Flower of Devotion

The Lord Jesus gave St. Bridget the following teaching on confession:

“Confession should be pure, that is, the sinner should diligently examine his conscience in terms of how, how many times, where and for what reason he has sinned. Nor should he be ashamed of anything, nor should he hide anything, nor should he say anything in confession except as he has sinned. Confession should be accompanied by the will not to sin and the will to correct the wrong that man has committed.
An effective remedy for confession is contrition. Whereas man formerly delighted in sin, he now feels sorrow and groans because he has provoked God’s wrath by his sins. Repentance should be accompanied by the contemplation of God’s mercy, which is so unlimited that there is no sinner so great that he should not be forgiven if he asks for it with the determination to amend.
Therefore, the sinner should remember in confession that God is merciful above all things. But trusting that he will be forgiven of his sins and cleansed from them, he should be careful lest he fall into the mercy of God through an audacious hope. Hence it is the duty of the sinner to arouse the fear of God by fearing that God might take away his grace from him and send his wrath upon him for his presumption.
But in order that he may not go too far in this fear, let him at the same time consider that, although I am so just that I will not pass anything without punishment and without judgment, yet I am so merciful and gracious that I demand nothing more than nature (man) can bear well; and for the sake of his good will I forgive him the heaviest punishment, and for a slight penance a great sin.