Homil. ii. in Psal. I. T. v. p. 589.-Add to this, that the passages first quoted from St. Chrysostom, on the subject of Confession, are very clear and decisive; nor can it be presumed, that a Prelate, so universally admired in all the Churches, could, on a point of general belief and practice, have thought differently from his contemporaries and predecessors.
St. INNOCENT I.[1] L. C.-In his canonical epistle to Decentius, before quoted, on the subject of penance, he thus speaks : “ As to penitents, whether they are doing penance for great or for smaller faults, if no sickness intervene, they must be absolved on the Thursday before Easter, according to the practice of Rome. But in estimating the grievousness of sins, it is the duty of the Priest to judge, attending to the Confession of the penitent, and the signs of his repentance, and then to order him to be loosed, when he shall see due satisfaction made. But if there be danger of death, he must be absolved before Easter, lest he die without communion.” Can. vii. Conc. Gen. T. ii. p. 1247.—This epistle was written in 416, not many years after the suppression, as has been related, of the Penitentiary at Constantinople.
ST. JEROM, L. C.-—“If the serpent, the devil, secretly bite a man, and thus infect him with the poison of sin, and this man shall remain silent, and not do penance, nor be willing to make known his wound to his brother and maste; the master, who has a tongue that can heal, will not be able easily to be of service to him. For if the ailing man be ashamed to open his case to the physician, no cure
- ↑ To this Pope St. John Chrysostom wrote from his place of banishment, begging, that he would reverse what had been done against him; and allow him to enjoy his Communion.”—Ep. 1 ad Innocent. T. iv. p. 597,598.
