Point II. On the Office of Physician

The Confessor is a true physician of souls, since he must deliver them from the various diseases of sin, free them from the depraved affections of the passions, and restore them to divine grace. Therefore, the Confessor, as a skillful physician, must: 1. know the cause of the evil; 2. heal it; 3. guard against relapse. Let us hear St. Ligorius again in the same place.

603. I. The Confessor Must Know the Cause of the Disease. - "In order that the Confessor may meet the infirmities of his penitent with suitable remedies, the origin and cause of all his spiritual diseases must be known. Some inquire nothing besides the species and number of sins: if they see the penitent disposed, they absolve him immediately; but if not, without expending one word, they dismiss him at once, saying with a sidelong glance: 'Depart from me, because I cannot absolve you.' Good Confessors proceed otherwise: for they first investigate the origin and gravity of the disease by inquiring about the habit of sin, the occasions, the time, the place, the persons with whom, and the concurrence of circumstances. For thus they will be better able to correct penitents, dispose them for absolution, and apply salutary remedies." (no. 6.)

604. II. He Must Heal the Disease. - "Once the origin and gravity of the disease are known, let the Confessor proceed to make the due admonitions. And although, as a father, he ought to listen to penitents with charity, nevertheless, as a physician, he is bound to admonish and correct them as much as necessary, especially those who, burdened with many mortal sins, rarely approach the Sacrament of Penance.... Nor ought the Confessor then to regard the other penitents who surround him.

For, as St. Francis Xavier used to say, it is better to hear the confessions of a few properly made than the disordered and fruitless confessions of many. Here it must be observed how wrongly those Confessors act who, if they encounter an indisposed penitent, immediately order him to depart from them lest they spend any time with him.... And it matters little that others wait or depart without confession; for the Confessor must render an account on the day of judgment only for this one who now confesses to him, not for the others...." (no. 7.)

"After the due corrections or admonitions, it is better that he labor to dispose the penitent for absolution through acts of true sorrow and purpose. Therefore I wish Confessors to be admonished that very few penitents, especially the uneducated, approach confession after first making an act of sorrow. Some Confessors think that they have sufficiently fulfilled their office if they merely question penitents of this kind in the following manner: 'Come, do you ask pardon from God for all these things?' (which in truth is not a true act of sorrow); 'Do you repent from your heart of all your sins?' And, without any other word intervening, they bestow absolution upon them. Entirely different from this is the practice of good Confessors. For these labor first of all that penitents (the discussion concerns those held by mortal sins) conceive true sorrow and detestation of sins. And first they prepare them through an act of attrition, for example: 'My son, where ought you now to be for eternity? In hell. Ah! You would be tormented in that fire! Nor would any hope remain for you to be delivered from there! You would remain there, abandoned by all and rejected by God for all eternity! Therefore, do you repent of having offended God on account of the hell which you have merited?' Afterward let him take care that an act of contrition be elicited in this manner: 'My son, what have you done? You have sinned against God, the supreme and infinite good; you took no account of Him; you turned your face away from Him; you cast Him behind your back; you despised His friendship and grace. Come, therefore, because you have offended God, infinite goodness, do you now repent with your whole heart? Detest and hold in hatred above all evils all the injuries with which you have undeservedly afflicted so good a God. Are you not now ready to die a thousand times ¹ rather than commit these things in the future?....'" (no. 10.)

¹ See what was noted above at no. 459.

605. III. He Must Guard Against Relapse. - The Confessor will guard against relapse by assigning to the penitent remedies suited to the disease. The remedies are either general or particular.

1. The general remedies are: 1. devout prayer and love toward God; 2. frequent invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the holy Guardian Angel, and one's patron Saint; 3. frequent reception of the Sacraments and confession immediately after any mortal sin has been committed; 4. consideration of the eternal truths, especially death and the last end, according to that saying: Remember thy last things, and thou shalt never sin. Ecclus. 7:40;

5. remembrance of the presence of God when temptation presses, saying: God sees me; 6. an evening examination of conscience with sorrow of soul and purpose; 7. mental prayer and pious reading, especially for Priests.

2. Particular remedies will be assigned according to the diversity of vices ². For example, to one who is held by some hatred, let it be suggested that he commend daily to God the person whom he hates ³, reciting the Lord's Prayer for him, etc. And when he is disturbed by the memory of an injury, let him remember the insults with which he himself has afflicted God. Let one who has fallen into shameful sins be enjoined to avoid idleness and flee evil companions and depraved occasions. Let one who has contracted a depraved habit in this vice over a long time be prescribed to avoid not only proximate occasions but also certain remote ones which, for one so weak, are as though proximate. Above all, however, let the Confessor take care that this person receive Communion frequently, because the Eucharist is called wine springing forth virgins. And so concerning the others.

² Most useful for this purpose is the little work of Philippus Maria Salvatori, published several times at Rome under the title Practical Instruction for New Confessors.

³ This must be prudently weighed, whether it will be profitable; furthermore, care must be taken lest the penitent believe himself bound to it, or think that, unless he also adds this, he has not sufficiently fulfilled the precept of loving enemies. See vol. I, no. 226.

The Confessor will assign other remedies ⁴ according to his prudence, after considering the circumstances of occasions, persons, etc. For prudence is the chief quality which ought to excel in a physician. - See St. Ligorius, Practice of the Confessor, no. 15; and Apostolic Homilies, treatise 2, nos. 5 and 6.

⁴ Those things must not be passed over in this place which Cardinal De Lugo wisely observes concerning the office of a physician (Moral Responses, book 1, doubt 28, no. 5): "The penitent," he says, "is bound only to fulfill the penance imposed upon him by the Confessor. But as regards other things, the Confessor can indeed declare to the penitent those things to which the penitent is otherwise bound under sin, for example, restitution, abandoning the proximate occasion of sin, abstaining from such a usurious contract, and other similar things; if the penitent does not have the intention of observing them, he is not disposed for absolution. Nevertheless, the Confessor cannot command him under sin to do anything else except that which he imposes as penance, in imposing which he acts as a judge. But as regards other things he acts as a Physician, whose part is not to command, but to counsel and declare to the sick person what means are necessary or useful for preserving or recovering health."