If someone came to a priest contemplating suicide, for example, the presumption was that the priest’s job was to tell him suicide was wrong because it was the one sin he would have no time to repent of—and which would, accordingly, be unforgivable. Likewise, if someone came contemplating an abortion, or a lie, or (like Helen, perhaps) the continuance of an adulterous relationship, the pastor’s principal job was supposed to be getting her back on the theologically correct track so she could become