sion must be clear, so as to be intelligible to the confessor; otherwise he cannot gain the necessary knowledge of the facts.

If a confession happens to be incomplete without being invalid, as, for instance, when a mortal sin has been forgotten without grave carelessness, it is sufficient to mention the sin omitted in the next confession. But if the confession is invalid; for instance, if one should conceal a mortal sin from shame or accuse one's self without sufficient clearness, it would be necessary to repeat the whole of that confession, together with the following confessions made with the consciousness of the invalidity of the first-in other words, a general confession is necessary. A general confession may be profitable also at other times, as it gives greater security in regard to the state of one's conscience.

3. Satisfaction (commonly called penance) is the perform ance of certain penitential works imposed by the confessor, partly as a remedy against relapse and a means of amendment, but chiefly as a punishment for sin. For God does not always remit the temporal punishment with sin itself and the eternal punishment, as is manifest from the words of the prophet Nathan to David: "The Lord also hath taken away thy sin; nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing the child that is born of thee shall surely die" (3 Kings xii. 13, 14). Besides, it is in accordance with the justice of God to demand of us some penal satisfaction for our rebellion against Him and for our sinful attachment to His creatures (118), and also to deter us by the dread of punishment from relapsing into sin. Hence the confessor as a judge has the power and the obligation to impose satisfaction for sin. Thus he exercises the power of binding, conferred on him by Christ. Although the penitent is bound to accept and perform the penance enjoined, yet its non-performance does not render the sacrament invalid or fruitless, provided only the penitent had the intention to perform it.

195. The duty of satisfaction is facilitated by indulgences granted by the Church.

An indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment due to sin after the sin itself has been remitted, granted outside the sacrament of penance. In the sacrament of penance the temporal punishment

is commuted into a lighter penance; by indulgences it is remitted; not simply, however, but by the application of the satisfactions of Christ and of the saints entrusted to the Church's keeping.

1. There exists in the Church a real deposit or treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and of the saints. Every good work has a twofold value-one of satisfaction and one of merit-as also the actions of Christ had an expiatory and a meritorious value (137). Now, the satisfactions of Christ were superabundant; and the saints, who, it is true, received a reward commensurate with their merits, do not themselves need all the satisfactory value of their good works and sufferings. Thus the Blessed Virgin did not require any satisfaction, since she had no sin to atone for. Other saints required but little; the rest of their satisfactions is superabundant. Now, these superabundant satisfactions are the common possession of the Church, and form what is called the treasury of the Church (cf. const. auct. fidei, no. 41).

2. The Church-in the first instance the pope, its supreme head-has power to apply these satisfactions to individuals, and thus to remit the temporal punishment due to sin. "Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt. xvi. 19). By reason of their generality we must understand these words to refer to every bond or obstacle which bars heaven against the faithful, consequently to the outstanding temporal punishment of sin. If an offended person agrees to accept satisfaction of a third party in lieu of the offender, his right is not thereby violated. That God has agreed to accept the satisfaction of a third party-of Christ and of the saints-may be inferred: (a) from the extent of the power conferred by Him on His Church; (b) from the existence of the treasury of the Church, which may be thus applied; (c) from the nature of the work of our redemption, which is essentially a work of mediation.

"To whom

3. The Church always exercised this power. you have pardoned anything, I also; for what I have par doned, if I have pardoned anything, for your sakes I have done it, in the person of Christ" (2 Cor. ii. 10). When St.

Paul, in the person of Christ, condoned punishment to the guilty Corinthian here referred to, his condonation was certainly ratified by God. It was, therefore, not a question of absolution from excommunication, but from the temporal punishment, if such was still due; for the Apostle doubts whether there was anything to pardon, that is, whether the sinner himself had not already rendered sufficient satisfaction to God's justice. As we learn from the writings of St. Cyprian (ep. 14, ad clerum. n. 2), from the earliest times ecclesiastical penances were shortened at the prayers of the martyrs, in the belief that this commutation was ratified in the sight of God. Tertullian (de pud. c. 22), after his aposasy, reproached the Church with granting a remission of punishment in consideration of the satisfactions of the martyrs, in the belief that such remission was ratified in the sight of God.

A partial indulgence (for instance, of 7 years or 40 days) does not imply merely the remission of a certain canonical penance (e.g., of 7 years or 40 days) according to the former discipline of the Church, but the remission before God of so much of the temporal punishment due to sin as would be expiated by a certain public penance (e g., of 7 years or 40 days). A plenary indulgence, on the other hand, is the remission of all the temporal punishment due to the sins which have been already remitted. A jubilee indulgence is a plenary indulgence of a more solemn character, connected with certain privileges and special faculties for the absolution from reserved cases, etc. Indulgences are applicable to the souls in purgatory, by way of intercession, only when this circumstance is specified by the Church in granting them.

What has been said suffices to prove what the Council of Trent (Sess. XXV. decret. de indulg.) teaches, viz., that the use of indulgences is most salutary for the Christian people, and that the Church has the power to grant them. Indul gences are salutary not only because they remit the temporal punishment due to sin, but also because they encourage sinners to become reconciled to God, and promote the frequentation of the sacraments and the practice of good works. If at times almsgiving is prescribed as a condition for gaining an indulgence, the indulgence is in that case no more purchased for money than heaven is purchased by any other alms given with a view to eternal salvation.

E. Extreme Unction.

196. The divine institution of the sacrament of extreme unction may be proved from different sources.

Extreme unction, so called because it is the last of those rites of the Church in which unction is employed, is a sacrament in which the sick by the anointing with oil and the prayer of the priest receive the grace of God for the benefit of their souls, and sometimes also for the health of the body. The proximate matter of the sacrament of extreme unction is the anointing of the sick person (generally of the organs of the five senses) with oil; the remote matter is the oil itself-olive-oil, according to the rite of the Latin Church, blessed by the bishop. The form consists of the accompanying words, which, according to the present usage, are as follows: 66 By this holy unction, and by His most bountiful mercy, may God pardon thee whatever thou hast sinned by sight, hearing,' etc.-(Florent. decret. pro Armen.).

That extreme unction is of divine institution follows

(a) from the words of St. James: "Is any man sick among you? Let him call in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be in sins they shall be forgiven him" (James v. 14, 15). The forgiveness of sins which is promised in virtue of this rite could be attached to an outward sign only by God; whilst the general precept of the apostle to anoint the sick points to a permanent institution. (b) Tradition testifics in various ways to the divine institution of extreme unction. St. Chrysostom (de sacerd. III. 6) speaks of extreme unction, together with baptism and penance, as a means of obtaining remission of sins; and Pope Innocent I. (A.D. 402–407) calls it a sacrament. It is mentioned in several synods, and is numbered among the seven sacraments by the Greeks and by the Oriental sects. (c) The Council of Trent (Sess. XIV. de sacram. extrem. unct. can. 1) defines the Church's doctrine in these words: "If any one assert that extreme unction is not really and truly a sacrament instituted by Christ Our Lord, and described by St. James the apostle, but that it is only a rite adopted by the fathers, or a human invention: let him be anathema."

The anointing of the sick by the disciples before the death of Our Lord (Mark vi. 13) is not to be considered as a sacrament, since it was evidently administered only for the health of the body. It may, however, be considered in some respect a figure of the sacramental unction which was to be instituted.

197. The special effects of extreme unction are four: (1) the remission of venial sins; (2) the removal of the remnants of sin; (3) fortitude in sufferings and temptations; and (4) not seldom restoration of bodily health.

Besides the increase of sanctifying grace, an effect common to all the sacraments of the living, extreme unction

1. Remits venial sins. By the sins mentioned by St. James we are to understand chiefly venial sins, as mortal sins are remitted through the sacraments of baptism and penance -the sacraments of the dead. Extreme unction, however, can also remit mortal sin when it is impossible for one otherwise rightly disposed to receive the sacrament of penance; for in such a contingency there is no reason why the words of the apostle, being universal, should not be verified.

2. Another effect of extreme unction is the removal of the remnants of sin. By the remnants of sin are to be under, stood the effects which sin leaves in the soul after it has been remitted; such as temporal punishment, weakness of the will, depraved inclination, etc. The matter of the sacrament signifies these effects, for to unction is ascribed a healing power.

3. A further effect is fortitude in sufferings and temptations as signified by the matter, and especially by the words of the apostle: "The Lord shall raise him up," that is, give him strength to bear up against sufferings and temptations. The consciousness of receiving in this sacrament the treasures of divine mercy gives comfort and strength to the soul of the sick person.

4. Finally, health of the body is often an effect of extreme unction (Trid. Sess. XIV. de extrem. unct. c. 2). "The prayer of faith shall save the sick man." But though the restoration of health is part of the virtue which belongs to the sacrament (ex opere operato), yet it is a secondary and anber