CHAPTER XIX. On Confession.

OUR Saviour has bequeathed the Sacrament of Penitence and Confession to
His Church, [49] in order that therein we may be cleansed from all our
sins, however and whenever we may have been soiled thereby. Therefore,
my child, never allow your heart to abide heavy with sin, seeing that
there is so sure and safe a remedy at hand. If the lioness has been in
the neighbourhood of other beasts she hastens to wash away their scent,
lest it should be displeasing to her lord; and so the soul which has
ever so little consented to sin, ought to abhor itself and make haste
to seek purification, out of respect to His Divine Gaze Who beholds it
always. Why should we die a spiritual death when there is a sovereign
remedy available?

Make your confession humbly and devoutly every week, and always, if you
can, before communicating, even although your conscience is not
burdened with mortal sin; for in confession you do not only receive
absolution for your venial sins, but you also receive great strength to
help you in avoiding them henceforth, clearer light to discover your
failings, and abundant grace to make up whatever loss you have incurred
through those faults. You exercise the graces of humility, obedience,
simplicity and love, and by this one act of confession you practise
more virtue than in any other.

Be sure always to entertain a hearty sorrow for the sins you confess,
however small they are; as also a stedfast resolution to correct them
in future. Some people go on confessing venial sins out of mere habit,
and conventionally, without making any effort to correct them, thereby
losing a great deal of spiritual good. Supposing that you confess
having said something untrue, although without evil consequences, or
some careless words, or excessive amusement;–repent, and make a firm
resolution of amendment: it is a mere abuse to confess any sin
whatever, be it mortal or venial, without intending to put it
altogether away, that being the express object of confession.

Beware of unmeaning self-accusations, made out of a mere routine, such
as, “I have not loved God as much as I ought; I have not prayed with as
much devotion as I ought; I

have not loved my neighbour as I ought; I have not received the
Sacraments with sufficient reverence;” and the like. Such things as
these are altogether useless in setting the state of your conscience
before your Confessor, inasmuch as all the Saints in Paradise and all
men living would say the same. But examine closely what special reason
you have for accusing yourself thus, and when you have discovered it,
accuse yourself simply and plainly of your fault. For instance, when
confessing that you have not loved your neighbour as you ought, it may
be that what you mean is, that having seen some one in great want whom
you could have succoured, you have failed to do so. Well then, accuse
yourself of that special omission: say, “Having come across a person in
need, I did not help him as I might have done,” either through
negligence, or hardness, or indifference, according as the case may be.
So again, do not accuse yourself of not having prayed to God with
sufficient devotion; but if you have given way to voluntary
distractions, or if you have neglected the proper circumstances of
devout prayer–whether place, time, or attitude–say so plainly, just
as it is, and do not deal in generalities, which, so to say, blow
neither hot nor cold.

Again, do not be satisfied with mentioning the bare fact of your venial
sins, but accuse yourself of the motive cause which led to them. For
instance, do not be content with saying that you told an untruth which
injured no one; but say whether it was out of vanity, in order to win
praise or avoid blame, out of heedlessness, or from obstinacy. If you
have exceeded in society, say whether it was from the love of talking,
or gambling for the sake of money, and so on. Say whether you continued
long to commit the fault in question, as the importance of a fault
depends greatly upon its continuance: e.g., there is a wide difference
between a passing act of vanity which is over in a quarter of an hour,
and one which fills the heart for one or more days. So you must mention
the fact, the motive and the duration of your faults. It is true that
we are not bound to be so precise in confessing venial sins, or even,
technically speaking, to confess them at all; but all who aim at
purifying their souls in order to attain a really devout life, will be
careful to show all their spiritual maladies, however slight, to their
spiritual physician, in order to be healed.

Do not spare yourself in telling whatever is necessary to explain the
nature of your fault, as, for instance, the reason why you lost your
temper, or why you encouraged another in wrong-doing. Thus, some one
whom I dislike says a chance word in joke, I take it ill, and put
myself in a passion. If one I like had said a stronger thing I should
not have taken it amiss; so in confession, I ought to say that I lost
my temper with a person, not because of the words spoken so much as
because I disliked the speaker; and if in order to explain yourself
clearly it is necessary to particularize the words, it is well to do
so; because accusing one’s self thus simply one discovers not merely
one’s actual sins, but one’s bad habits, inclinations and ways, and the
other roots of sin, by which means one’s spiritual Father acquires a
fuller knowledge of the heart he is dealing with, and knows better what
remedies to apply. But you must always avoid exposing any one who has
borne any part in your sin as far as possible. Keep watch over a
variety of sins, which are apt to spring up and flourish, often
insensibly, in the conscience, so that you may confess them and put
them away; and with this view read Chapters VI., XXVII., XXVIII.,
XXIX., XXXV. and XXXVI. of Part III., and Chapter VII. of Part IV.,
attentively.

Do not lightly change your Confessor, but having chosen him, be regular
in giving account of your conscience to him at the appointed seasons,
telling him your faults simply and frankly, and from time to time–say
every month or every two months, show him the general state of your
inclinations, although there be nothing wrong in them; as, for
instance, whether you are depressed and anxious, or cheerful, desirous
of advancement, or money, and the like.
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[49] S. Matt. xvi. 19, xviii. 18; S. John xx. 23.
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