Frequent Confession

[o_o_82]

Thanks water for pointing this out. This does indeed make a lot of sense.

Isn’t this an obvious reason:

I am not sure what else you were trying to look for.

So this means that the Eucharist forgives venial sins but does not “form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit.”

Thanks again.
O.O.

 

[mommyof4]

I think that you have some really good questions, OP. Might I suggest asking this question to one of the apoligists? I’d be interested in their answer.

I can only share with you my experience of frequent confession, and I do not hold myself out to be any kind of expert at all on this matter. By frequent, I mean every week or 2. Once in a great while, I’ll even get there twice a week. However, I have had some persistant veniel sins that continue to pop up in my life. Frequent confession has helped me to overcome these sins. I don’t know if it is the grace that one receives in confession, or having to “own up” my frequent sins to another person, or a combination of the two, but I have seen a change in my behaviors. I also go to mass as often as possible, too. Yes, we receive forgiveness of imperfections and veniel sins at mass, but I really think that going for the graces in confession can help overcome your sins, too. I want to be as holy as I can be, with God’s grace of course, and I believe that the graces that are poured out on us in confession adds to our holiness.

I don’t know if this helps you or not, but this is just my experience.

 

[o_o_82]

Thanks Al Masetti. Good post.

From what I get from what you and **water **said above – that while the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation both forgive venial sins – the graces that we get from them are different.

I well agree from my personal experience of this sacrament about the practical reasons for its necessity. However I wanted something better than that from the church.

As you might know I am about to go priest-hunting and I have to be prepared for anything. (I heard on this forum that one priest called frequent reception of the sacrament unhealthy – and to some extent I feel that in Germany with the exception of the Croatian community it is not popular. So I just want to know my reasons in case I am asked.)

Thanks again,
O.O.

 

[water]

Thanks water for pointing this out. This does indeed make a lot of sense.

So this means that the Eucharist forgives venial sins but does not “form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit.”

Thanks again.
O.O.

yes, it does. The Body and Blood of Jesus are the food for your soul. Therefore, we know that the Eucharist help us fight evil. The prayer “Anima Christi” is used after having receive the Communion - part of it says “Within your wounds hide me; separated from you, let me never be; From the evil one protect me”.

As I mentioned in other thread, going to daily mass and frequent confession are very important. However, would you like to receive the Holy Eucharist while you know you have venial sins or would you prefer to receive the Eucharist after you had been to a confession?

I am not saying we are all sinless though. One thing I’ve experienced personally is that the more I come to the confession, the more Jesus lets me see clearer the way how He sees me - That is very important to me.

In fact, on Friday’s Gospel, Jesus says:
[whereinthebible.org/Matthew 5:20-26](http://www.whereinthebible.org/Matthew 5:20-26)

23 If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee; 24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.

Don’t you want to come to the Lord offering your gifts at the best stage of your life.

God bless.

 

[mommyof4]

Ok, How about this from Jesus, via. St. Faustina’s diary:

“Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament of Reconciliation]. There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one’s misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late.” (Diary, 1448)

 

[water]

Thank you mommyof4 for the quote. St. Faustina’s diary is also a part of my daily digests. There are so much to learn from her diary. I’ve gone through half of the book so far, and I believe I keep reading over again and again for my whole life. \

PS: do you have a farm?
Slave to 6 cats, 1 dog, 6 rabbits, 25 chickens, 2 ducks, and 2 parakeets –

I used to raise chickens and the baby chicks are always the cutest ones .
Sorry - off topic.

 

[o_o_82]

Dear jmcrae,

I think it would be considered a violation of the Seal of Confession to give out the reasons why somebody went to Confession.

It would not be a violation of the Seal of Confession for the “penitent” to him/her-self reveal the sins. (“The Confessions of Saint Augustine” sounds familiar?)

I was looking for something similar – but which may not directly be “confessions” – but something more like guidelines or popular sins.

For e.g. If you have read a bit of St. Teresa of Avila’s “Interior Castle”, she clearly provides guidelines on the most common errors that can be encountered in monastic life (though a lot of it applies to us also.)

Can we get something on the topic of venial sin – from these gurus, if not direct confessions?

Regards,
O.O.

 

[mommyof4]

An aside: Water, I am looking for a good version of her Diary. What one do you recommend? I would like to purchase the diary, but I see that there are many versions of her diary on Amazon.com.

 

[o_o_82]

A lot of people make this mistake…thinking that people are holy and don’t need to go, so why do they go so often? Really, it’s the other way around, they go often and that’s what helps make them holy.

I accept what you are saying. Actually I should admit that I too believe in the benefit of frequent confession.  However I am searching if the Church specifically has some teaching about this topic.

Thanks jpjd for your post,
O.O.

 

[jmcrae]

I was looking for something similar – but which may not directly be “confessions” – but something more like guidelines or popular sins.

Why don’t you just get yourself an Examination of Conscience from any Catholic bookstore, or for free off the Internet? The really good ones have all the sins listed, both mortal and venial, listed by kind according to the order of the Ten Commandments.

 

[water]

An aside: Water, I am looking for a good version of her Diary. What one do you recommend? I would like to purchase the diary, but I see that there are many versions of her diary on Amazon.com.

I didn’t know there were different versions, but the one that I bought from a local Catholic bookstore looks like this - it is published by Marian Press. The book has about 700 pages and some extra pages with pictures of St. Faustina and other important ones.

catholiccompany.com/product_detail.cfm?AID=117&new=yes&ID=8063&gclid=CN3okO3n2YoCFQVBUQodLC220A

 

[mommyof4]

Ok, another St. Faustina diary quote. This one clinch’s frequent confession for me:

Today the Lord said to me, Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls. (1602)

My daughter, just as you prepare in My presence, so also you make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light. (1725)

Apparently, Jesus felt that we need not only the Eucharist for grace and forgiveness, but the sacrament of reconciliation, too.

 

[o_o_82]

Thank you mommyof4 for sharing your experience

I think that you have some really good questions, OP. Might I suggest asking this question to one of the apoligists? I’d be interested in their answer.
.

Yes, I have just posted this to the “Staff Apologists”. If and when I receive a response, I would post a link in this thread to that thread/answer.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have a question for you – but I would start a new thread for that, and then ask you to send your answer there. (I would probably do that towards the end of next week.) Your response helps me, and I agree with it, but suppose I have to prove it to someone else?

O.O

 

[johnpaul2_fan]

Frequent confession also helps root out frequent sins. Usually there’s a deeper cause or sinful tendency that is the root of the sins.

Also in regards to venial sins a good examination of conscious helps. (Not that you need to look through a long list like this every time you go to confession, but I find it helps to a few times a year.)

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE BY COMMANDMENT

FIRST COMMANDMENT
“I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before Me.” (Ex 20:2,3)

•Did I doubt or deny that God exists?
•Did I refuse to believe in what God has revealed to us?
•Did I believe in hypnotism, black magic, witchcraft, divination, New Age/atheism/agnosticism, fortune telling, horoscopes, good-luck charms, palmistry, séances, dreams, the occult, tarot cards, Ouija boards, or reincarnation?
•Did I deny that I was Catholic?
•Did I leave the Catholic faith?
•Did I give time to God each day in prayer?
•Did I love God with my whole heart?
•Did I despair of or presume on God’s mercy?
•Did I have false gods in my life that I gave greater attention to than God, like: money, TV, property, profession, fame, drugs, pleasure, etc?
•Have I failed to receive Holy Communion at least once per year?
•Have I desecrated the Holy Eucharist?
•Am I guilty of simony (deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual of annexed unto spirituals)?
•Have I adhered to a schismatic group?
•Have I received Holy Eucharist in a state of mortal sin?
•Did I join the Masons or other secret society?
•Am I ignorant of my catechism?
•Have I taken active part in any non-Catholic worship?
•Have I knowingly read any anti-Catholic literature?

SECOND COMMANDMENT
“You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Ex 20:7)

•Did I blaspheme or insult God?
•Did I take God’s name carelessly or uselessly?
•Did I curse, or break an oath or vow?
•Did I get angry with God?
•Have I seriously wished evil upon another?
•Did I use God’s name intentionally as a curse?
•Have I made an oath in a secret society?
•Did I commit perjury (crime of taking a false oath)?
•Did I seriously slander or insult a sacred person (i.e. priests) or object?
•Did I tell a lie or withhold a serious sin in confession?

THIRD COMMANDMENT
“Remember that you keep holy the Sabbath Day.” (Ex 20:8)

•Did I miss Mass Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation through my own fault?
•Did I come to Mass on time? Leave early?
•Did I do work on Sunday that was not necessary?
•Did I set aside Sunday as a day of rest and a family day?
•Did I show reverence in the presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament?
•Did I intentionally fail to fast or abstain on appointed days?
•Have I done unnecessary shopping on Sunday?

FOURTH COMMANDMENT
“Honor your father and your mother.” (Ex 20:12)

•Did I disobey or disrespect my parents or legitimate superiors?
•Did I neglect my duties to my husband, wife, children or parents?
•Did I neglect to give good religious example to my family?
•Did I fail to actively take an interest in the religious education and formation of my children?
•Did I fail to educate myself on the true teachings of the Church?
•Did I give scandal by what I said or did, especially to the young?
•Did I cause anyone to leave the faith?
•Did I cause tension and fights in my family?
•Did I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
•Did I give a full day’s work for a full day’s pay?
•Did I give a fair wage to my employees?
•Did I wish death or evil on my parents?
•Did I fail to carry out the last will of my deceased parents?

FIFTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not kill.” (Ex 20:13)

•Did I kill or physically injure anyone?
•Did I have an abortion, or advise someone else to have an abortion? (One who procures and abortion is automatically excommunicated, as is anyone who is involved in an abortion, Canon 1398. The excommunication will be lifted in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.)
•Did I use or cause my spouse to use birth control pills (whether or not realizing that birth control pills do abort the fetus if and when conceived)?
•Did I attempt suicide?
•Did I take part in or approve of “mercy killing” (euthanasia)?
•Did I get angry, impatient, envious, unkind, proud, revengeful, jealous, hateful toward another, lazy?
•Did I give bad example by drug abuse, drinking alcohol to excess, fighting, quarreling?
•Did I abuse my children?
•Did I knowingly vote for someone who is pro-abortion?
•Did I willfully lead another into serious sin?
•Did I drive dangerously or recklessly?
•Have I self mutilated?
•Do I have excessive tattoos or body piercings?
•Do I have piercing of the nipples or sexual organs?
•Have I gotten sterilized?
•Did I willfully fail to bury the body or ashes of the dead?
•Did I willfully engage in unjust lawsuits?
•Have I committed bigotry?
•Have I intentionally placed temptation before the weak?

 

[johnpaul2_fan]

SIXTH COMMANDMENT AND NINTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not commit adultery.” (Ex 20:14) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” (Ex 20:17)

Note: In the area of deliberate sexual sins listed below, all are mortal sins if there is sufficient reflection and full consent of the will. “No fornicators, idolaters, or adulterers, no sodomites,… will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9-10) “Anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his thoughts.” (Mt 5:28)

•Did I willfully entertain impure thoughts or desires?
•Did I use impure or suggestive words? Tell impure stories? Listen to them?
•Did I deliberately look at impure TV, videos, plays, pictures or movies? Or deliberately read impure materials?
•Did I commit impure acts by myself (masturbation)?
•Did I commit impure acts with another - fornication (premarital sex), adultery (sex with a married person)?
•Did I practice artificial birth control (by pills, device, withdrawal)?
•Did I marry or advise anyone to marry outside the Church?
•Did I avoid the occasions of impurity?
•Did I try to control my thoughts?
•Did I engage in homosexual activity?
•Did I respect all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
•Did I or my spouse have sterilization done?
•Did I abuse my marriage rights?
•Did I dress or act in a manner intended to cause arousal in another (spouses excepted)?
•Have I shown flagrant immodesty in my dress?
•Did I commit bestiality (sexual acts with animals)?
•Did I participate in oral sex (permitted as foreplay in marriage)?
•Did I participate in anal sex or other degrading sex practices?
•Have I committed the sin of prostitution?
•Did I rape anyone?
•Did I participate in in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination?
•Did I participate in surrogate motherhood?
•Did I use “selective reduction” of babies in the womb?
•Did I willfully divorce or desert my spouse?
•Have I been involved in or support human cloning?
•Did I participate in types of fertility testing that involve immoral acts?
•Did I commit incest?
•Did I commit polygamy or polyandry (many wives/husbands)?
•Did I cohabitate prior to marriage?
•Did I destroy the innocence of another by seducing or introducing them to immorality?
•Have I participated in “swinging” or wife swapping?
•Have I boasted of my sins?
•Have I sinned against chastity in any other way?

SEVENTH & TENTH COMMANDMENTS
“You shall not steal.” (Ex 20:15) “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.” (Ex 20:17)

•Did I steal, cheat, help or encourage others to steal or keep stolen goods? Have I made restitution for stolen goods?
•Did I fulfill my contracts; give or accept bribes; pay my bills; rashly gamble or speculate; deprive my family of the necessities of life?
•Did I waste time at work, school or at home?
•Did I envy other people’s families or possessions?
•Did I make material possessions the purpose of my life?
•Have I participated in slavery?
•Have I pirated computer software?
•Have I been seriously cruel to animals?
•Have I violated copyrights?
•Did I commit forgery?
•Am I guilty of tax evasion, price fixing, fraud/embezzlement, or blackmail?
•Have I willfully destroyed or defaced another’s property?
•Have I stolen something consecrated to God or stolen from a holy place?
•Have I taken advantage of the poor, simple, inexperienced or less fortunate?
•Have I denied help to the poor, needy or destitute when able to help them easily?
•Have I been seriously and willfully greedy?

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Ex 20:16)

•Did I lie?
•Did I deliberately deceive others, or injure others by lies?
•Did I commit perjury?
•Did I gossip or reveal others’ faults or sins?
•Did I fail to keep secret what should be confidential?
•Have I committed calumny (an abusive attack on a person’s character or good name)?
•Have I been an accomplice to another’s grave sin?
•Have I taken pleasure in anyone’s misfortune?

OTHER SINS
•Did I fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?
•Did I eat meat on the Fridays of Lent or Ash Wednesday?
•Did I fail to receive Holy Communion during Eastertime?
•Did I go to Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin? Without fasting (water and medicine permitted) for one hour from food and drink?
•Did I make a bad confession?
•Did I fail to contribute to the support of the Church?
•Did I fast for one hour before Communion (food & drink)?

I got this from phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=7676

 

[o_o_82]

Thanks water,

However, would you like to receive the Holy Eucharist while you know you have venial sins or would you prefer to receive the Eucharist after you had been to a confession?

As part of the Mass, we have a penitential rite. At the end of it (as I have been thought) our venial sins are forgiven. So we never receive the Holy Eucharist with venial sins – unless you believe that the penitential does not grant forgiveness to sins.

Thanks for your post,
O.O.

 

[o_o_82]

Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament of Reconciliation]. There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated.

Thanks a lot mommyof4. At least this is something like what I wanted. I respect the saints especially where the Magisterium does not have any pointers.

 

[o_o_82]

Why don’t you just get yourself an Examination of Conscience from any Catholic bookstore, or for free off the Internet? The really good ones have all the sins listed, both mortal and venial, listed by kind according to the order of the Ten Commandments.

Thanks jmcrae, I guess this slipped my mind. I got some of these over the internet.
O.O.

 

[water]

good morning OO,

There must be many good books on confession out there. You probably should check out at a Catholic bookstore.

Here are a few good articles that I searched online:

cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49336
ewtn.com/library/SPIRIT/BAFRECON.TXT

and get a free CD from Fr. Larry Richards -
catholicity.com/cds/confession.html
and comments on his CD:
catholicity.com/cds/comments.html

there is $1 charge for the CD for shipping fee.

You might know him already, but his talks are on the Relevant Radio every night.

 

[o_o_82]

Thanks mommyof4.

Apparently, Jesus felt that we need not only the Eucharist for grace and forgiveness, but the sacrament of reconciliation, too.

Your post does not talk about the Eucharist? It explains the importance of Confession – but it does not compare it with that of the Eucharist. (Anyway I posted this question to the Staff Apologist – so I hope we get some answers.)

After looking at what you posted – I did a search of the Internet on St. Faustina. I got this regarding frequent confession.

I feel much better today. I was glad I would be able to meditate more during the Holy Hour. Then I heard a voice: “You will not be in good health. Do not put off the Sacrament of Penance, because this displeases Me. Pay little attention to the murmurs of those around you.” [Sr. Faustina then recounts her unexpected suffering which occurred soon after]. I now understand the Lord’s warning. I decided to call any priest at all, the next day, and to open the secrets of my soul to him…for while I was praying for sinners and offering all my sufferings for them, the Evil spirit could not stand that. (1464)

Bold = Words of our Lord
*Source: *catholic-forum.com/catholicteacher/divinemercy_confession.htm

Thanks again,
O.O.