Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni

For our well-being and salvation all the Holy Scriptures warn us constantly and humbly to confess our sins, not only before God but also before a holy and godfearing man. This is what the Holy Spirit advises us to do through the mouth of James the apostle: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed” (5:16) (...), and the psalmist says: “I confess my faults to the Lord and you took away the guilt of my sin” (Ps 32[31]:5). We are always wounded by our sins and, in the same way, we should always have recourse to the medicine of confession. For indeed, if God wants us to confess our sins, it is not because he would be unable to know what they are but because the devil wants to find something of which to accuse us before the judgement seat of the eternal Judge. That is why he would rather we thought more about excusing them than accusing ourselves of them. Our God, to the contrary, being good and merciful, wants us to confess them in this world so that we may not be ashamed because of them in the next. So if we confess them then he, on his part, shows himself to be merciful; if we acknowledge them then he forgives (...) As for ourselves, my brethren, we are really your spiritual physicians, seeking with all concern to heal your souls.

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"Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven"

Saint Caesarius of Arles (470-543)

"Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven"

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