|
READ THIS
Jackie is a young Irish boy who is being forced to make his first confession.
He is terrified of the ordeal because he has several sins which he feels he must hide but this would
constitute a "Bad Confession".
The punishment for a "Bad Confession" would be an eternity in hell.
His confession, however, proves to be very different from what he expected.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank O'Connor was the only child of Michael O'Donovan and Minnie O'Connor. He was born in Cork
(Ireland) in 1903 and was baptised Michael O'Donovan.
His was a poor family, his father being a brutal drunkard. Because his mother was forced to look after
the family, O'Connor fell heavily under her spell.
He would later choose to publish under his mother's maiden name -- hence Frank O'Connor -- rather
than bring honour to his father who despised his literary abilities.
O'Connor was thoroughly Irish, and fought for a time with the Irish Republican Army in their 1918 rebellion
again the British.
Later he became a school master and librarian, and wrote numerous short stories and some novels --
although this literary activity was always as a hobby.
Many of his writings were based upon his own experiences.
He taught for a time in America, and it was while he was at Stanford University that he had a stroke in
1961.
He thereupon returned to Ireland but died of a heart attack in Dublin in March 1966 at the age of 63.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
|
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
One cannot really understand this short story without a knowledge of the Catholic Church as it existed at
about the time when the child O'Connor experienced this incident, i.e. about 1910. The following
questions try to get to the heart of the most important issues.
The short story bases itself on a belief in "mortal sin" and "confession".
- What is a mortal sin? (4)
[Need help?]
The Catholic Church taught of several types of sin. The most important were "venial sins" and
"mortal sins"'
A VENIAL SIN was something rather minor that one had done wrong: like swearing, or telling a simple
lie, or being uncharitable or losing one's temper, etc.
A MORTAL SIN was something really serious: like murder, or rape, or sex outside of marriage, etc.
If one died in a state of venial sin, one would still get to heaven -- after a time. But if one died in a state
of mortal sin, one would go to hell for all eternity.
|
[Need help?]
In the very early Church, sins were believed to be washed away with Baptism -- entry into the Church
through pouring of water which washed away Original Sin. There was no other way.
Because the sacrament of Baptism was only administered once in a lifetime, it meant that a Christian had
to be very careful never to sin again because there was no other way of having one's soul cleansed.
Baptism was usually administered late in life. A person who had been baptised early -- because of a life-
threatening accident or the like -- had very little choice of ensuring a pure life thereafter except through
joining a monastery.
And so the Church thought of the idea of CONFESSION. Once one had been baptised, one could
thereupon confess one's sin and find forgiveness once more.
|
- What is a confessional? (4)
[Need help?]
In the early Church, confession was made publicly.
But then the Irish monks thought of a novel way of having a private confession. One would see a priest
in private and confess one's sins to him.
Since the priest represented God, he was able to grant forgiveness in the name of God.
Eventually this private confession developed the concept of the CONFESSIONAL, i.e. a place where the
priest would sit and hear the confession of a penitent.
|
- How would the confessional have worked at the time that this short story was
written? (4)
[Need help?]
By about 1910, confessionals were often very small and very dark -- just big enough for the person to
kneel.
The penitent was separated from the priest by a -- usually -- thin wall with a smallish square opening
through which to talk to the priest. This was covered with a grid, and sometimes with some material so
that the priest could not see the person who was confessing.
It was meant to be a place of secrecy, so the priest was not supposed to be able to recognise the penitent
in any way -- although obviously the voice would sometimes give it away.
Because confessionals were dark inside, the penitent could stumble around until his or her eyes became
accustomed to the dark.
If a person was there for the very first time, he or she might not know what to do or where to kneel -- as
in this short story.
|
- What would happen inside the confessional? (4)
[Need help?]
Usually the person would say something like, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been six
weeks since my last confession. Since then, these are my sins."
Or words to that effect. The little boy would have been taught to say, "This is my first confession."
The person would then narrate all the sins he or she could remember -- both venial and mortal -- after
which the priest would give him or her a penance to complete.
This penance was usually very small, such as narrating so many "Hail Mary's" or "Our
Father's" -- the mostly used prayers in the Catholic Church.
If there were some really serious sins thrown in -- like sex outside of marriage or murder, etc -- the
priest could demand a serious penance.
|
- At what age did a typical Catholic make his or her first confession? (1)
[Need help?]
At the time when this story was written, a Catholic child would make his or her first confession at about
the age of seven.
The Catholic Church regarded the child of seven as already being able to distinguish between being really
good and really bad.
The truth is that this is not so. Many priests will tell the story of how a child of seven has confessed to
adultery when in reality he or she has simply urinated on the household pet.
Which is why the age of first confession has today usually been pushed back several years in most
countries.
|
The question of hell also plays an important part in this story.
[Need help?]
For Catholics, there were two important places in the afterlife: Heaven and Hell.
Actually, there were two others as well -- Limbo and Purgatory -- but they play no role in this story so
we won't go into them now.
Hell was the place of absolute eternal punishment for baptised Christians who had died in a state of mortal
sin.
|
[Need help?]
Hell was pictured as a place of burning fire, where one's soul would be burned for all eternity by the flames
of Hell.
Some theologians argued that the pain was really the knowledge that the person could have been in
Heaven with God but he or she would be denied this for all eternity because of his or her own foolishness
in dying in a state of mortal sin.
|
- Could the soul ever escape from the fires of Hell? Explain. (4)
[Need help?]
Quite simply, NO! A person has a full life on earth in which to become friends with God -- called being
in a STATE OF GRACE.
All the necessary facilities were there to be in that state of grace but the person had willfully and
deliberately omitted to make use of them.
This life is a once-off chance to get into that state of grace. When life is ended -- whenever that might
be -- then all chances are now over. It is either Heaven or it is Hell.
Once in Hell, therefore, it is for keeps. There is no "get out of jail free" ticket.
|
|
