Dist. 14, Part 1
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 14
Pars I.
Cap. I. De poenitentia, et unde dicitur poenitentia.
Post haec de poenitentia agendum est. Poenitentia longe positis a Deo necessaria est, ut appropinquent. Est enim, ut ait Hieronymus1, « secunda tabula post naufragium »; quia, si quis vestem innocentiae in baptismo perceptam peccando corruperit, poenitentiae remedio reparare potest. Prima tabula est baptismus, ubi deponitur vetus homo, et induitur novus; secunda, poenitentia, qua post lapsum resurgimus, dum vetustas reversa repellitur, et novitas perdita resumitur. Post baptismum prolapsi per poenitentiam renovari valent, sed non per baptismum. Licet homini saepius poenitere, sed non baptizari. Baptismus tantum est Sacramentum, sed poenitentia dicitur et Sacramentum et virtus mentis. Est enim poenitentia interior et poenitentia exterior: exterior Sacramentum est, interior virtus mentis est; et utraque causa salutis est et iustificationis. — Utrum vero omnis exterior poenitentia sit Sacramentum, vel si non omnis, quae hoc nomine censenda sit, consequenter investigabimus2. — A poenitentia coepit Ioannis praedicatio dicentis: Poenitentiam agite, appropinquabit enim regnum caelorum. « Quod autem praeco docuit, illud post Veritas praedicavit, exordium sermonis sumens a poenitentia ».
Cap. II. Quid sit poenitentia et poenitere.
« Poenitentia dicitur a puniendo, qua quis punit illicita, quae commisit. Poenitentiae virtus timore concipitur ». Unde Isaias3: A timore tuo, Domine, concepimus et peperimus spiritum salutis. « Est autem poenitentia, ut ait Ambrosius4, mala praeterita plangere et plangenda iterum non committere ». Item Gregorius: « Poenitere est ante acta peccata deflere et flenda non committere. Nam qui sic alia deplorat, ut tamen alia committat, adhuc poenitentiam agere aut ignorat, aut dissimulat. Quid enim prodest, si peccata luxuriae quis defleat et adhuc avaritiae aestibus anhelat? »
Pars II.
His verbis quidam vehementius inhaerentes, contendunt, vere poenitentem ultra non posse5 peccare damnabiliter; et si graviter peccaverit, veram non praecessisse poenitentiam; quod etiam aliis muniunt testimoniis. Ait enim Isidorus6: « Irrisor est, et non poenitens, qui adhuc agit quod poenitet. Nec videtur Deum poscere subditus, sed subsannare superbus: canis reversus ad vomitum, et poenitens ad peccatum. Multi lacrymas indesinenter fundunt, et peccare non desinunt. Quosdam accipere lacrymas ad poenitentiam cerno, et affectum poenitentiae non habere, quia inconstantia mentis nunc recordatione peccati lacrymas fundunt; nunc, reviviscente usu, ea quae fleverunt iterando committunt. Isaias de peccatoribus dicit: Lavamini, mundi estote. Lavatur et mundus est qui praeterita plangit et flenda iterum non committit. Lavatur, et non est mundus, qui plangit quae gessit, nec deserit et post lacrymas ea quae fleverat, repetit ». Item Augustinus7: « Inanis est poenitentia, quam sequens culpa coinquinat. Nihil prosunt lamenta, si replicantur peccata. Nihil valet veniam a malis poscere et mala denuo iterare ». Item Gregorius: « Qui admissa plangit, nec tamen deserit, poenae graviori se subiicit ». Item Ambrosius8: « Reperiuntur qui saepius agendam poenitentiam putant, qui luxuriantur in Christo. Nam si vere in Christo poenitentiam agerent, iterandam postea non putarent; quia, sicut unum baptisma, ita est una poenitentia ». His aliisque pluribus utuntur in assertionem suae opinionis. — Sed Ambrosius dicit: « Haec vera poenitentia est cessare a peccato ». Et iterum: « Magni profectus est renuntiasse errori ». « Imbutos enim vitiis animos exuere atque emendare virtutis est perfectae et caelestis gratiae ».
Et ideo sane ita definiri potest: poenitentia est virtus vel gratia, qua commissa mala cum emendationis proposito plangimus et odimus et plangenda ulterius committere nolumus; quia poenitentia vera est in animo dolere et odire vitia. — Unde illa verba praemissa: poenitere est ante acta deflere et flenda non committere, recte sic accipi possunt, ut non ad diversa tempora, sed ad idem referantur, ut scilicet tempore, quo deflet commissa mala, non committat voluntate vel opere flenda. Quod innuitur ex verbis consequentibus: « Nam qui sic alia deplorat » etc. Hinc Augustinus9 ait: « Cavendum est, ne quis existimet, infanda illa crimina, qualia qui agunt regnum Dei non possidebunt, quotidie perpetranda et eleemosynis quotidie redimenda. In melius est enim vita mutanda, et per eleemosynas de peccatis praeteritis propitiandus est Deus, non ad hoc emendus quodam modo, ut ea semper liceat impune committere. Nemini enim dedit laxamentum peccandi, etsi miserando deleat commissa peccata, si non satisfactio congrua negligatur ». Item Pius Papa10: « Nihil prodest homini ieiunare et orare et alia religionis opera agere, nisi mens ab iniquitate revocetur ». — Qui ergo a malis sic mentem revocat, ut commissa plangat et plangenda committere non velit nec satisfacere negligat, vere poenitet. Nec ideo non vera est poenitentia, quia forte post non de proposito, sed casu vel infirmitate peccabit. Ille autem irrisor est, et non poenitens, qui sic commissa plangit, ut plangenda voluntate vel opere committere non desinat. Ille etiam, qui post lacrymas repetit quae flevit, lavatur ad tempus, sed non est mundus, id est, illa munditia non est ei sufficiens ad salutem, quia est momentanea, non perseverans. Item illud: Inanis est poenitentia, quam sequens culpa coinquinat, sic intelligendum est: Inanis est, scilicet carens fructu illius poenitentiae, quam sequens culpa non coinquinat. Illius enim fructus est vitatio gehennae et adeptio gloriae. Mortificatur enim illa poenitentia, et alia ante acta bona, per sequens peccatum, ut non sortiantur mercedem, quam meruerunt, cum fierent, et quam haberent, si peccatum non succederet. Sed et, si de peccato succedenti poenitentia agatur, et poenitentia, quae praecessit, et alia ante acta bona reviviscunt; sed illa tantum, quae ex caritate prodierunt. Illa enim sola viva sunt, quae in caritate fiunt; ideoque, si per sequentia peccata mortificantur, per subsequentem poenitentiam reviviscere possunt. Quae vero sine caritate fiunt, mortua et inania generantur; et ideo per poenitentiam reviviscere non valent. Similiter intelligendum est illud: Nihil prosunt lamenta etc., et illud: Nihil valet etc. Si enim replicentur peccata, nihil valet ad salutem vel ad veniam in fine praecedens lamentum, quia nihil relinquitur de vitae munditia; quia aut peccata dimissa redeunt, ut quibusdam placet, cum replicantur; vel si non redeunt, eis tamen deletis propter ingratitudinem ita reus et immundus constituitur, cum adhuc in expiandis implicatur, ut si iam deleta redirent. De hoc tamen, scilicet an peccata redeant, post plenius agemus11. Similiter nihil valet ad salutem obtinendam vel ad munditiam vitae habendam veniam de malefactis poscere et mala denuo iterare.
— Ita etiam intelligendum est illud quod idem Augustinus12 alibi ait: « Poenitentia est quaedam dolentis vindicta, puniens in se quod dolet commisisse ». Et infra: « Continue dolendum est de peccato, quod declarat ipsa dictionis virtus. Poenitere enim est poenam tenere, ut semper puniat in se ulciscendo quod commisit peccando. Ille poenam tenet, qui semper vindicat quod commisisse se dolet. Poenitentia igitur est vindicta semper puniens in se quod commisisse dolet ». « Quid restat nobis, nisi dolere in vita? ubi enim dolor finitur, deficit et poenitentia. Si vero poenitentia finitur, quid relinquitur de venia? Tamdiu gaudeat et speret de gratia, quamdiu sustentatur a poenitentia. Dicit enim Dominus13: Vade, et amplius noli peccare. Non dixit: ne pecces, sed nec voluntas peccandi in te oriatur. Quod quomodo servabitur, nisi dolor in poenitentia continue custodiatur? Hinc semper doleat et de dolore gaudeat; et non sit satis, quod doleat, sed ex fide doleat et non semper doluisse doleat ».
De poenitentia perfectorum vel ad salutem sufficienti intelligendum est quod supra dixit, scilicet: Poenitentia est vindicta semper puniens quod commisit; et alia huiusmodi. Illud vero: Si poenitentia finitur, nihil de venia relinquitur, dupliciter accipi potest. Si enim iuxta quorundam intelligentiam peccata dimissa redeunt, facile est intelligere, nihil de venia relinqui; quia peccata dimissa iterum replicantur. Sicut enim ille qui ex servitute in libertatem manumittitur, interim14 vere liber est, et tamen propter offensam in servitutem postea revocatur; sic et poenitenti peccata vere dimittuntur, et tamen propter offensam, quae replicatur, iterum redeunt. — Si vero non redire dicantur, sane potest dici, etiam sic nihil de venia relinqui; non quod dimissa peccata iterum imputentur, sed quia propter ingratitudinem ita reus et immundus constituitur, ac si illa redirent.
Cap. III. De solemni et unica poenitentia.
Illud autem, quod Ambrosius ait: Reperiuntur etc. et: Sicut unum baptisma, ita et una poenitentia, non secundum generalem, sed secundum specialem morem Ecclesiae de solemni poenitentia dictum intelligitur, quae apud quosdam semel celebrata non iteratur. Item illud aliud Ambrosii15: « Poenitentia semel usurpata nec vere celebrata et fructum prioris aufert et usum sequentis amittit »; de solemni intelligitur. Solemnis vero poenitentia, ut Ambrosius in eodem ait, est quae fit extra Ecclesiam in manifesto, in cinere et cilicio, quae pro gravioribus horrendisque ac manifestis delictis tantum imponitur. Et illa non est iteranda pro reverentia Sacramenti, et ne vilescat et contemptibilis fiat hominibus. Unde Augustinus16: « Quamvis caute et salubriter provisum sit, ut locus illius humillimae poenitentiae semel in Ecclesia concedatur, ne medicina vilis vel minus utilis esset aegrotis, quae tanto magis salubris est, quanto minus contemptibilis fuerit; quis tamen audeat Deo dicere: Quare huic homini, qui post poenitentiam primam rursus se laqueis iniquitatis obstringit, adhuc iterum parcis »? Origenes17 quoque de hac solemni poenitentia, quae pro gravioribus criminibus iniungitur, ait: « Si nos aliqua culpa mortalis invenerit, quae non in crimine mortali, vel in blasphemia fidei, sed in sermonis vel in morum vitio consistat; haec culpa semper reparari potest, nec interdicitur aliquando de huiusmodi poenitentiam agere; sed non ita de gravioribus criminibus. In gravioribus enim criminibus semel tantum poenitentiae conceditur locus. Communia, quae frequenter incurrimus, semper poenitentiam recipiunt et semper redimuntur ». — Communia dicit peccata venialia et forte mortalia quaedam aliis minus gravia, quae, sicut saepe committuntur, ita frequenter per poenitentiam redimuntur. Sed de gravioribus criminibus semel tantum agitur poenitentia, scilicet solemnis. Nam et de illis, si iterentur, iteratur poenitentia, sed non solemnis. Quod tamen in quibusdam Ecclesiis non servatur.
Cap. IV. Quod peccata saepe dimittuntur per poenitentiam.
Quod vero poenitentia non semel tantum agatur, sed frequenter iteretur, et per eam frequenter iterum venia praestetur; pluribus Sanctorum testimoniis probatur. Ait enim Augustinus18, scribens contra quosdam haereticos, qui peccantibus post baptismum semel tantum dicebant utilem esse poenitentiam, ita: « Adhuc instant perfidi, qui sapiunt plus quam oportet, non sobrii, sed excedentes mensuram; dicunt enim: Etsi semel peccantibus post baptismum valeat poenitentia, non tamen saepe peccantibus proderit iterata; alioquin remissio ad peccatum esset incitatio. Dicunt enim: Quis non semper peccaret, si semper redire posset? Dicunt enim Dominum incitatorem mali, si semper poenitentibus subvenit; et ei peccata placere, quibus semper praesto est gratia. Errant autem. Constat enim, ei multum peccata displicere, qui semper praesto est ea destruere; si ea amaret, non ita semper ea destrueret ». Idem ad Macedonium19: « In tantum hominum iniquitas aliquando progreditur, ut etiam post peractam poenitentiam, post altaris reconciliationem vel similia vel graviora committant. Et tamen Deus facit, etiam super tales oriri solem suum, nec minus tribuit, quam ante tribuerat, largissima munera vitae et salutis. Et quamvis eis in Ecclesia locus ille poenitentiae non concedatur; Deus tamen super eos suae patientiae non obliviscitur. Ex quorum numero si quis nobis dicat: Dicite mihi, utrum mihi aliquid prosit ad vitam futuram, si
in ista vita illecebrosissimae voluptatis blandimenta contempsero, si me poenitendo vehementius quam prius excruciavero, si uberius flevero, si melius vixero, si pauperes largius sustentavero, si caritate ardentius flagravero; quis nostrum ita desipit, ut huic homini dicat: Nihil tibi ista in posterum proderunt? Vade, saltem vitae huius suavitate fruere. Avertat Deus tam immanem sacrilegamque dementiam ». Item, Ioannes Chrysostomus20 de reparatione lapsi: « Talis, mihi crede, talis est erga homines pietas Dei: nunquam spernit poenitentiam, si ei sincere et simpliciter offeratur; etiam si ad summum quis perveniat malorum, et inde tamen velit reverti ad virtutis viam; suscipit libenter, amplectitur, facit omnia, quatenus ad priorem revocet statum. Quodque est adhuc praestantius et eminentius, etiam si non potuerit quis explere omnem satisfaciendi ordinem, quantulamcumque tamen et quamlibet brevi tempore gestam non respuit poenitentiam; suscipit etiam ipsam nec patitur, quamvis exiguae, conversionis perdere mercedem ». Exemplis etiam hoc idem astrui potest. David21 enim per poenitentiam adulterii simul et homicidii veniam impetravit; et tamen graviter postea deliquit in populi enumeratione, quod populi multitudo prostrata ostendit. « Illud autem mirabile est, quod Angelo ferienti plebem se obtulit dicens: Grex iste quid fecit? Fiat manus tua in me et in domum patris mei. Quo facto statim dignus sacrificio iudicatus est qui absolutione aestimabatur indignus. Nec mirum, si tali sua oblatione pro populo peccati sui adeptus est veniam; cum Moyses, offerendo se pro plebis errore, peccata diluerit22 ».
His aliisque pluribus testimoniis evidenter ostenditur, per poenitentiam non semel tantum, sed saepius nos a peccatis surgere, et veram poenitentiam saepius agi. Voluntarie enim peccantibus nobis, ut ait Apostolus23, non relinquitur hostia pro peccatis, secunda scilicet, quia semel tantum Christum oportuit pati; nec relinquitur secundus baptismus; relinquitur vero secunda poenitentia et tertia et deinceps, ut Ioannes Chrysostomus super hunc locum ait: « Sciendum, inquit, quod hic quidam exsurgunt, horum verborum occasione poenitentiam auferentes, quasi per poenitentiam non valeat peccator post lapsum resurgere secundo et tertio et deinceps. Verum etiam in hoc poenitentiam non excludit nec propitiationem, quae saepe fit per poenitentiam, sed secundum baptismum et hostiam ».
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Part I.
Chap. I. On penance, and whence penance is named.
After these things penance must be treated of. Penance is necessary for those set far from God, that they may draw near. For it is, as Jerome says1, « the second plank after shipwreck »; because, if anyone has corrupted by sinning the garment of innocence received in baptism, he can repair it by the remedy of penance. The first plank is baptism, where the old man is put off, and the new is put on; the second, penance, by which after a fall we rise again, while the old state, having returned, is repelled, and the lost newness is resumed. Those who have lapsed after baptism can be renewed by penance, but not by baptism. It is permitted to a man to do penance more often, but not to be baptized. Baptism alone is a Sacrament, but penance is called both a Sacrament and a virtue of the mind. For there is an interior penance and an exterior penance: the exterior is a Sacrament, the interior is a virtue of the mind; and each is a cause of salvation and of justification. — But whether every exterior penance is a Sacrament, or if not every one, which is to be reckoned by this name, we shall consequently investigate2. — From penance began the preaching of John, saying: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. « But what the herald taught, the Truth afterward preached, taking the beginning of his discourse from penance ».
Chap. II. What penance and to repent are.
« Penance is named from punishing, by which one punishes the unlawful things which he has committed. The virtue of penance is conceived through fear ». Whence Isaiah3: From thy fear, O Lord, we have conceived and brought forth the spirit of salvation. « But penance is, as Ambrose says4, to bewail past evils and not to commit again things to be bewailed ». Likewise Gregory: « To repent is to weep for sins formerly done and not to commit things to be wept for. For he who so deplores some things, that yet he commits others, either knows not or dissembles how to do penance still. For what does it profit, if one weeps for the sins of lust and still pants with the heats of avarice? »
Part II.
Some, clinging too vehemently to these words, contend that one who is truly penitent cannot5 thereafter sin damnably; and that, if he has sinned grievously, a true penance did not precede; which they fortify also with other testimonies. For Isidore says6: « He is a mocker, and not penitent, who still does that of which he repents. Nor does he seem as a subject to entreat God, but as one proud to deride: a dog returned to its vomit, and a penitent to his sin. Many shed tears unceasingly, and do not cease to sin. Some I perceive to take up tears for penance, and not to have the affection of penance, because by inconstancy of mind they now shed tears at the remembrance of sin; now, the habit reviving, they commit again by repeating the things they had bewailed. Isaiah says of sinners: Be washed, be clean. He is washed and is clean who bewails past things and does not commit again things to be bewailed. He is washed, and is not clean, who bewails the things he has done, yet does not forsake them and after his tears repeats the things he had wept for ». Likewise Augustine7: « Empty is the penance which a following fault defiles. Laments profit nothing, if sins are repeated. It avails nothing to beg pardon for evils and to do the evils anew ». Likewise Gregory: « He who bewails things admitted, yet does not forsake them, subjects himself to a graver punishment ». Likewise Ambrose8: « There are found those who think penance is to be done more often, who luxuriate in Christ. For if they truly did penance in Christ, they would not afterward think it to be repeated; because, as there is one baptism, so there is one penance ». These and many other things they use to assert their opinion. — But Ambrose says: « This is true penance, to cease from sin ». And again: « It is of great profit to have renounced error ». « For to put off and amend minds steeped in vices belongs to perfect virtue and heavenly grace ».
And therefore it can soundly be thus defined: penance is a virtue or grace by which we bewail and hate the evils committed, with the purpose of amendment, and are unwilling to commit further the things to be bewailed; because true penance is in the mind to grieve and to hate vices. — Whence those words set down above: to repent is to weep for things formerly done and not to commit things to be bewailed, can rightly be so taken, that they refer not to different times, but to the same, namely that at the time when one bewails the evils committed, he should not commit by will or by deed the things to be bewailed. Which is intimated from the words following: « For he who so deplores some things » etc. Hence Augustine9 says: « Care must be taken lest anyone suppose that those abominable crimes, such as those who do them shall not possess the kingdom of God, are daily to be perpetrated and daily to be redeemed by alms. For life must be changed for the better, and God must be propitiated for past sins by alms, not in a manner bought off for this, that it may always be permitted to commit them with impunity. For to no one has he given license to sin, even though by his mercy he blots out the sins committed, if a fitting satisfaction be not neglected ». Likewise Pope Pius10: « It profits a man nothing to fast and to pray and to do the other works of religion, unless the mind be recalled from iniquity ». — He, therefore, who so recalls his mind from evils that he bewails the things committed and is unwilling to commit the things to be bewailed, nor neglects to make satisfaction, truly repents. Nor is the penance not true on this account, that perhaps afterward he will sin, not of set purpose, but by chance or infirmity. But he is a mocker, and not penitent, who so bewails the things committed that he does not cease to commit by will or by deed the things to be bewailed. He too, who after his tears repeats the things he wept for, is washed for a time, but is not clean, that is, that cleanness is not sufficient for him unto salvation, because it is momentary, not lasting. Likewise that saying: Empty is the penance which a following fault defiles, is to be understood thus: It is empty, namely lacking the fruit of that penance which a following fault does not defile. For the fruit of that penance is the avoidance of hell and the attainment of glory. For that penance is mortified, and the other good works done before, by the following sin, so that they obtain not the reward which they merited when they were done, and which they would have if the sin did not follow. But also, if penance be done for the succeeding sin, both the penance which preceded and the other good works done before revive; yet only those which proceeded from charity. For those alone are living which are done in charity; and therefore, if they are mortified by following sins, they can revive through subsequent penance. But those which are done without charity are begotten dead and empty; and therefore they cannot revive through penance. Likewise is to be understood that saying: Laments profit nothing etc., and that: It avails nothing etc. For if sins are repeated, the preceding lament avails nothing at the end unto salvation or unto pardon, because nothing is left of cleanness of life; for either the dismissed sins return, as it pleases some, when they are repeated; or if they do not return, yet, they being blotted out, on account of ingratitude one is so made guilty and unclean, while he is still entangled in the things to be expiated, as if those blotted-out sins returned. Of this, however, namely whether sins return, we shall treat more fully afterward11. Likewise it avails nothing for obtaining salvation or for having cleanness of life to beg pardon for misdeeds and to do the evils anew.
— Thus also is to be understood that which the same Augustine12 says elsewhere: « Penance is a certain vengeance of one grieving, punishing in himself what he grieves to have committed ». And below: « One must grieve continually for sin, which the very force of the word declares. For to repent is to hold punishment, so that one always punishes in himself by avenging what he committed in sinning. He holds punishment who always avenges what he grieves to have committed. Penance therefore is a vengeance always punishing in oneself what one grieves to have committed ». « What remains to us but to grieve in life? for where grief ends, penance too fails. But if penance ends, what is left of pardon? Let him rejoice and hope in grace so long as he is sustained by penance. For the Lord says13: Go, and sin no more. He did not say: do not sin, but: let not even the will of sinning arise in thee. And how shall this be kept, unless grief be continually guarded in penance? Hence let him always grieve and rejoice over his grief; and let it not be enough that he grieve, but let him grieve from faith and grieve that he has not always grieved ».
Of the penance of the perfect, or that which is sufficient unto salvation, is to be understood what he said above, namely: Penance is a vengeance always punishing what one has committed; and other things of this kind. But that saying: If penance ends, nothing of pardon is left, can be taken in two ways. For if, according to the understanding of some, the dismissed sins return, it is easy to understand that nothing of pardon is left; because the dismissed sins are repeated again. For just as he who is set free from servitude into liberty is meanwhile14 truly free, and yet on account of an offense is afterward recalled into servitude; so too to the penitent his sins are truly dismissed, and yet on account of an offense, which is repeated, they return again. — But if they be said not to return, it can soundly be said that even so nothing of pardon is left; not that the dismissed sins are imputed again, but because on account of ingratitude one is so made guilty and unclean, as if those sins returned.
Chap. III. On solemn and single penance.
But that which Ambrose says: There are found etc. and: As there is one baptism, so there is one penance, is understood to be said not according to the general, but according to the special custom of the Church, concerning solemn penance, which among certain persons, once celebrated, is not repeated. Likewise that other saying of Ambrose15: « Penance once usurped and not truly celebrated both takes away the fruit of the prior and loses the use of the following »; is understood of solemn penance. But solemn penance, as Ambrose says in the same place, is that which is done outside the Church in public, in ashes and sackcloth, which is imposed only for graver, horrendous, and manifest offenses. And that penance is not to be repeated, out of reverence for the Sacrament, and lest it become cheap and contemptible to men. Whence Augustine16: « Although it has been cautiously and wholesomely provided that the place of that most humble penance be granted once in the Church, lest the medicine become cheap or less useful to the sick — which is the more wholesome the less contemptible it is — yet who would dare to say to God: Why dost thou still again spare this man, who after his first penance again binds himself in the snares of iniquity »? Origen17 too, concerning this solemn penance which is enjoined for graver crimes, says: « If some mortal fault overtake us which consists not in a deadly crime, or in blasphemy of faith, but in a fault of speech or of conduct; this fault can always be repaired, nor is it ever forbidden to do penance of this kind; but not so for graver crimes. For in graver crimes the place of penance is granted but once. The common faults, which we frequently incur, always admit penance and are always redeemed ». — By common he means venial sins and perhaps certain mortal ones less grave than others, which, just as they are often committed, so are frequently redeemed through penance. But for graver crimes penance is done but once, namely solemn penance. For even of those, if they be repeated, penance is repeated, but not solemn. Which, however, in certain Churches is not observed.
Chap. IV. That sins are often dismissed through penance.
But that penance is not done once only, but is frequently repeated, and that through it pardon is frequently granted again, is proved by many testimonies of the Saints. For Augustine18 says, writing against certain heretics who said that for those sinning after baptism penance was useful but once, thus: « The faithless still press on, who are wise more than they ought, not soberly, but exceeding measure; for they say: Even if for those sinning once after baptism penance avails, yet it will not profit those sinning often, repeated; otherwise remission would be an incitement to sin. For they say: Who would not always sin, if he could always return? For they say that the Lord is an inciter of evil, if he always succors the penitent; and that the sins please him, to which grace is always at hand. But they err. For it is established that sins much displease him who is always at hand to destroy them; if he loved them, he would not so always destroy them ». The same, to Macedonius19: « To such a degree does the iniquity of men sometimes advance, that even after penance has been performed, after reconciliation at the altar, they commit the like or graver things. And yet God makes his sun to rise even upon such, nor does he grant less than he had granted before, the most ample gifts of life and salvation. And although that place of penance be not granted them in the Church; yet God does not forget his patience over them. And if one of their number should say to us: Tell me whether anything will profit me unto the future life, if
in this life I have despised the allurements of most enticing pleasure, if by repenting I have tormented myself more vehemently than before, if I have wept more abundantly, if I have lived better, if I have more liberally sustained the poor, if I have burned more ardently with charity; who among us is so foolish as to say to this man: These things shall profit thee nothing for the future? Go, enjoy at least the sweetness of this life. May God avert so monstrous and sacrilegious a madness ». Likewise, John Chrysostom20 on the restoration of the lapsed: « Such, believe me, such is God's love toward men: he never spurns penance, if it be offered to him sincerely and simply; even if one reach the summit of evils, and yet thence wish to return to the way of virtue; he receives him willingly, embraces him, does all things, to recall him to his former state. And what is yet more excellent and eminent, even if one cannot fulfill the whole order of satisfaction, yet he does not reject the penance, however small and performed in however brief a time; he receives even it, nor suffers, though slight, the reward of conversion to be lost ». By examples too this same thing can be established. For David21 by penance obtained pardon at once of adultery and of homicide; and yet afterward he grievously transgressed in the numbering of the people, which the prostrate multitude of the people showed. « But that is wonderful, that he offered himself to the Angel striking the people, saying: What has this flock done? Let thy hand be against me and against the house of my father. Which done, he was at once judged worthy of sacrifice who was reckoned unworthy of absolution. Nor is it a wonder, if by such an offering of himself for the people he obtained pardon of his own sin; since Moses, offering himself for the people's error, washed away their sins22 ».
By these and many other testimonies it is evidently shown that through penance we rise from sins not once only, but more often, and that true penance is more often done. For us sinning willingly, as the Apostle says23, there is left no sacrifice for sins — a second one, namely — because it behooved Christ to suffer but once; nor is there left a second baptism; but there is left a second penance and a third and so on, as John Chrysostom on this place says: « It is to be known, he says, that here certain men arise who, on the occasion of these words, take away penance, as if through penance a sinner could not rise again after a lapse a second and a third time and so on. But in this too he excludes not penance nor the propitiation which is often made through penance, but a second baptism and sacrifice ».
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- 1Epist. 130, ad Demetriadem (alias 8.) n. 9; cfr. quoad haec et alia, quae sequuntur, Hugo a S. Vict., Sum. Sent. tr. 6. c. 10. Inferius respicitur Eph. 4, 22. 24.Letter 130, to Demetrias (otherwise 8), n. 9; cf., concerning these and the other things that follow, Hugh of St. Victor, Summa Sententiarum, tr. 6, c. 10. Just below, Eph. 4:22, 24 is referred to.
- 2Dist. XXII. c. 2. — Seq. locus Scripturae est Matth. 3, 2. Verba exordium sermonis respiciunt ibid. 4, 17. — Quod sequitur usque ad locum Ambrosii est ex Glossa ordinaria ibid. — Pro illud post codd. et ed. 1 idem post.Dist. XXII, c. 2. — The following Scripture passage is Matt. 3:2. The words exordium sermonis refer to ibid., 4:17. — What follows up to the passage of Ambrose is from the ordinary Gloss, ibid. — For illud post the codices and ed. 1 have idem post.
- 3Cap. 26, 18.Chap. 26:18.
- 4(Inter opera) Serm. 25. (de s. Quadrag. 9.) n. 1; C. Poenitentia est (1.), de Poenitentia dist. 3. — Locus Gregorii est II. Homil. in Evang., hom. 34. n. 15; C. Poenitentiam agere (6.), ibid., ubi ed. 1 pro tamen alia habet alia iterum.(Among the works) Sermon 25 (on the holy Quadragesima, 9), n. 1; the canon Poenitentia est (1), de Poenitentia, dist. 3. — The passage of Gregory is bk. II Homilies on the Gospels, hom. 34, n. 15; the canon Poenitentiam agere (6), ibid., where ed. 1, for tamen alia, has alia iterum.
- 5Codd. omittunt posse, similiter Hugo de S. Vict., Sum. Sent. tr. 6. c. 12.The codices omit posse, likewise Hugh of St. Victor, Summa Sententiarum, tr. 6, c. 12.
- 6Libr. II. Sent. c. 16. n. 1; C. Irrisor (11.), ibid.; in textu infra respiciuntur II. Petr. 2, 22, et Prov. 26, 11, deinde Isai. 1, 16. — Pro non committit codd. B C D E et ed. 1 non admittit, refragante etiam Hugone et canone.Bk. II Sentences, c. 16, n. 1; the canon Irrisor (11), ibid.; in the text below 2 Pet. 2:22 and Prov. 26:11 are referred to, then Isa. 1:16. — For non committit codd. B C D E and ed. 1 have non admittit, against Hugh and the canon too.
- 7Potius Isidor., I. Synonym. n. 77; C. Inanis (12.), ibid. — Locus Gregorii est in Regula pastor. p. III. c. 30; C. Qui admissa (14.), ibid. — Pro Qui admissa edd., excepta 1, Qui commissa.Rather Isidore, bk. I Synonyms, n. 77; the canon Inanis (12), ibid. — The passage of Gregory is in the Pastoral Rule, pt. III, c. 30; the canon Qui admissa (14), ibid. — For Qui admissa the editions, except 1, have Qui commissa.
- 8Libr. II. de Poenitentia, c. 10. n. 95; C. Reperiuntur (2.), ibid. — Seq. locus est inter opera eiusdem, super II. Epist. ad Cor. 2, 7; tertius Ambros., Exposit. in Ps. 118, serm. 22. n. 2; quartus ibid. n. 3.Bk. II On Penance, c. 10, n. 95; the canon Reperiuntur (2), ibid. — The following passage is among the works of the same, on the 2nd Letter to the Corinthians 2:7; the third is Ambrose, Exposition on Ps. 118, sermon 22, n. 2; the fourth ibid., n. 3.
- 9Enchirid. c. 70. n. 19; C. Sane cavendum est (18.), ibid. — Pro infanda solae edd. nefanda, refragante etiam originali. Ibi respicitur I. Cor. 6, 9. 10.Enchiridion, c. 70, n. 19; the canon Sane cavendum est (18), ibid. — For infanda the editions alone have nefanda, against the original too. There 1 Cor. 6:9–10 is referred to.
- 10Epist. 1, et C. Nihil prodest (21.), ibid. — Sequentia sumta sunt ex Hugone a S. Vict., loc. cit.Letter 1, and the canon Nihil prodest (21), ibid. — What follows is taken from Hugh of St. Victor, loc. cit.
- 11Dist. XXII. c. 1.Dist. XXII, c. 1.
- 12De Vera et falsa Poenitentia (inter eius opera), c. 8. n. 22; seq. loc. ibid. c. 19. n. 35; uterque locus C. Poenitentia est (4.), ibid. Tertius ibid. c. 13. n. 28; C. Si Apostolus (5.), ibid. — In I. loco cod. B et edd., excepta 1, post vindicta addunt semper, refragante originali, et pro commisisse codd. et ed. 1 admisisse.On True and False Penance (among his works), c. 8, n. 22; the following passage ibid., c. 19, n. 35; both passages the canon Poenitentia est (4), ibid. The third ibid., c. 13, n. 28; the canon Si Apostolus (5), ibid. — In the first place cod. B and the editions, except 1, after vindicta add semper, against the original, and for commisisse the codices and ed. 1 have admisisse.
- 13Ioan. 8, 11.John 8:11.
- 14Edd. 4, 8 iterum, et etiam Gratianus in C. Quamvis caute (22.), ibid., ex quo tota haec explicatio excerpta est.Edd. 4, 8 iterum, and Gratian too in the canon Quamvis caute (22), ibid., from which this whole explanation is excerpted.
- 15Libr. II. de Poenitentia, c. 11. n. 104; C. In salicibus (37.), ibid.; cfr. Hugo de S. Vict., Sum. Sent. tr. 6. c. 12.Bk. II On Penance, c. 11, n. 104; the canon In salicibus (37), ibid.; cf. Hugh of St. Victor, Summa Sententiarum, tr. 6, c. 12.
- 16Epist. 153. (alias 54.) ad Macedonium, c. 3. n. 7; C. Quamvis caute, supra cit.Letter 153 (otherwise 54) to Macedonius, c. 3, n. 7; the canon Quamvis caute, cited above.
- 17Homil. 15. in Levit. (25, 29.) n. 2; Magister, pluribus aliis omissis, adiecit verba: sed non ita de gravioribus criminibus.Homily 15 on Leviticus (25:29), n. 2; the Master, many other things being omitted, added the words: but not so for graver crimes.
- 18Libr. de Vera et falsa Poenitentia, c. 5. n. 11; C. Adhuc instant (32.), ibid. Respicitur Rom. 12, 3. In hoc textu Vat. cum pluribus edd. ante redire praefigit per poenitentiam, et pro poenitentibus ponit peccantibus; denique in fine eaedem omittunt ita, refragante etiam originali.The book On True and False Penance, c. 5, n. 11; the canon Adhuc instant (32), ibid. Rom. 12:3 is referred to. In this text the Vatican edition, with many editions, before redire prefixes per poenitentiam, and for poenitentibus puts peccantibus; finally at the end the same omit ita, against the original too.
- 19Loc. cit. supra in nota 6, et C. In tantum (33), ibid. Respicitur Matth. 5, 45. — Pro ille poenitentiae ed. Maurina Augustini, Can. cit. et Vat. humillimae poenitentiae. Pro nobis dicat et infra pro nostrum ita, quod habent plures edd. cum originali, Vat. cum aliis vobis dicat...vestrum ita.The place cited above in note 6, and the canon In tantum (33), ibid. Matt. 5:45 is referred to. — For ille poenitentiae the Maurist edition of Augustine, the cited canon, and the Vatican have humillimae poenitentiae. For nobis dicat, and below for nostrum ita, which several editions have with the original, the Vatican with others has vobis dicat...vestrum ita.
- 20Libr. I. Ad Theodorum lapsum adhortatio n. 6; C. Talis mihi (28.), ibid.Bk. I, Exhortation to Theodore the Lapsed, n. 6; the canon Talis mihi (28), ibid.
- 21Libr. II. Reg. 12, 13.2 Kings (2 Samuel) 12:13.
- 22Ambros., de Apologia David, c. 7. n. 38; C. Illud vero (26.), ibid., qui cum originali post plebis errore bene addit etiam plebis. Scripturae sunt II. Reg. 24, 17; I. Paralip. 21, 17.Ambrose, On the Apology of David, c. 7, n. 38; the canon Illud vero (26), ibid., which together with the original after plebis errore rightly adds etiam plebis. The Scriptures are 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 24:17; 1 Chron. 21:17.
- 23Hebr. 10, 10. — Locus Chrysost. est Homil. 20. n. 1.Heb. 10:10. — The passage of Chrysostom is Homily 20, n. 1.