Absolution prayer

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onmyknees

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I almost always have confessed to priests who I know are very orthodox but today I went to a different priest. I was very disappointed to not hear the beautiful absolution prayer that I am so accustomed, which always brings me to tears.

This one, “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The priest said, In the name of Jesus I absolve you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen. I know I am absolved but I just don’t understand why he had to change it when the prayer is so beautiful.

Has anyone else experienced this and does it bother you?
 
Yes, I have experienced this before. I don’t like it all when the priest doesn’t say the full prayer. In fact, there are five priests where I go to Confession, and one only goes “I absolve you of all your sins.” The others say the full prayer and I try to go to them.

There is one priest who says the prayer of absolution in Latin while you are saying the Act of Contrition. I avoid him, too. I can’t concentrate on my Act of Contrition and I really, really, love to hear the Words of Absolution.
 
My confessor is an FSSP priest so he uses the old form of absolution. Even though I don’t understand it, and can’t hear most of it because he’s murmuring in rapid Latin, I do miss it when I can’t confess to a priest in the old form.
 
That would be amazing if he would recite it in Latin loud enough so you could appreciate it. Our pastor recites some Latin right after the Lord I am not worthy and I just love hearing it. He also has us chant the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei! 🙂
 
onmyknees said:
That would be amazing if he would recite it in Latin loud enough so you could appreciate it. Our pastor recites some Latin right after the Lord I am not worthy and I just love hearing it. He also has us chant the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei! 🙂
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I wouldn’t even know what he’s saying. For me the magic words are, “Deinde, ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.”

I think it’s the way he says it too. I’ve confessed to other FSSP priests, and the just don’t say it the same way.
 
I went to confession yesterday and I was thinking then how much I love to hear those words. I couldn’t agree more.

😃
 
onmyknees said:
I almost always have confessed to priests who I know are very orthodox but today I went to a different priest. I was very disappointed to not hear the beautiful absolution prayer that I am so accustomed, which always brings me to tears.

This one, “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The priest said, In the name of Jesus I absolve you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen. I know I am absolved but I just don’t understand why he had to change it when the prayer is so beautiful.

Has anyone else experienced this and does it bother you?
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Much as I love the absolution prayer, the priest has no way of knowing how many people are waiting outside the confessional. If he has heard confession after confession for 45 minutes, with only 15 minutes left before he needs to go prepare for mass, I would say it is understandable that he may assume there to be MANY people yet waiting to confess, and may therefore choose to offer the minimum necessary to contract absolution. Which is better… that you hear additional words or that he manages to work in another confession and absolution so that another person might attend and partake of the Holy Eucharist?

I’m not saying this is ALWAYS the case, I’m just saying to understand that the priest may have other concerns regarding a line of people outside that he isn’t capable of seeing (or maybe people have complained in the past about too many penitents in too short of a time, so he tries to work through them quickly just in case 🤷)
 
onmyknees said:
I almost always have confessed to priests who I know are very orthodox but today I went to a different priest. I was very disappointed to not hear the beautiful absolution prayer that I am so accustomed, which always brings me to tears.

This one, “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The priest said, In the name of Jesus I absolve you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen. I know I am absolved but I just don’t understand why he had to change it when the prayer is so beautiful.

Has anyone else experienced this and does it bother you?
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It bothers me as well, and it’s wrong of the priest. He should not be changing the texts. Last time this happened to me, I ended up writing the bishop, and I’d suggest you do to. Please, he needs to know these sort of things.
 
It’s not supposed to happen, though as you noted, your confession was valid. You might write an anonymous note (yes, I know anonymous notes are not usually recommendable, but if you are just trying to alert him to a problem very politely and respectfully, I don’t see what’s wrong with it), and if it keeps happening, politely inform the bishop’s office.
 
promethius said:
Much as I love the absolution prayer, the priest has no way of knowing how many people are waiting outside the confessional. If he has heard confession after confession for 45 minutes, with only 15 minutes left before he needs to go prepare for mass, I would say it is understandable that he may assume there to be MANY people yet waiting to confess, and may therefore choose to offer the minimum necessary to contract absolution. Which is better… that you hear additional words or that he manages to work in another confession and absolution so that another person might attend and partake of the Holy Eucharist?

I’m not saying this is ALWAYS the case, I’m just saying to understand that the priest may have other concerns regarding a line of people outside that he isn’t capable of seeing (or maybe people have complained in the past about too many penitents in too short of a time, so he tries to work through them quickly just in case 🤷)
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Well, it was an hour before mass starts so I do think he had plenty of time.
 
superamazingman said:
It bothers me as well, and it’s wrong of the priest. He should not be changing the texts. Last time this happened to me, I ended up writing the bishop, and I’d suggest you do to. Please, he needs to know these sort of things.
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👍

I agree that he should be using the approved absolution prayer. I didn’t think about writing the bishop but maybe if we all do it will be addressed.
 
onmyknees said:
Well, it was an hour before mass starts so I do think he had plenty of time.
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Again, that says nothing about his mindset at the time. You asked for a reason he might have done as he did… I’m merely pointing out that such a reason might be that he routinely ends up with too many penitants and can’t get through them all, so in order to stave off complaints, he shortens the absolution. I’m not saying he’s right to do so… I’m just saying that is a possible reason 🤷
 
Leon_Bloy said:
It’s not supposed to happen, though as you noted, your confession was valid. You might write an anonymous note (yes, I know anonymous notes are not usually recommendable, but if you are just trying to alert him to a problem very politely and respectfully, I don’t see what’s wrong with it), and if it keeps happening, politely inform the bishop’s office.
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Yes, it is not supposed to happen and it just turned my stomach when he sounded like the protestants. I think I am going to write the bishop.
 
The minimum that the priest has to say is “I absolve you of your sins, In the Name of the Father + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

It’s better if the priest does the entire prayer, but they are not incorrect in using the shorter form. This is the answer you will probably get if you write the bishop.
 
Why not simply offer this up to God and let it go at that? It sounds like he performed a valid absolution…the bare minimum, but still valid.

Why this urge to report a priest who hasn’t done anything seriously wrong? Now I can understand why my priest always asks me to pray for him. He’s human and makes mistakes or has moments of weakness like all of us.

Forgive him in your heart and move on.
 
mfrances said:
The minimum that the priest has to say is “I absolve you of your sins, In the Name of the Father + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

It’s better if the priest does the entire prayer, but they are not incorrect in using the shorter form. This is the answer you will probably get if you write the bishop.
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Not the answer I got at all when I wrote my bishop.

Your statement above is similar to saying that for a priest to celebrate Mass, the minimum is “This is my body. This is my blood.” and to consume both. Yes, in a twisted sense, that’s the “minimum” for an actual Mass. That doesn’t mean it’s ever acceptable.
 
superamazingman said:
Not the answer I got at all when I wrote. Your statement above is like saying that for a priest to celebrate Mass, the minimum is “This is my body. This is my blood.” and to consume both. Yes, in a twisted sense, that’s the “minimum” for an actual Mass. That doesn’t mean it’s ever acceptable.
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Uhh…that’s not the minimum for Mass and like you said it wouldn’t be acceptable. The minimal form of the absolution is acceptable…it’s just not what the OP was hoping for.

The words are not the most important part, it’s the spiritual absolution and sanctifying grace we receive that matters most.
 
mfrances said:
The minimum that the priest has to say is “I absolve you of your sins, In the Name of the Father + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

It’s better if the priest does the entire prayer, but they are not incorrect in using the shorter form. This is the answer you will probably get if you write the bishop.
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This is the minimum for validity, the Church might say, but the priest is required to pray the entire thing. He is not free to drop things unless it is specified in the ritual books (which in this case it is not).
 
Leon_Bloy said:
This is the minimum for validity, the Church might say, but the priest is required to pray the entire thing. He is not free to drop things unless it is specified in the ritual books (which in this case it is not).
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Perhaps he prayed the rest silently as the OP made the act of contrition?
 
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