Confession

[jtoth]

Hey everyone,

Being away from the Church for a few years (before I made my confirmation) I want to go back and be confirmed. Since I have to go through confession first, I would like to know what it entails. Not ever doing it before, I do not know how to go about confessing my sins while away from the Church. Can anyone give me some tips on confessing?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[mike52ad]

My dear friend, let me first welcome you back home. The thing to remember about confession or if you will the Sacrament of Reconcilliation is that it is a sacrament of mercy not a sacrament of punishment. If you have been away for awhile you should know the following:

Most churches today have a confession room, not the dark phone booth type things you may have been used to. The confession room is arranged so that when you walk in you will see a kneeler and screen and usually a chair that is facing the priest. You can make your choice of confessing by kneeling down at the screen so that the priest cannot see you as you may remember from the past or you can go around the screen and sit in the chair and confess face to face. It is your choice on how you want to do it. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.

Before even going to Church to confess the first thing you should do is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember your sins. And you should make an examination of conscience which is a fancy way of saying think about your life and figure out where you went wrong.

When you are ready to go to confession make sure you tell the priest that you haven’t been in awhile. He will help you to make a good confession. Be honest and truthful, remember that this is a room filled with mercy and you are there to claim your share. When you are done confessing, the priest will offer some suggestions to help you mend your life. He will give you a pennance, a prayer to say or an action to complete, and then he will ask you to “say an act of contrition.” This can be the formal prayer you might remember from the past or it can be a spontanious prayer you make up that expresses your sorrow for sin and your resolve to try to avoid it in the future.

Then he will pronounce the words of absolution and bid you peace. Generally I say “thank you Jesus and thank you father.” as I am leaving. It is then a good policy if your pennance is to say some prayers, that you do so before leaving the Church. I also spend a few extra minutes thanking Jesus for forgiving me and asking for grace to avoid sin in the future.

Again, welcome back! I really hope this helps. Don’t be afraid of confessing your sins in this sacrament of mercy, be afraid of what could happen if you don’t. Peace to you my friend.

 

[fermat]

I recall from another post that you made your first communion. First reconciliation usually precedes first communion. Is it possible that you have actually been, but might be too young to remember (2nd gradeish)?

In any case, it is very simple. You go into the confessional and either go behind the screen or in front of the priest. You say how long it has been (if ever) since your last confession. You confess your sins, the priest asks you to say an act of contrition, the priest gives you a penance and absolution and off you go, clean as a new born lamb.

The act of contrition can be one of the canned ones or you can make your own up. It is just the prayer you use to say that you are sorry and you will try to not to do it again. At our parish there is a ‘cheat sheet’ in confessional with exactly what you need to do and say.

What I am not sure of is if this is your first confession, if there is a class or something you need to go to. I am unsure of the requirements for this.

 

[jtoth]

My dear friend, let me first welcome you back home. The thing to remember about confession or if you will the Sacrament of Reconcilliation is that it is a sacrament of mercy not a sacrament of punishment. If you have been away for awhile you should know the following:

Most churches today have a confession room, not the dark phone booth type things you may have been used to. The confession room is arranged so that when you walk in you will see a kneeler and screen and usually a chair that is facing the priest. You can make your choice of confessing by kneeling down at the screen so that the priest cannot see you as you may remember from the past or you can go around the screen and sit in the chair and confess face to face. It is your choice on how you want to do it. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.

Before even going to Church to confess the first thing you should do is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember your sins. And you should make an examination of conscience which is a fancy way of saying think about your life and figure out where you went wrong.

When you are ready to go to confession make sure you tell the priest that you haven’t been in awhile. He will help you to make a good confession. Be honest and truthful, remember that this is a room filled with mercy and you are there to claim your share. When you are done confessing, the priest will offer some suggestions to help you mend your life. He will give you a pennance, a prayer to say or an action to complete, and then he will ask you to “say an act of contrition.” This can be the formal prayer you might remember from the past or it can be a spontanious prayer you make up that expresses your sorrow for sin and your resolve to try to avoid it in the future.

Then he will pronounce the words of absolution and bid you peace. Generally I say “thank you Jesus and thank you father.” as I am leaving. It is then a good policy if your pennance is to say some prayers, that you do so before leaving the Church. I also spend a few extra minutes thanking Jesus for forgiving me and asking for grace to avoid sin in the future.

Again, welcome back! I really hope this helps. Don’t be afraid of confessing your sins in this sacrament of mercy, be afraid of what could happen if you don’t. Peace to you my friend.

Thank you so much. That was very helpful. And thank you for the warm welcome back into the Church.

I recall from another post that you made your first communion. First reconciliation usually precedes first communion. Is it possible that you have actually been, but might be too young to remember (2nd gradeish)?

In any case, it is very simple. You go into the confessional and either go behind the screen or in front of the priest. You say how long it has been (if ever) since your last confession. You confess your sins, the priest asks you to say an act of contrition, the priest gives you a penance and absolution and off you go, clean as a new born lamb.

The act of contrition can be one of the canned ones or you can make your own up. It is just the prayer you use to say that you are sorry and you will try to not to do it again. At our parish there is a ‘cheat sheet’ in confessional with exactly what you need to do and say.

What I am not sure of is if this is your first confession, if there is a class or something you need to go to. I am unsure of the requirements for this.

Thank you, this was helpful as well. As far as I know, this would be my first confession. If I did do it before, I simply do not remember because of how young I was…I believe I made my communion in first grade.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Can anyone give me some tips on confessing?

To add to what has already been said, my best advice on confessing is to do it sincerely and often (once a month is a good rule of thumb, more often if you are struggling with a persistent serious sin). Don’t let your first confession be your last!

 

[jtoth]

That’s good advice, thanks…I think when I start, I will do it often.

 

[Morgosis]

Also, a good priest will help you out and will be very understanding and very happy that you came back.

 

[jtoth]

I hope the priest will help when the time comes.

 

[Bookcat]

Hey everyone,

Being away from the Church for a few years (before I made my confirmation) I want to go back and be confirmed. Since I have to go through confession first, I would like to know what it entails. Not ever doing it before, I do not know how to go about confessing my sins while away from the Church. Can anyone give me some tips on confessing?

Thanks,
Joe

Make an appointment to talk to the priest outside of normal confession time…and he can help you… it is best to do this not on the normal time…then it can be relaxed etc.

of course you would need to examine your conscience …one only has to confess moral sins…in number and kind (murder 3x…) (and until you get there -try to be sorry out of love of God above all things)…of course it i good too to confess venial sins --but you can pick some and intend the rest of the venial ones…ending with and “all the sins of my life” .but you can also talk with him before as well…

and in any case…do not worry …

And fix your eyes on following Jesus Christ of Nazareth…as his disciple

 

[jtoth]

Thank you very much…that was very helpful