keep them concealed from him, they will very easily gain strength, and expose us to the danger of some grievous and ruinous fall.

And here it must be observed that, in order to confess with perfect candour, we are to beware lest we cover our sins under the cloak of certain general forms, which are more calculated to deceive our director than to discover to him the real state of our conscience. Instead of adopting expressions of this kind, we must take care to specify the particular sort of faults which we have committed. This is beautifully explained by St. Francis of Sales in his introduction to The Devout Life, where he writes thus: There is a certain routine of superficial accusations made use of by many in their confessions, which ought to be avoided. Thus they say: I have not loved God as much as I ought; I have not prayed so devoutly as I ought; I have not received the sacraments with as much reverence as I ought; and so forth. In all these, and similar accusations, there is nothing from which your confessor can collect the state of your conscience; nothing but what all men upon earth might say, and even the saints in heaven might have said, when they came to confession. Examine, then, what particular cause you have to make such accusations, and when you have discovered it, accuse yourself of it simply and distinctly. . . . Do not accuse yourself of not having prayed to God with as much devotion as you ought; but if you have been guilty of voluntary distractions, or of neglecting to choose a proper time, or place, or posture, for attention in prayer, simply accuse yourself accordingly of it, without any of those general acknowledgments which amount to nothing."

Part ii. chap. xix.

Before concluding this subject, I must point out some mistakes which persons of a timid disposition are very apt to make, for fear of being wanting in sincerity in their confession. The first is of those who are never satisfied with examining their conscience, and who, after having bestowed upon it a longer time than is necessary, still continue to be uneasy, fearing lest they should have failed in searching sufficiently into the recesses of their heart. Persons of this description will do well to reflect, 1st, that the Sacrament of Penance is not a torture of conscience, as Luther blasphemously asserted, but a tribunal of mercy, where God displays, in a special manner, His goodness in our behalf. Hence any reflection which is calculated to strike us with excessive dread and terror of this holy mystery, so as to prevent us from approaching it with sentiments of confidence and love, must be disregarded, and rejected as false. 2d. That in examining ourselves for confession, we are only bound to employ such diligence as we should use in a business of great importance; and if, after using this diligence, we should not succeed in discovering all our faults, we need not trouble ourselves on this account, because we have fulfilled our duty. 3d. That the Saints unanimously assert, and it is proved by experience, that persons of a timid conscience, who are desirous to please God, far from being negligent in examining their conscience, very often fall into the other extreme, that of using too great strictness and severity. These simple reflections ought to be sufficient to dispel their uneasiness, and to restore calm and tranquillity to their hearts.

The second mistake is of those who are never satisfied with the manner in which they confess their sins, and who, after repeating them again and again, are still afraid

of not having explained them with sufficient clearness. The best advice that could be given to persons of this kind is, to distrust their own judgment, and rest entirely on the judgment of their spiritual guide. If he tell them that they have confessed their sins with sufficient clearness, and that they ought to give up every thought of mentioning those matters again, they should endeavour to obey him faithfully, or they will impede their spiritual progress. This advice is also applicable to the case in which they cannot discover whether they have really consented to sin or not; for in this case they must be satisfied with confessing their sins as doubtful, and they should even abstain from mentioning them at all, if the director enjoins them to do so.

ARTICLE VI.

PREPARATION AND THANKSGIVING FOR CONFESSION.

SECTION I.

Preparation for confession.

Prayer before examination of conscience, to ask of God that He will vouchsafe to grant us a knowledge of our sins.

Eternal Source of Light, who trieth the heart and the reins of man, and from whom nothing is hidden, I come to Thee, entreating Thee to pour Thy light into my soul, that by its rays I may discover the state of my conscience, and the sins of which I am guilty before Thee. O Lord, "Let there be light," and then Thy light will dawn upon my soul, and dispel the dark clouds which overshadow it. Shew me myself such as I am in Thy sight, that, recognising the number and enormity of my sins, I may be able to accuse myself of them in the tribunal of

say,

confession, and there obtain pardon. Grant me one ray of that light which Thou wilt pour into my soul at the instant of its separation from the body, when it shall appear at Thy awful tribunal, that, knowing all the deformity of my sins, I may expiate them in the Sacrament of Penance. Shew them to me in that way which shall produce in me a perfect horror and confusion at beholding them, and inspire me with the deepest sorrow. Grant me a true and perfect contrition, that I may so hate and detest them, as to obtain that they may be washed away. Let me not deceive myself by a false repentance, which would only make me still more guilty in Thy sight.

You should then proceed to examine yourself upon the commandments of God, and upon those of the Church; upon mortal sins; upon the duties of your state; upon the affairs in which you have been engaged; and upon the principal accidents which have happened to you; and you should devote sufficient time to this examination, to be able to discover the state of your conscience and the sins which you have committed. After you have discovered your sins, you should excite in yourself a sincere sorrow for them, and make a firm resolution of amendment.

Act of Contrition for those who are guilty of mortal sin.

O infinite majesty of my God! I am so full of shame at the sight of the ingratitude and malice of which I find myself guilty before Thee, that I dare not raise my eyes to heaven. I confess, O most gracious and merciful Lord, that by the multitude and enormity of my sins I have deserved to be abandoned by Thee, and condemned to eternal torments. Ah, unhappy being that I am, how can I have dared to offend Thee! Can it be, O my Saviour, that I have trampled under foot Thy blood, by which I was redeemed; and that I have thus renewed the pains of Thy passion and of Thy death! Ah, why, why did I not die at once, rather than displease Thee!

How could I dare to offend against Thee, who art infinite goodness, wisdom, and beauty! . . . . Thee, who art perfection itself!.... Thee, who art my God, my Creator, my beginning, my end, my happiness, my all! . . . . Thee, from whom I have received my being, my life, and all that I am!.... Thee, who hast guided and protected me with the tenderest love under the shadow of Thy wings! . . . . Thee, who hast adopted me for Thy child, and made me heir to Thy eternal kingdom! Thee, who hast redeemed me by Thy most precious blood, and hast so often nourished me with Thy most sacred body and blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist! And yet, notwithstanding these, Thy great and manifold blessings, I have offended Thee, O my God! I have abandoned Thee, to league with Thy enemies against Thee. I have preferred a vile gratification to Thy love. Oh, ingratitude! Oh, delusion! Oh, madness! Ah, when shall I detest my sins as much as they deserve! O my sweet and merciful Lord Jesus, of whose goodness there is no end, and of whose mercy the treasure is infinite, have pity on me, and save my soul! Pardon me, O most bountiful Lord, pardon me, I entreat Thee, by the merit of Thy bitter passion and death! Remember not my iniquities, but regard Thy infinite mercy. I promise that, by the help of Thy grace, I will never fall into them again. From this very moment I break all the ties that bind me to the world, to the flesh, to the devil, and to sin. I am from this moment firmly resolved to trample under foot all worldly vanities, and to consecrate myself entirely to Thy holy love. Oh, never allow me to fall back into my old habits of sin! Never permit that honours, or interest, or pleasure, or pride, or the love of life, or the fear of death, or any other motive, shall cause me to swerve from Thy divine commands. Grant that I may keep them with my whole heart, though it should cost me the sacrifice of my life, and of all I hold dearest in the world.

Ah, what has been my folly and my wickedness in having so often and so grievously offended my God, my heavenly Father, my gracious and loving Redeemer ! What ingratitude, what an excess of malice! At the very moment I was receiving with one hand the greatest fa