PENNANCE is a Sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ, in which, by the ministry of the Priest, actual sins are forgiven, and the conscience is released from the bonds by which it may be bound. In this Sacrament, also, the eternal punishment due to sin is remitted, and a part or the whole of the temporal punishment, according to the disposition of the penitent.

This holy and salutary institution is grounded on the words of Jesus Christ: Truly I say to you, whatever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever ye shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. (Matt. xviii. 18) and, As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins ye shall retain, they are retained. (John xx. 21, etc.) In these words Jesus Christ gave to His Apostles, and to their lawful successors, power and authority to absolve from all sin those who sincerely repent of their offences.

Hence we see the great necessity of this Sacrament; and the Council of Trent has decreed that it is not less necessary for salvation to those who have fallen into mortal sin after Baptism, than Baptism to those who have never been baptized. And although Penance may, at first sight, and in itself, seem to be a bitter and painful thing, yet, viewed in its fruits and consequences, it is full of consolation; and every Christian, as soon as he is conscious that he has fallen into a mortal sin, ought at once to have recourse to this fount of divine mercy.

The evil consequences of delay are manifold. 1. In a state of mortal sin, every other mortal sin committed renders our hearts still more hardened. 2. The commission of one mortal sin makes a second easier, and this leads to a third, and so on. 3. In a state of mortal sin we lose the value of all the good works that we may do. They avail nothing for everlasting life. Neither alms, nor prayers, nor fasts, nor even martyrdom itself, can profit us if we have not repented of our sins. 4. Sin, continued in, shuts by degrees the door of divine mercy, until at last scarce any hope is left of obtaining pardon from God. Lastly, just as the longer a stain remains upon a garment the more difficult it is to remove, so the longer the soul neglects to purify itself by Confession the more difficult the work becomes, and the more intricate, on account of the number of sins and anxiety of mind, until at last even an experienced Confessor may be unable to extricate the soul from its miserable state.