General Confession
by Pope Michael
From The Baltimore Catechism: Q. 829. What is a general confession?
A. A general confession is the telling of the sins of our whole life or a great part of it. It is made in the same manner as an ordinary confession, except that it requires more time and longer preparation.
We strongly recommend rereading the Catechism on Confession as well as the various Examinations of Conscience that We have provided and those found in prayer books to aid in making a good General Confession.
Basically we must confess all of the sins from our last certainly valid confession. If we have not confessed since Baptism, then we begin with Baptism. If we received conditional Baptism, when we were received into the Church, then we must confess all of the sins since the first possibly valid Baptism.
Let us review the five parts to making a good Confession. This is not a replacement for the study of the Catechism, but given with some additional notes from books in Our library.
1. We must examine our conscience.
2. We must have sorrow for our sins.
3. We must make a firm resolution never more to offend God.
4. We must confess our sins to the priest.
5. We must accept the penance which the priest gives us.
Examination of Conscience
We have provided several examinations of conscience to help all of us remember our sins, because of the length of time involved. Let us focus on the mortal sins, because these need to be confessed.
Saint Thomas Aquinas says in the Summa: Further, he that confesses is pardoned unless he be insincere. But he who confesses all the sins that he calls to mind, is not insincere through forgetting some, because he suffers from ignorance of fact, which excuses from sin. Therefore he receives forgiveness, and then the sins which he has forgotten, are loosened, since it is wicked to hope for half a pardon. Therefore if we forget a sin, then there is no worry. What is required is that we make a reasonable effort to remember all of our mortal sins and are sorry for all of them, even the ones we have forgotten!
Sorrow For Our Sins
We recently discussed the necessity of perfect contrition, when Confession is not possible. In Confession, however, all that is required is attrition, which is also called imperfect contrition. Saint Alphonsus divides our sorrow into several parts: sincerity, supernatural, sovereign, universal, and accompanied by a hope of pardon.
Our sorrow to be sincere must come from the heart, not just from our mouth.
We should not repent for merely material reasons. Sorrow for having over-eaten is material if we are sorry we overate, because we have a stomach ache. It is supernatural, if we are sorry, because we have offended God.
St. Teresa had given an excellent method of knowing whether our soul has true sorrow for her sins; if she has a sincere purpose to sin no more, and would be content to lose all things rather than the grace of God, let her have confidence; for then there is no doubt that she has true sorrow for her sins. (Saint Alphonsus on sovereignty of sorrow)
To be universal we must be sorry for each and every mortal sin we have committed. If we have committed a hundred mortal sins and are only sorry for 99, then our sorrow is worthless.
Firm Purpose of Amendment
Basically we must take the steps necessary to avoid committing the sin in the future. Some summarize it as avoiding three things, the people we sin with, the places where we sin and the things we sins with.
Saint Alphonsus tells us that our purpose must be firm, universal and efficacious. It must be firm, so that the penitent resolutely purposes to suffer every evil rather than offend God…. The purpose must be universal; that is, it must be a purpose of avoiding every mortal sin. … The purpose must be efficacious—that is, it must make us practise all the means necessary to avoid sin; and one of the most necessary of these means is, to avoid the occasions of relapsing into sin.
Confession
What we must confess are all mortal sins and the circumstances that change the gravity of a sin. To steal a hundred dollars is a sin, to steal a hundred dollars from the Church is a double sin, the theft and the sin of sacrilege by taking something consecrated to God’s use. Theft of ten dollars from an extremely poor person might be mortally sinful, whereas a similar theft from a rich person may only be venially sinful.
Now this is not a place to rationalize or make excuses for our sins. Let us be honest, we have sinned. Saint Alphonsus says: The confession must be sincere, that is, without lies or excuses. II Corinthians 10:18: For not he who commendeth himself is approved: but he, whom God commendeth.
Also this is not the place to name names. This is our confession not our neighbor’s. So in confessing a sin against the sixth commandment, all we do is mention the character of the person we sinned with. For instance to sin with a married woman is adultery, whereas to sin with a single woman is fornication. If we are married, then it is adultery on our part. To sin with a virgin is more grievous than a non-virgin, although both are mortal. To sin with a priest or a nun is a sin of sacrilege as well. So we only describe the minimum necessary and not give the name of the person.
I John 1:8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Penance
The penance ordinarily prescribed is light, but it must be performed. Additional penance is strongly recommended, since our whole life ought to be a perpetual penance. (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
And let us return to the Catechism (Q802): Is the slight penance the priest gives us sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed? The slight penance with the priest gives us is not sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed: 1. Because there is no real equality between the slight penance given and the punishment deserved for sin; 2. Because we are all obliged to do penance for sins committed, and this would not be necessary if the penance given in confession satisfied for all. The penance is given and accepted in confession chiefly to show our willingness to do penance and make amends for our sins.
Which are the chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin? (Q805) The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin are: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving; all spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
Saint Joseph Cafasso, The Priest, the Man of God: That is all very well, someone says, but I cannot go so often, I live too far away from another priest. I willingly admit that there are difficulties, but whatever the difficulties or obstacles may be, confession should not be deferred for longer than a month; and so, cost whatever it may, a priest should confess once or twice a month. In the second place, if a priest cannot confess every week, let him at least have the desire and will to do so ; in order to keep this desire alive and sincere I suggest the following means: let the priest arrange to perform some pious exercise during that week in which he cannot make his weekly confession, a useful exercise, and one that will cost him something; such an exercise might be, for example, a day's fast or an abstinence, a Holy Hour the giving up of some excursion or amusement, especially for one who is accustomed to attend parties.
Prayer
We recommend in addition to the common daily prayers a weekly Holy Hour. We also strongly recommend the practice of meditation.
Fasting
We recommend reading the instruction on the Scapular from Saint Alphonsus in your notebooks.
Almsgiving
Speaking on Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Venerable Mary of Agreda writes (Mystical City of God: The Conception, page 145): The rents and incomes of their estate they divided each year into three parts. The first one they offered to the temple of Jerusalem for the worship of the Lord; the second they distributed to the poor, and the third they retained for the decent sustenance of themselves and family. God augmented their temporal goods on account of their genersity and charity.
St. Alphonsus teaches that persons are bound, out of the part of their income which remains over when they have made suitable provision for themselves and their families, to relieve the ordinary necessities of the poor. (Catholic Dictionary, Addis and Arnold.) Basically alms are from the surplus after taking care of our duties in justice to God and man. Bernard Clements in his book, The Precepts of the Church, comments on our duty to God: It has generally been held that a minimum of one-tenth of one's income should be expended in this way, (i.e. in support of the Church) but it is apparent that where personal income is either very small, or is non-existent, this rule has no force. But it has force where it can be observed, and it should be noted that it is a minimum of obligation, not a maximum of charity.
If one has surplus after contributing the tithe to the church, then this should be used in alms directly to the poor, not to some agency which may misappropriate the funds.
Spiritual Works of Mercy
He who is content with saving himself and neglects the salvation of others cannot secure his own salvation. (Saint John Chrysostom, Chapter 18 of Matthew Sermon 60)
1.
To admonish the sinner,
To admonish the sinner, 2.to instruct the ignorant,
to instruct the ignorant, 3.to counsel the doubtful,
to counsel the doubtful, 4.to comfort the sorrowful,
to comfort the sorrowful, 5.to bear wrongs patiently,
to bear wrongs patiently, 6.to forgive all injuries,
to forgive all injuries, 7.and to pray for the living and the dead. Surely to ransom a soul from Purgatory, is a marvelous act, but to snatch a soul from mortal sin is greater for theologians teach that the slightest sin is worse than all the evils of earth, purgatory and hell. (Saint John Eudes, The Priest, His Dignity and Obligations, pages 140-1)
and to pray for the living and the dead. Surely to ransom a soul from Purgatory, is a marvelous act, but to snatch a soul from mortal sin is greater for theologians teach that the slightest sin is worse than all the evils of earth, purgatory and hell. (Saint John Eudes, The Priest, His Dignity and Obligations, pages 140-1)In cases of necessity where faith is in danger, every one is bound to proclaim his faith to others, either to give good example and encouragement to the rest of the faithful, or to check the attacks of unbelievers: (II.II Q3 A2 reply 1) Especially important today is spreading the Faith, that is the instructing the ignorant and counseling the doubtful. To do this we are required to learn the Faith ourselves, moreso than at any other time in history.
We must first be purified and then purify others; be filled with wisdom and make others wise; become light and give light; be near to God and lead others to Him; be sanctified and sanctify; guide others by the hand and counsel them with knowledge. (Saint Gregory Nanzianzen)
Corporal Works of Mercy
Before proceeding, remember charity begins at home. One story comes to mind of a woman, who was busy about feeding the hungry away from home, while her husband went hungry.
1.To feed the hungry,
To feed the hungry, 2.to give drink to the thirsty,
to give drink to the thirsty, 3.to clothe the naked,
to clothe the naked, 4.to ransom the captive,
to ransom the captive, 5.to harbor the harborless,
to harbor the harborless, 6.to visit the sick,
to visit the sick, 7.and to bury the dead.
and to bury the dead.Prepared by Pope Michael August, 2006
