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.

中文翻译：

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受伤灵魂的健康治疗：18 世纪和 19 世纪天主教中的忏悔、情感和自我

本文探讨了 18 世纪和 19 世纪初天主教的耳廓忏悔实践如何与情绪和自我相关联，并以比利时的情况作为一个具有启发性的案例研究。根据刑事案件记录中的规定来源和证词，有人认为忏悔圣事在日常生活中占据中心位置，影响了自我反思的方式。忏悔者要反省自己的良心，进行忏悔，克服羞耻感，这样他们的罪才能得到赦免，得到解脱。对这些做法的分析表明，从 18 世纪后期开始，忏悔“转向内在”，更加强调深度、内在和解脱。