ey oftentime pretend, even to themselves, a violent hatred of
sin and a purpose to lead a better life. The unhappy outcome
proves their insincerity, for after confession they quickly
return to their natural bent, and, as though relieved of the
great burden of confession, they live again at ease, careless and
unmindful of their purpose; by which one fact they can be
convicted of their sad pretending. Wherefore a man ought in this
matter to be altogether frank, and to speak of himself within
himself just as he feels himself moved to speak, just as he could
wish to speak if there were do punishment, no God, no
commandment, and just as he would speak in the ear of some
familiar friend, to whom he would not be ashamed to reveal
everything about himself. As he could wish to speak quite freely
to such a one about his faults, so let him speak to God, Who
loves us far more than we love ourselves.

For if there is any one who does not find himself seriously
inclined toward a good life, I know not whether it is safe for
him to make confession. This I do know, that it were better for
him to stay away from confession. For in this matter he need not
care for the commandment of the Church, whether it excommunicate
him or inflict some lesser punishment. It is better for him not
to listen to the Church, than, at his own peril, to come to God
with a false heart. In the latter case he sins against God, in
the former case only against the Church; if, indeed, he sin at
all in such a case by not listening to the Church, seeing that
the Church has no right to command anything in which there is
peril to the soul, and a case of this kind is always excepted
from the commandments of the Church. For whatever the Church
commands, she commands for God and for the soul's salvation,
presuming that a man is capable of receiving her commandment and
able to fulfil it. If this presumption falls, the precept does
not hold, since nothing can be decreed contrary to the
commandments of God, which bind the conscience.

[Sidenote: The purpose of a Better Life--Its Difficulty]

It is certainly to be feared that many come to confession out of
fear of the commandment of the Church, who in their hearts are
still pleased with their former evil life. If, however, a man is
entangled in these difficulties, fearing to stay away from
confession, and yet perceiving (if the truth were told) that he
lacks the disposition toward a better life, let him lay hold of
the o