§ 3. On The Manner Of Procuring The Integrity Of Confession

The obligation of procuring the integrity of confession pertains both to the penitent and to the confessor. - Wherefore the following things are established:

1703. Principles. I. The PENITENT is bound, and indeed, speaking of itself, under grave obligation, to premise before confession a diligent EXAMINATION of all mortal sins which he has committed. The reason is that without such an examination he could not, to use the words of Trent, search out all the recesses of his soul.⁷

The diligence of this examination is to be estimated according to the capacity of the penitent, the delay of time, and the other circumstances. "For this a middling diligence suffices, such as a prudent man employs in arduous affairs; or such as, morally speaking, learned and timorous persons are accustomed to employ, even if someone thinks that by greater diligence he would find more."⁸ The penitent can satisfy this obligation without excessive labor if, after imploring God's help, he recalls to mind the precepts of the Decalogue and the precepts of the Church, the capital sins, the obligations of his own state, and at the same time inquires whether and how often he offended regarding all these things, by thought, word, and deed. - And he will more easily attain this if he turns over in his mind the places to which he went, the persons with whom he conversed, the business which he transacted, and the affections of soul to which he was accustomed to yield.⁹

Let it be noted FOR PRACTICE: 1. Danger of publication being removed, it is useful to write sins, lest they slip from memory; but excessive anxiety is to be avoided; and therefore this should be prohibited to the scrupulous.¹⁰

2. Those who are morally certain that they are immune from mortal sins are not bound to spend much time in searching their conscience, provided they can supply matter which truly suffices for the Sacrament. - Nevertheless they are to be exhorted not to hurry too much through the examination of conscience, and to spend at least five minutes on it, by which they may be better able to recognize their defects and to extirpate those recognized.¹¹

3. Those who are scrupulous ought not to search their conscience much; indeed, diligent investigation must sometimes be interdicted to them; for if they had sinned gravely, they would always have the sin before their eyes.

4. The sick are not bound to an accurate examination as the healthy are, as is clear. Therefore one must watch carefully lest they defer their confession under the pretext that they have not yet sufficiently searched their conscience; let the confessor himself examine them. For it is better to restore them to the state of grace through absolution, even if they have confessed imperfectly, than, the Sacraments of the Church being delayed, to expose them to certain danger of damnation.¹² (cf. n. 1854.)

1704. II. The CONFESSOR can, indeed sometimes MUST, supply the examination of conscience, and himself procure the integrity of confession. To the point the Holy Doctor says thus: "Although the duty of examining conscience is principally the penitent's, nevertheless, whatever other Doctors may have said, it must not be doubted that if the confessor has recognized that the penitent has not discussed his conscience diligently enough, he himself is bound to question him, first about sins into which he could likely have fallen, and afterward about their species and number, as is proved from chapter Omnis utriusque on Penance and from the Roman Ritual."¹³

But he is bound to this as judge, that he may know the cause, and as minister of the Sacrament, that he may procure its integrity (cf. n. 1834).

1705. It is asked: What must the confessor do if penitents approach without sufficiently discussing their conscience?

Resp. 1. If they are sufficiently instructed, they are to be sent away to another time: "With most humane words," says the Roman Catechism,¹⁴ "he will send them away from himself, and will exhort them to take some space of time for thinking over their sins, and then to return." The reason is that it can scarcely happen that someone, at least if a longer confession is at issue, being suddenly asked, remembers all things.¹⁵ Except if circumstances suggest otherwise.

Resp. 2. If they are rude, they are not easily to be sent away. "They act wrongly," says St. Alphonsus,¹⁶ "who dismiss the rude, that they may examine themselves better." And he gravely adds: "Fr. Segneri calls this an intolerable error, and by the best right, because men of this sort, however much they labor, will with difficulty examine themselves as is fitting, and as exactly as the confessor himself can examine them; and on the contrary, when they have been dismissed, there will be danger lest, terrified by the difficulty of examining themselves, they be drawn back from confessing and harden in sins. - Nevertheless let the confessor notice that he is not bound to question these so minutely; let him ask only about sins into which they can easily fall, in view of their condition and capacity. Indeed, when the penitent, although rude, seems to be sufficiently instructed and diligent in confessing his sins with circumstances..., then the confessor is bound to ask nothing else."

Resp. 3. If they are customary sinners, the confessor should not spend too much time by anxiously inquiring about the number of sins; because often it is impossible to find such a number. Many, because of the importunity of the confessor, respond only by guessing: one hundred times, one thousand times; but what prudent man will give faith to them? - The confessor does better if he diligently inquires into the state of the penitent, "namely the manner of living, the application which he expends on other affairs, the time of the custom with the accomplice, the place where he especially stayed; and then he should inquire about the number by asking the penitent about how often he sinned in a day, in a week, or month, proposing to him several numbers, for example three or four times, eight or ten times, so that he may see to which number he rather adheres. And if the penitent adheres to the greater number, it will be best done if he is again asked about a greater number." But in this the confessor should take care not to form a certain judgment about the number; let him note the frequency in general, and make judgment confusedly, apprehending the sins, whatever number they are before God.¹⁷ (cf. n. 1805.)