The sacraments Quotes

“8) The fourth period in the history of indul gences, from the Council of Clermont (1095) to the Second Council of Lyons (1274), coincides with the crusades, during which the practice as sumed a new form. At Clermont, for the first time, participation in a crusade was suggested as a ransom from all penance. The Council decreed as follows: " Whoever, out of pure devotion, and not for the purpose of gaining honor or money, shall go to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God, let that journey be counted in lieu of all penance." 27 Pope Urban II, who personally attended this council, said in a sermon: " But we, trusting in the mercy of God and the authority of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, remit to the faithful who take up arms against the Sara cens and assume the burden of this pilgrimage [to Jeru salem], the unmeasured penalties of their sins. Those who shall die there with a truly contrite heart, may rest as sured that they will obtain forgiveness of their sins and the fruit of eternal reward." 28 Urban's example was followed by Callistus II (1123), Eugene III (1146), Alexander III (1179), and other popes. At about the same time the Schoolmen, notably St. Thomas Aquinas (+ I 2 74)> turned their attention to”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“the dogma of the Communion of Saints. All the members of Christ's mystic body are organi cally connected with one another and enjoy spirit ual benefits in common. 52 A natural consequence of this communion is the ap plicability to others of fhe satisfactory merits which the saints in Heaven and the righteous still living on earth have gained by their penitential works, but do not need for themselves. There must be a wealth of such accumu lated merits. Think of the overflowing satisfactions of our Blessed Lady, who is justly called the Mother of Sorrows, of St. John the Baptist, and many others who practiced austere penance. 53 Though all these satisfac tions are as nothing compared with the infinite merits of Christ, they nevertheless constitute a fund having its existence in the knowledge and free acceptation of God. This fund must have a purpose, though it is of a purely finite nature and, apart from the merits of Christ, might conceivably in course of time be exhausted. 54”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“the scientific development of the doctrine of indulgences. 29 St. Thomas knows but one plenary indulgence, i. e. that granted for the liberation of the Holy City from the yoke of the Saracens. 30 Among partial indulgences he men tions as the greatest one of seven years. 31 Within the Greek schismatic Church indulgences did not gain nearly as wide a vogue as among the Latins, though we have knowledge of occasional commutations of severe penances into lighter ones, which latter mostly took the shape of pecuniary alms for the redemption of prisoners held in captivity by the Turks. 32 c) In the course of the fifth and last period (1274-1916) the practice of indulgences devel oped into the precise form in which we have it to-day. An important event”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishments which a penitent, whose sins are forgiven, has yet to undergo, either here or in purgatory; this remission is granted by the Church, through the power of the keys, from the treasury of the superabundant merits of Christ and His saints.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“The remission of punishments called an indulgence is not an unconditional amnesty, but postulates in the re cipient a moral disposition or worthiness, as well as the performance of certain prescribed acts. For this reason the moral worthiness of the recipient is not endangered by an indulgence, but rather partly taken for granted and partly effected. Charity or the love of God is the font and well-spring as well as the gauge and a necessary con dition of the whole system of indulgences.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“as the power of the keys is not limited to this world, 5 an indulgence is more than a mere remission of canonical works of penance; it is a valid abso lution, before God, from the punishments of sin which would otherwise have to be redeemed either by voluntary acts of penance here on earth or by compulsory suffering in purgatory. In other words, an indulgence is valid not only in the external forum of the Church, but likewise in foro divino, that is, before God. This simple explanation incidentally removes the mis taken notion that indulgences neutralize the penal effects of sin (concupiscence, disease, death) or that they can free a person from secular obligations towards others. /?) Where does the Church get the merits by which she blots out the punishments of sin ? She 2 Cfr. 2 Cor. II, 7, 20: x a pt~ * V ' su P ra > Sect - T - 5 Cfr. Matt. XVI, 19; XVIII, 18. 3 Cfr. Is. LXI, i. draws them from a thesaurus of which our Lord Jesus Christ has constituted her the dispenser, and out of which she grants to each individual beneficiary as much as is needed to satisfy the justice of God. This thesaurus consists of the superabundant merits of Jesus Christ and His saints. In dispensing these merits to the faithful whenever there is a iusta causa, the Church acts in accordance with the justice as well as the mercy of God. He who gains an indulgence does not approach God empty-handed, but enriched with the merits of Christ and the saints, and thereby satisfies divine justice. God, on the other hand, in freely accepting these vicarious merits instead of the personal satisfaction due Him from the sinner, manifests His grace and mercy, i. e. His in dulgence in a subjective sense.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“The Council warns confessors not to " connive at sins and deal too indulgently with penitents by enjoining certain very light works for very grievous crimes." * 2 The present practice seems to be at variance with this injunction. But it must be regarded not so much from the first of the two points of view mentioned above (the grievousness and specific character of the sins committed), as from the second, i. e. the ability of the penitent. At the present time too great severity would repel rather than benefit the faithful.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“satisfaction blots out the temporal punishments due to sin. Consequently the just man must be able to merit de condigno forgiveness of the temporal punishments remaining after absolu tion. Like all good works, those whereby satisfaction is made for sins are reducible to three classes: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. This is the express teaching of Trent. 32 Scripture tells us that these three kinds of good works blot out sin and are accepted by God in satisfaction of both guilt and punishment.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“the bidding of one's confessor, or voluntarily, and by patiently accepting trials and sufferings. This is the ex press teaching of the Tridentine Council: "If anyone saith that satisfaction for sins, as to their temporal pun ishment, is nowise made to God through the merits of Jesus Christ, by the punishments inflicted by Him and patiently borne, or by those enjoined by the priest, nor even by those voluntarily undertaken, as by fastings, prayers, almsdeeds, or by other works of piety; ... let him be anathema." 29 It is likewise an article of faith that the penitential works just described in some manner actually blot out the temporal punishments due to sin. That this effect is produced not merely per satisfactionem de congruo, but likewise, and in particular, per satisfactionem de condigno, may be deduced from the condemnation of a certain proposition espoused by Baius. 30 However, this is not de fide dogmatic a. Proof, a) The just man can acquire super natural merits de condigno by performing good works. 31 Now between merit and satisfaction there is no formal but only a material distinction, based on their respective effects. Merit increases sanctifying grace and effects eternal beatitude;”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“We are here dealing with ordinary punishments,— of which the Council of Trent says that they may be blotted out by means of good works performed " through Jesus Christ," that they " have their efficacy from Him," and " by Him are offered to the Father, and through Him accepted by the Father." 27 The ordinary temporal punishments due to sin may be blotted out in two ways: either actively by perform ing penitential works in this life (satisfactio), or passively by suffering in purgatory (satispassio).'8 It is an article of faith that satisfaction may be made for them in this life by performing penitential works, either at”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“After David had confessed to Nathan that he had " sinned against the Lord," 6 the prophet consoled him by saying: " The Lord hath taken away thy sin, thou shalt not die." 7 But Nathan did not promise David remission of temporal punishment. On the contrary, he continued: " Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, ... the child that is born to thee shall surely die." 8 St. Paul mentions weakness, disease, and death among the evil effects of unworthy communion. " Therefore many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few are fallen asleep." 9 He evidently regards sickness and death as temporal punishments for irreverence shown to the Holy Eucharist; for among the afflicted Corinthians many returned to their senses in consequence of such chastise ments. 10 b) The teaching of Tradition on this subject may be gathered partly from the writings of the Fathers and partly from the penitential discipline of the ancient Church. a) Calvin admits that practically all the Fathers held the Catholic doctrine of satisfaction. 11 In view of this admission a few select texts will suffice for our purpose. St. Basil says: " If thy sin is great and grievous, thou”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“[each] confess those sins by which he remembers that he has mortally offended his Lord and God; whilst the other sins, which do not occur to him after diligent thought, are understood to be included as a whole in that same confes sion." 6 The last-quoted phrase is of great dogmatic importance,, inasmuch as it demands a merely formal (not a material) integrity of confession and declares that mortal sins omitted without fault are forgiven by what theologians call indirect remission. The holy Synod does not, how ever, deny that confession may be difficult, but says that the difficulty is counterbalanced " by many and great advantages and consolations.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“While it is possible for the con fessor in some cases to obtain such knowledge without confession, this is not the rule, because the confessor, not the penitent, is the competent judge of the latter's state of conscience and without a close insight into the number and gravity of the sins submitted he cannot decide whether to give or to withhold absolution. 14 Conse- 14 Cfr. St. Jerome, In Matth., 16, varietates, scit qui ligandus sit 29: " Quum peccatorum audierit quive solvendus." igo THE THREE ACTS OF THE PENITENT quently the confessor has the right and the duty to de mand an accurate and circumstantial description of the penitent's state of conscience, i. e. a complete confes sion of his sins. But the office of the penitential judge does not end here. Even if the penitent has the right disposition, the priest may not absolve him without at the same time enjoining an appropriate penance* This again cannot be justly determined without a com plete knowledge of the facts, because a penance must correspond to the number and gravity of the sins for which it is imposed. " It is manifest," says the Council of Trent, " that priests could not have exercised this judgment without knowledge of the cause; neither indeed could they have observed equity in enjoining punishments, if the faithful should have declared their sins in general only, and not rather specifically, and one by one." 15”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“Our Lord Jesus Christ is a wise and just lawgiver who must demand that the power of for giving or retaining sins be exercised not arbitrar ily but according to objective norms and in a just manner. Now this is impossible without an ac curate knowledge, on the part of the judge, of the exact number, the nature, and the specific circum stances of the sins upon which he is asked to pro nounce sentence. This information, in the nature of things, can be supplied only by the penitent, who is defendant, prosecutor, and witness all in one person. Consequently, the penitent himself must reveal to the priest all his mortal sins, to gether with their number, nature, and necessary circumstances,—in other words, he must "go to confession." The major premise of this syllogism requires no proof. A judge who would proceed arbitrarily would not be applying the law but committing a wrong.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“St. Chrysostom says: "What is worse than hell? But nothing is more profitable than the fear thereof. For the fear of hell ob tains for us the crown of Heaven. 13 ... If fear were not a good thing, Christ would not have de livered numerous and lengthy discourses on the future punishment and torments/' 14 St. Augus tine, in particular, was a herald, as of divine love, so likewise of the fear of God. "This fear," he says in his homilies on the Psalms, "is not yet chaste. . . . He fears punishments. Whatever good he does, he does out of fear, moved not by fear of losing good, but by fear of suffering evil. He does not fear to lose the affection of the most beautiful Spouse, but he fears to be cast into hell. This fear is good and useful." 15”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“A man who is sorry for his sins, is sorry either be cause sin is an evil done to God (malum Deo), or because it is an evil done to himself (malum homini). If his sorrow is inspired by the first-mentioned motive, i. e. perfect charity, which not only loves God as the highest good above all else, but likewise abhors whatever is op posed to Him, he has perfect contrition. 4 All other kinds are necessarily imperfect.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“St. John Chrysostom has the following beautiful simile in one of his homilies: " As a fire which has taken pos session of a forest, cleans it out thoroughly, so the fire of love, wheresoever it falls, takes away and blots out every thing that could injure the divine seed, and purges the earth for the reception of that seed. Where love is, there all evils are taken away." 7 St. Chrysologus says: " You wish to be absolved ? Then love! Charity covereth a multitude of sins. What is worse than the crime of denial? And yet Peter was able to expiate this [crime] solely by love." 8 Among the Schoolmen, Sylvius held a different view, which was, however, rejected by De Lugo and others. 9”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“St. Ephraem Syrus writes: " Without the venerable and divine institution of the priesthood men could not obtain forgiveness of their sins.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“Merits are not physical but purely moral entities. They live and are revived in the knowledge and accepta tion of God, which cannot be destroyed, though it may be temporarily interfered with by mortal sin. The Sac rament of Penance admittedly removes the interfering obstacle, and there is no reason to assume that the merits are not revived after the obstacle has been removed. Mortal sin is purely an obstacle (obex), which Penance removes, thereby reviving the merits previously acquired by the penitent.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“efficacy of perfect contrition be reconciled with the dogma that the power of the keys is necessary for the forgiveness of sins? Why have recourse to the Church if mortal sin can be forgiven by perfect contrition? The answer is: As Baptism of desire (baptismus flammis) justifies only when it includes a desire to receive the Sacrament (votum baptismi), 13 so perfect contrition effects justification only when accompanied by a desire to receive the Sacrament of Penance (votum sacramenti poenitentiae)”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“Perfect contrition effects the immediate justification of the sinner without the Sacrament of Penance, as we shall show presently. 12 How can this extra-sacramental”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“—The Fathers teach that God does not forgive sins without the cooperation of the Church. See the Patristic texts quoted infra, Part III, Ch. II, Sect. 2, Art. 3, pp. 206 sqq. The history of the penitential discipline of the Church shows that at no time was the sinner free to perform the prescribed penances; on the contrary, it was always held that he who refused to submit to the penitential regulations of the Church was eternally lost. St. Au gustine says in one of his Sermons : " Do penance, as it is done in the Church, in order that the Church may pray for you. Let no one say to himself: ' I do [penance] secretly before God; God knows it, and He will forgive me, because I am doing penance in my heart.' Has it, therefore, been said without reason: * Whatso ever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven'? Have the keys been given to the Church of God for nothing? Do we frustrate the Gospel and the words of Christ?”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“ceases to be merciful, no matter what sins have been conv mitted.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“St. Augustine observes in one of his Sermons: " There were those who said that certain sins must not be forgiven. They were excluded from the Church and became heretics. Our kind Mother the Church never”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“The faithful of to-day should try by a more ardent contrition to make up for the enforced mildness of the Church in the administration of Penance. 43”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“St. Polycarp (+about 155), who was a personal dis ciple of St. John the Evangelist, admonishes priests to be merciful to sinners. " The presbyters," he says, " should be compassionate, merciful to all, bringing back those that have gone astray, . . . refraining from unjust judgment, . . . knowing that we all owe the debt of sin. If then we pray the Lord to forgive us, we also ought to forgive, for we stand before the eyes of the Lord and of God, and we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and each must give an account of himself." 41”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“following passage from St. Chrysostom (+ 407) has become a veritable classic : " The dispensation of the things that are in heaven God hath not given to angels or to archangels ; for not to these was it said : ' Whatsoever you shall bind/ etc. (Matth. XVIII, 18). They that rule on earth have indeed also power to bind, but the bodies only ; 17 whereas this bond reaches to the soul itself, and transcends the heavens. 18 And what the priests do be low, the same does God ratify above, and the Lord con firms the sentence of His servants. 19 What then has He given them but all heavenly power? For, He saith, ' Whose sins ye shall remit,' etc. (John XX, 23). What power could be greater than this ? ... It would be mani fest folly to contemn such a great power, without which we could obtain neither salvation nor the good things promised. . . . For not only when they regenerate us [in Baptism], but they [the priests] have also the power to forgive the sins committed after regenera tion." 20 The extent of this power is described as follows by Timothy, the second successor of St. Athanasius in the see of Alexandria (+ 384 ) 21 : " Which sins have no for giveness? None; everything confessed before God " will be forgiven.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“I. Penance is a true Sacrament, instituted by Christ for the forgiveness of post-baptismal sins. II. Penance is a Sacrament distinct from Baptism. 24 THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS III. The words of Christ recorded in John XX, 23, are to be understood of the power of forgiving and retaining sins in the Sacrament of Penance, not of preaching the Gospel. IV. For the remission of sins there are required three acts by the penitent, which are as it were the matter of the Sacrament of Penance, viz.: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. The terrors with which the conscience is smitten upon being convinced of sin, and the fiduciary faith generated by the Gospel, are not sufficient to obtain forgiveness. V. Imperfect contrition, which is acquired by means of the examination, recollection, and detestation of sins, is a true and profitable sorrow, and does not make a man a hypocrite and a greater sinner. VI. Sacramental confession is of divine institution and necessary to salvation, and auricular confession is not a human invention. VII. Auricular confession comprises by divine right all mortal sins, even those which are secret, and may law fully extend also to venial sins. VIII. The confession of all sins, as demanded by the Church, is not impossible, but a duty incumbent on all the faithful of both sexes. IX. The sacramental absolution given by the priest is a judicial act, not a bare declaration, and must be pre ceded by confession on the part of the penitent. X. Priests alone have the power of binding and loosing, and can exercise it even if they are in a state of mortal sin. XL Bishops have the right of reserving cases to them selves, and from such reserved cases no priest may ab solve. XII. God does not always remit the whole punishment together with the guilt of sin, and the satisfaction of peni tents does not consist in the faith wherewith they appre hend that Christ has satisfied for them. XIII. Satisfaction for sins, as to their temporal pun ishment, is made to God through the merits of Christ, by the punishments enjoined by the priest, and also by those voluntarily undertaken by the penitent himself, and con sequently, Penance is more than merely a new life. XIV. The works of satisfaction performed by the penitent do not obscure the doctrine of grace, the true worship of God, and the benefit of Christ's death. XV. The power of the keys which Christ gave to the Church is not merely the power to loose, but also to bind, and therefore enables priests to impose punishments on those who confess.”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3

“Up to the time of the so-called Reformation no one ever questioned the power of the Church to forgive sins. The ancient Montanists merely attempted to limit it un duly, 1 while the Cathari and the Waldensians erred with regard to those who exercise it. 2 It was reserved for the self-styled Protestant Reformers to deny that power in principle. This explains the thoroughness with which the Tridentine Council defined and explained the teaching of the Church on the subject of Penance. 3”
― Joseph Pohle, The sacraments: A Dogmatic Treatise, Vol. 3