The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

THE SACHAMENT OF PENANCE. 419My experience is, that the Confessional is the mostpowerful lever ever erected by a merciful God forraisingmen from the mire of sin. It has moreweight in withdrawing people from vice than eventhe pulpit. In public sermons, we scatter the seedof the Word of God in the; Confessional, we reapthe harvest. In sermons, to use a military phrase,the fire is at random, but in Confession it is a deadshot. The words of the priest go home to the heartof the penitent.In a publicdiscourse the priestaddresses all in general, and his words of admonitionmay be applicable to very few of his hearers. Buthis words spoken in the Confessional are directedexclusively to the penitent, whose heart is open toreceive the Word of God. The confessor exhortsthe penitent according to his spiritualwants. Hecautions him againstthe frequentation of dangerouscompany, or other occasions of sin or he recom;mends special practicesof pietysuited to the penitent s wants.Hence missionaries are accustomed to estimate thefruit of a mission, more by the number of penitentswho have approached the sacred tribunal, than bythe number of persons who have listened to theirsermons.Of all the labors that our sacred ministry imposeson us there are none more arduous or more irksomethan that of hearing Confessions. It is no triflingtask to sit for six or eightconsecutive hours on ahot summer s day, listening to stories of sm and