53 motifs match “confession”  ·  back to the chapters

• Weather changed on confession of deed. D2140.3
• Devil is made impotent by confession. G303.16.9
• The devil has two books – one book small for sins of clerics, erased by confession; the other large for unconfessed sins of lay folks. G303.24.1.9
• Pope tests women's disobedience: not to look into box. (Cf. H1554.1.) They do so and are not allowed to hear confession. H1557.4
• Confession obtained by a ruse. J1141
• Confession of debt secured by having defendant dispute as to whether cat was present when debt was made. J1141.1.11
• Confession induced by bringing an unjust action against accused. False message to thief's wife to send the stolen jewel case as bribe to the judge. She does. J1141.4
• Detection of theft by finding bag-repairer. Two men are in a lawsuit and before witnesses seal the documents in a bag to await arrival of the king. One of the men cuts the bag open, changes the documents, and has a repairer sew it up again. On the king's arrival the change is discovered. By having a fine carpet repaired the expert repairer is discovered. Confession follows. J1141.5
• Confession obtained by making thief fear for his life. (Told that crossbow would shoot guilty person as he passed before it.) J1141.10
• "Then I woke up": man discredits his confession by declaring it all a dream. J1155
• Confession discredited by claim to be notorious liar. (Cf. X905.) J1155.1
• Pardon in return for confession. J1198
• King promises thieves pardon for confession: pleased with their cleverness. J1198.1
• Will lunch with Christ. Priest tells condemned man after confession that he will dine with Christ that evening. Mule that carries him to scaffold goes very fast and criminal says, "At this rate I shall lunch with Christ." J1261.3
• Choosing his confessor. Ruler explains: "I want a lying priest so that if he repeats my confession he will not be believed." J1263.6
• Confession made easy. Peasant sees priest at work in the fields. Tells him he wishes to confess. He is told to put money in the box and take the same penance as the year before. J1263.7
• Four men's mistress. A husband disguises as a priest to hear his wife's confession. She says that she has been mistress of a servant, a knight, a fool, and a priest; i.e., her husband when he was her servant, and later her knight. He had then been a fool for demanding her confession, and was a priest because he had heard it. J1545.2
• The penny baked in the wafer. A peasant always puts a bad penny into the offering. The priest has a penny baked in a wafer and gives it to the peasant at communion. The peasant, unable to swallow it, thinks that he is possessed of the devil. The priest asks whether he has ever done wrong with a penny, secures confession and a pledge of reform. J1582.1
• All sins since the birth of Christ. A stupid man at confession says, "I confess myself guilty of all sins that I have committed since Christ's birth." "Are you so old?" "Yes, and I have a brother who is three years older than I." J1743.1
• A pebble for each sin. A man cannot remember the number of his sins. The priest has him put a pebble in a sack for each of his sins. He comes to confession with three large sacks of pebbles. J2466.1
• Stealing only a small amount. A man promises in confession to steal only a small amount. He steals a rope with a mare on the end of it. K188
• Priest induced to betray secrets of confessional: money then exacted from him for silence. The trickster confesses that he has had intimacies with the priest's maid and then overhears the priest scold the maid. K443.8
• Trickster buys chickens telling owner that priest will pay. When owner comes to collect, the trickster tells the priest that a heretic has come for confession. Then he flees. (Cf. K242.1.) K455.4.1
• Respite from death granted until confession is made. K551.1.1
• Seduction by priest who insists on woman having confession in his own house. K1339.6
• Complacent judge disregards the confession. He has put the criminal to torture without success. When he releases him, the criminal says, "In a moment I should have confessed all." The judge lets him go nevertheless. P521
• Reward for confession of sins. Q36.1
• Neglect to hear confessional punished. Q223.4
• Priest joins devils after death because he lets woman die without confession. Q223.4.1
• Punishment for betraying confessional. (Cf. Q414.0.9.) Q224
• Burning as punishment for betraying the confessional. (Cf. Q224.) Q414.0.9
• Husband jealous of wife who goes to confession is punished by the priest. When the husband sees the priest take her behind the altar to punish her he volunteers to take the punishment. The wife says, "Pound him well. I am a terrible sinner." T257.4
• Penitent in confession worries about little sins and belittles the big ones. U11.1.1.2
• Confession of sins. V20
• Protection of sinners by confession. V20.1
• Confession brings forgiveness of sin. V21
• Sincere confession miraculously obliterated as sign of forgiveness. V21.1
• Confession of monk who intended to rob monastery brings forgiveness. Eventually elected prior. V21.3
• Sinner's tearmarks on written confession cause bishop to pardon his sins. V21.6
• Condemnation because of death without confession. (Cf. Q223.4.) V22
• Miracle to permit confession. V23
• Miraculous manifestation at confession. V24
• Confession of sins of a pilgrim calms a great storm at sea. V24.1
• Easy confession not effective. V25
• Man returns from dead to protest against priest who has been too easy with him at confession. V25.1
• Confession without giving up sin punished. V25.2
• Penance magically concluded by confession. V27
• Confession – miscellaneous motifs. V29
• Sodomist makes sport of confession. V29.4
• Penitent brings manuscript of sins to confession. V29.6
• The devil goes to confession. Performs very severe penance, but cannot bear to humble himself and to stoop before the altar. (Cf. G303.16.9.) V29.8
• Voice from grave asks that it be opened. Corpse spits out host because he has missed confession. V39.7
• Priest is bribed into betraying the confessional. V468