Favorite Confessors

[MargaretTeresa]

I've only had one confessor so far - my parish priest. He listens, gives good advice and is generally helpful.

I'd don't appreciate how he laughs me off when I believe I was being particularly vain...

[Jaime]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' timestamp='1310568549' post='2266893']
favorite characteristic? a very short memory!
[/quote]





I went to confession last weekend with a new priest. I'm always nervous when I do that. There was a big line to see him and he had mass in less than 30 minutes so I tried to be brief but complete in deference to the folks outside waiting. I concluded with "This is what I am bringing to confession today Father" and then spent the next five minutes thanking in the most heartfelt way for coming to confession. Here I am being ministered by him and HE'S thanking ME!

I got a little emotional at that.

[Mary Magdalene]

[quote name='Wikitiki' timestamp='1310419785' post='2265902']
I have one confessor who does seriously everything with a huge amount of reverence. He does everything very slowly and carefully, and I actually feel like I'm being absolved when he says the absolution. He usually has me do a decade of the rosary for penance, but assigns a mystery to meditate on that correlates to my sins. He's made so many suggestions and reminded me of so many things I needed to be reminded of.

Most other priests I've been to have been very rush-y and impersonal.
[/quote]


I prefer confessors who really take the time to listen and don't just rush through. So many confessors I feel just don't listen, tune out and then give you the same penance that he just gave th last 10 people he listened to.

One particular confessor I know who is from the States, really listens and explains where I have gone wrong and tells me what I can do to avoid certain occassions of sin. We need more confessors like him.

[MissyP89]

Am I the only one here that likes tough guys?

When I came back to the Church, I was only 17. Still, at 21, many of the priests I see are so glad someone young is actually confessing that they coddle me. I once had a priest tell me, "I'm sure you haven't done anything wrong." which was irritating.

The only thing I want is for my confessor to take me seriously.

That said...best guy I ever had was the first one. He was Italian and hardheaded, like me, and a straight-shooter. He set the bar high for me and often gave me tough love in the confessional. But that's exactly what I need -- someone who is going to crawl under my skin and push me to be better. I've been to many priests since but there is no comparison.

My current padre has only been ordained a few years, and is very down-to-earth. He actually takes the time to ask [i]me[/i] questions which has been really helpful, and has really gone at of his way to make sure I know he's there for me. He's a lot different than my old confessor, but God has definitely given me the right priest for this point in my life. Unfortunately, l haven't seen him since January.

Edited August 13, 2011 by MissyP89

[Clare~Therese]

Well, my priest kind of rushes through it too. Sometimes it gets on my nerves a little bit but I've gotten used to it. Mostly I like it when they talk to you a bit instead of rapid-firing through Confession.
Although there's one time I went to Confession to the same rapid-fire priest to confess a certain thing that I was having a hard time with--at the time I was feeling pretty discouraged (I don't now)--and I told myself that would be the 1st thing I would confess once I got in the Confessional. So I did, blah blah blah. Then at the end my priest said, "Don't be discouraged; God [i]will not[/i] give up on you."
So after that I went home, wrote down what he said, and started to read St. Faustina's Diary wherever it was I had left off. And then I cried.
Since then God has been showing me His goodness and love in so many little but really obvious ways.
Sorry if I got a little too personal there or something.


After the first time I went to Confession after I made the decision to go to it more regularly I felt really joyful but I cried too; I just kind of felt overwhelmed by Jesus' goodness and that perhaps He was happy with my decision to go to Confession more regularly.

Anyway, like I said, I like it when a priest gives you time to say everything you need and/or want to say and gives you a bit of advice too.
Also I think part of my problem is that I think of a lot of things to say but once I actually get in the Confessional I forget half of what I was going to say or more. Maybe I should write a list for myself or something and bring it with me.

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

i should probably start writing my sins down, because i do forget alot when i go to confession. i think it has to do with being under pressure.

[BG45]

My first Confessor is still probably my favorite. He listens to you throughout, and doesn't look away or close his eyes like most do. Then he delivers a finely tuned combination of butt kicking and a reminder that despite the sins, I've come seeking God's mercy and grace and that in itself is a sign of my contrition that I may not have considered. His penances are never the same twice and usually tailored to what I confessed.

Next up is probably Fr. W. He has this annoying habit of closing his eyes, but our Confessional is small and the vent is right in his face blowing air in, so I can't blame him for needing to close his eyes at points during it. He's good at listening, but is way too soft on me at times. His penances are never the same twice either, but he makes you think about what you think a penance should be.Then usually adds to what you suggest if it's decent, or comes up with something entirely different if he doesn't think the idea is a proper penance.

Least fav was probably Fr. C.T. back home that we had for an associate pastor for a year. His were totally canned. But he'd suffered an aneurysm and was with us recovering. I probably had one of my most powerful Confession experiences with him though. I went there and prayed before, telling God I knew I needed the mercy of the Sacrament and that I understood Fr. would give me the same penance as always, but that didn't matter for the grace. Then when I went in, he was a completely different priest than normal and he gave me a penance that wasn't the canned one for the first and only time.

[quote name='LinaSt.Cecilia2772' timestamp='1313205934' post='2286820']
i should probably start writing my sins down, because i do forget alot when i go to confession. i think it has to do with being under pressure.
[/quote]

I always say "and for any other sins I have forgotten, I am truly sorry". I kept forgetting things and then getting scrupulous about them, but I found for me at least, that helps with the nervousness.

Edited August 13, 2011 by BG45

[Amppax]

My favorite confessor is a Dominican at my parish. The first time I had confession with him was in eighth grade, right before my confirmation, and the only thing I can remember of that confession was that at the time I thought it was the best confession I had ever made. At that time he was at our parish as a novice (he was already a priest but was becoming a Dominican).

The next time I went to him wasn't until my junior year at a retreat. That confession lasted about 2 hours, and was about half me confessing, and the other half him helping me through somethings. Honestly the absolute best confession I have ever had. So I suppose that for me, the characteristics of a good confessor are really going through your sins during confession. Also giving a penance that really helps to combat the sins you struggle with.

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' timestamp='1310568549' post='2266893']
favorite characteristic? a very short memory!
[/quote]

I have had people come to me and say "remember the last time I was here." I tell them I make it a point of forgetting what they said since they are not my sins and if I held on to them I would not be a priest but locked up in a metal institution. One time someone accused me of saying something in the confessional that they didn't like. I told them I did not know what I said, unfortunately, they left angry at me, but I did remind them that I intentionally don't remember what I say or what they confess.

Confession is a beautiful sacrament, because it is one of the sacraments that makes it most evident that I am not in control or even know what to say sometimes, yet, somehow, someway, I seem to be able to say what the person needed to hear. It's great how the Holy Spirit works.

God bless

Fr. Brian

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

I've had many amazing confession experiences. Every one of them has it's moments, some better than others, but i still find healing and grace in each one. Even if the priest isn't all that great.

But anywho, confession is my second favorite sacrament, besides the Eucharist. It's kinda weird how im not afraid to go to confession, and its even weirder how i love going face to face. God's grace never ceases to amaze me.

[MissyP89]

[quote name='BG45' timestamp='1313206710' post='2286826']
He has this annoying habit of closing his eyes...[/quote]

I actually really like it when they close their eyes or lower their gaze as I'm confessing. It's like a gesture of respect for the intimacy of what's happening, IMO. Besides, I feel a bit less like I'm under a spotlight when they aren't, well, staring at me.

This is also why I tend to keep my head bowed until "...for all these and the sins I've forgotten..."

[BG45]

[quote name='MissyP89' timestamp='1313292483' post='2287421']

I actually really like it when they close their eyes or lower their gaze as I'm confessing. It's like a gesture of respect for the intimacy of what's happening, IMO. Besides, I feel a bit less like I'm under a spotlight when they aren't, well, staring at me.

This is also why I tend to keep my head bowed until "...for all these and the sins I've forgotten..."
[/quote]

I guess I could see that. Fr. W. said it was the vent for him, that and a bit of prayer. The most...disconcerting....Confession I ever had was at a retreat at St. Emma's Monastery. The Diocesan Vocations Director and I had been hanging out that weekend because he was working on a dissertation and we were swapping horror stories about grad school in front of our undergrads on the retreat, and he was our Confessor for the trip. He never seemed to blink. I've never, NEVER stammered that much in a Confession. I even remember saying at one point something about that afterward, and how I'd never realized what a difference actually being looked at the whole time would make.

[Vincent Vega]

I never have been a priest who agreed to be my full-time confessor/spiritual director. I thought I had found one...we emailed back and forth for a while until one day he abruptly stopped responding. Turns out that he had been having some sort of love affair with someone and had been put on "leave" by the diocese.
That basically sums my luck with that kind of thing up.

[MissyP89]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' timestamp='1313292734' post='2287427']
I never have been a priest who agreed to be my full-time confessor/spiritual director. I thought I had found one...we emailed back and forth for a while until one day he abruptly stopped responding. Turns out that he had been having some sort of love affair with someone and had been put on "leave" by the diocese.
That basically sums my luck with that kind of thing up.
[/quote]


And I thought my luck was bad! At least none of mine have ever run off with anyone...mine tend to just fall off the face of the earth.

[Amppax]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' timestamp='1313292734' post='2287427']
I never have been a priest who agreed to be my full-time confessor/spiritual director. I thought I had found one...we emailed back and forth for a while until one day he abruptly stopped responding. Turns out that he had been having some sort of love affair with someone and had been put on "leave" by the diocese.
That basically sums my luck with that kind of thing up.
[/quote]

Ouch. Yeah, i've not had much luck with it either. But that is worse than any luck I've had. the dominican's here seem to switch very often, thus I've never had the chance to get to the point of knowing one well enough to ask if they'd be my sd.