BIBLIOTHECA FRATWNTTAS SACERDOTALIS SANCTI FCTW

REFERENCE USE ONLY DO NOT REMOVE FROM LIBRARY

o u i d c Cor Conc^ssors p f

crotn tn

mAXIS (WtSSARH

J j f . AlphonsuSLiauori

A33HTOU

PREFACE

To recommend the V/UDUA Con^QJi^OJiLi we could quote the Ars who once s a i d t h a t t h i s i s the book which made a confessor him. We could quote the Teresian Conference of 1923 which s the ?HOXJJ> c o n t a i n s a l l the mys t i ca l and a s c e t i c a l theology of S t ^ T S resa of J e s u s , S t . Franc is de Sa l e s , and S t . Alphonsus himself. Bui"' for t he Redemptoris t no o the r recommendation i s needed then to sa* t h a t i t comes "from the pen of Alphonsus L i g u o r i " .

This e d i t i o n of the PA\aXC6 has been made as an a id t o stud-en We hope t h a t t hey w i l l f ind in i t many s t r i k i n g examples of the the l o g i c a l genius and burning zea l of our holy founder. No attempt K been made t o embel l i sh the t e x t . I t i s not a s c h o l a r l y "publishab' e d i t i o n - i t i s merely a s t uden t workbook. Perhaps some American SB; demptor is t theo log ian w i l l give us the long overdue English edition; of S t . Alphonsus ' moral works. And perhaps then S t . Alphonsus wi l l rece ive the p r a i s e from American p r i e s t s t h a t he so r i g h t l y d e s e r v e s ^

In making t h i s t r a n s l a t i o n we have t r i e d to s tay close to the Lat in Gaude e d i t i o n . At t imes we have followed the lead of the Spa^ i s h Moriones e d i t i o n and omit ted a s e c t i o n , bu t in each case of omil s ion we have made a note of the f a c t .

Thanks go to those who p i t ched in to make the t r a n s l a t i o n : JM B a r r e t o , P. Voelker , J . E a r l , E. O'Connor, J . Fa rn ik , G. Enderle, K^l Eberhard, R. F e n i l i , and R. Marchand. A very s p e c i a l word of thank? goes to Very Reverend Raymond M i l l e r , who encouraged us in t h i s pro- . j e c t and allowed us t o use h i s t r a n s l a t i o n of chapter n i n e .

Thanks go too t o Fa the r M. Z e l l e r and t o R. Marchand who Pai-'D*4 t ak ing ly checked over the f i r s t e d i t i o n t o e rase as many mistakes a s* p o s s i b l e be fore the f i n a l d r a f t was made. Thanks f i n a l l y to a l l w o^, | helped put t h e book t o g e t h e r : P. S u l l i v a n , N. De lo r t , J- Hergenre | D. Polek, E. G a s t a l d i , W. Cleary, K. Eberhard, R. Carabin, E. Morgan R. Gama, H. Fon ta ine , L. Aniol , and Brother Aquinas.

-

R . Schibl in Edi tor

fORuiARD

Severa l y e a r s ago, a t Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, a group of fac-u l t y and s t u d e n t s worked ou t an Engl ish t r a n s l a t i o n of the VfUDUA Con^ZA&CLfUA. by S t . Alphonsus L i q u o r i . This was a l i m i t e d ed i t ion . , mostly fo r c lassroom u s e . (Cf., In t roduc t ion)

With t he renewal of t he Sacrament of R e c o n c i l i a t i o n , wi th the renewed s tudy and d i s c u s s i o n of the new r i t e , we thought i t would be oppor tune t o make the VhnXAj, a v a i l a b l e t o a l a r g e r a u d i -ence of Redempto r i s t s .

Very Rev. Joseph L. K e r i n s , C.SS.R. has g rac ious ly agreed . . t o f inance the new e d i t i o n and has asked t h a t the VA.CUCL6 be s e n t t o a l l the c o n f r e r e s .

Rev. Robert J . Micha l ik , C.SS.R. has done a g r e a t s e r v i c e by p r e p a r i n g the manuscr ip t for t h i s new e d i t i o n . He has c a r r i e d the work through from the f i r s t s t e p to the l a s t .

We s e r i o u s l y hope t h a t t h i s English vers ion of t he VKHXAA w i l l be of h e l p t o many Redemptor is ts in t h e i r demanding work as Confessors and S p i r i t u a l D i r e c t o r s .

DANIEL L. LOWERY, C.SS.R. RECTOR/PRESIDENT MT. ST. ALPHONSUS ESOPUS, NEW YORK

JANUARY 5, 1978 - FEAST OF ST. JOHH WEUMAM/, C.SS.R.

I

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE:

CHAPTER TWO:

CHAPTER THREE:

CHAPTER TOUR:

CHAPTER Tl\JE:

CHAPTER SIX:

CHAPTER SEVEN:

CHAPTER EIGHT:

CHAPTER NINE:

CHAPTER TEN:

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

Four Dut ies of Confessor

Guide fo r Helping Unprepared P e n i t e n t s 27

Dealing with Various P ro fe s s iona l s

Occasions of Sin

H a b i t u a r i e s and Recidives

Censures , Rese rva t ions , Impediments

S p e c i a l S i t u a t i o n s

Confess ional Prudence

The Guidance of Devout Souls

A Word t o Pas to r s

A s s i s t i n g the Dying

49

55

63

75

88

104

111

149

168

Imroducii ion

Without a doubt, God will richly reward priests who are consci-entious confessors.* To work for the salvation of one's fellow men is to assure oneself of salvation. As St. James puts it: "Let him know that whoever brings a sinner back from his erroneous ways, will save his soul (and the Greek text shows that this means the soul of the one that does the converting) and will win the forgiveness of many sins." (James 5/20)

The Church grows sad when she sees so many Catholics on their way to Hell due to the ignorance and carelessness of bad confessors. The salvation of souls, she knows, depends to a great extent on the guidance given them in confession. Pope St. Pius V once said, "Let us have good confessors and we shall witness the transformation of all Christians." If only all confessors had that degree of learning and piety which their office demands, the world would not be so filled with sin, nor would Hell be so peopled with the souls of baptized Catholics.

When I say "piety" I mean more than the mere state of grace. I mean a genuine moral goodness with which he must nourish not only him-self, but even his penitents. He must guide their consciences, and therefore he must be neither too indulgent nor too severe. He must deal with the disease of sin without becoming infected himself. He must discuss things with women and children which they are embar-rassed to mention and yet not be hurt himself. He must be coura-geous in dealing with those whom the world honors and treat them with^ " out human respect. In a word, he must be rich in his charity, gentle in his meekness, and self-possessed in his prudence.

6.

To do all this demands more than ordinary holiness. He needs a degree of virtue which will never be his unless he is a friend of prayer, faithful to his daily meditation. For these two means -prayer and meditation * are the only ways to win the graces and lights necessary for the lofty office of hearing confessions. It is an office, some say, which would put even the angels to the test.

Without further ado, let us begin this small work on the man-ner of hearing confessions. As we go along, I will refer many times to my Moral Theology where matters are treated more at length. I rec-ommend that work to the reader, if he wishes to see more of the proofs and explanations.

*The reader will note that the paragraph numbering has been omitted. The only practical reason I could think of for keeping it was to fa-cilitate reference to the original. However, before me I have four copies of the RtaxcA and each has a different set of paragraph num-bers. For that reason, I think our system of sub-titles will do a better job of facilitating reference than the paragraph numbers.

Editor.

CHAPTER ONE

four Duft lS OC Co\>CSSOVS

THE ROLE OF FATHER

In order to be a father to his pen i ten t s , the confessor must have chari ty. He must show h i s love f i r s t of a l l by receiving ev-eryone who comes t o him for confession with kindness - whether they be poor or uncultured or even s inners . Some p r i e s t s w i l l hear only devout souls; others hear only the wealthy because they do not have nerve enough to turn these away. But i f some poor sinner comes to confession, he w i l l hear him begrudgingly and then curt ly send him away. And so i t happens, tha t troubled souls - who often have to force themselves t o come to confession - become embittered when they see how rudely they are received. They imagine that there i s no one who w i l l help and absolve them, and then they s l i p back into t h e i r habi ts of s i n , in despair of t h e i r sa lvat ion.

A good confessor w i l l ac t far d i f fe ren t ly . When such a s in-ner comes to him, he w i l l welcome him with kindness and even with a note of triumph a t the gain he has been fortunate enough to snatch from the d e v i l ' s grasp. He rea l izes t ha t th i s sacrament was i n s t i -tuted pr inc ipa l ly for sinners - not the j u s t , because venial sins can be removed in many ways other than confession. He remembers the words of Chr i s t : " I t i s my mission to ca l l s inners , and not the s a i n t s . " (Mk 2/17) Clothing himself with sentiments of compassion, as the Apostle says , (Col 3/12), he wi l l soon discover how many men are sunk in the depths of s in . In order to win them back t o God, then, he must receive them with deep love and l e t them see how much he wants to help them. Words something l ike these may be appropri-a t e :

8.

"There's no need to be af ra id . Take your time and once you get a hold of yourself you can t e l l your s in s . And t h e r e ' s ho rea-son to hold anything back because you're ashamed of i t . I f you get s tuck, I ' l l help you examine your conscience - so t he r e ' s no need to worry. Say a l i t t l e prayer of thanks t o Almighty God Who has been good enough to give you time to come back to Him. Now you can s t a r t over. God wi l l surely forgive you a l l your s ins - no matter how big they seem - jus t as long as you are sincerely sorry for them. You've got every reason in the world to be at peace now.." (1)

Next the confessor must show an even greater kindness as he actual ly hears the confession. He must be careful to show no impa-tience or weariness. And above a l l , he must not show tha t he i s a s -tounded at the s i n s , as long as the sinner i s not so callous and im-per t inen t that he t e l l s h i s s ins without the s l i gh t e s t touch of shame and discomfort. Because then he would be bound, as well as he could, to make the sinner r e a l i z e the hideousness of h i s s ins and shake him from h i s dangerous le thargy. However he should not i n t e r -rupt the penitent in order to make th i s correction l e s t he frighten him in to concealing some of his s i n s . This i s the ordinary thing, yet a t times the confessor wi l l have to in ter rupt and correct r ight away. This i s necessary, for ins tance , when he confesses some very great sin or some habit of s i n , in order to impress him with i t s gravi ty . S t i l l the confessor must be careful not to i r r i t a t e the peni tent or to frighten him. When he has finished the correct ion, he should t e l l him right away to confess the r e s t of h i s s i n s .

"OK, then, l e t ' s not ge t upset over t h i s . God's mercy i s bigger than your s in s . So go on now and t e l l the r e s t of your s ins . Don't hold anything back. If you do, t h a t ' l l be a sacr i lege and that wouldn't be the way t o f in ish th i s now tha t you've made such a good s t a r t . "

At the end of the confession, the confessor must make sure tha t the penitent real izes the gravi ty of his sins and the t e r r i -fying s t a t e of h i s soul, but t h i s he should do with the greates t char i ty . He must speak seriously in order to bring the peni tent to a b e t t e r frame of mind, but in such a way tha t i t i s c lea r he V i s not speaking in anger but with a deep love and concern for his soul .

"Do you rea l i ze now how s inful your l i f e has been? Do you rea l i ze a l l God has done to deserve t h i s i s to love you? He has shown you nothing but love, and t h i s i s what you gave Him in r e -turn. Jus t for a minute l e t ' s r e c a l l who th is God i s - a Being

perfectly happy, in need of nothing - and He became man to show His love for you - and died on the cross to save you from the pains of hell. Where do you think you'd be now if you had died before to-night? You know where you'd be - you'd be in hell - forever in hell with no chance to escape it. The same thing will happen to you if you go out of this confessional without the firm determination not to sin, to change your life for the better. Sin can only bring you unhappiness, here on earth and someday in hell. So wipe out the past and start over. Turn your back on sin and come into the arms of a God Who has waited to have you all these years. God wants to give you His grace - I want to help. What do you say? Will you make that determination?"

In order to draw his penitents to God, St. Francis de Sales took time out to tell them of the peace that God's friends enjoy in contrast to the unhappiness which fills the lives of those who live as strangers to God. (2) Then the confessor should help the penitent make an act of sorrow and absolve him if he is disposed. Finally he should make suggestions as to how the sinner can keep from sin, and then impose a penance on him.' But if the penitent is incapable of absolution, the confessor should assign a day on which he should return:

"I will expect you back on such-and-such a day. Meanwhile put alot of trust in Our Lady and pray to her everyday. If I'm not hearing confession when you get here, then come to the rectory and have the brother at the door call me, and I'll be right down."

In short, be kind in sending him away. This is the way that sinners will be saved - namely, with as much love as one can muster. If, on the other hand, they come to a confessor who treats them harshly, they will come to hate confession and put it off, and will end up unabsolved and on their way to hell.

THE ROLE OF VOCTOR

To be able to prescribe the right remedy to his penitent's spiritual sickness, the confessor must know its origin and cause. Some confessors ask for nothing more than the number and the spe-cies of the sins. As soon as they are convinced that the penitent is disposed, they send him away almost without a word.

10.

A good confessor acts very differently. First he investi-gates to find out how the sickness started and how grave it has be-come. He asks if there is a habit of sin, if there are occasions -some time or place or persons or circumstances that provoke him to sin. In this way, he can do a better job of correcting the penitent, of disposing him for absolution, and of giving him profitable reme-dies for correcting his sins.

Next he makes the pertinent observations. Even though he should treat his penitents as a loving father, still as a doctor he is bound, when it is necessary, to warn and to correct them. This is especially necessary in the case of the very sinful who seldom come to confession. He should warn and correct everyone who needs it, without respect of persons. It makes no difference whether he be priest or prelate, governor or elite, as long as he has confessed with little evidence of sorrow. Pope Benedict XIV compares the words of the confessor to those of the preacher: "The confessor's warnings are much more effective than those of the preacher, for he knows the case in question and the preacher does not. For this reason, he can make more pertinent warnings and prescribe remedies which fit this particular sin." (3)

The confessor should never worry about the ones waiting in line for confessions. As St. Francis Xavier said, it is better to hear a few confessions well than to hear many which bear little fruit. Confessors sin if they come across an indisposed penitent and immediately tell him to leave the confessional, for fear of wasting time with him. Learned theologians have said that, when a penitent comes indisposed, the confessor is obliged as far as possible to dispose him for absolution. To do this, he could tell the penitent, for example, how much his sin's have offended God, how great is his danger of being condemned to hell, and so forth. And it makes little difference if others are waiting or even if they leave without going to confession, for the confessor is re-sponsible not for them, but for the one who is here and now in the confessional.

The confessor is also obliged to instruct the penitent if he is culpably ignorant of any point of natural or positive law. If he is inculpably ignorant, it depends. If he is inculpably ignorant of something necessary for salvation, then the confessor is obliged to instruct him. If he is inculpably ignorant of some other matter (of which he can be ignorant) - even something of the divine law, the confessor should prudently decide whether the instruction will be profitable for the penitent. If it will not be profitable, he should not make the correction, but rather leave him in good faith.

1 1 .

The reason is: the danger of formal sin is a much more serious thing than material sin. God punishes formal sin, for that alone is what offends Him. This I proved more sufficiently in my Moral Theology. (4)

For the same reason, it is also commonly taught that, if a person has contracted an invalid marriage because of some occult impediment and is in good faith, the confessor should leave them in good faith when the impediment becomes known - as long as there is no danger of infamy or scandal or of incontinence - and meanwhile proceed to obtain the dispensation from the Sacred Penitentiary. If one of these married partners comes to confession during this time and accuses himself of not rendering the marriage debt, theologians say that the confessor must even oblige him to it by making some general statement about spouses being under grave obligation to render the marriage debt to each other. (5)

How should the confessor act with a couple who are about to contract an invalid marriage and there is prudent fear of formal sin or of scandal, if he tells them about its nullity? In this case the bishop has the same power of dispensing as he has in urgent dan-ger of death, according to canon 1054. (6) And if recourse to the bishop is difficult, and the grave danger of infamy or scandal can in no way be avoided, the confessor can dispense occult cases, but only in the internal sacramental forum.

The confessor should also admit to demand restitution when he certainly foresees that the penitent, who is now in good faith, would surely disregard his warning.

Nevertheless, the following cases are exceptions to leaving the penitent in good faith:

1.) When the penitent's ignorance redounds to the harm of the common good. The confessor is a defender of the good of soci-ety and he is bound to prefer the public good to the private good of his penitent, even when he realizes that the correction will be useless. Consequently, he must always instruct rulers, confessors, prelates, and parish priests who are neglecting their obligations, because ignorance in these men - even if it is invincible - will always hurt society. People will see what they are doing and con-sider it all right to imitate them. Pope Benedict XIV teaches that confessors must also correct the ignorance of those who frequent the sacraments, lest others see what they are doing unchecked and consider it licit. (7)

12.

2.) Another case where c o r r e c t i o n of ignorance must always be made: i f the p e n i t e n t asks about something, the confessor i s then ob l iged t o i n s t r u c t him in t he m a t t e r . For in t h i s case the ignorance i s no t i n v i n c i b l e in such a way t h a t i n s t r u c t i o n can be omi t t ed .

3.) Another case where c o r r e c t i o n must be made: i f the confessor r e a l i z e s t h a t the p e n i t e n t w i l l quickly accept t he cor-r e c t i o n , even though he would f i g h t i t a t f i r s t . I f t h e r e i s a doubt about whether the c o r r e c t i o n w i l l be he lp fu l or harmful , fol-low these r u l e s which I have o u t l i n e d in my Moral Theology: (8)

A.) I f t h e r e i s no p o s i t i v e reason t o fea r t h a t i t w i l l harm the p e n i t e n t , t he i n s t r u c t i o n should be made.

B.) I f he doubts whether the c o r r e c t i o n w i l l harm or he lp the p e n i t e n t , the confessor should weigh the harm and the u s e f u l n e s s , and the degree of fear of harm a g a i n s t t h e hope of f r u i t , and choose the g r e a t e r .

f

C.) Otherwise, he must o r d i n a r i l y t r y to avoid formal s i n more than mere m a t e r i a l s i n s .

After he has co r r ec t ed and i n s t r u c t e d the p e n i t e n t , t he con-f e s so r should d i spose him f o r abso lu t i on by he lp ing him make a c t s of t r u e sorrow and amendment. And l e t me warn confessors t h a t t h e r e a re few p e n i t e n t s - e s p e c i a l l y among the u n i n s t r u c t e d - who come t o confession with pre-made a c t s of sorrow.

Some confessors th ink they have done enough i f they merely ask t h e p e n i t e n t something l i k e t h i s : Do you want God t o pardon these s i n s ? (which i s not a t r u e a c t of sorrow) Or: Are you s o r -ry f o r these s i n s wi th a l l your h e a r t ? And with noth ing e l s e , they go ahead and absolve them.

Once aga in , a good confessor w i l l a c t very d i f f e r e n t l y , a t l e a s t toward a p e n i t e n t who i s i n mor t a l s i n . He w i l l speak t o him t o make sure t h a t he has a t r u e sorrow and d e t e s t a t i o n fo r h i s s i n s . F i r s t he should he lp him t o make an a c t of a t t r i t i o n :

"Did you eve r s top t o t h ink where you would be now i f you had d ied in s in? Hel l i s no t a very n i c e p l a c e . You would be t h e r e now - su f f e r i ng t he pains of h e l l - f i r e , r e j e c t e d fo rever by God,

'

13.

never any hope-of eyen changing it all. This is what your sins would have done. Make an act of sorrow, then, telling God that you are sorry for having offended Him and having deserved hell." Note that it is not enough for an act of attrition merely to say: "sorry for my sins because they have deserved hell;" rather you must say: "sorry for my sins because they have offended God and deserved hell."

Next the confessor should try to draw the penitent to make an act of contrition. "Your sins have not only deserved hell, they have insulted the most loving Person that exists, they have made light of a Person Who is nothing but Goodness and Lovableness. You have turned away from Him and scorned His friendship and His grace. Are you sorry for this more than anything in the world? Do you hate the sins that you have thrown up in the face of so loving a God? Are you willing to die a thousand deaths than ever commit them again?"

Before going on we should note: if a penitent has obtained absolution and then immediately confesses another sin, he must e-licit a new act of sorrow before being absolved again, because there is a new judgment to be made. (9)

Lastly the confessor should give a penance that he considers will further the penitent's chances at salvation, that is, one that is adapted to his particular condition and one that he judges will be carried out. He should take note that even though Trent demands a penance corresponding to the gravity of the sins, still he may, for a just cause, lessen the penance for a number of reasons. (10) For instance, if the penitent is really crushed with sorrow, if it is a time of jubilee, or very specially if the penitent is suffer-ing some illness of body or soul. And lastly when the confessor prudently judges that a penance which corresponds to the sins will not be fulfilled. We know that Trent teaches that penance and sins should correspond to each other, but we say that besides this the penance should correspond to the penitent's capability. In this way, the penance will be a help and not a hindrance to the peni-tent' s salvation. When it happens that the penance is neither helpful to his salvation nor fitted to his particular strength or weakness, then the penance is a poison and not a remedy. And yet in this sacrament, amendment of one's life is the end intended, rather than making all the satisfaction due for sin. The Ritual says this very thing when it tells the confessor to have "the dis-position of the penitent" in mind. (11)

M M

14.

St- Thomas has something worth considering on t h i s . "The doctor does not give medicine so strong tha t i t i s out of propor-t ion to the pa t i en t ' s weakness, with the r e s u l t tha t even a grea ter sickness h i t s him. In a s imilar way, guided by a divine impulse, the p r i e s t wi l l not always impose the whole penance demanded for a s i n , l e s t the penitent depair and abandon confession completely." In another place he says : "Just as a t iny f i r e i s smothered i f a good deal of wood i s thrown on i t , so i t can happen tha t a peni -t e n t ' s f i r s t weak signs of sorrow can be smothered by an excessive penance." And he adds: " I t i s a good idea i f the p r i e s t l e t s the peni tent know how big a penance should be given, and then imposes one tha t the penitent can handle." And again he says: " I t i s safer to impose less than i s due ra ther than too much, for God wi l l be quicker to forgive excessive mercy than excessive sever i ty . What i s missed by excessive mercy can be made up for in purgatory." (12)

Gerson, Cajetan, and St. Antoninus a l l teach t ha t the con-fessor should impose a penance which he prudently thinks the peni-tent wi l l be able to handle, and which he wi l l readi ly accept. I f the peni tent maintains tha t a penance i s too much for him in his weak condition, then, as the s a in t points out, "No matter how much he has sinned, he should not be refused absolution, l e s t he des-pa i r . " (13) He goes on to say t ha t i t i s enough in a case l ike t h i s , to impose the general penance using the words of the Ritual "qiUdqiUd bonl izcoXli, ztc". In th is way a l l the good tha t he does wi l l be joined to the Sacrament, as St . Thomas teaches, and be of greater value in sat isfying for his s in s . (14) Many moral-i s t s teach with probabil i ty t ha t there i s j u s t cause for cutt ing the penance down i f the confessor thinks the peni tent wi l l be en-couraged to come to confession more often.

St . Thomas of Villanova gives a b i t of wisdom in t h i s l i n e : "Impose an easy penance, then encourage the pen i ten t to more dif-f i c u l t th ings ." (15) I t i s good to t e l l the peni ten t how big a penance h i s sins have merited. He goes on: "Even though you urge the peni tent to do more d i f f i c u l t th ings , end up imposing only what you prudently think he w i l l carry out ." S t . Francis de Sales says t ha t i t would be a good idea to ask the pen i t en t , i f he thinks he i s strong enough to execute the regular penance; i f he does not think so , then commute i t to something e l s e . (16) At times i t i s good to s l i p into the penance (but not 4u6 g/iavX.) a grave penance or an obligat ion due on some other t i t l e .

From a l l tha t has been sa id , i t should be clear that con-fessors act imprudently i f they impose penances tha t are beyond

15.

the strength of their penitents. How many are there who do not hes-itate to absolve indisposed recidives, foolishly thinking that they will cure them by burdening them with a grave penance, even when they realize that it will not be carried out? For instance, for a man who barely gets to confession once a year, they impose "weekly confession for a year"; for a man who ordinarily does not say five decades over the space of a week, they impose "fifteen decades a day"; or what is more ridiculous , they impose disciplines and men-tal prayer on those who have not even heard the words. What will come of this? -Erven though they accept the penance in order to get absolution, they will afterwards do nothing about fulfilling it. Then they think (especially the uninstructed Catholics) that they automatically lapse back into sin because they think that confession is no good without the penance. They end up falling into their old way of life, and afraid at the thought of having to fulfill such a penance, they live out their days in sin. This is what comes of penances that are too big - some call them "fitting" (to the sin) , but they should call them extremely "unfitting".

However, outside these cases (namely, a penitent's weakened condition or an extraordinary show of sorrow) the confessor is wrong if he imposes a light penance for a grave sin. while this is licit in certain circumstances, he should ordinarily impose a grave penance which obliges AU.b QKO.V*.. In line with this, I will make a few pertinent remarks:

1.) When a penitent forgets the penance, he is no longer bound to anything, unless he can easily find out what it was from the confessor who imposed it.

2.) The confessor cannot impose a public penance for oc-cult sins; but he must impose a public penance if there is no other way of removing scandal or of repairing someone's reputation. Still he should not insist on the public penance if the penitent is opposed to it and can in some other way repair the scandal, such as by frequenting the sacraments.

3.) Sometimes a penance can be imposed on the condition "if the penitent will fall back into sin". But remember, penances like this are not very often successful, es-pecially if they stretch over a long period. He will easily relapse into sin.

16 .

4.) I f a p e n i t e n t comes and asks t h a t a penance imposed by another confessor be commuted, many say t h a t the whole confession must be repea ted to t h i s p r e s e n t confessor a t l e a s t in g e n e r a l , so t h a t he w i l l know the s t a t e of consc ience . But many o t h e r s say t h a t t h i s i s no t nec -e s s a r y , s i nce i t i s enough i f t he new confesso r knows t h a t the p e n i t e n t ' s own s t r eng th i s not up t o such a b i g penance. He can from the penance a l r eady imposed argue t o the g r a v i t y of the s i n s fo r which i t was im-posed , and i n t h i s way guide h imse l f i n changing the penance. And probably the confessor h imsel f can make the move to commute the penance, i f he fo re sees t ha t t he p e n i t e n t w i l l very l i k e l y n e g l e c t the penance a-g a i n , as he has a l r eady done.

However, an i n f e r i o r confessor may no t change a pen-ance imposed by a s u p e r i o r fo r r e se rved s i n s , unless i t i s d i f f i c u l t fo r t he person t o r e t u r n t o t he supe-r i o r , or unless a grave cause urges t h a t the penance be changed. For then he could reasonably presume the s u p e r i o r ' s permiss ion .

5.) The penance cannot be changed o u t s i d e of confess ion -no t even by the same confessor . This can be done only r i g h t a f t e r a b s o l u t i o n , before t he p e n i t e n t has l e f t t he confess iona l .

As t o what p rec i se penances should be imposed, remember t h a t the penance i s supposed to be n o t only a remedy, but a s a t i s f a c t i o n fo r p a s t g u i l t as wel l . Consequently, m o r t i f i c a t i o n of the senses should be imposed for s i n s of s e n s u a l i t y , a lmsgiving should be im-posed for s i n s a v a r i c e , p raye r f o r blasphemy, and so on. But he should a l s o t ake i n t o account what w i l l be b e t t e r and more helpful for t h i s p a r t i c u l a r p e n i t e n t . While i t i s very h e l p f u l t o impose f r e q u e n t a t i o n of the Sacraments, mental p r a y e r , and almsgiving in themse lves , i t would be harmful fo r one who i s n o t used t o such t h i n g s . The fol lowing are fo r the most p a r t good penances for ev-e r y o n e : j o i n i n g a c o n f r a t e r n i t y , making an a c t of sorrow each eve-n ing fo r a c e r t a i n t ime, making some p a r t i c u l a r r e s o l u t i o n each morning saying with S t . P h i l i p N e r i : "Lord d o n ' t l e t me ou t of your s i g h t today or I ' l l turn my back on you." Making a d a i l y v i s i t t o t he Blessed Sacrament and t o an image of Mary asking fo r t he grace of p e r s e v e r i n g in the s t a t e of g r ace . Saying a t l e a s t f i ve decades of t h e r o s a r y . Saying t h r e e Hai l Mary's morning and evening with the p r a y e r : "My Mother, h e l p me not t o offend God today . " (This

I

17.

penance I always impose, or at least advise.) Reminding themselves before they go to bed that they could now be in the fire of hell or that they will one day die in this very bed. For some (especially clerics), reading each day from a spiritual book. But St. Francis de Sales warns that the penitent should not be loaded with too many things lest he be confused and frightened away. (17)

With regard to the remedies which should be given to the pen-itent, there are general ones and particular ones. The general ones are:

1.) To love God, since He has created us for no other pur-pose. He should make sure that the penitent knows a-bout the interior peace that comes from friendship with God; and the hell-on-earth which is the lot of God's enemies.

2.) To pray to the Blessed Virgin, especially by saying the Rosary. They should pray to their guardian angel and patron saint as well.

3.) To frequent the sacraments. Especially tell them to go to confession immediately, if they should ever fall in-to mortal sin again.

4.) To meditate on the eternal truths, especially on death. Encourage the father of the family to make a daily med-itation with his family, or at least to say the rosary with them.

5.) To practice the Presence of God, saying in the midst of temptation, "God is watching me."

6.) To make an examination of conscience each evening, with sorrow and a determination not to sin again.

7.) For the laity, to join some confraternity, for priests, to make mental prayer before Mass and a thanksgiving after it, or at least to make some spiritual reading before and after Mass.

Special remedies should be given for the different habits of sin. For instance, if a man hates another, suggest that he pray for the one he hates each day by reciting an Our Father or a Hail Mary

18 .

for him. If he i s bothered by the memory of some in jus t i ce done t o him, t e l l him to c a l l to mind the insu l t s heaped upon Chris t . I f a sinner has fa l len in to s ins against the s ixth commandment, he must be told to avoid id leness and to stay away from bad companions and occasions of s in . If he has developed a bad sex habi t over a pe-riod of t ime, he must avoid not only the proximate occasions of s i n , but even the remote occasions which (because of h i s weakness) have become proximate for him. I t i s especial ly in th i s case t h a t the confessor should impose the three Hail Mary's morning and evening in honor of Mary's p u r i t y , t e l l i n g him to say th is prayer before her image, and to include a new resolve not to sin and a fervent prayer for perseverance. But most of a l l the confessor should see to i t tha t a person with t h i s kind of habi t goes to Holy Communion frequently, for Communion i s called "the wine springing forth v i r -gins ."

If a peni ten t i s in the habit of blaspheming, the confessor should urge him to make f i f teen crosses on the earth with his tongue each time he blasphemes, and to say an Our Father and a Hail Mary each day to make up for h i s blasphemy. Each morning when he gets up he should renew h i s resolve of accepting each occasion of anger meekly, saying three times to the Blessed Virgin, "My Lady, give me pat ience ." This w i l l serve not only t o win for him Mary's h e l p , but also to get him used to saying these words instead of blasphemy.

The confessor should assign other remedies for other s ins -according t o h i s own prudent judgment as t o the circumstances, the person, and h i s d i spos i t i ons .

THE HOLE Of TEACHER

"For the l i p s of the p r i e s t are to keep knowledge, and i n -s truct ion i s to be sought from his mouth." (Mai 2/7) I t i s the confessor 's duty to know the law well, in order that me may exer-cise the off ice of t eacher , for i f he i s ignorant of i t , na tu ra l ly he cannot teach i t to o the r s . Note tha t St . Gregory c a l l s the task of direct ing souls through l i f e to e ternal salvation the a r t of a r t s . "Guidance of souls i s the greatest of a r t s . " (18) St . Francis de Sales sa id t ha t the off ice of hearing confessions i s the most dif-f i cu l t of a l l , because the confessor's knowledge i s for nothing e l se than e te rna l sa lva t ion ; i t i s the most d i f f i cu l t of a l l , because i t demands a knowledge of a l l sc iences , professions and a r t s , because moral theology i t s e l f embraces so many facets of l i f e , and because

19.

it consists in so many positive laws, and sacred canons which he must be able to interpret properly. And on top of all this, each case and each absolution differs because of a myriad of circum-stances . Some men who call themselves great theologians look with disdain on moral theology which they call casuistry and study only briefly. They say it is enough to know the general principles and then one can hear confessions well. No one can deny, of course, that each particular case should be solved by principles, but we do say that where the difficulty lies is in trying to apply the principles to this particular case, entangled as it is in so many different circumstances. The problem lies in knowing which prin-ciples to apply to this case, and this cannot be done without care-ful attention to the reasons on each side. Now this is precisely what moral theology has done - it has gone into detail showing which principles should be used in solving many different cases. In our day, there are so many laws, so many decrees, so many responses that the ordinary priest cannot possibly know them except with the help of the casuists who collect them, and solve so many practical problems which the confessor can easily find. New authors are, con-sequently, more useful than older ones.

With good reasons does one author say that many theologians, while they know so much about the speculative sciences, are so ig-norant of moral matters which, as Gerson says, are the most diffi-cult of all. (20) There is not one so learned that he cannot at times learn something new in this field. It follows that confessors may never interrupt their study of moral theology. The learned Sperelli says that confessors are wrong if they spend their time in other studies to the neglect of moral. Afterwards they cannot dis-tinguish one sin from another, with the result that both confessor and penitent are rushed into eternal damnation.

We do not deny, however, that less learning is needed for hearing the confessions of simple people than of politicians, busi-nessmen, clerics and the like. Less knowledge too is needed to hear confessions in the country than in the city, especially if it is a place without a priest, and the people are left with the alternative of not going to confession for a long time. Still there is no excuse for the confessor who goes into the confessional unprepared. It is necessary that the confessor know at least some basic things:

1.) He should know how far his jurisdiction extends. Each priest must remember that he needs special faculties to hear the confession of religious women and their nov-ices. (21) However, any priest could validly and licit-ly absolve any religious woman granting these conditions

a.) tha t the p r i e s t be approved by the ordinary of the place for hearing confessions of women (without th i s the confession would be i n v a l i d ) ;

b .) tha t the re l ig ious ask him seriously e i the r in s ick-ness or for qu ie t of conscience, e i ther by approach-ing a confessor who i s there for some other purpose or hersel f ca l l ing a confessor to come;

c.) t h a t the confession be in a church, oratory, or a place designated even pA mocklin dcXiLi,} i f t h i s con-d i t ion i s missing the confession would be inval id .

Each confessor should know which s ins and censures are r e -served, a t l e a s t those which he i s l ike ly to meet more often. We wi l l l i s t the p r inc ipa l ones:

RESERVED TO THE HOLY SEE SPECIALISSIMO MOPO

a.) Sacrilegious abuse of the consecrated species . b . ) Violent laying of hands on the Pope. c.) Absolving or feigning absolution of one 's

accomplice in a s in of impurity, d.) Direct v io la t ion of the sacramental s ea l .

RESERVED TO THE HOLY SEE SPECIAL! MOPO

a.) b.)

c.)

d.)

e.)

Apostasy, Heresy,- Schism. Editing books of apostates, heretics, or schismatics which promote apostasy, etc.; also to defend or read such books or others forbidden nomincutim. Impeding the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, by having recourse to the civil power. False denunciation of a confessor for the crime of sollicitation. Forbidden YKLQOtiajtio for a cleric.

RESERVED TO THE HOLY SEE SIMPLICITER

a.) Enrolling in the masons or similar sects. b.) Violation of the clausura of nuns or regulars. c.) Engaging in a duel or being an accomplice in one,

2 1 .

RESERVED TO THE ORDINARIES

a.) Marrying before a non-Catholic minis ter , baptizing or educating one's children as non-Catholics.

b . ) Violent treatment of a c l e r i c or a r e l i g ious . c.) Abortion, Q.^Zdtu. Ataito. d.) Apostates from re l ig ion , and re l ig ious fugit ives

in i>a.cAJJ> (suspension) . e .) Marriage in simple perpetual vows.

2.) Confessors should know, secondly, how to dis t inguish venial s ins from mortal s i n s , a t leas t those of com-mon occurance. As t o those t h a t are not common, to know a t l e a s t enough t o get a doubt.

3.) They should know f inal ly which questions they should ask; the circumstances of the sins a t l eas t those that change the species ; what const i tu tes the proximate oc-casion of s i n ; what induces the obligation of r e s t i t u -t ion; what kind of sorrow and resolve are necessary; and f inal ly which remedy should be given in order to help the peni tent out of h is sinful hab i t .

Any confessor who dares to hear confession without su f f i -c ient knowledge i s ce r ta in ly in a s t a t e of damnation. God Himself condemns him: "Since you have rejected knowledge, I w i l l r e j ec t you from my priesthood." (Osee 4/6)

Even the approval of the bishop w i l l not excuse him, i f the p r i e s t i s c lear ly incompetent. The approval wil l not infuse the ne-cessary knowledge, ra ther i t should presuppose i t . However l e t me hasten to add: i f a confessor only doubts about h i s confidence, l e t the super io r ' s judgment re-assure him as long as he t r i e s d i l i gen t -ly t o f i t himself for the task.

As I said before, no confessor must ever lay aside h i s study of moral theology. The facets of th i s science are so many and so varied tha t even i f he has studied much, he wi l l eas i ly forget them af ter a period of time because some things that he should know wil l happen so seldom. For t h i s reason, he should review h i s moral the-ology over and over.

22.

THE ROLE OF JUVGE

The l a s t ro le of a confessor - tha t of judge - i s very im-por tant . Judges are obliged to learn the f ac t s , to examine the proofs, and then to pass sentence. The confessor must learn the s t a t e of the p a t i e n t ' s conscience, then find out h i s d i spos i t ions , and f ina l ly impart or deny absolut ion.

As to the f i r s t duty - t ha t of learning the s t a t e of the pen i t en t ' s conscience. I t should be noted f i r s t of a l l t ha t t h i s duty i s primarily the p e n i t e n t ' s . Yet i t cannot be doubted that the confessor i s bound to help him examine h i s conscience i f he sees tha t the penitent has not done i t wel l . He must ask him quest ions , f i r s t as to the s ins which he i s more l ike ly to have committed - then as t o t h e i r number and species .

He must remember in pa r t i cu l a r five th ings :

1.) I t i s extremely wrong to dismiss the uninstructed pen-i t e n t , t e l l i n g him to go out and examine his conscience be t t e r . Father Segneri cal ls th i s an unpardonable er -ro r , and with good reason. (22) Some men - for one reason or another - find i t hard to examine t h e i r con-sciences properly. When they are dismissed without he lp , there i s danger that fear of th i s d i f f i cu l ty wi l l keep them from confession and they wi l l be l e f t in the i r s in s . For th i s reason, the confessor should give them a hand in examining the i r consciences. He should go through the commandments, especia l ly i f they are the type tha t neglect t he i r e te rna l salvat ion and are strangers to the things of God, l iv ing out of con-t ac t with sermons and churches. The er ror becomes t rag ic i f because of a lack of examination he would send away some uninstructed person who had previously kept back a sin out of shame, even i f i t would mean doubling back over the confessions of many years . And a l l the more so, because of the great danger there would be of his losing his soul , i f he did not re turn .

S t i l l he should not question too minutely. He should only ask about those s ins which they could eas i ly have committed, judging from the i r condition and capabi l i -t i e s . And if the peni tent seems to be properly in -structed and i s careful in making his confession, in -cluding the circumstances as bes t he can, the confessor i s not bound to make any inquiry a t a l l .

i i j i

23.

2.) The confessor should note secondly that it is better to ask the necessary questions as soon as the penitent mentions a thing, rather than wait till the end of the confession. This way the confessor will not forget what he was going to ask and will not have to ask the penitent to repeat parts of his confession. This would be a heavy burden on the penitent.

3.) Confessors should never think that they can pass a cer-tain judgment on the gravity of a sin by asking a per-son whether he thought it was mortal or venial. For the penitent, as I know from experience, will very often answer the first thing that comes to his mind. And if the confessor repeats the same question a little fur-ther on, the answer may be just the opposite.

4.) Concerning the number of sins that flow from a bad hab-it, a certain number very often cannot be had. The con-fessor should then try to learn the penitent's condi-tion, that is, his manner of living, the relation of the bad habit to other occupations, the amount of time spent with the accomplice, the place where he spends most time. Then he should try for the number by ask-ing the penitent to tell him about how many times he has sinned in a day or a week or a month, proposing several numbers so that he can make a choice. And if the penitent chooses the highest number, it is a good idea to ask a higher number still.

Even with this, however, the confessor should not make a certain judgment concerning the number. He should note the frequency in general and make his judgment general - whatever the number is before God. Some the-ologians teach that with regard to internal habits of sin, such as hatred, bad desires, and bad thoughts, it is enough if you determine the period of time over which the habit has lasted; but this is not entirely satisfying to me, because of the different circum-stances in which men live. Some live with few occa-sions of bad thoughts; others are more easily influ-enced by their passions. Therefore it is necessary in addition to ask some general questions about the occu-pation, the surroundings, and the passions which in-fluence the individual. Only in this way can he make a judgment concerning the number of internal acts.

24.

If after two or three questions, the confessor still cannot make more than a confused judgment, he should not be troubled. When he is dealing with such a mixed-up and confused conscience, it is impossible to expect for greater clarity.

5.) Finally the confessor should note that, even though general confessions are most useful, he should not be too demanding in having previous confessions re-' peated. Father Segneri says that there is no obli-gation to repeat confessions, except in the case where that is clearly necessary or in the case of some evident error. (23) The fact that a person has relapsed into sin is not a certain sign that the con-fessions have been invalid, especially if he did not fall for some time, or if before he fell he made some effort. It is different in the case where the peni-tent falls almost immediately - two or three days after the confession - without fighting the tempta-tion at all. Here it seems almost certain that sor-row and resolve were lacking.

...... M M * ;.- -,-.. . ,

25.

1. This series of exhortations has been somewhat edited to Ameri-can idiom.

2. St. Francis de Sales, Avertissements aux conf. ch 1, art 2, #7.

3. Benedict XIV, Apostolica constitutio, June 26, 1749.

4. MT, Lib VI, n. 610 (Moral Theology of St. Alphonsus)

5. MT, Lib VI, n. 611

6. Brought up to date in keeping with the Code.

7. Benedict XIV, loc. cit.

8. These rules were taken from the Spanish edition of the PAOXC6 (Moriones, Madrid 1952). They are included in a footnote on page 53, and taken from MT, Lib VI, n. 616.

9. A note was omitted here, which Gaude says was reversed by Alphonsus in a later edition of MT.

10. Trent) sess 14, de Poenit, ch 8.

11. Roman Ritual, Ordo ministr. Sacr. Penit.

12. St. Thomas: Suppl. qu 18, art 4; Quodlib. 3, art 28 and Opusc. 65, de Offic. sacerd.

13. St. Antoninus, part. 3. tit. 17, cap. 20.

14. St. Thomas: Quodlib. 3, art 28.

15. St. Thomas of Villanova, Serm. in fer VI post Domin. IV quadrag., n. 13, post med.

16. St. Francis de_ Sales: Avertissements aux conf. ch. 8, art. 1.

26 .

17. St. Francis de Sales; Avertisseraents aux conf. ch. 8, a r t . 2.

18. St_. Gregory; Regulae pas t , l i be r , p a r t 1, ch 1.

19. St . Francis de_Sales: Avertissements aux conf., i n t r o .

20. Giordanni, I s t ruz . per i novel l i confessori , p a r t I n . 18; Gerson, Tr. de Oratione, p a r t 3 , in f ine .

21. This section on confessional facul t ies and on reserved sins was taken from the Spanish edi t ion , in keeping with the present code of canon law.

22. Segneri; I I Confessore i s t r u i t o , ch. 2 , v. f.

23. Segneri; ib id , ch 2, ve rs . med.

2 7 .

CHAPTER TUO

VDUICL^ cor Hdplnq

Uh pre. cartel rinitaits

The reader should not expect a detailed treatment of the com-mandments and precepts in this chapter. I have given that in my Mor-al. Theology. Here I will limit myself to the things that confessors should ask when they feel that the penitent has come into the confes-sional unprepared. In one or the other case, I will note how the con-fessional practice differs from the theoretical consideration.

FIRST COMMANDMENT

Ignorance o -the FoXtH

The confessor should question to see if the penitent knows the principal mysteries of the faith, namely, that there is a God, that he rewards good and punishes evil, the mystery of the Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation and Death of Jesus Christ. If the penitent does not know these four mysteries, he is not capable of receiving ab-solution, as Innocent XI made clear in his condemnation of proposition sixty-four.

Ask him if he knows the creed, the commandments, the sacraments, etc., at least with regard to the substance of these things.

28.

Father Leonard of P o r t Maurice , the famous and b r i l l i a n t mis-s i o n a r y , makes a good po in t when he says t h a t the confessor i s bound t o i n s t r u c t the p e n i t e n t in t he mys t e r i e s of F a i t h , a t l e a s t in the four p r i n c i p l e mys te r i e s which we mentioned. And he goes on t o say : " I t i s not a good idea t o send u n i n s t r u c t e d people away wi th t he ad-v ice t h a t they should f ind someone e l s e t o teach them. After such adv ice , they w i l l do noth ing and w i l l remain in t h e i r ignorance un-t i l t h e i r dea th . The b e s t t h i n g , t h e n , i s for the confessor t o give them a s h o r t i n s t r u c t i o n in t he p r i n c i p a l m y s t e r i e s . Have them make with him a c t s of f a i t h , hope, love of God, and c o n t r i t i o n . Then lay upon them the o b l i g a t i o n of g e t t i n g i n s t r u c t i o n from t h e i r p a s t o r , not only in these four mys te r i es b u t in a l l the t r u t h s necessary by n e c e s s i t y of p r e c e p t . " (1)

I f you a r e dea l ing wi th people who, even though they a r e un-i n s t r u c t e d , would be offended i f you ques t ioned them as t o t h e i r F a i t h , Sa in t Leonard says t h a t i t i s opportune t o t e l l them some-th ing l i k e t h i s : "Say, how about r e c i t i n g the C h r i s t i a n a c t s t o -g e t h e r . " And then whi le making t h e a c t of F a i t h the confessor w i l l inc lude a l l the necessary t r u t h s : My God, because you are t he i n -f a l l i b l e t r u t h and because you have revea led t h i s t r u t h t o your holy Church, I b e l i e v e a l l t h a t t he Church pu t s for th for me t o b e -l i e v e . I b e l i e v e e s p e c i a l l y t h a t t h e r e i s One God in Three Divine Persons . I b e l i e v e t h a t t he Son became Man, d ied for us on a c ross \ and rose from the dead and went t o heaven from where He w i l l one day come t o judge a l l men, c a l l i n g the good t o enjoy heaven, send-ing the bad t o be t o r t u r e d i n e t e r n a l f i r e .

Benedict XIV makes an impor tan t obse rva t ion , namely t h a t you must deny abso lu t ion t o the person who has culpably neg lec t ed t o l ea rn the t r u t h s of f a i t h which a r e necessary both by n e c e s s i t y of means and n e c e s s i t y of p r e c e p t . I f a pe r son , on t he o the r hand, i s i gno ran t of t r u t h s necessa ry only by n e c e s s i t y of p r e c e p t , he can be absolved i f he s i n c e r e l y promises t o l e a r n them. Here i s what the Pope sa id on t h i s second p o i n t : "The p e n i t e n t can be absolved i f he acknowledges h i s v i n c i b l e ignorance and promises t h a t he w i l l make sure t o l e a r n even t h ings necessa ry with n e c e s s i t y of p r e c e p t . " (2)

2.) Su.pva>JjtloYi

Ask the p e n i t e n t i f he has engaged in or t augh t s u p e r s t i t i o u s p r a c t i c e s , urged a n o t h e r ' s a s s i s t a n c e , whom he led t o coopera te in h i s s i n .

29.

Point out to them that every superstitious practice, even though done out of charity or in some necessity, is always illic-it. In my Moral Theology I have given a fuller treatment of this. (3)

3.) Bad Con&eA6A-onA

Ask the penitent if he has omitted confessing any sins in the past out of shame. This is a good question to ask those who seldom get to confession. Ask if something is troubling them. And if there is, encourage them to make a good confession this time, to tell everything openly and with confidence, to get whatever this thing is off their chest, etc.

One priest used to say that by asking this question about past bad confessions, he kept many from making another bad con-fession.

If you find out that there have been sacrilegious confes-sions and want to determine how many, ask him how often he has gone to confession and communion since his last good confession. Ask him also if he has adverted to the sacrilege each time he went to confession or communion, for it is possible to make a bad con-fession and then afterwards forget about it. This is especially the case if the bad confession took place in childhood. This point is important for there is no obligation to repeat the confessions they made while oblivious of the former bad confession.

Ask him if he knew he was not fulfilling his Easter duty during these years of bad confessions. (4)

It is a good idea to ask this question about bad confessions as you begin helping the penitent. If you do it later and discover a bad confession, you merely waste time because the confession must be gone over again, and there will probably be little change from what has already been said.

Help them see what a serious sin it is to scorn the Blood of Christ by concealing their sins.

Finally ask him if he has fulfilled the penances given him. If he has not, find out if it was a case of forgetfulness, or be-cause he did not want to, or because he put it "off intending to do it later or to ask for a commutation. See if he thought he sinned by putting it off like this.

3 0 .

4.) Scandal and Cooperation

Ask him i f he has induced anyone to s i n , i f he has accepted the he lp of others in s i n n i n g , or i f he himself cooperated in the s ins of o t h e r s . Ask b a r t e n d e r s i f they gave l i q u o r t o people who were always ge t t i ng drunk. Ask women i f they provoked men t o bad thoughts by t h e i r indecent conve r sa t i ons , or j o k e s , by f l i r t i n g , or by t he c lothes they wore.

As for cooperating i n the s ins of o t h e r s . Here the confes-sor must know how t o d i s t i n g u i s h between formal and m a t e r i a l coop-e r a t i o n . There i s formal coopera t ion i f one concurs in the s i n f u l ac t i t s e l f , as in f o r n i c a t i o n , or when one coopera tes i n the bad w i l l of the s inne r , for example by p r o t e c t i n g a t h i e f o r a murder-e r - for encouragement in s i n means shar ing t he s i n n e r ' s bad i n -t e n t i o n . Things l i ke t h i s a r e formal coopera t ion . They a r e a l -ways i l l i c i t because they a r e i n t r i n s i c a l l y wrong. (5)

There i s ma te r i a l coopera t ion i f one concurs i n ac t ion t h a t i s i n d i f f e r e n t in i t s e l f , b u t which the agent can use fo r an e v i l purpose , such as to s e l l wine t o a man who wants to g e t drunk. Ma-t e r i a l cooperation can be l i c i t i f there i s a j u s t cause . However, the j u s t cause must be p r o p o r t i o n a t e to the coopera t ion . I have c l a r i f i e d t h i s important cons ide ra t ion in my Moral Theology. (6)

SECONV COMMIVMEhIT

7.) PeAjuAu

The confessor should ask if the penitent has sworn falsely in or out of court. If he has sworn falsely before a judge, he sins against justice as well as religion, and can at times be bound to make the truth known or to repair the damage he has caused.

If he swore, ask him if it was by God, by the saints, or by his soul. If he swore by his conscience, or by faith (without ad-ding Holy Faith or Faith of Christ) , he can most probably be ex-cused of perjury and of grave sin.

The confessor should note that many ordinary people do not consider it a grave sin to swear falsely, when no harm comes to another. Nor do they think they are swearing falsely when they use

31.

some such phrase, in order to threaten t h e i r chi ldren , even though they do not intend to carry i t out . At l e a s t they do not advert to t h a t .

2. ) VOW

The confessor's first job here is to determine whether the penitent has really made a vow, for ordinary people often confuse the notions: desire, resolution, and vow. In trying to find this out, it is useless to ask the penitent if he bound himself under pain of mortal sin, because people quickly say no to such a ques-tion. It is better to ask if he thought - at the time he made the vow - that he would sin gravely in not keeping it. In this way, you can deduce whether he bound himself seriously or lightly.

If the confessor discovers what is certainly a real vow, he should find out whether the penitent thought it was a grave sin to delay fulfilling it, as he did, or if he thought he was justified by resolving to fulfill it later on.

It might be useful here to include some remarks on commu-tation and dispensation of vows.

The private vows reserved to the Holy See are:

1.) that of perfect and perpetual chastity, and 2.) that of entering an order with solemn vows provided

both these vows are made absolutely, and after the per-son's eighteenth birthday. (7)

Non-reserved vows can be dispensed for a just cause, pro-vided this dispensation does not harm some third person. Those who can dispense are:

1.) the local ordinary can dispense all his subjects and even peAegAxiu. in his diocese;

2.) the superior of an exempt clerical institute can dis-pense those under his care, namely, professed reli-gious , novices and others who stay day and night in the religious house as maintenance people, as students, as guests, or as patients;

3.) those to whom the Holy See has given the faculty to dispense.

J Z .

In this last group are confessors who belong to religious orders who, by reason of an ancient privilege which the code did not ab-rogate, can dispense all the vows of the faithful which the bish-op can dispense.

As to commutation, the confessor must not be scrupulous in this regard, because any reasonable motive is sufficient. To les-sen the danger of breaking the vow would even be a sufficient rea-son for commuting. He should not worry either, about whether the matter substituted is equal, since exact equality is not demanded, only a moral equality.

Ask the penitent if he ordinarily does some good work that is not obligatory, or if he is inclined to one, and then commute the vow to this. But the safest commutation for any kind of vow is frequentation of the sacraments. Note that perpetual vows can-be commuted to temporary vows provided due proportion is kept, and that real vows can be commuted to personal and vice versa.

As to dispensation. For dispensation you need a greater cause. Examples would be: a grave danger of breaking the vow, great difficulty in keeping it, or the fact that the vow was made with little thought or deliberation. It is always a good idea, nevertheless, to add some commutation to the dispensation.

Both commutation and dispensation can be made outside of con-fession unless the contrary is indicated in one's faculties. Consid-ering everything, it is best to give them during confession.

3.) Blasphemy (8)

The confessor should ask the penitent if he has blasphemed, that is, said or done anything that contained contempt or insult to God. It suffices that he be conscious of the meaning of the words or signs used; it is not necessary that he have the express inten-tion of insulting God. To offer such contempt to someone close to God, such as a saint, or to something close to God, such as His Heaven, would be the same.

The confessor should distinguish this from a disrespectful use of the Name of God or of Jesus in anger or thoughtlessness. This is ordinarily only a venial sin.

Ask him if he'blasphemed in front of children, because then there would be a sin of scandal besides.

33.

TKIRP COMMANDMENT

7.) Obligation to HzaA MtiA-6

With regard t o t h i s , the confessor should ask the peni tent i f he del iberate ly missed Mass on Sundays or holy days, if he adverted to the fact or i f in missing i t he doubted about the time for the Mass. For very often a penitent wi l l put off hearing Mass t i l l l a t e , even though he may happen to find a Mass and attends i t , neverthe-less he exposed himself without jus t cause to the danger of missing i t - and t h i s many uninstructed peni tents do not accuse themselves of.

If he says he did miss Mass, ask him the reason why, because sometimes i t couldn' t be helped. Examples of th i s a re :

1.) mothers who cannot leave the i r children alone; 2.) those who have some sick person to care for; 3.) those who have a job tha t cannot be missed on Sunday; 4.) those who do not have clothes f i t for church-going; 5.) t r ave l l e r s who cannot get to Mass without great dif-

f icu l ty or danger.

2.) The. Obligation not to Wonk

Ask the penitent if he did forbidden servile work on Sundays or holy days. If he answers yes, ask him:

How long he worked and what type of work it was. According to the more common opinion of theologians one does not commit a mor-tal sin if he keeps under two hours.. Others allow even a longer time if the work is light or if there is some more notable reason. If he says that he sometimes worked for more than two hours, some-times less, ask him how many times he did this, thinking that he was committing a grave sin. Instruct him also in the fact that it is sinful to work for a long time, even when the work is done not for pay but solely for enjoyment.

Ask him what reasons he had for working. Was he following the custom of the locale, or was there necessity? -Certainly pov-erty can excuse; poor people are ordinarily excused if they cannot support themselves and their families without working on Sunday.

People who sew their clothes on Sunday because they could not sew them on other days are also excused, and similar cases. But you must correct the wrong notion that it is always permissible to work on holy days, if you are not working for a wage.

Many theologians allow a man to work in order not to be idle, if idleness is for him a probable danger of sin. I think this opin-ion is valid only in very rare circumstances when a person is so tempted that he cannot get rid of the temptation except by working.

Finally it sometimes happens that a man of the house will force his wife and children to work on holy days; in such a case they can be excused from the law forbidding servile work. At times employees are told to work on Sunday by their employers, and at times it is even impossible for them to get to Mass. In cases such as this the employee is bound to quit the job unless there is some written contract, or unless standing up to the boss like this would result in serious inconvenience. (9)

Here the confessor might also stop to ask the penitent if he broke the fast of abstinence on Fridays, on vigils, during Lent, and at the Ember days.

FOURTH COIMAMWEHT

1.) ClUtdAzn

Ask children i f they ha te t h e i r paren ts . Here you would have two s i n s , one against char i ty , the other against p i e ty .

Ask them i f they disobeyed t h e i r parents by refusing to follow an express order concerning a serious matter , such as not going out a t n ight , not engaging in ser ious games, not hanging around with bad companions, and so on.

But note : with regard t o the choice of one 's s t a t e in l i f e , children are not bound to obey t h e i r pa ren t s . In fact parents sin gravely i f - without some reasonable cause - they force t h e i r c h i l -dren in to marriage, in to the pr ies thood, or in to the re l ig ious l i f e . They would also s in i f they unjust ly kept t h e i r children from f o l -lowing the re l ig ious s t a t e i f the children f e l t cal led t o i t .

r I:

. !"

35.

Ask if they showed disrespect for their parents, in word or deed, or if they offered them a grave insult in their presence, as would be the case if they called them drunkards, brutes, crooks, fools, or if they expressed contempt for what they did or if they did anything else to offer them grave injury. However, to call them old or ignorant or stupid should not be condemned as mortal sin absolutely, unless it did offend them gravely.

The child who shows such a lack of respect for his parents must restore their wounded honor by asking their pardon, before those in whose presence he insulted them. The confessor would not act prudently, however, if he were to make the act of asking pardon too humiliating a thing. And especially if he were to demand that this humiliation be done before he would give the child absolution. It is better to exhort them to ask pardon, rather than to impose it as a grave obligation. (10)

2.) ?0Jl

Ask parents i f they are f a i l i ng in the i r obligation of edu-cating t h e i r chi ldren. In p a r t i c u l a r , ask them i f they check to see i f t h e i r children know the catechism, to see i f they go to Mass and to the sacraments, to see i f they avoid bad companions.

Ask parents i f they have given scandal to thei r children by blaspheming in t h e i r presence and so fo r th . Ask them i f they fa i led to correct t h e i r chi ldren, especia l ly in matters of thef t .

Ask i f they allowed the i r teen-age daughter to bring home a boyfriend and be alone with him. Check above a l l i f they have t h e i r children sleeping in the same bed with them, or i f they have brothers and s i s t e r s sleeping together .

Ask them i f they provide suf f ic ien t food for the i r children.

Ask them, f ina l ly , i f they have unjustly forced a child into a s t a t e of l i f e against the ch i l d ' s w i l l , for th i s would be a mortal s in . while th i s may seem negl ig ible to them, i t i s the cause of grave harm both to the child and t o the church.

3.) HuAbandi, and wViue.6

Ask husbands i f they have provided for the family.

-- they have i r r i t a t e d t h e i r husbands, even t o t he A S K

v - T t h e x blaspheme. And ask them i f they have f u l f i l l e d po in t of making

r e g a r d t o the marr iage a c t . Many a woman damns t h e i r ob l iga t ion ^

b e c a u s e o f f a i i u r e in t h i s m a t t e r . I f t he he r se l f and her ^ ^

h . ^ h& s d r a w n i n t o a m u l t i t u d e o f

husband i s d e ^ e o f ^ 1 3 , t he confessor must be ca re fu l t o speak

s i n s . In spe ^ obed i en t t o your husband in the ac t s in general t e r i ~ '

r i a g e ? or do you have any anxie ty with r ega rd which p e r t a m to q u e s t i o n i s unnecessary in the case of t o your married i i i e ; . ? ,_

-, ^ ; n n a so l i d s p i r i t u a l l i f e , a woman leading a SWJ. r

F I F T H COMMAWPMEMT

StnDat Pc^Lri J

Ask a person i f he d e l i g h t e d in some misfortune suf fe red by h i s neiahbor or i f n e wished e v i l upon him. In t h i s m a t t e r , t he pen i t en t must specify the v a r i o u s t h i n g s he has wished upon h i s neiahbor - for i n s t ance , d e a t h , l o s s of honor, l o s s of wea l th , e t c . Each of these i s numerical ly d i s t i n c t when he e f f i c a c i o u s l y w i l l e d t o i n f l i c t them on him, or when he s p e c i f i c a l l y wanted one in p a r -t i c u l a r to b e f a l l him. On the o t h e r hand, according t o a probable opinion i t i s not necessary t o spec i fy each d e s i r e , i f he only d e -s i r e d them as one g r e a t m i s f o r t u n e , t h a t i s , i f he des i r ed them a l l as means con t r ibu t ing t o h i s n e i g h b o r ' s f a l l .

Confessors often have t r o u b l e f igu r ing out whether the cu r se s of ord inary people a re mor t a l s i n s o r only v e n i a l . To f ind o u t :

1.)

2.)

3.)

First see whether the penitent at the time he uttered the curse really wanted it to be fulfilled. But this alone is not enough to make a certain judgment. Con-sequently!

ask whether the curse was aimed at a member of the family or at someone else. When a person curses a relative - especially his own children or his wife or parents - it is ordinarily not done maliciously.

Finally find out what occasioned the curse. If it was made is a grave outburst of anger, then it is very possible that there was a malicious desire.

: i

I'

37.

It will not suffice if the penitent tries to excuse his curs-ing by saying that he desired the evil only in the act of cursing and not afterwards, That in itself is enough to make the curse a mortal sin. The confessor should ask the number of sins and judge them at least as they are before God. If the person is a recidive in this vice, he should not be absolved unless he first corrects his ways or shows signs of extraordinary sorrow.

2.) ImuZii

Ask the peni tent i f he has ser iously offended his neighbor, and i f t h i s was done in the presence of other people. If i t was done before o thers , he i s bound to r e s to re the neighbor's good name in the presence of those others by asking his forgiveness or by giving some proof of h is esteem for the one he has injured.

This obligation ceases i f the confessor prudently judges that the injured party has waived his r i g h t , or i f he refuses to receive a public apology e i the r t o avoid further disgrace or t o keep others from remembering the inc ident . The obligation also ceases i f i t i s feared tha t an apology w i l l only inflame new hatred.

If the offense was unknown to o the r s , the offender must s t i l l ask pardon, but only in p r iva te .

I t i s good to note that when two people are mutually in su l t -ing each other by cal l ing each other names l ike th ief , p r o s t i t u t e , e t c . , t h i s i s not always seriously s infu l even though the accusa-tions might be grave in themselves. The reason for t h i s i s t ha t no one takes th is ser iously , the one who i s doing the insu l t ing does not mean what he says, and those who hear do not believe what i s said. I t i s d i f ferent however when pa r t i cu la r incidents and accomplices are named.

Final ly ask the penitent if he was responsible for causing enmity by t e l l i n g someone what he heard from another.

3. ) WoJUVLd

Ask him if he hated anyone, or if he denied an enemy the or-dinary signs of friendship.

38.

Let us recall here the doubt which the authors consider: is the offended person bound to forgive the one who has offended him? Salmanticenses says that he is bound to forgive the injury but not to remit the public punishment because that looks to the common good. Speculatively this opinion is good. But in practice I have never dared absolve anyone who assured me he forgave his enemy, but at the same time demanded that justice take its course, saying that criminals should be punished. I could never persuade myself that their zeal for the common good and for justice was free from a desire for revenge, (for often they were themselves guilty of many offenses.) They cry out for justice not for criminals in general, but merely for their personal enemies. As many authors point out, this love for the common good is very possibly nothing more than a cloak for their own desires for revenge. Despite this however, I would absolve them in the following cases:

SIXTH CflMMAWPMW

1.) TkoagkU

Ask the penitent if he desired or took delight in impure things and whether or not he fully adverted to and consented to these things.

Ask if they had a desire for a young girl, a widow, or for a married woman, and find out just how far they intended to go. It is good to note that ordinary people commonly realize that rape is a greater sin than mere fornication; but on the other hand they do not know the special malice of adultery. Consequently it is not a good idea to tell those with a habit of adultery about its spe-cial malice, even when there is little hope that the admonition will effect anything.

1.) if he is ready to forgive and only demands a just res-titution for damages, unless it is a case where the of-fender is too poor to pay back even a part of the debt;

2.) if he forgives the offender on the condition that he move to some other locale. This, either because the ' person offended has sons or brothers just waiting to take revenge, or because the enemy is so insulting and quarrelsome that he does not think he could put up with his taunts. i.

\

i: i.;

39.

If they have consented to bad thoughts, you must find out the number if you can. If this is impossible, find out how many times they consented in the space of a day, week, or month. If they cannot even do this much, ask them if they desired every wom-an they met or that came to mind - or if there was just one woman in particular that they thought of and always gave consent to the thought. Find out whether they were thinking of her all the time, or if it was just when they saw her.

Finally ask them if they did something to carry out their bad thoughts. As we pointed out in the Moral Theology (11) , these things, even though indifferent in themselves, are contaminated by the evil end in view, and they must be confessed as external sins, (that is, as actions that are begun if the sin was not afterwards consummated.) (12)

2.) Obicano. Sptzck

To find out how much scandal was given, ask how often and before whom this kind of conversation was engaged in: whether be-fore men or women, married or unmarried, children or adults. Girls and boys are more easily scandalized than adults, especially those adults who are steeped in this vice.

Ask what they said, whether or not they named the genitals of the opposite sex. It is hard to excuse this from mortal sin.

Ask whether they said these things in anger or in fun. If they were said in anger, scandal and pleasure are not so easily present. The confessor should be careful not to absolve recidives in this sin, even if they saw it was all in fun, unless they first amend or show some extraordinary signs of sorrow.

Ask if they boasted of some sin. If they did, three sins are often present; namely, the scandal for all who hear, the boasting itself, and the complacency over the sin mentioned. They should therefore be questioned as to what particular sin they boasted of.

Finally ask them if they took delight in listening to the impure conversations of others. Did they realize their obligation to make fraternal correction at the time and think it was useful.

I

4 0 .

3.) ImpuJiz Actions

Ask wi th whom ( i . e . , wi th what kind of person) they sinned? Ask i f t hey s inned more than once with t he same person . Ask where t he s i n took p l a c e ( in o rde r t o remove an o c c a s i o n ) . Ask how many t imes t he s i n was consummated, and how many i n t e r r u p t e d a c t s were p r e s e n t , a p a r t from the s i n . Ask whether they consented t o t h e s i n long ahead of t i m e , for then the i n t e r n a l a c t s would be i n t e r r u p t e d and i t would be necessa ry t o make the judgment: t h e r e were as many s i n s commit ted 'as t h e r e were i n t e r r u p t i o n s i n t e r v e n i n g , such as s l e e p , d i s t r a c t i o n , e t c . Judge t h i s as i t i s be fore God, only ask-ing t h e l eng th of t ime the s in went on. The case would be d i f f e r -e n t i f t h e e v i l r e s o l v e was made two o r t h r e e days b e f o r e t h e s i n took p l a c e , and was not r e t r a c t e d dur ing t h a t t i m e , for t hen i t i s looked upon as one s i n .

I f they committed s e l f - a b u s e , ask i f they touched themselves in an improper way o u t s i d e of s e l f - a b u s e , admonishing them t h a t these touches too are mor ta l s i n s . Ask i f they d e s i r e d o r d e l i g h t e d i, in t h i n k i n g of i n t e r c o u r s e with one or more women or wi th boys , as they engaged in s e l f - a b u s e . For they would then commit as many d i s -t i n c t s i n s .

I t should be noted in pass ing t h a t i f anyone has c o i t u s b e - X tween the arms or l egs of a woman, he commits - be s ides t h e s in a-g a i n s t n a t u r e - a s i n of inchoa te or a f f e c t i v e f o r n i c a t i o n , as t h e -o log ians commonly t e a c h . There would be two s i n s of d i f f e r e n t spe -c i e s , one a g a i n s t n a t u r e in e f f e c t , the o the r of f o r n i c a t i o n in i n -t e n t i o n . (13)

As t o t he s i n s of marr ied p a r t n e r s , t he confessor i s not o r -d i n a r i l y bound t o ask about t he marr iage deb t . Nor i s i t f i t t i n g t o ask i f they rendered the marr iage d e b t , un l e s s the ques t ion i s ad-dressed t o the wife in as modest a way as p o s s i b l e , for i n s t a n c e , "Did you obey your husband in eve ry th ing?" As t o o the r t h i n g s , the confessor should no t say anything un l e s s he i s asked.

SEVENTH COMMANtWENT

J.) Thz&t

Ask the person if he has stolen and from whom. Ask if it was from one person or from many, alone or with others, on one occasion

4 1 .

or on many. If he s to le a grave amount each t ime, he committed a mortal s in each time. If he s tole in small amounts each.time, h i s s in wi l l be mortal when a l l of these together form a grave sum, un-less he had the intent ion of s tea l ing a grave sum r igh t from the s t a r t .

When the amount becomes grave, the peni ten t has a grave ob-l iga t ion to make r e s t i t u t i o n , a t l e a s t of the l a s t p a r t which made the amount grave.

In small thef ts more i s demanded before they add up t o a grave sum. The amount wi l l have t o be la rger s t i l l i f he s t e a l s from dif-ferent people. In small thefts committed occasionally from different people, double the ordinary grave sum i s required for a grave s in . And i f a notable time has elapsed between the f t s , namely two months, then there i s probably no grave matter by reason of coalescence.

I t i s probable t ha t the person who eats f ru i t from the orchard of another can be excused a t l eas t from grave s in . I t would be dif-ferent if the f ru i t were rare or worth much or i f one took a consid-erable amount. In things l ike t h i s which are so out in the open, there must be a greater quantity before the s in i s grave. '

For the same reason, servants can be excused who take things to eat in the i r employer's home, provided they do not take a grea t amount or extraordinary de l icac ies . Nor should you consider i t a mortal sin for a man to cut wood or graze h i s herd on public land when t h i s i s forbidden - t h i s type of prohibi t ion i s only penal law.

To figure out the gravity of a the f t , keep in mind the s ta tus of the person who has been robbed. I have t r ea t ed t h i s a t length in my Moral Theology. (14) When the thef t i s committed by one's child or wife, a much greater amount i s needed in order to have a mortal s i n , and only rare ly w i l l they be bound to r e s t i t u t i o n 6ub QKasji..

2.) Recitation

Once the confessor has established the p e n i t e n t ' s grave ob-l iga t ion to make r e s t i t u t i o n , find out i f he i s able t o make i t even i f with some d i f f i cu l ty . Do not absolve u n t i l r e s t i t u t i o n i s made, even i f there are extraordinary signs of penitence. Goods are l i ke the blood of one's veins - they leave only with violence and hear t -ache. Because of t h i s , experience teaches t ha t a person wi l l have a grea t deal of d i f f i cu l ty in making r e s t i t u t i o n af ter absolution.

4 2 .

The confessor can make an exception to th i s in favor of a person with such a de l ica te conscience t ha t there i s no room for doubt.

I said "even i f with some d i f f i cu l ty . " But i f the peni ten t would have to suffer grave need in order to make the r e s t i t u t i o n , i . e . , i f he would lose h i s j u s t l y acquired soc ia l pos i t ion , he could then delay making r e s t i t u t i o n , provided the person to whom r e s t i t u -t ion i s due i s not in grave need himself. However, even when the credi tor i s in grave need, i t i s a probable opinion that the th ie f has no obligation to make r e s t i t u t i o n when he himself i s in grave need and r e s t i t u t i o n would reduce him to quasi-extreme need. But th i s l a t t e r i s l i c i t only under two condit ions:

1.) tha t the thing stolen does not ex i s t in the form in which i t was s to len , and espec ia l ly ,

2.) the c r e d i t o r ' s need did not a r i se from the t h e f t . When you have established t ha t the pen i ten t can l i c i t l y de-

lay making r e s t i t u t i o n , you should t ry to get him' to pay back a l i t -t le a t a time, or get him to do some work for the man he robbed, or have him give the man a g i f t now and then.

I t i s impossible t o mention here everything the confessor should know about r e s t i t u t i o n , for i t i s a vas t and deta i led t r e a -t i s e . I wi l l however note some of the things which happen more f r e -quently and are more p r a c t i c a l :

When the robbery was made by a group of men, you decide i f th i s p a r t i c u l a r man i s bound to r e s to re the whole amount by t h i s con-s idera t ion : did he go along with the others because he was urged t o , that i s , the robbery would have taken place in the same way without him? In t h i s case, he i s bound only to res tore h i s share. But i f there i s a common agreement concerning the t he f t (each encouraging the other) then each i s bound t o the r e s t i t u t i o n of the whole a-mount [in &oLidum.) In p rac t i ce , i t i s often d i f f i c u l t to convince ordinary people - especial ly those with a not too tender conscience -that they are obliged to res tore what the others have s to len . On the other hand, the owner himself wi l l be s a t i s f i ed i f each of the thieves returns the p a r t he took. The confessor can r e s t content, then, i f he makes known to the peni ten t h i s obl igat ion t o make r e s t i t u t i o n ; he need not go in to d e t a i l about the exact amount he i s bound t o r e -s to re , leaving tha t up to the person 's own conscience.

If a person in f l i c t ed some damage on another 's property and in no way benefi ted from i t , he i s not bound t o make compensation,

.; / ' "' A

43.

provided always that he did not foresee the damage he caused, or pro-vided he is not tried in court and sentenced because of it.

Sometimes the robbery is uncertain; that is, the person who was robbed is unknown. In this case, the penitent is obliged to make restitution either by having Masses said, or by giving alms to the poor or to charitable institutions. If the thief himself is poor, he could apply the money for himself and his family.

If he knows the person whom he robbed, he must make restitu-tion to him. Surprisingly enough, many confessors tell the penitent to make restitution in the form of alms or of Mass stipends. I hold the opinion that in such a situation, the penitent is still obliged to make restitution to the owner, because in every theft, even acci-dental theft, the injured ownership must be restored to the owner. I have never been able to convince myself of the opposite opinion.

I have said it would not be seriously sinful for a man to make restitution by giving alms to the poor when it is a. question of small thefts, even though the coalesced sum is grave and the owners are known, for the reasons given in the Moral Theology. (15) I would even excuse him from venial sin if he had a reasonable cause for doing this. For example, if it would be a notable inconvenience for him to make restitution to the owner, or if the poor in the area are so needy that he could presume the owner's consent to make the restitution in their favor.

One who cheats many of his customers in tiny amounts and is not sure which customers he cheated, is obliged to pay them back by lowering his prices or by adding something to the amount he sells. He should not make restitution in favor of the poor, as some allow. If he did do this, he would not be guilty of serious sin, as I men-tioned before; and with a just cause he would not even commit ve-nial sin.

I