The Saints Speak: Confession
Here is a great compilation of quotes from the Saints on Confession.
"The confession of evil works is
the first beginning of good works."
--St. Augustine
Go to your confessor; open your
heart to him; display to him all the
recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the
utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for
obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from
others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls.
--St. Francis de Sales
"In failing to confess, Lord, I
would only hide You from myself, not
myself from You."
--Saint Augustine
"Confession is like a bridle
that keeps the soul which reflects on it
from committing sin, but anything left unconfessed we continue to do
without fear as if in the dark."
--Saint John Climacus
To do penance is to bewail the
evil we have done, and to do no evil to
bewail.
--Pope St. Gregory the Great
In the life of the body a man is
sometimes sick, and unless he takes
medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on
account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be
restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of
Penance.
--St. Thomas Aquinas
Three conditions are necessary for
Penance: contrition, which is sorrow
for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins
without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works.
--St. Thomas Aquinas
Confession heals, confession
justifies, confession grants pardon of
sin, all hope consists in confession; in confession there is a chance
for mercy.
--St. Isidore of Seville
The minister to whom confession is
made is the delegate of Christ, Who
is the Judge of the living and the dead.
--St. Thomas Aquinas
Our Lord Himself I saw in this
venerable Sacrament . . . I felt
as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the Divine
messenger. My God, what new scenes for my soul!
--St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
A humble confession displeases Satan and, if he could, he would make you omit Holy Communion.
--Imitation of Christ
"After confession," says St. Chrysostom, ”a crown is given to
penitents."
If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and
shut out pardon. “
--St. Augustine
The devil does not bring sinners to hell with their eyes open: he first blinds them with the malice of their own sins. Before we fall into sin, the enemy labours to blind us, that we may not see the evil we do and the ruin we bring upon ourselves by offending God. After we commit sin, he seeks to make us dumb, that, through shame, we may conceal our guilt in confession.
--St. Alphonsus Liguori
'The want of proper examination, true contrition, and a firm purpose of amendment, is the cause of bad confessions, and of the ruin of souls.'
--St. Benedict Joseph Labre
Obedience to a confessor is the most acceptable offering which we can make to God,
and the most secure way of doing the divine will.
--St. Alphonsus Liguori
"Not to follow the advice of our confessor is pride and a want of faith."
--St. John of the Cross
"Strive always to confess your sins with a deep knowledge of your own wretchedness and with clarity and purity."
--St. John of the Cross
Just as an animal becomes a stronger beast of burden and more beautiful to behold the more often and better it is fed, so too confession - the more often it is used and the more carefully it is made as to both lesser and greater sins - conveys the soul increasingly forward and is so pleasing to God that it leads the soul to God's very heart.
--Revelations of St. Bridget