is,

"Have I by lightness of manner, or indifference to my husband, or in any other way, given him cause for jealousy ?"

It will be seen that belief in the Real Presence, and Worship of Christ, as being Really Present in or under the bread and wine, are required. It will be noticed that the Priest claims a control over a Communicant's actions, reading, &c. But who, it may be asked, gave the Priest wisdom and authority to frame an Index Expurgatorius? And, further, who gave a Priest authority to summon another man's wife to his tribunal? Surely husband and wife, whom God has made one, might be left free from the impertinent intrusion of meddling Priests.

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