Venial Sin confession

[ServusChristi]

Does anyone here frequently go to confession, even if only to confess venial sins? What graces have you obtained from the confession of venial sins?

I am also interested in hearing what sort of penances people do. What is most beneficial and how heavy should penance be?
God bless all of you,
Ryan

 

[Didi]

I try to go to confession about once a month, though I don’t always make it due to health reasons. I feel it is important to confess venial sins because every sin takes us a little farther away from Our Lord. Frequent confession makes us more mindful of all the ways we disobey God and helps us on our paths to holiness.

I have received many different penances; certain prayers, reading specific parts of Sacred Scripture, challenges to implement changes in my life. I have found them all helpful, but the most helpful to me, still, is going before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and asking reparation for my sins and the grace to do better. This is especially helpful to me when I meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, or the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Remembering all the suffering Christ endured for me makes me want to change and to try never to hurt Him or offend Him again.

 

[Trinitatem]

I believe confessing venial sins is important, although not required. Confession helps us to reconcile with our Father, and what Didi wrote about it is particularly beautiful.

I had one experience of God’s grace - I don’t know what type as there are different graces God bestows, through the sacrament of confession. I left the confessional and felt this warm aura of love envelop me for weeks. Nothing could bother me, nothing could affect me. Suddenly I realized how much confession is a sacrament of love, not just absolution for our sins. Sin, all sin, inluding venial turns us away from the Father. Like the prodigal son, we have to return and renew our loving bond, so we can have a beautiful relationship once again. I also believe through confession we receive strength to resist sin and keep ourselves turned toward the Father. The Pope attends confession once a week. Saints, like Saint Augustine would attend often as well. My guess is that they didn’t have numerous mortal sins, but most likely venial ones.

My most recent penances have not been penances of prayer, but of charity - and as tough sometimes as that is to perform, I believe it’s been a wonderful lesson in my holy education.

 

[system]

I go to weekly confession and do confess venial sins. My regular confessor was fairly clear with me early on that he believed I should be confessing them, although I’m sure it’s not required…but what good has come from it is he “knows my soul” far better than had I only gone to confess mortal/grave sins far less frequently.

It seems that the more venial “stuff” I get out, the closer I am getting to the root of what is causing me to sin so frequently and to be able to pray for strength and help with those particular flaws. Patterns start to emerge and you begin to see yourself and why you do certain things–like it can be tracked down to one, or two, or maybe a handful (LOL) of deep rooted defects (for lack of a better word).

JELane

 

[PiercedBySorrow]

I confess once a month, and I am thinking that I will start going more often. Yes confession does wipe away mortal sin, but it wipes away all sin. I haven’t committed a mortal sin in years, but still go to confession. Confession is a sacrament, just like the eucharist. You know, we only HAVE to have eucharist once a year, but why only go once when you NEED it? Same with confession. Confession gives you graces, it makes you stronger and it makes you less succeptable to sin. It helps overcome venial sins. You will no longer confess the same sins every week or month, because God will help you overcome them.

Do it, it is awesome, you will see and feel the graces in your life.

P.S. Do you know why we only have to receive Eucharist once a year??? It is because we only have to go to confession once a year, so the Church wants you to be clean when you receive the Eucharist, so if you receive every week, isn’t it just logical to go to confession more often. (yes we do have to go to mass every week)

 

[Didi]

I forgot to mention in my first post that I have heard many priests and theologians refer to reconciliation as going to a spiritual doctor to keep your soul healthy. If you go right away when your smaller symptoms first arrive, you will have a better chance of “recovery” than waiting until your symptoms are so serious that you are in danger of spiritual death. Makes sense to me!

 

[zeek]

A good reason to go to confession to confress venial sins is so that those, what we may think are small sins, will not in the future lead us to large sins. It makes us as followers of Christ more sensitive to our failures and to the offenses toward God, and ultimately helps us to be more willing to change. So confessing venial sins is highly recommended. In the CCC, correct me if I’m wrong, St. Augustine quoted sais that so many drops fill a river, a drop so small being multiplied can become so much, as the same with sin. So confessing venial sins is higly recommended and gives great humility and peace.

God Bless

 

[DrCat]

I try to go every two weeks and confess all sins (both mortal and venial). While strictly not necessary (only the mortal are necessary) I find that confessing my venial sins makes me realize just how much and where I need to improve. As another poster mentioned, my confessor knows me much better because of this, and can point out how I can overcome particular faults.

What graces have I received? I guess the greatest is that I find myself living a life closer to God. I watch my language, my actions, and find I have the strength to avoid venial sins that I would earlier never have thought twice about.

Penances? My confessor tries to fit the penance to the situation. I’ve had to meditate on specific mysteries of the Rosary related to what I had said in Confession, I’ve had to do an extra hour of adoration, I’ve had to recognize (for a week) every incident in the week that gave me a chance to offer a penance to Jesus (That was a hard one). I’ve been told to just sit in the church for five or ten minutes talking to Chirst in the Eucharist. I’ve been told to participate in a specific Mass (on special occasions).

John

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Didi - Re reconciliation as going to a spiritual doctor to keep your soul healthy I tell my RCIA classes that it is like going to the dentist. You only need to go when you have a rotten tooth that needs pulling. However, if you have regular checkups you will avoid having a rotten tooth that needs pulling.

 

[Lonevoice]

I go to confession whenever I feel the need. Usually this is every week or two, but during a spasm of REAL temptation and weakness on my part last year, it was nearly everyday.(Geez. Can you imagine what it was like to start with: “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It’s been one DAY since my last confession…”
I recognize the necessity of it, but it was still really hard to do. I eventually wrote it off to a lesson in humility(after I went to 5 or 6 other churches to confess).

I have to say that I beleive that Confession is God’s greatest gift to us. I know, the Eucharist is the GREATEST but without Confession, the latter won’t do anything for you.

JMHO