Quite some time ago, I came across a quotation from Saint Patrick, and since then I use it in the confessional whenever a penitent struggles and worries about sins committed in the past and already sacramentally confessed, writes Fr Tom Cusack.
When Saint Patrick’s enemies accused him of sins he committed in his youth — which he deeply regretted and had already humbly confessed in Confession — he responded:
“I am not telling lies: from the time in my youth that I came to know Him, the love and reverence of God grew in me, and so far, with the Lord’s help, I have kept the faith. The sins of the past that we have confessed have no bearing on us. They are not our burden to carry. They belong to God’s mercy.”
Happy St Patrick’s Day from the Missionary Society of St Columban!