On Confession

[Hirsap]

If one is doubtful whether or not sins in the sacrament of penance are confessed adequetely, is he required to re-confess them exactly? Moreover, if, upon reflection, you think you may not have examined your conscience properly, must you re-confess all your sins?

You see, not long ago, I went to confession to confess 6-years (i know its a terribly long time, which violates a precept of the church) worth of sins, and my examination lasted 20 mins. Even much of this time was spent despairing. Anyway I confessed all that came to mind (nothing wilfully concealed). I think this was not adequete, as i was cupably ignorent about the requirement for adequete examination.

I decided to play it safe so the next week I examined my conscience more thoroughly, for about 90 mins, during which time I wrote my 'examination' on paper, so I wouldnt forget the next morning (when i confessed). Upon more reflection, I feel I may have been negligent still, for I didn't scrutinize myself for doubtful sins which had been committed the past week. I was a bit tired after the 90 mins. Should I reconfess all my sins again, or am i being scrupulous (from what you can see about what i have written)? Ideally i would discuss such an issue with my confessor, which is why i need to know: if in doubt about the validity of a past confession, are we obliged to reconfess all our sins?

Thank you for your time, God bless,

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
1/31 - St. John Bosco

Hirsap,

No, you need not reconfess; I have a hard time calling together everything from the past week, much less the past six years. So long as you didn't [i]willingly and knowingly[/i] hide anything from the confessor, everything is forgiven. If you forgot to mention something, or if you thought of something later, there's no worry.

Also, I recommend to you a book by Jean Pierre de Caussade, called [i]Abandonment to Divine Providence[/i]. In one of his letters in the back of the book, he recommends at the most a half hour spent in examination before confession. Hope this helps.

Yours,
Pio Nono