which the soul is fettered, and from the bondage of which it is "loosed" by the sacrament of penance. This form is not less true, when pronounced by the priest over him, who by means of perfect contrition, has already obtained the pardon of his sins. Perfect contrition, it is true, reconciles the sinner to God, but his justification is not to be ascribed to perfect contrition alone, independently of the desire which it includes of receiving the sacrament of penance. Many prayers accompany the form, not because they are deemed necessary, but in order to remove every obstacle, which the unworthiness of the penitent may op pose to the efficacy of the sacrament. Let then the sinner pour out his heart in fervent thanks to God, who has invested the ministers of his Church with such ample powers! Unlike the authority given to the priests of the Old Law, to declare the leper cleansed from his leprosy, [1] the power with which the priests of the New Law are invested, is not simply to declare that sins are forgiven, but, as the ministers of God, really to absolve from sin; a power which God himself, the author and source of grace and justification, exercises through their ministry.
The rites used in the administration of this sacrament, also demand the serious attention of the faithful. They will enable them to form a more just estimate of the blessings which it be stows, recollecting that as servants, they are reconciled to the best of masters, or rather, as children, to the tenderest of fathers. They will, also, serve to place in a clearer point of view, the duty of those who desire, and desire every one should, to evince their grateful recollection of so inestimable a favour. Humbled in spirit, the sincere penitent casts himself down at the feet of the priest, to testify, by this his humble demeanour, that he acknowledges the necessity of eradicating pride, the root of all those enormities which he now deplores. In the minister of God, who sits in the tribunal of penance as his legitimate judge, he venerates the power and person of our Lord Jesus Christ; for in the administration of this, as in that of the other sacraments, the priest represents the character and dis charges the functions of Jesus Christ. Acknowledging him self deserving of the severest chastisements, and imploring the pardon of his guilt, the penitent next proceeds to the confession of his sins. To the antiquity of all these rites St. Denis bears the most authentic testimony. [2]
To the faithful, however, nothing will be found more advantageous, nothing better calculated to animate them to frequent the sacrament of penance with alacrity, than the frequent exposition of the inestimable advantages which it confers. They will then see, that of penance it may be truly said: that " its root is bitter, but its fruit sweet." The great efficacy of penance is, therefore, that it restores us to the favour of God, and unites
