How Often Do You Go To Confession?

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EsclavoDeCristo:
I have heard that JPII went weekly. If he had sins to confess that often then how much more do we have!!!

I try to go weekly but sometimes drift off and wait 2 weeks (this is because I would be lost without it)!
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Not weekly daily.
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scared:
I am not doing well in this department at all, it was 17 years between baptism and first confession. Tried one time after, although it is suppose to be a great sacrament, when it scares the stuffing out of you, well you get the picture. I can only hope it won’t be another 17 years.
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I suggest just going as often as possible. Don’t wait especially if you fall into mortal sin. Don’t presume on God’s mercy.
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wjp984:
I usually go once a year but lately that has changed to a couple times a year since confession is offered at the retreats we go on at the Newman Center. The greater sin I probably committ is going to communion still even if I have mortal sins. However I don’t knowingly have them since I relaly am not good at knowing what is a mortal sin and what is not. However the hardest thing to do nowadays is not going to communion when you know you have a mortal sin. Everybody goes to communion nowadays so you just feel weird not going. Anyone who has the courage to not go to communion is a better person than most. When I missed a lot of masses just because I was mad for a while and then went to just one with my dad for Father’s Day, I still receieved communon knowing it was worng for me to do so. Thankfully I have since grown in faith again but I knew I had to both confesss not going to mass and being sacreligious and recieivng communion when I was not supposed to.
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It is not good to wait so long for confession. What you describe makes me wonder how well your conscious is formed. In such a case where you was in a state of ambiguity concerning sin it would be beneficial to your soul to begin scheduling confession at least once per month. This will help form your conscious and elp you increase in holiness.
 
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twiztedseraph:
My dear brother/sister, when you receive communion all grace is withdrawn, your petitions are delayed, and you build up time in Purgatory. Its basically the worst sin you can do next to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You’re basically eating you’re own damnation when you do that! Might I suggest with all love that you get a spiritual director? Its better to die a martyrs death than to profane the Sacrament of the Altar.
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I think you either just glanced at or misinterpreted my post. I was stating the obvious which is too few people go to confeson and too many people go to communion. I also said I was fully aware fo the severity of what I did and I confessed it. It is very hard to not go to communion since people think that you are either noncathoic or a relaly bad person. Not to menton that communion is the best part of the mass. It is relaly sad to have to miss it
 
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Lapsed:
What Lazer was getting at is that you are incorrect in calling these prayers Acts of Perfect Contriotion. The prayers themselves are called Acts of Contrition.

Perfect contrition is a description of the type of contrition needed for absolution. It is the necessary internal state of the sinner when making an Act of Contrition. I think Lazer is just trying to head off any confusion.
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I would of course never propose people putting off Confession by making an Act of Perfect Contrition, but it should be made in a very meditative manner straight after committing a mortal sin, and before seeking Confession as soon as possible.

Thank you Lazer and Lapsed for your help in clarifying this point further.

Pax,

DD
 
I go once per month. Sometimes twice per month. I heard Pope John Paul II went everyday!!! I’m sure I don’t see my sins yet as God sees them, in the light of the HOly Spirit. I hope to receive this grace though to be able to see the “little” ones more clearly also. I pray for that grace.

God Bless
 
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mosher:
Not weekly daily.

I suggest just going as often as possible. Don’t wait especially if you fall into mortal sin. Don’t presume on God’s mercy.

It is not good to wait so long for confession. What you describe makes me wonder how well your conscious is formed. In such a case where you was in a state of ambiguity concerning sin it would be beneficial to your soul to begin scheduling confession at least once per month. This will help form your conscious and elp you increase in holiness.
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you know, if I can convince some opther students to go with me that often which I probably can since I am really good at that, then that just might be possible. I just have been under the impression that you aren’t supposed to go that often.
 
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wjp984:
you know, if I can convince some opther students to go with me that often which I probably can since I am really good at that, then that just might be possible. I just have been under the impression that you aren’t supposed to go that often.
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Prior to the Second Vatican Council it was common practice to go once a week. I think at least once per month is a good start in the spiritual life.
 
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scared:
I am not doing well in this department at all, it was 17 years between baptism and first confession. Tried one time after, although it is suppose to be a great sacrament, when it scares the stuffing out of you, well you get the picture. I can only hope it won’t be another 17 years.

scared
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grin i know what you mean about it scaring the stuffing out of you. it’s worth it though. maybe make an appointment with your priest, or with a priest that a friend recommends as being particularly helpful in cofession, so they have a bit more time, and explain where you’re at and take it from there. Know that htere’s nothing you can say that a priest hasn’t heard before!
 
Balance said:
grin i know what you mean about it scaring the stuffing out of you. it’s worth it though. maybe make an appointment with your priest, or with a priest that a friend recommends as being particularly helpful in cofession, so they have a bit more time, and explain where you’re at and take it from there. Know that htere’s nothing you can say that a priest hasn’t heard before!
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I did the general confession with the priest, didn’t go well at all, oh and I thought they had heard it all before, HMMM I gave him a new one.

Well, it will probably be along time before the next time, unless I can muster lot more courage.

scared
 
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scared:
I did the general confession with the priest, didn’t go well at all, oh and I thought they had heard it all before, HMMM I gave him a new one.

Well, it will probably be along time before the next time, unless I can muster lot more courage.

scared
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I am sorry it didnt go well for you scared, try to remember that God is Love, and he knows your sins before you go to Confession, the Priest is merely a “go-between” between you and God.

It may help trying out a different Priest if you feel it didnt go well last time, but please do not stop for another 17yrs - remember the parable of the Prodigal son?

I would recommend regular confession (say once a month) - the “fear factor” will then fade away as you continue going to Confession.

DD
 
I hate going to confession. But I do it anyway, because I know I need it. I’m always paranoid going in, but I found something in The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Good Living (hilarous book, completely orthodox, highly recommended) that changed it:

Dentists are rarely fascinated by plaque.

I read that, and I thought… duh. I mentioned that to a priest I know and he said that’s exactly right. He said he’s heard “all kinds of crazy stuff” in the confessional, and nothing I could say would shock him. All the priests I’ve talked to said they almost always forget what people confess anyway.
 
I think I must have the opposite to scupulosity. I would go more than 3 or 4 times a year, but I have trouble thinking of anything to say even that often, unless I really blow it. I really don’t see how people go every month unless they are working on a particular besetting sin or something.
 
May I offer a few thoughts ? First of all, I don’t think anyone said anything factually incorrect in here so I’ll just rehash a few main points. We are obligated to go if we are aware of any guilt of any mortal sin. Venial sins are not REQUIRED to be confessed, as the grace incurred from the reception of the eucharist will cleanse us of that, but the Catechism “strongly encourages” us to confess our venial sins within the Sacrament.

In regard to perfect and imperfect contrition, the one poster was correct in stating that our state of contrition has to do with the condition of our heart, and only us and God know that. I would like to humbly interject that it is known more to God than to us. I think (personal opinion here…nothing more) that we as humans, especially under the influence of Satan, may be a little too prone into fooling ourselves into thinking that we are in a state of “perfect contrition”. Outside of the Sacrament, only perfect contrition will suffice for absolution. Imperfect contrition is not sufficient for absolution outside of the Sacrament, but inside the Sacrament imperfect contrition suffices. I would prefer not to leave the state of my soul in the hands of my own fallible, subjective analysis of the condition of my heart, and go to confession.

How often you “should” celebrate the sacrament I think is pretty much up to you. Father, I am going to ask for your (name removed by moderator)ut here. Would you ever suggest to someone that they suffer the sin of overscrupulousness if they came into your confessional every week for a quick confession of whatever venial sins they may have “racked up” during the week ? I would like to think (and I am ceretainly not a priest with any formal Seminary training) that is not being overly scrupulous but simply acknowledging our shortcomings in light of God’s glory and perfection.
 
I plan on going once every month or two. My priest also mentioned in RCIA that going every change of the season was a good rule of thumb but I’d prefer to go more often. I asked the Sister at my parish if she thought going every one to two months would be overkill and she said not at all.
 
I go once a month on a regular basis, however, I wouldn’t wait if I were guilty of mortal sin a week after having been to confession :eek:

Our parish has confession every Saturday and also on Thursday before First Friday, so that is when I go, then I am prepared for First Friday / First Saturday and I also know the last time I was at confession.

I also attend daily Mass, so that helps in keeping me focused and helps in avoiding serious sin. Certainly the venial sins stack up daily, hence I am so happy to be able to attend daily Mass. When I go to confession, I too ‘don’t know what to say’, it can be so difficult to see our faults and sins, especially the ‘little ones’. But that is what leads us to mortal sin. So if I am certain that I have not committed any mortal sins, I reflect on all my faults and failings that lead me to venial sin and even though I am under no obligation to confess them, I still go for the grace of the sacrament to help me correct those faults that separate me from God. Many times I find as I am telling the priest my faults and failings, other things come to mind that I had not thought about and suddenly it becomes easier.

It is a wonderful feeling to come out of confession ‘clean as a whistle’!
 
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