The Confiteor at Mass

[Totus Tuus]

I have heard numerous times that the Confiteor, prayed at Mass, removes venial sin from the soul.

1) How exactly does this happen?

2) Does that take away our purpose for devotional Confession? I strongly suspect that this is [i]not[/i] the case, but I am confused.

Thank you!

Totus tuus,
Lauren

[cappie]

it's commonly held that an act of contrition or the confiteor at Mass will forgive venial sins.The teaching is strictly that Holy Communion forgives venial sins:

1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ


1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: "All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly."


When Christ's faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, "for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know."
1457 According to the Church's command, "after having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year."56 Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession.57 Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time.58

1458 Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.59 Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful:60


Whoever confesses his sins . . . is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear "man" - this is what God has made; when you hear "sinner" - this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made. . . . When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light.


On confession of devotion:

It is always appropriate to make what theologians call a confession of devotion. That means the penitent has no unconfessed, unforgiven mortal sins to confess, but wishes to receive the graces of the sacrament to grow in his or her spiritual life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through the sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful.”

If you have no serious sins to confess, you may simply confess one or more venial sins. And if you have been so fortunate as not to have committed any sin since your last confession, you may confess a sin from your past life.
A confession of devotion might sound something like this: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been a month since my last confession. I am not aware of any grave sin since then. But I accuse myself of being unkind and impatient with my wife (husband) and children, neglectful of my parents who are lonely and ill. And I want to acknowledge again my sorrow for all my sins, particularly the sin of...”