3. Means for Obtaining the Integrity of Confession

There are two means for obtaining the integrity of confession, namely, one per se, which is the examination of conscience, and the other per accidens, namely, the repetition of confession or general confession, when some sin was omitted in previous confessions. We shall treat this second means in the following paragraph.

383. 1. Necessity of the examination of conscience. The penitent is regularly bound under grave obligation to make a diligent examination of conscience before he confesses.

Hence the Council of Trent²³⁷ admonishes penitents to recount in confession all mortal sins of which they have consciousness after a diligent examination of themselves. The reason for this obligation is evident of itself. For how could the penitent accuse himself of all mortal sins according to species and number unless he had first diligently recalled them to memory? I said, however: he is regularly bound, because a) if time or strength is lacking, as in grave illness or at the point of death, so great an examination of conscience is not required, just as neither is so great an integrity of confession then necessary. Likewise b) there is no grave obligation of examining the conscience for those who are morally certain that they have not sinned gravely since their last confession. Therefore they should strive rather to elicit true contrition concerning the free matter adduced than to search their conscience at length concerning the smallest sins or imperfections.

²³⁷ Sess. 14, c. 5, On Penance (Denz., n. 899).

384. 2. In this examination there is required not the greatest diligence, but that which prudent men are accustomed to employ in a grave matter.

Therefore this diligence is to be measured: a) According to the length of time which has elapsed since the last confession. For a greater examination of conscience is required, for example, to find sins committed during an entire year than during two months. b) According to the condition of persons. Thus, for example, uninstructed men are not bound to make as great an examination as instructed and cultivated men. Hence an uninstructed man coming into the confessional without a sufficient examination of conscience is not to be dismissed, but is to be assisted by the confessor himself. For if he were dismissed, either he would lose heart and perhaps no longer return, or, if he did return, the result of the examination made would scarcely be better. Therefore the confessor himself should then assist the penitent in making the examination by putting a few but well-adapted questions. But if a well-instructed penitent has failed from mere negligence to make an examination of conscience, he is ordinarily to be dismissed and exhorted to make a better examination. Concerning this matter the Roman Catechism²³⁸ writes: "If the priest recognizes men of this kind to be altogether unprepared, he will dismiss them from him with most humane words and exhort them to take some time to think over their sins and then return. But if perhaps they affirm that they have devoted every effort to this matter, since the priest must especially fear lest, once dismissed, they no longer return, they are to be heard, especially if they show some zeal for amending their life and can be induced to accuse themselves of their negligence, which they promise to compensate at another time by an accurate meditation." Those who lie gravely ill and because of lack of strength or the bitterness of their pains cannot think over their past life are neither to be obliged to a longer examination of conscience nor to be examined excessively by the confessor himself. It is much better that, after accusing themselves of the sins which came to mind without great labor, they strive according to their strength to elicit perfect contrition. But afterward, if perhaps health is recovered, the confession of those sins which were omitted must be supplied. Moreover, pastors and preachers should often admonish the faithful that the sick not defer making confession until the extremity of life, when the powers of soul and body are already most diminished.

Those who with grave negligence make an examination of a conscience burdened with mortal sins sin gravely, because they cannot then obtain that integrity of confession which is required under grave precept. Moreover, one who negligently makes the examination of conscience is also accustomed to elicit contrition negligently and thus to receive the sacrament of penance sacrilegiously.

Several theologians taught that a penitent who because of a weak memory foresees that he will forget some sins in confession nevertheless is not bound to write his sins on paper. The reason is that such writing is an extraordinary means and, moreover, can easily be lost or come to the knowledge of others. But the ancient moralists indeed seem rightly to have called writing an extraordinary means, because at that time fewer men knew the art of writing; today, however, in our regions almost anyone can write without any difficulty, and scarcely any danger of losing the writing exists for a diligent man. Therefore writing is no longer always an extraordinary means for obtaining the integrity of confession.²³⁹

²³⁸ P. 2, c. 5, q. 60.

²³⁹ Cf. above, n. 365, and St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor. l. 6, nn. 429, 479, 493.

385. 3. The method to be observed in the examination of conscience is determined by no positive precept.

Therefore let each one follow whatever method he prefers. The following things seem worthy of observation:

a) The best custom is to make an examination of conscience every day. For then a man will know very well the state of his soul and at the time of confession will easily obtain the necessary integrity.

b) When the time of confession approaches, the penitent should invoke the Holy Spirit, who enlightens human hearts. Then in a quiet place he should think over his life since his last confession, preserving a clear order. Simple faithful who do not confess so frequently can usefully employ the so-called catalogue of sins,²⁴⁰ such as is found in many books of devotion. But the faithful who confess frequently will better recognize the state of their conscience if they think over how they have fulfilled the obligations of their state, their obligations toward their neighbor, their religious obligations, and so forth.

²⁴⁰ Commonly, Beichtspiegel.