Fr Paul OSullivan O.P. - The Secret of Confession

BOOKS BY
FATHER PAUL OSULLIVAN, O.P.

HOW TO BE HAPPYHOW TO BE HOLY

ALL ABOUT THE ANGELS

AN EASY WAY TO BECOME A SAINT

THE HOLY GHOSTOUR GREATEST FRIEND

READ ME OR RUE IT

HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY

CUM PERMISSU SUPERIORUM.

First published around 1936 by Edies do Corpo Santo, Lisbon, Portugal. Retypeset and reprinted in 1992 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., with permission of Saint Martin de Porres Apostolate, Dublin, Ireland. Retypeset and reprinted again in 2010 by Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books, with permission of Saint Martin de Porres Apostolate, Dublin, Ireland.

The type in this book is the property of TAN Books, and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-89555-459-8

Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 92-61255

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
2010

The writer has conferred with many
experienced confessors,
and all, without exception,
agree that no vice is so gross,
so deep-rooted, so vicious
that it will not yield
to frequent Confession

()

NUNCIATURE APOSTLIGA
EM PORTUGAL

9 April 1943

Dear Father OSullivan,

I approve most heartily of your booklet on Confession. It supplies a need much felt, viz., a clear and practical explanation of the strength and consolation which Confession gives to the faithful.

You rightly emphasize the fact that Confession does not only pardon sin but that it efficaciously helps the greatest sinners to sin no more; it gives the weakest strength and consoles the most abandoned, if only they confess frequently.

You touch on points which are little understood, even by many Catholics, and your book will afford most interesting and useful reading, not only to Catholics, but also for those who do not be long to the Church.

Every chapter has an attractive title and grips the attention.

I have no doubt that the book will throw new light on the minds of many regarding the great Sacrament of Confession and exercise a beneficent influence even on non-Catholics.

With best wishes for the success of your book and with my cordial benediction,

P. CIRIACI, Apostolic Nuncio

Contents

Part I
THE SECRET OF CONFESSION

Part II
THE WONDERS OF CONFESSION

Part I

THE SECRET OF CONFESSION

Including

Confession Was Instituted by Christ
What Protestants Think of Confession
Facts Are Stubborn Arguments
Why Does God Oblige Us to Confess?
All Men Need a Friend
The Choice of a Confessor

Chapter 1

WAS CONFESSION INTRODUCED BY A BISHOP?

At a fashionable reception in the metropolis [of Lisbon], a party of well-known Catholics was gathered together to pass a social evening.

Just as a distinguished foreigner was addressing a group of ladies and gentlemen, a friend of mine entered the room and overheard the following remark:

Excuse me, Madam, said the stranger, I did not exactly say that Confession was bad or evil, nor did I wish to imply that it was useless. I merely said that it was all very well for ladies, who, doubt less, find it very consoling to be able to unburden their consciences to a priest. But we men do not require such consolations!

The lady thus addressed quickly replied: And pray, Sir, how can men consider themselves dispensed from a law which was established for all? Dont men also have souls to save, and are they not, too, obliged to obey the commands of God?

The stranger continued: My dear Lady, the idea that Confession was instituted by God is an illusion. It was not God who instituted Confession; it is a purely human invention. Where do we find mention of it in the first ages of Christianity? If it were of divine origin, of course the obligation to confess would also fall on us. Confession was, as a matter of fact, instituted and introduced first in Germany, in the fourteenth century, by Bishop Fuller. And the stranger supplied, with the utmost effrontery, names of places, dates, and facts entirely fantastic.

On hearing this, the listeners were aghast. Some made attempts to defend the doctrine of the Church, but none of them was sufficiently grounded in his or her religion to be able to refute with authority the falsehoods of the distinguished guest.

On the following day, the friend who had witnessed the above incident called on me and, regretfully admitting his inability to disprove the strangers statements, asked for full enlightenment on the matter.

Now it seems to me that many Catholics, if they found themselves in like circumstances, would experience the same difficulty. True, they have a certain vague knowledge that Confession was instituted by Our Lord and practiced from the earliest times, but were they asked for a proof, they, like the Catholics just mentioned, could not give a reason for their faith. Still less could they explainif challenged by a Protestant or unbelieverthe sublime beauty, the divine efficacy, the splendid results and the immense consolations of Confession. And least of all could they answer the many difficulties so frequently urged against this great Sacrament.

To supply what we consider a great want, we venture to offer the public the following little work, which while showing that Confession was indeed instituted by Christ, will also show what a source of deep consolation and strength it is to those who understand it. Many Catholics never grasp the true idea of Confession, and some even find it a very painful and disagreeable duty.

Protestants, as a rule, find the idea repugnant, but strange to say, many among them, when once they hear it explained, feel a positive need of it, and it not infrequently hastens their entrance into the Catholic Church.

We flatter ourselves that both Catholics and Protestants will read our little book with keen interest and derive not a little profit from its perusal. It is popular in style and stresses several points of importance. The method is simple but attractive, and the reader becomes so engrossed that he is reluctant to put the book down until he has read the last page.

One of the special features of the little work is that it shows what an infinite source of consolation and help Confession is to the sorrowful and weak and what a powerful means it is of snatching boys and girls from the brink of some hidden danger. It also proves that, far from robbing a man of his manlinessas a distinguished Protestant statesman has rashly assertedauricular Confession makes a man a brave soldier, a loyal citizen and a trusty friend.

The term auricular refers to Confession made privately and heard by a priest. Editor, 1992.

Chapter 2

CONFESSION WAS INSTITUTED BY CHRIST

The Son of God came on earth to save man. From what? Clearly from sin and its consequences. All Christ did when on earththe sublime les sons He taught, the admirable doctrine which He bequeathed us, the Sacraments He instituted, the miracles He worked, the law He promulgated, His precepts and counsels all were destined for the great end of saving man from sin.

The 33 years Our Lord passed with us here below, His cruel sufferings, the Precious Blood He shed, and His death on Calvary had for their one great aim to purge the world of sin. Had He not achieved that end, His mission would have been a failure.

It was for this object that He came. He loved sinners, lived with them and called them to Him self. One of them, Peter , a weak and sinful man, He made the head of His Church. Paul , a fierce and relentless persecutor, He made the Apostle of the Gentiles and a vessel of election. Magdalen , an erring, sinful woman, the scandal of the city in which she lived, He chose for His special friend, made her a model for penitents, and eventually associated her with His Immaculate Mother.