p. 33On the Confession of Devotion

(According to Father Boone.)

A Confession of devotion is one in which we have only such venial faults to confess as even the just fall into from time to time. It is thus called, because there is no divine or ecclesiastical commandment prescribing it. It is commanded to confess only mortal sins. The Church expressly teaches that venial sin may be atoned for by an act of contrition. The confession of devotion is particularly useful for those who earnestly strive after Christian perfection and conscientiously fulfil the duties of their state, for it assists them greatly in attaining perfect purity of heart and receiving holy Communion with greater profit.

I. Motives for going to confession out of devotion.

1. The Church prescribes confession for the gaining of certain indulgences. Knowing how useful confession is, even when there is no mortal sin to confess, she wishes us to purchase the grace of these indulgences at the price of an exercise, which, though not strictly necessary, is yet highly profitable.

2. The saints, however holy they were, nevertheless went often to confession, and some of them even did so daily. This custom of frequent confession obtains also in all religious associations and confraternities that are well regulated and have a good spirit.

3. There are very few religious orders that do not prescribe at least weekly confession.

4. The advantages of the confession of devotion are great and numerous. In the first place, venial sins are forgiven by the priest’s absolution. Their remission is a greater gain than the remission of a large debt of money or the deliverance from the deepest temporal misery.

Secondly, whenever we receive the sacrament of Penance with due dispositions, we obtain two new graces, provided we place no obstacle in the way. By the first the soul, previously in the state of grace, becomes still more intimately united with Jesus Christ, her Spouse. Who can enumerate the spiritual treasures gained by this more intimate union? Who can express the wonderful operations of the Holy Ghost in such a soul? His divine unction at times produces therein a cheerfulness of conscience and a peace surpassing all comprehension. The abundant outpourings of His love impart a p. 34fresh life to all good works and render them more meritorious. Each of these works prepares for the soul an increase of bliss and glory in heaven. The second grace imparts fresh strength to the soul, enabling her to maintain herself in the state of grace and to resist the sins to which we, on account of our human frailty, are all exposed. And, at the same time, the soul acquires greater ease in the practice of virtue, and finds but little difficulty in accomplishing what she previously deemed impossible.

Thirdly, confession has a higher meaning, not only as a sacrament, but also as spiritual direction. The confessor endeavors to excite in his penitent a lively zeal for salvation and Christian perfection, and indicates to him the means of rooting out entirely his evil inclinations, by which his possession of sanctifying grace would be endangered. When, moreover, the confessor discovers hearts that, to their happiness, have resolutely embraced a life of virtue, he does not fear to urge them on still more to the practice of the higher virtues, which less energetic souls dread so much.

Fourthly, among the exercises of humility there is none so difficult to human nature, none so meritorious, as confession. This is especially the case if we are wont to confess certain circumstances of our sins which are more humiliating than the sin itself; for instance, if we confess that we committed a certain fault out of envy, of vanity, or for the sake of appearing more pious, etc. Persons endowed with a naturally haughty spirit, or who are of a certain social standing or influence, do not like to own such motives to themselves, and much less to disclose them to others.

Fifthly, experience shows that even good Christians, on the day on which they confess or intend to confess, watch more carefully over themselves than on other days. The same is true also of the days following confession, and is a fresh proof of the advantages derived from frequent confession by those who strive to avoid all grievous sins.

Finally, confession is a most appropriate preparation for holy Communion, far more efficient than the mere exciting one’s self to contrition, which would suffice, as is well known, to enable those to communicate who have only venial sins on their conscience; and this is already a great advantage, regardless of the ease of self-delusion in supposing one’s self to be guilty of venial sins merely, and of the fact that it is a strict rule not to omit confession before holy Communion without the confessor’s permission. By the absolution imparted in confession, Jesus Christ prepares a dwelling p. 35for Himself in the penitent’s soul. He purifies it more and more by conferring on it the merit of His adorable blood; He ennobles all her sentiments and acts of virtue, and condescends to adorn in her the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Happy, then, are the faithful souls that confess often and, at the same time, prepare well to receive absolution worthily, and this not merely to secure a calm conscience, but to become more pleasing to our divine Saviour.

II. Examination of conscience before the confession of devotion.

“We should not torment ourselves,” says St. Francis de Sales, “when we are not conscious of having any serious fault to confess; for it is not credible that a soul that often examines her conscience, should not remember notable faults, if she has committed any. … We should not be so narrow-minded as to wish to confess all our little imperfections, all our little weaknesses. Whenever we perceive them, we can speak about them to our divine Saviour. An interior act of humility, a loving aspiration, will suffice for this. … We should learn to bear, with a certain spiritual elevation, all these little things, which we cannot remove, and which usually proceed from our imperfect nature. Among these are,—our inconstancy of disposition, of our resolutions, desires, and the like, to which we are and shall ever remain subject, so long as we are in this changeable and transitory life. … These things are not sins, but human miseries and inconveniences.”

Too long an examination of conscience wearies our mind and cools our heart. Many, who frequently confess, devote too long a time to their examination, trying to ferret out every little circumstance, and forgetting besides—what is most important—to excite themselves to contrition and to prepare their hearts properly to receive absolution.

How is the examination of conscience to be made before the confessions of devotion? We should, without worry, uneasiness, or confusion, employ the time for examining our conscience. The scrupulous should in this adhere strictly to the directions of their confessor. In our examination let us attend to the following points:—

1. The faults committed wilfully and deliberately.

2. The faults concerning the points specially impressed on us, or concerning which grace oftenest reproaches us.

3. The faults that scandalize or injure our neighbor.

4. The faults which, on account of our past sins, may at some future time cause us to relapse into them.

5. The faults that proceed from our unwillingness to make a sacrifice which God demands of us in our state of life.

6. Those faults, which, though inconsiderable in themselves, nevertheless indicate in us a former great and dangerous passion, of which they are the remains.

Then we need do nothing more than to classify under one or two heads the faults that escape us through human frailty.

III. Contrition in the confession of devotion.

1. Many assert that they cannot have contrition, however much they may try. To these St. Francis de Sales answers: “We do much with God in trying to will, and we have already contrition by the very fact that we sincerely desire to have it. Only we do not feel it when we desire it. Like the fire smouldering under the ashes without being seen, it is nevertheless there.” “Contrition,” says Father Quadrupani, “essentially consists in an act of the will detesting the faults committed and resolved never again to commit them.” Tears, groans, sobs, sensible marks of sorrow, then, are not essential parts of true contrition. Let us not be uneasy at their absence. If God refuses us the consolation of feeling sorry, He does so in order to offer us the opportunity of obeying our confessor, telling us not to be uneasy at our want of sensible sorrow, and to approach the sacraments notwithstanding. This should suffice to assure us of our perfect reconciliation with God. Let us humbly believe the declaration of our confessor, obey him with courage and self-denial, and we shall obtain a twofold reward. It is wrong to make violent efforts to feel contrition, for they produce only confusion, fatigue and discouragement. On the contrary, let us endeavor to be calm, and say to God with love, that we sincerely wish we had never offended Him, and that, with the assistance of His grace, we will henceforth no more offend Him. Such is the sorrow we should try to acquire, especially by imploring it of our Lord, who alone can produce it in our heart.

2. Others complain that they always remain the same and can perceive no fruit from their frequent confessions. They say the very same about their holy Communions. But how can any one know that he remains always the same and derives no profit from his frequent confessions and Communions? Is the penitent a fit judge in his own case? Is it not rather for the confessor to judge concerning this? And if he saw not the least fruit, would he continue to insist on the penitent’s continuing his confessions and holy Communions in spite of his anxiety? Is it a sufficient reason to think that we derive no fruit therefrom, because we do not see it clearly, or do not feel any consolation or spiritual sweetness therein? We should bear in mind that these sacraments often operate in so hidden a manner, as to be scarcely perceptible, for, like nature itself, e.g., in the growth of a tree, grace acts very gradually and invisibly, as it were. Moreover, should we not consider it a gain, not only when we are actually making progress, but also when we do not fall or go back? Is it not already a great grace to escape falling into mortal sin? The preservative remedies are as precious as the curative and strengthening. In fine, the power of contrition and of good resolutions is seen also when, amid p. 37a hundred occasions of sinning, we fall only a few times. Had we grown careless and made no efforts, and gone less frequently to confession, we would perhaps have committed as many sins as we have taken steps. It is, then, no proof of a want of contrition, if we usually have the same faults to confess. Let us sincerely endeavor to approach the sacraments only after due preparation, and we shall most assuredly derive every time an incomparable benefit therefrom. Such is the teaching of Rodriguez in his Christian Perfection (Chap. XIII. of the “Treatise on Holy Communion”), and of other ascetic writers.

3. By the priest’s absolution we obtain the forgiveness of those venial sins for which we have contrition, even if we are not sorry for all the venial sins we confess. The reason is, on the one hand, that even in the sacrament of Penance we cannot obtain the forgiveness of a sin for which we have little or no contrition, and, on the other hand, we are not obliged to confess our venial sins, and that, if our conscience does not reproach us with mortal sins, it suffices to confess one or the other venial sin with contrition and the firm purpose of amendment. It is quite otherwise with mortal sins. If we lack contrition for a single one of the mortal sins we confess, we not only receive no forgiveness, but we are guilty of sacrilege by receiving the sacrament of Penance unworthily. What we have just said about the confession of venial sins and the sufficiency of contrition for at least one of them, should ease the minds of the scrupulous, who are always worrying as to whether they had at confession contrition for each little fault. The more intense and universal our sorrow for venial sins, the more worthily we receive the sacrament of Penance, and also the greater its blessings and efficacy. On the other hand, he who has only venial sins to confess, and is not sorry for at least one of them, renders the sacrament void, and does not and cannot receive it, for there is no matter for absolution, which can be imparted only to a sin repented of. Only the fact that he who thus confesses only venial sins without having contrition for any of them, is in good faith and does this unintentionally and without malice, can excuse him from the commission of sacrilege, that is, from the profanation of the sacrament of Penance.

As a means of avoiding such a misfortune and of quieting scruples, the teachers and masters of the spiritual life recommend that, at the end of our ordinary confessions of venial sins, we should never fail to include in our confession some grievous sin of our past life, for which we are certainly sorry, and which we are firmly resolved never more to commit. The sins previously confessed are, indeed, not a necessary, but a sufficient matter for absolution, or rather the present absolution is a confirmation of the one previously received. In other words, although there is no necessity for confessing the sins once already worthily confessed and absolved, we may, nevertheless, do so in order thereby to receive with the absolution the sacrament of Penance and its many benefits. The accusation of past sins already absolved should not prevent us from making earnest efforts to have contrition for our present sins. For, we repeat, the sins for which we have not sufficient contrition, cannot be forgiven even by the sacrament of Penance.

4. According to the common and more secure opinion of theologians, the voluntary venial sins we remember cannot be forgiven in the sacrament of Penance without a true contrition, that is, without a special contrition elicited in the soul after discovering them in our examination of conscience. Hence a sorrow for all of them in general or a detestation of our great sinfulness does not suffice. But this is not to be understood, as if it were required to make a special act of contrition for each sin, since it is sufficient to make a single act of contrition for all the sins of which we are aware, although our sorrow may be more particularly directed to one or the other sin. In order to obtain in the sacrament of Penance the forgiveness of faults of human frailty, or, as they are commonly called, of semi-voluntary venial sins, a contrition corresponding to the manner in which they are usually committed is sufficient. This contrition may be thus expressed: “I wish I had not committed them. When, O Lord, will the time come, when I shall no longer offend Thee?” We detest our having committed them, we detest, in general, our many daily sins of this kind, and are resolved, as far as possible, to avoid them, or, as St. Thomas expresses it, to diminish their number. To diminish them, for, as will be said below (in 5), we cannot, on account of our natural weakness and frailty, possibly be entirely free from them during our earthly life. Let us here observe that careless and lukewarm Christians erroneously include under the head of “sins of human frailty” many sins that are voluntary, deliberate, and sometimes even grievous sins. Among sins of human frailty are reckoned a slight tinge of impatience, a transient self-complacent feeling, a brief slight suspicion, a short and hardly perceptible feeling of jealousy, a cursory judgment concerning our neighbor’s conduct, an unpremeditated word liable to hurt another’s feeling, distractions at prayer not at once detested, and the like. God, knowing our natural weakness, forgives such faults more easily than the others. He knows what man is, who is formed from the dust of the earth, and that his imagination often disregards all restraint, although he ought constantly turn his attention to himself and to the many commandments imposed upon him.

5. These faults which escape us through surprise and are a consequence of the misery and wretchedness of our nature, will, at least to a certain degree, cling to us until our last breath. “It will be very much,” says St. Francis de Sales, “if we are freed from certain defects a quarter of an hour before our death.” Elsewhere he writes: “We are bound not only to bear our neighbor’s infirmities, but to bear our own also, and to preserve patience at the sight of our imperfections. It is, then, necessary that we should bear with ourselves until God bears us to heaven. Let us endeavor to amend, but gradually and without uneasiness. We cannot be angels before the time.” “I beseech you,” writes again the same saint, “do not look so much about you, but direct your attention to God and to yourself. You should never see God exempt of goodness nor yourself exempt of misery. Recognize your misery as the object of His goodness and mercy.” “Do not grow weary,” says Fénelon, “at taking a fresh start every day. Nothing so touches the heart of God as this humble and patient courage.” “Virtue,” said God to St. Paul, “is perfected in infirmity” (2 Cor. xii. 9).

Sensible devotion and spiritual consolations are less suited to bring us nearer to God than interior humiliations and frequent turning to Him. A sight pleasing in the eyes of God is that of a persevering, but tranquil, patient, and apparently fruitless work of salvation, and of a soul, which, though full of defects and misery, yet united to Him by pious resolutions and sincere desires, strives earnestly not to displease Him wilfully. Such a soul, resolved to bear her imperfection inasmuch as it pleases God to leave it in her, and determined, nevertheless, constantly to combat her imperfection, is far more precious in the eyes of God than a soul that enjoys peace in the practice of virtue and the possession of spiritual goods. “God,” says St. Francis de Sales, “left in some of His disciples many traces of their previous evil inclinations, for some time after their conversion, but it was for their greater good, as is taught us by the example of St. Peter. Let us manfully and courageously combat, but without too ardently desiring the satisfaction of success. We should not at all wish for anything evil, nor for anything too good. Do not, I pray, love too passionately even the virtues themselves, for they are sometimes lost by transgressing the bounds of moderation.” The holy Doctor, indeed, does not mean that we can too ardently love and seek virtue, but he hereby warns us against the impetuous, inordinate, and the often concealed self-seeking love of virtue. We should, then, labor and strive without anxiety as to the result. For, if we combat with perseverance, without growing disheartened at our faults, these will profit us as much as, or even more than, our victories. Let us intrust ourselves to the kind mercy of Him “who stretches out His hand under those who fall without malice, that they may receive no hurt, and who so tenderly and quickly raises them up, that they hardly notice their falls, because they fall into God’s hands; nor do they notice their being raised up, because God lifts them up so p. 40quickly, that they have not the time to think of it.”

6. “You ask,” writes again the holy bishop of Geneva, “how we can in a very short time excite ourselves to contrition. I say there is need for this of hardly any time at all, for nothing else is required than to prostrate ourselves before God in the spirit of humility and sorrow for the offences committed against Him.” If we have a lively faith fully conscious of who God is whom we have offended, and of what we owe Him; if we are deeply convinced of our ingratitude in offending Him after having received from Him so many graces and benefits, as well as of the injury sin does to our soul and the punishments it deserves; if we have an intense longing to become again pleasing to our divine Redeemer, then there easily and quite naturally arises in us contrition for our venial sins. But if we are not always in the proper mood for this, what should we do? Nothing else than most fervently and humbly to beseech God for contrition, and to try to deserve it by some voluntary good works, such as to spend well the time of prayer, and especially to employ the time of preparation for confession by meditating on such truths as suggest to our hearts powerful motives never to offend God again, such as vividly representing to ourselves our Lord Jesus Christ in the garden of olives, on the cross, to cast ourselves at His feet, considering that this will perhaps be our last confession.

IV. The accusation of venial sins.

In accusing ourselves of our sins, let us mention only what concerns us without mixing up the faults of others with our own. In this we should aim at clearness, brevity and perfect sincerity, representing to ourselves that we are at the feet of Jesus Christ, that we are speaking with God Himself in the person of our confessor, His representative. The integrity of accusation for the validity of confession extends only to mortal sins. And although it is very salutary and useful to confess also our venial sins, their omission in whole or in part does not affect the validity of our confession. Such is the teaching of the Church. Those who confess frequently are apt to fall into the following faults in telling their venial sins: First, they wish to tell everything; secondly, they do not tell what they ought, that is, they do not tell where the fault usually lies; and thirdly, they do not speak out clearly, but express themselves confusedly.

1. According to St. Francis de Sales (“Introduction to a Devout Life,” Part II. Chap. XIX.), it is necessary that those who wish to purify their souls thoroughly in order to attain perfection, should bestow every care to disclose exactly to their spiritual physician even the least faults or imperfections of which they desire to be healed. He recommends also that we, from time to time, disclose to our confessor, not only every sin, but also the state of our inclinations. Nevertheless, those who frequently confess, and have only venial sins to accuse themselves of, do well usually to accuse themselves principally of three or four of them, by which they fear to displease God most and which they deem most urgent to confess, and then to accuse the others in general. This supposes that one is sure he has only venial sins to confess. In this case, we may confess some of them, omitting the less prominent, in order the more earnestly and fervently to turn our attention to the former and combat them, the more vigorously and the more certainly to extirpate them. To p. 41wish every time to mention all and everything in particular divides our attention, robs us of our mind’s freedom, and not seldom makes our accusation a torment and a heavy burden.

“In confession,” says St. Francis de Sales, “we should not confound the involuntary emotions of our souls with actual sins. For if we were to say, ‘I accuse myself of having been violently tempted to anger for several days, but did not yield,’ we would confess our virtues instead of our sins. A temptation courageously combated is an exercise of its opposite virtue. Let us avoid all superfluous accusations, to which certain persons are accustomed, such as,—I did not love God as much as I should; I did not pray with as much devotion as I ought; I did not love my neighbor; I did not receive the sacraments with as much reverence as I ought, and the like. In saying such things we do not accuse ourselves of anything definite, by which the confessor is able to judge of the state of our soul. The most perfect man on earth could say the same things, and even the saints in heaven could say them also, if they were to confess concerning their life on earth.

2. Another fault consists in not saying what we ought. There are some who accuse themselves of very many little things, but leave out what is more important. If we wish to be sincere, we should confess principally those sins which most trouble and disturb our conscience. Others conceal certain faults, about which, as they believe, the confessor, in order to know them better, would question them, if he thought of it and did not fear to annoy them, e.g., about the manner in which they profited by the counsels he previously gave them. If we are sincere, we shall answer with great simplicity the confessor’s questions. He may have good reasons to wish to know certain things concerning our soul, which seem not to belong strictly to confession. The better he knows the circumstances in which we are, our character, our habits, our employments, our connections, our inclinations, etc., the better he can direct us. He knows best what questions he should put to us in order to find out all these things.

3. The want of definiteness and clearness sometimes proceeds from a lack of sincerity. Some persons also feel confused and find difficulty in expressing themselves clearly, either because they are too anxious or because they feel embarrassed. They cannot confess a sin without going into all kinds of unnecessary details and explanations. The reason of this is that sometimes they do not sufficiently trust the judgment of the confessor, and imagine he does not know them so well as they know themselves. In fine, the want of clearness in the accusation of sins sometimes arises from a hidden pride. We intend, indeed, to humble ourselves, and yet in our accusation we wish to make a good impression about ourselves on the mind of the confessor. We say much, but he cannot tell whether we accuse or excuse ourselves.

4. Before approaching the confessor, we should, whilst he is hearing the confession of the person preceding us, briefly repeat the act of contrition and recite the Confiteor in a spirit of humility and penitence. When kneeling at his feet and receiving his blessing, we should say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.” After we have accused ourselves of our sins, we should not examine whether we have any more to confess, but pay close attention to what the confessor tells or asks us and to the penance he imposes upon us. Let us, then, in spirit place ourselves in the wounds of Jesus Christ, uniting our contrition with His sufferings, whilst the merits of His precious Blood are applied to our soul by the priest’s absolution, and receive this priceless benefit with gratitude and love, as if coming from His very lips. “After confession,” says St. Francis de Sales, “is not the time to examine whether we rightly accused ourselves of our sins. It simply sufficed to confess the sins that we remembered during confession. If we duly prepared ourselves and did our best, we need not think any more upon them after confession. We should endeavor to keep our soul tranquil, and beware of leaving an opening for anxiety about our examination, contrition and accusation. Such anxiety is an insinuation of the devil, trying to change into bitterness the sacrament of consolation and love.”

V. The penances imposed in the confession of devotion.

Let us willingly, punctually and fervently perform the penance imposed by the confessor. The most suitable time for this is, if practicable, immediately after confession. If not practicable, and the confessor has not prescribed the time for its performance, the penance may be deferred to a more opportune time; but we should be careful not to forget it. Those who are drawn by divine grace ardently to desire to make progress in perfection, may, now and then, request the confessor to impose on them penances more severe than usual, e.g., what, from pious motives, they are willing to perform, or what they are sometimes tempted or inclined to omit, and the like. Since it is certain that venial sin deserves the pains of purgatory, and that the least pain of purgatory surpasses all earthly pains, the confessor, p. 43knowing his penitent’s fervor, will sometimes condescend to his penitent’s desire, apart from the reason that all good works, etc., performed or satisfaction imposed in the sacrament of Penance, are far more meritorious than those performed of one’s free choice. In order to quicken in us the spirit of penance, let us often consider that the light penance imposed by the confessor does not always, even when well performed, remit all the temporal penalties due to our sins. The Church is satisfied, in order to grant us absolution, if we submit to penances proportionate to our sins. But the divine justice places a far stricter relation between sin and its punishment. In the sacrament of Penance we are subjected only to moderate and light works of satisfaction, lest we should be unwilling to perform more difficult ones, and thus fall into a fresh sin.

VI. The prayers after the confession of devotion.

After confession we should spend some time in recollection at the feet of Jesus Christ, and there consider ourselves as having been relieved of a heavy burden. Near Jesus Christ and in His presence we enjoy the consolation and peace of a conscience, which no longer has anything to reproach itself with, and which feels morally certain of God’s forgiveness.—Let us thank the Lord for having instituted in His Church so effective and powerful a remedy against all human weaknesses.—Let us implore Him never to permit that we abuse, to our ruin, His willingness to receive us whenever we return to Him. We should next encourage ourselves faithfully to keep our resolutions, and seek to confirm those that we consider as most necessary for us, and then invoke the saints towards whom we have a special devotion to intercede for us. After this, if we have time, we should perform the penance imposed upon us. We should be careful not to repeat it several times under the pretext of performing it better, for this is not the will of Jesus Christ or of His priest. On leaving the church, we ought to represent Jesus Christ to ourselves as saying to us, “Now that thou art healed, go in peace and sin no more.”

But what should we do if, before holy Communion, we feel disturbed about a sin we forgot, or about some little fault committed after confession, or when, for some reason or another, we fear we are not in a disposition fit to receive holy Communion? We should make an act of contrition, and, in obedience to our confessor, or rather to Jesus Christ in the person of our confessor, go tranquilly to holy Communion without disturbing ourselves. We ought to approach our Lord p. 44and Saviour with confidence and receive Him with love, persuaded that the act of contrition and our obedience supply the place of a good confession.