Catechesis on Confession in the time of Lent

TEN COMMANDMENTS, OR DECALOGUE, are the Lord your God:

1. You will have no other God outside of me.

2. Do not mention the name of God in vain.

3. Remember to sanctify the holidays.

4. Honor your father and mother.

5. Don't kill.

6. Do not commit impure acts (*).

7. Don't steal.

8. Don't say false testimony.

9. Do not desire the woman of others.

10. Don't covet other people's stuff.

(*) Here is an excerpt from a speech by John Paul II to the Bishops of the United States of America:

"With the frankness of the Gospel, the compassion of Pastors and the charity of Christ, you have addressed the question of the insolubility of marriage, rightly affirming:" The pact between a man and a woman united in Christian marriage is so indissoluble and irrevocable as much as the love of God for his people and the love of Christ for his Church ". By extolling the beauty of marriage, you have rightly taken a stand both against the theory of contraception and against contraceptive acts, as did the encyclical Humanae vitae. And I myself today, with the same conviction as Paul VI, ratify the teaching of this encyclical, issued by my Predecessor "by virtue of the mandate entrusted to us by Christ". Describing the sexual union between husband and wife as a special expression of their covenant of love, you have rightly stated: "Sexual intercourse is a human and moral good only in the context of marriage: outside marriage it is immoral".

As men who have "words of truth and the power of God" (2 Cor 6,7: 29), as true teachers of God's law and compassionate Pastors, you have also rightly stated: 'Homosexual behavior (which must be distinguished from homosexual) is morally dishonest "". "... Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the line of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have stated without hesitation that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered act" (Declaration of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on some questions of sexual ethics, 1975 December 9, n.XNUMX).
THE FIVE PRECECTS OF THE CHURCH
1. Attend Mass on Sundays and other holy days and remain free from work and other activities that could prevent the sanctification of these days.

2. Confess your sins at least once a year.

3. Receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least at Easter.

4. Refrain from eating meat and observe fasting on days set by the Church.

5. To assist the material needs of the Church herself, according to her own possibilities.
REPENTANCE OR PAIN OF SIN
11. What is repentance?

Repentance is the sorrow or pain of sins committed, which makes us propose not to sin anymore. It can be perfect or imperfect.

12. What is perfect repentance or contrition?

Perfect repentance or contrition is the displeasure of sins committed, because I am offended against God our Father, infinitely good and lovable, and cause of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, Son of God and our Redeemer.

13. What is imperfect repentance or attrition?

Imperfect repentance or attrition is the displeasure of sins committed, for fear of eternal punishment (Hell) and temporal punishment, or even for the ugliness of sin.
PURPOSE NOT TO COMMIT IT AGAIN
14. What is the purpose?

The purpose is the resolute will to never commit sins again and to flee from them.

15. What is the occasion of sin?

The occasion of sin is what puts us in danger of sinning.

16. Are we obliged to flee the occasions of sins?

We are obliged to flee the occasions of sins, because we are obliged to flee from sin: whoever does not flee from it ends up falling, since "whoever loves the danger in it will lose himself" (Sir 3:27).
ACCUSATION OF SIN
17. What is the accusation of sins?

The accusation of sins is the manifestation of sins made to the priest confessor, to receive absolution.

18. What sins are we obliged to accuse ourselves of?

We are obliged to accuse ourselves of all mortal sins (with numbers and circumstances) not yet confessed or confessed badly. The Church strongly recommends that you also confess venial sins to form your conscience, fight against bad inclinations, let yourself be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit.

19. How should the accusation of sins be?

The accusation of sins must be humble, whole, sincere, prudent and brief.

20. What circumstances must arise for the accusation to be complete?

For the accusation to be complete, the circumstances that change the species of sin must be manifested:

1. those for which a sinful action from venial becomes mortal;

2. those for which a sinful action contains two or more mortal sins.

21. Who does not remember precisely the number of his mortal sins, what should he do?

Whoever does not remember precisely the number of his mortal sins, must accuse the number, at least, approximate.

22. Why should we not let ourselves be overcome by shame and keep silent some mortal sin?

We must not let ourselves be overcome by shame and keep silent some mortal sin, because we confess to Jesus Christ in the person of the confessor, and he cannot reveal any sin, even at the cost of his life (sacramental seal); and because otherwise, if we do not obtain forgiveness, we will be condemned.

23. Who would shake a mortal sin out of shame?

Those who shame a mortal sin out of shame would not make a good confession, but would commit a sacrilege (*).

(*) Sacrilege consists in profaning or unworthily treating the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, objects and places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a very serious sin, especially when it is committed against the Eucharist, because , in this Sacrament, Our Lord Jesus Christ is present in a true, real, substantial way; with his Body and his Blood, with his Soul and his Divinity.

24. What should those who know they have not confessed well do?

Anyone who knows that he has not confessed well must make badly made confessions and accuse himself of the sacrileges committed.

25. Who without guilt has neglected or forgotten a mortal sin, has made a good Confession?

Who without fault has neglected or forgotten a mortal (or grave) sin, has made a good Confession. If he remembers it, he remains obliged to accuse himself of it in the following Confession.
SATISFACTION OR PENANCE
26. What is satisfaction or penance?

Satisfaction, or sacramental penance, is the fulfillment of certain acts of penance that the confessor imposes on the penitent to repair the damage caused by the sin committed and to satisfy the justice of God.

27. Why is penance required in Confession?

In Confession, penance is required because absolution takes away sin, but does not remedy all the disorders that sin has caused (*). Many sins offend others. Every effort must be made to repair (for example, return stolen things, restore the reputation of those who have been slandered, heal their wounds). Simple justice demands it. But, in addition, sin injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationship with God and with his neighbor. Raised from sin, the sinner has yet to recover full spiritual health. He must therefore do something more to make amends for his sins: he must adequately "satisfy" or "atone" for his sins.

(*) Sin has a twofold consequence. Mortal (or grave) sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore renders us unable to attain eternal life, the deprivation of which is called the "eternal punishment" of sin. On the other hand, every sin, even venial, causes an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which needs purification, both here below and after death, in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees from the so-called "temporal punishment" of sin. These two punishments are not to be conceived as a kind of revenge, which God inflicts from without, but as deriving from the very nature of sin. A conversion, which proceeds from fervent charity, can lead to the total purification of the sinner, so that there is no longer any penalty.

The forgiveness of sin and the restoration of fellowship with God involve the remission of the eternal penalties of sin. However, the temporal penalties of sin remain. The Christian must strive, patiently enduring sufferings and trials of every kind and, when the day comes, facing death serenely, to accept these temporal pains of sin as a grace; he must commit himself, through works of mercy and charity, as well as through prayer and various practices of penance, to completely divest himself of the "old man" and to put on the new man ". 28. When should penance be done?

If the confessor has not prescribed any time, penance must be done as soon as possible.