Whiter Than Snow

No matter how dirty you get playing and romping about, if you get into a tub of good hot water and use plenty of soap, you will be perfectly clean. And no matter how black or stained your soul is, if you bathe it in the precious Blood of Jesus, it will be made whiter than snow. Jesus died on the cross, so that you and I might wash our souls when soiled by sin. Oh, how good it is to know that we can get rid of our sins and that even if our souls are dead, they can be brought back to life!

“I have many sins on my soul, but I’d give anything to get them off. If my soul could be made white as snow, I’d try very hard to keep it so. But how can I wash my soul in Jesus’ precious Blood?”

I’ll tell you how. Suppose I should take you to church and open a door and there you would see our Lord with a smile on His sacred face and His arms stretched out to receive you. And you could climb on to His lap and throw your arms about His neck and whisper into His ear every bad thought, every bad word, and every bad thing you have ever done. You would not be afraid to tell your sins, for our Lord knows them anyway. Then Jesus would ask you to say that you were sorry and that you were going to try very hard to be good, and whilst you were telling Him so, He would wash away your sins in His own precious Blood and you would come back into the church with your angel’s wings close about you, with your soul whiter than snow, with your heart bursting with joy.

This is what we call going to confession and this is what you would do if Jesus were still living on earth as He once did. But now He has His priests all over the world to take His place and when we tell them our sins, Jesus listens, and when they take away our sins, Jesus takes them away.

I will take you to church and show you a confessional which is the place where people go to confession. I will open the door and show you where the priest sits and I will pull back a curtain at one side and show you where you can kneel and I will show you the little grating through which you can whisper your sins into the ear of the priest.

And now I will tell you how to make a good confession. Kneel down near a confessional, make the sign of the cross and ask Jesus to help you to remember your sins, to be sorry for them and to tell them all. Then think: How many lies have I told? If I can’t count them, about how many do I tell in a day? Besides telling each sin, I must say how often I have committed it.

Have I stolen things to eat, at home or away from home? Have I stolen money? How much? How often? Have I stolen anything else?

Have I been disobedient to my parents? Have I been rude to them?

Do I say my morning and night prayers? Do I go to Mass on Sunday?

Do I get angry?

Have I sworn? Have I said bad words? Have I had bad thoughts and liked them and kept them on purpose? If I tried to put them out of my mind, there was no sin. (Whenever a bad thought comes to your mind, put it out and say: “My Jesus, help me!”)

Is there anything else I have done that was wrong? Anything bad that I am ashamed to tell? Anything that worries me and that I do not know how to tell?

Don’t be afraid to tell the priest everything. If you stayed up all night, you could not possibly think of a sin he has not already heard. The priest does not care what you say; all he wants is to take away your sins. He can’t tell anyone what you tell him. To whisper to him is like whispering into a hole in the ground. But he thinks a great deal of a girl or a boy that comes right out bravely with his worst sins.

If you are ashamed to tell some of your sins or do not know how to tell them, just say to the priest: “Father, I have some sins that I don’t know how to tell.”

The priest can not hurt you, he can not touch you, and if you get frightened, you can walk out and he will not come after you. But the best thing to do, if you are afraid, is just to say: “Father, I am afraid.”

Never go to confession unless you are willing to tell all your sins. Of course, we only have to tell mortal sins and we can leave out our venial sins if we want to. If we left out a mortal sin knowingly, our confession would be bad. It would be much better not to go to confession or, if inside, to walk out, if there is a mortal sin we are not going to tell. Anyone who makes a bad confession must tell all his sins over again the next time he goes to confession, and must say that his last confession was bad, for that is another sin. It is very wrong and very foolish to make a bad confession. If we get frightened or ashamed, we need only say so to the priest; or, if we will not do that, we can say: “Father, I’ll come another time”; or, say nothing and leave.

If you forget to tell any mortal sins, they will be forgiven, but if you remember them the next time you go to confession, you must tell them and say you forgot to tell them before.

The best way is to tell not only all your mortal sins, if you have any, but also your venial sins, for you want them, too, washed away.

When you have thought over your sins, think for a moment of the terrible suffering of hell and how glad the souls there would be to tell all their sins if they had your chance. Then tell our Lord that you will never offend Him again, for you are afraid of hell. Then think of Heaven, where you will surely go if you keep away from sin. Then look at the crucifix and see how Jesus suffered and died on account of your sins. Tell Him that you love Him and that you will try never again to hurt Him by sin. Then say slowly the Act of Contrition. Our confession is no good unless we are sorry for our sins and make up our mind to try not to sin again.

After this you can go into the confessional and when the priest opens the slide, make the sign of the cross and say: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession.” Then forget all about the priest and just think that Jesus has His arms around you and is listening to all you say. Tell your sins just as you know them and say how many times you have done them. If you like, close your eyes.

When you have finished, the priest will tell you to say some prayer. This is called the penance and you should say it after you leave the confessional.

When you have heard what your penance is (if you do not understand what it is, ask), say the Act of Contrition slowly and carefully and whilst you do so, the priest takes away all your sins and the precious Blood of Jesus washes your soul whiter than snow.

When the priest closes the slide, go back into the church, say your penance and stay a little while to pray, to thank our Lord for taking away your sins and to ask Him and His blessed Mother to keep you pure.

You never have to tell the same sin more than once in a good confession. The next time you go to confession and have said, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” say how long it is since your last confession, and then tell only the sins you have committed since your last confession. If ever you find you have not much to tell, finish by saying that in your past life, or long ago, you committed such and such a sin, telling one or two past sins over again for which you know you are sorry.