There’s a lot about liturgical worship that can bring healing. But there’s something about the Confession of Sin that just hits deeper. When you really understand what’s happening during the liturgy, you’ll see that not only is it possible, but it’s certain that you can find healing through confession.

It’s not just about getting something off your chest. It’s about walking through a process that’s designed to heal and strengthen you. In fact, we see in Matthew 11:28 that it’s Christ’s intention to refresh us. And we’ll talk about that verse in a minute, but I once wrote a reflection on a study on this passage,

He will refresh us. The Greek word here is anapauo, which means, “to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labor in order to recover and collect his/her strength.” It’s not enough to Jesus that we’re able to just drop the weight. He wants to restore us to full strength. He wants a complete recovery.

That’s the ultimate goal when we seek healing through confession. It should be an experience that kicks against all of the guilt and shame we carry, releasing us into a life of freedom and peace.

The Weight of Unnamed Wounds

Guilt and shame are the worst.

Even when what we’re dealing with isn’t our own fault, many of us still carry guilt and shame as if it were. We beat ourselves up over what we should have done (or not done). And we carry the pain of it with us into almost everything else we do (not to mention the relationships we have with others). We take these “shortcomings” and turn them into our identity.

I know a young man who struggles with this, and it’s sad to watch him beat himself up over things. Anytime he needs correction or redirection on something, it’s quick to turn into, “Why do I always do that?! I’m just a stupid [insert a variety of self-deprecating names]!” Even when it’s a simple, mostly harmless trigger, shame turns it into an identity that he feels like he can’t shake.

We all deal with that in varying degrees. When I hit financial bumps in my life, I tend to feel like I’m a failure to my family, ultimately wrestling with the shame of not being a better provider. And it can be crippling, even in other areas of my life. It’s difficult to talk to others about, because that somehow makes it feel more shameful. So it stays silently stuffed away, which can have worse effects over the long-term.

The hidden brokenness we carry can manifest as anxiety, depression, and spiritual fatigue. There’s even a great deal of research showing that it even impacts our physical well-being.

In his book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk M.D. shares in great detail that traumatic experiences in our lives have a great deal of impact on our mind and body (and proposes a way through to healing). In it, he mentions:

“The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.”

These lies can come in all forms, but often they’re these negative “tapes” we play over and over in our heads about how bad we are. We think of all the ways we’ve failed… ourselves and the people around us. And the fact that we’re not talking about these feelings to anyone makes it even worse. Dr. van der Kolk continues,

“As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself…The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage.”

In other words, the path to healing starts with recognizing the feelings that we’re struggling with and to begin moving towards a place where we can let it out. Dr. van der Kolk speaks to this process of coming to be at peace with these feelings,

“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.”

In liturgical worship, it’s the Confession of Sin (Book of Common Prayer, p. 331 & 360) that drives us to opening up and speaking out our shortcomings, the things we often carry so much guilt and shame over.

In full disclosure, the Journal of Religion and Health had published some studies about confessional prayer and mental wellness, and the results weren’t entirely conclusive. It did show that confessional prayer was related to increased emotional well-being, but decreased psychological well-being. This really indicates that it’s not as simple as, “confess your sins and you’ll be all better.” It’s a little more complex than that.

And that’s why I believe it’s important to explore several elements in the liturgical confession, and not just limit this conversation to confessional prayer. All of these elements together guide us to a better healing place as it relates to the stuffed-down junk we carry that beats us down. In it’s entirety, the liturgical confession process kicks guilt and shame out of our lives.

Ancient Words That Still Speak

The Confession of Sin has been said in Anglican/Episcopal liturgies since at least the 1600’s, not long after the Reformation. This confession can be found not only in The Holy Eucharist liturgy, but also in Morning and Evening Prayer. It’s recited by all congregants together as a collective confession. It starts with a Deacon or Celebrant saying (using the Rite II language),

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

This is often followed by a short moment of silence when individuals can reflect on the sin in their lives. And then everyone together says,

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The first thing worth noting here is that this is a group confession. As mentioned in Healing Through Liturgy, this is something we do together. We live in the power of we. There’s peace in the idea that we’re not alone, especially in our sin. Even our individual sin is not something we need to carry by ourselves. Additionally, you are not the only one struggling here. We’ve all fallen short. And not just individually, but collectively as a group we’ve fallen short together.

Honestly, I could write an entire book about this confessional prayer (and maybe I will, someday). But let’s take a look at just a few key elements as they relate to finding peace in ourselves through this confession.

“In thought, word, and deed”… This is a holistic self-examination. It’s not about the the things we did, but also the words we’ve said, and the thoughts we’ve had. It’s about examining every part of our being. There’s no stone left unturned as we look into our lives as we ask for forgiveness.

“By what we have done and left undone”… Often the shame and guilt we carry is related not to the things we’ve done, but the things we haven’t. Sometimes it’s our inaction that beats us up. Like when we see something happen that we know is wrong, but then don’t do or say anything about it. Our confessional prayer again covers every possibility, leaving no place for guilt or shame to take root.

“We are truly sorry and we humbly repent”… This brings us to God Himself, asking for forgiveness. And from a place of humility, we express our desire to turn from these things. We desire to be released from the weight of our shortcomings, and promise to try to move in the right direction.

In his paper, The Healing Power of the Liturgy, Adam Couchman, Lecturer in Liturgy and Theology at St. Francis College, explores how confession of our sins in the liturgy can be healing, saying:

“Naming our sins out loud within the context of community is not a shaming but a freeing act—it reminds us we’re not defined by what we’ve done, but by the mercy of God.”

And this is really just the first step in the process.

Absolution as Psychological Release

After the people have confessed, the Priest (or Bishop) stands, facing the congregation, and says,

Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.

There are three things going on in this absolution that I find amazing: mercy, forgiveness, and strength.

First, the priest proclaims that God would have mercy on you. When I think of that word mercy, I think about when I was a kid wrestling with other kids in the yard. And when someone has you beat, you shout, “Mercy!” And they give you that mercy by letting you go from whatever hold they have you in. There’s an interesting parallel here that I can’t shake. It seems like when our sin has us all locked up in a choke-hold, God essentially snaps His finger and releases us from that grip. Hearing that God is granting us mercy during this absolution feels much like that release, allowing me to move again, free from entanglement.

Then the priest proclaims forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The best way I feel I can break this one down is by exploring the idea of consequences. I tell my kids all the time that there are always consequences for their actions. If they’re playing catch outside and throw a baseball through our neighbor’s window, there’s a consequence. Even if it was purely an accident, that window is still broken by their actions, and it needs to get fixed. The moment they realize the cost, their hearts sink, knowing that there’s no way they can afford it themselves. Forgiveness is like that when Jesus steps in and says, “I’ve got this one covered. There’s no other debt to pay.”

And the third thing the priest proclaims is that we be strengthened. If we are to move forward from the damage of our sinful actions, we need strength to do better. Where the first to elements of this absolution are more about release, this one is about empowerment and building us up. And it’s not something we’re sent off to do alone. We’re sent off with the presence of the Holy Spirit, a reminder that we’re never alone.

Couchman also shares this insight:

“Liturgical confession places the penitent in a posture to receive grace visibly and audibly—a sacramental act that heals the psyche as well as the soul.”

And it’s in this absolution that we we start to receive this grace. There’s this sense of feeling heard in our confession, as we lay out all of our shortcomings. And then it’s immediately followed by this act of being cleansed and built up. This part of the process hits directly at the internalized shame that we carry, and rebuilds us as the new creation in Christ that we’re intended to be.

The Four Comfortable Words

There’s this piece in the Rite I liturgy that isn’t in the Rite II liturgy (but I wish it was). It’s commonly referred to as the 4 Comfortable Words. But before we even talk about them, there’s a little history here that’s helpful to understanding how they fit in all of this (and how it impacts mental health).

Back in the Middle Ages, one of the things that lead to the whole Reformation movement had to do with taking on the growing corruption and abuse that was happening in the Catholic Church. Mass was recited entirely in Latin, a language common people didn’t understand. Nobody had the Scriptures written in their own language, so the people had to rely on what they were told that it said. And power-hungry leaders used scare-tactics to control the people, ultimately to fill their coffers.

Even the artwork in churches displayed visual messages intended to send a message to the people to help keep them in line. That’s where we start to see what’s referred to as “doom paintings” in churches. They tend to depict scenes related to the Last Judgement, with Jesus floating in the air and directing some into Heaven while pointing others to Hell. And while they can be beautiful paintings, they still send a message to the people who cannot read the Scriptures for themselves, and just sat through a mass in a language they don’t understand. And the message was clear, stay in line or you’ll end up getting send into the mouth of the evil monster!

The Doom Painting of St. Thomas’s Church, Salisbury

Catholic clergy of that time would then take any opportunity they could to exert their control over the people. So when they demanded payment for indulgences and sacramental rites, the people would just give in (or walk away broken because they couldn’t afford it).

It was this kind of abuse that led to the Reformation. Thank the Lord there were clergy who recognized that this kind of behavior by the Church just wasn’t right, and took a stand to correct it. (Note: The Catholic Church doesn’t operate this way today, but some still claim the legacy of guilt persists.)

In England, one of the people who helped correct course with this was Thomas Cranmer, who among other things wrote the English Book of Common Prayer. In the liturgies he wrote, he wanted to speak directly to the freedom we find in the actual person of Jesus Christ. After the confession, and the absolution, he inserted four Bible verses to remind us of this. It reads like this:

Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him.

“Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.”  Matthew 11:28

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

“This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15

“If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the perfect offering for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.”  1 John 2:1-2

The intention was to remind us of exactly who God is (and it’s not the one directing us into the mouth of the beast). Again, we could spend a long time studying these four passages, but let’s just summarize what’s happening here:

• “Come unto me…” (Matt 11:28) – Jesus invites the weary. Feel beaten down by the constant wrestling with our own sins? Jesus is here to refresh you and restore you to full strength!
• “God so loved the world…” (John 3:16) – There is divine love and mercy. God Himself came for you to set you free!
• “This is a true saying…” (1 Tim 1:15) – Jesus came to save sinners. That’s you. That’s me. That’s all of us. And even though we know that the wages of sin is death, we also know that He came to rescue us from that.
• “If anyone sins…” (1 John 2:1–2) – Jesus is our advocate, freeing us from any of the charges that could be held against us!

What I really love about this is the progression. We come to confess and lay out our sins before God, we receive absolution for those sins, and then we’re instantly reminded of the true (and amazing) character of the God who loves us and gave Himself to save us. Even in the Rite II, when these four verses aren’t read, I make a conscious effort to remember them for a moment because of how much it completes a cycle of healing for me.

Healing Through Confession

Thinking back to the one study with mixed results related to confessional prayer, it’s easy to see how it can be a complex issue. My questions around such findings would relate to the extent of the prayers being offered and whether it follows a liturgical flow that offers deep mental and emotional healing as the liturgy does.

And it makes sense that this liturgical confession is build into the liturgies for not only the Eucharist, but also the Daily Office (Morning and Evening Prayer). It’s something that we should be able to process regularly. We need that constant reminder of mercy and grace in our daily brokenness.

Neuroscience is catching on to the power of vocalizing our pain. I believe it might be a UCLA study that essentially cites that, “Naming it tames it.” The idea is that it’s when we find the strength and courage to speak the things we struggle with out loud is when we can start having victory over it. Keeping it silently stuffed away will only allow it to continue to eat us from the inside.

And that’s the thing with confession. Confession isn’t about condemnation, it’s about liberation.

When we start taking on our hidden struggles through a process that invites freedom and strength, we can truly start to find healing through confession.

Final Thoughts on Embracing Healing Through Confession

Next time you’re in (and Anglican/Episcopal) church, approach the confession with intention. Dig into your own heart regarding the things that need to be released. And then speak out the word of the confessional prayer, taking ownership, but also remembering that you’re not alone in that prayer. Soak up the absolution. Imagine yourself actually catching the three big elements that come your way in that prayer. And then ponder the person of Christ and what it means to you. When you do all of this, you should feel lighter. The weight of sin should fall off of you like water on a duck’s back.

I’d encourage you to spend some time meditating on the words of the confession, absolution, and the 4 Comfortable Words during the week. If you pray the Daily Office (from the Book of Common Prayer), you’ll naturally come across the words. But slow it down and really take it in.

My goal for you (and me) is that you would allow the words to mean something, so that when we get to saying it all in church together, you can feel the power of the confessional process. And in that, I pray that you find the freedom from sin that you need to experience deep healing. Amen.