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Whatever sin you’re struggling with, there’s a saint who knows the feeling!
Now you can find the saint to match your situation thanks to a clever new initiative: Confession Cards from ReCatholic.org.
Not only can you find a patron saint, but each of these confession cards links you to a wealth of resources: books, articles, prayers, and so on.
The cards are the perfect way to connect people in the pews with all the wonderful things the Church has to offer them. No wonder the cards have appeared on Zenit, the Katie McGrady Show, and other Catholic media.
I had the chance to catch up with Nate Miller, the creator behind the Confession Cards. Here’s our conversation.
What inspired you to create the confession cards?
The original concept came from Father Dominic Sternhagen, pastor at Saint Ann Catholic Church in Salt Lake City. You can watch his interview about the project here.
He initially wanted simple holy cards that he could pass out in the confessional with a saint, a virtue and a prayer.
When he brought the project to our team at reCatholic, we realized together that this could blossom into something unique and dynamic, because of the ability to link to further resources online, and also the ability to constantly update and improve the content with time.
What is your process to create the content for each card?
The Catholic Faith already has so much to offer. Often what already exists isn't well known or used.
A good example of this conviction is our reSearch tool on the website, offering a search function that pulls from curated Catholic content so that the user can quickly search the Bible, the Catechism and the writings and teachings of the popes and the saints of the Church.
Along the same lines, the virtue content first of all connects people with the Catechism and with the saints, and provides links to existing Catholic books and resources.
In addition, our team has worked with theologians and psychologists to create simple, practical and accessible content particular to each virtue to help people pray, reflect and grow in their faith.
Do you have any favorite stories about how the cards are being used?
Several priests have shared that using the cards has transformed the way they hear confession. They now help parishioners select a virtue that will help them counteract the struggles that they are falling into regularly.
This perspective has brought new positive insight into the ongoing struggle to overcome vice and to forge virtuous habits of life.
How many different cards are there at this point?
We launched preorders in the summer of 2022, starting with just 10 cards. In Advent of the same year we finalized and shipped the first set on time for Parish Advent Penance Services.
The first set of 10 cards "covers the basics" as it were, by providing virtues that we all need to work on. The seven main virtues are included, which cover our relationship with God (faith, hope and charity), our relationship with others (justice), and habits that have to do with ourselves (prudence, fortitude and temperance). In addition, we created a card that helps people take advantage of confession, and lastly included two common virtues we all need regularly (patience and humility).
We are currently working with a group of experts in theology and psychology on a second set of 10 cards, that will deal with particular struggles such as anxiety, loss or depression, connecting people with particular saints and content that can help them find answers to their struggles.
While the initial project was designed to to support priests in the confessional by providing the confession cards at cost for parishes, many parishioners have shown interest in purchasing packs directly for friends and family. With this in mind, we partnered with Catholic Card Game to make this possible, and packs of 10 cards are now available for direct purchase as well.
