The apostle Paul writes fifteen epistles, in which he speaks of all the duties imposed upon human conscience by the laws of God and the prescriptions of the Gospel of Christ. A thousand times he speaks to sinners and tells them how they may be reconciled to God. But does he say a word about auricular confession? No, not one! The apostles Peter, John, Jude address six letters to the different churches--in which they state with the greatest detail what the different classes of Christians have to do. But again, not a single word comes from them about auricular confession. St. James says, "confess your faults one to another." But this is so evidently the repetition of what the Saviour had said about the way of reconciliation between those who had offended one another, and it is so far from the dogma of a secret confession to the priest, that the most zealous supporters of auricular confession have not dared to mention that text in favour of their modern invention. But if we look in vain in the Old and New Testament for a word in favour of auricular confession as a dogma, will it be possible to find that dogma in the records of the first thousand years of Christianity? No! for the more one studies the records of the Christian church during the first ten centuries, the more he will be convinced that auricular confession is a miserable imposture, of the darkest days of the world and the church. We have the life of Paul, the hermit, of the third century, by one of the early fathers of the church. But not a word is said in it of his confessing his sins to any one, though a thousand things are said of him which are of a far less interesting character. So it is with the life of St. Mary, the Egyptian. The minute history of her life, her public scandals, her conversion, long prayers and fastings in solitude, the detailed history of her last days and of her death, all these we have; but not a single word is said of her confessing to any one. It is evident that she lived and died without ever having thought of going to confess. The deacon Pontius wrote also the life St. Cyprien, who lived in the third century; but he does not say a word of his ever having gone to confession, or having heard the confession of any one. More than that, we learn from this reliable historian that Cyprien was excommunicated by the Pope of Rome, called Stephen, and that he died without having ever asked from any one absolution from that excommunication; a thing which has not seemingly prevented him from going to Heaven, since the infallible Popes of Rome, who succeeded Stephen, have assured us that he is a saint.