confesser

[Eng. confe ; -er.] One who confe es or makes a confe ion. côn-fes-sing, pr. par., a. & 8. [CONFESS.] A. & B. As pr . par. & particip . adj .: (See the verb.) C. As subst.: The act of making confe ion. IMG:content-0544.png:[blocks in formation] With in before that in which trust or confidence "Confiding in our want of worth, he stands." congregation. There existed also an ancient practice of voluntary confe ion in public of private is placed. offenses and secret sins. In the fifth century Pope Leo the Great gave permi ion to confe the latter kind of sins in private to a priest appointed for the purpose. This was the origin of sacramental confe ion, which soon after became an institution, though confe ion to a priest was optional till the thirteenth century, when Innocent III., at the fourth Council of Later an, A. D. 1215, rendered it compulsory. It has since continued to be practiced in the Roman Catholic Church.