My first confession

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sashland

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Before I join the church on Holy Thursday, I have to do my first confession. I am nervous about it. I obviously can’t recall all my sins from the past 39 years, but have certain sins from my past that haunt me. I have a particular sin that I’ve battled my entire life and somebody suggested discussing that with my priest. Any suggestions? I figure that after my first confession, if I forgot to mention something, I can bring it up in subsequent confessions.
 
sashland said:
Before I join the church on Holy Thursday, I have to do my first confession. I am nervous about it. I obviously can’t recall all my sins from the past 39 years, but have certain sins from my past that haunt me. I have a particular sin that I’ve battled my entire life and somebody suggested discussing that with my priest. Any suggestions? I figure that after my first confession, if I forgot to mention something, I can bring it up in subsequent confessions.
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(If sins had an odor, the confessional after my first confession would have smelled like the worst sewer - when I converted 16 years ago)

:signofcross: Heavenly Father, we pray for sashland for wisdom and guidance for his first confession; help him to do a thorough examination of conscience; surround him with Your discernment and your Holy Spirit; and deep inside give him your perfect peace and an excitement for this healing Sacrament. :amen:
 
There are some smart phone apps that can help you through the process. It flagged some things for me that I had not considered.
 
sashland said:
Before I join the church on Holy Thursday, I have to do my first confession. I am nervous about it. I obviously can’t recall all my sins from the past 39 years, but have certain sins from my past that haunt me. I have a particular sin that I’ve battled my entire life and somebody suggested discussing that with my priest. Any suggestions? I figure that after my first confession, if I forgot to mention something, I can bring it up in subsequent confessions.
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I was in a very similar situation when I came back to the Church. My family had stopped attending Mass shortly after my First Communion so I had to confess all my sins from second grade to 30 yrs old. I too had one sin that haunted me. My advice, lead with the most embarrassing / hardest to confess sins first, then the rest is all downhill. You’ll be forgiven all your sins, even the ones you honestly forget, but you can go back later and mention those as they occur to you. My wife is coming in the Church this Easter and is preparing her first confession too. She is thinking about using the MEA CULPA app from I-tunes (it’s free). You might check that out.

Pax Christi.
 
Try to confess all the sins that you can, including the sin that is troubling you. I was baptized last year (2013), and had to do the same (First Confession). Of course I was ignorant at the time and confessed only one sin that I committed that day. I highly encourage you to confess all your sins. You obviously will not get absolved, since you’re not yet baptized, but the priest will give you advice. And remember, baptism will clean you of the Original sin and all your sins.
Welcome to the Church! I will pray for you.
 
sashland said:
Before I join the church on Holy Thursday, I have to do my first confession. I am nervous about it. I obviously can’t recall all my sins from the past 39 years, but have certain sins from my past that haunt me. I have a particular sin that I’ve battled my entire life and somebody suggested discussing that with my priest. Any suggestions? I figure that after my first confession, if I forgot to mention something, I can bring it up in subsequent confessions.
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Hi Sashland, firstly you have all of my prayers as you head towards your confirmation, I hope you really enjoy it.

Do try to remember as much as you can, sometimes we can all forget things and God knows when we confess if we are truly repentant or not. I always end with something like … and please forgive me for any other offences or sins that I have forgotton.

Also come back and tell us how you feel after your first confession, I’m always interested to hear about peoples individual feelings afterwards.

God bless. BE:gopray2:
 
@Miguelmdza- I’m confused by your post. You said you were baptized last year and had to go through first confession. How difficult can it be to remember all the sins you committed since your baptism? Anything that came before doesn’t count. Those were already forgiven by baptism. I am wondering if you were obsessing about sins from which you were already absolved or did you receive some well meaning but bad advise. A person who has not been baptized doesn’t need to go to confession before being received into the church. Baptism takes care of it all. Confession begins after baptism.
 
Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio,
contra nequitiam
et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus,
supplices deprecamur:
tuque,
Princeps militiae caelestis,
Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum
pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute,
in infernum detrude. Amen.
 
Eternal God , in whom mercy is endless,
and the treasury of compassion inexhastible ,
look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us ,
that in difficult moments we might not despair
nor become despondent , but with great confidence ,
submit ourselves to Your Holy Will ,
which is love and mercy itself . Amen

Memorare (Prayer to Our Lady)
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen
 
When I came back into the Church and went to Confession for the first time in many, many years, I wrote a list of all the mortal sins I knew I had committed during that time. When I finished reading my list off, I said as an ending, “for these and all the sins of my life, I am most heartily sorry.” This statement will encompass any sins you had forgotten to write down or didn’t think to add to the list at that time.

Prayer before Confession:

Receive my confession, O most loving and gracious Lord Jesus Christ, only hope for the salvation of my soul. Grant to me true contrition of soul, so that day and night I may by penance make satisfaction for my many sins. Savior of the world, O good Jesus, Who gave Yourself to the death of the Cross to save sinners, look upon me, most wretched of all sinners; have pity on me, and give me the light to know my sins, true sorrow for them, and a firm purpose of never committing them again.

O gracious Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of Jesus, I implore you to obtain for me by your powerful intercession these graces from your Divine Son.
St. Joseph, pray for us!
St. Gerard, pray for us!
Amen.
 
Thank you to everybody who responded to my post. I appreciate all your prayers, testimonies, and comments.
 
Saint Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil, may God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do you, O’ Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God thrust into Hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls.

Amen.

†

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

†

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

†
 
sashland said:
Before I join the church on Holy Thursday, I have to do my first confession. I am nervous about it. I obviously can’t recall all my sins from the past 39 years, but have certain sins from my past that haunt me. I have a particular sin that I’ve battled my entire life and somebody suggested discussing that with my priest. Any suggestions? I figure that after my first confession, if I forgot to mention something, I can bring it up in subsequent confessions.
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Welcome home. Don’t worry. You will not be telling the Priest anything he has not heard before. Discuss whatever you wish with him, that’s what the Sacrament of Reconciliation is all about. Remember, whatever your sins; God in his infinite mercy & love welcomes you back. God bless. I’ll be praying for you.
 
Been there! Over 40 years of some wild sins. I knew they were bad because the priest was sweating. Time ran out. I had to go back for a 2nd confession the next week. I sat down with a list of the 10 commandments, a big note pad, and asked the Holy Spirit for help. I was led to a audio of

Fr. Larry Richards - Confession

worth every second of listening time.

The Priest and I got through and over that. Then the Holy Spirit told me, “That was a good Confession! But your Contrition was lacking! Go Back And Give It From The Heart!”. I was lead to this,

***Forgive me my sins, O Lord, forgive me my sins;
the sins of my youth, the sins of my age, the sins of my soul,
the sins of my body; my idle sins, my serious voluntary sins;
the sins I know, the sins I do not know; the sins I have concealed
for so long, and which are now hidden from my memory.

I am truly sorry for every sin, mortal and venial,
for all the sins of my childhood up to the present hour.
I know my sins have wounded your Sacred Heart,

O my Savior, let me be freed from the bonds of evil
through your most bitter Passion, my Redeemer. Amen.***

It took 2 years after that confession before I was able to receive Communion last Palm Sunday. Worth every second of the remainder of my Mortal Life!

God Loves You! You are the lost sheep he wants back!

***Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death
Amen.

:crossrc:***
 
sscott said:
@Miguelmdza- I’m confused by your post. You said you were baptized last year and had to go through first confession. How difficult can it be to remember all the sins you committed since your baptism? Anything that came before doesn’t count. Those were already forgiven by baptism. I am wondering if you were obsessing about sins from which you were already absolved or did you receive some well meaning but bad advise. A person who has not been baptized doesn’t need to go to confession before being received into the church. Baptism takes care of it all. Confession begins after baptism.
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I agree - this was confusing. Perhaps it was a conditional baptism situation that made the poster confused?
 
You might want to have a talk with your priest about what he is planning for your confession. I thought, from reading this forum, that I could go anywhere I wanted, only to then find out that my Pastor wanted us to confess at our parish, and I wasn’t comfortable with the choices that he gave. I had been planning to go to a local shrine and confess there with one of the friars. Once I outlined my reasoning and my desires to my priest, he was fine with it. But I mention it in case you are thinking about going elsewhere for confession.

I prayed for months for the Lord to send me to the right confessor. I finally decided I wanted to go to the Shrine of St. Rita, as she had been of so much help to me, I felt a real connection to her, and she is the Patron Saint of Reconciliation. Everyone said to me that I would feel such a weight lifted off my shoulders when I left the confessional. It wasn’t that way immediately (especially since I emerged from the confessional to hear my car alarm going off), but I will tell you that the things that come up over and over again for me are things that I clearly confessed that day, and I know that I have done a good confession and received absolution for those sins. It’s a wonderful feeling. The priest who heard my confession was older - ordained I think in the early 60s. He really took his time with me, like I think the older priests tend to do, and I am so thankful for that day.

One thing to keep in mind is that, at this time of the year, the priests are sooooo tired and busy hearing confessions. You might want to see if you can schedule an appointment or seek out a place where there will be less people waiting (so the priest doesn’t feel so rushed).

Ask Padre Pio to help lead you to the right confessor and ask him to pray for you to make a good confession. There are guides online that are helpful. Sometimes there are pamphlets put out in the churches that will help you do an examination of conscience. It might help if you write down everything you want to say the way you want to say it ahead of time. You will be nervous. Let the priest know it is your first confession and that you might need guidance. Also, don’t be shy to tell them there is more if they cut you off (this has happened to me a few times - the priest gave me advice and t thought I was done when I wasn’t - LOL!)

Good luck! And welcome!
 
sscott said:
@Miguelmdza- I’m confused by your post. You said you were baptized last year and had to go through first confession. How difficult can it be to remember all the sins you committed since your baptism? Anything that came before doesn’t count. Those were already forgiven by baptism. I am wondering if you were obsessing about sins from which you were already absolved or did you receive some well meaning but bad advise. A person who has not been baptized doesn’t need to go to confession before being received into the church. Baptism takes care of it all. Confession begins after baptism.
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You are correct. But in my parish, they had all the people who were going to be baptized confess their sins in Confession, although we did not get absolved. I believe it was to experience Confession before baptism. I believe that some priests allow people who will be baptized in the Easter Vigil to confess before baptism just so see how Confession is. The person will obviously not get absolved. I myself only received a blessing. Since the poster stated that he/she will be joining the church, I assume that the poster is not yet baptised. Since the poster is not yet baptised, the poster will likely be baptised on the Easter Vigil, as I was.
 
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