Prayer to Jesus and Mary for the Holy Souls

A Prayer to Jesus and Mary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

O Most loving Jesus, I humbly beseech Thee that Thou wouldst Thyself offer to Thine eternal Father, on behalf of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, Thy Most Precious Blood, which pouredforth from the Sacred Wounds of Thine adorable Body, together with Thine agony and death. And do thou likewise, O sorrowful Virgin Mary, present unto the Heavenly Father, together with the dolorous passion of thy dear Son, thine own sighs and tears, and all the sorrows thou didst suffer in His suffering, in order that, through the merits of the same, refreshment may be granted to the souls now suffering in the fiery torments of Purgatory, so that, being delivered from that p[painful prison, they may be clothed with glory in Heaven, there to sing the mercies of God for ever and ever. Amen.

Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin, that by Thy gracious assistance they may deserve to escape the judgment of vengeance and enjoy the blessedness of everlasting light. Amen.

V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them
V. From the gates of Hell,
R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.
V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
Let us pray

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant unto the souls of Thy servants and handmaids, the remission of all their sins, that through our devout supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired, Thou Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

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St. Joseph's Day: Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity (1969 Calendar): March 19

I Class (1962 Calendar): March 19
Double of I Class (1954 Calendar): March 19

If March 19 falls on a Sunday, then St. Joseph's Day is transferred to March 20. Also, if the Feast of St. Joseph falls in Holy Week it is transferred to the Wednesday after Low Sunday (per the pre 1955 rubrics).

St. Joseph is one of the greatest saints. His life is recorded partially in Scripture, and we see a man dedicated to the Lord. He was a man eager to do the will of God. 

What we know of St. Joseph comes from the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke. And what the scriptures tell us is that St. Joseph was a silent servant of God. St. Joseph owned little possessions but he was a descendant of David and full of the grace of God. There is not one recorded sentence spoken by St. Joseph, but the Gospels are clear that he acted kindly towards Mary and Jesus. He cared for them when Herod sought to kill Our Lord, and after the threat passed, he quietly passed away. For that reason, he is frequently recognized as the patron of a peaceful death. In the words of Pope Leo XIII: “Workman and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve, since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares.”

According to tradition, St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, watches over and guards the Church. Numerous saints also had devotions to St. Joseph including Saint Bernard, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Gertrude, Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Alphonsus and Saint Teresa of Avila.

St. Joseph is truly the universal protector of the Church. In The Man Nearest to Christ: The Nature and Historic Development of Devotion to Saint Joseph, Fr. Francis L Filas recounts the origin of devotion in the United States to St. Joseph. As you will see, this devotion predates the foundation of the country!

On the North American missions the name of Saint Joseph appeared frequently. In Canada, he was regarded as patron of the land ever since it was called New France. In 1633, Saint John de Brebeuf founded the first mission among the Hurons and dedicated it to Saint Joseph. The first Algonquin mission was likewise placed under his care. Both the Recollect Fathers and the Jesuits often named islands and rivers in his honor. In 1675, Fr. Allouez called Lake Michigan Lake Saint Joseph. At Montreal the Sulpician Fathers followed in the steps of their founder, Fr. Olier, by inspiring the faithful to turn to the spouse of Mary in their need. The Ursulines and Grey Nuns always paid him exceptional veneration…

For more prayers, devotional items, and customs for this Feast of St. Joseph, please visit Fish Eaters. Also, make an Act of Consecration to St. Joseph today.

This feastday is distinct from both the Patronage of St. Joseph (Eastertide Feast) and St. Joseph the Worker.

Passiontide & St. Joseph's Day

As stated by the National Secretariat for the Liturgy of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference:

"In the Roman Missal of St. Pius V, after the Mass on Saturday preceding the Sunday of the Passion was the heading: "Before the Vespers, cover up their crosses and images which are in the church. The crosses remain covered until the end of the worship of the Cross on Good Friday, and Images to the Hymn of the Angels (Glory to God in Heaven) on Holy Saturday. " See that it was the custom on the last two weeks of Lent, through which it wished to focus the attention of the faithful in the mystery of Christ's Passion. All that could cut into it, as were the images of Saints, was covered."

However, there is also a particular unique exception that might apply some years when Passiontide falls during March, the month of St. Joseph. By way of exception, the Sacred Congregation of Rites decreed on May 14, 1879, that the images and statues of Saint Joseph may remain UNCOVERED when any part of Passiontide falls in the month of March, which is, of course, dedicated to his honor - even on Good Friday - but ONLY IF the said image(s) STAND OUTSIDE THE SANCTUARY (e.g., the nave). 

St. Joseph’s Day As A Holy Day of Obligation

The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decretals of Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull "Universa Per Orbem" which altered the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 35 such days as well as the principal patrons of one's one locality. St. Joseph's Day is on that list.

However, due to dispensations, differences ranged drastically as to which days were kept as holy days throughout the world. In some parts of the world, St. Joseph's Day on March 19th was a Holy Day of Obligation whereas in others it was not. For instance, St. Joseph's Day was a Holy Day of Obligation in Quebec in the late 1600s and also in the British Colonies in what is now the United States of America. It was also a holy day of Obligation in what is now Florida, among other places. But changes abounded as the number of holy days gradually weakened over the centuries. 

At America's birth, the Holy Days of Obligation, in addition to every Sunday, were as follows: the feasts of Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Annunciation, Easter Monday, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Ss. Peter and Paul, Assumption, and All Saints. St. Joseph's Day had ceased being a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States. However, it remained a holy day in some other parts of the world.

In 1911, Pope St. Pius X issued Supremi disciplinæ which drastically reduced the number of Holy Days of Obligation in the Universal Church to only 8. St. Joseph's Day did not make the list. Shortly thereafter in 1917, however, Corpus Christi and St. Joseph were added back by his successor, bringing the total to 10. The 10 currently observed on the Universal Calendar are the same as from 1917.

As for the Holy Days observed in the United States, the Catholic Encyclopedia in referencing Supremi disciplinæ noted, "Where, however, any of the above feasts has been abolished or transferred, the new legislation is not effective. In the United States consequently the Epiphany and the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul are not days of precept." The same is true of St. Joseph's Day in the changes in 1917. While the 1917 change did not add St. Joseph's Day back to the list of Holy Days of Obligation in the United States, it did elsewhere.

Presently, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malta, Spain, and the Diocese of Lugano in Switzerland keep St. Joseph's Day as a Holy Day.

Why have a Devotion to St. Joseph?

St. Teresa of Avila answered:

To the other Saints it appears that the Lord may have granted power to succor us on particular occasions; but to this Saint, as experience proves, He has granted power to help us on all occasions. Our Lord would teach us that, as he was pleased to be subject to Joseph upon the earth, so He is now pleased to grant whatever this Saint asks for in heaven. Others whom I have recommended to have recourse to Joseph, have known this from experience. I never knew any one who was particularly devout to him, that did not continually advance more and more in virtue. For the love of God, let him who believes not this make his own trial. And I do not know how any one can think of the Queen of Angels, at the time when she labored so much in the infancy and childhood of Jesus, and not return thanks to Joseph for the assistance which he rendered both to the Mother and to the Son"

For this reason, we can say that St. Joseph is the first among the saints after our Blessed Mother. We call this protodulia.

Sermon 2 "On St Joseph" by St. Bernardine of Siena:

This is the general rule that applies to all individual graces given to a rational creature. Whenever divine grace selects someone to receive a particular grace, or some especially favoured position, all the gifts for his state are given to that person, and. enrich him abundantly.

This is especially true of that holy man Joseph, the supposed father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and true husband of the queen of the world and of the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father to be the faithful foster-parent and guardian of the most precious treasures of God, his Son and his spouse. This was the task which he so faithfully carried out. For this, the Lord said to him, "Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord."

A comparison can be made between Joseph and the whole Church of Christ. Joseph was the specially chosen man through whom and under whom Christ entered the world fittingly and in an appropriate way. So, if the whole Church is in the debt of the Virgin Mary, since, through her, it was able to receive the Christ, surely after her, it also owes to Joseph special thanks and veneration.

For he it is who marks the closing of the old testament. In him the dignity of the prophets and patriarchs achieves its promised fulfillment. Moreover; he alone possessed in the flesh what God in his goodness promised to them over and again.

It is beyond doubt that Christ did not deny to Joseph in heaven that intimacy, respect, and high honour which he showed to him as to a father during his own human life, but rather completed and perfected it. Justifiably the words of the Lord should be applied to him, "Enter into the joy of your Lord." Although it is the joy of eternal happiness that comes into the heart of man, the Lord prefers to say to him "enter into joy". The mystical implication is that this joy is not just inside man, but surrounds him everywhere and absorbs him, as if he were plunged in an infinite abyss.

Therefore be mindful of us, blessed Joseph, and intercede for us with Him Whom men thought to be your Son. Win for us the favour of the most Blessed Virgin your spouse, the mother of Him Who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit through ages unending. Amen.

Quamquam Pluries:

"Although We have already many times ordered special prayers to be offered up in the whole world, that the interests of Catholicism might be insistently recommended to God, none will deem it matter for surprise that We consider the present moment an opportune one for again inculcating the same duty. During periods of stress and trial -- chiefly when every lawlessness of act seems permitted to the powers of darkness -- it has been the custom in the Church to plead with special fervor and perseverance to God, her author and protector, by recourse to the intercession of the saints -- and chiefly of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God -- whose patronage has ever been the most efficacious. The fruit of these pious prayers and of the confidence reposed in the Divine goodness, has always, sooner or later, been made apparent. Now, Venerable Brethren, you know the times in which we live; they are scarcely less deplorable for the Christian religion than the worst days, which in time past were most full of misery to the Church. We see faith, the root of all the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see charity growing cold; the young generation daily growing in depravity of morals and views; the Church of Jesus Christ attacked on every side by open force or by craft; a relentless war waged against the Sovereign Pontiff; and the very foundations of religion undermined with a boldness which waxes daily in intensity. These things are, indeed, so much a matter of notoriety that it is needless for Us to expatiate on the depths to which society has sunk in these days, or on the designs which now agitate the minds of men. In circumstances so unhappy and troublous, human remedies are insufficient, and it becomes necessary, as a sole resource, to beg for assistance from the Divine power" 

(Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on August 15, 1889).

Prayer:

We beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may be helped by the merits of the Spouse of Thy most holy Mother: so that what we cannot obtain of ourselves, may be given to us through his intercession: Who livest and reignest.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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I'm a B-Team Blogger!

I want to thank Rick of De Civitate Dei for creating Amateur Catholic. It's a blog for all Catholic bloggers that do not get paid for their blogging but just love being a part of the Catholic Blogsphere. We're the B-Team of Catholic Bloggers.

I will display the B-Team Logo with pride.

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The Stational Church for the Saturday in the 2nd Week of Lent

If you haven't started to join me in praying each day this devotion, please do so. Every lent there are many pilgrims that journey throughout Rome to different Catholic churches. This devotion began over 1500 years ago, and today even though we can't physically be there, we can join the pilgrims spiritually. Please begin praying the Stational Churches.

Today's station is at the Church of Sts. Marcellinus & Peter

"This Station is in the basilica founded by St. Helen on the Via Lavicana, in which were buried the bodies of St. Marcellinus, priest, and St. Peter, exorcist, martyred at Tome during the Diocletian persecution. Their names are mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass.

"May today's stational saints, not brothers in the flesh, but in spirit, obtain for us the gift of gratitude both for our holy calling—God's free gift—as well as for the grace of conversion, our homecoming to the Father. For the remainder of our life may "the unspotted law of the Lord, which converts souls, and the testimonies of our faithful Lord fill us with such wisdom that we shall show forth the glory of God, and declare the works of His hands."

"Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, a saving virtue to our fast; that the chastisement of the flesh, which we have taken upon us may bestow new life to our souls. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen. "

(Source: St. John Cantius Parish)

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Fishers of Men

Announcement:

The DVD, Fishers of Men, is now available at GrassrootsFilms.com. The DVD was requested by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to show the lives of priests. It is being called the best vocational film ever produced by the Catholic Church.

You can view a trailer by visiting the USCCB website.

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Special Intentions

I have been contacted by two separate people in emails begging me for prayers. They desperately need them but asked that I not go into detail on my blog. So, I will keep their names anonymous.

Please offer up your prayers for these two for the Lord surely knows who they are.

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Eating Meat on St. Patrick's Day?

Since St. Patrick’s Day falls during Lent, it coincides with the traditional Lenten fast, which traditionally requires 40 days of fasting and abstinence from meat. Even in Ireland, where it is a Holy Day of Obligation, the fast and abstinence on Holy Days of Obligation are not abrogated in Lent without a specific dispensation. In fact, the Irish people kept the strictness of abstinence even from animal products during Lent longer than many other nations.

Yet the custom developed of such dispensations. With the growing number of Irish immigrants to America in the early 1800s, for instance, special attention was given to dispensing from the law of abstinence when St. Patrick's Day fell on a Friday. This was done for the members of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston in 1837 and would become customary in the United States. 

Several dioceses around the United States have granted Catholics dispensations so that they may eat meat today in honor of St. Patrick this year since St. Patrick's Day this year is on a Friday in Lent. However, some dioceses have not granted dispensations. 

The following dioceses have granted dispensations (not a complete list): Boston, MA Buffalo, NY Chicago, IL Cincinnati, OH Cleveland, OH Green Bay, WI Lincoln, NE Lansing, MI Erie, PA Arlington, TX Toledo, OH Phoenix, AZ The Washington Archdiocese Minneapolis & St Paul, MN Lexington, Kentucky Portland, OR Fall River MA Providence RI. 

The Dioceses of Denver, Miami, Harrisburg, Penn., and Sioux City said that abstaining from meat will still be required today.

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Today's Stational Church: March 17, 2006

Today's Stational Church is the Church of St. Vitalis

Mother Church points today to the "Great Friday" on which our High Priest and Redeemer obtained for us eternal redemption. She takes us today to the church of St. Vitalis—father of the holy martyrs, Gervase and Protase. For his loyalty to Christ, St. Vitalis was first buried up to the waist in an old cistern and then stoned to death.

Here at the altar of this martyr—his name means "full of life"—Holy Mother Church directs our attention to the life-giving death of the Savior. In four weeks we will celebrate the life-begetting Passion of Christ. Pointing to this great mystery, the Church prays that we continue to prepare for it; that the holy fast may chasten us and make our hearts pure, so that when the vintage time of the Paschal solemnity arrives, the divine householder may not be obliged to say: "I looked that my vineyard should bring forth grapes, and it has brought forth thorns."

May St. Vitalis, who drank so abundantly of the sacred winepress of the Lord's Passions, accompany us today to the Eucharistic Banquet in which this most Holy Passion is rendered present and the fruits thereof applied to our souls. Here all of us will become "Vitales"—living members of Christ—the Fountain of all life and holiness.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that cleansed by this holy fast, we may be brought by Thee with pure hearts to the holy season, which is to come. Through Christ, Our Lord.Amen.

(Source: St. John Cantius)

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The Feast of St. Patrick. Who Was St. Patrick?

All the children of Ireland cry out to thee: Come, O holy Patrick, and save us!

Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): March 17

Double (1954 Calendar): March 17 (Double of the First Class in Ireland)

III Class (1962 Calendar): March 17 (1st Class in Ireland)

Today the Church celebrates the life of one of my favorite saints - St. Patrick of Ireland.

St. Patrick was born around 370 AD in Scotland, and at the age of 16, he was kidnapped and sent as a slave in Ireland. St. Patrick was not profoundly religious as a child, but in Ireland when he was sent to work as a shepherd, he began to pray. After six years of service and fervent prayer, St. Patrick received a dream where he was commanded to return to Britain. St. Patrick escaped Ireland and returned to Britain. In Britain, he entered the Catholic Church like his father and grandfather before him.

St. Patrick was ordained a priest by Saint Germanus in 432 and later a bishop. He later returned to Ireland to convert his people to Christianity. Pope Saint Celestine sent him to evangelize England, then Ireland. St. Patrick's chariot driver was Saint Odran, and Saint Jarlath was one of his students. He advocated against slavery, idolatry, sun worship, and paganism! Shortly after his death, slavery was abolished in Ireland!

Some reports claim he built between 300-600 churches and countless schools and hospitals. In his 33 years in Ireland, he converted nearly the entire country. He taught the Trinity by using a three-leaf clover. Because of his work, Ireland became known as the Land of Saints. St. Patrick died around 461 AD in Ireland, where he worked for years to evangelize.

Today is actually a holy day of obligation in Ireland, Bank Holiday Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

Let us read the traditional reading on his life in the traditional Breviary read at Matins:

Patrick, called the apostle of Ireland, was born in Great Britain. His father’s name was Calphumius. Conchessa, his mother, is said to have been a relation of St. Martin, bishop of Tours. He was several times taken captive by the barbarians, when he was a boy, and was put to tend their flocks. Even in that tender age, he gave signs of the great sanctity he was afterwards to attain. Full of the spirit of faith, and of the fear and love of God, he used to rise at the earliest dawn of day, and, in spite of snow, frost, or rain, go to offer up his prayers to God. It was his custom to pray a hundred times during the day, and a hundred during the night. After his third deliverance from slavery, he entered the ecclesiastical state and applied himself, for a considerable time, to the study of the sacred Scriptures. Having made several most fatiguing journeys through Gaul, Italy, and the islands of the Mediterranean, he was called by God to labour for the salvation of the people of Ireland. Pope Saint Celestine gave him power to preach the Gospel, and consecrated him bishop. Whereupon, he set out for Ireland. 

It would be difficult to relate how much this apostolic man had to suffer in the mission thus entrusted to him: he had to bear with extraordinary trials, fatigues, and adversaries. But, by the mercy of God, that land, which heretofore had worshipped idols, so well repaid the labour wherewith Patrick had preached the Gospel, that it was afterwards called the island of saints. He administered holy Baptism to many thousands: he ordained several bishops, and frequently conferred Holy Orders in their several degrees; he drew up rules for virgins and widows, who wished to lead a life of continency. By the authority of the Roman Pontiff, he appointed Armagh the metropolitan See of the whole island, and enriched that church with the saints’ relics, which he had brought from Rome. God honoured him with heavenly visions, with the gift of prophecy and miracles; all which caused the name of the saint to be held in veneration in almost every part of the world. 

Besides his daily solicitude for the churches, his vigorous spirit kept up an uninterrupted prayer. For it is said, that he was wont to recite every day the whole psalter, together with the canticles and the hymns, and two hundred prayers: that he every day knelt down three hundred times to adore God; and that at each canonical hour of the day, he signed himself a hundred times with the sign of the cross. He divided the night into three parts: the first was spent in the recitation of a hundred psalms, during which he genuflected two hundred times: the second was spent in reciting the remaining fifty psalms, which he did standing in cold water, and his heart, eyes, and hands lifted up to heaven; the third he gave to a little sleep, which he took laid upon a bare stone. Being a man of extraordinary humility, he imitated the apostles, and practised manual labour. At length, being worn out by his incessant fatigues in the cause of the Church, powerful in word and work, having reached an extreme old age he slept in the Lord, after being refreshed with the holy mysteries. He was buried at Down, in Ulster, in the fifth century of the Christian era.

There was a very beautiful prayer on St. Patrick's Breastplate:

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort me and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Prayer:

O God, Who didst vouchsafe to send blessed Patrick, Thy Confessor and Bishop, to preach Thy glory to the nations: grant, by his merits and intercession, that whatever Thou commandest us to do, we may by Thy mercy be able to fulfill. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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The Necessity of Confession

Through the life-giving, seven Sacraments, the Church continues to bring the love of Jesus Christ to all mankind. The priests of the Holy Catholic Church have the unique ability to forgive sins because Our Lord Jesus Christ gave them the ability. In the three years that the disciples journeyed with Jesus in His public life, He taught them the Truth and the Faith. Our Lord gave His disciples "power and authority" (Luke 9:1), and later, He gave them the unique power to forgive sins (John 20:21-23).

"[Jesus] said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:21-23)

In those words, Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Confession (Sacrament of Penance). These words of Our Lord were not a symbolic act but one of true and lasting importance. Truly, by these words, the Sacrament of Penance was instituted (Lamentabili Sane 47; Council of Trent, Session Fourteen, Canons 1-15).

In the Holy Scriptures, the only other reference to God breathing upon someone is recorded in Genesis 2:7, when God breathed upon Adam and gave him life. In John 20:21-23 we understand that God is truly giving the eleven apostles this profound ability to forgive sins just as He truly gave Adam the unique gift of life.

Some people ask, "Just because God gave the apostles the power doesn't mean that this is the only way to have our sins forgiven." While on this Earth, Jesus would go through the streets of Jerusalem and heal and forgive those that desired forgiveness. But today Jesus is not walking in the streets. After Our Lord's Resurrection, He gave the apostles the duty to go forth and forgive sins; He never told anyone to pray to Him for forgiveness. Rather, He told the disciples to forgive the sins of penitents. Today our priests and bishops, successors of the apostles, continue to forgive our sins by the power of God.

At the Fourteenth Session of the Council of Trent in 1551 AD, the Holy Church declared the following:

Canons Concerning The Most Holy Sacrament Of Penance

Canon 1. If anyone says that in the Catholic Church penance is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord for reconciling the faithful of God as often as they fall into sin after baptism, let him be anathema.

Canon 2. If anyone, confounding the sacraments, says that baptism is itself the sacrament of penance, as though these two sacraments were not distinct, and that penance therefore is not rightly called a second plank after shipwreck, let him be anathema.

Canon 3. If anyone says that those words of the Lord Savior, are not to be understood of the power of forgiving and retaining sins in the sacrament of penance, as the Catholic Church has always understood them from the beginning, but distorts them, contrary to the institution of this sacrament, as applying to the authority of preaching the Gospel, let him be anathema.

Canon 4. If anyone denies that for the full and perfect remission of sins three acts are required on the part of the penitent, constituting as it were the matter of the sacrament of penance, namely, contrition, confession and satisfaction, which are called the three parts of penance; or says that there are only two parts of penance, namely, the terrors of a smitten conscience convinced of sin and the faith received from the Gospel or from absolution, by which one believes that his sins are forgiven him through Christ, let him be anathema.

Canon 5. If anyone says that the contrition which is evoked by examination, recollection and hatred of sins, whereby one recounts his years in the bitterness of his soul, by reflecting on the grievousness, the multitude, the baseness of his sins, the loss of eternal happiness and the incurring of eternal damnation, with a purpose of amendment, is not a true and beneficial sorrow, does not prepare for grace, but makes a man a hypocrite and a greater sinner; finally, that this sorrow is forced and not free and voluntary, let him be anathema.

Canon 6. If anyone denies that sacramental confession was instituted by divine law or is necessary to salvation; or says that the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone, which the Catholic Church has always observed from the beginning and still observes, is at variance with the institution and command of Christ and is a human contrivance, let him be anathema.

Canon 7. If anyone says that in the sacrament of penance it is not required by divine law for the remission of sins to confess each and all mortal sins which are recalled after a due and diligent examination, also secret ones and those that are a violation of the two last commandments of the Decalogue, as also the circumstances that change the nature of a sin, but that this confession is useful only to instruct and console the penitent and in olden times was observed only to impose a canonical satisfaction; or says that they who strive to confess all sins wish to leave nothing to the divine mercy to pardon; or finally, that it is not lawful to confess venial sins, let him be anathema.

Canon 8. If anyone says that the confession of all sins as it is observed in the Church is impossible and is a human tradition to be abolished by pious people; or that each and all of the faithful of Christ of either sex are not bound thereto once a year in accordance with the constitution of the great Lateran Council and that for this reason the faithful of Christ are to be persuaded not to confess during Lent, let him be anathema.

Canon 9. If anyone says that the sacramental absolution of the priest is not a judicial act but a mere service of pronouncing and declaring to him who confesses that the sins are forgiven, provided only he believes himself to be absolved, even though the priest absolves not in earnest but only in jest; or says that the confession of the penitent is not necessary in order that the priest may be able to absolve him, let him be anathema.

Canon 10. If anyone says that priests who are in mortal sin have not the power of binding and loosing, or that not only priests are the ministers of absolution but that to each and all of the faithful of Christ was it said: by virtue of which words everyone can absolve from sins, from public sins by reproof only, provided the one reproved accept correction, and from secret sins by voluntary confession, let him be anathema.

Canon 11. If anyone says that bishops have not the right to reserve cases to themselves except such as pertain to external administration, and that therefore the reservation of cases does not hinder a priest from absolving from reserved cases, let him be anathema.

Canon 12. If anyone says that God always pardons the whole penalty together with the guilt and that the satisfaction of penitents is nothing else than the faith by which they perceive that Christ has satisfied for them, let him be anathema.

Canon 13. If anyone says that satisfaction for sins, as to their temporal punishment, is in no way made to God through the merits of Christ by the punishments inflicted by Him and patiently borne, or by those imposed by the priest, or even those voluntarily undertaken, as by fasts, prayers, almsgiving or other works of piety, and that therefore the best penance is merely a new life, let him be anathema.

Canon 14. If anyone says that the satisfactions by which penitents atone for their sins through Christ are not a worship of God but traditions of men, which obscure the doctrine of grace and the true worship of God and the beneficence itself of the death of Christ, let him be anathema.

Canon 15. If anyone says that the keys have been given to the Church only to loose and not also to bind, and that therefore priests, when imposing penalties on those who confess, act contrary to the purpose of the keys and to the institution of Christ, and that it is a fiction that there remains often a temporal punishment to be discharged after the eternal punishment has by virtue of the keys been removed, let him be anathema.

Baltimore Catechism:

Q. 776. What is Confession?

A. Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized priest, for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness.

Q. 777. Who is a duly authorized priest?

A. A duly authorized priest is one sent to hear confessions by the lawful bishop of the diocese in which we are at the time of our confession.

Q. 778. Is it ever allowed to write our sins and read them to the priest in the confessional or give them to him to read?

A. It is allowed, when necessary, to write our sins and read them to the priest, as persons do who have almost entirely lost their memory. It is also allowed to give the paper to the priest, as persons do who have lost the use of their speech. In such cases the paper must, after the confession, be carefully destroyed either by the priest or the penitent.

Q. 779. What is to be done when persons must make their confession and cannot find a priest who understands their language?

A. Persons who must make their confession and who cannot find a priest who understands their language, must confess as best they can by some signs, showing what sins they wish to confess and how they are sorry for them.

Q. 780. What sins are we bound to confess?

A. We are bound to confess all our mortal sins, but it is well also to confess our venial sins.

Q. 783. Should a person stay from confession because he thinks he has no sin to confess ?

A. A person should not stay from confession because he thinks he has no sin to confess, for the Sacrament of Penance, besides forgiving sin, gives an increase of sanctifying grace, and of this we have always need, especially to resist temptation. The Saints, who were almost without imperfection, went to confession frequently.

Q. 785. Which are the chief qualities of a good Confession?

A. The chief qualities of a good Confession are three: it must be humble, sincere, and entire.

Q. 786. When is our Confession humble?

A. Our Confession is humble when we accuse ourselves of our sins, with a deep sense of shame and sorrow for having offended God.

Q. 787. When is our Confession sincere?

A. Our Confession is sincere when we tell our sins honestly and truthfully, neither exaggerating nor excusing them.

Q. 788. Why is it wrong to accuse ourselves of sins we have not committed?

A. It is wrong to accuse ourselves of sins we have not committed, because, by our so doing, the priest cannot know the true state of our souls, as he must do before giving us absolution.

Q. 789. When is our Confession entire?

A. Our Confession is entire when we tell the number and kinds of our sins and the circumstances which change their nature.

Q. 790. What do you mean by the "kinds of sin?"

A. By the "kinds of sin," we mean the particular division or class to which the sins belong; that is, whether they be sins of blasphemy, disobedience, anger, impurity, dishonesty, etc. We can determine the kind of sin by discovering the commandment or precept of the Church we have broken or the virtue against which we have acted.

Q. 791. What do we mean by "circumstances which change the nature of sins?"

A. By "circumstances which change the nature of sins" we mean anything that makes it another kind of sin. Thus to steal is a sin, but to steal from the Church makes our theft sacrilegious. Again, impure actions are sins, but a person must say whether they were committed alone or with others, with relatives or strangers, with persons married or single, etc., because these circumstances change them from one kind of impurity to another.

Q. 792. What should we do if we cannot remember the number of our sins?

A. If we cannot remember the number of our sins, we should tell the number as nearly as possible, and say how often we may have sinned in a day, a week, or a month, and how long the habit or practice has lasted.

Q. 793. Is our Confession worthy if, without our fault, we forget to confess a mortal sin?

A. If without our fault we forget to confess a mortal sin, our Confession is worthy, and the sin is forgiven; but it must be told in Confession if it again comes to our mind.

Q. 795. Is it a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession?

A. It is a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in Confession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make our Confession worthless.

Q. 796. How is concealing a sin telling a lie to the Holy Ghost?

A. Concealing a sin is telling a lie to the Holy Ghost, because he who conceals the sin declares in confession to God and the priest that he committed no sins but what he has confessed, while the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, saw him committing the sin he now conceals and still sees it in his soul while he denies it.

Q. 797. Why is it foolish to conceal sins in confession?

A. It is foolish to conceal sins in confession:

1. Because we thereby make our spiritual condition worse;
2. We must tell the sin sometime if we ever hope to be saved;
3. It will be made known on the day of judgment, before the world, whether we conceal it now or confess it.

Q. 798. What must he do who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession?

A. He who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in Confession must not only confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed since his last worthy Confession.

Q. 799. Must one who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in confession do more than repeat the sins committed since his last worthy confession?

A. One who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in confession must, besides repeating all the sins he has committed since his last worthy confession, tell also how often he has unworthily received absolution and Holy Communion during the same time.

Q. 800. Why does the priest give us a penance after Confession?

A. The priest gives us a penance after Confession, that we may satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to our sins.

Q. 801. Why should we have to satisfy for our sins if Christ has fully satisfied for them?

A. Christ has fully satisfied for our sins and after our baptism we were free from all guilt and had no satisfaction to make. But when we willfully sinned after baptism, it is but just that we should be obliged to make some satisfaction.

Q. 802. Is the slight penance the priest gives us sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed?

A. The slight penance the priest gives us is not sufficient to satisfy for all the sins confessed:

1. Because there is no real equality between the slight penance given and the punishment deserved for sin;
2. Because we are all obliged to do penance for sins committed, and this would not be necessary if the penance given in confession satisfied for all. The penance is given and accepted in confession chiefly to show our willingness to do penance and make amends for our sins.

Q. 803. Does not the Sacrament of Penance remit all punishment due to sin?

A. The Sacrament of Penance remits the eternal punishment due to sin, but it does not always remit the temporal punishment which God requires as satisfaction for our sins.

Q. 804. Why does God require a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin?

A. God requires a temporal punishment as a satisfaction for sin to teach us the great evil of sin and to prevent us from falling again.

Q. 805. Which are the chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin?

A. The chief means by which we satisfy God for the temporal punishment due to sin are: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving; all spiritual and corporal works of mercy, and the patient suffering of the ills of life.

Commentary on the Baltimore Catechism:

The Catechism teaches that for a Confession to be authentic and our sins to be forgiven, we must confess all mortal sins. If we willingly do not confess a mortal sin, our sins are not forgiven. For a sin to be mortal, it must fulfill three categories:

• It must be serious matter (against one of the Commandments)
• The individual must know it's wrong when he/she does it
• The individual must have full control of will (ex. he/she is not dreaming or forced to do it)

Confession is essential for reception of the Most Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Our Savior, is the most supreme gift. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. If we are in a state of mortal sin we are forbidden to receive the Eucharist before Confession. As St. Paul writes: "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27).

Some claim that when the veil in the temple veil was torn in half, priests were no longer needed: "And Jesus having cried out with a loud voice, gave up the Ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom" (Mark 15:37-38).

This logic, though, is incorrect. Jesus did not remove the priesthood but founded a new one. The veil was torn to signify the New Covenant replacing the Old Covenant with the Israelites. The Old Testament priesthood prefigured the new Testament's priesthood. The veil was placed in the temple to separate the Holy of Holies (i.e. The Ark of the Covenant) from the people of Israel. The people of God could not touch the Holy Ark because by doing so they died. But, when Christ died we were redeemed - man could now approach God and hope to receive the new Holy of Holies, Our Lord. In Matthew Chapter Nine, Jesus forgives a man's sins and St. Matthew in the Gospel writes:

"When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings." The point remains that God has given this authority to forgive sins to the apostles who in turn passed it to their successors through the imposition of hands. This process called the imposition or laying on of hands has ensured that today's priests and bishops can forgive sins.

Some people may further object to the Sacrament of Confession by citing 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity." But this passage again does not disprove Confession. This passage is referring to the Confession of sins and not the manner in which it is achieved. It can only be inferred that St. John would refer to the confession of sins to the apostles, of which he wrote in the Gospel of John 20:21-23.

Confession by Phone? Internet?

I've heard a question asked recently whether or not Confession by telephone or the Internet is permitted. The answer is of course no. As we see in the Gospels, it is about a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that matters. In Confession, we not only confess our sins but we humble ourselves by kneeling down and begging for mercy. The Prodigal Son did not call from across the field: "Forgive me." Rather, the Gospel says, the Son "...rising up he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him fell upon his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:20).

In Confession, Jesus Christ runs back to us and pours grace into our souls. It is about this personal encounter that matters.

The Catholic Church has also condemned Confession through the Internet:

The Pontifical Council on Social Communications on the Church and the Internet published a document in 2002 that says, “virtual reality cannot substitute for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, nor the sacramental reality of the other sacraments, nor the worship shared in a human community of flesh and bones....Sacraments on the Internet do not exist....Even religious experiences that are possible there through the grace of God are insufficient if they are separated from interaction in the real world with other persons of faith.”

Conclusion:

So, let us remember not only to understand the Sacrament well but also to receive forgiveness through it. Before Confession, read an Examination of Conscience. And, for those of you preparing to make your first Confession, read up on How to Go to Confession. I also recommend reading St. John Vianney's Catechism on Confession.

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