Project Inspiration
This project was inspired after seeing a local Parish need some help with updating their confessionals. This update would include a lighting system to help signal when the confessional was occupied or not. The lights would also signal when confession was being offered when the system was turned on. Resolving some of the confusion around the logistics of the confessional can be a great way to encourage more parishioners to receive the sacrament.
Receiving God’s mercy and grace during the sacrament will enable you to turn your heart away from sin and towards God’s will. Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of Confession on the evening of that first Easter Sunday.
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, Jesus showed himself to his apostles. He breathed on them, and said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”
John 20:19, 22-23
Materials
Tools
- Phillips Head Screwdriver
- Precision Screwdriver
- Stepped Drill Bit
- Drill
- Wire Stripper
- Scissors
- Hacksaw
Knowledge Required
This project requires knowledge of relays, power supplies, and IR proximity sensors. Use the links below to learn about these before completing the project.
Tutorial
Mechanical
The first step to completing this project will be to drill all the holes required in the project boxes. The holes sizes needed are all listed to the right. I have found that a stepped drill bit works best for when I need to drill a few different sizes of holes as you will not need to change out the drill bit. Just be careful to stop when you reach the desired hole size.
| Holes Required | Hole Size |
| IR Sensor | 7/8″ |
| Cord Grips (3) | 3/4″ |
| DC Barrel Jack | 7/16″ |
| Push Button | 3/4″ |
The next step will be to install all of the required hardware onto the project boxes. These are all a panel mount type so they will have a nut on the back to secure the item to the box. Simply remove the nut, place the item into the hole and then tighten the nut on the opposite side. The items may or may not have an oring or seal that should be placed on the outside in-between the project box and the item. These will keep moisture and dust from entering the box.
The next step to waterproof the boxes will be to add the gasket around the project box lids. There is a groove on the backside of the lid where a gasket material is pressed into place. You will need to cut the gasket material to the correct length before completion. It will be easiest to place the gasket into the groove and then determine where to cut the gasket to fill the gap completely.
All of the holes are now drilled and the hardware is installed. The push button is the on/off switch, the DC power jack is where our power supply will connect, the cord grips will keep out moisture for our cables, and the sensor is mounted in a remote location box away from control box.
We will need to create a way for the electronic relay to mount inside of the project box. There are several options to do this depending on your resources. You could start with the double sided tape spec’d in the material list. Cut a piece to fit the bottom side of the relay board and place into the center of the large project box.
Some other options would be a mounting plate that is 3D printed, a piece of DIN rail with a relay mount, or some hot glue. Stand offs are the preferred method for electronics board to guard against any electrical interference between the PCB and other conductive surfaces. They also make it easy to remove if you need to change a component later.
Our ABS plastic box is non conductive so the double sided mounting tape method is ok for this application.
We will now cut the LED strips to length. These need to be cut in a specific location marked on the LED strips (See cut line in the photo). You should measure these after you cut to determine what size you need the Aluminum channels.
The LED lighting channels will now be prepped to the correct size length. The aluminum channels come in 3.3 ft length, but I wanted to size these slightly smaller to fit over a door frame. I used a hacksaw to cut the aluminum channels & diffusing caps down to size. A vise or clamp is very useful for holding the channel still during the cut. These channels will provide a few benefits for the lights. Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat so these will keep our lights cool which gives them a longer life. The diffusing cap on top diffuses the light to create a single smooth glow rather than several small LED’s. Installing these somewhere is also easier with these channels.
Use the 3M mounting tape already on the LED strips to mount these to the Aluminum channels. The surface should be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol before mounting to remove the oils and dust. This allows the adhesive to make a strong bond. These steps will be completed for the Red, Green, and White lights. The lights already come with a barrel jack pre-installed on one end, but depending on where you cut or if utilizing an older strip of lights, you need to solder on a new barrel jack.
Electrical
Soldering the barrel jack will involve the use of a soldering iron. If you do not have one or would like an alternative, you can purchase some solderless connectors . These are an easy alternative to soldering.
The ends of the barrel jack are pre-tinned. This will help the wires adhere better to the copper pads on the LED strip when soldering. Solder the red wire to + and the black wire to – on the end of the LED strip. Soldering instructions can be found here.
Repeat this step for the Red, Green, and White LED strip on one end of each of them.
Now that the connector has been added we can add the diffusing covers to the top of the channels. These take a little force to press into place. I found the best way was to start on the end and press in a small section. Keep pressure on the section that is in place. Use your other hand to press in another small section and keep repeating this process until the entire diffuser is pressed into place.
We will need to prepare our wires for the connections into the project box. This involves stripping the wires and color coding them for easy recognition. We will make use of three DC barrel pigtails. These are already stripped and ready to connect. We will need to cut to length and strip the ends of wire listed to the right. You can find a wire stripping guide here if needed.
| Wire | QTY: | Length (inches) |
| Black | 4 | 4 |
| Red | 4 | 4 |
| Yellow | 1 | 4 |
Electrical connections can be made in many ways. One of the best methods I have used has been with WAGO connectors. They are quick, easy, and reliable. The use a little orange lever that is lifted up and then the stripped wire end is placed inside. Close the lever and you have a secure connection with all the other wires that are in the same connector.
A relay will be used to control the red and green light signaling system. The IR sensor will be our signal into the relay to illuminate Green when there is no one in the confessional and Red when it is occupied. This is achieved by wiring the Red LED light to the normally open circuit and the Green LED light to the normally closed circuit.
We will need to follow the wiring diagram below and place the corresponding wires into the correct WAGO or screw terminal on the relay. The precision screwdriver is the best tool for the screw terminals.
Final Assembly
Result
The project results in a lighting system turned on/off via a push button. The lighting system turns on a white light all the time, a green light when a person or object is not in the sensor’s range, and a red light when the person is in front of the sensor.
“The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.” Reconciliation with God is thus the purpose and effect of this sacrament. For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with a contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation “is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation.” Indeed the sacrament of Reconciliation with God brings about a true “spiritual resurrection,” restoration of the dignity and blessings of the life of the children of God, of which the most precious is friendship with God.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (CCC)- 1468
