How Does A Catholic Confession Work?
I’m not catholic but I’m writing a novel about Catholics and need to do some research and this is an area that is very difficult to find out. I need to get my confessional scenes right otherwise I think it will not sound authentic. Just need to know things the priest may say inside the confessional box etc. Don’t want to know any reasons that people confess.
Thanks in advance.
Dawn
It’s a persoanl belief. Catholics are taught to believe it forgives sins. Others don’t (some Catholics don’t). If you can find a way to talk with a dead Catholic that was devoutly religious about going to confession and receiving Holy Communion, ask them…that’s really the only way you’ll find out for sure.
Everytime I went it was something like this..
Go in.. It not called a confession box is called a confessional..
I say “Bless me father or I have sinned.”
He says “How long has it been since your last confession?”
I say “I’s been ____ weeks/months/years since my last confession.” ( I usually made up a number of weeks, months or years)
He says “Yes.” (that is the que to start confessing)
As the confession moves along he may say “Yes” to indicate he is listening or “And then” to indicate he is listening and realizes you have stalled in the confessing… or “Is that everything?” when it appears you are finished..
It’s like talking to someone whos only job is to listen (well that is sort of the job) not to interact but just to listen until you are done..
When finished the priest usually assigns a number of “Hail Mary’s” and possibly rosarys (a series of prayers said using the rosary as a marker of the number of times it is said each bead indicates 1 time through the prayer so if a set of rosary beads has 10 beads “I know the number is low but it makes explainng easier” and you have been told to do 25 rosaries you know 2 and 1/2 times around and you are done..)
No I am not catholic, no I have never been catholic, I used to go to confession with a friend we used to have contests to see who could make the priest drop his bible or gasp in shock etc. first..
I did learn there have to be some pretty freaky people confessing because some of the things we said we did, didn’t even make the priest blink let along anything bigger..
It is not hard to figure out. Like many things in Catholicism it is a formalistic ritual. The same things are said by both parties every time (with the exception of the sins). Surly you have seen this in many movies. It really has been done to death. You can google the ritual for the sacrament of confession and find it.
I dont know what is the purpose for a confession in the first place. God already knows what you did he dont need someone else to tell him. And there is only one punishment For the wages of sin is Death and all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God., But OH YEAH there is that word BUT God so loved the world that he sent his only begotton son, that whosoever believeth in him SHALL NOT PARISH but have everlasting life. ~~Thank you Lord~~
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2s…http://answers.google.com/answers/thread...
Confession is good for the soul. You enter the confessional and say: Bless me father for I have sinned. It has been x days or years since my last confession. State the facts. You then make an act of contrition {to show that you are sorry for your sin}. You are then Blessed and your sins forgiven in the name of God. You may or may not be given a penance. This is not punishment, but contrition. What is said in the confession cannot be divulged to anyone by the Priest. No exception. Ever.
I can tell you for a fact that man has no power to forgive another mans sins that is God’s privilege only. Jesus, when he was on earth was qualified to do this because he was ‘perfect’. You can only forgive sins if you were like Jesus - perfect. All the vicars, the clergy even the Pope has no right or power to forgive sins. Jesus was against the churches, didn’t he say they were ‘like whitewashed graves, clean on the outside but inside full of dead mens bones and all corruption’
So, if he thought of them in this light do you really think they would be permitted to forgive sins??
Your best bet is to find a priest sympathetic to your needs.
There is a basic ritual involved in Confession, but some things- such as the penance for a particular sin, or the advice the priest would give- is specific to the confession AND to the priest.
Tell him you are writing a story, ask what he would say.
You go to the priest and ask Him that you would like to take confession .He sets the time.You sit in a booth and He is on the other side.You tell him your sins and he tells you what your punishment is.Its alot better to go to the source.(JESUS)
I went last week, Basically you go into a small room, sit or kneel to your confessor, start with a prayer, for forgiveness, then tell the priest your sins or faults, and wait for the priest to council you. You are really confessing to Christ, not to the priest, as he is only a figurehead for Christ?The priest can not disclose to any body your sins. And can I say this, You come out, so refreshed and clean,
I am not a catholic.but it happens like this.
a son does something bad.and he realises it.he goes to his father and says,father I have done this and I know it’s bad.will you forgive me.
of course my son.it’s good of you to tell me.but dont do it again.
but the boy does it again and again.will the father forgive him again and again.no
it’s the same with the holy father.if you have done something wrong you must truly repent it.and ask forgiveness from your creater.because you did not know what you did was wrong.
a priest in a church cannot forgive you.you can confess even alone.talk to your holy farther and he listnes.
but the true forgiveness comes when you have done some wrong to somebody you ask for his forgiveness first.
My source is more FAQ and how-to for Catholics than a description, but it may give you an idea of what goes on.
I can tell you that there’s a general sense of relief coming out of the confessional, if one has truly examined his conscience.
The priest bends you over and blesses you with his finger. Write a book about that instead.