d by
Baptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any.

We know that Baptism remits Original Sin. But suppose a person is not
baptized till he is twenty-five or thirty years old; he has surely
committed some sins since he was seven years of age--the time at which
he received the use of reason. Now the question asks, Are all his sins,
those he committed himself as well as the Original Sin, forgiven by
Baptism? The answer is, Yes. All his sins are forgiven, so that he has
not to confess them. But he must be heartily sorry for them and have the
firm determination of never committing them again, just as in
confession. Moreover, that he may not have to confess these sins, we
must be absolutely certain that he was never baptized before. Besides
remitting the sins themselves, Baptism remits all the temporal
punishment due to them.

In the Sacrament of Penance the sinner is saved from the eternal
punishment--that is, Hell--and from part of the temporal punishment. But
although the sins have been forgiven, the sinner must make satisfaction
to God for the insult offered by his sins.

Therefore, he must suffer punishment in this world or in Purgatory. We
call this punishment temporal, because it will not last forever. You can
make this satisfaction to God while on earth, and thus avoid much of the
temporal punishment by prayers, fasting, gaining indulgences, alms, and
good works; and even by bearing your sufferings, trials, and afflictions
patiently, and offering them up to God in satisfaction for your sins.

In Baptism both the eternal and temporal debt are washed away; so that
if a person just baptized died immediately, he would go directly to
Heaven, not to Purgatory: because persons go to Purgatory to pay off the
temporal debt. Neither could that person gain an indulgence, because
indulgences are only to help us to pay the temporal debt. Neither could
that person receive the Sacrament of Penance, because Penance remits
only sin committed after Baptism, and that person had no sins to remit,
because he died just after receiving Baptism. See, then, the goodness of
Our Lord in instituting Baptism, to forgive everything and leave us as
free from guilt as our first parents were when God created them.

154 Q. Is Baptism necessary to salvation?
A. Baptism is necessary to salvation, because without it we cannot enter
into the kingdom of Heaven.

Those who through no fault of theirs die without Baptism, though they
have never com