De celanda confessione
379 ARGUMENTUM.--Quaeri videtur in hoc libello, cum proprius sacerdos poenitentis confessionem publicaverit, cuinam poenitens confiteri debeat. I. Probata Ecclesiae virginitate et unitate, ostendit auctor quantorum malorum causa extiterit sigilli confessionnis infractor.--II. In hoc casu, ubi nimirum poenitenti sacerdotum inest penuria tanta ut nullus queat prorsus reperiri, posse eum clericis, quin etiam et laicis mundis, hoc est fidelibus confiteri; non quod illa confessio (ut proferam hac in re theologorum sententiam) gratiam ex opere operato conferat (neque enim sacramentalis est) sed ex opere operantis, nempe ex contritione, et humilitate quam testatam facit confitens in sui delicti revelatione, majorem ut sibi ruborem adsciscat; unde quodammodo Deus suppleat sacerdotis officium.--III. Ubi nec sacerdos, nec clericus, nec laicus invenitur non de salute desperandum, sed soli Deo confitendum ex diversis probat SS. Patrum auctoritatibus.
625CRogatus super virginitate matris Ecclesiae, quomodo virgo est, quae non solum ex virginibus, sed etiam ex conjugatis, ex corruptis, et incorruptis carne constat, negare non debui charitati dare de virginitate testimonium. Virgo enim est, et vere virgo; nam, si intueamur in speculo puritatis et veritatis, et vere virgo imaginem habens [ al., hujus] virginitatis, quod est carne beata virgo Maria, mater est Ecclesia conscientia. Cujus rei in lineam citius dirigimus, si quatuor ecclesiastica sacramenta diligenter inspicimus, fidem, baptismum, Dominici corporis et sanguinis consecrationem, peccatorum remissionem. Fide enim est mater Ecclesia, quod est carne beata Maria, quia quod illa in Spiritu sancto concepit, ista in Spiritu sancto credit. Sacramentis 626Cbaptismi, Dominici corporis et sanguinis, peccatorum confessionis divisa non est, et quia vere una, vere est virgo, quia omnis virgo, ex eo quod virgo est, in duo dividi non potest; etenim caro quae virgo est, perfecte est virgo; beata ergo [ al., vero] mater Ecclesia una eademque in sacramentis, et fide, dum nihil corruptum in conscientia, sicut nec virgo Dei genitrix patitur; ut illa in corpore, ita ipsa quoque sensu virgo, est. In hujus itaque virginitatis speculo ad intuendam faciem veritatis in sacramentis confessionis nonnulli, et quod gravius est, qui imaginem videntur habere religionis, caligant; quae diligentius intueamur; et omne quod unum non est in 380 sancta Ecclesia, ab oculo veritatis evanescat.
Tria esse sacramenta confessionis Dominus 627Ain sua persona declaravit, figuram baptismi, unam conscientiam de duobus, Deum et hominem in eodem judicio. In figura baptismi, is qui confitetur, abrenuntiat per poenitentiam, et credit per fidem, sicut is qui baptizatur abrenuntiat et credit. Unde et Dominus idem testimonium accepit a Patre in transfiguratione, quod et in baptismo, et additum est: Ipsum audite (Math. XVII, 6). De eo enim de quo audierat Joannes: Hic est qui baptizat (Joan. I, 33), audierunt discipuli: Ipsum audite, quia qui baptizat in baptismate, ipse auditur in poenitentiam dante. Duae conscientiae in unam transeunt, confitentis scilicet in ejus cui confitetur, et judicantis in ejusdem qui judicatur. Hanc unitatem imprecatur Filius Dei apud Patrem: Ut et 627Bipsi in nobis, inquiens, unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me, et ego in te (Joan. XVII, 21). Deus et homo in eodem judicio conveniunt, quia qui se judicat, jam cum Deo facit (Aug. tract. 12, in Joan. sub finem). Unde et latro in cruce cum dixisset: Nos quidem digna factis recipimus (Luc. XXIII, 41), quia cum Domino se judicavit, cum Domino in paradiso est.
In his sacramentis qui quocunque modo de confessis sibi aliquam suspicionem in publicum oriri scienter faciunt, vel confessos infamant, caligant; et hi qui in confessionem aliquam, vel consortem sui criminis produnt, peccant; et illi qui in confessionem [ f. confessione; vel sic: peccant, et illi in confessionem, qui facta, etc.] facta aliorum perquirunt. Cum enim confessio figuram baptismi teneat, 627Cscimus quia in peccati abrenuntiatione, non alterius detractione baptizamur. In Judae etiam proditoris Domini censentur participio, quia, licet is cui detrahitur, ex eo quod peccavit, personam Domini non significet, ex eo tamen quod traditur significare potest. Dominus namque, etsi non peccavit, tamen traditus est, de quo Judas ait: Quemcunque osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum (Marc. XIV, 44); et is cui, cum imagine [ al., imaginem] familiaritatis, quasi osculum vel exhibet vel exhibuit, de crimine rogat teneri in confessione.. Et Apostolus Joannes: Omnis qui facit peccatum, ex diabolo est natus, quia ab initio diabolus peccat (I Joan. III, V. 8); hoc peccatum violationem charitatis intelligimus, quia ab 627Dinitio diabolus peccat [ al., perdidit]. Horrendum vero est valde, cum is, qui per confessionem puram de Spiritu sancto renasci debuerat, in alterius detractione per violationem charitatis de diabolo renascitur. Et Scriptura: Justus in principio sui accusator est (Prov. XVIII, 17): sui, non alterius. Et item Confitemini alterutrum peccata vestra (Jac. V, 16) vestra, non aliena.
In quo revocemus ad memoriam quia Judas se solum laqueo suspendit; derogans enim in confessione solum sibi nocet, quia is, cui derogatur, nec publicatur, nec in quamcunque suspicionem quocunque modo adduci salvis sacramentis potest confessionis. Unde, in sacris canonibus et causis ecclesiasticis, de his tantum quae in tractatu audivimus, et videmus in 628Aeffectu tractari, palam loquimur et testamur. Et in Veteri Testamento bos cornupeta recludi praecipitur (Exod. XXI, 29); si enim non reclusus in campo publicationis aliquem occiderit, id est, in suspicionem mortalis criminis adduxerit, dominus ejus, is videlicet cui per confessionem se credidit, quia non eum reclusit, aliquod videlicet in confessione dictum peccatum, vel quemquam simpliciter a derogante nominatum, in causam publicam quocunque modo adducit, morte mori praecipitur. Revelator enim confessionis, mortalis criminis reus est; fidem namque mentitur, sacramenta confessionis non observat, in unitatem Patris et Filii peccat, in Spiritum sanctum, qui est vera remissio, blasphemat, et cum Judaeis Domino dicit: Nonne bene dicimus nos quia 628BSamaritanus es tu; et daemonium habes? (Joan. VIII, 48.) Fidem mentitur, cum, quod fidei Christianitatis ejus creditum est non servat; de qua beatus Augustinus in homilia 10 super epist. Joannis dicit: « Qui non credunt, id est, qui fidem non habent, pejores sunt quam daemones, et tardiores. »
Sacramenta confessionis violat, quia nec poenitentem in confessione baptizatum credit; ipsumque secundum baptismum, id est confessionem, quantum in ipso est, destruit, nec unitatem conscientiae custodit, nec Deum in suis judiciis convenisse veretur. In unitatem Patris et Filii peccat, cum unitatem quae est inter Deum Patrem et Filium, in confitente sibi repraesentatam, quacunque publicatione dividit. Cum enim Filius ad Patrem dicat: 628CEt ipsi in nobis unum sint, sicut tu, Pater, in me, et ego in te (Joan. XVII, 21); aut Deum unum, aut se in illo, qui unus est, aut omnipotentem in ipso posse operari unitatem negat. Sed quia Deus unus est, et membra Christi in unum conveniunt, profecto liquet quia, dum ab unitate Ecclesiae, quae est corpus Christi, per tanti violationem sacramenti se praescindit, non in Deo, nec ex Deo, nec cum Deo est. In Spiritum sanctum blasphemat, dum quod in fide et advocatione ejus qui est remissio peccatorum, sibi creditum est revelat, ostendens quia apud eum nec Spiritus sanctus est advocatus. Apud Salomonem quoque 381 fraudulentus vocatur qui revelat arcana, et fidelis qui animi celat commissum (Prov. 628DXI, 13). Et in Ecclesiastico: Qui denudat arcana amici, perdit fidem (Eccli. XXVII, 17), quae est origo et fundamentum omnium virtutum, incurritque desperationem, quae est blasphemia Spiritus, et ultimum maximumque omnium criminum. Cum Judaeis Domino dicit: Nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu, et daemonium habes? (Joan. VIII, 48.) Per daemonium peccatum potest intelligi, teste evangelista, qui de Maria Magdalena septem daemonia ejecta dicit; et Dominus Samaritanus esse, et daemonium habere dicitur, cum confessi culpa reducitur; quia qui Samaritanus est, id est custos per confessionem, in eo quem custodit, daemonium habere improperat per peccati communionem.
Si vero is qui confitetur in culpa perseverat, et 629Aetiam anathema est is cui confessum est, cum Domino usque ad exitum Judam patiatur; nec etiam in illos aliquando [aliquam omnino vel] per se vel per aliquem vindictam exerceat, qui sibi denuntiati sunt in crimine, vel per confitentium malitiam vel simplicitatem, ne sacramenta confessionis violentur. Sunt enim quidam qui non arbitrantur indulgentiam consequi, nisi sociorum suorum nomina detexerint.
Sunt et alii qui studiosissime in confessione facta perquirunt aliorum quod vitiosissimum nobis videtur esse, quia, secundum papam Gregorium (in Job, l. v, c. 3, vers. 40), magnum curiositatis est vitium. Jam de his qui vel alios in confessione produnt, vel quod confessum est in causam publicam quocunque modo adducunt, vel a confitentibus crimina sociorum 629Binquirunt, raro quidem, nec secundum rigorem Scripturarum, nec aures audire, quam horribiles sint horrescant.
Tamen quantulumcunque dictum est, videamus quibus tunc confitendum sit. Hi in primis de quibus diximus cavendi sunt, quoniam, si B. Joannis Epistola prima requiritur (cap. II, 2), in omnibus sacramentis moribus Antichristi sunt. Quibus praetermissis, in Veteri Testamento sacerdotibus lepra ostenditur (Levit, XIII, 49); levitae tabernaculum foederis comportant, erigunt, deponunt. Tabernaculis populi a tabernaculo foederis terminum ponunt, ne indiscrete appropinquent ad tabernaculum, et moriantur (Num. I, 50, 53). Tabernaculum foederis corpus est Dei et hominum Mediatoris, a 629Cquo levitae populo terminum ponunt, dum pro quibus peccatis a mensa Domini abstinere debeat, docent. De subdiaconibus dicitur: Mundamini, qui fertis vasa Domini (Isai. LII, 11). Vasa, corda significant; unde in Evangelio: Prudentes vero acceperunt oleum in vasis suis cum lampadibus (Matth. XXV, 4). Subdiaconi itaque vasa Domini lavant, cum conscientias mundant; acolythi luminaria accendunt Ecclesiae. Exorcistarum est officium ex obsessis corporibus daemonia effugare; lectorum est verbum Dei referre; ostiariorum est ecclesiam aperire. Quae si omnia diligenter intuentur, ad hoc fiunt visibiliter, ut ab his a quibus fiunt fiant per mundationem conscientiarum invisibiliter. Unde B. Augustinus in tractatu sexto Epistolae S. Joannis Apostoli, sic de 629DBaptismo: « Aqua sacramenti visibilis est, aqua spiritus invisibilis; ista abluit corpus, et significat quid fiat [ al., quod sit] in anima. » Visibilia namque sacramenta et operantur, et significant [ al., signant] invisibilia. In hoc cognoscimus quia de occultis omni ecclesiastico ordini confiteri debemus; de apertis vero solis convenit sacerdotibus, per quos Ecclesia, quae publice novit, et solvit et ligat.
Sin nec in ordinibus ecclesiasticis cui confitearis invenis, vir mundus ubicunque sit, requiratur, sicut in Veteri Testamento praecipitur: Ista lex est hominis qui moritur in tabernaculo. Omnes qui ingrediuntur 630Atentorium illius, et universa vasa quae ibi sunt, polluta erunt septem diebus. Vas quod non habuerit operculum, nec ligaturam desuper, immundum erit. Si quis in agro tetigerit cadaver occisi hominis, aut per se mortui, sive os illius, vel sepulcrum, immundus erit septem diebus. Tollent de cineribus combustionis atque peccati, et mittent aquas vivas super eos in vas, in quibus cum homo mundus tinxerit hyssopum, asperget ex eo omne tentorium, et cunctam supellectilem ejus, et homines hujuscemodi contagione pollutos; atque hoc modo mundus lustrabit immundum tertio, et septimo die (Num. XIX, c. 14-19). Longum est per singula allegoriarum mysteria currere. Sed diligenter intuendum quid est quod sino determinatione cujusquam ordinis homo mundus 630Blustrare immundum dicitur: et quosdam sanctorum Patrum legimus qui animas rexerunt, et tamen eorum ordines nescimus.
Quod si nemo cui confitearis invenitur, ne desperes, quia in hoc Patrum conveniunt sententiae, ut Domino confitearis. Unde B. Joannes Chrysostomus super L psalmum (homil. 2, ad hunc versum: Et peccatum meum contra me est semper, ante medium): « Si confunderis alicui dicere quae [ al., quia] peccasti, dic ea quotidie in anima tua. Non dico ut confitearis conservo tuo, ut tibi exprobret, sed confitere Deo, qui ea curet. » Item idem super Epistolam ad Hebraeos (super cap. 12 hom. 31, post medium): « Non dico tibi ut te prodas in publicum, neque ut te apud alios accuses; sed obedire 630Cte volo Prophetae dicenti. » Revela Domino viam tuam (Psal. XXXVI, 5), 382 et tunc demum spera misericordiam te posse consequi. Et in septem collationibus ultimis Joannes Cassianus (collat. 20, cap. 8): « Si verecundia retrahente revelare peccata tua coram hominibus erubescis, illi, quem latere non possunt, confiteri ea jugi supplicatione non desinas, qui et absque ullius verecundiae publicatione curare, et sine improperio peccata donare consuevit. Maximus in sermone paschali dicit: « Invenio quod Petrus fleverit, non invenio quid dixerit: lacrymas ejus lego, satisfactionem non lego. » Et lingua Spiritus sancti Leo: « Lacrymis lavatur delictum quod voce pudor est confiteri. Misericors etenim 630DDominus, et absque ulla confessione respexit Petrum, et indulsit ei trinae negationis admissum. »
Sciendum vero minoribus summopere est sacerdotibus, et maxime praelatis, ne culpam dictam in occulto sub nomine alterius culpae vindicent in publico. Unde in linea veritatis, sigillo videlicet evangelico, cum Filius Dei dixisset: Ut ipsi in nobis unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me, et ego in te (Joan. XVII, 21) non sine magno sacramento tacuit nomen Spiritus sancti, cum Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus sanctus unum sint. Unitas enim confitentis in tertiam adduci personam non debet, nec sub nomine alterius culpae 631Aista puritas infamari, sed secrete Spiritu sancto committi.
Omitto de his quae confessa sunt, tantum loqui, cum Evangelium de his quae videmus et patimur dicat: Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum (Matth. XVIII, 15). De qua sententia B. Augustinus sic in verbis evangelii dicit (Serm. 16 de verb. Domini, c. 4, tom. X): « Corripe fratrem tuum inter te et ipsum solum, intuens [ al, intendens] correctioni, parcens pudori; forte enim prae verecundia incipiet defendere culpam suam, vel peccatum suum; et qui vis facere correctionem [ al., quem vis facere correctiorem], facis pejorem. Corripe ergo inter te et ipsum solum. » Item idem (ibid.): « Tu scis quia peccavit, quia enim secretum 631Bfuit quando in te peccavit; secretum quaere, cum corrigis quod peccavit: nam si solus nosti quod peccavit in te, et eum vis coram omnibus corrigere, non es corrector, sed proditor. « Item idem (ibid.): « Ipsa corripienda sunt coram hominibus, quae peccantur coram hominibus; ipsa corripienda sunt secretius, quae peccantur secretius: distribuite tempora, et concordat Scriptura. Sic agimus [ al., agamus], et sic agendum est, non solum quando in nos peccatur, sed quando peccatur ab aliquo, ita ut ab altero nesciatur. » (Ibid. 8.) « In secreto debemus corripere, in secreto arguere, ne, volentes publice arguere, prodamus hominem. Nos volumus corripere et corrigere; quid si inimicus quaerit audire, et corripere [quod puniat]? Novit enim nescio quem 631Chomicidam episcopus, et alius nemo illum novit. Ego publice corripere, at tu quaeris inscribere: prorsus nec prodo, nec negligo. Corripio in secreto, pono ante oculos Dei judicium, terreo cruentam conscientiam, persuadeo poenitentiam. Hac charitate 632Apraediti esse debemus. Unde aliquando homines reprehendunt nos, quia, quasi non corripiamus, aut putant nos scire quod nescimus, aut putant nos tacere quod scimus. Sed forte quod dicis [ al., scis] et ego scio; sed non coram te corripio, quia curare volo, non accusare. Sunt homines adulteri in domibus suis, in secreto peccant; aliquando nobis produntur ab uxoribus suis, plerumque zelantibus, aliquando maritorum salutem quaerentibus. Nos non prodimus palam, sed in secreto arguimus; ubi contingit malum, ibi malum moriatur. Non tamen vulnus illud negligimus, ante omnia ostendentes homini in tali peccato constituto, sauciamque gerenti conscientiam, illud vulnus esse mortiferum. » B. Hieronymus sic super Matthaeum dicit (in cap. 18, 632Bin medio, ad illa verba: Si peccaverit in te, etc.): « Corripiendus est frater seorsum, ne, si semel pudorem ac verecundiam amiserit, permaneat in peccato. »
In his satis liquet quia si quae videmus et patimur, salvo Dominico praecepto, nonnisi inter nos et fratres nostros peccantes secretum habere possumus. Si, corrigere voluerint, omnimodis confessa detegimus, teste Spiritu sancto, Antichristi et proditores habemur. De quibus Felix papa (FEL. 1, ep. 1, in medio tom. I Conciliorum editionis regiae): « Proditorum nec vox, nec calumnia audiatur. »
Quod vero quae confessa sunt sub nomine alterius culpae vindicari, vel secrete visa detegi non debeant, sic dicit Innocentius papa: « Latentia peccata non 632Chabeant vindictam, et, probatione cessante, vindictae ratio conquiescat. » In his omnibus liquet quia unum cum Sponso suo mater est Ecclesia, et membra sua non divisioni, sed unitati parit in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
On Keeping Confession Secret
379 ARGUMENT.--It seems to be asked in this little book, when a penitent's own priest has made his confession public, to whom the penitent ought then to confess. I. Having proved the virginity and the unity of the Church, the author shows of how many evils the breaker of the seal of confession has been the cause.--II. That in this case — namely, where the penitent suffers so great a scarcity of priests that none at all can be found — he may confess to clerics, or even to clean laymen, that is, to the faithful; not that such a confession (to set forth in this matter the opinion of the theologians) confers grace ex opere operato (for it is not sacramental), but ex opere operantis, namely from contrition, and from the humility which the one confessing attests in the disclosure of his own offense, so that he may draw upon himself a greater blush of shame; whence in some manner God supplies the office of a priest.--III. That where neither priest, nor cleric, nor layman is to be found, one must not despair of salvation, but must confess to God alone: which he proves from various authorities of the holy Fathers.
625CBeing asked concerning the virginity of mother Church — how she is a virgin, who consists not only of virgins but also of the married, of the corrupted and of the incorrupt in flesh — I ought not to have denied to charity the giving of a testimony concerning that virginity. For she is a virgin, and truly a virgin; for, if we gaze into the mirror of purity and truth, she is also truly a virgin, having the image [ al., hujus] of that virginity which the blessed Virgin Mary is in the flesh: mother Church is a virgin in conscience. And we bring this matter the more quickly into line if we diligently examine the four ecclesiastical sacraments — faith, baptism, the consecration of the Lord's body and blood, and the remission of sins. For mother Church is by faith what blessed Mary is in the flesh, because what the one conceived in the Holy Spirit, the other believes in the Holy Spirit. In the sacraments 626Cof baptism, of the Lord's body and blood, and of the confession of sins she is not divided; and because she is truly one, she is truly a virgin, since every virgin, in that she is a virgin, cannot be divided in two; for flesh which is virgin is perfectly virgin. Blessed [ al., vero] mother Church, therefore, is one and the same in the sacraments and in faith, seeing that she suffers nothing corrupt in her conscience, even as neither does the Virgin Mother of God; and as the latter is a virgin in body, so she also is a virgin in mind. And so in the mirror of this virginity, for the beholding of the face of truth in the sacraments of confession, certain men are darkened — and, what is graver, men who seem to have the image of religion. Let us look upon these things the more diligently; and let everything that is not one in 380 holy Church vanish from the eye of truth.
That there are three sacred things in confession the Lord 627Adeclared in his own person: the figure of baptism; one conscience made out of two; and God and man in the same judgment. In the figure of baptism, he who confesses renounces through penitence and believes through faith, just as he who is baptized renounces and believes. Whence the Lord also received from the Father the same testimony in the transfiguration as in the baptism, and there was added: Hear ye him (Math. XVII, 6). For of him concerning whom John had heard: This is he that baptizeth (Joan. I, 33), the disciples heard: Hear ye him; because he who baptizes in baptism is himself heard in the one who gives penance. Two consciences pass into one: namely, that of him who confesses into that of him to whom he confesses, and that of him who judges into that of the same man who is judged. This unity the Son of God prays for with the Father, saying: That they also 627Bmay be one in us, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee (Joan. XVII, 21). God and man come together in the same judgment, because he who judges himself already acts together with God (Aug. tract. 12, in Joan. sub finem). Whence the thief also on the cross, when he had said: We indeed receive things worthy of our deeds (Luc. XXIII, 41) — because he judged himself together with the Lord, he is with the Lord in paradise.
In these sacred things they are darkened who in any way knowingly cause any suspicion to arise publicly concerning those who have confessed to them, or who defame those who have confessed; and those sin who in confession betray anyone, or a partner in their own crime; and those [ f. confessione; vel sic: peccant, et illi in confessionem, qui facta, etc.] who in confession search out the deeds of others. For since confession holds the figure of baptism, 627Cwe know that we are baptized in the renunciation of our own sin, not in the disparagement of another. They are reckoned also as sharing in Judas, the betrayer of the Lord; because, although he who is disparaged does not, by the fact that he has sinned, signify the person of the Lord, yet by the fact that he is betrayed he can signify him. For the Lord, although he did not sin, was nevertheless betrayed, of whom Judas said: Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; hold him fast (Marc. XIV, 44); and he to whom, with the appearance [ al., imaginem] of familiarity, he offers or has offered as it were a kiss, he asks to be held fast for his crime in confession.. And the Apostle John: Everyone who committeth sin is born of the devil, because the devil sinneth from the beginning (I Joan. III, V. 8); and this sin we understand to be the violation of charity, because from the 627Dbeginning the devil sins [ al., perdidit]. But it is exceedingly horrible that he who ought to have been reborn of the Holy Spirit through a pure confession is reborn of the devil in the disparaging of another, through the violation of charity. And the Scripture: The just man is at the beginning the accuser of himself (Prov. XVIII, 17) — of himself, not of another. And likewise: Confess your sins one to another (Jac. V, 16) — your own, not another's.
Wherein let us call to memory that Judas hanged himself alone with a noose; for he who disparages another in confession harms himself alone, since he who is disparaged is neither made public, nor can in any way be brought under any suspicion whatever, so long as the sacraments of confession are kept unbroken. Whence, in the sacred canons and in ecclesiastical cases, we speak openly and bear witness only concerning those things which we have heard in open treatment and see to be handled 628Ain effect. And in the Old Testament the goring ox is commanded to be shut up (Exod. XXI, 29); for if, not being shut up, it kills someone in the field of publication — that is, brings him under the suspicion of a mortal crime — then its owner (namely, he to whom the man entrusted himself through confession), because he did not shut it up, that is, because he brings in any way into a public case some sin spoken in confession, or anyone simply named by the one who disparages him, is commanded to die the death. For the revealer of a confession is guilty of a mortal crime; for he lies against faith, he does not observe the sacraments of confession, he sins against the unity of the Father and the Son, he blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, who is the true remission, and with the Jews he says to the Lord: Do we not say well that 628Bthou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? (Joan. VIII, 48.) He lies against faith when he does not keep what was entrusted to the faith of his Christianity; concerning which blessed Augustine says in Homily 10 on the Epistle of John: « They who do not believe, that is, who have not faith, are worse than the demons, and duller. »
He violates the sacraments of confession, because he does not believe that the penitent has been baptized in confession; and he destroys, so far as in him lies, that second baptism, that is, confession; nor does he guard the unity of conscience, nor does he stand in awe that God has met with him in his judgments. He sins against the unity of the Father and the Son when by any publication he divides the unity which is between God the Father and the Son, represented in the man confessing to him. For since the Son says to the Father: 628CAnd may they also be one in us, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee (Joan. XVII, 21) — he denies either that God is one, or that he himself is in him who is one, or that the Almighty is able to work unity in him. But since God is one, and the members of Christ come together into one, it is assuredly plain that, while by the violation of so great a sacrament he cuts himself off from the unity of the Church, which is the body of Christ, he is neither in God, nor of God, nor with God. He blasphemes against the Holy Spirit when he reveals what was entrusted to him in the faith and in the invocation of him who is the remission of sins, showing thereby that with him not even the Holy Spirit is an advocate. In Solomon also 381 he is called fraudulent who reveals secrets, and faithful who conceals what is committed to his mind (Prov. 628DXI, 13). And in Ecclesiasticus: He that discloseth the secrets of a friend loseth his credit (Eccli. XXVII, 17) — which is the origin and foundation of all the virtues — and he runs into despair, which is the blasphemy against the Spirit, and the last and greatest of all crimes. With the Jews he says to the Lord: Do we not say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? (Joan. VIII, 48.) By "devil" sin can be understood, as the evangelist witnesses, who says of Mary Magdalene that seven devils were cast out; and the Lord is said to be a Samaritan and to have a devil when the fault of one who has confessed is brought up against him again; because he who is a Samaritan — that is, a keeper through confession — reproaches the man whom he keeps with having a devil, through his own sharing in the sin.
But if he who confesses persists in his fault, and 629Aeven is anathema, let him to whom the confession was made bear with his Judas, together with the Lord, even to the end; nor let him ever [aliquam omnino vel] exact any vengeance, by himself or by another, upon those who have been denounced to him as being in a crime, whether through the malice or through the simplicity of those confessing, lest the sacraments of confession be violated. For there are some who do not think that they obtain pardon unless they have disclosed the names of their associates.
And there are others who most studiously search out in confession the deeds of others — which seems to us a thing most vicious, because, according to Pope Gregory (in Job, l. v, c. 3, vers. 40), curiosity is a great vice. Now as to those who either betray others in confession, or in any way bring what has been confessed into a public case, or inquire of those confessing after the crimes of their associates 629B— rarely indeed, and not according to the rigor of the Scriptures, do the ears endure to hear how horrible these things are: let them shudder at them.
Yet, however little has been said, let us see to whom confession is then to be made. Those first of all of whom we have spoken are to be avoided, since, if the first Epistle of blessed John be consulted (cap. II, 2), in all the sacraments they are of the manners of Antichrist. These being passed over: in the Old Testament leprosy is shown to the priests (Levit, XIII, 49); the Levites carry the tabernacle of the covenant, set it up, and take it down. They set a boundary for the tents of the people away from the tabernacle of the covenant, lest they approach the tabernacle without discretion and die (Num. I, 50, 53). The tabernacle of the covenant is the body of the Mediator of God and men, from which 629Cthe Levites set a boundary for the people, when they teach for what sins a man ought to abstain from the table of the Lord. Of subdeacons it is said: Be ye clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord (Isai. LII, 11). The vessels signify hearts; whence in the Gospel: But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps (Matth. XXV, 4). And so subdeacons wash the vessels of the Lord when they cleanse consciences; acolytes kindle the lights of the Church. It is the office of exorcists to drive demons out of possessed bodies; of readers, to deliver the word of God; of doorkeepers, to open the church. And if all these things be diligently considered, they are done visibly to this end: that by those who do them they may be done invisibly, through the cleansing of consciences. Whence blessed Augustine, in Tractate 6 on the Epistle of St. John the Apostle, thus speaks of 629DBaptism: « The water of the sacrament is visible, the water of the Spirit invisible; the former washes the body, and signifies what is done [ al., quod sit] in the soul. » For visible sacraments both effect and signify [ al., signant] invisible things. By this we know that concerning hidden things we ought to confess to every ecclesiastical order; but concerning open things it belongs to priests alone, through whom the Church both looses and binds what she publicly knows.
But if you do not find even among the ecclesiastical orders one to whom you may confess, let a clean man be sought out, wherever he may be, as is commanded in the Old Testament: This is the law of a man that dieth in a tent. All that enter 630Ainto his tent, and all the vessels that are there, shall be defiled seven days. The vessel that hath no cover, nor binding over it, shall be unclean. If any man in the field touch the corpse of a man that was slain, or that died of himself, or his bone, or his grave, he shall be unclean seven days. They shall take of the ashes of the burning and of the sin, and shall pour living waters upon them into a vessel; and when a clean man hath dipped hyssop therein, he shall sprinkle with it all the tent, and all its furniture, and the men that are defiled with such a contagion; and in this manner the clean man shall purify the unclean on the third and on the seventh day (Num. XIX, c. 14-19). It would be long to run through the mysteries of the allegories one by one. But it must be diligently considered what this means, that without the determining of any order a clean man 630Bis said to purify the unclean; and we read of certain of the holy Fathers who governed souls, and yet we do not know their orders.
But if no one is found to whom you may confess, do not despair, since in this the judgments of the Fathers agree — that you should confess to the Lord. Whence blessed John Chrysostom on Psalm 50 (homil. 2, ad hunc versum: Et peccatum meum contra me est semper, ante medium): « If you are ashamed to tell anyone the things wherein [ al., quia] you have sinned, say them daily in your soul. I do not say that you should confess to your fellow servant, that he may reproach you; but confess to God, who will heal them. » Likewise the same, on the Epistle to the Hebrews (super cap. 12 hom. 31, post medium): « I do not tell you to betray yourself in public, nor to accuse yourself before others; but I wish you 630Cto obey the Prophet who says: » Reveal thy way to the Lord (Psal. XXXVI, 5), 382 and then at last hope that you can obtain mercy. And in the last seven Conferences John Cassian (collat. 20, cap. 8): « If, drawn back by shame, you blush to reveal your sins before men, cease not to confess them with unceasing supplication to him from whom they cannot lie hidden — who is wont both to heal without the publishing of any shame, and to forgive sins without reproach. Maximus says in an Easter sermon: « I find that Peter wept; I do not find what he said: I read of his tears, I do not read of his satisfaction. » And Leo, the tongue of the Holy Spirit: « That offense is washed away with tears which it is shameful to confess with the voice. For the merciful 630DLord looked upon Peter even without any confession, and pardoned him the guilt of his threefold denial. »
But it must be known above all by the lesser priests, and most of all by prelates, that they must not punish in public, under the name of another fault, a fault told in secret. Whence in the line of truth — namely, in the evangelical seal — when the Son of God had said: That they may be one in us, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee (Joan. XVII, 21) — not without a great mystery did he keep silent the name of the Holy Spirit, although the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one. For the unity of him who confesses ought not to be brought before a third person, nor ought this purity to be defamed under the name of another fault, 631Abut committed secretly to the Holy Spirit.
I forbear to speak only of those things which have been confessed, since the Gospel says concerning those things which we see and suffer: If thy brother shall offend against thee, rebuke him between thee and him alone (Matth. XVIII, 15). Of which sentence blessed Augustine speaks thus in his words on the Gospel (Serm. 16 de verb. Domini, c. 4, tom. X): « Rebuke thy brother between thee and him alone, looking [ al, intendens] to his correction, sparing his shame; for perhaps out of embarrassment he will begin to defend his fault, or his sin; and you who wish to make a correction [ al., quem vis facere correctiorem] make him worse. Rebuke him, therefore, between thee and him alone. » Likewise the same (ibid.): « You know that he has sinned; for it was secret 631Bwhen he sinned against you; seek secrecy when you correct what he has sinned: for if you alone know that he has sinned against you, and you wish to correct him before all men, you are not a corrector but a betrayer. « Likewise the same (ibid.): « Those things are to be rebuked before men which are sinned before men; those things are to be rebuked more secretly which are sinned more secretly: distinguish the occasions, and the Scripture is in accord. So we act [ al., agamus], and so it must be done, not only when men sin against us, but when anyone sins in such a way that it is not known by another. » (Ibid. 8.) « In secret we ought to rebuke, in secret to reprove, lest, wishing to reprove publicly, we betray the man. We wish to rebuke and to correct; but what if an enemy is seeking to hear, and to seize upon [quod puniat] something to punish? For the bishop knows some 631Cmurderer or other, and no one else knows him. I, rebuke him publicly? — but you seek to indict him: I neither betray him at all, nor neglect him. I rebuke in secret, I set the judgment of God before his eyes, I terrify his bloodstained conscience, I urge penitence. With this charity 632Awe ought to be endowed. Whence men sometimes find fault with us, as though we did not rebuke: either they think that we know what we do not know, or they think that we are silent about what we know. But perhaps what you say [ al., scis] I too know; yet I do not rebuke him in your presence, because I wish to heal, not to accuse. There are men who are adulterers in their own houses; they sin in secret; sometimes they are betrayed to us by their wives, for the most part out of jealousy, sometimes by wives seeking their husbands' salvation. We do not betray them openly, but reprove them in secret; where the evil happened, there let the evil die. Yet we do not neglect that wound, showing above all to the man set in such a sin, and bearing a wounded conscience, that that wound is deadly. » Blessed Jerome speaks thus on Matthew (in cap. 18, 632Bin medio, ad illa verba: Si peccaverit in te, etc.): « The brother must be rebuked apart, lest, if once he has lost shame and modesty, he remain in his sin. »
From these things it is sufficiently plain that, as for the things which we see and suffer, we can — saving the Lord's precept — keep them secret only between ourselves and our sinning brethren. If they are willing to be corrected, and we nevertheless by every means uncover what has been confessed, then, the Holy Spirit being witness, we are accounted antichrists and betrayers. Concerning whom Pope Felix (FEL. 1, ep. 1, in medio tom. I Conciliorum editionis regiae): « Let neither the voice nor the accusation of betrayers be heard. »
But that the things which have been confessed ought not to be punished under the name of another fault, nor things seen in secret to be uncovered, Pope Innocent thus says: « Let hidden sins not 632Chave punishment; and, proof being wanting, let the reckoning of vengeance be at rest. » In all these things it is plain that mother Church is one with her Bridegroom, and brings forth her members not unto division but unto unity, world without end. Amen.