ration of the Sacrament. Direction may, or may
not, be good for the soul. It largely depends upon the character of
the penitent, and the wisdom of the Director. It is quite possible for
the priest to over-direct, and it is fatally possible for the penitent
to think more of direction than of Absolution. It is quite possible to
obscure the Sacramental side of Penance with a human craving for
"ghostly counsel and advice". Satan would not be Satan if it were not
so. But this "ghostly," or spiritual, "counsel and advice" has saved
many a lad, and many a man, from many a fall; and when rightly sought,
and wisely given is, as the Prayer Book teaches, a most helpful adjunct
to Absolution. Only, it is not, necessarily, a part of "going to
Confession".

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_Indulgences._

The abuse of the Sacrament is another, and not unnatural objection to
its use; and it often gets mixed up with Mediaeval teaching about
Indulgences.

An _Indulgence_ is exactly what the word suggests--the act of
indulging, or granting a favour. In Roman theology, an Indulgence is
the remission of temporal punishment due to sin after Absolution. It
is either "plenary," i.e. when the whole punishment is remitted, or
"partial," when some of it is remitted. At corrupt periods of Church
history, these Indulgences have been bought for money,[5] thus making
one law for the rich, and another for the poor. Very naturally, the
scandals connected with such buying and selling raised suspicions
against the Sacrament with which Indulgences were associated.[6] But
Indulgences have nothing in the world to do with the right use of the
lesser Sacrament of Penance.

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_Amendment._

The promise of Amendment is an essential part of Penance. It is a
necessary element in all true contrition. Thus, the penitent promises
"true amendment" before he receives Absolution. If he allowed a priest
to give him Absolution without firmly purposing to amend, he would not
only invalidate the Absolution, but would commit an additional sin.
The promise to amend may, like any other promise, be made and broken;
but the deliberate purpose must be there.

No better description of true repentance can be found than in
Tennyson's "Guinevere":--

_For what is true repentance but in thought--_
_Not ev'n in inmost thought to think again_
_The sins that made the past so pleasant to us._

Such has been the teaching of the Catholic Church always, everywhere,
and at