My son, have you sinned? do so no more, but ask pardon for your former sins.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 21:1 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 21
Fulgentius of Ruspe
AD 533
Penance can be useful to every person in this life. Whenever one does it, however evil he was, however burdened with years of life, if with all his heart he has renounced the sins of his past and poured out tears in the presence of God, not only for the body but also for the soul, and he has taken care to wash the stains of his evil works with good works, he will receive the forgiveness of all his sins. This, in fact, is what the Lord promises to us with the words of the prophet, saying, "If you will be converted and weep, you will be saved." Elsewhere it is also said, "My child, have you sinned? Sin no more, but ask forgiveness for your previous sins so that they may be forgiven." Prayer for sins would not have been commanded of the sinner if forgiveness of sins would not have to be granted to the one praying. But penance is fruitful for the sinner if it takes place in the catholic church; to the church, God in the person of Peter granted the power to bind and to loose, saying, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Therefore, at whatever age an individual makes true penance for his sins and corrects his life through the gift of illumination that God gives to him, he will not be deprived of the gift of forgiveness because God, as he asserts through the prophet, does not desire the death of one dying but rather that he be converted from his perverse way and that his soul live.
