and thrown helplessly into the ocean, their only hope is some floating plank that may bear them to the shore.  So when we fall after Baptism we are thrown into the great ocean of sin, where we must perish if we do not rest upon the Sacrament of Penance, which will bring us once more in safety to the friendship of God.  How very thankful the poor shipwrecked sailors would be to anyone who would offer them a plank while they are in danger!  Do you think they would refuse to use it?  In like manner how thankful we should be for the Sacrament of Penance, and how anxious we should be to use it when we arc in danger of losing our souls!

The Sacrament of Penance shows the very great kindness of Our Lord.  He might have said:  I saved them once, and I will not trouble Myself more about them; if they want to sin again, let them perish.  But no, He forgives us and saves us as often as we sincerely call on Him for help, being truly sorry for our sins.  He left this power also to His Apostles, saying to them:  As often as any poor sinner shall come to you and show that he is truly sorry for his sins, and has the determination not to commit them again, and confesses them to you, I give you the power to pardon his sins in the Sacrament of Penance.  The forgiveness of your sins is the chief though not the only blessing you receive in the reception of this Sacrament, through which you derive so many and great advantages from the exhortation, instruction, or advice of your confessor.

Is it not a great benefit to have a friend to whom you can go with the trials of your mind and soul, your troubles, temptations, sins, and secrets?  You have that friend—­the priest in the confessional.  He is willing to help you, for he consecrated his life to God to help men to save their souls.  He is able to help you, for he understands your difficulties, sins, and temptations, and the means of overcoming them.  He has made these things the study of his life, and derives still greater knowledge of them from hearing the sad complaints of so many relating their secret sorrows or afflictions, and begging his advice.

Then you are sure that whatever you tell him in the confessional will never be made known to others, even if the priest has to die to conceal it.  You might tell your secrets to a friend, and if you afterwards offended him he would probably reveal all you told him.  The priest asks no reward for the service he gives you in the confessional, but loves to help you, because he has pledged himself to God to do so, and would sin if he did not.  Some enemies of our holy religion have tried to make people believe that Catholics have to pay the priest in confession for forgiving their sins; but every Catholic, even the youngest child who has been to confession, knows this to be untrue, and a base calumny against our holy religion; even those who assert it do not believe it themselves.  The good done in the confessional will never be known in this world.  How many persons have been saved from sin, suicide, death, and other evils by the advice and encouragement received in confession!  How many persons who have fallen into the lowest depths of sin have by the Sacrament of Penance been raised up and made to lead good, respectable lives—­a blessing to themselves, their families, and society!