The ministry of confessions during the missions also gave the opportunity for a certain amount of on-going individual accompaniment and direction. This was done by not always giving absolution the first time so as to give the penitent the opportunity to work on what he had spoken about before returning to confession to receive absolution. In Marignane, for example, Eugene writes:
There is scarcely anyone who has not been four times to confession, some come even oftener.
Diary of the Marignane Mission, 10 December 1816, O.W. XVI
Through their instructions and personal contact with the people, the Oblates aimed at preparing people for the culminating moment of a beneficial and effective individual confession. An example of Eugene’s insistence on this:
I recommend that you insist a good deal on the instruction and on the state of mind necessary for the sacrament of Penance. This is the really important point. If one simply goes through the motions of confession without being penetrated by the feelings of contrition that must be present if the salutary effect of absolution is to be obtained, one has done nothing. This is always my fear when I hear our missionaries say that they have confessed a prodigious number of penitents. I have never managed, by a long way, to achieve the numbers quoted by our Fathers.
Letter to Jean Viala, 17 January 1849, O.W. IV n. 4.