St. Thomas presents "confession" in the Summa
Confession before Holy Communion
Luther finds biblical mandate for confession
Trent defines Penance as one of the Seven Sacraments
Confession once a year before Easter Duty Communion
Confession becomes more frequent
Frequent (weekly) Communion - weekly Confession
Confession as a "devotional practice"
Liturgical Movement: discovery of Canonical Penance, Celtic Penance, etc.
Practice of devotional confession declines steeply.
As confession is a devotional practice, Constitution on the Liturgy doesn't treat it (only one paragraph)
Rite of Penance
Development of Communal Celebrations
Pre-Vatican mentality prevails in many parishes
Sacrament is not celebrated by many Catholics in the USA
© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved. This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own. Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it. This site was updated on 03/29/11 . Your comments on this site are welcome at tomrichs@psci.net.