But above all, the faithful should be most careful to cleanse their consciences from sin by frequent confession: when oppressed by mortal guilt, nothing can be more salutary, so precarious is human life, than to have immediate recourse to the tribunal of penance; but could we even promise ourselves length of days, yet should not we who are so particular in whatever relates to cleanliness of dress or person, blush to evince less concern in preserving the lustre of the soul pure and unsullied from the foul stains of sin.
We now come to treat of the minister of this sacrament - That the minster of the sacrament of penance must be a priest possessing ordinary or delegated jurisdiction, the laws of the church sufficiently declare: whoever discharges this sacred function must be invested, not only with the power of orders, but also with that of jurisdiction. Of this ministry we have an illustrious proof in these words of the Redeemer, recorded by St. John: " Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained;" [1] words addressed not to all but to the Apostles only, to whom, in this function of the ministry, priests succeed. This admirably accords with the economy of religion, for as the grace imparted by this sacrament emanates from Christ the head, and is diffused through his members, they who alone have power to consecrate his true body, should alone have power to administer this sacrament to his mystical body, the faithful; particularly as they are qualified and disposed by means of the sacrament of penance, to receive the Holy Eucharist. The scrupulous care which, in the primitive ages of the Church, guarded the right of the ordinary priest, is very intelligible from the ancient decrees of the Fathers, which provided, "that no bishop or priest, except in case of necessity, presume to exercise any function in the parish of another without the authority of the ordinary;" a law which derives its sanction from the Apostle, when he commanded Titus to ordain priests in every city, [2] to administer to the faithful the heavenly food of doctrine and of the sacraments. But in case of imminent danger of death, when recourse cannot be had to the proper priest, that none may perish, the Council of Trent teaches that, according to the ancient practice of the Church of God, it is then lawful for any priest, not only to remit all sorts of sins, whatever faculties they might otherwise require, but also to absolve from excommunication. [3]
Besides the power of orders and of jurisdiction, which are of absolute necessity, the minister of this sacrament, holding as he does, the place at once of judge and physician, should also be gifted with knowledge and prudence. As judge, his knowledge, it is evident, should be more than ordinary, for by it he is to examine into the nature of sins, and, amongst the various sorts of sins, to judge which are grievous and which are not, keeping in view the rank and condition of the person. As physician,
