confessing. Therefore' I entreat, and beseech and pray you, that you would continually make your confession to God. For I do not bring thee into the theatre of thy fellow-servants, neither do I constrain thee to discover thy sins unto men: unclasp thy conscience before God, and shew thy wounds unto him, and of him ask a medicine. Shew them to Him that will not reproach, but heal thee. For although thou hold thy peace, he knoweth all. LetTM us not call ourselves sinners only, but let us recount our sins, and repeat every one of them in special. I do not say unto the, Bring thyself upon the stage, nor, Accuse thyself unto others: but I counsel thee to obey the prophet, saying, Reveal thy way unto the Lord. Confess them before God, confess thy sins before the Judge; praying, if not with thy tongue, at least with thy memory: and so look to obtain mercy. But" thou art ashamed to say, that thou hast sinned. Confess thy faults then daily in thy prayer. For do I say, Confess them to thy fellow-servant, who may reproach thee therewith? Confess them to God, who healeth them. For, although thou confess them not at all, God is not ignorant of them. Wherefore then, tell

· Διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλῶ καὶ δέομαι καὶ ἀντιβολῶ, ἐξομολογεῖσθαι συνεχῶς τῷ Θεῷ, οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰς θέατρόν σε ἄγω τῶν συνδούλων τῶν σῶν, οὐδὲ ἐκκαλύψαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀναγκάζω τὰ ἁμαρτήματα· τὸ συνειδὸς ἀνάπτυξον ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτῷ δεῖξον τὰ τραύματα, καὶ παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰ φάρμακα αἴτησον. Δεῖξον τῷ μὴ ὀνειδίζοντί, ἀλλὰ θεραπεύοντι καν γὰρ σὺ σιγήσῃς, οἶδεν ἐκεῖνος ἅπαντα. Id. circa finem hom. 5. περὶ ἀκαταλήπτου, de incomprehensib. Dei natur. op. tom. 1. pag. 490.

* Μὴ ἁμαρτωλοὺς καλῶμεν ἑαυτοὺς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἀναλογιζώμεθα, κατ ̓ εἶδος ἕκαστον ἀναλέγοντες. Οὐ λέγω σοι, ἐκπόμπευσον σαὐτὸν, οὐδὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις κατηγόρησον, ἀλλὰ πείθεσθαι συμβουλεύω τῷ προφήτῃ, λέγοντι, Αποκάλυψον πρὸς Κύριον τὴν ὀδόν σου· ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ὁμολόγησον, ἐπὶ τοῦ δικαστοῦ ὁμολόγει τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, εὐχόμενος, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῇ γλώττῃ ἀλλὰ τῇ μνήμῃ, καὶ οὕτως ἀξίου ἐλεηθῆ ναι. Id. in epist. ad Hebr. cap. 12. homil. 31. op. tom. 12. pag. 289.

» ̓Αλλ' αἰσχύνῃ εἰπεῖν, δίοτι ἥμαρτες. λέγε αὐτὰ καθ ̓ ἡμέραν ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ σου. καὶ τί; μὴ γὰρ λέγω, Εἰπὲ τῷ συνδόυλῳ τῷ ὀνειδίζοντί σε ; εἰπὲ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ θεραπεύοντι αὐτὰ, οὐ γὰρ, ἐὰν μὴ εἴπῃς, ἀγνοῖι αὐτὰ ὁ Θεὸς. Id. in Psal. 50. hom. 2. op. tom. 5. pag. 589.

• Τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκεν αἰσχύνῃ καὶ ἐρυθριᾶς, εἰπέ μοι, τὰ ἁμαρτήματα εἰπεῖν; μὴ γὰρ ἀνθρώπῳ λέγεις, ἵνα ἐνειδίσῃ σε; μὴ γὰρ τῷ συνδούλῳ ὁμολογεῖς, ἵνα ἐκπομπεύσῃ τῷ δεσπότη, τῷ κηδεμόνι, τῷ με

me, art thou ashamed and blushest to confess thy sins? For dost thou discover them to a man, that he may reproach thee? Dost thou confess them to thy fellow-servant, that he may bring thee upon the stage? To Him who is thy Lord, who hath care of thee, who is kind, who is thy physician, thou shewest thy wound. IP constrain thee not, saith God, to go into the midst of the theatre, and to make many witnesses of the matter. Confess thy sin to me alone in private, that I may heal thy sore, and free thee from grief. And this is not only wonderful, that he forgiveth us our sins; but that he neither discovereth them, nor maketh them open and manifest, nor constraineth us to come forth in public and disclose our misdemeanors; but commandeth us to give an account thereof unto him alone, and unto him to make confession of them."

That

Neither doth St. Chrysostom here walk alone. saying of St. Augustine is to the same effect: "What' have I to do with men, that they should hear my confessions, as though they should heal all my diseases?" and that collection of St. Hilary upon the two last verses of the fiftysecond Psalm, that David there teacheth us "to confess to no other but unto the Lord, who hath made the olive fruitful with the mercy of hope (or the hope of mercy) for ever and ever." And that advice of Pinuphius the Ægyp

λανθρώπῳ, τῷ ἰατρῷ τὸ τραῦμα ἐπιδεικνύεις. Id. homil. 4. de Lazaro, op. tom. 1. pag. 757.

* Οὐκ ἀναγκάζω, φησὶν, εἰς μέσον ἐλθεῖν σε θέατρον, καὶ μάρτυρας περιστῆσαι πολλούς. Ἐμοὶ τὸ ἁμάρτημα εἰπὲ μόνῳ κατ' ἰδίαν, ἵνα θεραπεύσω τὸ ἕλκος, καὶ ἀπαλλάξω τῆς ὀδύνης. Id. ibid. pag. 758.

4 Οὐ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι ἀφίησιν ἡμῖν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἀλλ' ὅτι αὐτὰ οὐδὲ ἐκκαλύπτει, οὐδὲ ποιεῖ αὐτὰ φανερὰ καὶ δῆλα, οὐδὲ ἀναγκάζει παρελθόντας εἰς μέσον ἐξειπεῖν τὰ πεπλημμελημένα. ἀλλ ̓ αὐτῷ μόνῷ ἀπολογήσασθαι κελεύει, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξομολογήσασθαι. Ιd. Cateches. 2. op. tom. 2. pag. 240.

r Quid mihi ergo est cum hominibus ut audiant confessiones meas, quasi ipsi sanaturi sint omnes languores meos? Augustin. confess. lib. 10. cap. 3. op. tom. 1. pag. 171.

* Confessionis autem caussam addidit, dicens; Quia fecisti, autorem scilicet universitatis hujus Dominum esse confessus; nulli alii docens confitendum, quam qui fecit olivam fructiferam spei misericordia in seculum seculi. Hilar. in Psal. 51. op. pag. 81.

tian abbot, which I find also inserted amongst the canons collected for the use of the Church of England, in the time of the Saxons, under the title, De pœnitentia soli Deo confitenda: "Who" is it that cannot humbly say, I made my sin known unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid? that by this confession he may confidently adjoin that which followeth: and thou forgavest the impiety of my heart. But if shamefacedness do so draw thee back, that thou blushest to reveal them before men; cease not by continual supplication to confess them unto Him from whom they cannot be hid: and to say, I know mine iniquity, and my sin is against me always; to thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: whose custom is, both to cure without the publishing of any shame, and to forgive sins without upbraiding." St. Augustine, Cassiodor, and Gregory make a further observation upon that place of the thirty-second Psalm: "I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin;" that God, upon the only promise and purpose of making this confession, did forgive the sin. "Mark," saith Gregory, "how great the swiftness is of this vital indulgence, how great the commendation is of God's mercy; that pardon should accompany the very desire of him that is about to confess, before that repentance do come to afflict him; and remission should come to the heart, before that confession did break forth by the voice." So St. Basil, upon those other words of the

Antiq. lib. canon. 66. titulorum, MS. in bibliotheca Cottoniana.

" Quis est qui non possit suppliciter dicere, Peccatum meum cognitum tibi feci, et injustitiam meam non operui? ut per hanc confessionem etiam illud confidenter subjungere mereatur : Et tu remisisti impietatem cordis mei. Quod si, verecundia retrahente, revelare ea coram hominibus erubescis, illi, quem latere non possunt, confiteri ea jugi supplicatione non desinas, ac dicere Iniquitatem meam ego cognosco, et peccatum meum contra me est semper: tibi soli peccavi et malum coram te feci: qui et absque ullius verecundiæ publicatione curare, et sine improperio peccata donare consuevit. Jo. Cassian. collat. 20. cap. 8.

* Attende quanta sit indulgentiæ vitalis velocitas, quanta misericordiæ Dei commendatio: ut confitentis desiderium comitetur venia, antequam ad cruciatum perveniat pœnitentia; ante remissio ad cor perveniat, quam confessio in vocem erumpat. Greg. exposit. 2. Psal. Pœnitential. op. tom. 3. par. 2. pag. 476.

Psalmist, "I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart," maketh this paraphrase: "I do not confess with my lips, that I may manifest myself unto many; but inwardly in my very heart, shutting mine eyes, to thee alone, who seest the things that are in secret, do I shew my groans, roaring within myself. For the groans of my heart sufficed for a confession, and the lamentations sent to thee my God from the depth of my soul."

And as St. Basil maketh the groans of the heart to be a sufficient confession, so doth St. Ambrose the tears of the penitent. "Tears"," saith he, "do wash the sin, which the voice is ashamed to confess. Weeping doth provide both for pardon and for shamefacedness: tears do speak our fault without horror, tears do confess our crime without offence of our shamefacedness." From whence, he that glosseth upon Gratian, who hath inserted these words of St. Ambrose into his collection of the decrees, doth infer, that, if for shame a man will not confess, tears alone do blot out his sin." Maximus Taurinensis followeth St. Ambrose herein almost verbatim. "The tear," saith he, "washeth the sin, which the voice is ashamed to confess. Tears therefore do equally provide both for our shamefacedness and for our health: they neither blush in asking, and they obtain in requesting." Lastly, Prosper,

y Psal. 38. ver 8.

· Οὐ γὰρ ἵνα τοῖς πολλοῖς φανερὸς γένωμαι, τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐξομολογού μαι. ἔνδον δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ καρδίᾳ τὸ ὄμμα μύων, σοὶ μόνῳ τῷ βλέποντι τὰ ἐν κρυπτῷ, τοὺς ἐμαυτοῦ στεναγμοὺς ἐπιδεικνύω, ἐν ἐμαυτῷ ὠρυόμενος. Οὐδε γὰρ μακρῶν μοι λόγων χρεία ἦν πρὸς τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν. ἀπήρκουν γὰρ οἱ στεναγμοὶ τῆς καρδίας μοῦ πρὸς ἐξομολόγησιν, καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ βάθους ψυχῆς πρὸς σὲ τὸν θεὸν ἀναπεμπόμενοι ὀδυρμοί. Basil. in Psal. 37. op. tom. 1. pag. 367.

a Lavant lachrymæ delictum, quod voce pudor est confiteri. Et veniæ fletus consulunt, et verecundiæ: lachrymæ sine horrore culpam loquuntur; lachrymæ crimen sine offensione verecundiæ confitentur. Ambros. lib. 10. comment. in Luc. sec. 88. op. tom. 1. pag. 1523.

b Unde, etsi propter pudorem nolit quis confiteri, solæ lachrymæ delent peccata. Gloss, de Pœnit. distinct. 1. cap. 2. Lachrymæ.

c Lavat lachryma delictum, quod voce pudor est confiteri. Lachrymæ ergo verecundiæ consulunt, pariter et saluti; nec erubescunt in petendo, et impetrant in rogando. Maxim. homil. de pœnitent. Petri, tom. 5. biblioth. patr. part. 1. pag. 21. edit. Colon.

speaking of sins committed by such as are in the ministry, writeth thus: "Theyd shall more easily appease God, who, being not convicted by human judgment, do of their own accord acknowledge their offence: who either do discover it by their own confessions, or, others not knowing what they are in secret, do themselves give sentence of voluntary excommunication upon themselves; and being separated, not in mind but in office, from the altar to which they did minister, do lament their life as dead; assuring themselves, that, God being reconciled unto them by the fruits of effectual repentance, they shall not only receive what they have lost, but also, being made citizens of that city which is above, they shall come to everlasting joys." By this it appeareth, that the ancient fathers did not think, that the remission of sins was so tied unto external confession, that a man might not look for salvation from God, if he concealed his faults from man: but that inward contrition, and confession made to God alone, was sufficient in this case. Otherwise, neither they nor we do debar men from opening their grievances unto the physicians of their souls; either for their better information in the true state of their disease, or for the quieting of their troubled consciences, or for receiving further direction from them out of God's word, both for the recovery of their present sickness, and for the prevention of the like danger in time to come.

"If I shall sin, although it be in any small offence, and my thought do consume me, and accuse me, saying: Why

d Deum sibi facilius placabunt illi, qui non humano convicti judicio, sed ultro, crimen agnoscunt: qui aut propriis illud confessionibus produnt, aut nescientibus aliis quales occulti sunt, ipsi in se voluntariæ excommunicationis sententiam ferunt, et ab altari cui ministrabant, non animo sed officio separati, vitam tanquam mortuam plangunt; certi quod, reconciliato sibi efficacis pœnitentiæ fructibus Deo, non solum amissa recipiant, sed etiam cives supernæ civitatis effecti, ad gaudia sempiterna perveniant. Prosper, de vita contemplativa, lib. 2. cap. 7.

e Si peccavero, etiam in quocunque minuto peccato, et consumit me cogitatio mea, et arguit me, dicens: Quare peccasti? quid faciam? Respondet senex: Quacunque hora ceciderit homo in culpam, et dixerit ex corde, Domine Deus, peccavi, indulge mihi; mox cessabit cogitationis vel tristitiæ illa consumptio. Respons. patr. Ægypt. a Paschasio diacono Latine ver. cap. 11.

VOL. III.

H