Do you feel different after confession?

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Going into confession I get nervous (I am usually afraid I will forget something) or sometimes I am ashamed of my sins. But after confession, I immediately do my penance right there in the Church if I am able to and then I leave. For days I just feel so lighthearted and happy and I am usually in a carefree mood (things like traffic, long lines, whatever don’t bother me… or at least don’t bother me as much).

So how about you? Do you feel different after confession? And if so, how?
 
mellowcalico said:
Going into confession I get nervous (I am usually afraid I will forget something) or sometimes I am ashamed of my sins. But after confession, I immediately do my penance right there in the Church if I am able to and then I leave. For days I just feel so lighthearted and happy and I am usually in a carefree mood (things like traffic, long lines, whatever don’t bother me… or at least don’t bother me as much).

So how about you? Do you feel different after confession? And if so, how?
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Usually I have all the same feelings. I dont get upset easily for a while (which is unusual for me, since I am easily angered), I dont cuss, I feel clean, etc. etc.

But sometimes it doesnt have that effect at all and I leave feeling the same as I went in. I take the good with the blah and assume that the times I feel wonderful after are God’s way of saying “Well done my good and faithful servant” and that the times I leave feeling the same are God’s way of telling me to persevere in the faith, to endure until the end, to fill up in my flesh that which was lacking in the sufferings of Christ, and to run the race as if I expected to win.

I particularly like the “run the race” analogy, since I have once or twice achieved the runners high. Anyone who has experienced that can attest to the euphoric feelings and the sense of being a “superman”. But I have had FAR more times when a 5 or 10 mile run just drags and feels like torture. BOTH were required for me to grow as a runner, and BOTH are required from confession for me to grow spiritually. I have the feeling that the closer to holiness I come, the less frequent my euphoric feelings will occur after confession. But will continue to confess my sins that I might grow in Christ and repair the damage my disobedience has caused.

But that is just one man’s opinion.

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I do feel very nervous and saddened before confession.

I’m glad that you feel so relieved after confession. I generally feel a bit relieved, but I do not count on feeling better every time. Sometimes I feel even sadder. That is, my sins become even more real in my mind after they’ve been said out loud. Even so, I trust in the Sacrament. As long as faith is leading the way, I trust that I’m on the right path.
 
I agree, sometimes I feel on the top of the world, other times no different. I always smile and feel lighter when I hear the words “I absolve you of your sins…” I usually break into the biggest smile possible. But after that, my feelings vary. I do notice that I am usually less impatient & frustrated after I leave church.
 
mellowcalico said:
Going into confession I get nervous (I am usually afraid I will forget something) or sometimes I am ashamed of my sins. But after confession, I immediately do my penance right there in the Church if I am able to and then I leave. For days I just feel so lighthearted and happy and I am usually in a carefree mood (things like traffic, long lines, whatever don’t bother me… or at least don’t bother me as much).

So how about you? Do you feel different after confession? And if so, how?
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i feel extatic. and i feel all the temptation of sin gone. they return though, too bad. i hope they won’t. but for the next couple of days, i indeed feel very holy. i wish i am strong enough to keep in that state for the rest of my life. but i’m only human
 
I don’t go to confession as often as I should - have actually been thinking of going in the next month or so. Going to confession makes me nervous and afterwards I can’t understand why I was so nervous. I do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and on a high for a while anyways.
 
dachsiemom2 said:
I don’t go to confession as often as I should - have actually been thinking of going in the next month or so. Going to confession makes me nervous and afterwards I can’t understand why I was so nervous. I do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and on a high for a while anyways.
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I am always nervous…especially since I’m still sifting through my past life sins. But so far I’ve always received a special grace after confession (which is between me and God). I have tried calming myself before hand and reminding myself that it is not that bad. I usually build up that it’s going to be so bad and I get so nervous…and it is usually anything but.
 
i didn’t feel as nervous in my last confession maybe because it was relatively close to my previous confession. i think this is the first time as far as i remember that i went to confession less than a year than my previous one

i think its a good habit to form, to go to confession as often as possible
 
Restoration of the state of sanctifying grace should make one feel different, I would think.

Now THAT is amazing.
 
I always get very anxious before going to Confession, but after it’s over, I most always feel incredible relief, a bit lighter, and joyful! But I don’t want to get hooked on those sensations either…I think in someways God uses these good feelings so we’ll return again soon!
In the last few years I’ve been going more frequently which helps me to stay on track, and I notice I don’t seem to repeat the same sins quite as often as I use to.
 
mellowcalico said:
Going into confession I get nervous (I am usually afraid I will forget something) or sometimes I am ashamed of my sins. But after confession, I immediately do my penance right there in the Church if I am able to and then I leave. For days I just feel so lighthearted and happy and I am usually in a carefree mood (things like traffic, long lines, whatever don’t bother me… or at least don’t bother me as much).

So how about you? Do you feel different after confession? And if so, how?
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I get a lightheaded feeling. Its like a huge weight has been lifted off my back.
 
choy said:
i didn’t feel as nervous in my last confession maybe because it was relatively close to my previous confession. i think this is the first time as far as i remember that i went to confession less than a year than my previous one

i think its a good habit to form, to go to confession as often as possible
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Go this weekend then! 🙂
dachsiemom2 said:
I don’t go to confession as often as I should - have actually been thinking of going in the next month or so. Going to confession makes me nervous and afterwards I can’t understand why I was so nervous. I do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and on a high for a while anyways.
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I am going to start going every week for as long as I can… I keep doing things that require confession :(… But even were I not, it is a wonderful habit to get in. You take a shower every day, why not clean your soul every week? Just because it doesnt have a nasty odor (to most of us) doesnt mean its not in need of a little tidying up 😉

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FidesSpesCarita said:
Go this weekend then! 🙂
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i just did 2 Saturdays ago 👍

i plan now to do it every 6 months unless i feel i have slipped up more recently. but 6 months is a good target, i must train myself to be able to resist grave sin for that long
 
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I got frustrated the first time I went to confession and still felt lousy afterward, but I just had to remind myself that my feelings are just my feelings and it doesn’t change the fact that those sins, awful as they might be, are still forgiven.

Thank God for the sacrament of reconcilation!!!
 
I don’t usually feel the “walking on air” feeling that some people have. Sometimes I don’t notice much difference at all. But always there is the wonderful knowledge that I am forgiven, and my soul is baptism-day clean. There is a lot of grace that comes from this sacrament, and there is almost always something that touches me.

A recent blog post on my experience: crooked-lines.blogspot.com/2010/08/drink-from-well.html
 
Yes, but to varying degrees. My first confession, covering a good 20+ years of debauchery , I felt this huge wave of relief and joy wash over me when my confessor said “I absolve you of your sins”, and practically burst out of the confessional, eager to do my penance.

I guess since then, it’s depends more on what sins I had on my soul & how grave they are. I’ve developed a habit of going every week or 2 whether I have mortal sins or not, since I’m usually in town when my parish has confession. If it’s just a couple of venial sins, it doesn’t impact me as greatly as when I’ve absolved of a mortal sin.

And maybe that’s all in my mind, but I really do feel like having a sin on my soul - be it venial or mortal - on my soul impairs my judgment, and confession fixes it.
 
choy said:
i just did 2 Saturdays ago 👍

i plan now to do it every 6 months unless i feel i have slipped up more recently. but 6 months is a good target, i must train myself to be able to resist grave sin for that long
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lol, I think I need to train myself in that as well. Actually, I know I do. 🙂

The things that I find hardest to deal with is when I have a bad confessor or a priest who tells everyone to “Say a prayer of thanks” almost without regard to what the sins confessed were. That is frustrating. I am one of those people that feel the need to really feel my penance in order to remember it, but thats another story…

I have had to teach myself to accept the validity of the sacrament regardless of the skill of the confessor or the penance imposed.

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:yup:

I never feel nervous going into confession (the first few time I did, I fumbled words). I always ask the Holy Spirit to help me, and I’ll even find sins to confess while I’m in the confessional waiting for the priest to hear my confession. Personally, I like the confessional rather than face-to-face. It feels more private (plus it has sound proofing - doesn’t help when the priest is naturally loud, though. :o).

After my first few confessions, I had this most amazing feeling. The first confession I made, I didn’t want to go to sleep later that night because it just felt so good! I’ve seen people brighten up after confession, too.

The way our confessionals are set up (or rather, the curtains were installed), there’s this little sliver between the curtain and frame that when you look out, you see the crucifix above the altar on the far side of the church. 🙂
 
Occasionally yes, but usually I am returning because of combat against habitual sins.

And sometimes my inability to surmount those discourages me. And then, I usually feel worse, not better.
 
I always feel a difference after confession. In fact, the longer I wait to go to confession, thereby having more sins to confess, the more cleansed and at peace I feel in my soul afterwards. I don’t recommend waiting months like I have in the past though. Going twice a month may be the norm, but in all likelihood, if we all went once a week, we would probably grow even more in virtue.
 
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