Effects of the Sacrament of Penance

The sacrament of penance cannot take away the mortal sins of those confirmed in evil, that is, of souls and demons in hell; for these beings are incapable of repentance. But it can takeaway all mortal sins, without exception, of man the wayfarer, thatis, of man in the present earthly life.

Mortal sin cannot be taken away without repentance. For mortal sin is a complete turning of man’s soul from God; mortal sin remains in the soul until the will turns back again to God; the will does this by repentance, that is, by exercising the supernatural virtue of penance, and, as explained above (q. 84,note), making use of the sacrament of penance.

One mortal sin cannot be pardoned without another;all are taken from the soul or none is taken. For every unrepented mortal sin excludes grace and pardon; if one such sin remains in the soul, grace and pardon are blocked out. Besides,no man can truly repent of one sin because it offends God, while he still has the will to offend God by another sin.

A sinner is under two burdens, namely, guilt, and debt of punishment due. The debt of punishment due tosin is either eternal or temporal. When mortal sin is taken away as to its guilt, the eternal punishment due to itis also taken away; yet the temporal punishment due to it may notbe entirely taken away. Hence, when the guilt of mortal sin is removed by penance, some debt of temporal punishment may yet be owed by the forgiven sinner.

Sin leaves remnants or remains in the soul even after it is taken away. Sin may thus be compared to a serious sickness which, even when cured, leaves in the patient a weakness or tendency to relapse. Besides, frequently repeated sins leave a disposition, or even a habit, in the soul. The sacrament of penance which takes away sin does not necessarily take away the remains of sin or the habit of sin; yet the sacrament does diminish or weaken these things so that they do not domineer over a man or compel him to relapse into sin.

Penance as a virtue disposes a man to have his sins taken away, and by God’s gift of this virtue, a person may obtain pardon of his guilt. Yet the most effective penance is notthe virtue, but the sacrament of penance; for the sacramentdirectly absolves the sinner from his guilt.