It's kind of like a financial transaction. You confess your sins, all you've done wrong since last confession. The priest then gives you your penance. Basically how many of each different prayer you have to recite. You get out of the box. He stays in the box for the next person. You go home and say the prayers and you are by Catholic teaching then "clean" again. Rinse and repeat next Sunday. It was weird. Edit: Most kids when I was still going to the catholic church just lied in confession and we never said the prayers. My observation of many Catholic adults I know is they do the same.