The
Fathers Speak – Confession
In the past, I have occasionally run a feature called “The Fathers Speak.” This has included quotes taken in context
from the Fathers of the Church that demonstrate Catholic doctrine. I have compiled these and many more such
quotes from the first 500 years of Christianity. The Fathers of the Church are powerful
witnesses to Christianity’s Catholicism right from the start. I hope it will be a powerful apologetic and
ecumenical tool. The document is
available for a donation of any size to Aquinas Academy. It can be accessed by clicking here,
or on the image of St. Athanasius near the top of this blog.
Local
synod (council) in Antioch – A.D. 341
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All who
enter the church of God and hear the Holy Scriptures, but do not communicate
with the people in prayers, or who turn away, by reason of some disorder,
from the holy partaking of the Eucharist, are to be cast out of the Church,
until, after they shall have made confession, and having brought forth the
fruits of penance, and made earnest entreaty, they shall have obtained
forgiveness
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St.
Athanasius – Letter dating A.D. 338
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Therefore
let us, performing our vows to the Lord, and confessing our sins, keep the
feast to the Lord, in conversation, moral conduct, and manner of life…
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St.
Augustine – Letter 185 – A.D. 415
Bede's
Ecclesiastical History of England – A.D. 731
Note:
Cuthbert died in the previous century
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And
such was Cuthbert’s skill in speaking, so keen his desire to persuade men of
what he taught, such a light shone in his angelic face, that no man present
dared to conceal from him the secrets of his heart, but all openly revealed
in confession what they had done, thinking doubtless that their guilt could
in nowise be hidden from him; and having confessed their sins, they wiped
them out by fruits worthy of repentance, as he bade them...
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Cyprian
of Carthage – A.D. 200-270 – Epistle 2
You see,
then, brethren, that you also ought to do the like, so that even those who have
fallen may amend their minds by your exhortation; and if they should be seized
once more, may confess, and may so make amends for their previous sin…
Cyril of
Jerusalem – A.D. 315-386 - Catechetical Lecture 1
Put off,
by confession, the old man, which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit,
that ye may put on the new man, which is renewed according to knowledge of Him
that created him...
The
present is the season of confession: confess what thou hast done in word or in
deed, by night or by day; confess in an acceptable time, and in the day of
salvation receive the heavenly treasure...
The
Didache – circa A.D. 80
…gather
yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having
confessed your transgressions, that you may be pure. But let no one who is at
odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that
your sacrifice may not be profaned.
St.
Jerome – Letter 41 against the Montanists – A.D. 385
Their
strictness does not prevent them from themselves committing grave sins, far
from it; but there is this difference between us and them, that, whereas they
in their self-righteousness blush to confess their faults, we do penance for
ours, and so more readily gain pardon for them...
Pope St.
Gregory the Great – A.D. 540-604 – Pastoral Rule, Book II (Of the Life of the
Pastor)
Yet, when
they prepare the patience of their condescension for cleansing the sins of
their neighbors in confession, they support, as it were, the laver before the
doors of the temple; that whosoever is striving to enter the gate of eternity
may shew his temptations to his pastor's heart, and, as it were, wash the hands
of his thought and of his deed…
