90. If, then, any one, having committed
hidden sins, shall nevertheless diligently do penance, how shall he
receive those rewards if not restored to the communion of the
Church? I am willing, indeed, that the guilty man should hope for
pardon, should seek it with tears and groans, should seek it with the
aid of the tears of all the people, should implore forgiveness; and if
communion be postponed two or three times, that he should believe that
his entreaties have not been urgent enough, that he must increase his
tears, must come again even in greater trouble, clasp the feet of the
faithful with his arms, kiss them, wash them with tears, and not let
them go, so that the Lord Jesus may say of him too: “His
sins which are many are forgiven, for he loved much.” S. Luke vii. 47.