Part 111, Chapter I: Excellence and Importance of the Office: Of Confessor

Excellence and Importance of the Office

Of Confessor

JESUS CHRIST has made every priest His associate in the infinite power of His Divinity. He has given the priest a power greater than any other in heaven and on earth except that of His Blessed Mother. He has bestowed upon His earthly representative a power unequalled by that of any human prince or king; a power denied even to the Prophets of old; a power strong enough to destroy Satan, erase sin and infuse divine grace. St. John Chrysostom rightly says: Omnis potestas caelorum sacerdotibus commissa est; quaenam potestas major esse quaeat?" (2)

The Son of God has made the priest judge with Himself, giving him the power to pass sentence, to forgive or to condemn others. "The Father hath given all judgment to the Son" (John 5, 22). "The Son gave all powers of judgment to the priest," says St. John Chrysostom. Elsewhere the same saint adds that the throne of the priest is in heaven. Sacerdoti thronus in caelis collocatus est.(4) St. Clement, disciple of St. Peter, declares that the priest holds in his hands the keys of life and (1). This work was originally published as a separate volume with opening paragraphs discussing all the powers of the priest. Some of these have been omitted to focus the reader's attention on the powers of the confessor. (2). De Sacerdotio, lib. 3, C. 4. (3). Idem., loc. cit. (4). Homilia 5 in illud Isaiae: In anno quo mortuus est rex Ozias.

death, God having given him the power of condemning or delivering the sinner.(5)

Thus, 0 priests of God, you are one with the Sovereign Priest in a most intimate association. To you He communicates His own divine qualities. Guard carefully the talents He has bestowed upon you lest i n neglecting them you be cast into exterior darkness. Use them for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Do you want to learn how to exercise these divine powers usefully and efficaciously? Then make proper use of the Tribunal of Penance. There you exercise the role of mediator, redeemer, physician and judge. There you continue the work of the redemption; there you should act with humility and patience like unto Christ's. Though the task be hard, remember how Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for souls and for the destruction of sin. Recall the prolonged torments endured by our Saviour to redeem mankind, and so discharge your duty as confessors unhurriedly without display of irritability or weariness.

In the Tribunal of Penance you are the living image of the power and majesty of the Son of God. There you are as it were little gods, vested with the powers of God, doing what belongs by right to Him alone, blotting out sin, communicating the grace of the Holy Ghost to souls. Consequently, in the Sacred Tribunal you should serve the interests of God, thinking only of Him, desiring only to establish His kingdom in the hearts of men.

As a judge representing the Supreme Judge, yours is the power of bestowing or refusing absolution. God communicates to you His power of judge in a more excellent manner than He does to the judges of earthly courts. They judge bodies; you judge souls. They judge temporal affairs; you judge eternal ones. Their power is a passing one; yours reaches beyond to eternity. What you absolve or condemn on earth i s absolved and condemned in heaven. Their judgments are recorded on paper; yours are written with the Blood of Christ in the eternal books of divine justice.

These reflections show you the importance of your duties as confessor. If you discharge them well , sin will be destroyed and grace will be infused into men's souls. The devil will be expelled and the Holy (5). In Constitutionibus apostolicis C. 37.

The Office of Confessor 129

Ghost will be imparted to souls, so that they will become a terrestrial paradise instead of an abode of Satan. Men will be reborn spiritually. The fruits of the Passion will be applied in their fulness. The Blood of the Lamb will wash and purify and the words applied by the Sacred Writers will be fulfilled in souls: Quam pulchra es, amica mea, quam pulchra es (Cant. 4, 1). Finally the children of Satan will become children of God; the members of the devil will become the members of Jesus Christ.

I say "if you discharge your duties well," for a confessor who does not act as he should, may be guilty of grave wrongdoing. Instead of destroying sin he merely establishes the soul more firmly in its grip. He ensnares the sinner in a net of evil and gives him a false sense of security. "Peace, peace, and there is no peace" (Jer. 6, 14). Instead of driving out the devil he merely strengthens Satan's hold on the unhappy penitent. Instead of raising the sinner to life he kills him; instead of giving life to Christ in souls, he crucifies the Redeemer anew. Instead of cleansing souls, he soils them; instead of beautifying souls, he renders them more hideous; instead of filling up what is wanting to Christ's Passion (Col. 1, 24), he renders the sufferings of the Saviour vain and useless.

These things are said for the priest's enlightenment in the administration of the Sacrament of Penance and to make him realize the importance of his holy office. The confessor, who is fired with zeal and filled with prudence, is a treasure in the Church of God. Following as he does the teachings of the Gospel and the guidance of the Church, he is a spiritual physician, an equitable judge, a charitable mediator, and a merciful saviour among men.

But the bad or careless confessor, who is ignorant, imprudent~ lazy and negligent, is a plague i n Christ's holy Church. He is not an emissary of God, but an agent of the devil. He is not a doctor of heaven but of hell, for as God has his patriarchs so the devil has heresiarchs. As God has His prophets, apostles and martyrs, so, too, the devil has his prophets, apostles and martyrs.

The unworthy confessor is not a divine judge, but another Pilate pronouncing sentence upon Christ and the souls that the Son of God died to redeem. He is not a mediator for God, but for the devil, not a

dispenser of heavenly blessings but a profaner of divine mysteries and sacraments. In a word, instead of being another Christ, he is a very devil.

No tongue can tell the evil the bad confessor commits. He does great harm to the Church, persecuting it more cruelly than Nero, Diocletian and the tyrants of history. Would to God that all priests who administer the Sacrament of Penance might meditate seriously on these truths! Would to God that they might consider the inestimable good that they would accomplish if they were animated with the same spirit and if they followed the same maxims! They would completely overthrow the devil's tyranny and snatch souls from perdition. Would they might open their ears to the words of the Holy Spirit: "Take heed what you do: for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord" (2 Par. 19, 6). Take heed in very truth for what you do is not temporary, but eternal. What you perform does not concern an earthly kingdom, but the Kingdom of God. You handle the treasures of heaven; you are responsible for the salvation or the damnation of souls. Videte quid faciatis. Remember to bring to your task the care and application demanded; have the necessary qualifications. Otherwise, the absolutions you give may become so many damnations for you. Never forget that when you say the words, Ego te absolvo, the Eternal judge may reply, if you are unworthy, Ego te condemno.

If you were to ask what are these necessary qualifications, I would answer that they are six , namely: zeal for souls, science, charity, prudence, piety and fidelity to the secrecy of confession. To each of these qualifications an entire chapter will be devoted. 131-