CHAPTER XX.
Of the Confession of the Brethren and of the Reception of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Let my Brethren, blessed of God, both clerics and lay-brothers, confess their sins to priests of our Order, and if they cannot do this, let them confess to any other discreet and Catholic priests, believing and hoping firmly that from whatever priests they may receive penance and absolution, their sins will undoubtedly be pardoned, provided they take care to perform humbly and faithfully the penance enjoined them. If, however, they cannot have a priest, let them confess their sins tp a Brother, as the Apostle St. James says : ‘Confess your sins one to another ;’ but let them not on this account fail to have recourse to a priest when they can, for to priests alone is given the power of binding and loosing. And being thus contrite, and having confessed, let them receive with great humility and reverence the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, calling to mind what He Himself says : ‘He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life,’ and ‘Do this for a commemoration of Me.’