Through the Sacrament of Penance
our sins are forgiven
and we receive great consolation of soul.

The practice of frequent confession

By Paul Kokoski

On In recent years the practice of frequent confession has been gravely neglected and even discouraged by those who assert that little importance should be given to the frequent confession of venial sins. Such thinking, however, is alien to the Spirit of Christ and disastrous for the Mystical Body of our Savior.1 In this essay I will attempt to explain the meaning of the sacrament of Penance, indicate why and when the sacrament is necessary, indicate how the sacrament should be approached, and provide a number of reasons as to why the practice of frequent confession may be especially beneficial.

The Catechism explains that Penance is the sacrament through which those who approach it obtain “pardon from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example and by prayer labors for their conversion.”2

While the sacrament of Baptism is effective in removing original sin, concupiscence, the effect of original sin remains. Christians, therefore, are still inclined toward sin and do, in fact, sin. Aptly, if not dramatically, the Church Fathers refer to the sacrament of Penance as the “second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace.”3

Penance is the sacrament of the new law whereby all sins committed after Baptism are forgiven those who approach the sacrament in the proper disposition and who receive absolution from an authorized priest. The sacrament of Penance is often called the sacrament of confession, then, since it is a practice by which one confesses, in a profound sense, his sins to a priest.

Officially, the Church requires one to confess serious sins at least once a year. As well the Church strictly insists that, except for a grave reason, sacramental absolution of serious sins must precede the reception of Holy Communion, for while the Eucharist is the source of all grace, it is not directly ordained for the forgiveness of mortal sins.4 Holy Mother Church also requires that children confess before receiving Christ in the Eucharist for the first time.5

The Church teaches that confession is required only for mortal sins as they destroy sanctifying grace, cause the supernatural death of the soul and wound ecclesial communion. Mortal sin not only damages but breaks our union with God. Confession is always necessary in such instances because it restores sanctifying grace, it restores our friendship with God and leads the forgiven penitent toward reconciliation with himself, his brethren, the Church and with all creation.6 In this sense, like the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, it is often referred to as a sacrament of healing.

While venial sins do not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, they weaken one’s spiritual strength and also lower one’s resistance to evil. Therefore, the Church strongly recommends that we regularly confess our everyday minor faults (venial sins).

Deliberate venial sins speak to us about our own frailty. These are the sins “of which we are guilty in rash moments, on account of some passing excitement, from want of reflection, through forgetfulness or thoughtlessness.”7 Though it is not absolutely necessary, they are still sins which should be confessed. Often there are deep rooted reasons for such transgressions which can be brought to the surface by a qualified priest in the confessional.

Religious who have already attained a higher degree of perfection than the average person will usually confess, as a rule, not necessarily every imperfection, but certain sins and faults which they have made up their mind to conquer. Here the principle “non multa, sed multum” holds, i.e., not much, but well done. This refers primarily to sins that are particularly difficult for an individual to overcome perhaps because of personal temperament. The principle “non multa, sed multum” is especially recommended to those who are somewhat apathetic in attaining virtue or for those who continuously worry about having sufficient contrition for the sins they confessed.

While it is certainly necessary to be fully aware of our sins, we must also be wary of becoming scrupulous. Hence to recite our sins to the priest in great detail is quite unnecessary.

For many, especially advanced souls, confession may center on either a particular sin committed since their last confession, some inordinate passion, practice or inclination, or even a specific Commandment that the penitent is having trouble with.8 It is also worthwhile, in each frequent confession, to accuse oneself in a general sense of all the sins of one’s past life. This is closely linked to what is known as “universal contrition” which I will get to later.

Normally, imperfections such as “indeliberate and involuntary distractions in prayer, manifestations of impatience, uncharitable thoughts and feelings, aversions, rash judgments and such things . . . are not matter of confession.”9

There are several benefits that we receive from frequent confession. A practical benefit is that it helps us develop a correctly informed conscience. The “development of conscience is an essential part of the religious and moral formation of a Christian. It goes on almost unnoticed, unsystematically, day by day.”10 Nowadays secularization and moral relativism are threatening to push God completely out of our lives. “Consequently, in our time, a more regulated and systematic training of conscience is called for.”11 This can be done in two ways both of which are compatible with frequent confession. The first is to make a regular examination of conscience. Secondly, and in a more positive sense, it is necessary to focus more acutely on our virtues. The goal is to eliminate sin and to grow in virtue. The more often we examine our conscience the more we will come to know ourselves and remember our faults. This in turn will not only enable us to bring more of ourselves to the sacrament but, through our own self-awareness, help us to avoid committing the same sins in the future.12

A spiritual benefit we receive from the sacrament of Penance is that of sanctifying grace, which is communicated to the soul. Over and above sanctifying grace we also receive a special sacramental grace that is conferred by the valid and fruitful reception of confession. These graces help to weaken concupiscence and our inclination to sin. Not only are our sins forgiven in the sacrament but we are strengthened with the ability to fight against our evil tendencies.

Through frequent confession we also obtain from the priest direction in the spiritual life which enables us to gradually overcome our bad habits and develop virtues. Just as the Jews needed Moses to guide them continually after they had been delivered from Egypt so Christians need someone representing Christ whom they can trust and obey. The way of the interior life is often dark and difficult.13 No one should presume to be his own guide. St. Bernard has said, “the man who is his own teacher is the pupil of a fool.”14

Further, the higher one ascends in the spiritual life the greater are the pitfalls and deceptions. It is especially in this situation that the penitent needs continued encouragement and advice so as to stay focused with respect to his or her supernatural motives. Except, perhaps, for someone like St. Paul, progress in the spiritual life usually comes about only gradually. This is why frequent confession is necessary. Under the guidance of the priest we are able to devote the proper attention to our individual sins as well as our virtues. Accordingly, the so-called confession of devotion has been called the school that formed the great saints.15

As with the other sacraments, confession is an encounter with the Lord. The more we frequent the sacrament the more opportunities we have “to spend time with the Lord in a special way. It is, in a sense, a private, personal appointment with Jesus.”16 Moreover, the encounter that takes place in sacramental confession “between man’s misery and God’s mercy is one of the conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence.”17 Indulgences, depending on whether they are partial or plenary remove either part or all of the temporary punishment due to sin. They can be applied either to the individual in question or to a soul in purgatory. This is because of the healing we receive in the sacrament, which unites us with all of the members of the mystical Body of Christ. The Catechism thus speaks of how the penitent is strengthened in “the exchange of spiritual goods among all the living members of the Body of Christ, whether still on pilgrimage or in the heavenly homeland.”18

There is also a psychological benefit attached to frequent confession. Although it is not necessary to confess venial sins in the confessional it is still a good practice to do so because through the spoken words of the priest we receive a somewhat more tangible form of encouragement than had we just gone to our room, for example, and confessed our sins privately. Just as two people who are in love need to hear the words “I love you” from time to time, it is also good once in a while for us to hear someone say, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” “There is something reassuring about the certitude of hearing someone tell us our sins are forgiven.”19

In a similar manner it is perhaps equally important for us to verbally express our own inner thoughts, intentions, and desires. Many people today spend exorbitant amounts of money on psychiatrists and psychologists trying to get in touch with their inner selves so as to solve their everyday problems. In the confessional we are reassured on two counts. First, because the priest, who represents Christ, is a trained expert in morality we can be confident of his advice. Secondly, it is comforting to know that what we say in the confessional can never be repeated outside of it by the priest. Because of the “sacramental seal” it is the grave duty of the priest to keep absolutely secret all sins that are told in sacramental confession and anything else that is told by the penitent and is related to the confession.

Another important advantage of confessing our venial sins is that as a rule “our acts of contrition, of purpose of amendment and of resolution to atone and do penance are much more carefully made when we go to confession than in the case of the extra-sacramental forgiveness of venial sin, e.g., by means of an ejaculation or by the pious use of Holy Water.”20

If our confession is to be valid and stimulating with respect to our spiritual growth we must approach the confession with a firm purpose not to repeat the same sins. Hence our purpose of amendment is an integral part of genuine contrition. Though an explicit act of amendment is not essential for the valid reception of the sacrament of Penance, it is nonetheless desirable for one’s confession “to be really fruitful and so become for him a means to interior progress and sanctity.”21 St. Francis de Sales mentions that “it is an abuse to confess a sin in confession unless one’s mind is made up to avoid it in future or at least to strive earnestly against it.”22 It is also beneficial to approach the confessional with a positive purpose of amendment, i.e., a purpose that is directed toward attaining a particular virtue.23 When we concentrate on things that are good and holy we are better disposed not to fall into the same faults and weaknesses.

It would be quite futile, in making an act of amendment, to simply make a resolve not to commit the same sin again. Usually this strategy is doomed to failure. The best procedure is for a person to make a simple resolve to fight against potential sins once he becomes conscious of them. One should be determined at such times to recollect oneself, ask the Lord for help, or perhaps make an act of patience. It is also a good idea, in making an act of amendment to formulate some means that can be taken and which may be especially beneficial in overcoming a particular fault.

Contrition, which is intimately connected to our purpose of amendment, is another aspect of confession without which there can be no forgiveness. Contrition extends only to known and deliberate transgressions, i.e., sins. “It suffices to have contrition in a general way for the negligence and carelessness with which one has given way to venial sins.”24 The person who makes frequent confession is usually more concerned with pursuing holiness and is therefore likely to be interested in making a more fruitful confession. While imperfect contrition or attrition (the fear of punishment in this life or the hereafter) is sufficient for a valid confession, perfect contrition is more desirable. A person with perfect contrition thinks not only of himself but more importantly of the God whom he has offended by his sins and whom he should love above all things. True contrition, whether perfect or imperfect, is not rooted in our feelings but in our will.

“Universal contrition,” mentioned above, is “sorrow for and loathing of the sins of our whole past life.”25 This is important in the practice of frequent confession for it makes us accustomed to look upon all our sins as the greatest of all evils. It is important to be continually sorry for our sins for as St. Thomas Aquinas says, “It must always remain a source of regret to us that we have sinned.”26 “Universal contrition” is recommended for those who confess frequently because it excites us to make a real act of contrition and hence disposes us to approach the sacrament with the proper reverence.

Satisfaction is also an integral part of the sacrament of Penance. This involves penitential acts (prayer, fasting, almsgiving) that are necessary for forgiveness and for the remittance of the temporal punishment due to sin. The greater the penances imposed, the more fully our debts of temporal punishment are cancelled and our purgatory shortened.27 Frequent confession “produces the spirit of penance and impels us to works of atonement and satisfaction in union with our Lord, who made atonement for our guilt.”28

Bishop Austin Vaughan, in mentioning the value of frequent confession, stresses how in each confession the penitent acknowledges himself to be, apart from sinful humanity, an individual sinner with personal sins for which he is responsible.29 As a result individual confession is required by the Church. General absolution, which involves a number of penitents, is reserved for cases of grave necessity or danger of death.

Bishop Vaughan also informs us that with each confession the penitent affirms that God’s mercy is always available to him, that it comes to him from Christ (present in the priest), and that it reaches him through the Church. Hence, the penitent also affirms that “the priest is God’s minister in a unique way.”30

The bishop also advises us that with each visit to the confessional, the penitent importantly acknowledges to himself that he cannot succeed in life on his own and that he, therefore, is in need of God’s grace. The penitent is thus drawn more strongly toward reception of the Eucharist by frequent confession.31

Although the sacrament of Penance is primarily reserved for mortal sins it is, even for venial sins, extremely wise for each Catholic to adopt the habit of frequent confession. Many of the greatest saints received the sacrament frequently. Pope Pius XII visited the sacrament every day. Through the sacrament of Penance our sins are forgiven and we receive great consolation of soul. Peace and serenity are also restored to the conscience. If we approach the sacrament with a firm purpose of amendment, contrition and a strong desire to atone and do penance for our sins we will be well on our way to sharing with these and all the saints the eternal banquet with Christ in heaven. The following selection from the encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi by Pope Pius XII is an eloquent summation of the importance of frequent confession:

For a constant and speedy advancement in the paths of virtue we highly recommend the pious practice of frequent confession, introduced by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; for by this means we grow in a true knowledge of ourselves and in Christian humility, bad habits are uprooted, spiritual negligence and apathy are prevented, the conscience is purified and the will strengthened, salutary spiritual direction is obtained, and grace is increased by the efficacy of the sacrament itself.”32

1 Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi n. 88.
2 Catechism of the Catholic Church (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1995), no. 1422. (Hereafter cited as The Catechism.)
3 The Catechism no. 1446.
4 Council of Trent (Session 13, chap. 7 and the relative canon, DS 1647 and 1655.)
5 The Catechism no. 1457.
6 Pope John Paul II, Reconciliation and Penance n. 31.
7 Benedict Baur, Frequent Confession (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1984), p. 48.
8 Ibid. p. 50.
9 Ibid, p. 49.
10 Ibid, p. 68.
11 Ibid.
12 Rev. Christopher M. Buckner, Theology of the Sacraments, Part One (Hamilton, Virginia: The Catholic Distance University, 1995), Lesson 11-3.
13 Frequent Confession p. 61.
14 Ibid.
15 Pope John Paul II. L’Osservatore Romano, March 24, 1999 in an address to the Apostolic Penitentiary.
16 Theology Of The Sacraments pp. 11-3.
17 Frequent Confession p. 27.
18 The Catechism no. 1469.
19 Theology Of The Sacraments 11-3.
20 Frequent Confession p. 37.
21 Ibid. p. 44.
22 Francis De Sales, Introduction To The Devout Life (New York: Doubleday, 1989), Part II Ch. 19.
23 Frequent Confession p. 46.
24 Ibid. p. 56.
25 Ibid.
26 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica III, q. 84, art. 8.
27 Frequent Confession p. 58.
28 Ibid. p. 60.
29 Theology of the Sacraments 11-4.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Mystici Corporis Christi n. 88.

Mr. Paul Kokoski is an undergraduate student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he is pursuing a degree in philosophy. In addition, Mr. Kokoski is a correspondence student with the Catholic Distance University in Hamilton, Virginia. His last article in HPR appeared in October 2001.