ell down, and you found that
it fell because there was a leak in the water-pipe above, and the water
coming through wet the plaster and made it fall. What is the first thing
your father would do in that case? Why, get a plumber and stop up the
leak in the pipe before putting up the plaster again. Would it not be
foolish to engage a plasterer to repair the ceiling while the pipe was
still leaking? Everyone would say that man must be out of his mind: the
plaster will fall down as often as he puts it up, and it matters not
either how well he puts it up. If he wants it to stay up, he must first
mend the pipe--take away the cause of its falling. Now the occasion of
sin is like the leak in the pipe--in the case of sin, it will very
likely cause you to fall every time. Stop up the leak, take away the
occasion, and then you will not fall into sin--at least not so
frequently.

"The persons" are generally bad companions, and though they may not be
bad when alone, they are bad when with us, and thus we become also bad
companions for them, and occasions of sin.

"The places." Liquor saloons, low theaters, dance halls, and all places
where we may see or hear anything against faith or morals.

"Things." Bad books, pictures, and the like.

Lesson 19
ON CONFESSION

208 Q. What is Confession?
A. Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest,
for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness.

"Duly authorized"--one sent by the bishop of the diocese in which you
are.

"Forgiveness." You might tell a priest all your sins while in ordinary
conversation with him, but that would not be confession, because you
would not be telling them to have them pardoned. If a person has lost
the use of his speech, he can make his confession by writing his sins on
a paper and giving it to the priest in the confessional. If the priest
returns the paper the penitent must be careful to destroy it afterwards.
Also, if you have a poor memory you may write down the sins you wish to
confess, and read them from the paper in the confessional; then you also
must be careful to destroy the paper after confession. If a person whose
language the priest does not understand is dying, or is obliged to make
his yearly confession, he must tell what he can by signs, show that he
is sorry for his sins, and thus receive absolution. In a word, the
priest would act with him as he would with one who had lost the use of
his speech and power to write.

2