What contrition includes.
What contrition includes.
§ 63. Contrition designates nothing other than the true and serious grief which arises from the acknowledgment of sin and from the perception of God’s wrath against it, and which is connected with terrors of conscience and a hatred of sin. Isidore (De summo bono, bk. 2, ch. 12) describes it in this way: “the remorse of the soul and the tears which come from remembering one’s sins and from a fear of judgment.”
Therefore it includes: (1) The true acknowledgment of sin, since grief over sins can have no place when the wickedness and filthiness of sin are not yet recognized. The statements of Scripture which demand an admission of sin of the penitent and which attribute the same to those who truly repent belong here. “I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is before me” (Ps. 51:3). “But yet acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Jehovah, your God” (Jer. 3:13). “We acknowledge our wickedness, O Jehovah, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You” (Jer. 14:20). “I have sinned; I have sinned, and I acknowledge my iniquity” (Prayer of Manasseh, v. [12]).
(2) The perception [sensus] of divine wrath against sin, for when one truly acknowledges his sin, the property of sin in the fourth mode1 is acknowledged, namely, that it offends God, who is the greatest and the infinite good. Therefore the perception of divine wrath closely follows the serious acknowledgment of guilt. Here we place the examples of those who were truly contrite. “O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger, neither chasten me in Your wrath” (Ps. 6:1; 38:1). “Day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my greenness was turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:4). “Your arrows have gone down into me, and Your hand has come down upon me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your wrath; there is no peace in my bones because of my sin” (Ps. 38:2–3). “Your wrath has come upon me; Your terrors have troubled me” (Ps. 88:[16]). “I mingled tears with my drink from the face of Your indignation and anger” (Ps. 102:9–10). “Lament and wail, for the anger of the Lord’s fury has not turned back from us” (Jer. 4:8). “We have transgressed and rebelled; behold, You have brought Your fury against us” (Lam. 3:42–43). “I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him” (Mic. 7:9). “Who will stand before His anger? Who will stand in the anger of His fury?” (Nah. 1:6). “Your wrath which you threaten against sinners is unbearable. I have no peace because I have aroused Your wrath” (Prayer of Manasseh, vv. 5, [10]).
(3) The torments and terrors of conscience, which they call its δηγμοί or “pangs.” For where there is a true sense of God’s wrath, there follow the inner torments and anguish of the heart which sometimes cause even the strength of the body to collapse. These pains and terrors of conscience are the executors of divine judgment against sin. “The distresses of my heart are enlarged. Bring my soul out of distresses” (Ps. 25:17). “I have become like a broken vessel” (Ps. 31:12). “The Lord is near to the contrite of heart and saves the humble in spirit” (Ps. 34:[18]). “There is no peace in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they were too heavy for me. I am feeble and crushed [contritus]; I roar because of the tumult of my heart. My strength fails me” (Ps. 38:[3–4, 8, 10]). “Let the bones which You have broken [contrivisti] rejoice” (Ps. 51:[8]). “My heart is smitten like grass and withered” (Ps. 102:[4]). “I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me” (Ps. 109:22).
Here we assign the passages which speak of the poverty of spirit (Isa. 61:1; Matt. 5:3; Matt. 11:5; Luke 4:18), spiritual imprisonment and captivity (Isa. 61:[1]), sadness and torment of heart (Jer. 23:9; Lam. 1:20; 2 Cor. 7:10).
(4) True humbling before God. For anyone who seriously acknowledges the atrocity of his sin and the gravity of God’s wrath truly humbles himself before God’s dreadful judgment. “The Lord will save the humble in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). “I am greatly humbled” (Ps. 38:[6]). “My soul is humbled in the dust” (Ps. 44:25). “For thus says the Exalted One: ‘I dwell with the contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble’ ” (Isa. 57:15).
(5) The candid confession of sin. For the anguish of the heart bursts forth into a confession of the mouth. Here pertain the passages that require a confession of sins from the truly repentant and the examples of those who confessed their sins in true repentance. “They shall confess their sin, which they have committed” (Num. 5:7). “The sons of Israel confessed their sins to the Lord” (Neh. 9:2). “While I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all day long. Thus I made my sin known to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions against myself,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Ps. 32:3, 5). “He who conceals his wicked deeds shall never prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy” (Prov. 28:13). Examples of confession are described in Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5; and Acts 9:18. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins” (1 John 1:9).
(6) A serious hatred and loathing, or δυσαρέστησις, of sin. For whoever is seriously grieved over the sins he has committed will also hate them. Whoever has felt the seriousness of divine wrath pressing on him because of his sins will not consent to the sins which coax him away. “Their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and with a calm mind they shall bear their penalty” (Lev. 26:41). In Hebrew it is עֲֹונָםוּצְרִי, “they will have pleasure in their offenses,” that is, in the punishment for their offenses. Just as they held the Law of God in contempt, and against it eagerly committed their sins, so conversely they will promptly and patiently accept punishment for their sins and will hate them, as Luther comments correctly in the margin of the German [biblical] text [of Leviticus 26].2 Ps. 51:[3]: “My sin is always before me” (it is against me, and I shall consider it as my most wicked foe). From all these it is clear why in the Scriptures serious contrition is called “pricking [compunctio],” “rending of the heart,” “breaking into pieces,” “tribulation of the spirit,” “striking the thigh,” “confusion,” “trembling,” “the piercing of the arrows of the Lord,” “the striking of the heart,” etc.
Some people divide up contrition according to the faculties of the soul, so that in the memory it is the recollection of sin; in the mind it is consideration of the offense against God; in the will it is the hatred of sins committed; in the heart it is fear of the coming judgment; in the conscience terrified by the thunderbolt of the Law it is pricking, pangs, and grief.
§ 64. But here the following must be observed. (1) Although true and genuine contrition is required in true and salutary repentance, there are degrees of contrition since terrors and torments are not the same in everyone but are greater in some and less in others.
(2) The promise of the forgiveness of sins does not depend on the dignity and quantity of our contrition but only on Christ’s merit, who was “bruised” [contritus] most perfectly for our sins (Isa. 53:10). Thus the contrite and humble heart should not look to the quantity and dignity of its own contrition and should not seek the healing of its sins there, but rather should gaze upon Christ hanging on the altar of the cross and draw the medicine for its wounds from His wounds.
(3) The acknowledgment of sin never rises to such a perfection that it includes the knowledge of all sins in particular. “For who understands sins? Cleanse me from my secret ones” (Ps. 19:12). “You set our secret sins in the light of Your countenance” (Ps. 90:8). Yet a general acknowledgment of sins and confession certainly are required for true repentance. For before an illness is recognized, the medicine is despised; and while the ugliness of sin is not yet complete, the grace of God cannot become sweet. Jerome (on Isaiah 15): “The beginning of salvation is to understand and to weep over one’s sins.”
(4) Although an oral confession is sometimes omitted in the case of very serious illness, nevertheless there can be true and serious inner contrition [in this case], for in the presence of God not only the words of the mouth but also the laments and desires of the heart speak. “Man sees what is before his eyes, but Jehovah sees what is in the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). “Lord, all my desire is before You, and my sighing is not hidden from You” (Ps. 38:9).