I think that it's unfortunate that the non-Catholic Christian world - at least as I was exposed to it for so long - got away from confession. It seems that in many sectors the baby was lost with the bathwater.

The original intent of confession, as I read it, was to do what is done in the Episcopal church, to help us, as is part of the Catholic mass, to "call to mind our sins." Often we do need reminded that when we point a finger, we have more pointing back at us.

In the Mass, there is a general confession part each mass where we are asked to call to mind our sins and confess:

"I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault."

And indeed the priest does say something similar to the Bishop's blessing above. But of course, they do maintain the stance that private confession with the priest is essential.

While I don't believe it is, I do believe that on a personal level, it is essential for each of us to practice regular self-examination, and invite the Lord to show us where we have fallen short and need to "clean up our act."

It can be a very powerful moment indeed to not only mean these words in your heart, but to hear the voices of all your brothers and sisters in Christ reverberating the same words in your ears. I think I have mentioned it somewhere before, but the word liturgy means "of the people" and its antonym is "lethargy."

I personally also believe that private confession can be a very healthy thing, at least if proper boundaries exist. Since we are dealing with fallible humans, there is always the potential for exploitation and abuse, but at least in principle, there is something truly cleansing about confessing our sins one to another, or, in this case, to our spiritual father in the Lord. Certainly this spiritual principle has been reinforced by the findings of modern psychology as is amply demonstrated in Daniel Gilbert's new book Stumbling on Happiness. (Gilbert teaches psychology at Harvard University.)

I don't have my Book of Common Prayer with me, but I've always been very fond of the Ash Wednesday confession in particular. It goes so far beyond the generality of "what we have done and left undone."

-ND

This may be what SirNickDon is referring to: (from my Book of Common Prayer, Litany of Penitence)

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to thw rhole communion of saints
in heaven ad on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.

Or anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son, our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
**************

Then the bishop or priest says,

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn and repent from their wickedness and live, has given power and commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the absolution and r4emission of their sins. He pardons and absolves all those who truly repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel.

Therefore we beseech him to grqant us true repentance ahnd his Holy Spirit, that whose things may please him which we do on this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*********************

Wow......
That's all I have to say...
Wow.......

(oops, I guess I didn't proof read very well :(

Yes, you are correct, Breath of Dawn. The entire liturgy for Ash Wednesday begins on page 264 of the current Common Book of Prayer (the '79 edition), and the Litany of Penitence which you cite above begins on page 267. Another powerful celebration is The Great Litany (p. 148), also sometimes called Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy [upon us]), a well-known phrase to those familiar with liturgical traditions.

For the Ears: There are some free MP3 downloads at FeverDream Records that feature some unique takes on these ancient litanies; see, for example, the project "World Without End," which provides "The Great Litany" in three variations involving a sort of world/techno presentation. They also offer another free download page with some overlap and some variation here.

Hi! You have an interesting blog!

Some Episcopal/Anglican priests do hear individual, private confession, though it's not considered a Sacrament and I myself have never done this (and it's not a regular thing at my local church). I know that private aural confession of sins was introduced by the Irish monks, and so has been around for some time.

I wonder what this would be like? It seems like it could be a very powerful experience.

Have a great weekend and God bless!

Eric:

Good to hear from you. Thanks for your kind comment.

I currently attend a Presbyterian Church, and we do communal confession, with silent time for private confession, but sometimes that just doesn't quite fill the bill, so to speak, for me. Lately I've looking into finding an RC priest of good repute with whom to do one on one confession. I've just been feeling an inner urge to do that....perhaps my version of an accountability partner in Christ. I feel very comfortable with that; having grown up in that tradition. I think perhaps I differ from my devout sister in one take on this, though. In the RC teaching there is the whole idea of the succession/passing of the sacraments...the sacraments having been passed down through the Church. My belief is that God sacramentally blesses through the devout priest, believer to believer, faith to faith.

blessings...Jim  

Once when I was in Germany a lady, who was not religious, told me it was better to be a Catholic than a Protestant because the Catholics have someone that they can confess their sins to.

i'm confirmed as an Episcopalian, you  know...

and then you say "peace be with you..."

Josh: "And also with you." :)

Thank You...I agree...well-put!

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