It would be a lie to say that he was eager to confess. The familiar nervousness and shame that had accompanied him since the age of discernment, when he had made his first confession, stirred up once again. But he had learned to cope with it; to not pay too much attention to his nerves, and to see the shame as the appropriate response to his sins. Ultimately it was Christ whom he confessed his sins to and God's forgiveness he sought, and his sins were known already. The priest was just a medium.

... A medium with the power to put him at ease and listen with compassion, or to make his confession very, very uncomfortable. He put a finger behind his Roman collar and tugged to get a little more air.

He genuflected in the direction of the tabernacle when he entered the church. Then his other knee joined and he prayed for a moment for a penitent spirit and for the presence of mind to remember all his sins. Then he made his way to the confessional, knelt again, and waited for Father Brennan to remove the board over the grate.