Chapter 19 — Part II: The Sacraments — Penance
Section 102. This thought was familiar to the mind of St. Augustine. Let no man, he says, say within himself: "I repent in secret to the Lord. God, who has power to pardon me, knows the inmost sentiments of my heart.,, Was there, then, no reason for saying "whatsoever you loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven," no reason why the keys were given to the Church of God? The same doctrine is taught by St. Ambrose in his treatise On Penance, when refuting the heresy of the Novatians who asserted that the power of forgiving sins belonged solely to God.' Who, says he, yields greater reverence to God, he who obeys or he who resists His commands? God commands us to obey His ministers; and by obeying them, we honour God alone.