““Merits are not physical but purely moral entities. They live and are revived in the knowledge and accepta tion of God, which cannot be destroyed, though it may be temporarily interfered with by mortal sin. The Sac rament of Penance admittedly removes the interfering obstacle, and there is no reason to assume that the merits are not revived after the obstacle has been removed. Mortal sin is purely an obstacle (obex), which Penance removes, thereby reviving the merits previously acquired by the penitent.””
![“St. Bruno of Asti, who says: " The first tabernacle, therefore, is the Synagogue; the second, the Church; the third, Heaven. . . . The first was in a shadow and an image, the second is in an image and in truth, and the third [will be] in the truth alone. In the first, life is foreshadowed; in the…” quote by Joseph Pohle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7d8/joseph-pohle-3769_life_st-bruno-of-asti-who-says-the-first-tabe_36723.jpg)
