Monthly confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West. One must convey this message to the West. Our Lady of Medjugorie, August 6, 1982. Words from Heaven, P.55.
Do not go to confession through habit, to remain the same after it. No, it is not good. Confessions should give an impulse to your faith. It should stimulate you and bring you closer to Jesus. (…) Our Lady of Medjugorie, November 7, 1983. Words from Heaven, P.55.
Whoever has done very much evil during his life can go straight to Heaven if he confesses, is sorry for what he has done, and receives Communion at the end of his life. Our Lady of Medjugorie, July 24, 1982. Words from Heaven, P.131.
One must invite people to go to Confession each month, especially the first Saturday. (…) Our Lady of Medjugorie, August 6, 1982.Words from Heaven, P.131.
So as you grow in prayer and sanctity, do not be surprised if your recourse to confession increases. For the more you rest in the presence of God, the more your imperfections may stand out. The nearer you stand to dazzling white, the harder it is to ignore the stains on your soul. It is no accident that when the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the Lord 'seated on a throne,' he immediately felt compelled to cry, 'Woe is me!...I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.' (Isaiah 6:1,5)." Jones, Timothy. The Art of Prayer: A Simple Guide. P.82
To a God-realized spiritual teacher or guru you can tell your faults, but not to someone who cannot help you, and who might instead hurt you by broadcasting your flaws to others. Paramahansa Yogananda, Man's Eternal Quest, P.189.
(...) confession is an act of freedom, it is liberation. Because the mere fact that the man raises a bit above himself, brings liberation. (...) in confession you look at yourself through the prism of God! Tischner Jozef, To Convince God, P.75.
(...) the only valid kind of self-knowledge is the amount needed for a good examination of conscience to make a good confession. (...) What we want to know is not ourselves but God. Thomas Merton, Run to the Mountain, P.96.
Abba Moses then said: 'True discrimination comes to us only as a result of true humility, and this in turn is shown by our revealing to our spiritual fathers not only what we do but also what we think, by never trusting our own thoughts, and by following in all things the words of our elders (...). For just as a snake which is brought from its dark hole into the light makes every effort to escape and hide itself, so the malicious thoughts that a person brings out into the open by sincere confession seek to depart from him.' St. John Cassian (360-435), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.103.
The elder replied that nothing so harms a monk and brings such joy to the demons as the hiding of one's thoughts from one's spiritual father. (...) The devil brings the monk to the brink of destruction more effectively through persuading him to disregard the admonitions of the fathers and to follow his own judgment and desire, than he does through any other fault. St. John Cassian (360-435), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.103.
Abba Moses said: 'It is a good thing, as I said, not to hide your thoughts from the fathers. But you should not tell them to just anyone; you should confess them to spiritual masters who have discrimination, not simply to those whose hair has grown white with age. (...) St. John Cassian (360-435), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.105.
The man who possesses spiritual knowledge and understands the truth confesses to God, not by recalling what he has done, but by accepting patiently what comes. St. Mark the Ascetic (4th Century C.E.), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.138.
When we are in trouble or despair or have lost hope, we should do what David did; pour out our hearts to God and tell Him of our needs and troubles, just as they are (cf. Ps. 142:2). It is because he can deal with us wisely that we confess to God: he can make our troubles easy to bear, if this is for our benefit, and can save us from the dejection which destroys and corrupts. St. Hesyhios the Priest (8th or 9th Century), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.185.
When under the pressure of stupid thoughts, we will find relief and joy by rebuking ourselves truthfully and unemotionally, or by confessing everything to the Lord as to a human being. In both these ways we will always find tranquility, whatever troubles us. St. Hesyhios the Priest (8th or 9th Century), quoted in: The Philokalia, Vol. I., P.186.
Try to confess not in general but in such a way as to experience shame; then it will be more beneficial. Saint John Climacus, quoted in: Pennington, Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos. P.132.
Last updated: 2008/03/09
See the related subjects: Fear of God, Forgiveness, Humbleness, Offerings, Penance, Prostration, Sacraments.