A Warning To People Of The World.
Would that I could cry loud enough to frighten all the men who
dwell upon the face of the earth, and say to them: O miserable
men! why do you suffer yourselves to be so blinded by the world
as not to make any provision for that imperious necessity in
which you will find yourselves at the moment of death?
You all shelter yourselves under the hope of God's mercy, which
you call so infinite. But do you not see that it is precisely
this great goodness of God which will rise up in judgment against
you, miserable men, for rebelling against the will of so good a
Lord?
His goodness should incite you to the full accomplishment of his
will, instead of encouraging you to sin with impunity; for, be
fully assured, his justice can never fail, and it must, in some
way, be entirely satisfied.
Do not reassure yourself by saying: I will confess all my sins, I
will gain a plenary indulgence, and thus I shall be cleansed at
once from all my iniquities; and so I shall be saved. Remember
that contrition and confession are necessary to gain a plenary
indulgence. And perfect contrition is so difficult to acquire
that, if you knew how difficult it is, you would tremble for very
fear, and would be much more certain of not gaining the
indulgence than of obtaining such a grace.