Delusions of Sinners

Behold the net by which the Devil drags so many souls into Hell. Indulge your passions; you will hereafter make a good confession. But, in reply, I, say, that in the mean time you lose your soul. Tell me: if you had a jewel worth a thousand pounds, would you throw it into a river with the hope of afterwards finding it again? What if all your efforts to find it were fruitless? O God! you hold in your hand the invaluable jewel of your soul, which Jesus Christ has purchased with His own blood, and you cast it into Hell! Yes; you cast it into Hell; because, according to the present order of providence, for every mortal sin you commit, your name is written among the number of the damned. But you say: I hope to recover God's grace by making a good confession. And if you should not revoer it, what shall be the consequences? To make a good confession, a true sorrow for sin in necessary, and this sorrow if the gift from God: if He does not give it, will you not be lost forever?

taken from the Sermons of Saint Alphonsus