or the horror and ugliness of sin. Though imperfect, attrition is still
regarded as true sorrow and pleasing to God.
With respect to confession, the penitent must declare to the Priest all mortal
sins he or she can sincerely remember. The precise nature of the sin must
be stated, not merely an evasive or generic reference. The exact number of
times each sin has been committed must also be given (as far as memory
serves). To the penitent who deliberately fails with regard to any of these,
the sacrament will be of no avail.
Satisfaction is the voluntary acceptance by the penitent of the penance
imposed by the priest. Usually, the priest imposes either prayers, acts of
charity or other good works. The aim is to remit, in whole or in part, the
debt of temporal punishment that often remains after the sin has been
forgiven. Again, any person who has no intention during Confession to
carry out the satisfaction imposed fails to receive the sacrament validly.
Fourth objection: “According to the Presbyterian minister Loraine
Boettner the practice of auricular confession was instituted only in
1215 by the Fourth Lateran Council.”
In his book Roman Catholicism Loraine Boettner claims many things, most
of which are inaccurate, distorted or outrightly untrue. The Patristic
evidence testifying to the practice of auricular confession in the early
Church, even in the pre-Constantinian era, is indisputable. Origen, St.
Cyprian, Firmilian and Lactantius are but a few examples of this. These
writers were not fringe figures in the early Church but––in the case of
Origen and St. Cyprian in particular––were outstanding leaders, apologists
and martyrs. If the practice of auricular confession they had written about
was merely an unbiblical invention imposed on faithful Christians against
their will, then there should be records of protest and opposition dating
from the same period. On the contrary, we find numerous other writers of
even greater sanctity and intellect in the post-Nicene era writing about and
promoting the same practice ––for example, St. Hilary, St. Basil and St.
Jerome (see below).
Far from inventing the sacrament, what the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215
did was regulate the age-old practice of confession by requiring all
Catholics to confess their sins at least once a year to an approved priest.
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