Spiritual Direction in the Confessional

[Redbaron998]

I was reading the Diary of St. Faustina and have been surprised at how her confessions went. She would while in the confessional ask for spiritual dicrection such as permission to take on a penance of asking questions about some matter. Is this appropiate to do in the confessional?

I have always seen it done that you went in, did your confessionals, they talked to you then gave absolution then you left.

If it is appropiate at what time during the confession should it be done? (during your confession or after absolution)

Im a convert and didnt have any formal teaching on the sacrement except reading the Cathechism.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

Well…I usually get guidance in the confessional…about how to avoid sins that I have confessed. I also ask questions about if something is a sin. It helps me to avoid the sins that I keep having to confess.

 

[stuart12]

Confession should really be for just that…plus absolution. If you need to ask about something, please do so. However, you may undergo more in depth ‘spiritual direction’ if you are the only one in the queue or you have asked for a private appointment for the sacrament of penance.

 

[DebChris]

Many lives of the saints talk about the saint having a confessor. The description of the confessor would be what we today would call a spiritual director. Having no other basis, then that the term confessor is used, it is my understanding that they received spiritual direction as part of their individual confession. The confessor may, for instance, tell the saint to keep a journal. Therese de Lisieux writes in her Autobiography of a Soul of seeking permission to receive Communion while in the confessional.
I have received spiritual direction as part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It may be a question that is bothering me before Confession, or a question that arises while in the confessional. For more in depth spiritual direction, I did have a spiritual director that I saw on a regular basis.
One day when I went to confession for what I thought would be a quick in and out, I think I had the longest confession of my life. It is generally the priest who initiates, as in this case, the interaction that leads to a deeper examination of personal life circumstances. The priest can ask some very probing questions. No, nobody else was in line. Other times, when I thought I would be in confession for some time, I would be surprised by how quickly I was in and out.

 

[acadian]

I have, on occasion, gotten a little spiritual direction during confession. There is rarely anyone after me, and my priest doesn’t seem to mind. Sometimes the question comes up as I’m confessing my sins, or sometimes after I’ve finished saying my sins, I will mention that I have a question. From there, he will go into any advice/counsel/spiritual direction that he may be led to offer.

It is amazing how quickly he can cut through the garbage and point me in the right direction.

 

[puzzleannie]

I was reading the Diary of St. Faustina and have been surprised at how her confessions went. She would while in the confessional ask for spiritual dicrection such as permission to take on a penance of asking questions about some matter. Is this appropiate to do in the confessional?

.

she presumably was following the practice of her order in relation to the confessor and perhaps they were supposed to receive their spiritual direction at the same time. In any case someone experiencing the alleged supernatural experiences she reported is bound to relate them first to their confessor, so she was right and proper in so doing.