ders, in the
morning, with the words: "Whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiven;"
and after Divine service saying to the young minister: "Remember, sir, you
have no power to forgive sins. The words of ordination are a mere figure
of speech."

When a Catholic Bishop ordains Priests he uses the precise words which I
have quoted, because the Book of Common Prayer borrows them from our
Pontifical. But he means exactly what he says, viz: That the Priest
receives through the ministration of the Bishop the power of forgiving
sins.

To sum up: We have seen that the Sacrament of Penance and absolution by
the Priest is taught in Scripture, proclaimed by the Fathers, upheld not
only by Roman Catholics throughout the world, but also by all the
schismatic Christians of the East. It is inculcated in those old and
genuine editions of the _Book of Common Prayer_, which have not been
enervated by being subjected to the pruning-knife in this country, and the
same practice is encouraged by an influential portion of the Protestant
Episcopal church in England, and I will add, also, in the United States.

Again, some object to priestly absolution on the assumption that the
exercise of such a function would be a usurpation of an incommunicable
prerogative of God, who alone can forgive sins. This was precisely the
language addressed by the Scribes to our Savior. They exclaimed: "He
blasphemeth! who can forgive sins but God only?"(461) My answer,
therefore, will be equally applicable to old and modern objectors. It is
not blasphemy for a Priest to claim the power of forgiving sins, since he
acts as the delegate of the Most High. It would, indeed, be blasphemous if
a Priest pretended to absolve in his own name and by virtue of his own
authority. But when the Priest absolves the penitent sinner he acts in the
name, and by the express authority, of Jesus Christ; for he says: "I
absolve thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." Let it be understood once for all that the Priest arrogates to
himself no Divine powers. He is but a feeble voice. It is the Holy Spirit
that operates sanctity in the soul of the penitent.

Not a few Protestant Episcopalians, I believe, still admit that original
sin is washed away in the Sacrament of Baptism. If the minister is not
guilty of blasphemy in being the instrument of God's mercy, in forgiving
sins by Baptism, how can a Priest blaspheme in being the instrument of
Divine mercy