hast thou sinned? what shall I do?" said a brother once to abbot Arsenius. The old man answered: "Whatsoever hour a man shall fall into a fault, and shall say from his heart, Lord God, I have sinned, grant me pardon; that consumption of thought or heaviness shall cease forthwith." And it was as good a remedy as could be prescribed for a green wound, to take it in hand presently, to present it to the view of our heavenly physician, to prevent Satan by taking his office (as it were) out of his hand, and accusings ourselves first, that we may be justified. But when But when it is not taken in time, but suffered to fester and rankle, the cure will not now prove to be so easy it being found true by often experience, that the wounded conscience will still pinch grievously, notwithstanding the confession made unto God in secret. At such a time as this then, where the sinner can find no ease at home, what should he do but use the best means he can to find it abroad? "Ish there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there?" No doubt but God hath provided both the one and the other, for "recovering of the health of the daughter of his people :" and St. James hath herein given us this direction, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. According to which prescription Gregory Nyssen, toward the end of his sermon of Repentance, useth this exhortation to the sinner. "Bek sensible of the disease

Novit omnia Dominus, sed expectat vocem tuam ; non ut puniat, sed ut ignoscat: non vult ut insultet tibi diabolus, et celantem peccata tua arguat. Præveni accusatorem tuum: si te ipse accusaveris, accusatorem nullum timebis. Ambr. de pœnitent. lib. 2. cap. 7. op. tom. 2. pag. 428.

Μὴ γὰρ σὺ, σαὐτὸν ἐὰν μὴ εἴπῃς ἁμαρτωλὸν, οὐκ ἔχεις κατήγορον τὸν διάβολον ; πρόλαβε καὶ ἅρπασον αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀξίωμα, ἐκείνου γὰρ ἀξίωμα τὸ κατηγορεῖν. τί οὖν οὐ προλαμβάνεις αὐτὸν, καὶ λέγεις τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ ἐξαλείφεις τὸ ἁμάρτημα, εἰδὼς ὅτι τοιοῦτον κατήγορον Exεis oiyñoαi μr dvváμevov; Chrysost. de pœnit. serm. 2. tom. 2. pag. 287. 8 Λέγε σὺ τὰς ἀνομίας σοῦ πρῶτος, ἵνα δικαιωθῆς. LXX. in Esai. cap. 43. ver. 26. et Proverb. cap. 18. ver. 17.

h Jerem. chap. 8. ver. 22.

i Jam. chap. 5. ver. 16.

* Εὐαίσθητος γένου πρὸς τὴν περιέχουσάν σε νόσον. σύντριψον σαύτὸν ὅσον δύνασαι. ζήτησον καὶ ἀδελφῶν ὁμοψύχων πένθος βοηθοῦν σοι πρὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. δεῖξόν μοι πικρὸν σοῦ καὶ δαψιλὲς τὸ δάκρυον, ἵνα

wherewith thou art taken, afflict thyself as much as thou canst. Seek also the mourning of thy entirely affected brethren, to help thee unto liberty. Shew me thy bitter and abundant tears, that I may also mingle mine therewith. Take likewise the priest for a partner of thine affliction, as thy father. For who is it that so falsely obtaineth the name of a father, or hath so adamantine a soul, that he will not condole with his son's lamenting? Shew unto him without blushing the things that were kept close discover the secrets of thy soul, as shewing thy hidden disease unto thy physician. He will have care both of thy credit and of thy cure."

It was no part of his meaning to advise us, that we should open ourselves in this manner unto every hedgepriest; as if there were a virtue generally annexed to the order, that, upon confession made, and absolution received from any of that rank, all should be straight made up: but he would have us communicate our case both to such Christian brethren, and to such a ghostly father, as had skill in physic of this kind, and out of a fellow-feeling of our grief would apply themselves to our recovery. Therefore, saith Origen, "Look' about thee diligently, unto whom thou oughtest to confess thy sin. Try first the physician, unto whom thou oughtest to declare the cause of thy malady, who knoweth to be weak with him that is weak, to weep with him that weepeth, who understandeth the discipline of condoling and compassionating; that so at length, if he shall say any thing, who hath first

μίξω καὶ τὸ ἐμὸν. λάβε καὶ τὸν ἱερέα κοινωνὸν τῆς θλίψεως, ὡς πατέρα. τὶς γὰρ οὕτως πατὴρ ψευδώνυμος, ἢ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀδαμάντινος, ὡς μὴ συνοδύρεσθαι τοῖς τέκνοις λυπουμένοις; &c. δεῖξον αὐτῷ ἀνερυθριάστως τὰ κεκρυμμένα γύμνωσον τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπόῤῥητα, ὡς ἰατρῷ πάθος δεικνύων κεκαλυμμένον. αὐτὸς ἐπιμελήσεται. καὶ τῆς εὐσχημοσύνης καὶ τῆς θεραTeias. Greg. Nyssen. de pœnitent. op. tom. 2. pag. 175, 176.

Tantummodo circumspice diligentius, cui debeas confiteri peccatum tuum. Proba prius medicum, cui debeas causam languoris exponere; qui sciat infirmari cum infirmante, flere cum flente, qui condolendi et compatiendi noverit disciplinam: ut ita demum, si quid ille dixerit, qui se prius et eruditum medicum ostenderit et misericordem, si quid consilii dederit, facias et sequaris. Orig. in Psal. 37. hom. 2. op. tom. 2. pag. 688.

shewed himself to be both a skilful physician and a merciful, or if he shall give any counsel, thou mayest do and follow it." For, as St. Basil well noteth, "them very same course is to be held in the confession of sins, which is in the opening of the diseases of the body. As men therefore do not discover the diseases of their body to all, nor to every sort of people, but to those that are skilful in the cure thereof: even so ought the confession of our sins to be made unto such as are able to cure them; according to that which is written, Ye, that are strong, bear the infirmities of the weak, that is, take them away by your diligence." He requireth care and diligence in the performance of the cure: being ignorant, good man, of that new compendious method of healing, invented by our Roman Paracelsians, whereby a man, "in" confession, of attrite is made contrite by virtue of the keys;" that the sinner need put his ghostly father to no further trouble than this, Speak the word only, and I shall be healed." And this is that sacramental confession, devised of late by the priests of Rome, which they notwithstanding would fain father upon St. Peter, from whom the Church of Rome, as they would have us believe, received this instruction: "that" if envy, or infidelity, or any other evil, did secretly creep into any man's heart, he, who had care of his own soul, should not be ashamed to confess those things unto him who had the oversight over him; that by God's word and wholesome counsel he might be cured by him." And so

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m Ἡ ἐξαγόρευσις τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν λόγον, ὃν ἔχει ἡ ἐπίδειξις τῶν σωματικῶν παθῶν. ὡς οὖν τὰ πάθη του σώματος οὐ πᾶσιν ἀποκαλύπτουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὔτε τοῖς τυχοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐμπείροις τῆς τούτων θεραπείας· οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἐξαγόρευσις τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων γίνεσθαι ὀφείλει, ἐπὶ τῶν δυναμένων θεραπεύειν, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· ὑμεῖς οἱ δυνατοὶ, τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζετε, τουτέστι, ἀίρετε διὰ Tñs kπipedεîaç. Basil. in regul. brevioribus reip. 229. op. tom. 2. pag. 492. "Secundum archiepisc. imo sanctum Thomam, et alios theologos, in confessione fit quis de attrito contritus, virtute clavium. Summa Sylvestrina: de confess. sacramental. cap. 1. sec. 1.

• Quod si forte alicujus cor vel livor, vel infidelitas, vel aliquod malum latenter irrepserit; non erubescat, qui animæ suæ curam gerit, confiteri hæc huic qui præest: ut ab ipso per verbum Dei et consilium salubre curetur. Clem. epist. 1. apud Coteler. tom. 1. pag. 618.

indeed we read in the apocryphal epistle of Clement, pretended to be written unto St. James the brother of our Lord, where, in the several editions of Crab, Sichardus, Venradius, Surius, Nicholinus, and Binius, we find this note also laid down in the margin; "Nota de confessione sacramentali: mark this of sacramental confession." But their own Maldonat would have taught them, that this note was not worth the marking: forasmuch as the proper end of sacramental confession is the obtaining of remission of sins, by virtue of the keys of the Church; whereas the end of the confession, here said to be commended by St. Peter, was the obtaining of counsel out of God's word for the remedy of sins: which kind of medicinal confession we well approve of, and acknowledge to have been ordinarily prescribed by the ancient fathers, for the cure of secret sins.

For as for notorious offences, which bred open scandal, private confession was not thought sufficient: but there was further required public acknowledgment of the fault, and the solemn use of the keys, for the reconciliation of the penitent. "If his sin do not only redound to his own evil, but also unto much scandal of others, and the bishop thinketh it to be expedient for the profit of the Church, let him not refuse to perform his penance in the knowledge of many, or of the whole people also; let him not resist, let him not by his shamefacedness add swelling to his deadly and mortal wound :" saith St. Augustine; and more largely in another place, where he meeteth with the objection of the sufficiency of internal repentance, in this manner: "Let no man say unto himself, I do it

P Maldonat. disputat. de sacrament. tom. 2. de confessionis origine, cap. 2. Si peccatum ejus non solum in gravi ejus malo, sed etiam in tanto scandalo est aliorum, atque hoc expedire utilitati Ecclesiæ videtur antistiti, in notitia multorum, vel etiam totius plebis, agere pœnitentiam non recuset; non resistat; non lethali et mortiferæ plagæ per pudorem addat tumorem. Augustin. serm. 351. de pœnitentia, op. tom. 5. pag. 1359.

Nemo sibi dicat, Occulte ago, apud Deum ago; novit Deus qui mihi ignoscat, quia in corde meo ago. Ergo sine causa dictum est, Quæ solveritis in terra, soluta erunt in cœlo? Ergo sine causa sunt claves datæ Ecclesiæ Dei? Frustramus evangelium, Frustramus verba Christi? Promittimus vobis quod ille negat?

secretly, I do it before God; God who pardoneth me doth know that I do it in my heart. Is it therefore said without cause, Whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven? Are the keys therefore without cause given unto the Church of God? Do we frustrate the Gospel of God? Do we frustrate the words of Christ? Do we promise that to you which he denieth you? Do we not deceive you? Job saith, If I was abashed to confess my sins in the sight of the people. So just a man of God's rich treasure, who was tried in such a furnace, saith thus: and doth the child of pestilence withstand me, and is ashamed to bow his knee under the blessing of God? That, which the emperor was not ashamed to do, is he ashamed of, who is not so much as a senator, but only a simple courtier? O proud neck, O crooked mind! perhaps, nay it is not to be doubted, it was for this reason God would that Theodosius the emperor should do public penance in the sight of the people, especially because his sin could not be concealed: and is a senator ashamed of that, whereof the emperor was not ashamed? Is he ashamed of that, who is no senator but a courtier only, whereof the emperor was not ashamed? Is one of the vulgar sort, or a trader, ashamed of that, whereof the emperor was not ashamed? What pride is this? Were not this alone sufficient to bring them to hell, although no adultery had been committed?" Thus far St. Augustine, concerning the necessity of public repentance for known offences: which being in tract of time disused in some places, long after this, the bishops of France, by the assistance of Charles the great, caused it to be

Nonne vos decipimus? Job dicit: "Si erubui, in conspectu populi confiteri peccata mea." Talis justus, thesauri divini obryzium, tali camino probatus, ista dicit: et resistit mihi filius pestilentiæ, et erubescit genu figere sub benedictione Dei? Quod non erubuit imperator, erubescit nec senator, sed tantum curialis? Superba cervix, mens tortuosa! fortassis, imo quod non dubitatur, propterea Deus voluit ut Theodosius imperator ageret pœnitentiam publicam in conspectu populi, maxime quia peccatum ejus celari non potuit: et erubescit senator, quod non erubuit imperator? Erubescit nec senator, sed tantum curialis, quod non erubuit imperator? Erubescit plebeius sive negotiator, quod non erubuit imperator? Quæ ista superbia est ? Nonne sola sufficeret gehennæ, etiamsi adulterium nullum esset? Id. serm. 392. op. tom. 5. pag. 1504. Concil. Arelat. IV. cap. 26. et Cabilonens. II. cap. 25.