Nervous about going to confession?

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CatholicZ09

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Okay, so tonight my mom and I are going to church to listen to a guest speaker speak on the topic of “The Art of Forgiveness.” After the speaker is finished, there are going to be priests on hand for Confession. I haven’t been to Confession for 3 years and feel as if I need to go. How can I stop being so nervous? Also, I’m afraid if I’ll forget the Act of Contrition because my Aunt told me she forget a part of it and the priest yelled at her. Help me, I don’t want to get yelled at, lol!
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so tonight my mom and I are going to church to listen to a guest speaker speak on the topic of “The Art of Forgiveness.” After the speaker is finished, there are going to be priests on hand for Confession. I haven’t been to Confession for 3 years and feel as if I need to go. How can I stop being so nervous? Also, I’m afraid if I’ll forget the Act of Contrition because my Aunt told me she forget a part of it and the priest yelled at her. Help me, I don’t want to get yelled at, lol!
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my confessor usually helps me whenever I get stuck during the Act of Contrition. you probably can find one online that you can use.
 
Just be honest with the priest. Tell him you’re nervous and need his help.

Don’t worry about the Act of Contrition. There are many forms of it or you can make up your own.

I remember once in confession when I had a total brain freeze. I started to say the Act of Contrition and got as far as “O, my God…” and I couldn’t remember what came next. I started it about three times and the words just weren’t there. Finally the priest said to just say what was in my heart and I did.

Any priest who would yell at someone in confession shouldn’t be hearing confessions.
 
Please do not be nervous. The priest will help you through it, especially once you say that it’s been awhile since you were last at confession.

You should look online for an examination of conscience to help you prepare. Many are based on the 10 commandments with specific questions to help you think through what you may have done or not done. You can find an Act of Contrition online also. (Or in most prayer books if you have one at home.) It is OK to make a few notes to bring with you, you can even read the prayers from your printout or book. (In my parish, there is an Act of Contrition and a few simple directions pinned to the wall in each confessional. It’s there for the kids, but it’s OK for us to use too!)

When you list your sins, always start with the most serious. Don’t feel you need to go into tons of details though, the priest will ask for any more info he needs. End with something like “For these and all my sins I am sorry”. Don’t panic if you realize afterward that you forgot something. Absolution covers all your sins unless you deliberately left something out.

Finally, try to get back into a habit of going to confession regularly. Every month seems to be a good timeframe–often enough that you don’t completely forget, but not so often that you fall into problems with scrupulosity.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so tonight my mom and I are going to church to listen to a guest speaker speak on the topic of “The Art of Forgiveness.” After the speaker is finished, there are going to be priests on hand for Confession. I haven’t been to Confession for 3 years and feel as if I need to go. How can I stop being so nervous? Also, I’m afraid if I’ll forget the Act of Contrition because my Aunt told me she forget a part of it and the priest yelled at her. Help me, I don’t want to get yelled at, lol!
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well your aunt is not helpful on this topic so ignore what she says about her own experience. take a printed copy of the act of contrition if you are worried. we supply them outside the confession in our parish.

If instead of a guest speaker your parish bulletin said “Jesus will be in our parish Thursday night offering forgiveness” would you go? It is Jesus you are meeting in this sacrament, how could one possibly be nervous about being in the presence of Divine Mercy?

Go in the confessional or room set aside, you may kneel or sit facing the priest, your choice, simply say "It has been about 3 years since my last confession and I am very nervous. My sins are: list them in kind and number (or frequency) this is not a math test, just an idea of how much of a problem this sin has been for you. Just use nouns and verbs, if the priest wants more detail he will ask. Even if you broke everyone of the 10 commandments it should still take no more than a minute or 2 to list them. Then you say “for these and for all the sins of my past life I am very sorry.” This way the priest knows you have finished. He will take it from there. He may ask you to say the act of contrition then, or during the service penitents may be advised that they may say it after confession, when they do their penance. He may give you some advice, and he will give you absolution and bless you and wish you peace.
 
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