God alone can know the extent of the obligations of the sinner to his justice, even after the guilt has been remitted by his mercy, and the soul has recovered sanctifying grace.
Were we deeply penetrated with these sacred truths, we would endeavor to offer to God every day some satisfaction, in order to diminish, if we cannot entirely cancel, the debt we have contracted.
It is to sinners thus disposed, that the Church, by her Indulgences, offers a means to supply their insufficiency.
ARTICLE II.
OF THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF INDULGENCES.
BY Indulgence we understand a release from the temporal punishment due to actual sins, already remitted as to the guilt, granted out of the sacrament of penance, by those who have the power of dispensing the spiritual treasures of the Church.
We say, 1st, A release from the temporal punishment; because an Indulgence cannot remit the eternal punishment. 2dly, Due to actual sins; because baptism leaves no punishment to be undergone. 3dly, Already remitted as to the guilt; because we cannot obtain the remission of temporal punishment due to sin, whilst the sin itself remains. 4thly, Granted out of the sacrament of penance; because, although the priest, in remitting the sin in the tribunal of penance, remits also a part of the temporal punishment, in proportion to the dispositions of the penitent, yet a part often remains, which may be remitted by an Indulgence out of the sacrament of penance. 5thly, By those who have the power of dispensing, &c.; because the granting of Indulgence is an act of jurisdiction, and therefore supposes a legitimate authority in the one who exercises it. 6thly, The spiritual treasures of the Church; the spiritual treasures of the Church are the merits and satisfaction of Jesus Christ and the Saints, out of which the Church, when she grants an indulgence to her children, offers to God an equivalent for the punishment which was due to the divine justice. For the merits and satisfaction of Jesus Christ are of infinite value; they can never be exhausted; they are the source of all our good. The merits and satisfaction of the Saints, as they have their value from Jesus Christ, and through him are accepted by
