Confession Experiences?

[LaPetiteSoeur]

It really depends on who you get...

My HS chaplin would not go into commentary, mostly because he had to hear 30 confessions in 40minutes and the campus minister sister would freak out if it took too long.

The best confession I ever had was from a visiting priest to my HS who was not afraid of our campus minister. He went into each of the sins I confessed and explained why the Church said they were sins and then helped me find ways to fix them. Another time was at a parish reconciliation service. Afterward, I felt so free from sin! It was amazing!

One reason I like parish reconciliation services so much is that there are so many priests that they are fresh and not "tired" of hearing people's sins!

I live way far away (soon to be a few states away) from the best confessor I ever had, so I'm hoping to find a new one that's just as good. I think the commentary helps, and it gives us insight into our sins.

Dieu vous benisse!

[fides quarens intellectum]

One of the Franciscans at the mall usually just says something along the lines of, "Yes, be sorry for these and all the sins of your past life; for your penance, -------; now say your act of contrition." You know that line is coming nine out of the ten times you'll go to him, but when he actually talks about what you just confessed, it's pretty cool because it is completely unexpected.

Like other posters though, sometimes I get more discussion; other times not so much - I never know (except with that one priest).

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' timestamp='1291673822' post='2191307']
I actually knew what that site was before clicking it!
[/quote]

Me, too.

[rkwright]

[quote name='fides quarens intellectum' timestamp='1291700905' post='2191376']
One of the Franciscans at the mall usually just says something along the lines of, "Yes, be sorry for these and all the sins of your past life; for your penance, -------; now say your act of contrition." You know that line is coming nine out of the ten times you'll go to him, but when he actually talks about what you just confessed, it's pretty cool because it is completely unexpected.

Like other posters though, sometimes I get more discussion; other times not so much - I never know (except with that one priest).
[/quote]

wait did you just say at the mall?

Are the Franciscans running confession kiosks next to the sunglasses and phone case guys???

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='IcePrincessKRS' timestamp='1291739672' post='2191431']
Me, too.
[/quote]

Same, here. I taught computers at our elementary school a year and used it a lot.

[CatherineM]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1291741892' post='2191436']
wait did you just say at the mall?

Are the Franciscans running confession kiosks next to the sunglasses and phone case guys???
[/quote]
You can go to confession at our City Centre Mall. The Archdiocese runs a chapel there. 3 masses a day, and confession pretty much any time in between. The priest running it is from Africa, and he's working on an advanced degree, so he basically studies unless someone comes in for counseling. The Mall is right down town on the underground walkway, so lots of workers can go there before work, at lunch or after work.

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1291746783' post='2191458']
You can go to confession at our City Centre Mall. The Archdiocese runs a chapel there. 3 masses a day, and confession pretty much any time in between. The priest running it is from Africa, and he's working on an advanced degree, so he basically studies unless someone comes in for counseling. The Mall is right down town on the underground walkway, so lots of workers can go there before work, at lunch or after work.
[/quote]

That, is very awesome.

[fides' Jack]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1291741892' post='2191436']
wait did you just say at the mall?

Are the Franciscans running confession kiosks next to the sunglasses and phone case guys???
[/quote]


They have their own chapel built semi-permanently (as permanent as any department store) at the mall. They're closed on Sunday, but you can go any other time for Confession, as long as it's not during Mass times (twice daily, I think).

It's actually quite nice.

I know some are tempted to say, "So when Mass is over, I can just go do my shopping!" which is entirely inappropriate, but it is nice to always have that option available w/o having to make an appt somewhere.

[MithLuin]

I think that if you ask a priest questions, he's quite likely to answer. Something of the, 'I'm not sure if this was a sin, but....' variety is going to get a response. If you have these types of conversations with a spiritual director, it's probably not needed, though. I also think that face-to-face when you know the priest is more likely to get a comment, maybe. For a brief time in my life, I had a confessor, so that was almost like spiritual direction - I would meet with him and we would talk and I would confess and he would give me absolution, but it was probably about 45 min - 1 hour, once a month.

As for the 'how' - I just do what I was taught as a little girl. While waiting, I try to pray to the Holy Spirit to make a good confession, and go through the 10 commandments and 7 deadly sins to make sure I'm not overlooking anything glaring. When it's my turn, the priest greets me, and I say 'Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, it has been --- weeks/months since my last confession.' (Once it was 'hours' ) Then he generally asks what I would like to confess, and I go through my sins, trying to mention if these are 'repeats'. If I pause for an unduly long time, he'll probably ask me, "Anything else?" and eventually I'll say, 'No, that's all I can think of.' Then he'll give me whatever advice he'd like to share, which I may or may not respond to, and then he'll give me a penance and ask me to recite an act of contrition (I still say the one from when I was a little kid, just because I know it....) Then he absolves me, and I make sure I say "Thank you, Father!" before leaving.

[SoonerCatholic]

There was this older Benedictine priest at my Catholic school whose thing was to make sure that everyone knew they were special. He would ask it at Mass and everyone would raise their hand. I believe he even brought it up in the confessional once... I liked him in spite of that, though.

Anyways, it's interesting to hear about other people's confession experience......

I don't remember much about my first confession, but the second time I went, my parents took me to the family to a church in a neighboring city. Even at 7 or 8 years old, I was extremely stubborn, and I had it in my mind that I was not going to confession to a strange priest in a dark church even if I had something to confess at that age. So, somehow I get prodded into the confessional, which was dimly lit, and I don't recall a face to face option. I stand there silently refusing to say anything. The priest knows there's someone in there and he must have known that I was only 8, so he started asking me if I liked bubbles and such. I still refused to respond and left without saying anything. I must have been in there long enough that my parents believed I actually went to confession because on the ride home my mom started going on about how great it was to have gone to confession and be clean and all that. And I just sit there silently cringing.

On a more serious note, I find it difficult to open up in the confessional even though I know it's private. It's having to give voice to my sins that ties my tongue. Nonetheless, I have found that the Franciscans of the Immaculate have some good priests. And I think I got my first hardcore confession through them recently. I'm still too chicken to ask many questions though. But the good friars have talked me into doing the First Saturday devotion. Although I would be the first to admit I have done it rather badly so far.

[loveletslive]

i'm the same, i usually rattle off my sins get my penance and am out in five. i don't like to hold up the line or prevent anyone from going to confession because that smells of elderberries if you are the last person and father has to leave.

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1291741892' post='2191436']
wait did you just say at the mall?

Are the Franciscans running confession kiosks next to the sunglasses and phone case guys???
[/quote]
If I didn't know better I'd say he lives in the Archdiocese of Boston ... there's two malls which has chapels (Danvers, and Prudential Center Mall). *BUT* only one is Franciscan so I'd guess the Prudential Center Mall. The other one is Carmelite.

Love it!

Edited December 8, 2010 by cmariadiaz

[Ephrem Augustine]

Last time I went to confession, I didn't get much counsel...
I liked it...
Point being, I know exactly what I did wrong, I confessed it. I know the right thing I should have done, instead I merely chose the easier way, the sin. The only advice he could give me is the most obvious thing anybody could have said, was to not sin.

There had been a time when I got a whole lot of advice from a priest over a sin... and his advice did not really help me at all.

So, in my own preperation for the priesthood, I have to be mindful of that... Yet I still wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a really intelligent and experienced penitent who just needs absolution, and knows what to do afterwards, and the penitent who is at a loss on how to conquer their sin.

Best advice I could give, though, is like Augustine, God's grace is the real thing we need,

[MithLuin]

I think that sometimes the advice is tailored to the sins confessed. If it sounds like a 'beginner's mistake', you'll get appropriate counsel. [I dunno, maybe something like 'I missed Sunday mass x times.'] Sometimes the advice might be meant to jumpstart a conscience that seems too complacent about repetitive, serious sin. If it sounds like you struggle with scrupulosity because you obviously know moral theology inside and out....then the priest will likely react differently.

Being a good confessor is likely a skill that requires a lot of practice. The first few times, the priest is probably just nervous he's going to forget the words to the prayer of absolution! But even without advice, it still counts and we still get absolution, which is the important part.

[LaPetiteSoeur]

I went to Confession the other day and was [i]so[/i] nervous. I really don't know why. It's as though I am fully prepared and then once I sit/kneel I forget absolutely everything! The priest I had was wonderful and said: "Now take a deep breath. It's all over." He even gave some great advice about how to not judge people so much! He explained to try to find anything, even if it was as small as "o, well, that girl's shoes are always so nice."

So, Thank God for holy priests who are completely understanding of a future sister's inability to remember what to say..