"The Art of Confession"

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"Whaddaya mean "Art of Confession? The Sisters taught me all I need to know in Second Grade. Why would I want to study more about going to Confession?"

Well, and you may want to wash my mouth out with soap, but the Sisters didn't teach us everything. And little minds had to learn for themselves. Sometimes right away. I recall a little fellow who was all getting dressed up for the first time in his life, in preparation for his First Holy Communion. His mom had got him a nice new white shirt like his dad's and dress pants and new black shoes and even a tie to wear with it. All but the tie a couple of sizes too big so that he could grow into them and get more use out of them.

His teachers had made him study his Baltimore Catechism really hard and taught him about how he was going to receive Jesus just like grown ups. But he would have to go to Confession first and the Sisters taught him all about the Ten Commandments and what a sin was and how Jesus didn't like people who sinned so you had go clean your soul in Confession by telling Father your sins. And they told him what sins were, like fighting with brothers or sisters, lying to moms or dads, not doing chores, and like that. It was also a sin to have food or water after midnight before receiving Communion, too. So one Friday in May, the students all got in line in the Church and one after the other they all confessed their sins and Father forgave us and they were ready. If only the didn't do any fighting that weekend before their First Communion. There are always lots of peaceful homes on the weekends before First Communions.

It was a beautiful Spring day. So he and his mom walked the three blocks down the hill to Church while his dad stayed home with the other three kids. About half way there, his mother turned to him and asked “Why do you keep spitting like that?” He had been spitting regularly, firm in his belief that swallowing spit was like drinking water and if he swallowed any, he wouldn’t be able to receive his First Holy Communion. She laughed and explained that “spit wasn’t water.” He was relieved but wondered why the Sisters had never taught him that.

I'll bet most reading this haven't had much instruction in how to make a good Confession since that first one in Second Grade. And what things did they learn then that are wrong? Some have probably have found an "Examination of Conscience" that they use, some of which are very good.

But here's one better. Father Laurent Demets, FSSP, has posted a translation of an article written in the 1940s or 1950s by a French priest, Father Henri Chery O.P., a French Dominican, entitled "The Art of Confession" that was recently published in a French journal.

It is not so much an "Examination of Conscience as it is a discussion as why go to Confession, who to go to, which sins to confess, how to confess, in what manner to confess, and thoughts on the firm intention of sinning no more. The article is particularly great on dealing with that particular list of sins that all of us have that we have been confessing for many years and there never seems to be any improvement. Make a copy of the article for yourself so you can annotate it. It really is great. You'll find it here on the Rorate Caeli blog.