HEINRICH HEINE - Repositories

i$mt. 93
THE CONFESSIONAL A DOMESTIC SAFETY-
VALVE,
Whether there is more fidelity among
wives of the evangelic faith, I shall not
attempt to discuss. But the Catholicism
of the wife certainly saves the husband
from many annoyances. When
Catholic women have committed a fault,
they do not secretly brood over it, but
confess to the priest, and as soon as
they have received absolution they are
again as merry and light-hearted as before.
This is much pleasanter than
spoiling the husband's good spirits or
his soup by downcast looks or grieving
over a sin for which they hold themselves
in duty bound to atone during
their whole lives by shrewish prudery
and quarrelsome excess of virtue. The
confessional is likewise useful in another
respect. The sinner does not keep her
terrible secret preying on her mind; and
since women are sure, sooner or later, to
babble all they know, it is better they
should confide certain matters to their
confessor than they should, in some
moment of overpowering tenderness,
talkativeness, or remorse, blurt out to
the poor husband the fatal confession.