Confession

[goldenchild17]

Where can I get the Early Church Fathers quotes on private confessions? Did this occur in the early Church? Also, is there one required method of confession(private, public, general etc.) or are they all legit as long as done with a priest?

[StColette]

The Didache

"Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).

The Letter of Barnabas

"You shall judge righteously. You shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify those that contend by bringing them together. You shall confess your sins. You shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light" (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).

Ignatius of Antioch

"For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Philadelphians 3 [A.D. 110]).

"For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop" (ibid., 8).

Irenaeus

"[The Gnostic disciples of Marcus] have deluded many women. . . . Their consciences have been branded as with a hot iron. Some of these women make a public confession, but others are ashamed to do this, and in silence, as if withdrawing from themselves the hope of the life of God, they either apostatize entirely or hesitate between the two courses" (Against Heresies 1:22 [A.D. 189]).

Tertullian

"[Regarding confession, some] flee from this work as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to the physicians; and thus they perish along with their own bashfulness" (Repentance 10:1 [A.D. 203]).


Hippolytus

"[The bishop conducting the ordination of the new bishop shall pray:] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Pour forth now that power which comes from you, from your royal Spirit, which you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and which he bestowed upon his holy apostles . . . and grant this your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, [the power] to feed your holy flock and to serve without blame as your high priest, ministering night and day to propitiate unceasingly before your face and to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command" (Apostolic Tradition 3 [A.D. 215]).

Origen

"[A final method of forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, ‘I said, "To the Lord I will accuse myself of my iniquity"’" (Homilies on Leviticus 2:4 [A.D. 248]).

Cyprian of Carthage

"The apostle [Paul] likewise bears witness and says: ‘ . . . Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]. But [the impenitent] spurn and despise all these warnings; before their sins are expiated, before they have made a confession of their crime, before their conscience has been purged in the ceremony and at the hand of the priest . . . they do violence to [the Lord’s] body and blood, and with their hands and mouth they sin against the Lord more than when they denied him" (The Lapsed 15:1–3 (A.D. 251]).

"Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who . . . confess their sins to the priests of God in a straightforward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. . . . I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while he is still in this world, while his confession is still admissible, while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord" (ibid., 28).

"[S]inners may do penance for a set time, and according to the rules of discipline come to public confession, and by imposition of the hand of the bishop and clergy receive the right of Communion. [But now some] with their time [of penance] still unfulfilled . . . they are admitted to Communion, and their name is presented; and while the penitence is not yet performed, confession is not yet made, the hands of the bishop and clergy are not yet laid upon them, the Eucharist is given to them; although it is written, ‘Whosoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]" (Letters 9:2 [A.D. 253]).

"And do not think, dearest brother, that either the courage of the brethren will be lessened, or that martyrdoms will fail for this cause, that penance is relaxed to the lapsed, and that the hope of peace [i.e., absolution] is offered to the penitent. . . . For to adulterers even a time of repentance is granted by us, and peace is given" (ibid., 51[55]:20).

"But I wonder that some are so obstinate as to think that repentance is not to be granted to the lapsed, or to suppose that pardon is to be denied to the penitent, when it is written, ‘Remember whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works’ [Rev. 2:5], which certainly is said to him who evidently has fallen, and whom the Lord exhorts to rise up again by his deeds [of penance], because it is written, ‘Alms deliver from death’ [Tob. 12:9]" (ibid., 51[55]:22).

Aphraahat the Persian Sage

"You [priests], then, who are disciples of our illustrious physician [Christ], you ought not deny a curative to those in need of healing. And if anyone uncovers his wound before you, give him the remedy of repentance. And he that is ashamed to make known his weakness, encourage him so that he will not hide it from you. And when he has revealed it to you, do not make it public, lest because of it the innocent might be reckoned as guilty by our enemies and by those who hate us" (Treatises 7:3 [A.D. 340]).

Basil the Great

"It is necessary to confess our sins to those to whom the dispensation of God’s mysteries is entrusted. Those doing penance of old are found to have done it before the saints. It is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sins to John the Baptist [Matt. 3:6], but in Acts [19:18] they confessed to the apostles" (Rules Briefly Treated 288 [A.D. 374]).

John Chrysostom

"Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven? ‘Whose sins you shall forgive,’ he says, ‘they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.’ What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men [Matt. 10:40; John 20:21–23]. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven" (The Priesthood 3:5 [A.D. 387]).

Ambrose of Milan

"For those to whom [the right of binding and loosing] has been given, it is plain that either both are allowed, or it is clear that neither is allowed. Both are allowed to the Church, neither is allowed to heresy. For this right has been granted to priests only" (Penance 1:1 [A.D. 388]).

Jerome

"If the serpent, the devil, bites someone secretly, he infects that person with the venom of sin. And if the one who has been bitten keeps silence and does not do penance, and does not want to confess his wound . . . then his brother and his master, who have the word [of absolution] that will cure him, cannot very well assist him" (Commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:11 [A.D. 388]).

"We read in Leviticus about lepers, where they are ordered to show themselves to the priests, and if they have leprosy, then they are to be declared unclean by the priest. . . . Just as in the Old Testament the priest makes the leper clean or unclean, so in the New Testament the bishop or presbyter binds or looses not those who are innocent or guilty, but by reason of their office, when they have heard various kinds of sins, they know who is to be bound and who is to be loosed" (Commentary on Matthew 3:16:19 [A.D. 398]).

Augustine

"When you shall have been baptized, keep to a good life in the commandments of God so that you may preserve your baptism to the very end. I do not tell you that you will live here without sin, but they are venial sins which this life is never without. Baptism was instituted for all sins. For light sins, without which we cannot live, prayer was instituted. . . . But do not commit those sins on account of which you would have to be separated from the body of Christ. Perish the thought! For those whom you see doing penance have committed crimes, either adultery or some other enormities. That is why they are doing penance. If their sins were light, daily prayer would suffice to blot them out. . . . In the Church, therefore, there are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptisms, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance" (Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed 7:15, 8:16 [A.D. 395]).

[StColette]

as for the format it usually goes like:

you say to the priest " Forgive me Father for I have sinned" then tell how long it has been since your last confession.

then you confession your sins, and sometimes the Priest will ask you questions or talk to you about things concerning your sins.

He absolves you and you also make an Act of Contrition and the Priest will give you your penance.

And yes Confession was practiced during the early Church.

[goldenchild17]

Hmmm, thanks. It's a little frustrating that there doesn't seem to be anything a little bit more definitive on the private one on one confessions like we have now... I used the one by the Persian Sage dude... and there are a few similar to that one. But that just gets rebutted saying that it clearly wasn't the norm as it was only done when one is too ashamed to do it the normal way... And also does it have to be in private. Or does it not matter as long as it's done with a priest. Can it also be legit to do it in general assembly etc.?

[StColette]

what do you mean by general assembly ?

[goldenchild17]

I meant like general absolutions. Like when a priest absolves a number of people all at once. I don't think it happens very often.

[StColette]

Personal Nature of Confession Stressed in New Papal Document

General Absolution Has Been Abused, Says Cardinal Ratzinger

VATICAN CITY, MAY 2, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Personal confession of sins, rather than the general or collective way, is the proper and ordinary realm for the sacrament of reconciliation, John Paul II reaffirms in a new document.

The apostolic letter "Misericordia Dei" (God´s Mercy) was written in response to the improper use in some countries of general confession and general absolution. The general approach is designed for emergency situations where penitents have the intention of going to private confession afterward. But in recent years the approach often has been used as the normal method.

"The fact that humanity needs purification and forgiveness is something that is self-evident in our historical time," Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger explained today when presenting the document to the press.

"Precisely for this reason, the Holy Father wished to write an apostolic letter, which above all underlines the personal character of the sacrament of penance," he said.

The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith added that "guilt, despite all our ties with the human community, is in the ultimate sense something totally personal, therefore our healing and forgiveness must also be totally personal."

Cardinal Ratzinger explained that "God does not treat us as parts of a collectivity. He knows each one by name, calls him personally and saves him, if he has fallen into sin. Although the Lord addresses each person directly in all the sacraments, the personalist character of Christian life is manifested in a particularly clear way in the sacrament of penance."

This personal dimension, the cardinal said, was in "the shadow in recent decades because of ever more frequent recourse to collective absolution, increasingly considered as a normal form of the sacrament of penance."

This "abuse," the cardinal added, "has contributed to the progressive disappearance of this sacrament in some parts of the Church."

"Does this document, then, add a new burden to the backs of Christians?" Cardinal Ratzinger asked. "It is precisely the contrary; the totally personal character of Christian life must be defended. Of course, confession of one´s own sin can seem like something heavy for the person, as it humbles his pride and confronts him with his poverty."

However, he stressed, "This is precisely what we need; we suffer precisely for this reason: We shut ourselves in in our delirium of guiltlessness and for this reason, we are also closed to others."

"In psychotherapeutic treatments, a person is made to bear the burden of profound and often dangerous revelations of their inner self," the cardinal added. "In the sacrament of penance the simple confession of one´s guilt is presented with confidence in God´s merciful goodness."

"It is important to do it, without falling into scruples, with the spirit of trust proper to the children of God," the cardinal concluded. "In this way, confession can become an experience of deliverance, in which the weight of the past is removed from us and we can feel rejuvenated by the merit of God´s grace."

Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez also spoke during the presentation of the document. He explained that it "confirms the traditional teaching of the doctrine of the Church, according to which, the only ordinary way to celebrate the sacrament of penance is the one that implies the total confession of sins to the priest with personal absolution."

The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments clarified that so-called collective or general absolutions must be considered extraordinary and exceptional.

"Recourse is taken to them only and exclusively in case of danger of death or when it is physically and morally impossible to celebrate the sacrament in the ordinary way," the cardinal explained. "[To] equate collective absolutions with the ordinary way of celebrating the sacrament of penance is a doctrinal error, a disciplinary abuse and a pastoral harm."

Archbishop Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts, also spoke at the press conference to highlight the two dimensions of the Pope´s apostolic letter.

Those dimensions, he said, are "the fundamental right of the faithful to receive from the sacred pastors the sacraments instituted by Christ," and the duty of the latter to "establish and diligently apply the canonical and liturgical laws that ensure the valid and licit celebration of the sacraments."

[Philippe]

back in the day the whole congregation would just say there sins outloud and the screen confession only started around the time of the plague because everyone was afraid of it

i think thats right

[goldenchild17]

So private confessions didn't really exist in the days of the Early Church Fathers??? That doesn't sound too cool.

[StColette]

Yes they existed in the early Church Fathers

Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the early Church, publicly known sins (such as apostasy) were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins. Still, confession was not just something done in silence to God alone, but something done "in church," as the Didache (A.D. 70) indicates

Edited September 7, 2004 by StColette

[phatcatholic]

this article is good b/c it explains the meaning of each testimony by the ECFs:

[url="http://www.ewtn.com/library/DOCTRINE/PENANC.TXT"][b]Sacrament of Penance in the Early Church[/b][/url]

[b]1. Epistle of Pope St. Clement, probably c 95 AD: 51.3:[/b]

"For it is good for a person to confess his transgressions and
not to harden his heart."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] This could mean only generally admitting faults, or a liturgical
Confiteor.


[b]2. Didache 14, perhaps between 100 and 150 AD:[/b]

"And on the Lord's own day, gather together and break bread and
give thanks, first confessing your transgressions that your
sacrifice may be pure."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Again this could have same sort of meaning as that of the Epistle
of Clement.


[b]3. The Shepherd, by Hermas, brother of Pope St.Pius I, who ruled 140-150.
Mandate 4.3.1-6: Hermas says to the angel of Penance:[/b]

"I have heard, sir, from some teachers that there is no other
means of repentance than the one when we went down into the
water and obtained remission of our previous sins. He said to
me, you have heard rightly, for that is true. He who has
received remission of sin should never sin again, but live in
purity. But since you ask carefully about everything, I will
explain this too to you, not to give an excuse to those who in
the future will believe or to those who have already believed in
the Lord. For those who have already believed or are going to
believe have no means of repentance of sins, but have the
remission of their previous sins. For those who were called
before these days, the Lord appointed means of repentance, For
the Lord knows the heart and since He knows in advance
everything, He knew the weakness of man, and the cunning
craftiness of the devil,that he will do some evil to the
servants of God and will deal wickedly with them. The Lord then,
since He is full of compassion had mercy on His creatures, and
established this means of repentance. And to me was given power
over this means of repentance. But I tell you, he said, after
that great and solemn calling, if a man should be tempted by the
devil and sin, he has one means of repentance. But if he sins
repeatedly and repents, it does him no good, for scarcely shall
he live."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Most scholars think the passage is deliberately obscure, for
psychological reasons.It opens by saying there is only one means of
forgiveness, Baptism. But at once it adds that there is another, but not
all may use it. Implication is that repentance might not be real in many,
especially if they denied Christ in the Roman court, planning to use the
sacrament afterwards. Their repentance then would probably not be sincere -
it was preplanned, and there was no a real change of heart. But after long
and hard penance, there could be a change of heart. So,in Parable 9.16 we
read: "It is impossible for him to be saved who now denies His Lord, but
for those who denied Him long ago, repentance seems possible." Also, the
angel, speaks of one means - which could imply that the Sacrament of
Penance could be used only once in a lifetime. It says one should never sin
again -this is the Baptismal seal, which marks one as God's property, and
one should never break the seal. Yet we do see here,in spite of the
deliberate obscurity, that there was a Sacrament of Penance.

We use a regressive method: we go back to the first point at which a
doctrine is clear - earlier are only unclear statements. But since we know
that in the Patristic age any change in doctrine provoked a storm, if there
was no storm at the time of the first clear statement, we gather that the
teaching was around long before, even from the beginning. We know too that
the penetration by the Church into the deposit of revelation grows with
time: so we need not suppose everything was clear at the start, e.g.,the
case of the Immaculate Conception. This all stems from the promise a the
Last Supper, in John 16:13 that He would send the Holy Spirit to lead them
into all truth. It did not mean new revelations, but a deeper penetration.


[b]4. Tertullian, "De Paenitentia" 4: (written 100-206 while not yet a
heretic):[/b]

"For all sins, then, whether of the flesh or the spirit, whether
committed in act or [only] in will, He who destined punishment
by judgment, also promised pardon, though the door of
forgiveness and intinction [Baptism] has been closed and
fastened. He allowed something to yet be open, for He placed in
the vestibule a second penance, which is open to those who
knock, but now once, since it already the second time."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Here the Sacrament can be used not only for the big three,
apostasy, murder, adultery, but for all graver sins of flesh or spirit, and
even for sins committed only interiorly, not in action. But he says it can
be used only once. Yet, in 7.13 he at least hints the sacrament could be
used more than once: "Let it be irksome to sin again, but let it not be
irksome to repent again. Let it be irksome to be in danger again, but not
to be freed again." So his words seem to be psychological, like those of
Hermas.


[b]5. Tertullian, "De pudicitia" (dated 213 to 223--he was then a heretical
Montanist):[/b]

18.3: "But if the clemency of God is open yet to those who are
ignorant [of Him] and infidels, surely also penitence invites
clemency to itself, that kind of penitence being still on hand
after believing [after Baptism] which can obtain pardon for the
[relatively] lesser faults, from the bishop, for greater and
unforgivable ones from God alone."

19.24-26: "For to whom does it not happen that he is unjustly
angry, and beyond the setting of the sun, or that he lays
violent hands [on someone] or that he easily curses or swears
rashly or violates the faith of a contract, or that he lies out
of shame or necessity, in businesses,in duties,in making money,
in manner of living,in looking, in hearing - what great
temptations! so that if there be no pardon for these things
salvation would be open to no one."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Tertullian thinks the great three cannot be forgiven by the
Church, but he lists many others which he thinks are mortal, since without
forgiveness there is no salvation,and pardon can be had for these,
apparently from the Bishop, who is mentioned specifically in 18.8. And in
the same work, in section 1, he [now a heretic] ridicules the "peremptory"
edict of the "Bishop of Bishops" who says he can remit the sins of adultery
and fornication. This may mean Pope Callistus - debated.


[b]6. Tertullian, on Baptism 18.4:(between 100 and 206 AD):[/b]

"For no less reason the unmarried should put off [Baptism], for
in them there is an aptness to temptation--in virgins because of
their ripeness, as also in the widowed on account of their
freedom -until either they are married, or are made stronger for
continence.One who understands the seriousness of Baptism will
fear to receive it more than to defer it."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Extreme view of the baptismal seal, reflecting also the difficulty
of the sacrament of penance.


[b]7. St. Cyprian, Epistle 10 (16) written in 250 to priests and deacons:[/b]

"Whereas in the case of lesser sins, sinners do penance for the
fixed time, and according to the order of discipline come to
confession, and through the imposition of the hands of bishop
and clergy receive the right of communion, now, while the unripe
time of persecution still lasts, when the peace of the Church
herself has not yet been restored, they are admitted to
communion, and offering is made in their name though penance has
not yet been done, nor confession made,and through the hand of
the bishop and clergy has not yet been imposed on them, the
Eucharist is given them.

[b]St Cyprian, "On the Lapsed" [in persecution] 251 AD:[/b]

"Then how much greater and better the fear of those who though
bound by no guilt of sacrifice or certificate, yet, since they
have even thought of doing this, sorrowfully and simply
confessing this very thing before the priests of God, make their
confession of conscience."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] This is the persecution of Decius, who ordered all to have a
certificate saying they had sacrificed. Some bought these, but then,
showing them, was a denial of Christ. Here Cyprian speaks of those who had
not done either thing, but only considered it, but yet came to confession
for the sin of thought.


[b]8. Origen, "On Leviticus" 14. after 244 AD:[/b]

"There is always an opening for recovery when, for example, some
mortal guilt ["culpa mortalis"] has found us out that does not
consist in mortal crime ["crimen mortale"] like blaspheming the
faith, but in some vice of speech or habit.... Such guilt can
always be repaired, and penance is never denied for sins of this
kind. In the case of the graver crimes, only once is there given
place for penitence; but these common things, which we
frequently incur, always admit of penance, and without
intermission they are redeemed."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Origen speaks of mortal sins that are not mortal crimes, such as
blaspheming the faith. For ordinary mortal sins, he says, there is always
penance - for the crimes, only once. We must remember that technical terms,
such as mortal sin, had not yet become precise by his time.


[b]9. Origen, "On Psalm 37.6. Homily 2.":[/b]

"Only look around very carefully to whom you should confess your
sin. First test the physician to whom you should explain the
cause of your sicknesses. If he understands and foresees that
such is your sickness that it should be explained in the
gathering of the whole church and be cured, so that perhaps
others may be edified and you yourself may more easily be
healed, this is to be carried out with much deliberation and
with the very skilled counsel of that physician."

[b]COMMENT:[/b] Here seems to be a preliminary private confession, to decide if
public penance is needed or not. Written before 244 AD.

Edited September 7, 2004 by phatcatholic

[HartfordWhalers]

[quote name='Philippe' date='Sep 7 2004, 02:49 AM'] back in the day the whole congregation would just say there sins outloud and the screen confession only started around the time of the plague because everyone was afraid of it

i think thats right [/quote]
I don't think it had anything to do with the plague. I believe St. Patrick was the first to have private Confessions.

[HartfordWhalers]

[quote name='goldenchild17' date='Sep 7 2004, 02:59 AM'] So private confessions didn't really exist in the days of the Early Church Fathers??? That doesn't sound too cool. [/quote]
They did not have a general absolution, in the form many Priests do today (which is condemned by the Church outside of danger of death).

They all confessed their sins openly, each one, and all could hear. Each person confessed all his sins. It was not just a Confiteor... it would pretty much be the same thing as you do privately, but instead of only the Priest hearing, all people would hear them as well. Of course, only the Priest would absolve and only he could absolve of sins, but the whole congregation of Faithful could hear everyone's sins.