When my turn came around, I went and knelt at the feet of Our dear Lord, represented there in the person of His minister, imploring forgiveness for my sins. When I had finished, I noticed that everyone was laughing.
My mother called me to her and said: “My child, don’t you know that Confession is a secret matter and that it is made in a low voice? Everybody heard you! There was only one thing nobody heard: that is what you said at the end.” On the way home, my mother made several attempts to discover what she called the secret of my Confession. But the only answer she obtained was complete silence. Now, however, I am going to reveal the secret of my first Confession. After listening to me, the good priest said these few words: “My child, your soul is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep it always pure, so that He will be able to carry on His divine action within it.”
On hearing these words, I felt myself filled with respect for my interior, and asked the kind confessor what I ought to do: “Kneel down there before Our Lady and ask her, with great confidence, to take care of your heart, to prepare it to receive her beloved Son worthily tomorrow, and to keep it for Him alone!” In the Church, there was more than one statue of Our Lady; but as my sisters took care of the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary, I usually went there to pray. That is why I went there on this occasion also, to ask her with all the ardour of my soul, to keep my poor heart for God alone. As I repeated this humble prayer over and over again, with my eyes fixed on the statue, it seemed to me that she smiled and, with a loving look and a kindly gesture, assured me that she would. My heart was overflowing with joy, and I could scarcely utter a single word.