Untitled - Saints' Books

INSTR. iv.] . The
Sacrament of Penance. 283
mal sins, particularly against chastity, the more he will
pro-mote their sanctification. But, on the other hand,
the greater his indulgence, the greater his cruelty to
their souls. St. Thomas of Villanova says that con
fessors who are too indulgent are impiously merciful. 1
Such charity
is contrary to charity.
I have said ordinarily speaking j for in some rare cases
the confessor may absolve before the occasion is re
moved. For example,
if the penitent had evinced a
strong determination to amend his life, along with
great compunction, and is unable to take away the
occasion for a long time; or if he could not return to
the same confessor; or if there should be other extraor
dinary circumstances which would oblige the confessor
to absolve him. But such cases are very rare. Hence
persons who are in the proximate occasion of sin can
scarcely ever be absolved until they have first removed
it; particularly if they promised at other times to take
away the occasion, but did not afterwards fulfil their
promise. It is useless to say that a penitent who is dis
posed for the sacrament has, after the confession of his
sins, a strict right to receive absolution; for it is the
common opinion of theologians that a person who has
confessed his sins has not a strict right to be imme
diately absolved, and that the confessor can and should,
as a spiritual physician, defer absolution whenever he
knows that by deferring it he will promote the amend
ment of his penitent.
What has been said applies to voluntary occasions:
but if the occasion be necessary, generally speaking there
is not a strict obligation of removing it; for when the
penitent does not wish, but rather suffers and permits
it
against his will, he may hope for greater help from
God to resist the temptation. Hence, ordinarily speak
ing, he who is in a necessary occasion of sin may be
1 "
Impie pios."