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| Chapter VIII. Of the various fruits of penitence.
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Chapter VIII.
Of the various fruits of penitence.
For after that grace of
baptism which is common to all, and that most precious gift of
martyrdom which is gained by being washed in blood, there are many
fruits of penitence by which we can succeed in expiating our sins. For
eternal salvation is not only promised to the bare fact of penitence,
of which the blessed Apostle Peter says: “Repent and be converted
that your sins may be forgiven;” and John the Baptist and the
Lord Himself: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand:”2128
but also by
the affection of love is the weight of our sins overwhelmed: for
“charity covers a multitude of sins.”2129
In the same way also by the fruits of
almsgiving a remedy is provided for our wounds, because “As water
extinguishes fire, so does almsgiving extinguish sin.”2130
So also by the shedding of tears is gained
the washing away of offences, for “Every night I will wash my
bed: I will water my couch with tears.” Finally to show that they
are not shed in vain, he adds: “Depart from me all ye that
work iniquity, for the Lord
hath heard the voice of my weeping:”2131
Moreover by means of confession of sins, their absolution is granted:
for “I said: I will confess against myself my sin to the Lord:
and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart;” and again:
“Declare thine iniquities first, that thou mayest be
justified.”2132
| 2132 Ps.
xxxi. (xxxii.) 5; Is. xliii. 26. | By afflicting
the heart and body also is forgiveness of sins committed in like manner
obtained, for he says: “Look on my humility and my labour, and
forgive me all my sins;” and more especially by amendment of
life: “Take away,” he says, “the evil of your
thoughts from mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Seek
judgment, relieve the oppressed: judge the orphan, defend the widow.
And come, reason with Me, saith the Lord: and though your sins were as
scarlet, yet shall they be as white as snow, though they were red as
crimson, they shall be as white as wool.”2133
| 2133 Ps. xxiv. (xxv.) 18; Is. i.
16–18. | Sometimes too the pardon of our sins is
obtained by the intercession of the saints, for “if a man knows
his brother to sin a sin not unto death, he asks, and He will give to
him his life, for him that sinneth not unto death;” and again:
“Is any sick among you? Let him send for the Elders of the Church
and they shall pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will
raise him up, and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven
him.”2134
Sometimes too
by the virtue of compassion and faith the stains of sin are removed,
according to this passage: “By compassion and faith sins are
purged away.”2135
And often by the
conversion and salvation of those who are saved by our warnings and
preaching: “For he who converts a sinner from the error of his
way, shall save his soul from death, and cover a multitude of
sins.”2136
Moreover by
pardon and forgiveness on our part we obtain pardon of our sins:
“For if ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you your sins.”2137
You see
then what great means of obtaining mercy the compassion of our Saviour
has laid open to us, so that no one when longing for salvation need be
crushed by despair, as he sees himself called to life by so many
remedies. For if you plead that owing to weakness of the flesh you
cannot get rid of your sins by fasting, and you cannot say: “My
knees are weak from fasting, and my flesh is changed for oil; for I
have eaten ashes for my bread, and mingled my drink with
weeping,”2138
then atone
for them by profuse almsgiving. If you have nothing that you can give
to the needy (although the claims of want and poverty exclude none from
this office, since the two mites of the widow are ranked higher than
the splendid gifts of the rich, and the Lord promises that He will give
a reward for a cup of cold water), at least you can purge them away by
amendment of life. But if you cannot secure perfection in goodness by
the eradication of all your faults, you can show a pious anxiety for
the good and salvation of another. But if you complain that you are not
equal to this service, you can cover your sins by the affection of
love. And if in this also some sluggishness of mind makes you weak, at
least you should submissively with a feeling of humility entreat for
remedies for your wounds by the prayers and intercession of the saints.
Finally who is there who cannot humbly say: “I have acknowledged
my sin: and mine unrighteousness have I not hid;” so that by this
confession he may be able also to add this: “And Thou forgavest
the iniquity of my heart.”2139
But if
shame holds you back, and you blush to reveal them before men, you
should not cease to confess them with constant supplication to Him from
Whom they cannot be hid, and to say to Him: “I acknowledge mine
iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I
sinned, and have done evil before Thee;”2140
as He is wont to heal them without any publication which brings shame,
and to forgive sins without any reproaching. And further besides that
ready and sure aid the Divine condescension has afforded us another
also that is still easier, and has entrusted the possession of the
remedy to our own will, so that we can infer from our own feelings the
forgiveness of our offences, when we say to Him: “Forgive us our
debts as we also forgive our debtors.”2141
Whoever then desires to obtain forgiveness of his sins, should study to
fit himself for it by these means. Let not the stubbornness of an
obdurate heart turn away any from the saving remedy and the fount of so
much goodness, because even if we have done all these things, they will
not be able to expiate our offences, unless they are blotted out by the
goodness and mercy of the Lord, who when He sees the service of pious
efforts offered by us with a humble heart, supports our small and puny
efforts with the utmost bounty, and says: “I even I am He that
blotteth out thine iniquities for Mine own sake, and I will remember
thy sins no more.”2142
Whoever then is
aiming
at this
condition, which we have mentioned, will seek the grace of satisfaction
by daily fasting and mortification of heart and body, for, as it is
written, “Without shedding of blood there is no
remission;”2143
and this not
without good reason. For “flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God.”2144
And therefore
one who would withhold “the sword of the spirit which is the word
of God”2145
from this
shedding of blood certainly comes under the lash of that curse of
Jeremiah’s; for “Cursed,” says he “is he who
withholds his sword from blood.”2146
For this is the sword which for our good sheds that bad blood whereby
the material of our sins lives; and cuts off and pares away everything
carnal and earthly which it finds to have grown up in the members of
our soul; and makes men die to sin and live to God, and flourish with
spiritual virtues. And so he will begin to weep no more at the
recollection of former sins, but at the hope of what is to come, and,
thinking less of past evils than of good things to come, will shed
tears not from sorrow at his sins, but from delight in that eternal
joy, and “forgetting those things which are behind,” i.e.,
carnal sins, will press on “to those before,”2147
i.e., to spiritual gifts and
virtues.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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