Catholic Confession
in The Roman Rite:
A Guide
"…unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." - Luke 13:3
For use IN or OUT of the confessional.
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THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
The Sacrament of Penance -- also known as "Confession" or more commonly in the Novus Ordo as "Reconciliation" -- is the penultimate sacrament. Christ, in His most Holy Wisdom and Mercy, gave us this precious Sacrament to bestow His grace upon us through His priests as a means of forgiving us and assuring us of His mercy and love. Christ, the Great Physician, knows us well and knows that "confession is good for the soul," in both a supernatural and psychological sense. As G.K. Chesterton wrote:
When a Catholic comes from confession, he does truly, by definition, step out into that dawn of his own beginning... in that brief ritual God has really remade him in His own image. He may be grey and gouty, but he is only five minutes old.
Matthew 9:3-8 "And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men."
John 20:19-23 "Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."
”The tears of the penitents are wine for the angels."
-- St. Bernard