Dist. 18, Part 1
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 18
Pars I.
Cap. I. De remissione, quam praestat sacerdos.
Hic quaeri solet, si peccatum omnino dimissum est a Deo per cordis contritionem, ex quo poenitens votum habuit confitendi, quid postea dimittatur ei a sacerdote. Video enim, quo vinculo eum ligat, scilicet temporalis poenae, sed non, a quo eum absolvat; et ideo quaero. Ante poenitudinem quippe cordis anima rei maculam habet et foetorem peccati atque aeternae ultionis vinculo ligata existit. Si vero ante confessionem per cordis contritionem Deus per se ipsum sine ministerio sacerdotis et debitum omnino relaxat et animam interius purgat a contagione et foetore peccati; quid ergo mundat, quid dimittit sacerdos? Ubi sunt claves illae, quas Dominus tradidit Petro et successoribus eius dicens1: Tibi dabo claves regni caelorum; et quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in caelo; et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in caelis? Ut autem praemissa quaestio plenius explicari valeat, quasi altius ducto rete, de his clavibus et usu earum disseramus.
Cap. II. De clavibus.
Claves istae sunt non corporales, sed spirituales, scilicet « discernendi scientia et potentia iudicandi », id est ligandi et solvendi, qua « dignos recipere et indignos debet excludere a regno » ecclesiasticus iudex, qui sicut habet ius ligandi, ita et solvendi. Unde Ambrosius2: « Dominus par ius et solvendi esse voluit et ligandi, qui utrumque pari conditione promisit. Ergo qui solvendi ius non habet, nec ligandi habet ». Et infra: « Certum est, quod Ecclesiae utrumque licet, haeresis utrumque non habet; ius enim hoc solis permissum est sacerdotibus. Recte igitur Ecclesia hoc sibi vindicat, quae veros habet sacerdotes; haeresis vindicare non potest, quae veros sacerdotes non habet ».
Cap. III. De usu clavium.
Usus vero harum clavium multiplex est, discernere scilicet ligandos vel solvendos, ac deinde ligare vel solvere. « Qui enim indignos ligat vel solvit propria potestate se privat3 », id est, dignum privatione se facit.
Cap. IV. Si sacerdos potest dimittere, vel retinere peccatum.
Sed quaeritur, utrum a peccato solvere valeat sacerdos, id est a culpa, ut culpae maculam abstergat, vel debitum aeternae mortis solvere valeat. — Quidam arbitrati sunt, cum peccator dupliciter ligatus teneatur, ut praedictum est, scilicet mentis contagione ac caecitate et debito futurae poenae, alterum curari per Deum, alterum solvi per sacerdotem. Patitur enim per peccatum quasdam tenebras interiores et maculas, a quibus nisi liberetur, proiicietur in tenebras exteriores; cum autem liberatur ab his, suscitatur a morte peccati. Unde Apostolus4: Surge qui dormis, et illuminabit te Christus. Solus enim Christus, non sacerdos, animam resuscitat, ac pulsis tenebris interioribus et maculis, eam illuminat et mundat, qui animae faciem lavat; debitum vero aeternae poenae solvere concessit
sacerdotibus. Quod in resurrectione Lazari signatum asserunt, quem Christus prius per se interius vivificavit, deinde foras exire iussit cumque adhuc ligatum solvere Apostolis praecepit; quia, ut aiunt, ipse interius animam a caligine maculaque peccati emundat, sacerdotibus vero dedit vinculum aeternae mortis solvere.
Alii vero dicunt, solum Deum, non sacerdotem debitum aeternae mortis dimittere, sicut et animam interius per se vivificat; nec tamen diffitentur sacerdotibus traditam potestatem peccata dimittendi et retinendi, quibus dictum est: Quorum remiseritis peccata etc. Sicut enim retinuit sibi potestatem baptismi, ita et poenitentiae. Et ideo, sicut interius gratia sua animam illuminat, ita et simul debitum aeternae mortis relaxat. Ipse enim per se ipsum peccata poenitentium tegit, et tunc tegit, quando ad poenam non reservat. Tunc ergo tegit, quando debitum poenae solvit. Quod autem ipse tegit, aperte dicit Augustinus, exponens illum locum Psalmi5: Quorum tecta sunt peccata, id est « cooperta et abolita. Si enim texit Deus peccata, noluit advertere; si noluit advertere, noluit animadvertere, id est punire, sed ignoscere. Ita ergo dicit a Deo tecta, ut Deus non videat, id est aeternaliter puniat ». Videre enim Dei peccata est ad poenam imputare; avertere autem faciem a peccatis, hoc est ea ad poenam non reservare. Item Hieronymus6: « Quibus Deus dimittit peccata, tegit, ne in iudicio revelentur ». Item Cassiodorus: « Qui gravia habent peccata, aliis Deus imputat, aliis per misericordiam non imputat ».
Ex his aperte ostenditur, quod Deus ipse poenitentem solvit a debito poenae, et tunc solvit, quando intus illuminat, inspirando veram cordis contritionem. Cui sententiae ratio suffragatur, et auctoritates attestantur. Nemo enim de peccato vere compungitur, habens cor contritum et humiliatum, nisi in caritate; qui autem caritatem habet dignus est vita; nemo autem simul dignus est vita et morte: non est igitur tunc ligatus debito aeternae mortis. Filius enim irae desiit esse, ex quo diligere et poenitere coepit. Ex tunc igitur solutus est ab ira, quae non manet super illum qui credit in Christum, sed super illum qui non credit. Non igitur postmodum per sacerdotem, cui confitetur, ab ira aeterna liberatur, a qua iam liberatus est per Dominum, ex quo dixit: confitebor. Solus ergo Deus hominem interius mundat a macula peccati et a debito aeternae poenae solvit; qui per Prophetam7 ait: Ego solus deleo iniquitates et peccata populi. Item Ambrosius: « Verbum Dei dimittit peccata; sacerdos est iudex. Sacerdos quidem officium suum exhibet, sed nullius potestatis iura exercet ». Idem8: « Ille solus dimittit peccata, qui solus pro peccatis nostris mortuus est ». Item Augustinus: « Nemo tollit peccata nisi solus Deus, qui est Agnus tollens peccata mundi; tollit autem et dimittendo quae facta sunt, et adiuvando, ne fiant, et perducendo ad vitam, ubi omnino fieri non possunt ». — His aliisque pluribus testimoniis docetur, Deum solum per se peccata dimittere; et sicut dimittit quibusdam, ita et aliorum quorundam peccata retinet.
Cap. V. Quomodo sacerdotes dimittunt peccatum, vel retinent.
Nec ideo tamen negamus, sacerdotibus concessam potestatem dimittendi et retinendi peccata, cum hoc Veritas in Evangelio aperte doceat. Hinc Augustinus9 ait: « Ecclesiae caritas, quae per Spiritum sanctum diffunditur in cordibus, eorum qui participes sui sunt, peccata dimittit, eorum qui non sunt, tenet ». Idem: « Sacerdotes possunt confitentibus parcere, quibus enim remittunt, remittit Deus. Lazarum enim de monumento suscitatum obtulit discipulis solvendum, per hoc ostendens, potestatem solvendi concessam sacerdotibus. Dixit enim: Quodcumque solveritis super terram, erit solutum et in caelo etc., hoc est, ego Deus et omnes caelestis curiae ordines et omnes Sancti in gloria mea laudant vobiscum et confirmant quos ligatis et solvitis. Non dixit: quos putatis ligare et solvere, sed, in quos exercetis opus iustitiae vel misericordiae. Aliter autem vel alia opera vestra in peccatores non cognosco ». Idem: « Cum veraciter ad Deum converso peccata dimittuntur, ab eis dimittuntur, quibus ipse veraci conversione coniungitur. Spiritus sanctus ea dimittit, qui datus est omnibus Sanctis sibi caritate cohaerentibus, sive se noverint corporaliter, sive non. Similiter cum alicuius tenentur peccata, ab eis tenentur, a quibus ille cordis pravitate disiungitur sive notis corporaliter, sive ignotis ». « Omnes mali spiritualiter a bonis seiuncti sunt ». — Ecce hic dicit, peccata dimitti vel teneri a viris sanctis, et tamen Spiritum sanctum ea dimittere dicit. Et quod maiori consideratione dignum est, idem etiam dicit, quod Deus per se, vel per Sanctos suos tantum peccata dimittit. Ait enim sic10: « Sacramentum gratiae dat Deus etiam per malos; ipsam vero gratiam non nisi per se ipsum, vel per Sanctos suos. Et ideo remissionem peccatorum vel per se ipsum facit, vel per ipsius columbae membra, quibus ait: Si cui dimiseritis, dimittentur ». — Ecce, quam varia a doctoribus traduntur super his; et in hac tanta varietate, quid tenendum? Hoc sane dicere ac sentire possumus, quod solus Deus dimittit peccata
et retinet, et tamen Ecclesiae contulit potestatem ligandi et solvendi; sed aliter ipse solvit vel ligat, aliter Ecclesia. Ipse enim per se tantum dimittit peccatum, quia et animam mundat ab interiori macula et a debito aeternae mortis solvit.
Cap. VI. Quomodo sacerdotes ligant, vel solvunt a peccatis.
Non autem hoc sacerdotibus concessit, quibus tamen tribuit potestatem ligandi et solvendi, id est ostendendi homines ligatos vel solutos — unde Dominus leprosum sanitati prius per se restituit, deinde ad sacerdotes misit, quorum iudicio ostenderetur mundatus; ita etiam Lazarum iam vivificatum obtulit discipulis solvendum — quia, etsi aliquis apud Deum sit solutus, non tamen in facie Ecclesiae solutus habetur nisi per iudicium sacerdotis. In solvendis igitur culpis vel retinendis ita operatur sacerdos evangelicus et iudicat, sicut olim legalis in illis qui contaminati erant lepra, quae peccatum significat. Unde Hieronymus11 super Matthaeum, ubi Dominus ait Petro: Tibi dabo claves regni caelorum, et quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in caelis; et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in caelis: « Hunc, inquit, locum quidam non intelligentes, aliquid sumunt de supercilio Pharisaeorum, ut damnare innoxios vel solvere se putent noxios, cum apud Deum non sententia sacerdotum, sed reorum vita quaeratur. In Levitico ostendere se sacerdotibus iubentur leprosi, quos illi non faciunt leprosos vel mundos, sed discernunt qui mundi vel immundi sunt; ita et hic ». — Aperte hic ostenditur, quod non sequitur Deus Ecclesiae iudicium, quae per surreptionem et ignorantiam interdum iudicat; Deus autem semper iudicat secundum veritatem. Et in remittendis vel in retinendis culpis id iuris et officii habent evangelici sacerdotes, quod olim sub Lege habebant legales in curandis leprosis. Hi ergo peccata dimittunt vel retinent, dum dimissa a Deo vel retenta iudicant et ostendunt. Ponunt enim sacerdotes nomen Domini super filios Israel, sed ipse benedicit, ut legitur in Numeris12. Hunc modum ligandi et solvendi Hieronymus supra notavit. Ligant quoque sacerdotes, dum satisfactionem poenitentiae confitentibus imponunt; solvunt, cum de ea aliquid dimittunt, vel per eam purgatos ad Sacramentorum communionem admittunt, quem modum superius13 Leo Papa notavit. Secundum hunc modum dicuntur etiam sacerdotes dimittere peccata vel retinere. Unde superius Augustinus dixit: Quibus remittunt, remittit Deus etc. Opus enim iustitiae exercent in peccatores, cum eos iusta poena ligant; opus misericordiae, dum de ea aliquid relaxant, vel Sacramentorum communioni conciliant; alia opera in peccatores exercere nequeunt. — Et notandum, quia quos satisfactione poenitentiae ligant eo ipso a peccatis solutos ostendunt, quia non imponitur alicui satisfactio poenitentialis, nisi quem sacerdos vere poenitentem arbitratur. Alii non imponunt14, et eo ipso peccatum retineri a Deo iudicant. Quod autem hoc ad claves pertineat, Augustinus ostendit dicens: « Frustrat claves Ecclesiae qui sine arbitrio sacerdotis poenitentiam agit, si sine oris confessione criminis indulgentiam impetratur ».
Pars II.
Cap. VII. Quomodo intelligendum sit illud: Quodcumque solveritis etc.
Secundum hos ligandi et solvendi modos quomodo verum est quod dicitur: Quodcumque solveritis super terram, erit solutum et in caelis, et quodcumque ligaveritis super terram, erit ligatum et in caelis? Aliquando enim ostendunt solutos vel ligatos qui non sunt apud Deum, et poena satisfactionis vel excommunicationis interdum indignos ligant vel solvunt, et indignos Sacramentis admittunt et dignos admitti arcent. — Sed intelligendum est hoc in illis quorum merita solvi vel ligari postulant. Tunc enim sententia sacerdotis iudicio Dei et totius caelestis curiae approbatur et confirmatur, cum ita ex discretione procedit15, ut
reorum merita non contradicant. Quoscumque ergo solvunt vel ligant, adhibentes clavem discretionis reorum meritis, solvuntur vel ligantur in caelis, id est apud Deum; quia divino iudicio sententia sacerdotis sic progressa approbatur et confirmatur. Quos ergo secundum merita sententia Ecclesiae percellit, laedit, et illi foris sunt apud Deum. — Qui autem non meruit sententia Ecclesiae non laeditur, nisi contemnat. Unde Origenes16: « Exiit quis a veritate, a fide, a caritate, et per hoc exit de castris Ecclesiae, etiam si episcopi voce non abiiciatur; sicut econtra aliquis non recto iudicio foras mittitur, sed si non egit, ut mereretur exire, nihil laeditur. Interdum enim qui foras mittitur intus est, et qui foris est intus videtur retineri ». — Ecce qualis et quantus est usus apostolicarum clavium. Iam ostensum est ex parte, qualiter sacerdotes dimittant peccata vel retineant, et tamen retinuit sibi Deus quandam singularem potestatem dimittendi vel retinendi, quia ipse solus per se debitum aeternae mortis solvit et animam interius purgat.
Cap. VIII. Quae sint interiores tenebrae et interior macula.
Hic quaeritur, quae sit illa macula, et quae sint illae tenebrae interiores, a quibus Deus interius animam purgat, cum veram poenitentiam immittit. — De tenebris et interiori caligine satis facile est et intelligere et respondere. Cum enim quis mortaliter delinquit, et gratia virtutis privatur, si qua praecessit, et naturalium bonorum elisionem patitur. Unde et intellectus obtunditur, et totus homo interior obtenebratur, et ita quasi quadam caligine mens obvolvitur, quae caligo peccati poena est. Hanc vero Deus pellit, cum poenitentiam immittit, per quam bona perdita restituit et vitiata reparat. Unde Propheta17: Nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. — Sed quae est macula peccati, a qua animam lavat? Ecce enim, quis voluit facere homicidium et patravit, quo patrato, desinit tam velle quam facere; nondum tamen vere et humiliter poenitet nec confiteri proponit. Quae igitur remansit in anima illius macula? Mala voluntas quidem macula fuit illius animae, sed illa transit; macula etiam est, si poenitere contemnit, sed hoc est peccatum aliud a praecedenti. Quae igitur macula remansit, a qua ipse in poenitentia purgatur? — Polluta quidem est anima, quousque poenitet, sicut erat, dum in ea prava erat voluntas. Sicut enim qui tangit morticinum vel aliud immundum ita pollutus est post tactum, quousque lavatur, sicut fuit, dum tangeret; ita post actum peccati polluta remanet anima, sicut fuit in ipso actu peccati, quia ita longe est a Deo per dissimilitudinem, qui est vita et munditia mentis, sicut fuit, dum peccatum ageret. Ipsa ergo dissimilitudo, quae inest animae ex peccato et est a Deo elongatio, animae macula intelligitur, a qua purgatur in poenitentia. Hoc autem solus Deus facit, qui solus suscitat animam et illuminat; quod sacerdotes nequeunt, qui tamen medici sunt animarum. Unde Propheta: Nunquid medici suscitabunt et confitebuntur tibi? Quod exponens Augustinus ait: « Boni doctores recte medici dicuntur, qui viventes curare ministerio possunt, sed non mortuos suscitare; sola enim Dei gratia reviviscunt ».
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Part I.
Chap. I. On the remission which the priest bestows.
Here it is wont to be asked: if a sin has been wholly forgiven by God through contrition of heart, from the moment the penitent has had the desire of confessing, what is afterward forgiven him by the priest. For I see by what bond he binds him, namely of temporal penalty, but not from what he absolves him; and therefore I ask. For before the repentance of the heart the guilty soul has the stain and stench of sin, and exists bound by the bond of eternal vengeance. But if before confession, through contrition of heart, God by Himself, without the ministry of a priest, both wholly relaxes the debt and interiorly purges the soul from the contagion and stench of sin; what then does the priest cleanse, what does he forgive? Where are those keys which the Lord delivered to Peter and his successors, saying1: To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven? But that the foregoing question may be more fully unfolded, as it were by a net cast deeper, let us discourse concerning these keys and their use.
Chap. II. On the keys.
These keys are not corporeal, but spiritual, namely « the knowledge of discerning and the power of judging », that is, of binding and loosing, by which the ecclesiastical judge « ought to receive the worthy and exclude the unworthy from the kingdom », who, as he has the right of binding, so also of loosing. Whence Ambrose2: « The Lord willed the right both of loosing and of binding to be equal, who promised both on an equal condition. Therefore he who has not the right of loosing, has not the right of binding either ». And below: « It is certain that both are lawful to the Church, that heresy has neither; for this right is permitted to priests alone. Rightly therefore does the Church claim this for herself, who has true priests; heresy cannot claim it, who has not true priests ».
Chap. III. On the use of the keys.
But the use of these keys is manifold, namely to discern who are to be bound or loosed, and then to bind or loose. « For he who binds or looses the unworthy by his own power deprives himself3 », that is, makes himself worthy of deprivation.
Chap. IV. Whether the priest can forgive, or retain, sin.
But it is asked whether the priest can loose from sin, that is from guilt, so as to wipe away the stain of guilt, or can loose the debt of eternal death. — Some have judged that, since the sinner is bound in a twofold way, as has been said, namely by the contagion and blindness of mind and by the debt of future penalty, the one is cured by God, the other loosed by the priest. For through sin he suffers certain interior darknesses and stains, from which unless he be freed, he will be cast into the exterior darkness; but when he is freed from these, he is raised from the death of sin. Whence the Apostle4: Rise thou that sleepest, and Christ shall enlighten thee. For Christ alone, not the priest, raises the soul, and, the interior darknesses and stains being driven out, enlightens and cleanses it, who washes the face of the soul; but to loose the debt of eternal penalty He granted
to the priests. Which they assert was signified in the resurrection of Lazarus, whom Christ first interiorly vivified by Himself, then bade go forth, and, while he was still bound, bade the Apostles loose him; because, as they say, He Himself interiorly cleanses the soul from the gloom and stain of sin, but to the priests He gave [the power] to loose the bond of eternal death.
But others say that God alone, not the priest, forgives the debt of eternal death, just as He also interiorly vivifies the soul by Himself; nor yet do they deny that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was delivered to priests, to whom it was said: Whose sins you shall forgive etc. For just as He retained to Himself the power of baptism, so also of penance. And therefore, just as He interiorly enlightens the soul by His grace, so also at the same time He relaxes the debt of eternal death. For He Himself by Himself covers the sins of the penitent, and He covers them then, when He does not reserve them for penalty. Then therefore He covers, when He looses the debt of penalty. But that He Himself covers, Augustine plainly says, expounding that place of the Psalm5: Whose sins are covered, that is « hidden and abolished. For if God has covered the sins, He willed not to advert to them; if He willed not to advert, He willed not to take notice, that is, to punish, but to pardon. Thus therefore He says they are covered by God, that God may not see them, that is, eternally punish them ». For to see sins is, for God, to impute them to penalty; but to turn the face from sins is not to reserve them for penalty. Likewise Jerome6: « Those to whom God forgives sins, He covers, lest they be revealed in judgment ». Likewise Cassiodorus: « As to those who have grave sins, to some God imputes them, to others through mercy He does not impute them ».
From these things it is plainly shown that God Himself looses the penitent from the debt of penalty, and He looses then, when He inwardly enlightens, by inspiring true contrition of heart. To which opinion reason gives support, and authorities give witness. For no one is truly compunct over sin, having a contrite and humbled heart, except in charity; but he who has charity is worthy of life; and no one is at the same time worthy of life and of death: he is not therefore then bound by the debt of eternal death. For he ceased to be a son of wrath from the moment he began to love and repent. From then therefore he is loosed from the wrath which does not remain upon him who believes in Christ, but upon him who does not believe. Not therefore is he afterward freed from eternal wrath by the priest, to whom he confesses, from which he has already been freed by the Lord, from the moment he said: I will confess. God alone therefore interiorly cleanses man from the stain of sin and looses him from the debt of eternal penalty; who through the Prophet7 says: I alone blot out the iniquities and sins of the people. Likewise Ambrose: « The Word of God forgives sins; the priest is the judge. The priest indeed performs his office, but exercises the rights of no power ». The same8: « He alone forgives sins, who alone died for our sins ». Likewise Augustine: « No one takes away sins but God alone, who is the Lamb taking away the sins of the world; and He takes them away both by forgiving the things that have been done, and by helping that they be not done, and by leading to the life where they can in no wise be done ». — By these and many other testimonies it is taught that God alone by Himself forgives sins; and as He forgives to some, so also He retains the sins of certain others.
Chap. V. In what manner priests forgive sin, or retain it.
Nor yet do we therefore deny that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was granted to priests, since the Truth plainly teaches this in the Gospel. Hence Augustine9 says: « The charity of the Church, which is poured forth in hearts through the Holy Spirit, forgives the sins of those who are partakers of it, and retains the sins of those who are not ». The same: « Priests can spare those who confess, for those whom they forgive, God forgives. For He offered Lazarus, raised from the tomb, to the disciples to be loosed, by this showing that the power of loosing was granted to priests. For He said: Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven etc., that is, I God and all the orders of the heavenly court and all the Saints in my glory praise with you and confirm those whom you bind and loose. He did not say: those whom you think to bind and loose, but, those upon whom you exercise the work of justice or mercy. But otherwise, or [in respect of] your other works upon sinners, I do not acknowledge [them] ». The same: « When sins are forgiven to one truly converted to God, they are forgiven by those to whom He Himself is joined by true conversion. The Holy Spirit forgives them, who is given to all the Saints cleaving to Him by charity, whether they know one another corporally or not. Likewise when anyone's sins are retained, they are retained by those from whom he is disjoined by the depravity of his heart, whether [those] known corporally or unknown ». « All the wicked are spiritually separated from the good ». — Behold, here he says that sins are forgiven or retained by holy men, and yet he says that the Holy Spirit forgives them. And what is worthy of greater consideration, he likewise says that God by Himself, or through His Saints only, forgives sins. For he says thus10: « God gives the Sacrament of grace even through the wicked; but grace itself only by Himself, or through His Saints. And therefore the remission of sins He effects either by Himself, or through the members of that dove, to whom He says: If to anyone you shall forgive, they shall be forgiven ». — Behold how various are the things handed down by the doctors concerning these matters; and in this so great variety, what is to be held? This indeed we can say and judge, that God alone forgives sins
and retains them, and yet He has conferred upon the Church the power of binding and loosing; but otherwise He Himself looses or binds, otherwise the Church. For He Himself by Himself alone forgives sin, because He both cleanses the soul from the interior stain and looses it from the debt of eternal death.
Chap. VI. In what manner priests bind, or loose, from sins.
But this He did not grant to priests, to whom however He gave the power of binding and loosing, that is, of showing men bound or loosed — whence the Lord first by Himself restored the leper to health, then sent him to the priests, by whose judgment he should be shown cleansed; thus too He offered Lazarus, already vivified, to the disciples to be loosed — because, even if anyone be loosed in God's sight, yet he is not held loosed in the face of the Church except by the judgment of the priest. In loosing therefore or retaining faults the evangelical priest so works and judges as of old the legal [priest] did among those who were contaminated with the leprosy which signifies sin. Whence Jerome11 upon Matthew, where the Lord says to Peter: To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven: « This place, he says, some not understanding take something from the haughtiness of the Pharisees, so as to think they condemn the innocent or loose themselves who are guilty, whereas in God's sight not the sentence of the priests but the life of the accused is sought. In Leviticus the lepers are bidden to show themselves to the priests, whom those [priests] do not make lepers or clean, but discern who are clean or unclean; and so too here ». — Here it is plainly shown that God does not follow the judgment of the Church, which through stealth and ignorance sometimes judges [wrongly]; but God always judges according to truth. And in remitting or retaining faults the evangelical priests have that right and office which of old the legal [priests] had under the Law in curing lepers. These therefore forgive or retain sins, while they judge and show [them] forgiven or retained by God. For the priests place the name of the Lord upon the children of Israel, but He Himself blesses, as is read in Numbers12. This mode of binding and loosing Jerome noted above. Priests also bind, while they impose the satisfaction of penance on those confessing; they loose, when they remit something of it, or admit those purged through it to the communion of the Sacraments, which mode Pope Leo noted above13. According to this mode priests too are said to forgive sins or retain them. Whence Augustine said above: Those whom they forgive, God forgives etc. For they exercise the work of justice upon sinners, when they bind them with a just penalty; the work of mercy, when they relax something of it, or reconcile [them] to the communion of the Sacraments; other works upon sinners they cannot exercise. — And it is to be noted that those whom they bind by the satisfaction of penance, they thereby show loosed from sins, because penitential satisfaction is imposed on no one except him whom the priest judges to be truly penitent. Others they do not [thus] charge14, and thereby they judge the sin to be retained by God. But that this pertains to the keys, Augustine shows, saying: « He frustrates the keys of the Church who does penance without the judgment of a priest, if pardon of the crime be sought without oral confession ».
Part II.
Chap. VII. In what manner that saying is to be understood: Whatsoever you shall loose etc.
According to these modes of binding and loosing, in what manner is that which is said true: Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven? For sometimes they show loosed or bound those who are not [so] in God's sight, and by the penalty of satisfaction or of excommunication they sometimes bind or loose the unworthy, and admit the unworthy to the Sacraments and keep back the worthy from being admitted. — But this is to be understood of those whose merits demand to be loosed or bound. For then the sentence of the priest is approved and confirmed by the judgment of God and of the whole heavenly court, when it so proceeds from discretion15, that
the merits of the accused do not contradict it. Whomsoever therefore they loose or bind, applying the key of discretion to the merits of the accused, are loosed or bound in heaven, that is in God's sight; because by divine judgment the sentence of the priest, having so proceeded, is approved and confirmed. Those therefore whom the sentence of the Church strikes according to their merits, it harms, and they are outside in God's sight. — But he who has not deserved [it] is not harmed by the sentence of the Church, unless he despise it. Whence Origen16: « Someone goes out from truth, from faith, from charity, and through this he goes out from the camp of the Church, even if he be not cast out by the bishop's voice; just as, on the contrary, someone is sent outside by an unrighteous judgment, but if he has not acted so as to deserve to go out, he is in no way harmed. For sometimes he who is sent outside is within, and he who is outside seems to be retained within ». — Behold of what kind and how great is the use of the apostolic keys. It has now been shown in part how priests forgive sins or retain them, and yet God has retained to Himself a certain singular power of forgiving or retaining, because He alone by Himself looses the debt of eternal death and interiorly purges the soul.
Chap. VIII. What the interior darkness and the interior stain are.
Here it is asked what that stain is, and what those interior darknesses are, from which God interiorly purges the soul, when He sends in true penance. — Concerning the darknesses and the interior gloom it is easy enough both to understand and to answer. For when anyone sins mortally, he is also deprived of the grace of virtue, if any preceded, and suffers a beating-down of his natural goods. Whence also the intellect is dulled, and the whole interior man is darkened, and thus the mind is wrapped as it were in a certain gloom, which gloom is the penalty of sin. But this God drives away, when He sends in penance, through which He restores the goods that were lost and repairs those that were vitiated. Whence the Prophet17: He scattereth the mist like ashes. — But what is the stain of sin, from which He washes the soul? For behold, someone willed to commit homicide and did it, and, this being done, he ceases both to will and to do it; yet he does not yet truly and humbly repent nor propose to confess. What stain therefore has remained in that soul? The evil will indeed was the stain of that soul, but that passes; there is also a stain, if he despises to repent, but this is another sin from the preceding. What stain therefore has remained, from which he is purged in penance? — The soul indeed is polluted, so long as it does not repent, just as it was while the evil will was in it. For just as he who touches a carcass or another unclean thing is so polluted after the touch, until he is washed, as he was while he touched it; so after the act of sin the soul remains polluted, just as it was in the very act of sin, because it is so far from God by unlikeness, who is the life and cleanness of the mind, as it was while it committed the sin. That unlikeness therefore which is in the soul from sin and is a distancing from God, is understood [to be] the stain of the soul, from which it is purged in penance. But this God alone does, who alone raises the soul and enlightens it; which priests cannot [do], who nevertheless are physicians of souls. Whence the Prophet: Shall physicians raise to life, and confess to thee? Expounding which Augustine says: « Good teachers are rightly called physicians, who can cure the living by their ministry, but not raise the dead; for by the grace of God alone do they come to life again ».
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- 1Matth. 16, 19. Inferius respicitur Luc. 5, 4.Matt. 16:19. Below Luke 5:4 is regarded.
- 2Libro I. de Poenitentia, c. 2. n. 7. Superius plura verba quod habent codd. H K (1 a secunda manu), codd. F G necessarium iterum confiteri, cod. O iterum confitendum, cod. U iterandum, alii codd. incongrue tantum iterum, quod edd. mutarunt in verum.Book I de Poenitentia, c. 2, n. 7. Above, several words which codd. H K (1 from a second hand) have, codd. F G [read] necessarium iterum confiteri, cod. O iterum confitendum, cod. U iterandum, other codd. unsuitably only iterum, which the editions changed into verum.
- 3Libro cit., ibid. inferius; vide II. de Cain et Abel, c. 4. n. 1-5; C. Verbum Dei (51.), de Poenitentia, d. I.The book cited [Ambrose, de Poenitentia I], ibid. below; see [the] second [book] de Cain et Abel, c. 4, n. 1–5; the canon Verbum Dei (51), de Poenitentia, d. I.
- 4Eph. 5, 14. Superius respicitur Matth. 22, 13; de Lazaro vide Ioan. 11, 44. — Deinde citatur Ioan. 20, 23. — Quae sumta sunt ex Glossa Bedae apud Lyranum ad locum Matthaei supra cit.Eph. 5:14. Above Matt. 22:13 is regarded; on Lazarus see John 11:44. — Then John 20:23 is cited. — These things are taken from the Gloss of Bede in Lyra at the place of Matthew cited above.
- 5Psalm. 31, 1; Enarrat. 2. n. 9; cfr. Enarrat. in Ps. 50, n. 14, ubi explicantur quae sequuntur. — Hic locus et seq. Cassiodori sunt in Glossa ad Ps. 31, 2.Ps. 31:1; [Augustine's] second Exposition, n. 9; cf. the Exposition on Ps. 50, n. 14, where the things that follow are explained. — This passage and the following one of Cassiodorus are in the Gloss on Ps. 31:2.
- 6Isai. 43, 25. — Locus Ambrosii est II. de Cain et Abel, c. 4. n. 15, sed verbis et sententia aliquatenus diversis; est verbotenus in C. Verbum Dei (51.), supra cit. — Pro est iudex codd. et edd., exceptis 4, 6, 8, 9, et iudex, refragante canone.Isa. 43:25. — The passage of Ambrose is [the] second [book] de Cain et Abel, c. 4, n. 15, but with words and sense somewhat different; it is word-for-word in the canon Verbum Dei (51), cited above. — For est iudex the codd. and edd., except 4, 6, 8, 9, [have] et iudex, against the canon.
- 7Exposit. in Evang. Lucae libr. VI. n. 109. — Locus August. est l. de Peccator. merit. et remissione, ex cc. 23. 28. 39. collectus; ad verbum in C. Nemo tollit (141.), de Consecrat. d. 4.Exposition on the Gospel of Luke, book VI, n. 109. — The passage of Augustine is from the [first] book de Peccatorum meritis et remissione, gathered from cc. 23, 28, 39; word-for-word in the canon Nemo tollit (141), de Consecratione, d. 4.
- 8[Locus Ambrosii continuatur ex Exposit. in Evang. Lucae libr. VI. n. 109, nota praecedente cit.; sententia « Ille solus dimittit peccata » sub eodem per-columnam footer fertur.][The passage of Ambrose continues from the Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, book VI, n. 109, cited in the preceding note; the « He alone forgives sins » sentence is carried under the same per-column footer.]
- 9In Ioan. Evang. tract. 121. n. 4; C. Ecclesiae (140), ibid. Seq. locus est de Vera et falsa Poenit. c. 10. n. 25; ubi pro caelestis curiae codd. BCDE, ed. 1 et originale caelestis militiae. Deinde originale, Vat. et ed. 6 omittunt vel alia.On the Gospel of John, tractate 121, n. 4; the canon Ecclesiae (140), ibid. The following passage is de Vera et falsa Poenitentia, c. 10, n. 25; where for caelestis curiae codd. BCDE, ed. 1 and the original [have] caelestis militiae. Then the original, the Vatican edition, and ed. 6 omit vel alia.
- 10Libr. VI. de Baptismo contra Donatist. c. 4. n. 6. Seq. locus ibid. c. 5. n. 7. — Inferius pro teneri edd., excepta 1, retineri, refragantibus codd.Book VI de Baptismo contra Donatistas, c. 4, n. 6. The following passage [is] ibid., c. 5, n. 7. — Below, for teneri the editions, except 1, [have] retineri, against the codices.
- 11Libr. III. c. 16. v. 19; verbotenus ibi in Glossa apud Lyranum. Respicitur Levit. 14, 2. — Inferius solae edd., exceptis 1, 8, addunt semper ante sequitur.Book III, c. 16, v. 19; word-for-word there in the Gloss in Lyra. Lev. 14:2 is regarded. — Below the editions alone, except 1 and 8, add semper before sequitur.
- 12Cap. 6, 27.[Numbers] c. 6:27.
- 13Dist. XVII. c. 3; verba Augustini vide supra c. 5.Dist. XVII, c. 3; for the words of Augustine see above, c. 5.
- 14Vat. cum pluribus edd. perperam imponuntur, ed. 8 imponit. — Locus Augustini, sed verbis aliis expressus, est in Serm. 392. (alias homil. 49. inter Homil. 50) c. 3. n. 3; verbotenus apud Gratian. in C. Quis aliquando (87.), de Poenit. d. I.The Vatican edition with several editions wrongly [has] imponuntur, ed. 8 imponit. — The passage of Augustine, but expressed in other words, is in Sermon 392 (otherwise hom. 49 among the 50 Homilies), c. 3, n. 3; word-for-word in Gratian, in the canon Quis aliquando (87), de Poenitentia, d. I.
- 15Codd. et edd. 3, 7, 8 praeciditur. — Infra respicitur I. Cor. 5, 5. — Deinde pro Haec autem I, Haec edd., excepta est autem, et sic non coniungunt vocabulum anathematizatio cum verbo infligit. — Codd. et plures edd. vel prodit, vel proderit.The codd. and edd. 3, 7, 8 [have] praeciditur. — Below 1 Cor. 5:5 is regarded. — Then for Haec autem [ed.] 1 [has] Haec, editions [reading] est autem, and thus they do not join the word anathematizatio with the verb infligit. — The codd. and several edd. [read] vel prodit, vel proderit.
- 16Homil. 14. in Levit. n. 3.Homily 14 on Leviticus, n. 3.
- 17Psalm. 147, 16. Cfr. Glossa Lyrani in hunc locum. — Infra de tactu mortui cfr. Levit. 11, 31; Num. 19, 22. — De anima a Deo elongata cfr. August., Enarrat. in Ps. 87, 11.Ps. 147:16. Cf. the Gloss of Lyra on this place. — Below, on the touch of a dead body cf. Lev. 11:31; Num. 19:22. — On the soul distanced from God cf. Augustine, Exposition on Ps. 87:11. ---