657 chapter 22: the reconciliation of the mystical temple vain things he does not cease to be a Temple of God and becomes a habitation of darkness, a repository of the devil:”210 therefore for the Reconciliation [of this temple] these two Sacraments of Penance and Eucharist, were established by Jesus Christ. First of all, the Voice crying in the wilderness quite rightly proclaimed that Penance is a kind of second Baptism.211 For what stains of the soul would Penance not cleanse completely? What sins would Penance not wash away? If the devil himself applied himself to Penance, he would be restored to his original grace, because true penance contains true humility, to which God can deny nothing. Yet one should take into consideration that the word “Penance” is fitting both to a virtue of this kind and the Sacrament. Here we treat only of the latter. For although the power of the virtue of penance is great, the power of the Sacrament is greater, by which sanctifying grace is properly conferred unless some obstacle is placed before it on the part of the penitent. To prevent this from happening, one who intends to go to the Sacrament of Penance, must first of all make a preparation; by giving alms, or by fasting, or by some similar mortification of the body directed to this end, that God may impart to the penitent the grace of a perfect knowledge of his sins, both in general and in particular, of a true contrition and a sincere and salutary confession. You should begin the examination of conscience with a brief prayer; then the examination should be done in a rather retired place and free from witnesses, not in a perfunctory manner but through a careful scrutiny of each of your particular thoughts, words and deeds, taking into regard the commandments of God, 210 This is probably a quotation from an unknown work of St. Maximus “the Confessor” (d. 662). Maximus was “a man conspicuous for his learning and zeal for Catholic truth” (MR, August 13). “His moral and ascetic writings had great importance, which are recorded his ‘Ascetic Book’ and the ‘Chapters on Charity.’” cf. Vona Costantino, Maximus the Confessor, Saint: BS IX, 44-45. The author’s quotation could be located in neither the writings of St. Maximus the Confessor (PG 90) nor in those of St. Maximus of Turin (Corpus XXIII). N.B. Jarra was also unable to find the origin of this quotation (cf. Jarra, p. 48, footnote 2). 211 St. John the Baptist. He described himself in this way (Jn 1:23) [LV]: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and asserted of his activity: “I indeed baptize you in water unto penance” (Mt 3:11) [LV].
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