I had a dread of the Orthodox Mystery of Reconciliation or Confession. Why should I confess to another human being? Why can’t I just say a prayer and tell God I’m sorry? Not just Catholic but any service like that, including Lutheran! As time went by and I grew up more and more, I was less antagonistic over “ritual” religion but I was still anti-confession. I was convinced, at least for a short while that ritualistic liturgy type services with rote prayers and the same exact service every Sunday was wrong. Usually with the disgruntled Catholic lens covering my eyes. I went to confession less than a handful of times before I gave up on being Catholic in my 20s.

I felt frustrated at going through the motions of something that I did not understand. Granted, I don’t recall ever having been given a penance like that but I was terrified of confession. There were certain prayers that you had to say to the priest and then the priest might give you penance like saying 10 Hail Mary’s or praying the rosary. It was very formalized and very intimidating. One of the huge issues for me as a Catholic was the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you might already know or remember that I was raised Catholic.

Little red prayer book confessions