Fr. Hugh Thwaites on Confession

Fr. Hugh Thwaites

Fr. Hugh Thwaites, SJ died last month at the age of 95.  Fr. Thwaites converted to Catholicism from Anglicanism as a soldier during World War II, and subsequently spent three years as a prisoner of the Japanese.  All who knew him speak of his gentleness, humility and penetrating spiritual insight.  Here is part of a talk by Fr. Thwaites on the sacrament of confession in which those qualities shine forth clearly.   Unlike the miasma produced by some morbid German theologians we might name, Fr. Thwaites' talk, though never more complicated than a child's catechism, demonstrates the power and clarity of simple Catholic orthodoxy.  Too bad we hear it preached so rarely.

"On Concealing Sins in Confession" (conclusion)

 Sacrament of Confession

The following is taken from a sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent by our Lenten guide, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church:

"...O lost sheep, go instantly to confession.  Jesus Christ is waiting for you;  he stands with arms open to pardon and embrace you, if you acknowledge your guilt.  I assure you that, after having confessed all your sins, you shall feel such consolation at having unburdened your conscience and acquired the grace of God, that you shall for ever bless the day on which you made this confession.  . . . Do not give the Devil time to continue to tempt you, and to make you put off  your confession: go immediately; for Jesus Christ is waiting for you."

St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.

"On Concealing Sins in Confession" (part 3)

Sacrament of Confession

The following is taken from a sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent by our Lenten guide, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church:

"Listen, then, to the advice of St. Ambrose: The Devil keeps an account of your sins, to charge you with them at the tribunal of Jesus Christ.  Do you wish, says the saint, to prevent this accusation?  Anticipate your accuser: accuse yourself now to a confessor, and then no accuser shall appear against you at the judgment seat of God. . .  . But according to St. Augustine, if you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon."

St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.

"On Concealing Sins in Confession" (part 2)

 Sacrament of Confession

The following is taken from a sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent by our Lenten guide, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church:

"Some penitents ask: What will my confessor say, when he hears that I have committed such a sin?  What will he say?  He will say that your are, like all persons living on this Earth, miserable and prone to sin: he will say that, if you have done evil, you have also performed a glorious action, in overcoming shame and in candidly confessing your sins."

St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.

"On Concealing Sins in Confession"

The Sacrament of Confession

The following is taken from a sermon for the Third Sunday of Lent by our Lenten guide, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church:

"After we have offended God, the Devil labours to keep the mouth closed, and to prevent us from confessing our guilt.  St. Antonine relates, that a holy solitary once saw the Devil standing beside a certain person who wished to go to confession.  The solitary asked the fiend what he was doing there.  The enemy said in reply: "I now restore to these penitents what I before took away from them; I took away from them shame while they were committing sin; I now restore it, that they may have a horror of confession."

St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.

Pope Benedict and World Youth Day

Having already employed the occasion of World Youth Day to model adoratio, Benedict will use the upcoming WYD to encourage recourse to the sacrament of confession.  Sandro Magister's reflections here