Let us examine ourselves, whether our chains be loosed, that we may proceed better. If they be not loosed, deliver thyself over to the disciples of Jesus: For, there are some present who can loose thee, pursuant to that power which they have received from the Saviour. For whatsoever you shall bind, says he, on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven: and whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them.

ST. BASIL, AND ST. GREGORY OF NYSSA.

St. Basil, who died in the year, 378 says in express terms: that one must necessarily confess his sins to those who have received from God the dispensation of his mysteries. Regula 288. Tom. 2. ed. Paris, p. 728. Now, to whom has the dispensation of the mysteries of God been entrusted, if not to the Priests? Can any thing be more formal, and more decidedly opposite to what is generally pretended by Protestants? Let them say after this: that it is good, it is profitable to confess the sins that particularly burden the conscience, in order to ask counsel of the Priest or to receive his instructions; but it is not what St. Basil requires: This Father expressly says, that it is necessary necessarium est, åvayxasov. Let it not be said also, that he speaks here of confession made in general terms only, whereby one acknowledges himself guilty, and a sinner; but St. Basil exacts that the confession be made, in order that the penance may be proportioned acccording to the quality of the sin. Now, how is it possible for the priest to proportion the penance without having an exact knowledge of the sin? He says, moreover, that as one does not show the infirmities of his body to every person indifferently, but only to those who understand how to cure them, so one should not make a confession of his sins, except to those who are able to apply a remedy to them. ibid. But is it customary for a person to say in general terms only, that he is sick? Does he not take care to specify in the most particular manner, as well as he is able, all his complaints, in order that his physician may be able to apply the most convenient remedies? It must be therefore manifest, that the intention of St. Basil is, to exact a similar conduct from the penitent, towards the physician of his soul; and this is moreover precisely the advise, which St. Gregory, the brother of St. Basil, gives to the penitents. Boldly discover, says he, in his orat. in mulierem peccatricem. T. 2, to your spiritual father all that you have most hidden, put him in possession every thing that

passes in the bottom of your heart, as you would show to a physician your hidden wounds.

ST. AMBROSE.

St. Ambrose, in his second book on penance, chap. 3. T. 2. ed. nov. Paris, p. 420. says: that the Lord has ordained, that the greatest sinners should be admitted to the participation of the heavenly gifts, provided they do penance for their sms with all their heart, acknowledging themselves guilty, by a sincere confession. Here we may remark the condition, which the saint requires as necessary to be reinstated, in the favour of God and participation of his holy mysteries: the sinner must declare his sins, by an humble and sincere confession. If it be pretended that he speaks only of public sins and a public confession, it is easy to show, that St. Ambrose requires equally, that the confession be made of the most secret sins; for he says in the 16th chap. of his book on penance, that he who performs an exact penance for all his sins, does not on this account receive the advantages of a reconciliation, but he must be reinstated, through the ministry of priests. But what need I reçur to the words of the saint, when we have in his conduct the most complete and satisfactory proof of the point we maintain? It is said in his life, written by Paulinus, one of his deacons, and consequently a contemporary author, that he shed many tears whilst hearing the confessions of the penitents, and thereby obliged them to weep with him. This author adds, moreover, that the saint observed a profound secresy, in all that had been committed to him, and that he spoke of it, but to God alone, in order to implore his mercies.

ST. PACIAN.

St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona, lived under the reign of Valens. He died in the year 390, under that of Theodosius, after having governed his flock with a most edifying holiness, and distinguished himself as well by his exemplary virtues, as by his superior talents and eloquence.

In an exhortation to penance, made by this holy bishop, we have the strongest evidence, that nothng less was required of the penitents of the fourth century, than is required, in our days. He therein conjures his flock, by him, to whom the most hidden things are known,

not to conceal any thing, nor to disguise their wounded consciences. In Parencesi. ad. Pœnit. Biblioth. Pot. Tom. 4. p. 316. He also complains of those who address themselves to ignorant and uninformed priests, with a view to surprise them. He tells them, that there are some who confess properly their sins, and explain them sufficiently, but who refuse to submit to the painful exercises of penance. He compares them to those who calling in a physician, discover to him their wounds, but neglect to apply the remedy or observe the prescription. ibid.

ST. JEROME.

This great doctor was born about the year 340, and died on the 30th of September, 420, aged 80 years. In his admirable letter to Helidorus, he writes thus: Far be it from me to say any thing disadvantageous of those, who being the successors of the Apostles, consecrate with their sacred mouth the body of Christ, by whom we are also Christians, and who have the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and in some manner judge before the last judgment. The priests, continues he, have not only power to forgive sins, when they baptize, but even after. See the same, in his comment. upon the 10th chap. of Ecclesiastes; and upon the 26th chap. of St. Matthew.

ST. AUGUSTIN.

I now come to St. Augustin, one of the brightest luminaries of the Christian church, who lived from the year 354 to 430, a period of 76 years. I should never end, were I to undertake to cite all the passages which are scattered through the voluminous works of this great man, in proof of confession. I shall therefore content myself, with simply producing one or two, which set forth in the clearest and most unequivocal terms, the whole doctrine for which we contend. In his 49th Hom. T. 10. ed. Froben. p. 549. we read these words: Let no one say, (mark what follows) I do penance privately with God, who knows my sins: For then in vain was it said, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: Were then the keys given in vain to the church of God? We frustrate the gospel, we frustrate the words of Christ. And in his following Homily he adds: that whosoever is burdened with mortal sins, and has not recourse to the keys of the church,

Now, it is easy makes the enu

hopes for salvation in vain. Hom. 50. T. 10. p. 559. to perceive, that amongst the mortal sins, of which he meration, there are many hidden, and which never come before the public eye. He therefore enjoins, that the sinner, as soon as he shall have formed the sincere resolution to amend his life, repair to the priests charged with the ministry of the keys, in order to expose to them, the state of his conscience, and to learn from them, what satisfaction he is to make for his sins, exacting moreover from him, that if he has given any scandal, to be ready to repair it b a public confession, according to the advice of him to whom he shall have declared all things. Veniat ad Antistites, per quos illi claues in ecclesia ministrantur, &c. ibid,

CHAP. VII.

TESTIMONIES OF THE FATHERS FROM THE
YEAR 400 TO 500.

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.

THIS great doctor was contemporary to St Augutin. He died on the 14th September, in the year 407, after having governed his flock nine years and eight months. In his third book de Sacerdotic. T. 5. apud Hugonem, page 509, he points out the difference between the priests of the old law, and those of the new. He says: that the former, had the power to declare that persons were healed of the lepro utter (the priests of the new law) had the power to

sy, whereas the cure them effer

YAM

How does this agree with what Protestants pretend in genti, that the Priest has power to declare simply the benefit of reconciliation, and that he does not in any manner act as judge, to take cognizance of the cause; it is on this ground they dispense with the obligation of private and particular confession, but this principle is declared by St. Chrysostom, in the most explicit terms, to be wholly false. His words are these: At vero sacerdotibus nostris non corporis lepram vero animo sordes, non dico purgatos probare, sed purgare prorsus concessum est. He adds also in the same place, that God has given a power to the priests, which he has given neither to the Angels nor Archangels, having never said to them: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, &c. and a few lines after he says: that the eternal Father, gave the power of judging to his son, iñ

G

ull iis extent, and that this same power was given by the son of God tó them. How then can they deny this quality to the priests, if it be true, as St. Chrysostom says, that it has been communicated to them by Jesus Christ, without any reserve? And if the priests be true judges, how will they judge, if they be not informed of what should constitute the matter of their judgment?

But what need have I to dive into the principles of the saint, to find a proof of the necessity of confessing one's sins in detail to a priest, when his very words so formally point out this obligation? Does he not exact as the first duty of penance, to condemn one's sins, and to confess them? Hom. 9. in Ep. ad. Heb. Aud to prove that it is to the priest we must confess them, does he not add a little below: that we must pay that respect to the priest, which is due them, because it belongs to them to remit sin? Does he not exhort the faithful to make a sincere confession during holy week, by representing to them the conveniency of the time to declare their sins to the priest, and to discover their wounds to their spiritual physician? Hom. 30. in Genes. T. 1. p. 50. 51. Does he not say, that the bishop, or he who is charged with the care of souls, ought to enter into all the secret folds of the heart, making a most diligent and exact search, in order that nothing may escape him? That he must inform himself most particularly of all the diseases, in order to be able to apply the proper remedies? Lib. 2. de Sacerdot. T. 4. apud Hug. p. 500. Does he not quote the example of the Samaritan woman, in order to exhort the faithful not to be ashamed to confess their sins? Does he not openly

declare to them, that should they neglect to confest their most secret sins, they will not escape the public confusion whicy will have to undergo at the day of judgment before the whole world? Hom. in John. T. 3. op. 36.—What more clear?

ST. LEO, SURNAMED THE GREAT.

THIS learned and holy man died about 30 years after St. Austin. He began to abolish the custom of publicly confessing in the Latin church, and allowed only of confessions made in private to a priest; which shows that public confession was a point of mere discipline and consequently subject to change, and that the necessity of obtaining the absolution of a priest, after having made a faithful confession of all mortal sins, has always been deemed invariable: These are the words