The General Confession is a prayer of

contrition In Christianity, contrition or contriteness (, i.e. crushed by guilt) is repentance for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be ''contrite''. A central concept in much of Christianity, contrition is regarded as the first ste ...

in various Christian denominations, including Anglicanism, Methodism, and Roman Catholicism.

Anglicanism and Methodism

In Anglicanism, the "General Confession" is the

act of contrition An Act of Contrition is a Christian prayer genre that expresses sorrow for sins. It may be used in a liturgical service or be used privately, especially in connection with an examination of conscience. Special formulae for acts of contrition ar ...

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...

's 1548 order of Communion and later in the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

''. In

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

, the General Confession is the same act of contrition in ''

The Sunday Service of the Methodists ''The Sunday Service of the Methodists'' (''The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services'' being the full title), is the first Christian liturgical book given to the Methodist Churches by their founder, John Wesley. It ha ...

'' and Methodist liturgical texts descended from it. It is taught to probationary members seeking full membership in Methodist connexions, being included in ''

The Probationer's Catechism ''The Probationer's Catechism'', also called ''The Probationer's Handbook'', is a catechism authored by Methodist divine S. Olin Garrison for probationary members of the Methodist Episcopal Church seeking full membership. First published in 188 ...

''.

Roman Catholicism

As understood by St. Ignatius of Loyola, General Confession is a form of

Confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

whereby one spends 3 to 10 days preparing for a confession of all one's 'sins up to that time.' The main goal of the "general confession" is to turn one's life from one of sin to a more devout one. The '' Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius'' have done much to popularise this form of confession, with such a confession being the significant end-point of the First Week of his Spiritual Exercises. St. Francis de Sales, in his Introduction to the Devout Life, also addresses General Confession.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:General Confession Spiritual retreats Ignatian spirituality

Anglicanism and Methodism

Roman Catholicism

See also

References