Notes in Confession

[LumenGloriae]

Thank you for your comments, Father.

If someone were to come into the confessional, had just confessed extremely recently, and read off an entire list in such rapid fire succession as to get through the list in as few seconds as absolutely possible, yes, it could raise a question or two or even several for the confessor about how the penitent understood the sacrament of reconciliation as an encounter with Christ and of actual metanoia…

This is certainly not my approach to Confession. In fact, one of the reasons I like having notes is so that I can focus on Jesus in the Tabernacle for the thirty minutes or so I spend in line, rather than having to rehearse my sins consistently. I confess my sins from my heart, and with a sincere desire to grow in holiness, and the notes are just there to make sure I’m not forgetting something obvious, which I’m prone to do. While I like to be efficient so as not to needlessly take up the time of the 20-30 penitents in line for one of our Confessors, and so as not to exhaust Father needlessly, I by no means am in a rush.

Regarding “notebooks:” yes, I do use a spiral pocket notebook, but after confession, I tear out the page I’d written on, and usually burn it. I certainly don’t keep a “sin diary.” The chances of misplacing the notebook while it has sins listed in it is about null.

 

[Reuben_J]

I’m a relatively new Catholic who goes to Confession rather frequently. I often make notes while examining my conscience, and I bring in those notes to Confession to help me remember my sins and, frankly, to make my confessions as succinct as possible. I try to only list my sins and how many times I committed them, and I rarely take more than 10 or 30 seconds in total.

Is there any reason for me to refrain from bringing notes to confession, and to rely entirely on my memory instead? Do some confessors view such lists as encouraging scrupulosity?

I would like to commend you for taking your Confession seriously. You are a dying breed and it is heartening to hear from someone who still does.

Please keep it up and continue to use your notes until such a times when you do not need them anymore. Memory can be very trying to some but your effort to counter it is surely a delight to God.

 

[GoGoDiego]

I always list my sins down for confession in a piece of paper. After confession, I throw it away.

 

[PraiseChrist]

Welcome to the Catholic Faith,

I hope enjoy the Catholic Faith, and pray that those who are in it may stay just there…

I usually write down the matter for confession, and bring in a list. It can be important if you may forget any mortal sin, of course. However, your confessions sound very frequent and may be only venial matters.

If you have a regular, learned, and holy confessor, that’s awesome, and very good. I hope you enjoy these first few months of conversion, and hope that you don’t develop scrupulosity, like some recently converted people do (myself included).

From what it sounds, your regular confessor, if he’s a good one, can assist you better than anyone else.

God bless always

 

[exnihilo]

I’m a relatively new Catholic who goes to Confession rather frequently. I often make notes while examining my conscience, and I bring in those notes to Confession to help me remember my sins and, frankly, to make my confessions as succinct as possible. I try to only list my sins and how many times I committed them, and I rarely take more than 10 or 30 seconds in total.

Is there any reason for me to refrain from bringing notes to confession, and to rely entirely on my memory instead? Do some confessors view such lists as encouraging scrupulosity?

I’m a convert of a year and I do the same. I make my notes on my phone. I use a shorthand for the sins. I delete the sins from the note after I confess. The note also has an act of contrition on it. I still get nervous confessing and am worried I might forget a sin or my act of contrition.

I don’t see anything wrong with using a note per se. Of course a list could be used by someone who is scrupulous or someone who doesn’t respect the repentance aspect of the sacrament. But that doesn’t make a note bad in itself.