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Strange Question: How Does Confessing Your Sins Make You Feel?
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Last: 4 yr ago by SigChiDad
Relieved, remorseful and contemplative.
I don't go to confession as much as I should. Too often I make excuses and/or generalize the sins away. But when I do go, I feel great. Which is weird, as I should focus on that post confession feeling more than I do the anxiety and stress of going.
I don't go to confession as much as I should. Too often I make excuses and/or generalize the sins away. But when I do go, I feel great. Which is weird, as I should focus on that post confession feeling more than I do the anxiety and stress of going.
I should have also posted this is for all types of Christian.
I feel the same way that I feel about an early morning workout in the middle of winter: dread and excuse making beforehand, lots of sweating as it is happening, then a great sense of relief and happiness afterwards.
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Protestants also confess their sins but normally in prayer and not to a priest or pastor.
In Orthodoxy you confess before an icon of Christ or in front of the gospel. The priest typically covers your head with his stole, then says a quick prayer, then asks - what's on your mind? You just talk. You're not confessing to him per se, you're confessing to God, and he is a witness and guide. Then he talks a bit. Maybe he gives you some advice. Maybe he asks some questions, or asks you to clarify. Maybe he tells you a story about himself, or some anecdote to help, or a quote from the fathers, or a bit of scripture. Often it's all of the above. He may give some penance - we don't do the Hail Mary thing, but once I was told to add Psalm 51 to my prayer rule for a month. Once he told me my penance was to come to liturgy the next day and commune, and to take some time to thank God for His forgiveness before the service. It just depends.
Then he says another prayer, says a quick blessing with a cross, you kiss the cross and his hand and that's that.
There are sometimes tears involved, at least for me. It's hard to talk about the parts of ourselves we are ashamed of and are pretty good at hiding from most people.
So yeah, he knows you. The whole point is pastoral.
Then he says another prayer, says a quick blessing with a cross, you kiss the cross and his hand and that's that.
There are sometimes tears involved, at least for me. It's hard to talk about the parts of ourselves we are ashamed of and are pretty good at hiding from most people.
So yeah, he knows you. The whole point is pastoral.
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I never wondered that before, but I do now. Most of my knowledge of the confessional comes from the end credits of eurotrip.
Is it awkward?
Yes , just by it's nature of admitting faults.
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There's a screen but they still know you by your voice in many situations I'm sure.
Perhaps. But people can go to any priest. Sometimes multiple priest st a parish... and most aren't on a first name basis with the priest
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Also, at least the way I've seen it portrayed the confession is followed by a prescription of some sort of act of penance. Is that proportional to the crime? I know the confessional is sealed, but would the priest ever approach you in private to discuss something you said?
I'm sure someone knows a good confessional story. Help us non-Catholics out.
Generally the penance does need to be impactful and focused on prescribing correction in the penitents mind. No priest would not bring it up outside of confessional.. that would be breaking their vow.
Confessing my sins gives me a humbling feeling. It's a great reminder that I'm not perfect and sin-prone. Confessing my sins prevents me from becoming arrogant and overconfident as well. Confession also helps me to be understanding/forgiving towards others who trespass against me. I'm even willing to bet, the Lord forgives my trespasses so that I can reciprocate his love/mercy by forgiving the trespasses of others.
All in all, I get an elated, peaceful feeling out of it.
All in all, I get an elated, peaceful feeling out of it.
Honestly, for me it is pretty awkward when you're about to go in and even while you're confessing, but I always feel much better almost immediately after the words of absolution. I really feel the weight of my sins being lifted from me, and it gives me the grace to resist temptations.
During my junior year of college, I was struggling with depression. I randomly decided to go confession for the first time in about a year. I left the confessional and remember walking by Sully to my dorm and feeling happy for the first time in about year.
During my junior year of college, I was struggling with depression. I randomly decided to go confession for the first time in about a year. I left the confessional and remember walking by Sully to my dorm and feeling happy for the first time in about year.
Confession, liturgy, the Sacrifice, the Sacraments, are essential for worship. As the Catholic Catechism says: the Eucharist is the source and summit of true worship.
Protestants:
How exactly did Christians have it so wrong for 1,400 years? Those Christians who produced the Bible? (Very literally is it a product of the Apostolic Church, negotiated mostly from Rome in the 3rd Century)
Protestants:
How exactly did Christians have it so wrong for 1,400 years? Those Christians who produced the Bible? (Very literally is it a product of the Apostolic Church, negotiated mostly from Rome in the 3rd Century)
Forgiveness is freeing! My life doesn't revolve around resentments due to damage I've incurred by the trespasses of others!
[EDIT:] I can just absorb the damage, claim it all forgiven and let go! I can let go of the need for revenge.
I can predict the longer I live on this earth, I am going to need forgiveness for all the future trespasses I will commit!
[EDIT:] I can just absorb the damage, claim it all forgiven and let go! I can let go of the need for revenge.
I can predict the longer I live on this earth, I am going to need forgiveness for all the future trespasses I will commit!
I made the original post because I am wrestling with an idea.
A fuzzy very loose idea at this point but it is centered on the question of why some people particularly the left seem to enjoy pointing out or possibly "confessing" past sins they had no hand in.
It seem to me its something like an unearned confession made for the possible positive feelings you receive from an actual confession. A short term ego boost that requires no self reflection or introspection. An actual confession requires self searching and discovery and can be painful. The false confession does not.
Or something like this.
A fuzzy very loose idea at this point but it is centered on the question of why some people particularly the left seem to enjoy pointing out or possibly "confessing" past sins they had no hand in.
It seem to me its something like an unearned confession made for the possible positive feelings you receive from an actual confession. A short term ego boost that requires no self reflection or introspection. An actual confession requires self searching and discovery and can be painful. The false confession does not.
Or something like this.
Quote:
A fuzzy very loose idea at this point but it is centered on the question of why some people particularly the left seem to enjoy pointing out or possibly "confessing" past sins they had no hand in.
Honestly, the right has more than enough sins to deal with without worrying about the issues of the left.
I would also recommend trying to avoid labelling "left" and "right" so much, as it serves as a means to dehumanize someone and refuse to listen to them.
Madman said:
Protestants also confess their sins but normally in prayer and not to a priest or pastor.
Which is NOTHING LIKE a sacramental confession to a priest.
Redstone said:
Confession, liturgy, the Sacrifice, the Sacraments, are essential for worship. As the Catholic Catechism says: the Eucharist is the source and summit of true worship.
Protestants:
How exactly did Christians have it so wrong for 1,400 years? Those Christians who produced the Bible? (Very literally is it a product of the Apostolic Church, negotiated mostly from Rome in the 3rd Century)
Not to quibble, but I think it's actually the sacrifice of the Mass that is the source and summit of true worship.
A non Christian would see the similarities and differences. I can see positive and negative aspects in both. I think the emotional state before, during, and after is probably similar for different faiths.
k2aggie07 said:
In Orthodoxy you confess before an icon of Christ or in front of the gospel. The priest typically covers your head with his stole, then says a quick prayer, then asks - what's on your mind? You just talk. You're not confessing to him per se, you're confessing to God, and he is a witness and guide. Then he talks a bit. Maybe he gives you some advice. Maybe he asks some questions, or asks you to clarify. Maybe he tells you a story about himself, or some anecdote to help, or a quote from the fathers, or a bit of scripture. Often it's all of the above. He may give some penance - we don't do the Hail Mary thing, but once I was told to add Psalm 51 to my prayer rule for a month. Once he told me my penance was to come to liturgy the next day and commune, and to take some time to thank God for His forgiveness before the service. It just depends.
Then he says another prayer, says a quick blessing with a cross, you kiss the cross and his hand and that's that.
There are sometimes tears involved, at least for me. It's hard to talk about the parts of ourselves we are ashamed of and are pretty good at hiding from most people.
So yeah, he knows you. The whole point is pastoral.
~90% the same as Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation. No icons involved or covering with a stole, but otherwise the same. There is a prescribed prayer of absolution pronounced immediately after the assignment of a penance. Penances vary and are in no way limited to "5 Hail Marys".
FYI- this is the prayer of absolution:
God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
When I confess to a Priest, I am speaking to someone who is acting in persona Christi about the things that I have done or failed to do that fall short of the will of God. I am telling Jesus, in the person of the Priest, that I am broken and I am sorry and that I want to be healed of the wounds I have inflicted on my own soul by offending Him. Then, I listen to the counsel of the Priest and we discuss what's troubling me the most or what he identifies as worthy of more discussion. Then I usually pray an Act of Contrition and the Priest prays the prayer of absolution over me. I walk out renewed and relieved and refreshed.
After confession I feel lighter, refreshed, and at peace. The physical change you feel is astounding. Tongues of fire is an apt description when you're in the midst of being absolved.
I cannot count the times I felt like this...
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord";
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord";
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Madman said:
I made the original post because I am wrestling with an idea.
A fuzzy very loose idea at this point but it is centered on the question of why some people particularly the left seem to enjoy pointing out or possibly "confessing" past sins they had no hand in.
It seem to me its something like an unearned confession made for the possible positive feelings you receive from an actual confession. A short term ego boost that requires no self reflection or introspection. An actual confession requires self searching and discovery and can be painful. The false confession does not.
Or something like this.
So, setting aside the political tint of this post because I think it is wholly ineffective for productive conversation/debate/understanding.
I think some people confess things that have little meaning or they didn't do, the way you are referring to, because they are either a) trying to be falsely pious, the way the man who prayed loudly in the temple (Luke 18:11) b) trying to avoid the sins that really bother them and give them guilt by confessing to anything else they can hoping for relief from what really plagues them, or c) a combination of those two.
Confession of sins is first ant foremost to lead you to realize your need for a savior. The law leads to contrition which leads to the gospel which hopefully ends with salvation. A person who doesn't recognize the law has no need for a savior.
For me confession of my sins is a moment to reflect on my imperfections and a need to clothe myself in humility. Ultimately i am comforted by the fact that I am loved in spite of my flaws.
For me confession of my sins is a moment to reflect on my imperfections and a need to clothe myself in humility. Ultimately i am comforted by the fact that I am loved in spite of my flaws.
We are also called to confess our sins to one another which leads to reconciliation. This is by far the hardest thing for me to do.
Madman said:
I made the original post because I am wrestling with an idea.
A fuzzy very loose idea at this point but it is centered on the question of why some people particularly the left seem to enjoy pointing out or possibly "confessing" past sins they had no hand in.
It seem to me its something like an unearned confession made for the possible positive feelings you receive from an actual confession. A short term ego boost that requires no self reflection or introspection. An actual confession requires self searching and discovery and can be painful. The false confession does not.
Or something like this.
People publically confessing sins they had no hand in is simply virtue signaling. They want to be seen and admired for their good deeds.
Grateful for His infinite mercy.
JW
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