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30. But the mercy of heaven is mightier than all the creatures of this world. And so shake off your misery, and make what use you can of the little time left you for repentance. For where there is abundance of wickedness, there too is found the abundance of God's mercy.

MARY. If only there was the smallest chance of my deserving pardon, I would prove my repentance with all my heart.

AB. (irritated). Do spare me now, after all the exertions I have made on your behalf. For goodness' sake drop this attitude of hopeless despair, which I am certain is worse than all your misdeeds. To despair of God's willingness to take pity on sinners, is to commit a really unpardonable sin. For just as the spark from a flint cannot set the sea on fire, so the bitterness of our sins is utterly powerless to alter the sweetness of God's grace.

MARY. It is not that I deny the power of heaven's mercy. Only, when I think of the enormity of my own sin, I do fear lest even that power may prove unequal to the required expiation.

AB. On my head be your sin! Only