Lesson 23
A Powerful Way To Keep The Devil At Bay
Welcome back to our Lenten Lessons on the Sacraments, great gifts that Jesus left His Church so we could always grow closer to him. Yesterday I told you, at some length, about the moment of the Institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was in the Upper Room in the evening of Our Lord’s Resurrection. Today we are going to look at the Minister, the Matter and Form of this Sacrament, and then say a few words about the Penitent.
The Minister of the Sacrament of Confession is a validly ordained priest or bishop who has “faculties” to celebrate the Sacraments. “Faculties” means “permission” from his bishop, but in the extreme case of danger of death, any validly ordained priest even if he does not have faculties, can validly forgive sins in confession by granting absolution. Only priests and bishops can hear confessions. Deacons do not have the power to forgive sins, nor do lay people. The priests are granted that power by Christ through Apostolic Succession at the moment of their ordination. It is really something and a priest should never take that awesome privilege for granted.
The “matter” of confession are the “acts of the penitent”: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. Contrition is sorrow for the sins, expressed by praying the Act of Contrition, and that sorrow can be perfect or imperfect, and I will go into detail in that in a later lesson. It is heartfelt contrition that actually moves the person to go to Confession.
The second act of the penitent is confession. The penitent confesses his sins to the priest, starting with all of the mortal sins he is aware of that have not already been confessed. If there are no mortal sins, he confesses his venial sins, even if he has confessed them before, but being careful not to be scrupulous, which in my experience is not very common in the United States of America. Finally, satisfaction is the fulfillment of the penance the priest has imposed on the penitent. Contrition, confession, satisfaction: these are the acts of the penitent and constitute the “matter” of confession.
The “form” of Confession are the words of absolution that the priest declares: “And I absolve you of your sins, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Go in peace.”
And finally, some words about the penitent. To validly receive absolution of your sins you must be baptized. In danger of death, even a non-Catholic Christian who is baptized can validly receive absolution from a priest. The penitent should have reached the age of reason, and because of that, children as young as seven or eight years old are encouraged to make their first confession before their first communion. There is nothing like a good confession to keep the devil at bay.
So tune in every day of Lent to learn more about your Catholic faith, because if you Learn it, then you can Live it; and if you Live it, you will Love it; and if you Love it, you will never Leave it!
Please feel free to share these lessons with your friends and family, and let them know that it’s easy to sign up to receive these free daily emails. Be assured of my prayers for a fruitful Lenten season!
