Most persons outside the Catholic Church think that it is a very difficult thing to go to confession. The truth is that confession is one of the most consoling features of the Catholic religion. Catholics go to confession with the conviction that they are really telling their sins to God. The priest is present as God's representative, to give advice and encouragement, to settle doubts of conscience, to guide the penitent's future conduct , above all to forgive sins in the name of Christ Himself. Never, under any circumstances, even to save his own life, may he reveal a single sin of the penitent.
Sometimes we hear people say that it is enough to confess our sins to God, without having to tell them to another human being. To these persons we answer that since God Himself has commanded us to confess our sins to the priest, as His representative, we must obey God if we wish to receive the pardon of our sins.
With all these considerations before them, Catholics should not find it difficult to make a worthy confession, especially in view of the fact that they are always free to confess to a priest who does not know them. Surely, it is most unreasonable to conceal a mortal sin in confession. Such an act renders the confession useless. The sinner leaves the confessional still burdened with all the sins with which he entered and in addition with a new sin of sacrilege. He has the obligation of telling all the sins again; and if he has the misfortune of leaving this world without receiving the forgiveness of his transgressions, the sin which he was afraid to reveal to one person in private will be revealed to the whole world to his shame at the last judgment.
In the early centuries it was not unusual for Christians to make their confession publicly, before the entire congregation. Moreover, a very severe penance was often imposed in those times, sometimes lasting for several years. Nowadays the Church is far more lenient. The modern penance is generally a few prayers that can be said in a short time. Hence, we see the necessity of supplying for our debt of temporal punishment by works of selfdenial over and above the sacramental penance. We need not practice the extraordinary deeds of mortification performed by the great saints; even the smallest deeds of selfdenial, when we are in the state of grace, possess satisfactory value toward atoning for our debt of temporal punishment. And we can perform such works of satisfaction not only for ourselves but also for others, whether living or dead.
When a person realizes that he has been guilty of many sins and doubtless has a great debt of temporal punishment to pay, it is always better for him to make as much satisfaction as he can in the present life Instead of deferring it to purgatory. For our satisfactory works in the present life, unlike our sufferings in purgatory, not only pay our debt of temporal punishment but also merit, greater glory for us in heaven.
We should be very careful in preparing for confession to know exactly what sins we have committed, their particular nature, any circumstances changing their nature, and especially the number of times each has been committed. If we do not know the exact number of times, we should strive to know it as nearly as possible; or at least get an average number by the week or the day. Of course, strictly speaking, we are obliged to tell the number of our mortal sins only; venial sins can be confessed merely by specifying their nature without mentioning their number. Indeed, venial sins need not be confessed at all. Yet, it is advisable to inform our confessor how frequently we have failed even by venial sins.