Victor R. Claveau, MJ
“Behold, now is the appointed time, in which you must confess your sins to God, and to the priest, and by prayer, and by fasting, by tears and by almsgiving, wipe them away. Why should a sinner make known his sins, since they are already known and manifested to God, and to His angels, and even to the blessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of this the Scripture says: First tell thy iniquities, that you may be justified (Is. 43:26)[1]
Here we are shown that the man will not be saved who, during his life, does not confess his sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is made without true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow of soul because of the evils a man has committed. True repentance causes us to grieve over our offences, and to grieve over them with the firm intention of never committing them again.”
- Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
“The Season of Penance”
While flying home from a trip to Jamaica, West Indies, I entered into conversation with the woman sitting next to me. As the majority of passengers had spent some time at one of the many Jamaican resorts, she naturally asked if I had enjoyed my “holiday”. She seemed quite surprised when I told her that I had traveled to Montego Bay in order to evangelize Catholics. She incorrectly assumed that I was a Protestant minister and proceeded to tell me how much she admired Bible-believing missionaries, especially those who bring the true Gospel message to ‘lost and blind Catholics’.
“She was a bit taken aback when I explained that I was a Catholic evangelist and had traveled to Jamaica at the request of the local bishop in order to teach the truths of Catholicism. There was a slight flush to her cheeks as she tried to smooth over her anti-Catholic comment. I tried to put her at ease by telling her that I fully understood how some people felt about the Catholic faith, but that it had been my experience that many people who hold such views do so based upon a caricature of Catholicism, rather than an objective understanding. I offered to try to answer any questions about Catholicism that she might care to ask.
“She then blurted out the common objection: ‘Don’t Catholics believe that priests can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sin. You know, priests are not God, priests are human beings. I have as much power to forgive sin as they do.’
My answer was: “Suppose you knew a man who had committed treason against the United States. And suppose he was sentenced to be put to death for his crime. Could you pardon him?” She answered, “No, of course not.”
“Could the President of the United States pardon him?” I asked.
“My acquaintance thought for a moment and then she gave this answer, “Certainly, he could, He’s the President. He has that power.”
“But didn’t you imply that you have as much power to forgive sin as any other person?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied, “but this is different. As a man, the President can’t pardon a man who committed treason. But as the President of the United States, he can. That is a power of his office.”
I went on to explain that the same principle held true for the priesthood. As a mere man, a priest holds no more power than any other person, but as a properly ordained priest he holds a special commission from God to forgive sin.
“Jesus forgave sin. As God He has that power. As God, He could delegate that same power to others. Twice before His death and resurrection Christ gave the power of pardoning. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read that He said to Peter: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’.[2] Later in the same Gospel, Jesus also gave the power to forgive sin to the other Apostles.[3]
“Still later in John’s Gospel, He told them in words that cannot be questioned: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’.[4] From that moment on the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church have had the power to forgive sins. The Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation was not invented any time in the future of the Church. Christ instituted it on the evening of His resurrection.
* * *
The early Church had a number of regulations concerning confession and these rules are still in force. Confession must be made to a duly authorized priest. This means that a priest must have authority from the bishop of the diocese. However, in case of necessity such as the danger of death, any priest can absolve any sinner anywhere, at any time, of any sin.
Penitents confessed their sins publicly before a priest. When we commit a sin, we not only sin against God, but sin against the community; the body of Christ. The priest, representing Jesus, would set the penance required to make amends before God. Once the penance was completed, the priest would grant absolution. Today, confession is private. The key thing to remember is that it is Jesus, acting through the priest, who hears your confession.
In 251, Saint Cyprian wrote, ‘Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who…confess their sins to a priest of God in a straight-forward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. God cannot be mocked or outwitted, nor can he be deceived by any clever cunning. Indeed, he but sins the more if, thinking that God is like man, he believes that he can escape the punishment of his crime by not openly admitting his crime…. I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord’ (The Lapsed, 28).
In addition to being ordained and having authority the confessor must have knowledge and prudence. The priest is better prepared than any other to guide and direct the individual in spiritual matters. He has years of study in philosophy, and theology. He is thoroughly conversant with the Bible; knows psychology, history, the law of God, the horror of sin, and he knows the weakness of human nature; he has a complete, scientific knowledge of faith and morals. Over and above all this, he has the Christ-given power to forgive sin.
Furthermore, the priest is personally interested in the penitent. Ordinarily he does not usually know the identity of the sinner, but the priest is still responsible before God for that soul. What the priest says or doesn’t say, even the way he says it, may decide the salvation of a soul. If he knowingly gives false teaching God will hold him accountable. If he does so out of ignorance, he is less culpable. He is not let off the hook entirely, because he is required to know the moral teachings of the Faith. This is a tremendous responsibility, which the Church protects in every possible way.
Outstanding among these protections is what we call ‘the seal of confession.’ Even at the risk of imprisonment or threat of death, the lips of the priest are sealed forever. All the courts respect this professional secrecy.
The Catholic Church forbids the confessor to share the sins heard in confession to anyone, directly or indirectly, for any reason under pain of severe censure. The Code of Canon Law[5] addresses this issue, stating, “A confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; if he does so only indirectly, he is to be punished in accord with the seriousness of the offense.” In years past, the punishment was “to be deposed from his priestly office but also to be confined to a strict monastery to do perpetual penance.”[6] From the severity of this punishment, we can clearly see how sacred the sacramental seal of confession is in the eyes of the Church.
No priest has ever violated the seal of the confessional. Some priests have been known, regardless of their sacred oaths, to renounce their priesthood and deny their faith, in order to live sinful lives, or contract sacrilegious marriages; yet never has it been heard that one of them revealed a secret heard in confession.
Historically, only two priests have had to choose between death and the revealing of confessions. Both choose to die. The first of these martyrs was Saint John Nepomucene, chaplain to the emperor Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Because of his known piety, he was chosen by the empress Johanna, as her spiritual director. Her piety irritated the violent temper of Wenceslaus. He became so jealous that all her actions, even the most holy aroused fear and suspicion. He resolved to force the priest to tell him whatever the empress declared to him in confession. Rather than repeat what the sinner had revealed in the confessional, on May, 16, 1383, Saint John suffered death by being bound hands and feet, and thrown into the Vitava river.
Saint Jan Sarkander (1576 –1620) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and pastor of Holleschow, in the diocese of Olmutz, in 1620.
During the Bohemian War (1620). He was the first pastor of a church that had been ruled by Picards[7] for eighty years. For this he was hated, and their hatred increased in proportion to his zeal for the conversion of these heretics, and for the rights of the Catholic Church. When he fell into the hands of his persecutors, and refused to break the seal of the confessional, he was subject to tortures which ended with his death.
Pope Pius IX beatified Sarkander at Saint Peter’s Basilica in 1860 and Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint in 1995 on his visit to the Czech Republic.
In addition to these two martyrs, we might add the name of Father Henry Garnet, S.J., (1555-1606), In the year 1606, Father Garnet was arrested, and condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered because of his refusal to violate the seal of confession. He walked with firmness and conviction to the scaffold.
The ‘seal of confession’ seals sins forever in the heart of the priest, which in turn is sealed forever in the limitless heart of God.
There is a Providence who watches over the seal of confession, and will not permit it to be broken.
“Some people ridicule fun of the Sacrament of Confession. To them might be applied the words of Christ: ‘Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?’[8] Unfortunately, neither do these people know the mercy of God.”
Antiquity of Confession
The first confession can be traced back to the first sin.
Adam and Eve were created in a state of perfect innocence, but unfortunately did not stay that way. To test their faithfulness, God forbade them to eat of a specific fruit in the garden.
Satan, in order to destroy their peace and tranquility insinuated that if they ate of this special fruit, they would gain infinite knowledge and power, and make them like God. They ate the fruit and thereby set themselves in full revolt against God, their Creator.
The consequences of this crime were revolutionary. Man’s moral nature was changed, and he became subject to the demands of his sensual passions. You might say that Adam declared war on himself as well as on God. The animal in man declared war on his spiritual and intellectual integrity. He was now governed by two contrary temperaments. He saw within himself two beings opposed to each other. Saint Paul described it best, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”[9]
Having been perverted by Satan, it became impossible for man to be born without inheriting a corrupt nature; without the grace of God in their souls.
From this beginning, man has thought himself bound to render to God, not only praise and adoration, love and thanksgiving, but being aware of his consciousness of sin, has, and forever will be, endeavoring to reinstate himself to his original state in the eyes of God.
After being purified by the sacrament of baptism, if man again violated the divine law, he immediately recognized that he deserved chastisement. In order to escape this punishment and manifest his sorrow, he instituted religious sacrifices, in the hope of placating divine wrath. Confession of the crimes committed became a fundamental part of that attempted expiation.
Adam and Eve revolted against God, but He is merciful. Yet, before He speaks words of consolation, Adam must admit his crime and make a humble apology.
“But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ In this way God put the admission of the crime in the mouth of Adam, who answers, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” There is Adam’s confession, the confession of guilt that God required. God then spoke to Eve, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” This was the confession of Eve.
In this conversation between God and the first two criminals we see an offended Father who in his infinite mercy opens His paternal heart, allows them to rid themselves of the weight of the guilt which oppresses their consciences.
This obligation to confess our sins in order to be forgiven has been required ever since.
Instituting the sacrament of confession, God’s responded to the spontaneous outcry from the conscience of man. Confession is almost as old as the world itself.
Reconciliation in Sacred Scripture with Commentary from Church Fathers
Confess your transgressions rather than conceal them.
Proverbs 28:13: “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
Saint Jerome[10] offers this comment, “As confession and beauty are in the sight of God,[11] so a sinner who confesses his sins and says, ‘My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness[12] loses his foul wounds and is made whole and clean. But ‘he that covers his sins shall not prosper.’” (Letter 122.3).
Matthew 3:1-6: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”
Saint Chromatius[13] offers this comment, “Hence John prepared these ways of mercy and truth, faith and justice. Concerning them, Jeremiah also declared, ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is, and walk in it.’[14] Because the heavenly kingdom is found along these ways, not without good reason John adds, ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’[15] So do you want the kingdom of heaven to also be near for you? Prepare these ways in your heart, in your senses and in your soul. Pave within you the way of charity, the way of faith and the way of holiness. Build roads of justice. Remove every scandal of offense from your heart. For it is written: ‘Remove the stones from the road.’[16]And then indeed, through the thoughts of your heart and the very movements of your soul, Christ the King will enter along certain paths. (Tractate on Matthew, 8.1.)
Matthew 4:17: From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Saint Chromatius offers this comment, “The Lord urges people to repentance, and he promises to pardon their sins, according to Isaiah’s words, ‘I, even I, am the one who wipes out your iniquities, and I will not be mindful of your sins. But you be mindful, declare first your iniquities that you may be justified.’[17] Rightly does the Lord urge the people to repentance when he says, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ so that through this confession of sins they made be made worthy to approach the kingdom of heaven. For no one can receive the grace of the heavenly God unless one has been cleansed of every stain of sin by the confession of repentance, through the gift of the saving baptism of our Lord and Savior.” (Tractate on Matthew, 15.3.)
“He [Jesus] did not want to leave his flock behind after his departure ‘like sheep without a shepherd.’[18] He therefore promised His disciples the power to bind and loose. Their decisions in the Church would be the decisions of the Lord in heaven. This power, unlimited in time and space, was given by the risen Lord.[19] From this time forward, Christ is sent not only to the lost sheep of Israel, but to all nations, which are subject to His power; and therefore, he entrusted his authorized representatives with the pastoral care of all nations. Only when the Lord comes again will this representation of the Good Shepherd become superfluous, and end. This leads inevitably to the conclusion that power of representing Christ must be propagated throughout the history of the Church, for it would surely be unthinkable that certainty of forgiveness of sins was only given to the first generation of the Church. This divine power, which so much astounded the Jews,[20] Christ delegated to his apostles,[21] so that this gift of grace should remain in this world even after the day of His ascension, and until His second coming.[22]
“The hierarchical (juridical) primacy of Peter (and his successors) can be deduced from the Lord’s words in Mt 16:18f and is corroborated by other texts (e.g., Lk 22:31f; Jn 21:15-17. The infallible power of the keys and of teaching possessed by the Church is referred to in Mt 18:17f and Lk 10:16 (see also 1 Cor 5:3-13; Jn 20:23; 1 Jn 2:24; 4:6).[23]
Matthew 16:13-19: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Saint Epiphanius the Latin,[24] offers this comment, “For Christ is a rock which is never disturbed or worn away. Therefore, Peter gladly received his name from Christ to signify the established and unshaken faith of the church.…The devil is the gateway of death who always hastens to stir up against the holy church calamities and temptations and persecutions. But the faith of the apostle, which was founded upon the rock of Christ, abides always unconquered and unshaken. And the very keys of the kingdom of the heavens have been handed down so that one whom he has bound on earth has been bound in heaven, and one whom he has set free on earth he has also set free in heaven.” (Interpretation on the Gospels, 28).
Mark 1:1-15: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight— ‘John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.’ The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.’”
Saint Jerome offers this comment, “The sweetness of the apple makes up for the bitterness of its root. The hope of gain makes pleasant the perils of the sea. The expectation of health mitigates the nauseousness of medicine. One who desires the kernel breaks the not. So one who desires the joy of a holy conscience swallows down the bitterness of penance.” (Commentary on the Gospels)
Luke 10:13-16: “Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. ‘He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.’”
Saint Cyril of Alexander[25] offers this comment, “Consider the great authority he gave the holy apostles, how he declared them praiseworthy, and how he decorated them with the highest honors …. “He that hears you,” he says, “hears me, and he that rejects you, rejects me; and he that rejects me, rejects him that sent me.” O what great honor! What incomparable dignities! O what a gift worthy of God! Although men, the children of earth, he clothes them with a godlike glory. He entrusts his words to them that they who resist anything or venture to reject them may be condemned. When they are rejected, he assures them that he suffers this. Then again, he shows that the guilt of this wickedness, as being committed against him, rises up to God the Father. See with the eyes of the mind how vast a height he raises the sin committed by men in rejecting the saints! What a wall he builds around them! How great security he contrives for them! He makes them such as must be feared and in every way plainly provides for their being uninjured.” (Commentary on Luke, Homily, 63).
In the Gospel of John, we have a more precise and striking declaration of the power to absolve, given by our Savior to His Apostles.
John 20:19-23: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”[26] If your sins are as numerous as the sands on the sea shore, they shall be blotted out, provided you have a contrite heart.
Saint John Chrysostom[27] offers this comment, “Anyone who considers how much it means to be able, in his humanity still entangled in flesh and blood, to approach that blessed and immaculate Being [God] will see clearly how great the honor is that the grace of the Spirit has bestowed on priests. It is through them that this work is performed, and other work no less than this in its bearing on our dignity and our salvation.
For earth’s inhabitants, having their life in this world, have been entrusted with the stewardship of heavenly things, and they have received an authority that God has not given to angels or archangels. Not to them was it said, ‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose, shall be 1oosed.’[28] Those who are lords on earth have indeed the power to bind but only people’s bodies. But this binding touches the very soul and reaches through heaven. What priests do on earth, God ratifies above. The Master confirms the decisions of his servants. Indeed, he has given them nothing less than the whole authority of heaven. For he says, ‘Whoever’s sin: you forgive are forgiven, and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.’ What authority could be greater than that? ‘The Father has given all judgment to the Son.’[29] But I see that the Son has placed it all in their hands. For they have been raised to this prerogative, as though they were already translated to heaven and had transcended human nature and were freed from our passions.
Again, if a king confers on one of his subjects the right to imprison and release again at will, that person is the envy and admiration of all. But although the priest has received from God an authority as much greater than that, as heaven is more precious than earth and souls than bodies, some people think he has received so slight an honor that they can imagine someone entrusted with it actually despising the gift. God save us from such madness! For it is patently mad to despise this great office without which we cannot attain to salvation or God’s good promises. For if one ‘cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again of water and the Spirit,’[30] and anyone who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink his blood is excluded from eternal life.’ and all these things can happen through no other agency except their sacred hands (the priests’, I mean), how can anyone, without their help, escape the fire of Gehenna or win his appointed crown?” (On the Priesthood, 3.5).
2 Corinthians 5:16-21: From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of Reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of Reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Saint John Chrysostom offers this comment, “The apostles are ambassadors for Christ because they have succeeded to his ministry. And not only his, for they represent the Father as well.” (Homilies on the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, 11-5).
1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Saint Bede the Venerable[31] offers this comment, “Since we cannot live in the world without sin, the first hope we have of salvation is through confession, nor should anyone be proud enough to claim that he is righteous in God’s sight.” (On 1 John).
[1] “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance, let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right. (Isaiah 43:25-26 RSVCE).
[2] 16:19.
[3] Matt. 18:18
[4] 20:22-23.
[5] Can. 1388.1
[6] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Vol. 1, (New York: Sheed and Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990, Fourth Council of Lateran, 1215, Constitution 21, p.245.
[7] These sect members lived in a communistic society in accordance with their beliefs, which included rejection of marriage, holding of wives in common, and the abolition of distinctions of rank and fortune.
[8] Mark 12:24.
[9] Romans 7:21-23.
[10] Jerome (c. 347-420). Gifted exegete and exponent of a classical Latin style, know best known as the translator of the Latin Vulgate. He defended the perpetual divinity of Mary, attacked Origen and Pelagius and supported extreme ascetic practices.
[11] Psalm 96:6.
[12] Psalm 38:5
[13] Chromatius (fl.400). Bishop of Aquileia, friend of Rufinus and Jerome and author of tracts and sermons.
[14] Jeremiah 6:16.
[15] Matthew 3:2.
[16] Isaiah 49:4.
[17] Isaiah 43:25-26.
[18] Matthew 9:36.
[19] Matthew 28:18f.
[20] See Matthew 9:8.
[21] John 20:21.
[22] Sacramentum Verbi, An Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology, J. B. Baur, Ed., Vol. 1, (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970, pp. 34-35.
[23] Ibid., p. 111.
[24] Epiphanius the Latin. Author of the late fifth-century or early sixth-century Latin texts Interpretation of the Gospels, with constant references to early patristic commentators. He was possibly a bishop of Benevento or Seville.
[25] Cyril of Alexander (375-444). Patriarch of Alexandria whose extensive exegesis, characterized especially by a strong espousal of the unity of Christ, led to the condemnation of Nestorius in 431.
[26] Isaiah 1:18.
[27] Saint John Chrysostom (344/354-407), Bishop of Constantinople who was noted for his orthodoxy, his eloquence and his attacks on Christian laxity in high places.
[28] See Matthew 18:18.
[29] John 5:22.
[30] John 3:5.
[31] Saint Bede the Venerable (c.672/673-735). Born in Northumbria, at the age of seven he was put under the care of the Benedictine monks of Saints Peter and Paul at Jarrow and given a broad classical education in the monastic tradition. Considered one of the most learned men of his age, he is the author of An Ecclesiastical History of the English people.
Confession is Good for the Soul
Victor R. Claveau, MJ
“Behold, now is the appointed time, in which you must confess your sins to God, and to the priest, and by prayer, and by fasting, by tears and by almsgiving, wipe them away. Why should a sinner make known his sins, since they are already known and manifested to God, and to His angels, and even to the blessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of this the Scripture says: First tell thy iniquities, that you may be justified (Is. 43:26)[1]
Here we are shown that the man will not be saved who, during his life, does not confess his sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is made without true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow of soul because of the evils a man has committed. True repentance causes us to grieve over our offences, and to grieve over them with the firm intention of never committing them again.”
“The Season of Penance”
While flying home from a trip to Jamaica, West Indies, I entered into conversation with the woman sitting next to me. As the majority of passengers had spent some time at one of the many Jamaican resorts, she naturally asked if I had enjoyed my “holiday”. She seemed quite surprised when I told her that I had traveled to Montego Bay in order to evangelize Catholics. She incorrectly assumed that I was a Protestant minister and proceeded to tell me how much she admired Bible-believing missionaries, especially those who bring the true Gospel message to ‘lost and blind Catholics’.
“She was a bit taken aback when I explained that I was a Catholic evangelist and had traveled to Jamaica at the request of the local bishop in order to teach the truths of Catholicism. There was a slight flush to her cheeks as she tried to smooth over her anti-Catholic comment. I tried to put her at ease by telling her that I fully understood how some people felt about the Catholic faith, but that it had been my experience that many people who hold such views do so based upon a caricature of Catholicism, rather than an objective understanding. I offered to try to answer any questions about Catholicism that she might care to ask.
“She then blurted out the common objection: ‘Don’t Catholics believe that priests can forgive sins? Only God can forgive sin. You know, priests are not God, priests are human beings. I have as much power to forgive sin as they do.’
My answer was: “Suppose you knew a man who had committed treason against the United States. And suppose he was sentenced to be put to death for his crime. Could you pardon him?” She answered, “No, of course not.”
“Could the President of the United States pardon him?” I asked.
“My acquaintance thought for a moment and then she gave this answer, “Certainly, he could, He’s the President. He has that power.”
“But didn’t you imply that you have as much power to forgive sin as any other person?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied, “but this is different. As a man, the President can’t pardon a man who committed treason. But as the President of the United States, he can. That is a power of his office.”
I went on to explain that the same principle held true for the priesthood. As a mere man, a priest holds no more power than any other person, but as a properly ordained priest he holds a special commission from God to forgive sin.
“Jesus forgave sin. As God He has that power. As God, He could delegate that same power to others. Twice before His death and resurrection Christ gave the power of pardoning. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read that He said to Peter: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’.[2] Later in the same Gospel, Jesus also gave the power to forgive sin to the other Apostles.[3]
“Still later in John’s Gospel, He told them in words that cannot be questioned: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’.[4] From that moment on the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests of the Catholic Church have had the power to forgive sins. The Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation was not invented any time in the future of the Church. Christ instituted it on the evening of His resurrection.
* * *
The early Church had a number of regulations concerning confession and these rules are still in force. Confession must be made to a duly authorized priest. This means that a priest must have authority from the bishop of the diocese. However, in case of necessity such as the danger of death, any priest can absolve any sinner anywhere, at any time, of any sin.
Penitents confessed their sins publicly before a priest. When we commit a sin, we not only sin against God, but sin against the community; the body of Christ. The priest, representing Jesus, would set the penance required to make amends before God. Once the penance was completed, the priest would grant absolution. Today, confession is private. The key thing to remember is that it is Jesus, acting through the priest, who hears your confession.
In 251, Saint Cyprian wrote, ‘Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who…confess their sins to a priest of God in a straight-forward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. God cannot be mocked or outwitted, nor can he be deceived by any clever cunning. Indeed, he but sins the more if, thinking that God is like man, he believes that he can escape the punishment of his crime by not openly admitting his crime…. I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord’ (The Lapsed, 28).
In addition to being ordained and having authority the confessor must have knowledge and prudence. The priest is better prepared than any other to guide and direct the individual in spiritual matters. He has years of study in philosophy, and theology. He is thoroughly conversant with the Bible; knows psychology, history, the law of God, the horror of sin, and he knows the weakness of human nature; he has a complete, scientific knowledge of faith and morals. Over and above all this, he has the Christ-given power to forgive sin.
Furthermore, the priest is personally interested in the penitent. Ordinarily he does not usually know the identity of the sinner, but the priest is still responsible before God for that soul. What the priest says or doesn’t say, even the way he says it, may decide the salvation of a soul. If he knowingly gives false teaching God will hold him accountable. If he does so out of ignorance, he is less culpable. He is not let off the hook entirely, because he is required to know the moral teachings of the Faith. This is a tremendous responsibility, which the Church protects in every possible way.
Outstanding among these protections is what we call ‘the seal of confession.’ Even at the risk of imprisonment or threat of death, the lips of the priest are sealed forever. All the courts respect this professional secrecy.
The Catholic Church forbids the confessor to share the sins heard in confession to anyone, directly or indirectly, for any reason under pain of severe censure. The Code of Canon Law[5] addresses this issue, stating, “A confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; if he does so only indirectly, he is to be punished in accord with the seriousness of the offense.” In years past, the punishment was “to be deposed from his priestly office but also to be confined to a strict monastery to do perpetual penance.”[6] From the severity of this punishment, we can clearly see how sacred the sacramental seal of confession is in the eyes of the Church.
No priest has ever violated the seal of the confessional. Some priests have been known, regardless of their sacred oaths, to renounce their priesthood and deny their faith, in order to live sinful lives, or contract sacrilegious marriages; yet never has it been heard that one of them revealed a secret heard in confession.
Historically, only two priests have had to choose between death and the revealing of confessions. Both choose to die. The first of these martyrs was Saint John Nepomucene, chaplain to the emperor Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Because of his known piety, he was chosen by the empress Johanna, as her spiritual director. Her piety irritated the violent temper of Wenceslaus. He became so jealous that all her actions, even the most holy aroused fear and suspicion. He resolved to force the priest to tell him whatever the empress declared to him in confession. Rather than repeat what the sinner had revealed in the confessional, on May, 16, 1383, Saint John suffered death by being bound hands and feet, and thrown into the Vitava river.
Saint Jan Sarkander (1576 –1620) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and pastor of Holleschow, in the diocese of Olmutz, in 1620.
During the Bohemian War (1620). He was the first pastor of a church that had been ruled by Picards[7] for eighty years. For this he was hated, and their hatred increased in proportion to his zeal for the conversion of these heretics, and for the rights of the Catholic Church. When he fell into the hands of his persecutors, and refused to break the seal of the confessional, he was subject to tortures which ended with his death.
Pope Pius IX beatified Sarkander at Saint Peter’s Basilica in 1860 and Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint in 1995 on his visit to the Czech Republic.
In addition to these two martyrs, we might add the name of Father Henry Garnet, S.J., (1555-1606), In the year 1606, Father Garnet was arrested, and condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered because of his refusal to violate the seal of confession. He walked with firmness and conviction to the scaffold.
The ‘seal of confession’ seals sins forever in the heart of the priest, which in turn is sealed forever in the limitless heart of God.
There is a Providence who watches over the seal of confession, and will not permit it to be broken.
“Some people ridicule fun of the Sacrament of Confession. To them might be applied the words of Christ: ‘Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?’[8] Unfortunately, neither do these people know the mercy of God.”
Antiquity of Confession
The first confession can be traced back to the first sin.
Adam and Eve were created in a state of perfect innocence, but unfortunately did not stay that way. To test their faithfulness, God forbade them to eat of a specific fruit in the garden.
Satan, in order to destroy their peace and tranquility insinuated that if they ate of this special fruit, they would gain infinite knowledge and power, and make them like God. They ate the fruit and thereby set themselves in full revolt against God, their Creator.
The consequences of this crime were revolutionary. Man’s moral nature was changed, and he became subject to the demands of his sensual passions. You might say that Adam declared war on himself as well as on God. The animal in man declared war on his spiritual and intellectual integrity. He was now governed by two contrary temperaments. He saw within himself two beings opposed to each other. Saint Paul described it best, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”[9]
Having been perverted by Satan, it became impossible for man to be born without inheriting a corrupt nature; without the grace of God in their souls.
From this beginning, man has thought himself bound to render to God, not only praise and adoration, love and thanksgiving, but being aware of his consciousness of sin, has, and forever will be, endeavoring to reinstate himself to his original state in the eyes of God.
After being purified by the sacrament of baptism, if man again violated the divine law, he immediately recognized that he deserved chastisement. In order to escape this punishment and manifest his sorrow, he instituted religious sacrifices, in the hope of placating divine wrath. Confession of the crimes committed became a fundamental part of that attempted expiation.
Adam and Eve revolted against God, but He is merciful. Yet, before He speaks words of consolation, Adam must admit his crime and make a humble apology.
“But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ In this way God put the admission of the crime in the mouth of Adam, who answers, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” There is Adam’s confession, the confession of guilt that God required. God then spoke to Eve, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” This was the confession of Eve.
In this conversation between God and the first two criminals we see an offended Father who in his infinite mercy opens His paternal heart, allows them to rid themselves of the weight of the guilt which oppresses their consciences.
This obligation to confess our sins in order to be forgiven has been required ever since.
Instituting the sacrament of confession, God’s responded to the spontaneous outcry from the conscience of man. Confession is almost as old as the world itself.
Reconciliation in Sacred Scripture with Commentary from Church Fathers
Confess your transgressions rather than conceal them.
Proverbs 28:13: “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
Saint Jerome[10] offers this comment, “As confession and beauty are in the sight of God,[11] so a sinner who confesses his sins and says, ‘My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness[12] loses his foul wounds and is made whole and clean. But ‘he that covers his sins shall not prosper.’” (Letter 122.3).
Matthew 3:1-6: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”
Saint Chromatius[13] offers this comment, “Hence John prepared these ways of mercy and truth, faith and justice. Concerning them, Jeremiah also declared, ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is, and walk in it.’[14] Because the heavenly kingdom is found along these ways, not without good reason John adds, ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’[15] So do you want the kingdom of heaven to also be near for you? Prepare these ways in your heart, in your senses and in your soul. Pave within you the way of charity, the way of faith and the way of holiness. Build roads of justice. Remove every scandal of offense from your heart. For it is written: ‘Remove the stones from the road.’[16]And then indeed, through the thoughts of your heart and the very movements of your soul, Christ the King will enter along certain paths. (Tractate on Matthew, 8.1.)
Matthew 4:17: From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Saint Chromatius offers this comment, “The Lord urges people to repentance, and he promises to pardon their sins, according to Isaiah’s words, ‘I, even I, am the one who wipes out your iniquities, and I will not be mindful of your sins. But you be mindful, declare first your iniquities that you may be justified.’[17] Rightly does the Lord urge the people to repentance when he says, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ so that through this confession of sins they made be made worthy to approach the kingdom of heaven. For no one can receive the grace of the heavenly God unless one has been cleansed of every stain of sin by the confession of repentance, through the gift of the saving baptism of our Lord and Savior.” (Tractate on Matthew, 15.3.)
“He [Jesus] did not want to leave his flock behind after his departure ‘like sheep without a shepherd.’[18] He therefore promised His disciples the power to bind and loose. Their decisions in the Church would be the decisions of the Lord in heaven. This power, unlimited in time and space, was given by the risen Lord.[19] From this time forward, Christ is sent not only to the lost sheep of Israel, but to all nations, which are subject to His power; and therefore, he entrusted his authorized representatives with the pastoral care of all nations. Only when the Lord comes again will this representation of the Good Shepherd become superfluous, and end. This leads inevitably to the conclusion that power of representing Christ must be propagated throughout the history of the Church, for it would surely be unthinkable that certainty of forgiveness of sins was only given to the first generation of the Church. This divine power, which so much astounded the Jews,[20] Christ delegated to his apostles,[21] so that this gift of grace should remain in this world even after the day of His ascension, and until His second coming.[22]
“The hierarchical (juridical) primacy of Peter (and his successors) can be deduced from the Lord’s words in Mt 16:18f and is corroborated by other texts (e.g., Lk 22:31f; Jn 21:15-17. The infallible power of the keys and of teaching possessed by the Church is referred to in Mt 18:17f and Lk 10:16 (see also 1 Cor 5:3-13; Jn 20:23; 1 Jn 2:24; 4:6).[23]
Matthew 16:13-19: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Saint Epiphanius the Latin,[24] offers this comment, “For Christ is a rock which is never disturbed or worn away. Therefore, Peter gladly received his name from Christ to signify the established and unshaken faith of the church.…The devil is the gateway of death who always hastens to stir up against the holy church calamities and temptations and persecutions. But the faith of the apostle, which was founded upon the rock of Christ, abides always unconquered and unshaken. And the very keys of the kingdom of the heavens have been handed down so that one whom he has bound on earth has been bound in heaven, and one whom he has set free on earth he has also set free in heaven.” (Interpretation on the Gospels, 28).
Mark 1:1-15: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight— ‘John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.’ The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.’”
Saint Jerome offers this comment, “The sweetness of the apple makes up for the bitterness of its root. The hope of gain makes pleasant the perils of the sea. The expectation of health mitigates the nauseousness of medicine. One who desires the kernel breaks the not. So one who desires the joy of a holy conscience swallows down the bitterness of penance.” (Commentary on the Gospels)
Luke 10:13-16: “Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. ‘He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.’”
Saint Cyril of Alexander[25] offers this comment, “Consider the great authority he gave the holy apostles, how he declared them praiseworthy, and how he decorated them with the highest honors …. “He that hears you,” he says, “hears me, and he that rejects you, rejects me; and he that rejects me, rejects him that sent me.” O what great honor! What incomparable dignities! O what a gift worthy of God! Although men, the children of earth, he clothes them with a godlike glory. He entrusts his words to them that they who resist anything or venture to reject them may be condemned. When they are rejected, he assures them that he suffers this. Then again, he shows that the guilt of this wickedness, as being committed against him, rises up to God the Father. See with the eyes of the mind how vast a height he raises the sin committed by men in rejecting the saints! What a wall he builds around them! How great security he contrives for them! He makes them such as must be feared and in every way plainly provides for their being uninjured.” (Commentary on Luke, Homily, 63).
In the Gospel of John, we have a more precise and striking declaration of the power to absolve, given by our Savior to His Apostles.
John 20:19-23: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”[26] If your sins are as numerous as the sands on the sea shore, they shall be blotted out, provided you have a contrite heart.
Saint John Chrysostom[27] offers this comment, “Anyone who considers how much it means to be able, in his humanity still entangled in flesh and blood, to approach that blessed and immaculate Being [God] will see clearly how great the honor is that the grace of the Spirit has bestowed on priests. It is through them that this work is performed, and other work no less than this in its bearing on our dignity and our salvation.
For earth’s inhabitants, having their life in this world, have been entrusted with the stewardship of heavenly things, and they have received an authority that God has not given to angels or archangels. Not to them was it said, ‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose, shall be 1oosed.’[28] Those who are lords on earth have indeed the power to bind but only people’s bodies. But this binding touches the very soul and reaches through heaven. What priests do on earth, God ratifies above. The Master confirms the decisions of his servants. Indeed, he has given them nothing less than the whole authority of heaven. For he says, ‘Whoever’s sin: you forgive are forgiven, and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.’ What authority could be greater than that? ‘The Father has given all judgment to the Son.’[29] But I see that the Son has placed it all in their hands. For they have been raised to this prerogative, as though they were already translated to heaven and had transcended human nature and were freed from our passions.
Again, if a king confers on one of his subjects the right to imprison and release again at will, that person is the envy and admiration of all. But although the priest has received from God an authority as much greater than that, as heaven is more precious than earth and souls than bodies, some people think he has received so slight an honor that they can imagine someone entrusted with it actually despising the gift. God save us from such madness! For it is patently mad to despise this great office without which we cannot attain to salvation or God’s good promises. For if one ‘cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again of water and the Spirit,’[30] and anyone who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink his blood is excluded from eternal life.’ and all these things can happen through no other agency except their sacred hands (the priests’, I mean), how can anyone, without their help, escape the fire of Gehenna or win his appointed crown?” (On the Priesthood, 3.5).
2 Corinthians 5:16-21: From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of Reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of Reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Saint John Chrysostom offers this comment, “The apostles are ambassadors for Christ because they have succeeded to his ministry. And not only his, for they represent the Father as well.” (Homilies on the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, 11-5).
1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Saint Bede the Venerable[31] offers this comment, “Since we cannot live in the world without sin, the first hope we have of salvation is through confession, nor should anyone be proud enough to claim that he is righteous in God’s sight.” (On 1 John).
[1] “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance, let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right. (Isaiah 43:25-26 RSVCE).
[2] 16:19.
[3] Matt. 18:18
[4] 20:22-23.
[5] Can. 1388.1
[6] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Vol. 1, (New York: Sheed and Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990, Fourth Council of Lateran, 1215, Constitution 21, p.245.
[7] These sect members lived in a communistic society in accordance with their beliefs, which included rejection of marriage, holding of wives in common, and the abolition of distinctions of rank and fortune.
[8] Mark 12:24.
[9] Romans 7:21-23.
[10] Jerome (c. 347-420). Gifted exegete and exponent of a classical Latin style, know best known as the translator of the Latin Vulgate. He defended the perpetual divinity of Mary, attacked Origen and Pelagius and supported extreme ascetic practices.
[11] Psalm 96:6.
[12] Psalm 38:5
[13] Chromatius (fl.400). Bishop of Aquileia, friend of Rufinus and Jerome and author of tracts and sermons.
[14] Jeremiah 6:16.
[15] Matthew 3:2.
[16] Isaiah 49:4.
[17] Isaiah 43:25-26.
[18] Matthew 9:36.
[19] Matthew 28:18f.
[20] See Matthew 9:8.
[21] John 20:21.
[22] Sacramentum Verbi, An Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology, J. B. Baur, Ed., Vol. 1, (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970, pp. 34-35.
[23] Ibid., p. 111.
[24] Epiphanius the Latin. Author of the late fifth-century or early sixth-century Latin texts Interpretation of the Gospels, with constant references to early patristic commentators. He was possibly a bishop of Benevento or Seville.
[25] Cyril of Alexander (375-444). Patriarch of Alexandria whose extensive exegesis, characterized especially by a strong espousal of the unity of Christ, led to the condemnation of Nestorius in 431.
[26] Isaiah 1:18.
[27] Saint John Chrysostom (344/354-407), Bishop of Constantinople who was noted for his orthodoxy, his eloquence and his attacks on Christian laxity in high places.
[28] See Matthew 18:18.
[29] John 5:22.
[30] John 3:5.
[31] Saint Bede the Venerable (c.672/673-735). Born in Northumbria, at the age of seven he was put under the care of the Benedictine monks of Saints Peter and Paul at Jarrow and given a broad classical education in the monastic tradition. Considered one of the most learned men of his age, he is the author of An Ecclesiastical History of the English people.
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