Taking It All to the Foot of the Cross

Taking It All to the Foot of the Cross

By Elizabeth Hamonko, Contributing Writer

Verbalizing your most personal thoughts and issues to another human being is a process that everyone can understand is important on some level. The idea of a skilled professional giving advice and direction on what to do next to avoid repeated issues is common in many different areas of life, including career mentoring. Some individuals may even draw connections between this practice and the way therapy often works.

However, most crucially, the center of Confession is the supernatural ability to attain forgiveness for our sins by directly confessing them, just as it says in Scripture. Like Our Lord said about His disciples and, as such, all priests: 

“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
John 20:23

This part is what we don’t find in any other practice on Earth.

The Beauty of the Confessional

As we think about Confession, one fear some Catholics fall into is thinking of it as an inherently scary process. We imagine that saying our faults out loud is highlighting our own inadequacy and how far we have to go to reach what Our Lord wants from us.

St. John Vianney brought peace and wisdom to those who were suffering under this fear. Turning to him when thinking about this topic is not only beneficial for our spiritual lives but also for understanding the reasons why Our Lord created Confession in the first place.

Against All Odds

Born in 1786 in France, St. John Vianney is mainly known for ministering the faith to citizens living in the remote village of Ars. He became a priest in the year 1815, after facing struggles both in his personal life and the country around him. As a young adult, Vianney went through several experiences that all seemed to point him anywhere other than the priesthood at first glance.

Rather than attend Mass in public growing up, he was actually forced to attend an underground Mass and receive his first Confession in his home due to social upheaval around him. During seminary, he also had serious issues remembering prayers and reading texts, due to him being illiterate for most of his life. He didn’t pass his first attempt at the tests needed to enter the seminary, only passing them when he tried again three months later.

Then, finally stationed as a priest in Ars, he entered the village only to realize it was rather small and many members of the area were not as open to the faith as he had hoped.

Instead of seeing all of these events as a sign to give up on working for God’s kingdom or give in to despair, St. John Vianney decided to dedicate significant parts of his life to solely hearing Confessions. It is said that he actually listened to others’ confessions for up to sixteen hours a day in some cases.

Throughout this time in his life, he became known as the Curé of Ars and gained a significant local fame. Many people in France traveled long distances on trains in order to specifically receive a Confession from Father Vianney.

Well of Forgiveness

Although it may seem odd at first, as you think about Confession, do not forget to view it from God’s perspective. As St. John Vianney so lovingly said: 

“God is quicker to forgive us than a mother is to snatch her child from the fire.”

Although this Sacrament may seem to be a source of fear for us at first, we cannot forget that it is really the exact opposite. The damage has already been done, and we are actually making it so that something new and beautiful can grow out of there. It is a way to start fresh and leave our worries and struggles behind us. Reframing our approach to this Sacrament may be the best way to warm up to frequent use of it.

Source of Strength

Another aspect many do not realize is that there are also added benefits to frequent Confession that we may not even realize in the moment. So, what are these gifts we get beyond the forgiveness of mortal sins?

In St. Francis de Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life, we get a brief description of these graces. We learn that going to Confession not only gives us more grace to avoid mortal sin in the first place, but it also allows us to grow in discovering faults we can work on for the future. Once we work on lessening mortal sins, we can also work on avoiding these habitual venial sins to better grow our hearts and minds.

The supernatural light we get from a good and complete Confession illuminates our minds, and God helps us discover what it is that we can do to better please Him that we had never considered before. This will likely not happen all at once, since He’s fully aware that we are imperfect creatures who need help and patience.

Creating good habits and avoiding situations where we may stumble are often key to living a life closer to Christ. We also gain grace by practicing the virtues of “humility, obedience, simplicity, and love,” as St. Francis de Sales puts it. All of these points show us the truth: being a Christian is about more than just avoiding sin; it’s also about growing in love and charity for God and our neighbors.

Gift of Mercy

Focus more on what St. John Vianney states in such a short and clear way in one of his sermons—that when we make a good and honest Confession, we are taking out the nails in Our Lord’s hands ourselves. A genuine gesture of love toward Him is what makes God happy most of all.

For more on St. John Vianney, read our review of Kevin Wells‘ book Coached by the Curé: Lessons in Shepherding with St. John Vianney here.

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Due to a lifelong love for books and stories, Elizabeth Hamonko enjoys combining her passion for her faith with her enjoyment of writing. Together with a BS in Marketing and a BS in Management, her experience in freelance copywriting allows her to craft articles about anything from e-commerce to her Catholic faith. When she isn’t writing, she loves to run, attempt to bake, pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, and try all different kinds of coffee.