Penance has a further signification. It is a Sacrament in which God gives efficacy to our sentiments of Penance, and gives us assurance of pardon. One of our greatest requirements is repeated forgiveness for our daily sins, and the assurance of it. In accordance with other cases, these graces are given to us by God through certain outward observances, which remind us of our needs, indicate the nature of the grace accorded, compel us to make a definite effort, suggest the habits of mind that are required, impress our memory, and give us a certain moral assurance that the divine action and our action have been duly exercised. The Sacrament of Penance, like the other sacraments, has this further advantage, that it acts not merely in proportion to our dispositions, but with an additional efficacy implanted in it by the goodness of God. It gives us more definite and more efficacious graces of forgiveness than could be gained by the Jews of old in virtue of their repentance, or by those outside the Church, who do not know of the divine ordinance that supplements our imperfect dispositions, and gives a new value to our inadequate sorrow for sin. Admire the wise dispositions of Providence in giving us a sacrament, that is so harmonious with the rest of the divine system of religion, that conveys such important graces, and comforts us with full assurance that we enjoy the divine favour. Thank God for this gift.
