Treading
the Wine-press
By a contrite confession of our sins followed by the
absolution of the priest, we cause the Blood of Jesus to flow from His Sacred
Heart into our own soul for our purification and sanctification. In sacramental
absolution that yearning of the Royal Penitent for the cleansing effect of the
Precious Blood is fulfilled: Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be
cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. When the
priest raises his hand to absolve the penitent sinner, he sprinkles him, so to
speak, with the Blood of Christ. Making peace through the blood of His Cross,
both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven The
Precious Blood of Jesus which is poured out over the sinner in confession
imparts to the humble and contrite soul an indescribable beauty, and fills it
with such courage and strength as to enable it to resist temptations and
preserve its nobility and royal beauty.
What
is the beauty of the human soul?
Behold a dead body, how hideous, how gruesome it is!
It does not see, it does not hear, it does not feel, it moves neither hand nor
foot; the forehead is cold as marble, the mouth overflows with nauseating
matter, the lips are black and the whole body emits such pestilential odors as
to fill those who approach it with loathing and drive them away in horror. What
makes the dead body so hideous? The soul has fled. This is a picture of the
soul in mortal sin when the Holy Ghost withdraws from it. Now, if the body owes
its charm and beauty to its vivifying principle, to the soul in its natural
state, what splendor and glory must this same soul possess in its supernatural
state of sanctifying grace? The sun is so beautiful, so brilliant, that its
departing rays, shining upon the broken windows of an old dilapidated house in
the distance, converts even that shack into a palace of shimmering gold. But
St. Bonaventure assures us, that if God should destine the soul in habitual
grace, instead of the sun, to illuminate the world, it would diffuse more light
and splendor than the sun. The reason for all this is, because the soul in the
state of grace is the temple of the Holy Ghost; God dwells in it and
communicates to it as much of His own glory as the creature can bear, and thus,
in a measure, as St. Thomas teaches, deifies it. Now, sanctifying grace, the
highest gift of the soul, is the fruit of the Precious Blood and a reflection
of its beauty. Sacramental confession and absolution may also be called the
formal and expressed renewal of the holy covenant made between God and the
penitent soul and signed by the Blood of Christ, as foreshadowed in the
testament between God and the people of Israel. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin. All satisfaction intended as an expiation for
sin and as a reparation to the outraged justice and majesty of God, has its
satisfactory value from the Blood of the Atonement. This divine Blood liberates
us from the slavery of our bad habits, ransoms us from the thraldom of Satan,
and makes us children of God and heirs of heaven. God the Father hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his
love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins. Making peace through the blood of his cross.
In this holy Sacrament of Penance, says St. Bonaventure, that feeling of
sadness and depression caused by sin is driven out of the soul by the Blood of
the Redeemer, which is a purveyor of heavenly peace and happiness.
Sanguis
Christi sanat poenam tristitiae corda fidelium consolando.
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