Going to Confession Correctly

[ermcma]

Okay, I know the “way” that is proper for confession. I also have numersous examination of conscisious.
So, I am not sure why, but I always feel like I am doing something wrong when I go to confession. I worry about saying the right thing.
Any words of wisdom out there?
Thanks.

 

[Anathama_Sit]

Okay, I know the “way” that is proper for confession. I also have numersous examination of conscisious.
So, I am not sure why, but I always feel like I am doing something wrong when I go to confession. I worry about saying the right thing.
Any words of wisdom out there?
Thanks.

Greetings Ermcma,

I would share with the priest your concerns and worries in Confession. Follow his counsel. Say what’s on your heart, you can seldom go wrong in doing that. It sounds like you are doing what you are supposed to do.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[puzzleannie]

Okay, I know the “way” that is proper for confession. I also have numersous examination of conscisious.
So, I am not sure why, but I always feel like I am doing something wrong when I go to confession. I worry about saying the right thing.
Any words of wisdom out there?
Thanks.

as long as you confess all the mortal sins which you recall, there is no other “right or wrong” way to do this. If the priest needs more information he will ask.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Okay, I know the “way” that is proper for confession. I also have numersous examination of conscisious.
So, I am not sure why, but I always feel like I am doing something wrong when I go to confession. I worry about saying the right thing.
Any words of wisdom out there?
Thanks.

there has been given too mych emphasis in SAYING ALL THE SINS, and less emphasis in repentance, changing of life, prayer to God to give us grace to overcome what we cannot do by ourselves.

That creates guilt on people.

Say to God that you are a sinner, that you are sorrowful for the offenses you did, that you encevour the best to be better and better, that you cannot do it alone, aske for his forgiveness and grace. For me, that is all confession is about. The list of sins is not the more important thing.

 

[nickybr38]

My concern is similar but less to do with confessing the sins properly and more to do with following the proper ‘order’ of Confession. I often feel like I’m missing a step or miss-stepping!!!

Ah, sometimes I might worry a little about understanding the difference between venial and mortal sin so I just confess everything to be sure.

Anyway, I know how you feel and my advice would be to:

A) Speak to your priest. Share with him your concerns and see if he has any advice.
B) Pray to the Holy Spirit prior to confession, ask for guidance and wisdom.
C) Pray to your guardian angel. Ask him to help reveal all your sins so you can make a good confession.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Ask your priest for advice. There aren’t really scripted words for you, but using a prayer book with traditional formulas for the start (bless me father) and the Act of Contrition may make you more comfortable. You can also use a few notes from your Examine if you are concerned about forgetting things. Just remember to say your mortal sins first, so that you don’t leave them out, or have the priest cut you off if he thinks you are done.

 

[TrueLight]

Ask your priest for advice. There aren’t really scripted words for you, but using a prayer book with traditional formulas for the start (bless me father) and the Act of Contrition may make you more comfortable. You can also use a few notes from your Examine if you are concerned about forgetting things. Just remember to say your mortal sins first, so that you don’t leave them out, or have the priest cut you off if he thinks you are done.

What are you supposed to say when you’re finished listing your sins?

The priests always ask me, “Anything else?”.

 

[Anathama_Sit]

What are you supposed to say when you’re finished listing your sins?

The priests always ask me, “Anything else?”.

Greetings TrueLight,

Yeah my Confessor does that too. I just reply, No I can’t recall anything else at the moment, but if I remember I shall come and see you soon. Or Nope, thanks be to God I got everything covered to the best of my knowledge.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[TrueLight]

Greetings TrueLight,

Yeah my Confessor does that too. I just reply, No I can’t recall anything else at the moment, but if I remember I shall come and see you soon. Or Nope, thanks be to God I got everything covered to the best of my knowledge.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

Oh okay. I thought I was missing something like, “And thus ends the listing of my sins.”

 

[Mrs_Sally]

What are you supposed to say when you’re finished listing your sins?

The priests always ask me, “Anything else?”.

Funny!

I always say, “For these and all my sins, I am sorry.” That way, the priest knows I’m done and I feel ‘covered’ for anything I may have forgotten to say.

Edited to add: “Thuis ends the listing of my sins” is good too!

 

[Anathama_Sit]

Funny!

I always say, “For these and all my sins, I am sorry.” That way, the priest knows I’m done and I feel ‘covered’ for anything I may have forgotten to say.

Edited to add: “Thuis ends the listing of my sins” is good too!

Greetings Mrs Sally,

I shall have to try the “Thus ends the listing of my sins” sometime. I am always looking for other responses than the ones that I give.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[Anathama_Sit]

Oh okay. I thought I was missing something like, “And thus ends the listing of my sins.”

Greetings TrueLigtht,

No you were not missing anything. You gave me an idea for an ending to my own Confessions now.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[jps23430]

Greetings Mrs Sally,

I shall have to try the “Thus ends the listing of my sins” sometime. I am always looking for other responses than the ones that I give.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

I always end with : “for these and all the sins which escape my mind, I ask forgiveness” I think this gets me covered. The only time it wouldn’t is if you were deliberately holding back on a specific sin because you didn’t want to say it.

 

[TrueLight]

I always end with : “for these and all the sins which escape my mind, I ask forgiveness” I think this gets me covered. The only time it wouldn’t is if you were deliberately holding back on a specific sin because you didn’t want to say it.

Ahh. That’s it. I said something similar at my first confession. I forgot about that.

 

[Anathama_Sit]

I always end with : “for these and all the sins which escape my mind, I ask forgiveness” I think this gets me covered. The only time it wouldn’t is if you were deliberately holding back on a specific sin because you didn’t want to say it.

Greetings Jps23430,

I will remember this by God’s grace next time I go to Confession, which is going to have to be soon. Maybe tomorrow.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[Bookcat]

We are obliged to confess all mortal sins in number and kind (adultery 2x, murder 4x, missing Mass all Sundays and Holy Days except Christmas for the last 20 years, perjury in court 2x etc) and if something changed the mortal sin…like it was your brother you murdered. God forgives the forgotten ones too (we need of course to be sorry for all our mortal sins…and amended)…then if we later remember one we forgot…we are to confess it in the next confession after we remember it. (this is different from if we intentionally hide a mortal sin…that is a sacrilege and one is not forgiven but has another sin to confess along with all the rest again)

Also we may not know the numbers …we do what we can…and if we do not know…we make an approximation…3-5x, 5-10 a month for the last 20 years, somewhere around 50 times, around 10x, or even if needed “many times”, “many many times” etc Depending on what we know.

 

[ermcma]

thanks all. I guess i could ask a priest. I guess Confession is hard to know if you are doing it right because it is sooooo priviate. And that is a GOOD thing. But, if you were going up to communion wrong (walking backwards or something) you would SEE what you are doing wrong…none of us have any idea how other people do confession and I think that is where the stress comes from…
Thanks

 

[Anathama_Sit]

thanks all. I guess i could ask a priest. I guess Confession is hard to know if you are doing it right because it is sooooo priviate. And that is a GOOD thing. But, if you were going up to communion wrong (walking backwards or something) you would SEE what you are doing wrong…none of us have any idea how other people do confession and I think that is where the stress comes from…
Thanks

Greetings Ermcma,

That is a great idea. The priest will be able to help you out.

Confession gets easier as you do it more often.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit

 

[puzzleannie]

What are you supposed to say when you’re finished listing your sins?

The priests always ask me, “Anything else?”.

if you say “for these and all the sins of my past life I am heartily sorry (not partly sorry, as our 2nd graders have been saying)” he will know you are finished.

I hate it when you dump all this heavy stuff and heave a sigh of relief and the priest says, “is that it?” like, it wasn’t enough for you, yah want me to invent something???

 

[Anathama_Sit]

if you say “for these and all the sins of my past life I am heartily sorry (not partly sorry, as our 2nd graders have been saying)” he will know you are finished.

I hate it when you dump all this heavy stuff and heave a sigh of relief and the priest says, “is that it?” like, it wasn’t enough for you, yah want me to invent something???

Greetings Puzzleannie,

I talked to my confessor and asked why priests always ask “Is that it” or “Anything else?”. The reason I did is because of this thread. He said it was because it is hard for priests to always know when the penitent is done listing sins. He says it is far better to ask these questions then to start to cut the penitent off and ask for an Act of Contrition. This made sense.

Knowing it from a priest’s point of view, I am more compassionate and understanding of why they do this. I would far rather them ask me “Anything else?” than cut me off when I was not finished.

I am also happy to report that I got to use the For these sins and all my other sins… line. It was most edifying to not stumble around in the dark for something to say to end my part of listing my sins. Thank you.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit