Sheep, they should have immediate recourse to the sacrament Like the good shepherd binds up and heals the wounds of his But should they, at any time, prove so unfortunateĪs to fall, then, looking at the infinite goodness of God, who

With the divine assistance, in the ways of God, flying sin ofĮvery sort. Nature, their first and most earnest desire should be, to advance, Impressed with a just sense of the frailty of human Not only for the benefit of the pastor, but also for that of theįaithful at large, whose attention they may awaken, lest theyīe found culpably negligent in a matter of all others the most These instructions, however, are intended Unless he cling to the saving plank of penance, may abandonĪll hope of salvation. Wreck so he that suffers the shipwreck of baptismal innocence, Of safety, unless, perchance, he seize on some plank from the Jerome, which say, that penance is ' a second plank,' are universally known, and highly commended by all who have written on this Sacrament. ' For those who fall into sinĪfter baptism,' say they, ' the sacrament of penance is as necessary to salvation, as is baptism for those who have notīeen already baptized.' On this subject the words of St. Penance may be administered and becomes necessary, as oftenĪs we may have sinned after baptism, according to the definition of the Fathers of Trent. Its exposition demands an accuracy superior to that of baptism.īaptism is administered but once, and cannot be repeated Of the subject, we must come to the conclusion that, in expounding this Sacrament, he can never be sufficiently assiduous. If, therefore, in the exposition of the different matters of instruction, we are to measure the assiduity of the pastor by the weight and importance Known and felt, no one can be ignorant of the paramount necessity of the Sacrament of Penance. As the frailty and weakness of human nature are universally

The catechism of the council of trent