Where Have All The Confession Boxes Gone?

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PJM,
Please read the whole thread. The OP has already clarified that message.

Also note: She & I are in the same parish. Please read my last post just above yours, concerning confession appointment!

JUST ONCE, what we would like to hear is a homily on confession & sin. And a non abusive Mass!

it is a VERY happy-clappy-hand holding-kissy kissy hand waving-protestant singing parish!
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I have read the whole thread & I can sympathize with you & your friend. I live in a city of approximately 75,000 people. We have 6 Catholic parishes & only one of them has a confessional. I have been to “penance services” where the whole congregation just calls to mind their sins & are given absolution as a group???😦
I’ve been to confession face-to-face in a “reconciliation room”.
Neither of these experiences was conducive to the solace & comfort I feel when I privately, with deliberation, tell my sins to God through a priest. Never once during face-to-face Confession was I given counsel & encouragement…nor did I feel a deep union with Christ. I now go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation at my new parish that offers the Latin Mass. I will stand in line for hrs., rather than go face-to-face to Father Gene who plays golf with my husband & had too much to drink at last year’s fish fry.

I have yet to stand for “hours”, but the line is long since most people in the city…regardless of parish…come here for Confession. The Sacrament is offered daily before the 8 AM Mass & starts at noon on Sat. for those who must come during their lunch hour. It continues until Father must leave to prepare for the Vigil Mass. My parish has only one priest & believe me, we try very hard to take good care of him.

BTW. I know the Latin Mass people for there is only one Latin Mass offered in this city. They do participate in the Sacrament of Confession regularly. The OF people…not so much.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is so sadly misunderstood and underused in today’s world. It is one of the most glorious treasures that Christ left for us. Even secular psychiatrists will admit that &, if one’s priest isn’t explaining this to the laity, during homilies, he is leaving out an important part of his vocation.
 
ONE CAN NOT JUDGE THE CHURCH BY WORLDLY STANDARDS EXERCISED BY SOME HUMANS. Remember, priests are also humans. They make mistakes. They will be judged by God and shouldn’t be judged by us, as we will be judged by God, and not by our fellow humans.

There are many many more good Catholic priests than there are those who seem to be lacking in their duties. I am very happy with my church, including the homilies given and the hearing of confessions. It is sad that not all of us can have tbe best churches, priests, etc. But what we can do is to do our best in finding a church or priest that suits our Christian needs. This may not always be possible and we will just have to pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and should treat each other with respect, after all, we are all adopted children of God, are we not?

May God bless all of you who are having difficult times in finding your expectations of what a church should teach, how it should operate, and how best the clergy may be used to satisfy your Christian needs.
 
My first confession was during my RCIA retreat.

When I went to my first “typical” confession on my own, however, I was at first bummed out because the lines were so long (two priests hearing confessions from 4pm to 5pm on Saturdays). But after reading some of this thread, I’m encouraged by the long lines!
 
Wow…I frequent the sacrament of confession. I need it! 🙂

I always face the priest. The option is to be behind a curtain or sit there face to face. I’m facing the priest. I mean face to face. I’m facing the priest persona Christi! Quite humbling. Especially when you always go to the same priest. It makes me think very hard about how many times I want to face Christ to confess the same sins. Over and over again in my life. It’s a very spiritual experience. I’m not knocking people that rather be in private…but think about it. There you are confession to the priest. Wide open. That’s how Christ sees it. Wide open. There are no tiny little confessionals where you can feel secure in hiding your identity.
 
Ockham said:
I don’t doubt your need for Confession after reading statements like that.
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You can be thankful that you don’t need it. It’s kind of like the proud man who prayed out loud and looked proudly toward heaven that he wasn’t like the sinner that hid his head because of his shame. You’re on the right track! 😃
 
What makes you think I don’t need Confession?

BTW, are you going to reply to the email you send me?
 
I’m glad you feel that way about open confession, Canadiangoose, but the Holy See has insisted that the two options be universally available, so one isn’t superior to the other in every case.

Also, the choice between open and closed is often a little different than you made it seem - this past weekend, the choice for me was between having my confession heard in a confessional, or having it heard at the front of the very small chapel, right there in the open. I chose the confessional because anyone with even moderately good hearing could hear most of what was being said by both penitent and priest at the open confessional…the Lord only requires so much from us!
 
My parish offers confessions on Sat from 330-430PM and always in the church confessionals or can be done by appointment. During Lent and Advent ample time for confession was offered, including all day Sat before Christmas and Easter and several evenings before the holidays. The confessional boxes offer face to face or behind the screen. The priests at my parish are very traditional and frequently talk about sin and the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation and don’t shy away from controversial topics. Wed evening after Tennebrae confessions were heard and the lines were almost out the door. Regular Saturday confessions - always a steady line.

Some of the new parishes in my area do not have the traditional confessionals and some only offer confession by appointment - so much for anominity. Also in many - no extra confession times offered during Lent and Advent at these parishes - except for the communal penance service.

I returned to the church last year after a lengthy absence and at the strong encouragement of others, made an appointment for confession, which of course was in the priest’s office and face to face. I had only been to confession the old fashioned way. The priest could not have been any more patient, supportive or kinder. Afterwards I wondered what I was so anxious about. I have went to confession since every 2-3 months but I still cannot go face to face again. I prefer the confessional behind the screen. A couple times I went to the cathedral where confessions are heard three times a day and always in the confessional.
 
HolySpirit08 said:
I’m so upset. I drove all the way into the city to go to Confession at another parish since my own offers Confessions every other week only to have the priest not show. I left after waiting almost a half hour (6 min short of the end of the Confession half hour time limit). I called the church office, (Immaculate Conception on Kauai) to confirm that confession is offered between 4 and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The priest, God bless him, answered the phone and asked if I’d been to the rectory and if I’d rang the doorbell. Expecting that confessions would be heard in the church in a confession box , I said no. I was so upset and disappointed.

What the heck has happened to this sacrament, anyway? Our own parish does not encourage or even remind people to go to confession prior to receiving Communion when they are guilty of mortal sin.

I am very discouraged.
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We still have them in all the churches in the Chicago area and surrounding suburbs. Maybe they came here!
 
I attend an EF Mass (Immaculate Conception Fitchburg) at 8 AM, we have confession from about 7:15 to 7:45 AM and usually both our priest and the pastor man the 2 confessionals and there is often a line.

One thing I suspect is that now that people often have to drive some distance to church, as opposed to the days when many Catholics lived in city neighborhoods and walked a couple of blocks to go to the local parish, it was easier to go to a Saturday afternoon confession, now it might require a 20-30 minute drive so people are less likely to go to the trouble. For us, having it before Mass on Sunday is more convenient. Perhaps more churches should try it.
 
HolySpirit08 said:
I’m so upset. I drove all the way into the city to go to Confession at another parish since my own offers Confessions every other week only to have the priest not show. I left after waiting almost a half hour (6 min short of the end of the Confession half hour time limit). I called the church office, (Immaculate Conception on Kauai) to confirm that confession is offered between 4 and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The priest, God bless him, answered the phone and asked if I’d been to the rectory and if I’d rang the doorbell. Expecting that confessions would be heard in the church in a confession box , I said no. I was so upset and disappointed.

What the heck has happened to this sacrament, anyway? Our own parish does not encourage or even remind people to go to confession prior to receiving Communion when they are guilty of mortal sin.

I am very discouraged.
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Same here, I never hear them preaching about it either, they cleverly devise homilys that are almost secular in a way and avoid preaching and taking us back to confession and to a realisation of the importance on the Eucharist. its a sad reality but I’m sure there are many good parishes that do tell it like it is.

Pax Christi
Stephen <3
 
sneakers said:
I went to St. Boniface Church in Pittsburgh, Pa this past Sunday. (a rare treat!) The confessionals are there and put to good use. There was a line all the way to the door. All waiting to go to confession. It’s that way every time I go to mass there! I much prefer going to confession in the confessional than face-to-face!
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It is such a treat! Thanks be to God that will be my home parish in a few months :extrahappy:!! (It seems like St. Boniface is that one in a million parish that people all over this forum seem to know about for some reason :))

To be honest, my second ever confession, the best one I have ever made, was made out in the open (outside!) sitting face to face on foldy chairs. Now that I know better, I will kneel next time I’m in this situation. It is unfair to minimalize the sacrament like this. My diocese seems to pride itself in being ‘trendy,’ that can be the only explanation for what they do. But thank God, I’m moving soon, and can go to confession any day of the week in a real live confessional. (which I’ve never actually been in! Always rooms with a screen/kneeler thing)

A good priest yesterday at the Latin Mass spoke of how people say that we don’t need confession anymore, because these so-called theologians say that all we need is a perfect act of contrition. The priest says this is impossible, because what’s needed for it to be “perfect” is sorrow only because we have offended God, not out of fear of hell, not held back by pride or shame of going to confession… but when we are in the confessional, the priest can take our imperfect contrition and make it perfect through the sacrament, and absolve us of our sins 🙂 I get chills thinking about it!

This is why people don’t go anymore… somebody told them that all they need is a perfect act of contrition, and they’re good with God. And in our intelligence we think this means saying the prayer… :doh2:
 
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