e early heretics, especially with
Marcion. Bellarmin speaks of it as something to be practiced. But let us
hear what the contemporary writers have to say on the question:

"Certain women were in the habit of going to the heretic Marcion to confess
their sins to him. But, as he was smitten with their beauty, and they loved
him also, they abandoned themselves to sin with him."

Listen now to what St. Basil, in his commentary on Ps. xxxvii, says of
confession:

"I have not to come before the world to make a confession with my lips. But
I close my eyes, and confess my sins in the secret of my heart. Before
thee, O God, I pour out my sighs, and thou alone art the witness. My groans
are within my soul. There is no need of many words to confess: sorrow and
regret are the best confession. Yes, the lamentations of the soul, which
thou art pleased to hear, are the best confession."

Chrysostom, in his homily: De paenitentia, vol. IV., col. 901, has the
following: "You need no witnesses of your confession. Secretly acknowledge
your sins, and let God alone hear you."

In his homily V., De incomprehensibili Dei natura, vol. I, he says:
"Therefore, I beseech you, always confess your sins to God! I in no way ask
you to confess them to me. To God alone should you expose the wounds of
your souls, and from him alone expect the cure. Go to him, then; and you
shall not be cast off, but healed. For, before you utter a single word, God
knows your prayer."

In his commentary on Heb. xii., hom. xxxi., vol. xii., p. 289, he further
says: "Let us not be content with calling ourselves sinners. But let us
examine and number our sins. And then, I do not tell you to go and confess
them, according to the caprice of some; but I will say to you, with the
prophet: "Confess your sins before God, acknowledge your iniquities at the
feet of your Judge; pray in your heart and your mind, if not with your
tongue, and you shall be pardoned."

In his homily on Ps. I., vol. V., p. 589, the same Chrysostom says:
"Confess you sins every day in prayer. Why should you hesitate to do so? I
do not tell you to go and confess to a man, sinner as you are, and who
might despise you if he knew your faults. But confess them to God, who can
forgive them to you."

In his admirable homily IV., De Lazaro, vol. I., p. 757, he explains: "Why,
tell me, should you be ashamed to confess your sins? Do we compel you to
reveal them to a man, who might, one day, throw them into y