whether we have injured our neighbors much or little, knowingly or unknowingly; whether the occasion of sin still continues; whether we have often before confessed the evil habit, and never corrected it.
53. What is to be observed in the declaration of the circumstances?
We must avoid making known any person who may be concerned in our sins; we must refrain from all superfluous narrations, and must express ourselves in as modest and decent a manner as the nature of the sin allows.
54. Must we also confess venial sins?
We are not, indeed, obliged to confess venial sins; yet it is good and wholesome to do so.
55. But if we do not know whether something is a mortal or a venial sin, what are we to do?
We are to confess it, because many people mistake mortal sins for venial ones.
56. When is Confession 'sincere'?
When we accuse ourselves just as we sincerely believe ourselves guilty before God, without concealing or disguising anything, or excusing it by vain pretences.
57. What should the penitent consider, if he is ashamed to make a sincere Confession?
He should consider, 1. That a Confession which is not sincere procures him neither remission of sins nor peace of conscience; but that the Confession, as well as the Communion which follows it, is another grievous sin — a sacrilege — and deserves eternal damnation; and
2. That it is much better for him to confess his sins to one Priest, bound by secrecy, than to live always uneasy in sin, to die unhappy for ever, and to be put to shame at the last day before the whole world.
As the Confessor is bound to suffer even martyrdom rather than reveal anything heard in Confession, so is every one else, who may have accidentally overheard any part of a Confession, bound to the strictest secrecy.
