Confession

Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest, for the purpose of abstaining forgiveness We are bound to confess our mortal sins. But it is well also to confess our venial sins. The chief qualities of a good confession are three: it must be humble, sincere and entire. Our confession is humble when we accuse ourselves of our sins, with a deep sense of shame and sorrow for having offended God Confession are sincere, when we tell our sins honestly and truthfully either exaggerating nor excusing them Confession is entire, when we tell the number and kinds of our sins and the circumstances which change their nature If we cannot remember the number of our sins, we should tell the number as nearly as possible, and say how often we may have sinned in a day, a week or a month and how long the habit or practice lasted. If without our fault we forget to confess our mortal sin Tour Confession is worthy, and the sin is forgiven; but it must be told on confession if it again comes to our mind It is grievous offense willfully concealed a mortal sin in Confesasion must not only confess it, but also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy confession. The priest gives us a penance after Confession, that we may satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to our sins The Sacrament of Penance remits the eternal punishment due to sin but does not always remit the temporal punishment which God requires as satisfaction for our sins God requires a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin, to teach us the great evil of sin and to prevent us from falling again. The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin are: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, all spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and the patient suffering of the ills of life Spiritual works of mercy are 7: To admonish the sinner, to instruct the ignorant, to counsel the doubtful, to comfort the sorrowful, to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive all injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead. The Chief corporal works of mercy are 7: To feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to cloth the naked, to ransom the captive, to harbor the harborless, to visit the sick and to bury the dead