Flower of Devotion

St. Mechtilde describes in her apparitions the following:

“The tears of true contrition are so holy that even a great sinner, if he sheds even a few of them only for his sins, and then remains in constant correction, will never come to hell. If, on the other hand, a good man has only small venial sins, which he has not gotten rid of all his life; And if he dies in such a state without confession or penance, even if he be a saint, he must go to purgatory. For although God is very merciful, yet He is also very just, and hates sin.