examination of the heart 212 directed by Him cannot err, and a safe and straight road leads Him toward the heavenly Fatherland! As for you, consider whether you have received the Holy Spirit today in the Most Holy Sacrament, whether you possess Him, whether you could say with the Apostle: “And I think that I have the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 7:40). Know that these are the traits of the Holy Spirit: joy, peace, wisdom, gentleness, patience, humility, counsel, longanimity, and others like them (cf. Gal 5:22). If these do not shine forth from you, then not only do you not have the Holy Spirit, but not even a spark of the divine light. 3. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (Jn 20:23). Behold the apostolic power! The power of the successors of Christ! The greatest power! To forgive sins is something divine; hence, who would not call gods, as it were, those to whom such power is imparted? Rightly David says about the priests: “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you’ ” (Ps 82:6). O how unwisely those miserable people behave who do not submit themselves to this power or abuse it with great wickedness! The ones who do not lay bare their leprosy before those whose duty it is to heal it: How impiously do they stray from the right path! How terribly blinded are those who sacrilegiously approach this Sacrament of Penance, for it is a Sacrament instituted by the Most High God Himself with such great authority, with such great benevolence, and with such great tenderness! You should consider here the mercy of your gracious Savior, poured out both on the entire human race in general and on you in particular; because, having foreseen such frequent wounds to your soul, He provided the most excellent physicians for you, His Vicars, and a very efficacious medicine in [f.47v] the Most Sacred Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. Since you have received this Sacrament also today, give most humble thanks to your Lord.
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