Men
usually do not like to go for confession, because of pride, prejudices, shame
or other reasons. Knowing this, Don Orione thought about an interesting way to
invite them for confession. He published in a pamphlet:
To Men and young men,
My dear friends,
It is no longer a novelty
this year, but it's always something good and holy to come to confession
for Our Lady of Sake-keeping feast.
I invite you all to come to Our Lady
of Sake Keeping Shrine overnight from Saturday 25th to Sunday 26th
August. There will be a celebration for you, only for you: - No women!
It's nice not to have women around! - At night, it is convenient for the woman
to stay at home to keep their seriousness and good names (…) You can ask me: girls and
young ladies? - Girls and young ladies leave you in peace, at
least at night. They can go to sleep and to dream! We men, however, are another
kettle of fish: the man must always stay on his feet, day and night, if it is
needed.
And when we
go to the Lord, we must not deny Nicodemus, the one in the Gospel, who
went to visit Jesus by night, when nobody saw him, (…)
The man has to work during the day. You, young men, have also to sweat, you have to read
the Gazzetta dello Sport; you do not have time
and I do not pretend it –
so, come at night: Jesus will wait for us at night.
Come
willingly and without fear; perhaps sins, you know, are
confessed better at night because
you cannot see them. (…)
You can also tell me
your sins in good Tortona dialect. Begin from the biggest ones, even if they are not from Tortona.
You can come to confession either to me
or others, but especially
to me, I go around the world and know all the sins. Sometimes, I also guess them; sometimes I
smell them too. If you do not say your sins to me, I will say them to
you with the help of God. I will put you in order in a jiffy and you will go happy and with peace
in your hearts.
Come on, good friends, courage!
Say goodbye Saturday night. I expect you all.
It's time to God, I call you
in the name of
God, Our Lady is waiting for us.
If we do not put in order our
conscience now, when will we do
it? When death comes?
But, will we have time then?
Will it be a confession
or confusion?
It's time that you and I begin
seriously to live as good Christians: the one who has time, does not wait anymore. My dear friends, we're not
beasts, we have a soul, we must save it!
Our Lady of Sake-keeping calls us: her voice is motherly and
merciful: Come! -
I'll be waiting for you.
Yours
Fr. Orione
P. S. Confession and coffee
– After the Communion, please, do me the honour of receiving you all in the
house behind the shrine. I'll offer you good coffee. I want to send you home,
to your wives or mothers, leaving a sweet taste in your teeth and having
happiness in your hearts. You can take two or three cups of coffee, but not
twelve!! Or you will ruin me! [1]
I love this man. Will definitely share this.
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