Confession?

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TeenageConvert

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Soo, when I do make my first confession, what am I supposed to do exactly?
like how to begin and end it… I was the only person to be recieved into the church at my parish this Easter, so there were no RCIA classes, which I guess is supposed to be where you learn to go to confession right?
Oh and am I supposed to say ‘forgive’ or " ‘bless’ me father for I have sinned"?
and when do you think I should make my first confession, of course I’ll go if I commit a mortal sin, but say I don’t for a while, how long should it be until I make it(in your opinion)

thanks!
 
I assume you were Baptized at the Easter Vigil!

Alleluia! 🙂

When you make your first confession…well you tell the priest it is your first confession…tell your state of life (which would be single assuming your going sooner than years)…and you accuse yourself of your sins…etc

All Mortal sins in number and kind (and circumstance that changes the sin…like it was your brother you murdered) must be confessed.

(one can not hide even one…such would make the problem bigger! and be invalid…and you would have to confess that fact along with all the mortal sins that you tried to confess and the one you hid! So do not do that. Forgetfulness is a another story…that can happen. But one is to confess it in the next confession once one remembers it)

Murder 3x etc

(but lets avoid mortal sin 👍)

Venial sins need not be confessed…they can be forgiven in many ways…but it is recommended to confess at least some…

They can be confessed in various ways…and no need for the number.

There are little guides for the “format” of confession online …

It is very good to go to confession regularly.

One could go every other week…or every week…or once a month.
 
PS: there is a certain amount of liberty in how you say things…just some min. form.

For example I never say “bless me Father …etc”

I begin “In the Name of the Father and of the Son…”

but get one of the little guides
 
My Father directed me through the Father, Son, etc… and then I said Bless me Father…

I listed my sins and once I had done so he gently prodded me to elaborate on the sins that bothered me the most ( I had a HUGE list so I think it was hard for him to determine what needed to be focused on).

I just had my First Confession three weeks ago and I was SO NERVOUS, terrified even, but I am so glad I went through with it.

My advice is don’t worry about the form. The Priest will guide you.
 
What everyone has said is correct. The BEST thing you can do is tell the priest it is your first confession. They will then lead you through the process, which is important, because it will also help you better understand the sacrament. Don’t be embarrassed that you don’t know what to do. The priests are there to teach us, so let them. It truly is what they live for.

As someone who joined the church later in life, I can tell you do not be afraid to ask for help and clarification. The more you understand, the more they rituals and traditions will become a benefit to your spiritual growth. If you dont’ understand the meaning behind the forms of things we do and why we do them, they can become a hinderance because you focus too much on the how, and not enough on the why.

Congrats on joining the church and welcome! 👍
 
Our last RCIA class was on how to go to confession, and then the following week we all met in the church to do our Confessions the week before Easter. Most of the people in our class were converting from another faith, but there were 3 of us who had been baptized Catholic but hadn’t received the rest of our sacraments as kids. I’d never been to Confession before, so it did help that our priest knew all of us were new at it and needed a little guidance. He would kind of prompt you through what to do next, and even had printed up little cards with the Act of Contrition on them and left them by the door in case you needed a little help remembering.

I’d say that if you’re going to go for your First Confession during the regulary scheduled Confession time, I’d be sure to tell the priest that it is your first confession. It will help him to know how to guide you. I was really nervous about going, but once I got in there it was actually a huge relief. Our priest is a very quiet, gentle man and he was very helpful. He mostly just listened, but once in a while would make some small comments here and there, which helped make it feel a little more conversational and made me feel less self-conscious and like I was just rambling on.

I admit that beforehand, I really didn’t want to go, but now that I’ve done it, it felt really good and I know I will be going on a regular basis. For me, doing the Examination of Conscience has really made me think about the sins I commit that are more “bad habit” types of things, and when those things are fresh in your mind it’s more of a motivation to work on improving.
 
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