I live, saith the Lord, as if compelled to strengthen his assurance before the unbelievers and to arouse the attention of those who do not heed, "I live, saith the Lord: I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that the wicked should turn from his way, and live to be him" [84]... Ye are dying, O house of Israel?..

God knew the weakness of men, knew that even after Baptism they would fall into sins: for this reason He established in His Church the Sacrament of Repentance, by which sins committed after Baptism are cleansed. Repentance must accompany faith in Christ, precede Baptism into Christ; and after Baptism, it corrects the violation of the duties of the one who believes in Christ and is baptized into Christ.

When many from Jerusalem and all Judea came to John, the preacher of repentance, on the Jordan for Baptism, they confessed their sins to him — they confessed their sins to him, not because, remarks a certain holy Writer [85], the holy Baptist would have the need to know the sins of those who came to him, but because, for the stability of their repentance, it was necessary to combine the confession of sins with feelings of regret for falling into sins.

The soul, which knows that it is obliged to confess its sins, says the same Holy Father, by this very thought, as if by a bridle, is restrained from repeating previous sins; on the contrary, unconfessed sins, as if committed in darkness, are conveniently repeated.

By confessing sins, friendship with sins is dissolved. Hatred of sins is a sign of true repentance, a determination to lead a virtuous life.

If you have acquired the habit of sin, then confess them more often, and soon you will be freed from the captivity of sin, you will easily and joyfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whoever constantly betrays his friends, his friends become enemies, they distance themselves from him, as from a traitor who seeks their certain destruction: whoever confesses his sins, they depart from him, because sins are based and strengthened on the pride of the fallen nature, they do not tolerate rebuke and shame.

Whoever, in the hope of repentance, allows himself to sin voluntarily and intentionally, acts deceitfully in relation to God. The sinner, voluntarily and deliberately, in the hope of repentance, is suddenly struck by death, and is not given the time that he intended to devote to virtue [86].

The sacrament of confession decisively cleanses all sins committed in word, deed, and thought. In order to erase from the heart the habits of sin, which have taken root in it over a long period of time, time is needed, a constant stay in repentance is needed. Constant repentance consists in constant contrition of the spirit, in the struggle with thoughts and sensations by which the sinful passion hidden in the heart reveals itself, in the bridling of the bodily senses and the belly, in humble prayer, in frequent confession.

Fraternity! Through voluntary sin we have lost holy chastity, inviolable not only to the work of sin, but also to the knowledge of evil, chastity, in the spiritual radiance of which we came into existence from the hands of the Creator. We have also lost the chastity that we received in the re-creation of Baptism; we have stained on the path of life with various sins our garments, whitened by the Redeemer. There is one more water left for us to wash, the water of repentance. What will happen to us when we neglect this ablution as well? We will have to stand before God with souls disfigured by sin, and He will look menacingly upon the defiled soul, condemn it to the fire of hell.

Wash yourselves, says God to sinners, and be clean, take away the wickedness from your souls before My eyes, cease from your wickedness. And come, and let us be stretched. What is the end of this judgment of God, the judgment of repentance, to which God constantly calls the sinner during his earthly life? When a person is aware of his sins, decides to sincerely repent and reform, then God decides His judgment on man with the following decision: "If you sin like scarlet, you will sin as white as snow; but if they be like scarlet, they will be whitened[87].

If a Christian neglects this last merciful calling of God, then God proclaims to him the final destruction. The goodness of God, says the Apostle, leads you to repentance [88]. God sees your sins: He looks long-suffering at the sins you commit under His eyes, at the chain of sins from which your whole life is formed; He awaits your repentance, and at the same time leaves to your free will the choice of your salvation or destruction. And you abuse the goodness and long-suffering of God! There is no correction in you! Your negligence increases! Your contempt for God and for your own eternal fate is growing stronger! Thou dost care only for the multiplication of thy sins, and add to former sins new and aggravated sins! Because of thy hardness and unrepentant heart, thou hast gathered for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and the revelation of God's righteous judgment, wherein some are recompensed according to his deeds; For those who seek eternal life through patience with good deeds, glory and honor, and incorruption; but those who in zeal resist the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and wrath. Eternal sorrow and eternal distress upon every soul of a man who does evil [89]. Amen.