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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: ought to have attrition, which I may call half a contrition or
the beginning of contrition, for they have themselves
understood neither of these terms nor do they understand them
now, as little as I. Such attrition was reckoned as contrition
when a person went to confession.
And when it happened that any one said that he could not have
contrition nor lament his sins (as might have occurred in
illicit love or the desire for revenge, etc.), they asked
whether he did not wish or desire to have contrition [lament].
When one would reply Yes (for who, save the devil himself,
would here say No?), they accepted this as contrition, and
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