the sins that he has committed, whether voluntary or involuntary, and should examine his
life in detail. If there are sins that were committed before his last confession, but which
he then forgot to confess, he should mention these also.
you are not confessing them to the priest, but to God Himself, Who already knows, but
wants you to admit your wrongs and your guilt. You should not feel embarrassed before
your spiritual father, because, being a man like yourself, he knows human weaknesses
and the inclination that all people have towards sin, and thus he cannot judge you harshly
when you come to confession. But maybe you are embarrassed to confess your sins
before your spiritual father because you are afraid of losing his good opinion? On the
contrary, if you value his good opinion, you should understand that he will respect you all
the more for the sincerity of your confession. Also, if you are ashamed and afraid to lay
bare your sins before your spiritual father, how will you bear it when at the Dread
Judgment your sinsÁ-¦if you have not been freed of them by true repentanceÁ-¦will be
revealed before God Himself, His angels, and all mankind, both people you know and
strangers? If you remember this, you will want to free yourself from your sins and from
the punishment that they bring upon you, and will confess them in all sincerity before
your spiritual father. You should hide nothing wrong that you have done, but at the same
time you should not add anything extra, and not blame yourself for what you have not
done by simply saying, Á-°Everything I have done is sinful,Á-? or some such catch-phrase.
Nor should you admit every sin you are asked about whether you have done it or not, as
some people mistakenly think they should Your confession must be realistic and
therefore true.
and thought, and by omission,Á-? without giving further details, is because your spiritual
father needs to know exactly what you have done in order to give you good advice. Also
such a short, undetailed confession means that you are avoiding what confession is
intended to achieve, i. e. to bring you to admit what you have done and to admit that you
were wrong in doing it. Your spiritual father already knows that you are a sinner, for no
man is without sin; even the holy Apostle Paul described himself as the Á-°chief of
sinners.Á-? Each sin must be mentioned in turn, just as you would enumerate all your
symptoms to a doctor. You should not just think of a couple of main trends to Á-°discuss,Á-?
and neglect to mention the innumerable other sins.
spiritual father to understand how and why you yourself have sinned. If you have a
personal problem involving other people, which you would like to discuss with your
spiritual father, or if you are in need of advice or some consolation for some unkindness
that has been done to you, make an appointment to see your spiritual father at some other
time. Also, do not use the fact that many people commit some sin that you have
committed as an excuse for it. Still less say Á-°but everyone does that.Á-? For one thing, you