““—The Fathers teach that God does not forgive sins without the cooperation of the Church. See the Patristic texts quoted infra, Part III, Ch. II, Sect. 2, Art. 3, pp. 206 sqq. The history of the penitential discipline of the Church shows that at no time was the sinner free to perform the prescribed penances; on the contrary, it was always held that he who refused to submit to the penitential regulations of the Church was eternally lost. St. Au gustine says in one of his Sermons : " Do penance, as it is done in the Church, in order that the Church may pray for you. Let no one say to himself: ' I do [penance] secretly before God; God knows it, and He will forgive me, because I am doing penance in my heart.' Has it, therefore, been said without reason: * Whatso ever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven'? Have the keys been given to the Church of God for nothing? Do we frustrate the Gospel and the words of Christ?””
