Confession twice a day?

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Did some saints or well known devout people go to confession twice a day?

Someone tolf me this and also mentioned Mother Theresa in particular as one such person.

I thought there was a law about not having comunion more than once a day, wouldn’t that apply to confession as well?
 
marcsababa said:
Did some saints or well known devout people go to confession twice a day?

Someone tolf me this and also mentioned Mother Theresa in particular as one such person.

I thought there was a law about not having comunion more than once a day, wouldn’t that apply to confession as well?
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No there is no law concerning it because the Church says that if you are aware of Mortal Sin on your conscience then you should go to Confession. In theory this could happen more than once per day. However, practically speaking if a person is doing the same sin (as is usually the case with people) more than once a day their culpability is limited and the sin may very likely not be mortal in their particular case. However, this cannot be assumed so the Confessional is always open. However, the good confessor would generally see this as a sign of scrupulosity and discourage or even command the person to lessen their frequency of going to Confession.

Persons like Blessed Mother Theresa and John Paul II went once a day. This is only recommended for those who have transcended scrupulosity. In effect one should not be going daily unless they are very holy persons. It is a bit of a funny paradox that it works out that way.
 
I imagine Mother Teresa and John Paul II may have gone INTO the confessional once a day. Were they there each and every time because they had mortal sins that needed confessing on a daily basis? Doubt it strongly.

Did they have venial sins that needed confessing? Possibly, after all as the saying goes ‘the just man falls seven times a day’.

Most likely is a slightly different explanation. Firstly these two saintly individuals, holding extremely responsible positions as they did, would have been aware of our Lord’s saying ‘to whom much is given, from them will much be required’. Almost certainly they held themselves to the highest possible standards in their personal lives.

Being keenly aware of their responsibilities, they may have been acutely conscious of any imperfect fulfilling of them as well. This is different from scrupulosity, which is a condition where you see sin when none in fact exists.

The other is simply that one can actually - in certain situations - make a confession where one doesn’t have sins to confess, but wishes to receive the grace attached to the sacrament anyway.

For example you may want to gain a Plenary Indulgence, one of the conditions of this being confession. In this case one can actually reconfess past sins if one has no fresh sins that one is aware of.
 
Mother Teresa went to confession daily. John Paul II went three times a week.
 
LilyM said:
one can actually reconfess past sins if one has no fresh sins that one is aware of.
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Once a sin is confessed, there is no need to confess it a second time unless a person wasn’t truly sorry for the offense when originally confessed.
 
Seek out a really senior priest. White hair or no hair! A priest who has been around so long that he has heard everything already.

See if you can have him as your regular confessor. He will be able, once he understands where you “are coming from” [which will be pretty quick because of his experience as a confessor] to provide some sound advice and guidance as part of his normal Holy Spirit guided spiritual sacramental rubrics.

This is written from the perspective of someone who has been confessing for almost 60 years and on at least three continents.
 
I wonder where did you guys hear that JPII went to confession every day???

I have only heard he went to confession weekly.
And probably most of the time was a devotional confession, which means to receive the grace of the Sacrament, not because of any sin.
 
One should also be careful not to turn the sacraments into fetishes.
 
InLight247 said:
I wonder where did you guys hear that JPII went to confession every day???

I have only heard he went to confession weekly.
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When the Pope was still alive, it was widely reported that he went to confession three times a week. And a number of videos and DVD’s following his death also report that he went to confession three times a week.
InLight247 said:
And probably most of the time was a devotional confession, which means to receive the grace of the Sacrament, not because of any sin.
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Don’t be too sure about that. Christ is the light of the world and the closer we come to Him via frequent confession, the more clearly we see our own sins in the same manner that God sees them.

A person who gets dressed in a dark closet will not see wrinkles and stains on his cloths. A person who gets dressed under bright spotlights will see every wrinkle and dirty spot. The more often we go to confession, the closer we come into the light and the more clearly we see our own sins.

I speak from personal experience on this. Now that I go to confession weekly, I “see” a lot of my own sins that have previously been unnoticed by me.
 
I do not know if anybody has mentioned it or not, but we are allowed to receive the Holy Eucharist twice per day. THe second reception, however, must be in a Mass where we are actively participating.

An exception to this rule, of course, is the viaticum, the reception of the Holy Eucharist before dying.

MT
 
I know someone who committed a sin just to go to confession not knowing they did not have to do that to go. Its funny to her now, but at the time it was not very amusing being so confused about it like that.
 
Sir_Knight said:
A person who gets dressed in a dark closet will not see wrinkles and stains on his cloths. A person who gets dressed under bright spotlights will see every wrinkle and dirty spot. The more often we go to confession, the closer we come into the light and the more clearly we see our own sins.
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That is very good. Catholic’s also disagree on what constitute sins so that makes it an individual review and preparation for confession. Many do not believe that birth control is against the teachings so they do not confess there use. The list goes on but if we a faithful to the teachings of the Church, the line would be long and require hours for the priest, not 30 minutes prior. I forgot who but somewhere it is stated that we commit seven sins each day. Does anyone have the reference?
 
CRW said:
That is very good. Catholic’s also disagree on what constitute sins so that makes it an individual review and preparation for confession. Many do not believe that birth control is against the teachings so they do not confess there use. The list goes on but if we a faithful to the teachings of the Church, the line would be long and require hours for the priest, not 30 minutes prior. I forgot who but somewhere it is stated that we commit seven sins each day. Does anyone have the reference?
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“The just man falls seven times a day” (Prov. 24:16)
 
CRW said:
That is very good. Catholic’s also disagree on what constitute sins so that makes it an individual review and preparation for confession. Many do not believe that birth control is against the teachings so they do not confess there use. The list goes on but if we a faithful to the teachings of the Church, the line would be long and require hours for the priest, not 30 minutes prior. I forgot who but somewhere it is stated that we commit seven sins each day. Does anyone have the reference?
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It helps if individuals pray a lot.

Not merely going to Church, but continuous daily prayer … while driving, walking down the hallway, doing errands and chores, in the “throne room”, everywhere and at all times. Continuously. Short prayers. Long prayers. Brief ejaculations ( Jesus, Mary & Joseph … for example). Hail Marys and Our Fathers. Glory Be’s.

Get into the habit of praying continuously. Start off right now. And if you forget, then start again when you remember.

Ask for stuff … parking spaces, new jobs, medical help, money,

Ask for help … for yourself, for the people you usually pray for, for people who … right this second … need help the most. For people who have no one to pray for them… the unknown needy.

Structured prayer (Hail Marys, Our Fathers, Glory Be’s)

Unstructured prayer (Lord, how am I doing?)

Prayers of Thanksgiving … Dear Lord, thank you for getting us home safely … Dear Lord, thank you for the money… Dear Lord, thank you for the parking space.

Prayers of offering. Lord, Please accept this basket of my trials and tribulations…

Prayers acknowledging His INFINITY… Dear Lord, You are Infinite and I’m just a fly speck on the wall… There is no way I can comprehend what Your intentions and plans are for me. Make me the way You want me to be.

Prayers of contrition. Dear Lord, I’m sorry for all my screw-ups.

Once folks get used to praying all the time, then the clarity provided by the Holy Spirit becomes more apparent.

My sins become more obvious. Overwhelming.

But Jesus worked as a carpenter and hung out and He understands us, even if we cannot comprehend Him.

So, visualize that Jesus stopped off at the local tavern for a glass of wine with His friends after a hot day of preaching and working … and He turns to you and asks, “How was your day?”
 
marcsababa said:
Did some saints or well known devout people go to confession twice a day?

Someone tolf me this and also mentioned Mother Theresa in particular as one such person.

I thought there was a law about not having comunion more than once a day, wouldn’t that apply to confession as well?
Click to expand...
As someone who has done this I can tell you there is nothing wrong with it and no law against it. It is extreme, but life being what it is it is possible to fall into Mortal Sin after confessing. Now I know there are those on this board who will shout to the rooftops that it is difficult if not almost impossible for a Good Catholic to fall into a state of Mortal Sin. I don’t happen to agree with that theory. Mortal Sin is easy to fall into, because we as humans are constantly tempted and constantly think.

I think that most people who would do this are those who for some reason, fear, embarrasment, self hatred, etc. did not mention a certain sin and in so doing invalidated their initial confession. I’ve done that, and feeling guilty, went back in. I’ve also managed to fall into Mortal Sin less than an hour or two after leaving Confession just due to having bad thoughts.

It is not as hard as some make it out to be. Mortal Sin does not require an overtly physical act. It is good to remember that.
 
How do you fall into a mortal sin when you can not help what you think? If that was the case, I think people would be heading to Confession everyday?
 
whoofa said:
How do you fall into a mortal sin when you can not help what you think? If that was the case, I think people would be heading to Confession everyday?
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Why can’t you help what you think?

And yes, some of should go to confession every day.
 
marcsababa said:
Did some saints or well known devout people go to confession twice a day?

Someone tolf me this and also mentioned Mother Theresa in particular as one such person.

I thought there was a law about not having comunion more than once a day, wouldn’t that apply to confession as well?
Click to expand...
Acutually, we can recieve communion twice a day, as long as we recieve it the second time during a Mass, and we have been present at the Mass from beginning to end.
I don’t know how many priests would permit those who have not greatly advanced in holiness to go to confession twice a day, since it would likely be seen as a sign of scrupulosity.
 
Al_Masetti said:
Seek out a really senior priest. White hair or no hair! A priest who has been around so long that he has heard everything already.
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Not necessarily…priests don’t just learn how to be good confessors- part of it is a gift from God. They can be any age. The younger priests tend to be more orthodox, so I would expect the younger priests to be better confessors. (Generally, that has been my experience).
 
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