Screened or face to face confession?

[Mrs_Sally]

We have regular confessionals. I have done plenty of face to face confessions in the past. Either is fine with me. I would be confused if the priest asked if I was going to stay behind the curtain though in one of the convertible setups though.

 

[dshix]

Screen.

 

[opus101]

I prefer anonymous. It’s easier to believe I’m talking to Christ himself when I’m not looking directly at another person.

Same here. Years ago I always went face-to-face, but then I changed back to screened for this purpose. Also, when face-to-face, the priests tended to be a bit too familiar in behavior and somewhat chatty.

Wow! I’m kind of surprised he said what he did. It seems he’s coercing you to go face-to-face. I don’t know why he should mind one way or the other.

 

[R_C]

Screen. I don’t need to see the man (which may be deleterious) but to talk to the priest, for he acts by virtue of his priestly office in the person of Christ.

But I do not reject face-to-face confession if no other option is available.

 

[GangGreen]

Screen and only screen. Some churches have screens that you can see through, which kind of stinks, but some priests are good enough to face the other way the whole time.

 

[SecretaryMonday]

Screen, and for me it is just as humbling as face-to-face. The priest knows who I am anyway (I have a wierd little voice that’s easy to recognize) and he doesn’t need to see me to realize that I’m quaking.

 

[Cedars]

I like the old-fashioned confessional with the screen.

 

[Eric09]

I haven’t gone yet. Being baptized into the Church on the Easter Vigil. I’m slightly terrified of confession. But I’m thinking screen, at least in the beginning.

 

[StudentMI]

I haven’t gone yet. Being baptized into the Church on the Easter Vigil. I’m slightly terrified of confession. But I’m thinking screen, at least in the beginning.

Don’t be scared. I was kind of scared the first time. The priest I went to is known as a conservative, from what I’d heard, and I was worried. It went great, and there was an almost physical sensation of weight being lifted when he said the absolution.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I haven’t gone yet. Being baptized into the Church on the Easter Vigil. I’m slightly terrified of confession. But I’m thinking screen, at least in the beginning.

I think it’s natural to be at least a little scared by something completely new. With other sacraments, you’ve seen people receive them and you’ve seen what happened. You’ve watched babies being baptized. You’ve seen people get married. You’ve seen people receive communion. But Reconciliation is a big mystery. Even if you’ve seen people in line for confession, you’ve never had any experience of it. You’ll find that it’s not nearly as scary as it may be built up in your mind.

 

[InThePew]

I haven’t gone yet. Being baptized into the Church on the Easter Vigil. I’m slightly terrified of confession. But I’m thinking screen, at least in the beginning.

Fear is natural - after all it’s never easy to admit that we’ve stuffed up. That said, whatever fears I felt in the past before confession have never been realised. Just let the priest guide you and you’ll be fine. If you think it will help then go anonymously.

 

[JerrySeibert]

I go face-to-face. I think going behind the screen feels like “hiding.” I like to get my sins out in the open. If I was brave enough to commit the sin, then I’m brave enough to confess it in the light.

I agree. I wonder though what it would be like to confess in the ‘confessional boxes’ I see in the Cathedral. At my parish we have a room, you can choose to stay behind the screen or sit in a chair and confess face to face. Face to face is my choice but not sure if it is right, or wrong. I feel it gives accountability as my Priest will challenge me, not chastise me but challenge me…grow closer to God and ask him for strength to fight this temptation or that etc.

 

[JimG]

I agree. I wonder though what it would be like to confess in the ‘confessional boxes’ I see in the Cathedral. At my parish we have a room, you can choose to stay behind the screen or sit in a chair and confess face to face. Face to face is my choice but not sure if it is right, or wrong. I feel it gives accountability as my Priest will challenge me, not chastise me but challenge me…grow closer to God and ask him for strength to fight this temptation or that etc.

The ‘confession boxes’ at my parish are fine. They are roomy, well lit, and provide for total anonymity. One other thing: when using the confessional box rather than face to face, the confessions seem shorter, because they discourage chattiness, I suppose. And that’s a plus, when the lines are long.

 

[mburn16]

screen, only…and actually at a parish closer than my regular one. I don’t think its so much trying to hide from my sins…after all, God already knows what they are and who committed them, but, as others have said, its far easier to see it as a spiritual rather than personal experience. When I go to confession, I am there to ask forgiveness from God and to receive absolution and penance. I am not there to have a discussion with the Priest about what I have done.

If I needed legitimate spiritual direction relating to a specific issue, I’d ask to sit down and talk with a Priest, but confession for me is something separate.

(and for what its worth, I agree about the screens you can see through - I once talked into a confessional and found I could have read the tags on the Priest’s robe…whats the point of the screen? )

 

[babochka]

, its far easier to see it as a spiritual rather than personal experience. When I go to confession, I am there to ask forgiveness from God and to receive absolution and penance. I am not there to have a discussion with the Priest about what I have done.

I prefer face-to-face, but I don’t mind the screen.

Whether face-to-face or behind a screen, isn’t confession meant to be a personal experience? Isn’t that why God has given us confession? Otherwise, we could just go to God directly for forgiveness. In God’s infinite understanding of the human condition, he realizes that we need the human component and the “personal experience”.

 

[johnmann]

I’ve grown to value my privacy so prefer the screen but I don’t like how my face is uncomfortably close to the priest’s. I guess it’s so people can whisper. But with confessional rooms, there’s no need. It would be nice if there was a seat on both sides of the screen so I can do face-to-face with a screen. Best of both worlds.

 

[mcmitton]

I rather like face-to-face because it reminds me of apostolic succession.

To wit, to look into the eyes of the priest and know that his eyes have looked into older eyes, those in kind have looked into older eyes… until there is one in the unbroken chain during history who looked into the eyes of Christ himself.

 

[SecretaryMonday]

I rather like face-to-face because it reminds me of apostolic succession.

To wit, to look into the eyes of the priest and know that his eyes have looked into older eyes, those in kind have looked into older eyes… until there is one in the unbroken chain during history who looked into the eyes of Christ himself.

Very cool.

 

[Joy2day]

Definitely screened; or at least until I do it a lot more. I once went to confession with a local parish priest who grumped through my confession, implying that my sins were worse than they were and then afterwards gave me filthy scolding looks outside and wouldn’t even say hello - basically weird. So strange, that indeed if I were face to face with such a priest it might well become rather hostile - so the screen seems to be the go.

 

[Aran_Houlihan]

I used to think that if I really felt the need to confess behind the screen, those were the times I needed to show “humility” and confess face to face. Now my pendulum is swinging the other way and now confessing anonymously makes it feel more like I’m confessing to Christ himself instead of to the priest. I know my priest knows who I am by my voice, but my focus is more coming clean with Christ instead of wondering what my priest is thinking about what I’m saying, and I feel like I make a better confession.

I know some church have reconciliation service where you go up and say one thing what is on your mid and i fill that is is rushed that is why i prefer to go in the confession box and take my time and not fell rushed and its traditional.

: In nomine Patris, + et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Introibo ad altare Dei. R: Ad deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.