Author Topic: General Confession (Read 3807 times)

MMagdala · « **on:** June 29, 2016, 10:05:30 AM »

Let's talk a bit about GC. This is of very current interest to me, and I think a discussion we've been having over in the Catholics Living in the Modern World forum has bearing on this. Here's the exchange of this morning which invites a thread on it:

Quote from: nctradcath

Quote
person who sins every day in his life can make a general confession in 20 minutes or less.

Mine took much longer, granted I am a much worse sinner than the above example. You are all assuming these people were catechized and taught how to go to confession properly. I assure that I was not being from the novus ordo. I wish traditional priests had classes with detailed scenarios on how each type of sin with circuмstances is to be confessed properly. Otherwise, it leads to a great deal of uncertainty in those who are new to tradition and have frankly never been taught properly. This is the fate of their immortal soul that we are talking about, so I would give some benefit of the doubt. It is a great evil that these priests are not allowing extra time for confession. Pre-Vatican 2 confessionals were open for many hours.

I would have loved to have been able to go through my long general confession and taught how to break it down into 20 minutes. It would give me much more serenity in the future. I found the older books to be fairly worthless. The general confessions outlined as examples were not helpful to me as they gave examples of people with far less sins that myself.

I would pay good money for such a class with a priest.

Questions, since opinions vary, both among laity and among priests, as to when, if ever, they are indicated for laity:

(1) Should they be best done within a retreat?
(2) For those of you who have made a GC -- in or out of a retreat -- what are good or bad ways to go about it, good or bad resources?
(3) I've heard wildly ranging estimates of time taken, both for the preparation and for the actual confession. I've heard "3 days of preparation;" I've heard "weeks" of preparation, which included exhaustive reading. In terms of the recital itself, as we see above, someone thinks "20 minutes" is enough. Others, IRL, have testified to "several hours" (3-5). I must say, I don't see how a GC could or should take 3+ hours unless the penitent has done insufficient homework or has received insufficient guidance. (Prep)

I'd like discussion of the above and any other points you think are relevant.

MMagdala · « **Reply #1 on:** June 29, 2016, 10:26:59 AM »

Or maybe it belongs in the Catholic Living...forum. Your choice to move it, Matthew.

TheRealMcCoy · « **Reply #2 on:** June 29, 2016, 10:27:28 AM »

After being away from the Church for about a decade or so I made a GC many years ago. I spent maybe 2 weeks preparing my examination in writing and the actual confession was about 15 minutes and the discussion with the priest was about 15 minutes and then absolution.

MMagdala · « **Reply #3 on:** June 29, 2016, 10:48:51 AM »

Quote from: TheRealMcCoy

After being away from the Church for about a decade or so I made a GC many years ago. I spent maybe 2 weeks preparing my examination in writing and the actual confession was about 15 minutes and the discussion with the priest was about 15 minutes and then absolution.

Thank you for responding.

Did you receive preparatory instruction from him?
Did he suggest specific Examens and/or other material?
How did he suggest, if he did, handling the frequency aspect?

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #4 on:** June 29, 2016, 11:45:57 AM »

You should go on SSPX St Ignatius Silent Retreat for the week.
There you can get answers in regards to the General Confession with a traditional Catholic Priest.

Matto · « **Reply #5 on:** June 29, 2016, 12:21:59 PM »

When I did my general confession I did not have any instruction beforehand from the priest. I looked for a good examination of conscience and read it and tried to write down all my sins. The one I followed was from the website of the priest Father Chad Ripperger here: http://www.sensustraditionis.org/ExaminationConscienceLong.pdf
I know he is not an SSPX priest but I thought his examination of conscience was the best one I found so I used it even though it was from an FSSP priest.
After I wrote down my sins over several days I went to Mass and confessed my sins after Mass to the priest, following what I wrote down. Because I was a sinful man it took a long time. I didn't look at a clock but I would guess it took at least forty minutes. I took so long that someone waiting outside the confessional knocked on the door and tried to come in because I was taking so long.
Because I could not remember every sin I comitted in my first thirty years of living which was the period of time I confessed, I did a lot of estimation and guessing of the number of sins I had comitted because I couldn't remember the exact number of times I said a blasphemy for example. I don't know if that is right or not. The priest I confessed to was patient and he did not stop me before I was finished as happened to me in the Novus Ordo. It was wonderful to get out from under the weight of all those sins.

TheRealMcCoy · « **Reply #6 on:** June 29, 2016, 12:22:23 PM »

Quote from: MMagdala

Quote from: TheRealMcCoy
After being away from the Church for about a decade or so I made a GC many years ago. I spent maybe 2 weeks preparing my examination in writing and the actual confession was about 15 minutes and the discussion with the priest was about 15 minutes and then absolution.

Thank you for responding.

Did you receive preparatory instruction from him? No
Did he suggest specific Examens and/or other material? No. I got something off the Internet.
How did he suggest, if he did, handling the frequency aspect? I made a spreadsheet to track things like that.

Lighthouse · « **Reply #7 on:** June 29, 2016, 03:27:16 PM »

Quote from: Matto

When I did my general confession I did not have any instruction beforehand from the priest. I looked for a good examination of conscience and read it and tried to write down all my sins. The one I followed was from the website of the priest Father Chad Ripperger here: http://www.sensustraditionis.org/ExaminationConscienceLong.pdf
I know he is not an SSPX priest but I thought his examination of conscience was the best one I found so I used it even though it was from an FSSP priest.
After I wrote down my sins over several days I went to Mass and confessed my sins after Mass to the priest, following what I wrote down. Because I was a sinful man it took a long time. I didn't look at a clock but I would guess it took at least forty minutes. I took so long that someone waiting outside the confessional knocked on the door and tried to come in because I was taking so long.
Because I could not remember every sin I comitted in my first thirty years of living which was the period of time I confessed, I did a lot of estimation and guessing of the number of sins I had comitted because I couldn't remember the exact number of times I said a blasphemy for example. I don't know if that is right or not. The priest I confessed to was patient and he did not stop me before I was finished as happened to me in the Novus Ordo. It was wonderful to get out from under the weight of all those sins.

Sorry, but it seems to me you acted out of complete rudeness and self-absorption.

The other guy deserved a chance to avoid going to Hell, too. I don't know how a priest can put up with this type of behavior. Two minutes per commandment should just about cover it=20 minutes not 40. I'm not a paragon of virtue, and have had some real detours from sanctity on the way, but I don't think I've been in a confessional for longer than 10 min., ever.

MMagdala · « **Reply #8 on:** June 29, 2016, 03:57:29 PM »

Quote from: Matto

When I did my general confession I did not have any instruction beforehand from the priest. I looked for a good examination of conscience and read it and tried to write down all my sins. The one I followed was from the website of the priest Father Chad Ripperger here: http://www.sensustraditionis.org/ExaminationConscienceLong.pdf

Yes, I do know about that one; discovered it through sensustraditionis. This is the very Examen I like and had envisioned using for a GC and have actually used recently for just a regular confession.

Quote

I know he is not an SSPX priest but I thought his examination of conscience was the best one I found so I used it even though it was from an FSSP priest.
After I wrote down my sins over several days I went to Mass and confessed my sins after Mass to the priest, following what I wrote down. Because I was a sinful man it took a long time. I didn't look at a clock but I would guess it took at least forty minutes. I took so long that someone waiting outside the confessional knocked on the door and tried to come in because I was taking so long.
Because I could not remember every sin I comitted in my first thirty years of living which was the period of time I confessed, I did a lot of estimation and guessing of the number of sins I had comitted because I couldn't remember the exact number of times I said a blasphemy for example. I don't know if that is right or not. The priest I confessed to was patient and he did not stop me before I was finished as happened to me in the Novus Ordo. It was wonderful to get out from under the weight of all those sins.

Thank you, Matto,for all that detail. That's the kind of response that is helpful to me.

MMagdala · « **Reply #9 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:05:50 PM »

Quote from: Lighthouse

Quote from: Matto
When I did my general confession I did not have any instruction beforehand from the priest. I looked for a good examination of conscience and read it and tried to write down all my sins. The one I followed was from the website of the priest Father Chad Ripperger here: http://www.sensustraditionis.org/ExaminationConscienceLong.pdf
I know he is not an SSPX priest but I thought his examination of conscience was the best one I found so I used it even though it was from an FSSP priest.
After I wrote down my sins over several days I went to Mass and confessed my sins after Mass to the priest, following what I wrote down. Because I was a sinful man it took a long time. I didn't look at a clock but I would guess it took at least forty minutes. I took so long that someone waiting outside the confessional knocked on the door and tried to come in because I was taking so long.
Because I could not remember every sin I comitted in my first thirty years of living which was the period of time I confessed, I did a lot of estimation and guessing of the number of sins I had comitted because I couldn't remember the exact number of times I said a blasphemy for example. I don't know if that is right or not. The priest I confessed to was patient and he did not stop me before I was finished as happened to me in the Novus Ordo. It was wonderful to get out from under the weight of all those sins.

Sorry, but it seems to me you acted out of complete rudeness and self-absorption.

The other guy deserved a chance to avoid going to Hell, too. I don't know how a priest can put up with this type of behavior. Two minutes per commandment should just about cover it=20 minutes not 40. I'm not a paragon of virtue, and have had some real detours from sanctity on the way, but I don't think I've been in a confessional for longer than 10 min., ever.

Lighthouse, should it not have been the confessor's responsibility to make an individual appointment with Matto outside of regular confession time -- or to let Matto know that the penitent should make such an appt on his own initiative? My understanding is that normally, GC's are scheduled separately, otherwise, a single one could surely use all of the scheduled time.
I think that in our parish, the way it would be handled is that a GC would be scheduled when the church is normally locked; thus, no opportunity for anyone knocking on the confessional door. This is the way other private occasions are also handled in our trad parish: Total Consecrations, Professions of Faith, etc. The priest opens the church specifically for those occasions and thus privacy and a distraction-free atmosphere is ensured.

MMagdala · « **Reply #10 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:08:31 PM »

Quote from: TheRealMcCoy

Quote from: MMagdala
Quote from: TheRealMcCoy
After being away from the Church for about a decade or so I made a GC many years ago. I spent maybe 2 weeks preparing my examination in writing and the actual confession was about 15 minutes and the discussion with the priest was about 15 minutes and then absolution.

Thank you for responding.

Did you receive preparatory instruction from him? No
Did he suggest specific Examens and/or other material? No. I got something off the Internet.
How did he suggest, if he did, handling the frequency aspect? I made a spreadsheet to track things like that.

Thank you. Never thought about a spreadsheet; that could be useful.

MMagdala · « **Reply #11 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:11:01 PM »

Quote from: Viva Cristo Rey

You should go on SSPX St Ignatius Silent Retreat for the week.
There you can get answers in regards to the General Confession with a traditional Catholic Priest.

Originally, that was my plan, and theoretically it sounds like a wonderful idea. However, a fellow trad went to one about a year ago (the same one I would be going to because it's the only such SSPX retreat house local to me) and says it was so harsh (the general atmosphere of it) that he is still recovering.

Matto · « **Reply #12 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:19:49 PM »

Quote from: Lighthouse

Sorry, but it seems to me you acted out of complete rudeness and self-absorption.

The other guy deserved a chance to avoid going to Hell, too. I don't know how a priest can put up with this type of behavior. Two minutes per commandment should just about cover it=20 minutes not 40. I'm not a paragon of virtue, and have had some real detours from sanctity on the way, but I don't think I've been in a confessional for longer than 10 min., ever.

So it was rude to schedule an appointment for a general confession wait a few weeks until the priest had some time and they confess my sins, which took a while because I hadn't been to confession in 20 years. I mean 20 years of living in sin and you call me rude and self-absorbed for taking a little too long. I mean it was the most important few minutes of my entire life and if I didn't do a good job I would be damned. Good grief. Maybe if I hadn't scheduled an appointment and just waited in the regular line before Mass. Oh well. You can't please everyone.

nctradcath · « **Reply #13 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:35:33 PM »

What do you mean by the atmosphere was harsh?

MMagdala · « **Reply #14 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:40:13 PM »

Quote from: nctradcath

What do you mean by the atmosphere was harsh?

Apparently it was something about the conferences themselves -- which warned those attending about all the evil influences in the contemporary world and how all the retreatants were vulnerable to that, etc. I guess it was problematic for anyone inclined either to scrupulosity or to melancholy. (I'm just interpreting, based on what he said. I wasn't there, but he has discouraged me from going.)