A Wholesome Cure for the Wounded Soul: Confession, Emotions and Self in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Catholicism

This article explores how Catholic practices of auricular confession related to emotions and self in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, focusing on the situation in Belgium as a revealing case study. Relying on both prescriptive sources and depositions in criminal case records, it is argued that the sacrament of penance occupied a central place in everyday life, influencing modes of self-reflection. Penitents were to examine their conscience, practise contrition, and overcome shame, so that they could be absolved of their sins and experience relief. An analysis of these practices reveals that, starting in the late eighteenth century, confession made a “turn inwards,” by putting a greater stress on depth, interiority, and relief.