all the circumstances of your life, the more will he be able to help you; for besides the forgiveness of your sins there are many other benefits derived from the Sacrament of Penance. But if at any time there should be danger of your making a bad confession to your own confessor--on account of some feeling of false shame--then go to any confessor you please; for it is a thousand times better to seek another confessor than run the risk of making a sacrilegious confession. Never be so much attached to any one confessor that you would remain away from the Sacraments a long time rather than go to another in his absence. You should not consider the person in the confessional, but the power he exercises. You should be anxious concerning only this fact: Is there a priest there who was sent by Our Lord? Is there a minister of Christ there who has power to pardon my sins? If so, I will humbly go to him, no matter who he is or what his dispositions. *229 Q. How should we end our confession? A. We should end our confession by saying, "I also accuse myself of all the sins of my past life," telling, if we choose, one or several of our past sins. *230 Q. What should we do while the priest is giving us absolution? A. While the priest is giving us absolution, we should from our heart renew the Act of Contrition. All, especially children, should know this act well before going to confession. Lesson 21 ON INDULGENCES 231 Q. What is an indulgence? A. An indulgence is the remission in whole or in part of the temporal punishment due to sin. I have explained before what the temporal punishment is; namely, the debt which we owe to God after He has forgiven our sins, and which we must pay in order that satisfaction be made. It is, as I said, the value of the watch we must return after we have been pardoned for the act of stealing. I said this punishment must be blotted out by our penance. Now, the Church gives us an easy means of so doing, by granting us indulgences. She helps us by giving us a share in the merits of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints. All this we have explained when speaking in the Creed of the communion of saints. *232 Q. Is an indulgence a pardon of sin, or a license to commit sin? A. An indulgence is not a pardon of sin, nor a license to commit sin, and one who is in a state of mortal sin cannot gain an indulgence.