by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P. [E.D.M.] With Eccles. Appr., 1949, Portugal TAN BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS Chapter  14: CONFESSION Confession is one of the greatest and easiest of all means that God has given us to become Saints. Why did Our Lord come on earth? Why did He live with us for 33 years? Why did He suffer and die? To save us from sin, to help us to sin no more. Surely then, He left us some especial and all. powerful means to overcome sin and temptation. That means is Confession. Yet many Catholics have a most erroneous idea of Confession. They look on it as something hard and distasteful; whereas, God meant it to be a Divine help to overcome our weakness, our incli-ations to evil. He meant it to be an immense consolation in all our troubles and trials. This is most certainly true for all those who take the trouble to understand it. The writer has met many Protestants who seem to understand Confession much better than Catholics. Many Protestant men asked him to hear their confessions and were sorely disappointed when he told them that he could not do so. Several began at once to prepare to enter the Catholic Church, simply to be able to go to Confession! One gentleman asked to be received into the Church, and when asked why, he replied, "Because I want to be able to go to Confession. We have nothing in our church that helps and consoles us as Confession consoles Catholics." And he became a staunch Catholic. We see that very many Protestants in late years go to confession to their Protestant divines! But why confess to a priest, to a man like ourselves? Because God in His infinite sweetness saw how much our human hearts seek comfort, and therefore, by an act of infinite power and wisdom, He has given men this Divine, omnipotent power of pardoning sin and comforting, consoling and helping sinners to become good. He not only gives them His own Divine Power to forgive sin, but He also gives them the light and wisdom necessary to console and counsel poor sinners. EVERY DAY WE SEE THE WONDERS OF CONFESSION A poor boy who is tempted to steal confesses his fault, and the priest at once shows him not only the meanness and malice of stealing, but shows him how dangerous it is to him. If he is discovered, his character is ruined for life. He is branded as a thief. That boy never steals again. A young girl is tempted to go astray, attracted by some foolish young man. A word from the priest opens her eyes and her honor is saved. A husband or a wife begins to be unfaithful; they confess it, and once more the confessor, with a timely warning, saves the poor family from ruin. A servant confesses that he or she has taken the master's money. Again, a few kind words make them honest and loyal forever after. Doctors, lawyers, judges confess negligence in their duties; the wise counsel of the priest makes them serious and upright. How many Protestants have been surprised on receiving money from a priest-----sometimes large sums-----which had been stolen from them and which the priest was asked to restore. Many Protestant families choose Catholic servants, but servants who go to Confession! For any right-minded man, Confession represents not only a personal benefit, but a safeguard for society. In the last Great Wars, the power of Confession was shown in a wonderful way on the battlefields. One of the great English Protestant newspapers used these words: "The Catholic soldiers, when they have their chaplains, fear neither man nor the devil." The number of Catholic chaplains in the English army in the beginning of the First World War was 36. It was increased to 600, and this by a Protestant government! THE POWER OF FORGIVING SINS No one but God can pardon sin. Even the highest Angel in Heaven cannot absolve from a single sin. God by an act of infinite power and mercy has given priests this Divine power. St. Alphonsus says that if Our Lord Jesus Christ were to sit in one confessional and a simple priest in another, the sinners who went to the priest would be as fully pardoned as those who had confessed to Christ. St. Augustine declares that when a priest absolves from sin he uses a power greater than the power used by God in creating the world! In proportion to this Divine Power are the benefits we receive in Confession. THE GRACES OF CONFESSION Confession, like the other Sacraments, is a river of Divine grace, which flows from the heart of God into the heart of the sinner. What is grace? Few understand and appreciate this Divine gift, and yet it is the most wonderful reality in our lives. St. Peter tells us that it is a real participation in the Divine nature, raising us up, ennobling us, strengthening, purifying and beautifying our souls, making us like the Angels, likening us to God Himself. It gives us a completely new life, a new vigor, a new power. It gives a Divine light to our understanding, by which we grasp the Divine truths which God has revealed to us, which otherwise we could never understand. It gives a new and mighty energy to our wills so that we can perform all our duties well and easily. But Confession has its own special graces. Dear reader, weigh them well: First of all, it pardons our sins. Secondly, it gives us light to see the enormity of sin. Thirdly, it gives us strength to avoid sin. Fourthly, it is the easiest and best penance we can perform because it washes our souls in the Precious Blood of Jesus. It thus lessens our time in Purgatory, or possibly delivers us altogether from Purgatory. Fifthly, it comforts and consoles us, most effectively. Sixthly, it makes us love God and hate sin. Seventhly, it helps us potently to correct our defects, which make us so disagreeable to others, make us so unhappy ourselves and make us offend God. We are weak. It gives us a new strength and life, so that a person who falls constantly into great sins and cannot avoid them, will be certainly able to avoid them if he goes to Confession frequently. Priests are seeing this every day. All men long for a good friend, whose friendship and love they enjoy, to whom they can go in their troubles and difficulties and ask for advice. A good friend is one of the greatest blessings God can give us. Confession gives us this friend, for in Confession we meet a man who is there expressly to help and console us. He has been prepared especially for this work by long years of training. He is kind and helpful. We may open our hearts to him, sure that he will understand us and sure that he is competent to give us the best possible advice. We are equally certain that he will keep absolutely secret all that we say to him. A priest never breaks faith with his penitents. WHAT MUST WE DO TO GET ALL THESE GRACES? Confession is very easy, but it is, as we saw, very holy, very wonderful, a Divine Sacrament.  Therefore, we must make a short but feroent preparation. The reason why so many confessions do so little good is that Catholics do not make this fervent preparation. To go to Confession without a serious preparation is to tempt God and profane this most holy Sacrament. Confession is easy, but we must treat it with respect. God tells us that He does not cast His pearls before swine. These words are very strong, but very true. We must pray fervently, by saying, for instance, the first three Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, or we may say the prayers we find in our prayerbook. Then we make a careful examination of conscience, that we may see and be able to confess our faults clearly and briefly. [The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has an excellent booklet , A Cathechism for Making a Good Confession, by Fr. Buckley, HERE, just scroll down.-----The Web Master] The most important part of our preparation is to excite ourselves to sorrow, real sorrow, for our sins and make a firm resolution to avoid all mortal sins, and as far as we can, venial sins, especially any notable venial sin. If we are not sincerely sorry for our sins, and if we are not firmly resolved to avoid sins, we are insulting God when we go to Confession. HOW CAN WE HAVE THIS REAL SORROW FOR SIN? By clearly understanding the horrible malice of sin. Sin is a deliberate offense against God. No man will do wrong if he sees a policeman looking at him. But we know clearly that God is looking at us, and still we deliberately offend Him; we offend Him to His very face. The fire of Purgatory is the same terrible fire as the fire of Hell. We may be kept in this awful fire for many years for a deliberate venial sin. God could never punish us too severely. He does not send us to Purgatory because He is angry with us, but because the malice of a deliberate venial sin is simply awful-----mortal sin much more so. The Saints say there is nothing so terrible on this earth as a deliberate sin. Were we to see a dead body in horrible corruption, it would be nothing in comparison with even a venial sin. Were a soul to enter Heaven with one venial sin, it would willingly give up Heaven's happiness and plunge itself into the awful fires of Purgatory to wash out that filthy stain. St. Paul says that by our sins we crucify again and make a mockery of God. By absolution we are pardoned, delivered from all the filth and corruption of sin. Therefore, we must make sure to be really sorry for our sins, for not even the Precious Blood of Jesus applied to our souls will purify us unless we are sorry and firmly resolved to sin no more. IN CONFESSION In Confession we ask the priest's blessing and confess our sins clearly, briefly and frankly. Then we listen carefully to any advice which the priest gives us and resolve to do exactly what he tells us. We may ask any questions we think fit, or explain any difficulty we may have. Lastly, when the priest is giving us absolution, we must say our Act of Contrition fervently, just as if we were at the feet of Jesus Christ Himself. AFTER CONFESSION After Confession, we must thank God for the wonderful graces He has given us; we must say our penance with all our heart. He has pardoned our sins, no matter how grave and horrible they were. It is simply incredible how few Catholics thank God as they ought to do for the wonderful graces received in Confession. It is the story of the ten lepers over again. HOW TO GO TO CONFESSION Added by the Publisher to the 1990 edition. Examine your conscience. Be sorry for your sins and make up your mind not to sin again (at least not to commit mortal sin again). (Kneel down, make the Sign of the Cross and say . . ) "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been ___________days (weeks, months, years) since my last Confession. I said my penance and went to Holy Communion. I confess to Almighty God and to you, Father, that I have . . ." [ Taken from the Comfiteor of the Roman Mass. One may instead add: "I have committed the following sins." (Here tell all the mortal sins you may have committed since your last good Confession, and the number of times you committed them, and then, if possible, tell the number and kind of your venial sins. Then say. . .) "I am sorry for these and all the sins of my past life, and I ask pardon of God and penance of you, Father." (Listen to what the priest says, and epecially note the penance he gives you. Then say an Act of Contrition.) The priest will give you absolution and finish by saying words such as, "God bless you. Go in peace." After leaving the confessional, say or perform the penance the priest assigned you. AN ACT OF CONTRITION O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen. THE TWELVE PROMISES OF THE SACRED HEART TO ST. MARGARET MARY For those who practice devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus These are already on line, CLICK HERE. Contact Us HOME-------------------------PRAYER INDEX-----------CATHOLIC CLASSICS www.catholictradition.org/Classics/saint-ch14.htm