Think seriously, and with the most lively gratitude, on all the benefits God hath so liberally bestowed on you, and particularly for his goodness in preparing this sacrament as a remedy for your sins. How great are my obligations to thee, O my God, in thus providing for me, after my disgrace, the means of a perfect reconciliation. To have purified me in the waters of baptism, was not enough; thou hast also left me the waters of penance, to wash me still more from my iniquities, and cleanse me from my sins. For this end thou hast left to the church, in the persons of the apostles, the power of remitting our offences: "_Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, shall be forgiven."_ O what Excessive goodness! What an advantage to poor sinners, to have a tribunal established for them, always open, where they may be received into favour! {82} Can I ever be insensible to so striking an instance of thy bounty? I have withdrawn myself from thee by a formal contempt of thy law, and thou art pleased to make the first advances to meet me: O Father of mercies, and God of goodness, be thou for ever blessed! Permit me to fly to this powerful refuge; and suffer not that, by a new ingratitude, I should for the future ever abuse so excellent a resource of salvation. No: it is not human respect, nor custom, nor the fear of being thought careless of my soul, that brings me at present to this sacrament of reconciliation; no, it is a sincere regret for having incurred thy displeasure; for who can be at rest, O my God, when he knows that he is thy enemy, and that he has offended the very best of fathers? Prayers Before The Examination Of Conscience. Beg of God to make your sins known to you, and to give you a true sense of their malice. Prostrate yourself in spirit at the feet of your Redeemer, as Magdalen did when she washed them with her tears; or imagine yourself on Mount Calvary, and there, beneath his cross, pour forth your prayers to him, resolving to acquit yourself of this confession, as if it were to be your last.