The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1899-12-23
BY the Rer. r. F. Clarke. s. j


testant, whether he be an American
or an Englishman, has d more deeply
rooted antipathy than the practice OF
auricular confession. He regards it
as an understandable invasion Of the
privacy Of an individual conscience, an
intrusion into the sacred domain of do
nestle life: as dangerous, demoralIz1ng,
= source OF weakness to the viii. and
, destructive Of the habit of independ-
cnce and self reliance. ] know That l
am advocating an unpopular cause IN
undertaking to plead in its behalf, and
that the very name carries with ii an
unpleasant sound in the ears Of ma
iority Of my readers.
At the same time / feel sure that
they will acCede me a fair hearing.
l ask them to listen to me, as far as
they can, with minds unprecedented,
while ! speak. from my own knowledge,
of a. system OF which / have had long
and intimate experience, and which
have learned to love and value more
and more in the last thirty years. dur
ing which have myself been to con-
fession at least once a week, and have,
as a priest heard many thousand con-
LESSONS in various English speaking
countries.
1 do not propose to enter On the
thorny Paths Of religious controversy.
/ am no COnuoTersialist, and / count
not that most of my readers snare
my dislike TO controversy. My oject
in the present paper VIII be to cate,
as fairly and iInpartially as / can the
manifold advantages to the Individual
and to society which are the result OF
hab;tual confession and tIy to remove,
if | can, some of the MISCONCEPTIONS
which prevail respecting 1t, even among
honorable and educated men. l need
scarcely say that ] do not propose 10
enter the lists against the anti-Popery
lecturer. or the professional declalmer
against the denominations of Rome.
These unfortunate products of modern
bigotry and intolerance / shall leave
entirely alone The class to whom they
appeal are. for the most part. imper-
vious to reason, and the infamous liter
allure that they sow broadcast is OF
itself sufficient to condemn them.
HISTORY OF THE CONFESSIONAL.
The history of the confession is too
wide a field for me to attempt TO enter
upon. / will only say that Christians
from the very beginning, taking in their
literal and obvious sense our LORD s
words to His Apostles: AS my tatner
hath sent me, even so L send you.
Whose sins you forgive, they are for
retain. they are retained always
seen in the ministers of the Church the
delegates and representatives of Christ,
and have, in obedience to His command,
made confession of their sins to them.
The early literature on the subject is,
indeed. scanty and imperfect; but 1t is
sufficient to show that the practice OF
confession prevailed from the nrst'
Whether. in the first fervor of primitive
Christianity. this confession was in all
cases made in public, or whether this
severe ordeal was confined to grave
sins which gave serious scandal tine
rest being confessed privately, Is a
DISPUTED point. Modern investigation,
however. tends to prove that, even N
the earliest times, private sins were prl-
vately confessed.
Be this as it may, the writings OF the
Fathers and the DEGREES Of local synods
hear ample witness to the general GUS
tom of auricular confession as pre-
yailing in east and west alike. The Lat
Gran Council. in 1915 did not impose the
practice on the faithful, but simply de-
termineLl-the minimum that the Church
required To argue from the decree OF
this Council, ordering that AL shall
confess their sins at least once year,
that confession was never previously
enforced. is an utterly unwarTantaole
inference. 1t would be just as reasona-
hle 10 conclude that if a government
were TO order g. mathematical eXamlna-
tian a. bows in all public schools 10 be
held once a year, no mathematical eA-
animation had ever been previously
cyacted: or that if a State Legislature
were 10 direct that all the children IN
irs industrial schools were TO have
Nah AT least once a month, the children
I'm them had never been made 10 take
a bath before.
OBLIGATIONS OF CATHOLICS.
What tbs Council did was to
define what had hitherto been
underlined to determine Via
,yas Ire minimum Of obligation
fo,. tba faithful the world over.
merely notice this in passing for am
now considering auricular confession,
MOI historically but in its relation TO
the needs Of men in modern society,
and as affecting for good or evil those
who habitually practice IT.
The natural origin and tountaln-head
of confession is 20 be found III an IN
stinct of human nature. when ieauS US
10 communicate to others any strong
ernotion present to the soul, any power
fDl influence engenedering in us JOY
or sorrow. hope or fear, self-approba-
ZION or self-reproach. If some counter
motive render concealment necessary,
aha. s1jnnreesion will be painful to Us,
and win aggraYate our suffering,
where the influence present 10 the SOU
Is one unfaNOrablc TO Its happiness
Now. a sense Of guilt is, OF all emotions
which affect the soul, the one winch
causes the most deeply rooted misery.
and is the most destructive OF al true
peace. Shame, self-reproach, lear, re-
morse. disgust at the thought Of the
mast. the Gespondency at the prospect
Of the future. all combine to make life
almost fntolcrahle. The desire 10 eA-
terminate that which is the source Oh
our mental suffering sometimes De
comes irresistible.
STORY OF EUGENE ARAM.
The story Of Eugene Aram is an in
stance in pointa, as is that OF the muir
derer who approached the cradle OF his
Victims infant in order that he might
uhiSuer to a human ear the crime that
Die could no longer bear in silence.
Probably the most of my readers nave,
iH The course Of their lives, listened 10
the condolences Of some friend or ac-
Guaintance who poured forth, in the
2loaming or by the dull freight the
honest and self-accusing story OF MS
pass misdeeds l am not concerned
with the source Of this curious instinct
of self-revelation. but the fact OF the
relief that it affords to the heavily bur
dened sould is undeniable. 1t certainly
is much stronger among Christians
than among those who belong TO other
religions; and the reason OF TINS Is that
The sense of the evil of sin is far more
keen in those who believe in theIncar-
nation and death Of the Son Of GOD.
Almost every revival Of religion, out
side the Catholic Church. has been ac-
companied with some form or other OF
public or private confession. The early
Nesleyans related in public their re-