[[1]] Spirit of St. Francis de Sales, chap. xii.
[[2]] Gaume, Manual for Confessors (Pusey Translation), p. 179.
[[3]] Gury, Compend. Theol. Moral., II, pp. 278-279.
[[4]] St. Francis de Sales, Spiritual Letters, cxiv.
[[5]] Ps. xliii, 5-6.
[[6]] St. Francis de Sales, Letters to Persons in Religion, p. 141 (Mackey Trans.). This same Saint warns us against discouragement that enters under the guise of humility. Speaking of the virtue of self-mistrust he says: "Your mistrust of self is good, so long as it is the groundwork of confidence in God; but if it ever should lead you to being discouraged, disturbed, vexed, or melancholy, then I entreat you, reject it as the greatest possible temptation, and do not allow your mind to argue or dally with the anxiety or depression to which you are disposed. It is a simple and certain truth that God permits those who seek to serve Him to encounter many difficulties, but also that He never leaves them to sink under the burthen so long as they trust in Him. The great thing you must heed is never to let your mind argue in favour of the temptation to be discouraged, under any pretext whatever, not even under the plausible pretext of humility."—Spiritual Letters, cii (Lear Edition).
[[7]] Ezek. xviii, 4.
[[8]] 1 Cor. xii, 26.
[[9]] Gen. iv, 9.
[[10]] For conditions under which doubtful sins should be mentioned in confession, see Lehmkuhl, II, 317.