trariwise you should rather forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up by over much sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you, that you would confirm our charity towards him. And to whom you have forgiven any thing, I also. For, what I forgive, if I have forgiven any thing, for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ.”
FATHERS.
At the request of the Martyrs detained in prison, during the times of persecution, Indulgences were granted by the Bishops to those, who had fallen from their faith, and then repented; by which Indulgences some part of that Satisfaction, called canonical penances, (that is, the temporal punishment due after sin) was remitted, to which otherwise, they must have submitted before they could be received into the communion of the faithful.—This practice is attested by Tertullian, in the second century, (Lib. de Pudicit. c. 21, 22, p. 1014.) but more fully by St. Cyprian in the third.
CENT. III.
ST. CYPRIAN, L. C.-“I lament indeed the case of those our brethren, who, in the time of persecution, fell. The divine mercy is able to heal their wounds; but caution is necessary, lest, by too hasty a reconciliation, the anger of God be more incensed. The Martyrs have applied to us concerning some, requesting that their desires be considered. When we shall be returned to our Church, all these things shall be maturely weighed in your presence. Then, agreeably to established discipline, these letters of the Martyrs and their wishes shall be examined.” Ep. xi. p. 21.-“As I have not yet in my power to return, aid, I think, should not be withheld from our brethren; so that they who
