Penzance

“ For that cannot be called the sinner’s penitence where, whatever be the body’s suffering, the mind retains the will to sin and still burns with the same desires. It is easy in confession to accuse oneself of sins, and also to do penance with the body; but hard indeed to turn the heart from the desire of its greatest joys! [5] Love’s pleasures, which we knew together, cannot be made displeasing to me nor driven from my memory. Wherever I turn, they press upon me, nor do they spare my dreams. Even in the solemn moments of the Mass, when prayer should be the purest, their phantoms catch my soul. ”

“ When a man is admitted to the favour of God it is that his mouth should be stopped, it is that he should entertain penitential feeling as long as he lives—not the penitence of guilt, but the penitence of gratitude. The recollection, I am a sinner, will inspire and maintain such penitence; and a blessed end that man will make, who in the full meaning of the words, pours out the prayer at the last, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” We need repentance—we all need it. Let us turn our attention to ourselves, and ascertain how much we have contributed to the existing evils of the nation. ”

“ Every tone would ring with earnestness: every sentence thrill with passion.
The thoughts, how clear! How convincing the arguments! Nature's unfettered strength would then, like a tidal wave, sweep you triumphantly onward to the goal.
Yet when you stand in the pulpit to plead a brief for Christ the simple, unaffected earnestness that everywhere else carries conviction is abandoned for such a musty instrument as an unctuous whine or a holy drone. The young priest should avoid it: it spells ruin. ”

“ We must apply ourselves seriously to the consideration and practice of those things which promote and excite truly penitential dispositions in the soul; such as serious meditation on the four last things, and the great truths of eternity, the practice of self-denial and mortification, with works of charity and mercy; for experience shows that as those who live pleasant lives and pamper the body never acquire sentiments of penance, so those who practise the works of penance soon obtain the true spirit of it. ”

“ He has presented to us a great many things that are true and profitable for us to reflect upon. I always take pleasure in listening to my brethren when they say something. I take pleasure in reflecting upon the ideas which they present and in carrying them to their legitimate conclusion. When we hear a truth presented to us by the Spirit of the Lord, it is of this nature; that we are not only instructed in that particular truth for the time being ”

“ Have you, your own very self, by your own penitence for your own sin, and your own thankful faith in the Love which thereby becomes truly yours, isolated yourself from all companionship, and joined yourself to Christ? ”

“ The penitent, like the prodigal in the Gospel, forms the resolution to arise from his state of wretchedness, and he is enabled through grace to put his resolution into practice: he arises, brings forth fruit meet for repentance, ceasing to do evil and learning to do well. ”

“ I cannot tell you how the sense of responsibility concerning the souls of others sometimes alarms me. I can say this to you, without hypocrisy, I trust. I need to be purged by penance very, very much, to be drawn away from pride and vain-glory, and slothfulness and self-will; these are my besetting sins; and to be stirred up to diligent study, to obedience, to humility, to labor, and to prayer. I pray that I may have the grace to fulfil the work which God has put in my heart to undertake this Lent, that He would draw me away from all things else, entirely to be united to Him. ”

“ Then there is the penitent, who has fallen but risen again; who has learned wariness from his fall, and new confidence in God from His mercy and goodness, and who is striving by penance and prayer to make up what he has lost. And there is the man with feeble will, ever sinning and ever lamenting his sin, divided between good and evil, with too much conscience to give free reins to his passions, and too little to master them completely. ”

“ If 'My thoughts are not your thoughts' was all that was to be said, repentance would be of little use, and there would be little to encourage to it; but if God's thoughts of love and ways of blessing arch themselves above our low lives as the sky bends, pitying and bestowing, above squalor, barrenness, and darkness, then penitence is not in vain, and the low earth may be visited with gifts from the highest heaven. ”

“ Are we really redeeming the past by a true penance? Are we diligent in prayer, watchful against temptation, watchful of the company we keep, watchful of the influence we exert, watchful over our tempers, watchful to fulfil our duties, watchful against habits of sin? Are we living the lives God intended us to live? Can we say, "I am fulfilling the requirements of my conscience, in the standard which I propose to myself?" Ah! is not this our misery, that we have left off striving? that we are doing nothing, or at least nothing serious and worthy of our salvation? "Why stand ye all the day idle?" ”

“ That is the department of human nature which the apostle calls the spirit; and accordingly, when the Spirit of God was given on the day of Pentecost, you will, remember that another power of man was called out, differing from what he had before. That Spirit granted on the day of Pentecost did subordinate to Himself, and was, intended to subordinate to Himself, the will, the understanding, and the affection of man; but you often find these spiritual powers were distinguished from the natural powers, and existed without them. ”

“ For, say, my dear hearer, when you promise yourself that one day the Lord shall at last have pity upon you, you no doubt promise yourself that he will change your heart; now, why do you depend upon this change, so necessary to your salvation, more in future than at present? In the first place, shall your disposition for penitence be then more favourable? Shall your heart find it easier to break asunder its chains? What! inclinations deeply rooted through time and years shall be more easily torn out? ”

“ If it be so absolutely necessary to do penance for our sins, and to imitate the sufferings of Jesus Christ, who shall be saved? for do we not see wickedness and vice everywhere reign, and penitential works in a manner banished from among us? Does not self-love universally prevail, and every one study only his own interest, ease, pleasure, and convenience? Nay, have not the generality of mankind a settled aversion to penance? ”

“ What mischief is often done by men prior to their conversion in their families! When you see there is so much wickedness in the land, then say, “What have I done to increase it?” And I think we shall all find great need to repent; great need to set an example of repentance to all about us.
The first thing, then, is this deep humiliation of heart that shall bring us all to bow before God, and cause us to join in the prayer, “Enter not into judgment with thy servants, O God, for p. 116in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” But, then, you Christian professors must bestir yourselves. ”

“ Well, let us live up to that which we have received, let us reduce it to daily practice, and if we have been doing things that are wrong and contrary to the will of God, let us make up our minds that we will do so no more, that we will live the lives of Latter-day Saints, doing our duty, filling the sphere we are called upon to occupy, and we shall have joy in our labors, God will be near to us, He will be unto us a Father and a Friend, and we will have all the time a testimony of this work. ”

“ They cannot get it through man-made systems; God has His own way. He acknowledges not, neither does he recognize the ways of men; but if people will hearken to Him and walk in his ways he will be nigh unto them, and will bear testimony to them in language that they, by the power and gift of His spirit can understand. But they must believe; they must also repent; and that repentance that is necessary does not consist in weeping and mourning over sin, but in turning away from it. No man can make God his friend by continuing in sin, neither can any woman. ”

“ Any soul who does not repent enough to forsake his sin, is not a penitent at all! When you repent enough to forsake your sin, that moment your repentance is sincere, and you may take hold of Jesus with a firm grasp. ”

“ And when we, as individuals, depart behind the vail, we shall find the same opportunities there. We shall not lose the power to receive revelation. Our Priesthood will go with us. We will continue to grow in the knowledge of correct principles. That same Holy Spirit which has revealed a few things to us on the earth, and stamped the truth of them upon our hearts, will continue to open unto us the great things of the boundless universe; for it is the spirit of truth, and it will guide into all truth. ”

“ Well, there are two lessons there, and the one is this—let us Christian people learn with what open hearts and hands we should welcome a penitent when he comes back. The other is,—let us learn who they are to whom Jesus Christ deigns to manifest Himself—not immaculate monsters, but men that, having fallen, have learned humility and caution, and by penitence have risen to a securer standing, and have turned even their transgressions into steps in the ladder that lifts them to Christ. ”

“ And we, Lord, full of wants, empty of sincere fruits of penitence, made up wholly of effeminacy and sensualities, lukewarm, and without desire, fixed in a certain state of languishing and imperfect piety, more sustained by habitude and the engagements of a holy profession than by thy grace or by a lively and solid faith, alas! we make thy body our ordinary food. ”

“ Some people who live in these times say, perhaps, "Oh, but if we had lived in those days we would have received the servants of God, we would have hearkened to the voice of the Prophets, we would have rejoiced to hear the words of men sent of God, men holding authority from the Most High, men who could communicate with the heavens, we would have looked upon them as deliverers from our doubts, from our darkness, from our divisions, from our strife, from our lack of knowledge." ”

“ The urgency seemed to me on account of your offence to the Real Presence so graciously in our midst; for truly when we are in the depths of penitence it is our nature to listen more kindly to what is imparted for our good; wherefore, as you have minds, I beg you to think. If our Lord did indeed leave a Creed containing the all in all for our salvation, what meant he if not that it should stand in saving purity until he came again in the glory of his going? ”

“ And as it is through Baptism that our bountiful Lord first recalls us from the ways of sin and makes us members of his flock, so in the sacrament of Penance He has provided a means by which we may at all times be recalled from our wanderings and restored to His friendship. Penance is an inexhaustible means of reconciliation between the erring soul and God. It lasts throughout our lives, it stretches even to the end of time. If only we are men of goodwill and have at heart our eternal interests, we need not be disturbed at our frailty, or at repeated lapses into sin. ”

“ Faith first. All things must spring from faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is the first principle, repentance comes next. I do not mean a mourning, a weeping I do not mean throwing one's self into paroxysms of grief and anxiety of heart; I mean a fixed determination, by the help of God, to cease to do what is wrong and try to do what is right. That is the next principle. The next is to get remission of past sins. "Why," some will say, "if man repents is he not forgiven?" ”

“ If a man came who flattered the people, who spoke the enticing words of man's wisdom, or according to the learning and science of the age in which he came, they would receive him with open arms, they would welcome him to their hearts, they would receive his teaching, they would feast and applaud him, they would clothe and feed him and make him rich. But if a man came with the word of the Lord, with authority from the Holy One, to minister in the name of the Most High, they would reject him and put him to death. ”

“ Through penitence, renunciation and meditation let us develop within ourselves the spiritual man; let our life be an ardent awaiting of deliverance, a constant sacrifice of will, an undying yearning for God, a revery of sublime love, occasionally rewarded with ecstasy and a vision of the infinite. ”

“ Consider your ways, change your minds; you have thought amiss; think again, and think aright." Note, True penitents have other thoughts of God and Christ, and sin and holiness, and this world and the other, than they have had, and stand otherwise affected toward them. The change of the mind produces a change of the way. Those who are truly sorry for what they have done amiss, will be careful to do so no more. This repentance is a necessary duty, in obedience to the command of God (Acts xvii. 30) ; and a necessary preparative and qualification for the comforts of the gospel of Christ. ”

“ By his rebuke Jesus said unto them, ye are common people, ye are servants, ye shall not be admitted like great men. Dear sir, I am a maimed man; one of mine eyes is lost and I am turned very old. Respected sir, I humbly beg your honour, by your great kindness to increase mine allowance as to be sufficient for the month I shall praise only the name of the Lord and I shall be very thankful to your honour. If I use spectacles I can see a little. Dear sir, I remember once as I told as my Christian name is Manuel. ”