Asking for forgiveness for others?

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whatevergirl

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There are some people I know of who are ‘afraid’ to go to Confession…would it be wrong of me to ‘confess for them?’ Is there such a thing? From what I know, I believe that we must personally confess our sins on our own…to a priest. But, just curious if a priest would accept this?
 
Confession actually involves a lot of steps:
  1. You must agree / acknowledge that you actually sinned (quite a problem for some these days).
  2. You must repent and be truely sorry for your sins. Either in imperfect contrition (because you’re afraid of Hell) or in perfect contrition (because you love God).
  3. You must ask for forgiveness.
  4. You must accept forgiveness.
These are all highly personal. So there’s no way sombody could do it for somebody else.

But…if you want to help out, you could pray for your friend, before death for the friend to actually confess, and then even after that friend’s death for the remission of the friend’s sins.
 
We can only confess our own sins. But you can certainly offer prayers and do penance for others who need this grace of conversion. My former pastor once encouraged me to continue making frequent devotional confessions and to offer that action for those who need to confess but do not.
 
whatevergirl said:
There are some people I know of who are ‘afraid’ to go to Confession…would it be wrong of me to ‘confess for them?’ Is there such a thing? From what I know, I believe that we must personally confess our sins on our own…to a priest. But, just curious if a priest would accept this?
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I have been reprimanded by the priest on more than one occassion for confessing the sins of my husband or kids rather than my own “but Father, it wasn’t my fault, just let me tell you what he did”.
 
puzzleannie said:
I have been reprimanded by the priest on more than one occassion for confessing the sins of my husband or kids rather than my own “but Father, it wasn’t my fault, just let me tell you what he did”.
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😃 whew…glad you told me this.
 
I am so glad to see this post! I have an interesting question in regards to asking forgiveness for others: What if, say for instance there is a close relative who has had a stroke or some type of medical condition that they are no longer able to speak or speak coherently. What if they need to go to confession? A close family member can ask for forgiveness for something they know they need to confess? They get general absolution? Anyone know? I have not a clue what canon law says.
 
Teelynn, you can ask God for forgiveness for your loved one, but the sinner himself must have contrition in order to be forgiven. But don’t think that it is “too late” to pray if the person has already died. God’s mercy is not constrained by our concept of time. God in His mercy, knowing that you would be praying for your loved one (even after his or her death), may have given your loved one the grace to repent before the moment of death.

Also, if a priest is present, even if the sick person is unable to confess, the Anointing of the Sick obtains forgiveness for a person who has sorrow for sin, even if he is unable to verbalize his sorrow or make a verbal confession. (The person must confess if he is conscious and able to do so.)
 
whatevergirl said:
There are some people I know of who are ‘afraid’ to go to Confession…would it be wrong of me to ‘confess for them?’ Is there such a thing? From what I know, I believe that we must personally confess our sins on our own…to a priest. But, just curious if a priest would accept this?
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Hi whatevergirl, I do believe we must go to confession ourselves. 🙂 no priest that I know of would accept this.

I like your new picture and signature btw!
 
You can pray for the Holy Spirit to do a work on their heart.

Some call this standing in the gap.

Ezekiel 13:5
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

Ezekiel 22:30
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Abraham’s prayer to God about saving Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18 is a good example.
 
What if the sin is mortal? Is the penitent who is unable to talk or voice his remorse for himself able to be prayed for? I’m inclined to think they are eligible to obtain an imperfect absolution, but just wondering. :confused:
 
No ifs, ands or buts. You may NEVER confess the sins of another. Most priests would be more than happy to meet with a person seeking reconciliation at home, hospital, rectory office, etc. One does not need to go to the confessional in order to receive forgiveness. If it were as easy to have another confess for you, Lord knows I would have sent my husband in my place many times. LOL.

If you are truly seeking forgiveness, one must humble himself to take the first step and meet with a priest.
 
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