midnight
Oh ! my young friend , '' he said , with a heavy sigh , `` those were frightful days and nights that I passed through ; my spirit went down into hell , and I felt what seethes and ferments in its depths ! In my breast its horrible , yelling voices resounded ; I , too , pronounced that ` No ' against the decrees of the Creator , against the God of mercy and of love ! An old worthy priest , a valiant warrior of the Church , came to me ; he forced himself upon me , and the fiery rays of his eloquence aroused an angry tempest in the midnight of my soul , every fibre of my being shuddered . But after the storm came light . I learned from my wise teacher and guide , that no decree of government or of society , however well-founded , however wise , can banish sin . That power belongs to the Holy Church alone , that community ordained of God , and when at last she possesses the world in her all-powerful grasp , sin will be vanquished , and crime will vanish from the earth .