posing the man confesses and receives absolution,) and that is by means of ATTRITION, or I?f? ?{?ti?ii/?t, a8 the Conncil of Trent calls it. Even tiffs, with the sacrament of penance, will procure Let the Church of Rome here speak her own senti_ments: "Contri- tion, it is true,*' says the Roman Catechism, "blots out sin; but who is ignorant that, to effect this, it must be so intense, so ardent, so vehe- ment, as to bear a proportion to the magnitude of the crimes which it eft'aces ? T?im is a degree of contrition which few reach, and hence, through perfect contrition done, very few indeed could hope to obtain the pardon of their sins. It therefore became necessary that the Al- mighty, in him mercy, should a/lord a L?as PRECARIOUS and LESS nIr- FICULT means of reconciliation and of salvation; and this he has done in his admirable wisdom, by giving to his church the keys of the king- dom of heaven. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, a doctrine firmly to be believed and professed by all her children, if the sinner have recourse to the tribunal of penance, with a sincere sorrow for his sins, and a firm resolution of avoiding them in future, although he bring not with him that contrition which may be sufficient of itself to obtain the pardon of sin, his sins are forgiven by the minister of religion, through the power of the keys,*' p. 252. Though the authors o� the Catechism obviously refer to attrition, they seem studiously to have avoided the use of the term itself. Bishop Hay, in his Sincere Christian, (vol. i, p. 257,) says: "A sorrow for sin which arises from these motives (fear of hell, loss el ? heaven, &c.) is therefore called/s?erjSct co?tritio? &nd ?tr/t'/ea. How do contrition and atlrition differ in their effects ? Perfect contrition, �as it arises from a perfect love of God for himself alone, is so pleasing in his sight, that the moment a person has it God is reconciled to him and forgives his sins. Attrition, on the other hand, in no case attains, of itself, the remission of sin, but only dispeses the soul for receiving that grace by means of the sacrament of penance." We will say no- thing of the gross ]2re?sy contained in this quotation, in ascribing the remission of sins to the perfect contrition of sinful man in the place of the atonement of Jesus Christ. In the quotation from the Catechism, as well as that from Bishop Hay, attrition, with confession and abso- lution, is plainly introduced as serving the place of genuine repentance. We may easily learn the meaning of the word ?ttr/t/? from the meaning of the word contrition; for if contrition be a hatred of sin and a resolution against it, then attrition, or imperfect contrition, must be an imperfect resolution against it. So that whosoever shall affirm that attrition, with the priest's absolution, shall be available before God to procure justification, ,?/i?rms that though a man be not sorry for his sins as he should, nor does perfectly resolve against them, but only has some imperfect purlloses to forsake thom, yet such s man shall, upon this slight repentance, have his sins remitted. Whatever some Roman Catholics may say, that this is not the doc- tline of their church, but of private men, to any one who understands a consequence, it will appear to be a professed established doctrine of the church, and that too by the Council of Trent. For the prod' of this compare the two following determinations of this council: "That attrition, or imperfect comtrition, tho? it cannot bring a am& to ? 1
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