 |
| Public Domain |
The former Bishop of Geneva, St. Francis de Sales, was one of the stalwarts of the Church after the Reformation with an otherwise congenial and reasonable approach to the faith and to the life of spirituality. His writings such as the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God are spiritual classics which eventually proclaimed him as a doctor of the Church. His inspiration had profound effects to many people over the centuries like St. Vincent de Paul, St. Josemaria Escriva and St. John Bosco, the founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
In the Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales offers practical tips on living a life with a deep relationship with God. These include ordinary duties, an active prayer life and frequenting the sacraments. Here he gives advise on General Confession.
The first purification to be made is from sin;--the means whereby to make it, the sacrament of penance. Seek the best confessor within your reach, use one of the many little books written in order to help the examination of conscience. Read some such book carefully, examining point by point wherein you have sinned, from the first use of your reason to the present time. And if you mistrust your memory, write down the result of your examination. Having thus sought out the evil spots in your conscience, strive to detest them, and to reject them with the greatest abhorrence and contrition of which your heart is capable;--bearing in mind these four things:--that by sin you have lost God's Grace, rejected your share in Paradise, accepted the pains of Hell, and renounced God's Eternal Love. You see, my child, that I am now speaking of a general confession of your whole life, which, while I grant it is not always necessary, I yet believe will be found most helpful in the beginning of your pursuit after holiness, and therefore I earnestly advise you to make it.On the same paragraph, St. Francis de Sales explains that even with ordinary confessions, the general confession helps scrape those sins that we were unaware of but then with grace we are beginning to remember again or we are noticing some habits that are starting to appear. Also, general confession is a great help when returning to the Church after a life outside of the Church, as one has decided in themselves that changing for the better means full admission and resolution.
Not unfrequently the ordinary confessions of persons leading an everyday life are full of great faults, and that because they make little or no preparation, and have not the needful contrition. Owing to this deficiency such people go to confession with a tacit intention of returning to their old sins, inasmuch as they will not avoid the occasions of sin, or take the necessary measures for amendment of life, and in all such cases a general confession is reqfuired to steady and fix the soul. But, furthermore, a general confession forces us to a clearer selfknowledge, kindles a wholesome shame for our past life, and rouses gratitude for God's Mercy, Which has so long waited patiently for us;--it comforts the heart, refreshes the spirit, excites good resolutions, affords opportunity to our spiritual Father for giving the most suitable advice, and opens our hearts so as to make future confessions more effectual. Therefore I cannot enter into the subject of a general change of life and entire turning to God, by means of a devout life, without urging upon you to begin with a general confession.
Introduction to the Devout Life
By St. Francis de Sales
Part 1 Chapter 6 1st Paragraph
No comments:
Post a Comment