Holy Week - CONFESSION TIMES!!!

We received this Holy Week Schedule (pic below) in the mail yesterday, and I couldn't help but smile after reading it. 

Notice the list of CONFESSION times!!!

This schedule is from San Secondo d'Asti Catholic Church.  It is the Church where we were married, and attended frequently until the TLM was available close by (it's a 45 min drive for us), but I wish we were able to get there more often.

The Church itself is 150 years old and it has the ambiance you would expect from a Church that old. But that is not the main reason we wanted to be married there...

The Pastor, Fr. Marx (yes that's his last name, people actually call him by his last name), Is very Traditional in his teaching and administering the Sacraments (as you can tell). Now I'm sure some would think "if he's that traditional he must be rather stern", or something along those lines, but that's so far from the truth, Fr. Marx is the kindest, most soft-hearted man I know, during his sermons he refers to the congregation as "my dear ones". 

When I see something like this schedule for Confessions I know he "gets it", he gets what's really important. I know that because this schedule is not unexpected. His Parish offers Confession every day of the week, and before every Sunday Mass.

This post is not meant to say no other Priest takes the Sacraments seriously, especially one as important as Confession is, but this morning I went online to the websites of our near by parishes and most have already had their Penance services and will not have any other scheduled Confessions before Easter.

I hope you will join me in praying that in years to come (sooner would be great!!) we see more Holy Week schedules like the one from San Secondo d'Asti...

Tips on Confession

I have a link to this on my sidebar, and I posted it a long time ago, but since we're in the season of Lent I think it's appropriate to post again.

Fr. Z's Tips on Confession

We should...

1) …examine our consciences regularly and thoroughly;

2) …wait our turn in line patiently;

3) …come at the time confessions are scheduled, not a few minutes before they are to end;

4) …speak distinctly but never so loudly that we might be overheard;

5) …state our sins clearly and briefly without rambling;

6) …confess all mortal sins in number and kind;

7) …listen carefully to the advice the priest gives;

8) …confess our own sins and not someone else’s;

9) …carefully listen to and remember the penance and be sure to understand it;

10) …use a regular formula for confession so that it is familiar and comfortable;

11) …never be afraid to say something “embarrassing”… just say it;

12) …never worry that the priest thinks we are jerks…. he is usually impressed by our courage;

13) …never fear that the priest will not keep our confession secret… he is bound by the Seal;

14) …never confess “tendencies” or “struggles”… just sins;

15) …never leave the confessional before the priest has finished giving absolution;

16) …memorize an Act of Contrition;

17) …answer the priest’s questions briefly if he asks for a clarification;

18) …ask questions if we can’t understand what he means when he tells us something;

19) …keep in mind that sometimes priests can have bad days just like we do;

20) …remember that priests must go to confession too … they know what we are going through.