March 27, 2022

Dear St. Martin of Tours Family and Friends,

ON TUESDAY APRIL 12 FROM 5 P.M. TO 8 P.M. ST MARTIN OF TOURS WILL BE HAVING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PERSONAL CONFESSIONS. Why go to confession? Pope St. John Paul II issued a document about Confession in 1984 (Reconciliatio et Paenitentia) in which he reminds Catholics that Confession is necessary for their salvation:

No Christian who is conscious of grave sin can receive the Eucharist before having obtained God's forgiveness. This we read in the instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium which, duly approved by Paul VI, fully confirms the teaching of the Council of Trent:

"The Eucharist is to be offered to the faithful also 'as a remedy, which frees us from daily faults and preserves us from mortal sin' and they are to be shown the fitting way of using the penitential parts of the liturgy of the Mass. The person who wishes to receive holy communion is to be reminded of the precept: Let a man examine himself" (1 Cor 11:28). And the church's custom shows that such an examination is necessary, because no one who is conscious of being in mortal sin, however contrite he may believe himself to be, is to approach the holy Eucharist without having first made a sacramental confession. If this person finds himself in need and has no means of going to confession, he should first make an act of perfect contrition." (emphasis mine)

If you can’t immediately make it to Confession, make an act of perfect contrition, and with your entire heart, mind, and soul, say:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.

Then get to Confession as soon as possible.

So mark your calendars for Tuesday of Holy Week, April 12, 5-8 p.m. A Catholic must got to Confession at least once a year, preferably during Lent, even if he is unaware of any sin. And if you have committed a mortal sin, you need to get to Confession as soon as possible. The world has changed, but God has not changed, and neither has his Commandments.

Let God cleanse you!