February 25, 2009

How to confess

By Julie Filby

The Church asks that Catholics go to confession at least once a year. Some go more often, some less.

“Don’t be embarrassed if you haven’t been in a long time,” said Religious Sister of Mercy Esther Mary Nickel, Ph.D., S.L.D., assistant professor of sacred liturgy and sacramental theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. “Every baptized Catholic has the right to go to confession.”

What follows are tips on how to confess.

• Prepare. Prepare for your confession in honest prayer, examining your conscience. Quiet yourself and recall your sins. Consider your weaknesses, faults and temptations. Think about how your thoughts or actions may have hurt others, or even yourself. Consider maintaining a journal.

• Present yourself. Immediately following this quiet time, present yourself to the priest for confession. At most churches, you can do so anonymously (with a screen separating you and the priest), or face-to-face. Enter the confessional in a state of prayer, make the Sign of the Cross and say, “Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been (approximate length of time in weeks, months or years) since my last confession.”

• Confess your sins. Be specific. Start with the sin that is most difficult to confess. If you have questions, ask. If you are nervous, say so. Priests go to confession too, they know how you feel. When finished say, “I am sorry for these and all of my sins.”

• Penance and contrition. Once you have finished confessing your sins, the priest may offer pastoral counsel. He will then assign your penance. Listen carefully and remember your penance. He will then ask you to offer an Act of Contrition prayer. Memorize an Act of Contrition, or take a copy with you. Many churches have copies near the confessional.

• Freedom. To conclude the sacrament, the priest grants you absolution, or freedom, from your sins. Leave the confessional and do the assigned penance right away. Thank God for his forgiveness and cherish this state of grace.

Father Bernie Schmitz, vicar for clergy for the archdiocese and pastor at Mother of God Parish, also offered the following Best Practices for Confession.

• Consider going to the same priest on a regular basis. You can come to know your confessor and he comes to know you, thus building confidence. Also, the confessor might notice a pattern of sin, or a conversion in your life, that you may not have recognized.

• Perform a daily examination of conscience. Thank the Lord for the day, then ask: What graces did I feel today? At what moments did I turn away from God?

• Establish a recurring commitment to go to confession. Whether this pledge is every week, every month or every year, make it part of your routine and stick to it.