Sometimes in films about nuns there is a scene where the nuns are gathered in a room; one steps forward, kneels before the prioress or mother superior or novice mistress, and states her "faults" for that week (she broke silence twice, arrived late to Office once, etc.). Then the superior gives her a penance (an extra chore, or extra prayer); the nun then kisses the floor, goes back to her chair, and the next nun gets up and follows the same procedure. This custom is called the "Chapter of Faults" and takes place on a regular basis (usually weekly) in all monasteries. The procedure has changed somewhat over the years, and from order to order and house to house. At the Monastery of the Infant Jesus -- in the novitiate, anyway; I never got to find out how the professed sisters do it -- they no longer kneel before the novice directress and they no longer kiss the floor in an act of humility. However, the basic elements of stating their faults in front of their fellow sisters, asking their pardon, and receiving a penance, remain the same.
"How humiliating!" some may say. Well, yes, that's the whole point. It takes humility to admit one's faults and ask pardon, and even more humility to make reparation for your faults.
A "fault" in the monastic sense is not the same as a sin. Faults are infractions of the rule, that is, the "laws" governing the day-to-day life and customs of a religious order. Each order in the Church has its own particular rule, usually drafted by the founder of that order, but some orders adopt the rule of another order as their own: the Dominicans, for instance, follow the Rule of St. Augustine. All rules, however, take their cue, if you will, from the grandfather of monastic Rules -- the Rule of St. Benedict. It is the model on which all others are based.
Yes, confession is good for the soul, including the difficult and humbling confession to a fellow human being; it cleanses you, frees you, and receiving forgiveness heals the wound between you and the one you offended; moreover, in the larger, more mystical sense, it heals the wound you inflicted on the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Even when a sister asks pardon for breaking silence, a seemingly small thing, she confesses that she has broken a code of behavior which was forged to keep order and peace in that house. She is placing herself, rightfully so, below the higher law of obedience, and humbling herself before her fellow human beings. She is placing herself last, as Jesus himself would do.
After I experienced my first Chapter of Faults, I couldn't help thinking back to the "notes sessions" at the Houston Grand Opera. A notes session takes place at the end of a run-through, or perhaps between performances after a show has already opened. The cast, stage director, conductor, head coach, prompter, and stage management gather together; each member of the cast, one by one, in front of all his colleagues, receives notes from director and conductor (or head coach): every mistake in staging, every mistake in diction, and every musical mistake that singer has made, is pointed out. Most singers -- almost all, in fact -- consider this to be a necessary part of their profession and take their notes for the good of the show. They know that the performance as a whole, the product they present to a paying audience, is more important than themselves.
Obedience -- exercising humility -- is for the common good as well as for an individual's good and ultimate sanctification. That is why God gave us commandments and why the government drafts laws. When we disobey through lack of humility -- when we act out of pride -- we wound others as well as our ourselves. To confess and make reparation is to heal one's soul and to help heal the Body of Christ.
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