Contrition: from the Catechism of the Council of Trent
Contrition: from the Catechism of the Council of Trent:
.
.
The Meaning of Contrition
.
As the faithful require instruction on the nature and efficacy of the parts of Penance, we shall begin with contrition. This subject demands careful explanation; for as often as we call to mind our past transgressions, or offend God anew, so often should our hearts be pierced with contrition. By the Fathers of the Council of Trent, contrition is defined: "A sorrow and detestation of past sin, with a purpose of sinning no more."(1) And a little further on the Council, speaking of the motion of the will to contrition, adds: "If Joined with a confidence in the mercy of God and an earnest desire of performing whatever is necessary to the proper reception of the Sacrament, it thus prepares us for the remission of sin."
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From this definition, therefore, the faithful will perceive that the efficacy of contrition does not simply consist in ceasing to sin, or in resolving to begin, or having actually begun a new life; it supposes first of all a hatred of one's ill-spent life and a desire of atoning for past transgressions. This the cries of the holy Fathers which are poured out in the pages of Holy Writ, sufficiently prove:(2) "I have labored in my groaning," says David, "every night I will wash my bed"; and again, "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping."(3) "I will recount to thee all my years," says the prophet Isaias, "in the bitterness of my soul." * These and many other like expressions were called forth by an intense hatred and a lively detestation of past transgressions.
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Why Contrition is called Sorrow
.
But although contrition is defined as "sorrow," the faithful are not thence to conclude that this sorrow consists in sensible feeling; for contrition is an act of the will, and as St. Augustine observes, sorrow is not penance but the accompaniment of penance.(5) By "sorrow" the Fathers understood a hatred and detestation of sin; in the first place, because the Sacred Scriptures frequently use the word in this sense: "How long," says David, "shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day?"(6) and secondly, because from contrition arises sorrow in the inferior part of the soul which is called the seat of concupiscence. With propriety, therefore, is contrition defined a "sorrow," because it produces sorrow, a sorrow so intense that formerly penitents, in order to express its intensity, used to change their garments. Our Lord alludes to this custom when He says: "Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida; for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes." (7)
.
Why this part of penance is called Contrition
.
To signify the intensity of this sorrow the name "contrition" has rightly been given to the detestation of sin of which we speak. The word, literally understood, means the breaking of an object into small parts by means of a stone or some harder substance, and here it is used metaphorically, to signify that our hearts, hardened by pride, are subdued and reduced by penance. Hence no other sorrow, not even that which is felt for the death of parents, or children, or for any other visitation however calamitous, is called contrition. The word is exclusively employed to express the sorrow with which we are overwhelmed by the forfeiture of the grace of God and of our own innocence.
.
Other names for Contrition
.
.
The Meaning of Contrition
.
As the faithful require instruction on the nature and efficacy of the parts of Penance, we shall begin with contrition. This subject demands careful explanation; for as often as we call to mind our past transgressions, or offend God anew, so often should our hearts be pierced with contrition. By the Fathers of the Council of Trent, contrition is defined: "A sorrow and detestation of past sin, with a purpose of sinning no more."(1) And a little further on the Council, speaking of the motion of the will to contrition, adds: "If Joined with a confidence in the mercy of God and an earnest desire of performing whatever is necessary to the proper reception of the Sacrament, it thus prepares us for the remission of sin."
.
From this definition, therefore, the faithful will perceive that the efficacy of contrition does not simply consist in ceasing to sin, or in resolving to begin, or having actually begun a new life; it supposes first of all a hatred of one's ill-spent life and a desire of atoning for past transgressions. This the cries of the holy Fathers which are poured out in the pages of Holy Writ, sufficiently prove:(2) "I have labored in my groaning," says David, "every night I will wash my bed"; and again, "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping."(3) "I will recount to thee all my years," says the prophet Isaias, "in the bitterness of my soul." * These and many other like expressions were called forth by an intense hatred and a lively detestation of past transgressions.
.
Why Contrition is called Sorrow
.
But although contrition is defined as "sorrow," the faithful are not thence to conclude that this sorrow consists in sensible feeling; for contrition is an act of the will, and as St. Augustine observes, sorrow is not penance but the accompaniment of penance.(5) By "sorrow" the Fathers understood a hatred and detestation of sin; in the first place, because the Sacred Scriptures frequently use the word in this sense: "How long," says David, "shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day?"(6) and secondly, because from contrition arises sorrow in the inferior part of the soul which is called the seat of concupiscence. With propriety, therefore, is contrition defined a "sorrow," because it produces sorrow, a sorrow so intense that formerly penitents, in order to express its intensity, used to change their garments. Our Lord alludes to this custom when He says: "Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida; for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes." (7)
.
Why this part of penance is called Contrition
.
To signify the intensity of this sorrow the name "contrition" has rightly been given to the detestation of sin of which we speak. The word, literally understood, means the breaking of an object into small parts by means of a stone or some harder substance, and here it is used metaphorically, to signify that our hearts, hardened by pride, are subdued and reduced by penance. Hence no other sorrow, not even that which is felt for the death of parents, or children, or for any other visitation however calamitous, is called contrition. The word is exclusively employed to express the sorrow with which we are overwhelmed by the forfeiture of the grace of God and of our own innocence.
.
Other names for Contrition
Contrition, however, is often designated by other names. Sometimes it is called "contrition of heart," because the word "heart" is frequently used in Scripture to express the will; for as the movement of the body originates in the heart, so, the will is the faculty which governs and controls the other powers of the soul. By the holy Fathers it is also called "compunction of heart," and hence they preferred to entitle their works on contrition treatises on "compunction of heart";(8) for as ulcers are lanced with a knife in order to allow the escape of the poisonous matter accumulated within, so the heart, as it were is pierced with the lance of contrition, to enable it to emit the deadly poison of sin. Hence, contrition is called by the Prophet Joel, a "rending of the heart": "Be converted to me," he says, "with all your hearts in fasting, in weeping, in mourning, and rend your hearts."(9)
.
Sorrow for sin should be Supreme
.
That the sorrow for past sins should be so profound and supreme that no greater sorrow could be thought of will easily appear from the considerations that follow.
.
Perfect contrition is an act of charity, emanating from what is called filial fear; hence it is clear that the measure of contrition and charity should be the same. Since, therefore, the charity which we cherish towards God,(10) is the most perfect love, it follows that contrition should be the keenest sorrow of the soul. God is to be loved above all things, and whatever separates us from God is therefore to be hated above all things. It is also worthy of note that to charity and contrition the language of Scripture assigns the same extent. Of charity it is said: "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart";(11) of contrition the Lord says through the Prophet: "Be converted with thy whole heart."(12)
.
Secondly, since it is true, that of all objects which deserve our love, God is the supreme good, and not less true, that of all objects which deserve our execration sin is the supreme evil, the same reason which prompts us to confess that God is to be loved above all things, obliges us also of necessity to acknowledge that sin is to be hated above all things. That God is to beloved above all things, so that we should be prepared to sacrifice our lives rather than offend Him, these words of the Lord clearly declare: "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me,"(13) "He that will save his life shall I lose it.(14)
.
Further, it should be noted that since, as St. Bernard says, there is no limit or measure to charity, or to use his own words, as "the measure of loving God is to love Him without measure,"(15) there should be no limit to the hatred of sin.
.
Besides, our contrition should be not only the greatest but also the most intense and so perfect that it excludes all apathy and indifference; for it is written in Deuteronomy: "When thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul";(16) and in the prophecy of Jeremias: "Thou shalt seek me and shalt find me, when thou shalt seek me with all thy heart; and I will be found by thee, saith the Lord."(17)
.
If, however, our contrition be not perfect, it may nevertheless be true and efficacious. For as things which fall under the senses frequently touch the heart more sensibly than things purely spiritual, it sometimes happens that persons feel more intense sorrow for the death of their children than for the grievousness of their sins.
.
Our contrition may also be true and efficacious, although unaccompanied with tears, though penitential tears are much to be desired and commended. On this subject St. Augustine has well said: "The spirit of Christian charity lives not within you, if you lament the body from which the soul has departed, but lament not the soul from which God has departed."(18) To the same effect are the words of the Redeemer above cited: "Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida; for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, they had long since done penance, in sackcloth and ashes."(19) To establish this truth it will suffice to recall the well-known examples of the Ninivites,(20) of David,(21) of the woman caught in adultery,(22) and of the Prince of the Apostles,(23) all of whom obtained the pardon of their sins when they implored the mercy of God with abundant tears.
.
Contrition should extend to all Mortal Sins
.
The faithful should be earnestly exhorted and admonished to strive to extend their contrition to each mortal sin into which they may have had the misfortune to fall. For it is thus that Ezechias describes contrition: "I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul";(24) for to recount all our years is to examine our sins one by one in order to have sorrow for them all from our hearts. In Ezechiel also we read: "If the wicked do penance for all his sins, he shall live."(25) In this sense St. Augustine says: "Let the sinner consider the quality of his sins, as to time, place, variety and person."(26)
.
In the work of conversion, however, the sinner should not despair of the infinite goodness and mercy of God. For since God is most desirous of our salvation. He will not delay to pardon us. With a father's fondness, He embraces the sinner the moment he enters into himself, turns to the Lord, and having detested all his sins, resolves that later on, as far as he is able, he will call them singly to mind and detest them. The Almighty Himself, by the mouth of His prophet, commands us to hope, when He says: "The wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness." (27)
.
From what has been said we may gather the chief requisites of true contrition. In these the faithful are to be accurately instructed, that each may know the means of attaining, and may have a fixed standard by which to determine how far he may be removed from the perfection of this virtue.
.
The qualities of True Contrition
.
We must, then, in the first place, detest and deplore all our sins. If our sorrow and detestation extend only to some sins, our repentance is not sincere or salutary, but feigned and false. "Whosoever shall keep the whole law," says St. James, "but offend in one point, is become guilty of all." (28)
.
In the next place, our contrition must be accompanied with a desire of confessing and satisfying for our sins. Concerning these dispositions we shall treat in their proper place.
.
Thirdly, the penitent must form a fixed and firm purpose of amendment of life. This the prophet clearly teaches in the following words: "If the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die: I will not remember all his iniquities which he hath done"; and a little after: "When the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness which he hath wrought and doth judgment and justice, he shall save his soul alive"; still further on he adds: "Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed and make yourselves a new heart." (29) To the woman taken in adultery the Redeemer Himself imparts the same lesson of instruction: "Go thy way, and sin no more";(30) and also to the lame man whom He cured at the pool of Bethsaida: "Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more."(31)
.
That a sorrow for sin and a firm purpose of avoiding sin for the future are two conditions indispensable to contrition nature and reason clearly show. He who would be reconciled to a friend must regret to have injured or offended him, and his future conduct must be such that the same offence be not repeated. Furthermore, these are conditions to which man is bound to yield obedience; for the law to which man is subject, be it natural, divine, or human, he is bound to obey. If, therefore, by force or fraud, the penitent has injured his neighbor in his property, he is bound to restitution. If by word or deed he has injured his neighbor's honor or reputation, he is under an obligation of repairing the injury by procuring him some advantage or rendering him some service. Well known to all is the maxim of St. Augustine: "The sin is not forgiven unless what has been taken away is restored."(32)
.
Again, it is not less necessary for true contrition that it be accompanied by entire forgiveness of the injuries which we may have received from others. This our Lord emphatically declares and energetically inculcates, when He says: "If you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences; but if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences."(33)
.
These are the conditions which true contrition requires and which the faithful will observe. There are other dispositions which, although not essential to true and salutary penance, contribute to render contrition more perfect and complete in its kind, and which the pastor will readily discover.
.
The Effects of Contrition
.
Simply to make known the truths of salvation should not be deemed a full discharge of the duty of the pastor; his zeal should be exerted to persuade the people to adopt these truths as their rule of conduct through life, and as the governing principle of their actions. Hence it will be highly useful often to explain the power and utility of contrition. For whereas most other pious works, such as alms, fasting, prayer, and the like, in themselves holy and commendable, are sometimes, through human infirmity, rejected by God; contrition can never be other than pleasing and acceptable to Him. "A contrite and humble heart, O God!" exclaims the prophet, "thou wilt not despise."(34) Nay more, the same prophet declares elsewhere that, as soon as we have conceived this contrition in our hearts, our sins are forgiven by God: "I said, I will confess my injustice to the Lord, and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin."(35) Of this truth we have a figure in the ten lepers, who, when sent by our Lord to the priests, were cured of their leprosy before they had reached them;(36) which gives us to understand that such is the efficacy of true contrition, of which we have spoken above, that through it we obtain from God the immediate pardon of all sins.
.
Means of arousing True Contrition
.
To move the faithful to contrition, it will be very useful if the pastor point out some method by which each one may excite himself to contrition. This is to be accomplished by admonishing them, frequently to examine their consciences, in order to ascertain if they have been faithful in the observance of those things which God and His Church require. Should anyone be conscious of sin, he should immediately accuse himself, humbly solicit pardon from God, and implore time to confess and satisfy for his sins. Above all, let him supplicate the aid of divine grace, by which he may be strengthened against a relapse into those sins, which he now penitently deplores.
.
The faithful are also to be excited to a supreme hatred of sin, both because its turpitude and baseness are very great and because it brings us the gravest losses and misfortunes. For sin deprives us of the friendship of God, to whom we are indebted for so many invaluable blessings, and from whom we might have expected and received gifts of still higher value; and along with this it consigns us to eternal death and the most excruciating torments.
.
Sorrow for sin should be Supreme
.
That the sorrow for past sins should be so profound and supreme that no greater sorrow could be thought of will easily appear from the considerations that follow.
.
Perfect contrition is an act of charity, emanating from what is called filial fear; hence it is clear that the measure of contrition and charity should be the same. Since, therefore, the charity which we cherish towards God,(10) is the most perfect love, it follows that contrition should be the keenest sorrow of the soul. God is to be loved above all things, and whatever separates us from God is therefore to be hated above all things. It is also worthy of note that to charity and contrition the language of Scripture assigns the same extent. Of charity it is said: "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart";(11) of contrition the Lord says through the Prophet: "Be converted with thy whole heart."(12)
.
Secondly, since it is true, that of all objects which deserve our love, God is the supreme good, and not less true, that of all objects which deserve our execration sin is the supreme evil, the same reason which prompts us to confess that God is to be loved above all things, obliges us also of necessity to acknowledge that sin is to be hated above all things. That God is to beloved above all things, so that we should be prepared to sacrifice our lives rather than offend Him, these words of the Lord clearly declare: "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me,"(13) "He that will save his life shall I lose it.(14)
.
Further, it should be noted that since, as St. Bernard says, there is no limit or measure to charity, or to use his own words, as "the measure of loving God is to love Him without measure,"(15) there should be no limit to the hatred of sin.
.
Besides, our contrition should be not only the greatest but also the most intense and so perfect that it excludes all apathy and indifference; for it is written in Deuteronomy: "When thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul";(16) and in the prophecy of Jeremias: "Thou shalt seek me and shalt find me, when thou shalt seek me with all thy heart; and I will be found by thee, saith the Lord."(17)
.
If, however, our contrition be not perfect, it may nevertheless be true and efficacious. For as things which fall under the senses frequently touch the heart more sensibly than things purely spiritual, it sometimes happens that persons feel more intense sorrow for the death of their children than for the grievousness of their sins.
.
Our contrition may also be true and efficacious, although unaccompanied with tears, though penitential tears are much to be desired and commended. On this subject St. Augustine has well said: "The spirit of Christian charity lives not within you, if you lament the body from which the soul has departed, but lament not the soul from which God has departed."(18) To the same effect are the words of the Redeemer above cited: "Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida; for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, they had long since done penance, in sackcloth and ashes."(19) To establish this truth it will suffice to recall the well-known examples of the Ninivites,(20) of David,(21) of the woman caught in adultery,(22) and of the Prince of the Apostles,(23) all of whom obtained the pardon of their sins when they implored the mercy of God with abundant tears.
.
Contrition should extend to all Mortal Sins
.
The faithful should be earnestly exhorted and admonished to strive to extend their contrition to each mortal sin into which they may have had the misfortune to fall. For it is thus that Ezechias describes contrition: "I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul";(24) for to recount all our years is to examine our sins one by one in order to have sorrow for them all from our hearts. In Ezechiel also we read: "If the wicked do penance for all his sins, he shall live."(25) In this sense St. Augustine says: "Let the sinner consider the quality of his sins, as to time, place, variety and person."(26)
.
In the work of conversion, however, the sinner should not despair of the infinite goodness and mercy of God. For since God is most desirous of our salvation. He will not delay to pardon us. With a father's fondness, He embraces the sinner the moment he enters into himself, turns to the Lord, and having detested all his sins, resolves that later on, as far as he is able, he will call them singly to mind and detest them. The Almighty Himself, by the mouth of His prophet, commands us to hope, when He says: "The wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness." (27)
.
From what has been said we may gather the chief requisites of true contrition. In these the faithful are to be accurately instructed, that each may know the means of attaining, and may have a fixed standard by which to determine how far he may be removed from the perfection of this virtue.
.
The qualities of True Contrition
.
We must, then, in the first place, detest and deplore all our sins. If our sorrow and detestation extend only to some sins, our repentance is not sincere or salutary, but feigned and false. "Whosoever shall keep the whole law," says St. James, "but offend in one point, is become guilty of all." (28)
.
In the next place, our contrition must be accompanied with a desire of confessing and satisfying for our sins. Concerning these dispositions we shall treat in their proper place.
.
Thirdly, the penitent must form a fixed and firm purpose of amendment of life. This the prophet clearly teaches in the following words: "If the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die: I will not remember all his iniquities which he hath done"; and a little after: "When the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness which he hath wrought and doth judgment and justice, he shall save his soul alive"; still further on he adds: "Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed and make yourselves a new heart." (29) To the woman taken in adultery the Redeemer Himself imparts the same lesson of instruction: "Go thy way, and sin no more";(30) and also to the lame man whom He cured at the pool of Bethsaida: "Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more."(31)
.
That a sorrow for sin and a firm purpose of avoiding sin for the future are two conditions indispensable to contrition nature and reason clearly show. He who would be reconciled to a friend must regret to have injured or offended him, and his future conduct must be such that the same offence be not repeated. Furthermore, these are conditions to which man is bound to yield obedience; for the law to which man is subject, be it natural, divine, or human, he is bound to obey. If, therefore, by force or fraud, the penitent has injured his neighbor in his property, he is bound to restitution. If by word or deed he has injured his neighbor's honor or reputation, he is under an obligation of repairing the injury by procuring him some advantage or rendering him some service. Well known to all is the maxim of St. Augustine: "The sin is not forgiven unless what has been taken away is restored."(32)
.
Again, it is not less necessary for true contrition that it be accompanied by entire forgiveness of the injuries which we may have received from others. This our Lord emphatically declares and energetically inculcates, when He says: "If you will forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences; but if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences."(33)
.
These are the conditions which true contrition requires and which the faithful will observe. There are other dispositions which, although not essential to true and salutary penance, contribute to render contrition more perfect and complete in its kind, and which the pastor will readily discover.
.
The Effects of Contrition
.
Simply to make known the truths of salvation should not be deemed a full discharge of the duty of the pastor; his zeal should be exerted to persuade the people to adopt these truths as their rule of conduct through life, and as the governing principle of their actions. Hence it will be highly useful often to explain the power and utility of contrition. For whereas most other pious works, such as alms, fasting, prayer, and the like, in themselves holy and commendable, are sometimes, through human infirmity, rejected by God; contrition can never be other than pleasing and acceptable to Him. "A contrite and humble heart, O God!" exclaims the prophet, "thou wilt not despise."(34) Nay more, the same prophet declares elsewhere that, as soon as we have conceived this contrition in our hearts, our sins are forgiven by God: "I said, I will confess my injustice to the Lord, and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin."(35) Of this truth we have a figure in the ten lepers, who, when sent by our Lord to the priests, were cured of their leprosy before they had reached them;(36) which gives us to understand that such is the efficacy of true contrition, of which we have spoken above, that through it we obtain from God the immediate pardon of all sins.
.
Means of arousing True Contrition
.
To move the faithful to contrition, it will be very useful if the pastor point out some method by which each one may excite himself to contrition. This is to be accomplished by admonishing them, frequently to examine their consciences, in order to ascertain if they have been faithful in the observance of those things which God and His Church require. Should anyone be conscious of sin, he should immediately accuse himself, humbly solicit pardon from God, and implore time to confess and satisfy for his sins. Above all, let him supplicate the aid of divine grace, by which he may be strengthened against a relapse into those sins, which he now penitently deplores.
.
The faithful are also to be excited to a supreme hatred of sin, both because its turpitude and baseness are very great and because it brings us the gravest losses and misfortunes. For sin deprives us of the friendship of God, to whom we are indebted for so many invaluable blessings, and from whom we might have expected and received gifts of still higher value; and along with this it consigns us to eternal death and the most excruciating torments.
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