Letter 89. To a Lady. on Confession

.... Indeed, my dear daughter, this great fear which has so cruelly tormented you ought now to be at an end, inasmuch as you have every assurance which can be had in this world that your sins have been fully put away in the sacred Sacrament of penitence. No, you must on no account harass yourself with doubts as to whether the circumstances of your faults were told with sufficient explicitness. All theologians agree that it is not requisite to mention ail the details and circumstances of a sin. Thus he who says, ‘‘ I have killed a man,” is not required to say that he drew his sword, or that he has caused infinite sorrow to his relations, or that he gave grievous scandal to those who saw the deed. All this is implied; it is enough if the penitent says whether he committed the deed in sudden rage or deliberately, whether his victim was a layman or an ecclesiastic; after which he must leave the priest who hears him to form his own opinion of the act.

Again, he who confesses to having set fire to a house is not obliged to say in detail what was in it; he need only say whether there were any living persons or not. So, my dear daughter, be at rest; your confessions have been perfectly good; now turn your thoughts to your spiritual progress, and do not dwell upon past sins, save to humble yourself meekly before God, and bless Him for His Mercy which has pardoned them through His Holy Sacraments.

The Introduction d la Vie Devote will be useful to you, my daughter, but your mistake is that you want to be all it sets before you at once. Nevertheless, this very Introduction will shew you that it is not the work of a day to shape your life to its teaching, but rather the work of a life, and that there is no reason to be surpiised at your many failings and shortcomings in the

22f> work. My dear child, a devoted life is not a thing to be attained in a hurry; we must work hard at it, no doubt, but the chief thing in the matter is trust in God, and you must toil on quietly, though watchfully Do not grow weary, my daughter; strive to place your quick, active mind in the attitude of a little child. Go on in lowliness, and God will lift you up. Write to me whenever you please.

Ever with a most fatherly affection, yours, &c.

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