On the First Reformation, Which Is That of Mortal Sins.
The first reformation to be made is that of sin. For this, recourse must be had to the sacrament of penance. Seek the worthiest confessor you can; procure one of those little books that have been written to help consciences to make a good confession, such as Granada, Bruno, Arias, Auger, and others: read them carefully, and note point by point in what you have offended God, from the time you reached the age of reason until now; and if you distrust your memory, write down what you have noted.
Having thus prepared and gathered together all that burdens your conscience, cast it off by a contrition as lively and perfect as your heart can conceive, considering these four things: that by sin you have lost the grace of God, abandoned your share in paradise, merited the eternal pains of hell, and renounced the eternal love of God.
You see well, Philothea, that I am speaking of a general confession of your whole life; such a confession, I admit, is not always absolutely necessary, but it is nevertheless extremely good and useful at these beginnings; therefore I strongly advise you to have recourse to it. The ordinary confessions of those who live a lukewarm and common life are often full of great defects: they make no preparation, or very little; they have not the required contrition; they go to confession with the tacit intention of returning to sin; they will neither avoid dangerous occasions nor take the necessary means to reform their lives; in all these cases, general confession is indispensable to assure salvation. Moreover, general confession calls us to a knowledge of ourselves, moves us to a salutary shame for our past life, makes us admire the mercy of God, Who has waited for us so patiently; it calms our hearts, refreshes our minds, stirs up good resolutions in us, gives our spiritual father occasion to tell us what is fitting for our situation, and at last opens our hearts to confess our sins in future with greater confidence and sincerity.
The first reformation to be made is that of sin. For this, recourse must be had to the sacrament of penance. Seek the worthiest confessor you can; procure one of those little books that have been written to help consciences to make a good confession, such as Granada, Bruno, Arias, Auger, and others: read them carefully, and note point by point in what you have offended God, from the time you reached the age of reason until now; and if you distrust your memory, write down what you have noted.
Having thus prepared and gathered together all that burdens your conscience, cast it off by a contrition as lively and perfect as your heart can conceive, considering these four things: that by sin you have lost the grace of God, abandoned your share in paradise, merited the eternal pains of hell, and renounced the eternal love of God.
You see well, Philothea, that I am speaking of a general confession of your whole life; such a confession, I admit, is not always absolutely necessary, but it is nevertheless extremely good and useful at these beginnings; therefore I strongly advise you to have recourse to it. The ordinary confessions of those who live a lukewarm and common life are often full of great defects: they make no preparation, or very little; they have not the required contrition; they go to confession with the tacit intention of returning to sin; they will neither avoid dangerous occasions nor take the necessary means to reform their lives; in all these cases, general confession is indispensable to assure salvation. Moreover, general confession calls us to a knowledge of ourselves, moves us to a salutary shame for our past life, makes us admire the mercy of God, Who has waited for us so patiently; it calms our hearts, refreshes our minds, stirs up good resolutions in us, gives our spiritual father occasion to tell us what is fitting for our situation, and at last opens our hearts to confess our sins in future with greater confidence and sincerity.
Thus, since this is a general renewal of our heart, and a universal conversion of our soul to God, I think it is with good reason, Philothea, that I counsel you to make this general confession.