Introduction Interpretation of the thema: the templum is the «reasonable soul, into which Christ would like to enter»; the tres dies represent the three moments of «repentance, confession and satisfaction».

Divisio (see above) 1) First part: confession enlightens the soul in three ways: 1. By self-consideration (= confession makes the soul aware of its sins); 2. By humiliation (= during confession, «the penitent humiliates himself to the priest for the love of God»; reference to the miracle of healing of the man born blind [John 9]: just as the man born blind acquires his sight after washing in the pool of Siloam, so the sinner becomes aware of his mistake after confessing); 3. By examination of the confessor (= the confessor must instruct the penitent about sin and penance). 2) Second part: Qui abscondit peccata sua non dirigetur; qui autem confessus fuerit misericordiam consequetur (quote from Proverbs 28, 13). Exemplum taken from a chronicle relating to the time of Charlemagne («El se lege nele croniche che nel tempo di Karlo Magno […]») and concerning a sinful priest who, during mass, is unable to celebrate the Eucharist because he has not confessed. 3) Third part: being in mortal sin = being at war with God; to make peace with God it’s not necessary to sacrifice animals «as the ancient fathers did», but it’s sufficient to confess (Redemus vitulos labiorum nostrorum [quote from Hosea 14, 3]: vitulos labiorum nostrorum, i.e. the confession made with the mouth instead of the calves). The olive branch brought by the dove to Noah is a biblical representation of confession, i.e. of reconciliation with God and remission of sins; the dove is an image of the Church (reference to Song of Solomon 6, 8) and carries the olive branch in its mouth because the Christian faith requires to confess orally. 4) Fourth part: being in mortal sin = being in the hands and mouth of the devil, which is «wide at the entrance and narrow at the exit». Confession allows to escape the devil (the related exemplum seems to be taken from a popular anecdote). 5) Fifth part: sin weighs heavily on the soul (Quoniam iniquitates mee supergresse sunt caput meum et sicut onus grave gravate sunt super me, quote from Psalmi 37, 5); confession frees from the burden of sin. 6) Sixth part: confession allows to receive more grace. God increases grace many times (reference to Alexander of Hales). Exemplum: Hezekiah, to whose life God added 15 years (reference to Isaiah 38, 1-5).