examination of the heart 248 never come. Yet, the reason why we see that the majority of men find themselves in the darkness of idolatry and heresies, is this: They withdrew themselves from Christ and abandoned His teachings, deceived by Mohammed, Arius, Luther, Calvin, and other heresiarchs, indeed by the infernal spirit himself, who is the teacher of all errors and of those going astray. Thus, they bring on themselves their own perdition. O the singular gift of God bestowed upon you of perseverance; [may you] persist in the holy vocation of the true faith! Cast your heart on the Lord, and say with the mouth of the Pharisee, but the heart of a pious Catholic: “Lord, I thank you that I am not like other people” (Lk 18:11). I give You thanks, Most Holy Trinity, that I walk not in the way of error, but of Truth; this is Your work, Your grace, Your benefaction. I humbly ask that You would enlighten the infidels also, convert the heretics [f.62r] and stir up sinners, so that under one Shepherd, in one sheepfold, we all together may acknowledge You openly, worship You, and love You forever and ever. Amen. After Holy Communion 1. “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). Note that Christ the Lord instituted two special Sacraments for the renewal of humanity: Baptism and Penance. You might wonder whether one of them is more efficacious than the other. Baptism, especially in infants, removes the taint of original sin. Penance blots out in adults all transgressions committed after Baptism. The efficacy of Penance, as well as its necessity, is so great and outstanding that Penance has been called the “second plank after a shipwreck.”107 The first Sacrament is like a ship. When it is shattered by the winds of mortal sin, then the person who reaches out to the second, and similar Sacrament, (namely, 107 Cf. Tertullian, Operum Pars Prima: Series secunda — Libri Dogmatici: De Pœnitentia, in: PL, vol. 1, Ateliers catholiques du Petit-Montrouge, Paris 1844, pp. 1233-1234 (Caput IV and Commentarius “(e) Alicujus tabulæ”).
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