Help with Confession

[kayla]

I just returned to the catholic church after many years…I’m glad I found catholic answers…it’s been such a learning curve for me. Sometimes I feel like I have to start all over again.
As I remember…one would enter the confessional by making the sign of hte cross and say: bless me father for I have sinned, it’s been ____ since my last confession…then hope he doesn’t faint
Does anyone have some added advice to help this process along?
I have been back to confession a few times…but wonder if I’m going about this the right way

 

[dhgray]

kayla,
Welcome Back. My only advice is to talk straight from the heart. The Priest is there to help you reconcile with God.
I look forward to posting with you.

 

[StacyS]

Kayla,
I have been in your shoes!! In fact, quite recently! It had been 6 years since my last confession, and 14 years before that one!

I found a website on how to make a good confession. Printed out all the info. Read it, sweated about it, prayed about it, cried over it. You name it. I took it with me to church that afternoon, read it in the parking lot!!! I went in, waited in line…prayed it would be over, soon. Went into the confessional, and messed it all up. However, when I got past the hard part, the first thing the priest said to me was that it was obvious that I had prepared carefully for my confession.

So…don’t sweat it!!! The important part is to thoughtfully, and prayerfully confess!

Good Luck, and Welcome back! Ain’t it great!?

 

[Charlemagne]

Be bold - Be brief - Be gone. That’s the three B’s of Confession. Just tell the Priest what you’ve done as directly as possible. Don’t sugarcoat it or beat around the bush, just say it. Unless you’re confessing to a newly ordained (or nearly newly ordained) Priest, he’ll have heard anything you could possibly have done many times before. I usually say “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been X weeks since my last confession. In that time, I have…(here, I state my sins).” After my sins: “I am sorry for these and all my sins.” The Priest may offer some advice and he will give you a Penance. Then you say an Act of Contrition and he absolves you of your sins. You should end by saying “thank you, Father.” Then say your Penance. I always add extra prayers for the Priest who heard my confession and in thanksgiving for the Sacraments. It’s great to do this before the tabernacle, since you’re soul is so fresh and clean!

 

[Toni]

Charlemagne:

Be bold - Be brief - Be gone. That’s the three B’s of Confession. Just tell the Priest what you’ve done as directly as possible. Don’t sugarcoat it or beat around the bush, just say it.

Great advice I am going to write that in memory! Also many priests today don’t always follow the old format of confession. So go with the heart and remember those three B’s.

 

[Forgiven]

Welcome home, Kayla!

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I think that the more you go to Confession the more comfortable you will feel with confessing. This is how it was for me, though I still get a little anxious from time to time…mostly out of shame before the priest and Our Lord…but the advice to be bold, be brief and be gone is excellent! That poster has that right for sure! There is usually a line outside the confessional and the priest has to hear everyone so to drag it out is simply impolite! or to expect a lengthy counselling session is unrealistic as well, unless one makes a special private appointment for confession with the priest. Nonetheless, I have received some of the best brief counselling ever in the confessional! and it has helped me grow so much spiritually and emotionally, and brought me so much closer to Our Lord. It is a fantastic Sacrament and I feel so blessed to be Catholic and have access to it. And penance has truly helped in my spiritual growth as well, of course. It is profound and so very meaningful to me, and with each Confession, Kayla, it comes to mean more and more. God bless and may Our Lord continue to guide you in your confessions.

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Geraldine