Great Penitents

by Rev. Hugh Francis Blunt, LL.D. From the Preface: “It was one of the bitter reproaches against Jesus Christ by some of His pharisaic contemporaries that He received sinners and even ate with them.  They affected to be scandalized at the teaching that it was possible for one who had sinned to be redeemed.  The parable of the prodigal son, of the lost sheep, and other stories, told for the purpose of bringing home to men the knowledge of the mercy of God, were lost upon them. To them, there could be but one treatment for fallen women for instance, - stone them to death.” Saint Teresa always had a special devotion to those saints who once had been great sinners. She found comfort in thinking of their conversion, praying that through their intercession God would forgive her as he had forgiven them.  She had devotion in particular to St. Mary Magdalen and  to St. Augustine.  For that reason the life of the great penitent makes an appeal to all of us. God forgave him; the realization of that fact induces us to hope that He will also forgive us. More than that, the true penitent is always a living testimony to the truth of religion. Here’s a book sure to inspire sinners or saints alike. 245 pages, Impr. 1921.