The Enchiridion 65
65 God Pardons Sins, But on Condition of Penitence, Certain Times for Which Have Been Fixed by the Law of the Church PL 40, 262
But even crimes themselves, however great, may be remitted in the Holy Church; and the mercy of God is never to be despaired of by men who truly repent, each according to the measure of his sin. And in the act of repentance, where a crime has been committed of such a nature as to cut off the sinner from the body of Christ, we are not to take account so much of the measure of time as of the measure of sorrow; for a broken and a contrite heart God doth not despise. But as the grief of one heart is frequently hid from another, and is not made known to others by words or other signs, when it is manifest to Him of whom it is said, “My groaning is not hid from Thee,” those who govern the Church have rightly appointed times of penitence, that the Church in which the sins are remitted may be satisfied; and outside the Church sins are not remitted. For the Church alone has received the pledge of the Holy Spirit, without which there is no remission of sins—such, at least, as brings the pardoned to eternal life.
Crimina quaelibet in Ecclesia remitti per poenitentiam. Extra Ecclesiam non remittuntur peccata. Sed neque de ipsis criminibus quamlibet magnis remittendis in sancta Ecclesia, Dei misericordia desperanda est agentibus poenitentiam secundum modum sui cujusque peccati. In actione autem poenitentiae, ubi tale commissum est, ut is qui commisit a Christi etiam corpore separetur, non tam consideranda est mensura temporis quam doloris. Cor enim contritum et humiliatum Deus non spernit . Verum quia plerumque dolor alterius cordis occultus est alteri, neque in aliorum notitiam per verba vel quaecumque alia signa procedit; cum sit coram illo cui dicitur, Gemitus meus a te non est absconditus : recte constituuntur ab iis qui Ecclesiis praesunt tempora poenitentiae, ut fiat satis etiam Ecclesiae, in qua remittuntur ipsa peccata; extra eam quippe non remittuntur. Ipsa namque proprie Spiritum sanctum pignus accepit , sine quo non remittuntur ulla peccata, ita ut quibus remittuntur, consequantur vitam aeternam.