Confession?

[lsu1993]

Hi,

Today I had a lapse of will power and committed a mortal sin. Saturday i am going out of town to visit family, so I would like to confess tomorrow. If I don’t go tomorrow then the next time I could go would be a week from saturday and I dont want to have this on my conscious for that long. The nearest church offering confession on a friday is 30 min away. I was planning on getting up tomorrow and going to confess. Do most confessions take place in the actual church? Ive only been to one church and this is the first time I have to go elsewhere. If something happens that prevents me from going tomorrow even though I did everything in my power to get there will i go to hell if i die before a week from tues?

 

[joanofarc2008]

Hi,

Today I had a lapse of will power and committed a mortal sin. Saturday i am going out of town to visit family, so I would like to confess tomorrow. If I don’t go tomorrow then the next time I could go would be a week from saturday and I dont want to have this on my conscious for that long. The nearest church offering confession on a friday is 30 min away. I was planning on getting up tomorrow and going to confess. Do most confessions take place in the actual church? Ive only been to one church and this is the first time I have to go elsewhere. If something happens that prevents me from going tomorrow even though I did everything in my power to get there will i go to hell if i die before a week from tues?

No one but God can judge the state of your immortal soul but I don’t know of a parish in the world that will not allow you to call up and schedule a Confession during the week.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Yes, confession is ordinarily held in the church building. If you show up during a regularly scheduled time for confession the priest will probably either already be sitting in the confessional or reconciliation room (a place within the church that the priest hears confessions), maybe listening to another person’s confession, or he will be somewhere else in the church and you’ll have to find him and ask if he can hear your confession. Once in a while the priest may not be able to make it for the regularly scheduled confession time, just to warn you in case it happens.

Excuse me for asking, but have you gone to confession before? Are you Catholic? Just want to be sure we are on the same page since you seem new to the Church.

You need to get to confession at the nearest practical opportunity, but since there’s always a period of time between your first repentance and your next opportunity to confess it’s important to try to make an act of perfect contrition. That means being sorry for your sin not primarily because of fear of hell or the ugliness of the sin, but because the sin was an offence against God. It can be hard to have perfect contrition because often our first instinct is fear of hell, and trying to have a new motive for something you already have a different motive for can be difficult.

The most important thing is to ask God to give you the gift of perfect contrition. Then try to meditate on the goodness of God and forget your own sin for a while, then turn back to your sin and think of it in light of God’s goodness not your own wellbeing. If you, by the grace of God, have perfect contrition for your sins, together with a firm purpose of amendment (meaning you are resolved never to commit that sin again) and an intention to confess the sin at the nearest opportunity, you will be forgiven even before going to confession and you will not go to hell if you die before you can get to confession.

Remember though you still have to confess the sin once you are able to, and ordinarily you may not receive communion until you have gone to confession and have been absolved by the priest, even if you believe you have experienced perfect contrition.

 

[svid2]

Confession can take place anywhere, as long as you have a priest.

If you make every effort to confess, and are truly repentant, God knows. Trust in God’s mercy.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

No one but God can judge the state of your immortal soul but I don’t know of a parish in the world that will not allow you to call up and schedule a Confession during the week.

This is true too. You can call your parish and see if you can make an appointment for confession.

 

[Leegal]

Hi,

Today I had a lapse of will power and committed a mortal sin. Saturday i am going out of town to visit family, so I would like to confess tomorrow. If I don’t go tomorrow then the next time I could go would be a week from saturday and I dont want to have this on my conscious for that long. The nearest church offering confession on a friday is 30 min away. I was planning on getting up tomorrow and going to confess. Do most confessions take place in the actual church? Ive only been to one church and this is the first time I have to go elsewhere. If something happens that prevents me from going tomorrow even though I did everything in my power to get there will i go to hell if i die before a week from tues?

Most confessions take place during regular Saturday hours. However, if you call the rectory you might find a priest willing to hear your confession by appointment. I know because I did exactly this. Fortunately for me, my Church actually has this option listed on their site.