Confession

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (commonly known as Reconciliation or Confession), is an experience of God's boundless mercy. Jesus entrusted this ministry to the Church so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. Not only does thi

Sundays in Muller Chapel

Father Dan or Father David will be available for one-on-one conversations and/or to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Sundays in Muller Chapel prior to Mass from 5:00-5:45pm.

Saturdays at Immaculate conception church

Confession with Father Chumo is also available every Saturday at Immaculate Conception Church from 2:00pm–3:30pm. No appointment is necessary.

Saturdays at St. Catherine of Siena Church

Confession is also available every Saturday at St. Catherine of Siena Church from 3:30pm–4:30pm. No appointment is necessary.

Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at Cornell (Anabel Taylor Hall)

Confession is also available at Cornell on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in Anabel Taylor Hall. No appointment is necessary.
Wednesdays 3:30pm–4:30pm
Thursdays 2:00pm–4:00pm, except on the 3rd Thursday
--3rd Thursday only: Confession 2:30–3:00pm at Longview Senior Living Community, 1 Bella Vista Drive, off Danby Road near Ithaca College
Fridays 11:00am–11:45am

See here for the latest Cornell Mass & Confession schedule.

Penance Resources

Check out one of these step-by-step guides:

There are many excellent guides available online. Or simply show up and ask the priest to guide you through the ritual!

A confession over Zoom, Skype, or the telephone is not a valid sacrament. In times and places where the faithful are unable to receive this sacrament, the Church reminds us that penitents still have recourse to the usual penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (works of charity). The Church teaches that these practices, along with an Act of Perfect Contrition and a firm intention to seek the sacrament as soon as possible, can obtain the graces of the Sacrament of Reconciliation even for serious (i.e. mortal) sin.

  • Article on the "Act of Perfect Contrition"
  • Article on "Why we can't confess over Zoom"
  • Information from the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican tribunal concerned with mercy and the forgiveness of sins:
    • Decree on special indulgences granted to those who suffer from COVID-19, as well as to healthcare workers, family members, and others
    • Note on Confession during the pandemic (appended to the above Decree)

From a sermon by blessed Isaac of Stella, abbot

(Sermo 11: PL 194, 1728-1729)

Christ will forgive no sin without the Church

The prerogative of receiving the confession of sin and the power to forgive sin are two things that belong properly to God alone. We must confess our sins to him and look to him for forgiveness. Since only he has the power to forgive sins, it is to him that we must make our confession. But when the Almighty, the Most High, wedded a bride who was weak and of low estate, he made that maid-servant a queen. He took her from her place behind him, at his feet, and enthroned her at his side. She had been born from his side, and therefore he betrothed her to himself. And as all that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son because by nature they are one, so also the bridegroom gave all he had to the bride and he shared in all that was hers. He made her one both with himself and with the Father. Praying for his bride, the Son said to the Father: I want them to be one with us, even as you and I are one (cf. John 17:11,21).

And so the bridegroom is one with the Father and one with the bride. Whatever he found in his bride alien to her own nature he took from her and nailed to his cross when he bore her sins and destroyed them on the tree. He received from her and clothed himself in what was hers by nature and gave her what belonged to him as God. He destroyed what was diabolical, took to himself what was human, and conferred on her what was divine. So all that belonged to the bride was shared in by the bridegroom, and he who had done no wrong and on whose lips was found no deceit could say: Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak (Ps. 6:2). Thus, sharing as he did in the bride’s weakness, the bridegroom made his own her cries of distress, and gave his bride all that was his. Therefore, she too has the prerogative of receiving the confession of sin and the power to forgive sin, which is the reason for the command: Go, show yourself to the priest (cf. Mt 8:4; Lk 5:14, 17:14).

The Church is incapable of forgiving any sin without Christ, and Christ is unwilling to forgive any sin without the Church. The Church cannot forgive the sin of one who has not repented, who has not been touched by Christ; Christ will not forgive the sin of one who despises the Church. What God has joined together, man must not separate (cf. Mk 10:9; Mt 19:6). This is a great mystery, but I understand it as referring to Christ and the Church.

Do not destroy the whole Christ by separating head from body, for Christ is not complete without the Church, nor is the Church complete without Christ. The whole and complete Christ is head and body. This is why he said: No one has ever ascended into heaven except the Son of Man whose home is in heaven (John 3:13). He is the only man who can forgive sin.

See also the youtube video below!

Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

Examinations of Conscience

Seven Penitential Psalms and the Songs of the Suffering Servant

Penitential Practices