Confessor of the Faith

Its oldest use is to indicate a saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 who has suffered persecution

Persecution of Christians

Persecution of Christians as a consequence of professing their faith can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith, at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose, and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land...

 and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East

Eastern Christianity

Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...

. In Latin Christianity

Latin Church

The Latin Church is the largest particular church within the Catholic Church. It is a particular church not on the level of the local particular churches known as dioceses or eparchies, but on the level of autonomous ritual churches, of which there are 23, the remaining 22 of which are Eastern...

 it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared blessed, who cannot be categorized by another title: martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

, apostle, evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

, or virgin

Virgin (title)

The title Virgin is an honorific that the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church bestows to female saints and blesseds who were consecrated virgins, nuns or unmarried women known for a life in chastity...

. As Christianity emerged as the dominant religion in Europe, persecutions became rare, and the title was given to saints who lived a holy life and died in peace. Perhaps the most well known example is the English king St. Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

.

Confession of sins

During the Great Persecution, a number of Christians had, under torture or threat of torture, weakened in their profession of the faith. When the persecutions ceased under Constantine the Great, they desired to be reunited with the Church. It became the practice of these penitents to go to the Confessors, those who had willingly suffered for the faith and survived, to plead their case and effect their restoration to communion. Thus, the word has come to denote any priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 who has been granted the authority to hear confessions. This type of confessor may also be referred to as a "spiritual father."

In this sense of the term, it is standard practice for a religious community of women, either if enclosed or just very large, to have a priest, to serve as confessor to the community, serving their spiritual needs.

It can also be used as the title of the head of a religious society.

See also

• Starts
• Elde (Christianity)
• Priesthood (Catholic Church)
  Priesthood (Catholic Church)
  The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
  
  

confessor of love

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Confessor, regarding the title "Confessor."
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Sacrament of Penance, regarding the ordinary minister of the Sacrament of Confession, the "confessor."