Bad confession experiences....

[majuscule]

My bad confession experience was when I was confirmation age and had not gone for quite a while. The nun told the whole confirmation class about it, made a special appointment with the priest and walked me to the confessional. I did not go again until last year and I won’t tell you how old I am.

When I finally did come back to the Church and confession I went to a larger church to be anonymous. Luckily I didn’t stumble into a face to face confessional because I had not heard about those! That would have been a surprise!

But can I tell of a good experience? At our small mission church we don’t have regular weekly confession available–we need to travel 20 miles to the parish church for that. Easter Sunday the priest said he’d be available before Mass to hear confessions. So I took advantage of this. Well, this priest is a really really helpful man and he took so much time counselling to me (about a problem more than a sin) that by the time we finished and he donned his vestments it was past time for Mass to start!

The joys of a small church!

 

[down_under]

I know a 55 year old who went in for his first confession and got a high 5 from the priest on the way in and out. wow what have we created.

 

[down_under]

I sure had a frightening sound of an order to it. Altho, I was grasping on one statement he made, as a loophole. I am in such angst. It is highly unlikely I will follow his advice/suggestion/order? He simply has no clue as to who I am. I worry if I am not trusting the Holy Spirit in following his directive. The best I may be able to do is modify the advice to somthing a little more workable. Or get a second opinion., with even more guilt to deal with. Don’t they know how powerful their words can effect an already anquised soul? Thank you

do NOT modify any advise given by someone in athority. seek a second opinion from someone else in athority and see how you go. Go to a church and get free counciling about it. It scares me a little that you say this because without asking and knowing I can’t tell you specifically yes or no. Jesus gave impossible advise. so if it were a big issue (I don’t want to speculate you know what big is) you might be given good advise that sounds impossible. perticularly where hibutial or addictive behaviour comes in. yes don’t ever do it again. “but I’m an addict” his advise is still don’t ever do it agian. and it is good advise even though he knows you are going to do it again. “why do I do what I do not want to do” that is St. Paul. if you are addicted to something. sex drugs boos sexuality money gambling ect. then you are going to get real hard advise that is right on the money. The biggest mistake you could make would be to modify the advise to something you think you could do. The priest is not going anywhere. everytime you do this sin go back to the same guy and say I did it again. and everytime you will be a little stronger and a little better able to deal with it. St. Augustine had something like 2 decades worth of sex addiction to work through. I hope this helps. keep praying. keep believing. keep going to confession. grace is the answer.

 

[Hallelujahhh]

*Medjugorje is totally fake. *

Please do not make comments like this when you cannot prove it. I have heard probably just as many, if not more, positive experiences of Medjugorje than you have heard of bad ones.
I have been and had a wonderful experience.

 

[rpp]

*Medjugorje is totally fake. *

Please do not make comments like this when you cannot prove it. I have heard probably just as many, if not more, positive experiences of Medjugorje than you have heard of bad ones.
I have been and had a wonderful experience.

Medjugorje is an off-limits topic on this forum, as are all unapproved visions and visionaries. However, Medjugorje is mentioned specifically in the CAF rules. Comments defending it can get a poster in trouble with the moderators here.

 

[oceanman]

My bad confession experience happened last week. After confessing my sins, the priest said [edited] sort of under his breath but loud enough to hear as I was halfway out the door. I would have to say I left feeling that
God is sick of me at confession and dislikes me very much. Maybe he is tired of hearing peoples sins.

 

[katy]

My bad confession experience happened last week. After confessing my sins, the priest said [edited] sort of under his breath but loud enough to hear as I was halfway out the door. I would have to say I left feeling that
God is sick of me at confession and dislikes me very much. Maybe he is tired of hearing peoples sins.

Maybe he saw a roach? Maybe something else was on his mind?

 

[Margarite]

My bad confession experience happened last week. After confessing my sins, the priest said [edited] sort of under his breath but loud enough to hear as I was halfway out the door. I would have to say I left feeling that
God is sick of me at confession and dislikes me very much. Maybe he is tired of hearing peoples sins.

Don’t mistake the priest’s—words or attitude for the attitude of God. God wants us to go to confession, we receive so many graces to do better next time when we do go to confession. I have noticed that right after confession or mass, I get very grumpy and easily snap at those around me. One time, I caught myself doing this and I realized that it was the devil trying to get me to sin just after I had cleansed myself. He doesn’t like us to be clean, so it is right after these two sacraments that he really tries to get at us. Now, because I know this, I try extra hard to control my grumpy or angry feelings. Now, maybe the devil was trying to get at the priest, or maybe he was trying to get at you. Don’t let him. Fight the serpent. Realize that God would never want you to stop coming to this most wonderful of sacraments, and realize that the graces you receive will help you do better so that you won’t have to keep confessing the same sins.
Pray, ask Our Lady to help you, or ask St. John Vianney to help you.
Have a wonder full summer!

 

[trobinson017]

About the worst I could recall was being in a confessional that was missing the doorknob so there was a gaping hole for sound to escape. To top it off the priest in there was very old and one had to speak up for him to hear. And, he would also speak loud, I guess because of his hearing. Anyway, add it up and you have the confessional basically acting as an acoustic speaker letting everyone outside hear you. The embarrassing part was he didn’t like my traditional Act of Contrition and made me repeat after him the one he wanted to hear. I felt like a freakin’ 3rd grader at age 42 when I came out and those in line were snickering!!! I was very embarrassed.

BTW, that was last year and the doorknob hole is still there. The pastor has been told. I no longer go there for confession.

trob

 

[mercygate]

About the worst I could recall was being in a confessional that was missing the doorknob so there was a gaping hole for sound to escape. To top it off the priest in there was very old and one had to speak up for him to hear. And, he would also speak loud, I guess because of his hearing. Anyway, add it up and you have the confessional basically acting as an acoustic speaker letting everyone outside hear you. The embarrassing part was he didn’t like my traditional Act of Contrition and made me repeat after him the one he wanted to hear. I felt like a freakin’ 3rd grader at age 42 when I came out and those in line were snickering!!! I was very embarrassed.

BTW, that was last year and the doorknob hole is still there. The pastor has been told. I no longer go there for confession.

trob

It’s actually kind of a good thing that you have to worry about others overhearing. At least people are coming to confession.

 

[Sinnergy]

In terms of ‘bad,’ I remember a priest not believing that I was contrite ‘enough,’ and thus told me not to receive communion. --get a second opinion before taking ‘advice’ that seems a bit off during confession.

My wife had a bad experience once with a priest that we trusted immensely. We used to confess to this priest face-to-face since we knew him and he knew us so well. She was suffering from severe depression and was struggling with alcoholism which the priest fully knew of. Most of her confessions were for the same things, over and over. The last time she went to him he said, “you’re like sour meat. Once it goes bad it will always be bad.”. He gave her absolution but she was stunned to tears and I was livid. I wasn’t courageous enough to confront him, mostly because I admired him so much and just couldn’t believe he’d say this. We left shortly thereafter due to a move to another state. But I wish I’d confronted him about it. He may not have acknowledged anything since he’d have to violate the seal of the confessional to discuss it with me. But still…

Sinnergy

 

[BSHoop96]

**Since I have a deep love of the priesthood, I realized that this priest would probably realize that he had behaved badly but would have no way of contacting me. So the next morning I went to Mass at that priest’s Church. **He recognized me, embraced me, and asked me to meet with him later in the week. I got two things out of it:

1. a new frienship with a good priest who had been having a bad day

and

1. the rosary as a habitual form of prayer.

What a wise thing for you to have done.

 

[James_Miller]

Not bad as much as confusing.​

 I recall one priest gave me a chapter of St. Luke to read and meditate on as a penance.  This meant I could not do my penance until I got home and had my bible.

---

 I remember one old Jesuit who after my confession asked me about my accent.  This lead him to talk about a book he had written for some 20 minutes.   I could see people in church looking at their watches.   One young boy pointing to his mother that I had been at the confessional for such a long time.  None of this had anything to do with my confession but it made me begin to feel nervous.

---

Another very old priest who gave me the absolution before I was finished. Confused me if it was vaild or not.

 

[mercygate]

Not bad as much as confusing.​

I recall one priest gave me a chapter of St. Luke to read and meditate on as a penance. This meant I could not do my penance until I got home and had my bible.​

My confessor almost never assigns a penance that I can do before leaving the church. The “doozie” was to examine the life and letters of St. Peter to determine how he changed from an impetuous, and often confused disciple into the man who was crucified upside down. THAT took almost a month.

 

[leonie]

One young boy pointing to his mother that I had been at the confessional for such a long time. None of this had anything to do with my confession but it made me begin to feel nervous.

My dad says that when he was teenager, the boys used to watch to see which girls stayed in the confessional the longest. Then, they would try to get a date with them the next week.

 

[msugeotech]

I was doing my first confession with our priest, and in the middle of confessing his cell phone rang. It was the last thing I was expecting, so when it rang I jumped. He laughed and said, “Excuse me one second.” and answered the phone. It was someone calling for him to come to the hospital to visit a parishioner who was sick. He told them that he was in the middle of hearing confessions and would call them back. Undoubtedly this person was in bad shape, and they wanted him to come immediately, so he got into an argument with them on the phone! He told them he’d be there after he was done, and that was that, but he was obviously irritated. I just kinda wrapped it up quickly and everything was fine.

 

[Lady_L]

I have been reading all these experiences to see if someone has dealt with what I went through but I haven’t. What I had happened I don’t blame the church, I blame the man who did it.

I was in seventh grade at a parocial school. My class attended a junior high penance service before Easter. I was having a difficult time that year because I was being singled out by the class “click” and having issues with my teachers because of it. I went into the shortest line for face-to-face confession behind the alter which was out of sight to everyone. When I sat down, the priest moved in close so we could talk low and still hear each other. I was so upset with all the stuff that was happening I started crying. He reached out and held my hands in his. Then he did the unthinkable. He reached up one hand under my skirt and rubbed my thigh. I was in such shock I couldn’t move! I wanted to run screaming from him. The worst part is I couldn’t tell anyone! No one would believe me! Even my parents who thought I was a habitual liar because my worthless teachers said I was!

I have carried this stigma for years. the man responsible was defrocked years ago for something else. He didn’t deserve to be a priest! I am meeting with another priest this week to help me go back to confession. I hope he can help me.

 

[kristie_m]

I have been reading all these experiences to see if someone has dealt with what I went through but I haven’t. What I had happened I don’t blame the church, I blame the man who did it.

I was in seventh grade at a parocial school. My class attended a junior high penance service before Easter. I was having a difficult time that year because I was being singled out by the class “click” and having issues with my teachers because of it. I went into the shortest line for face-to-face confession behind the alter which was out of sight to everyone. When I sat down, the priest moved in close so we could talk low and still hear each other. I was so upset with all the stuff that was happening I started crying. He reached out and held my hands in his. Then he did the unthinkable. He reached up one hand under my skirt and rubbed my thigh. I was in such shock I couldn’t move! I wanted to run screaming from him. The worst part is I couldn’t tell anyone! No one would believe me! Even my parents who thought I was a habitual liar because my worthless teachers said I was!

I have carried this stigma for years. the man responsible was defrocked years ago for something else. He didn’t deserve to be a priest! I am meeting with another priest this week to help me go back to confession. I hope he can help me.

I hope so too. Sadly, this type of experience could easily turn someone off from the sacrament forever. I’ll be praying for you.

 

[Jean_Anthony]

This thread is closed. Thank you all.