To the Benevolent Reader

In pastoral ministry it is of very great importance that the confessor know well the nature of his power, the mode by which it is obtained and lost, the limits by which it is constrained, its right use, and the various duties, as also its infamous abuses. Of all these things we here set beneath, as clearly as we can and synthetically, an exposition at once speculative and practical, drawn from the better authors and recalled to theological principles. Therefore let these principles and rules be as the foundation of those things which we have written more practically concerning the various categories of penitents.

Wherefore, excellent confrere, deign to receive both little works with equal kindness.

In this second edition, however, enlarged a little and corrected, we have preferred to add those things which regard the very form of absolution, because precisely in the pronouncing of this sentence the formal use itself of the confessor's power consists. Thus the exposition of doctrine concerning the minister of Penance will be more complete.

The Author.