How Do You Confess?
How Do You Confess?
Confession is not that you sit down to tell stories, and much time may pass while you narrate your stories with people, without mentioning what you have sinned in!
Rather, confession is that you condemn yourself…
You condemn yourself before God, in the hearing of the father priest…
You say: I have sinned in such and such, in everything I have said…
Confession is not that you sit to complain about others and explain to him the faults of people toward you. Rather, you sit to complain about yourself…
Accordingly, confession is not that you sit with the father of confession in order to blame him and reproach him for his negligence toward you—his negligence in visiting you, in guiding you, in not following up on your condition, in not asking about you, and in not giving you spiritual exercises… And in all this you do not condemn yourself, nor mention your sins… but rather you condemn your father of confession!!
Confession is not merely getting rid of old sins in order to commit new sins in their place, without a change in your condition!
Rather, confession is repentance. And it is called the Sacrament of Repentance.
Confession is not that you come with a determination in your heart about a certain matter, asking the father of confession to agree with you on it, and if he does not agree, you become angry, sad, and weep, and persist and insist greatly in order to obtain this approval, claiming that you are not walking according to your own will, but according to the guidance of the father of confession!!
Confession is that you explain your condition and ask for guidance with humility.
Confession is not merely your sitting with the father priest, in any place, even in a friendly meeting, to talk to him and let him understand by his intelligence where the error lies!
Rather, confession is a holy Sacrament, with its reverence, in which you feel that you are repentant, confessing your sins to God Himself, in the hearing of the priest.
Confession is that you first sit with yourself, examine it, know its sins and weaknesses, rebuke it for all that, and resolve upon a virtuous life, asking God for help in that…
Then you come to the father of confession with a contrite heart, mentioning to him what you have sinned in, asking for forgiveness and pardon, and asking for guidance, counsel, and prayer for your sake…
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