Can a priest say no to hearing your confession?

  • Thread starter Thread starter schulze43
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

schulze43

Guest
Yesterday I went for my weekly confession and confessed all my sins but at the last second as I was saying those are all my sins I thought of another one but just dismissed it and said those were all my sins, afterwards I felt like I should have confessed my sin and felt really restless about not having confessed it even though it was just a venial sin.

Today I went to mass and after ward there was a really short confession line so I figured I could just go to confession and say that I had knowing left out a sin yesterday. I had also intended to ask for advice because I feel as though I am in a hard struggle to “stay afloat”… but when I said that it had been a day since my last confession the priest told me to leave and come back next week because I had already been forgiven. But I had always thought that if I knew that I had left out a sin that I had to go back to confession as soon as I could.

I know I might have been being a bit scrupulous but I didn’t think a priest could refuse to hear your confession??

I would apreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut anyone has:)

God bless:)
 
schulze43 said:
Yesterday I went for my weekly confession and confessed all my sins but at the last second as I was saying those are all my sins I thought of another one but just dismissed it and said those were all my sins, afterwards I felt like I should have confessed my sin and felt really restless about not having confessed it even though it was just a venial sin.

Today I went to mass and after ward there was a really short confession line so I figured I could just go to confession and say that I had knowing left out a sin yesterday. I had also intended to ask for advice because I feel as though I am in a hard struggle to “stay afloat”… but when I said that it had been a day since my last confession the priest told me to leave and come back next week because I had already been forgiven. But I had always thought that if I knew that I had left out a sin that I had to go back to confession as soon as I could.

I know I might have been being a bit scrupulous but I didn’t think a priest could refuse to hear your confession??

I would apreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut anyone has:)

God bless:)
Click to expand...
A priest can refuse… Saint Padre Pio did it, but then when another priest did the same thing Padre Pio told him that he didn’t have the gift to do it… (or something along those lines)

But your priest seems to have thought that you couldn’t possibly have mortally sinned in a day… which he must NOT assume…

Now to answer your question… the priest should have heard you… but if it was a venial sin and you were truly sorry for it… blessing(crossing) yourself with holy water would have sufficed.
 
Can a priest say “No I don’t have time to listen”? …yes, unfortunately he can say no… 😦

But put it this way; as a decent christian would you say “no I don’t want to hear your sins”? …I wouldn’t dismiss someones confession… But that’s just me. :rolleyes:
 
I didn’t know a priest could say no to confession. Interesting, I guess. I hope it didn’t put you off too much. I would be a little confused and angry (I hate when I have a sin weighing me down). But I guess everyone knows that He works in mysterious ways. 😉
 
Do you go to the same priest every week? Does he know you well, and that you tend towards scrupulosity? Was it the same priest the next day? If all these answers are “yes,” he has probably done you a great spiritual favor by not allowing you to feed your scrupulosity. You are very fortunate to have someone who cares for you this much.

If this is not the case, the Holy Spirit has done this for you.

Betsy
 
schulze43 said:
Yesterday I went for my weekly confession and confessed all my sins but at the last second as I was saying those are all my sins I thought of another one but just dismissed it and said those were all my sins, afterwards I felt like I should have confessed my sin and felt really restless about not having confessed it even though it was just a venial sin.

Today I went to mass and after ward there was a really short confession line so I figured I could just go to confession and say that I had knowing left out a sin yesterday. I had also intended to ask for advice because I feel as though I am in a hard struggle to “stay afloat”… but when I said that it had been a day since my last confession the priest told me to leave and come back next week because I had already been forgiven. But I had always thought that if I knew that I had left out a sin that I had to go back to confession as soon as I could.

I know I might have been being a bit scrupulous but I didn’t think a priest could refuse to hear your confession??

I would apreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut anyone has:)

God bless:)
Click to expand...
You stated that it was a venial sin. You do not need to confess venial sins, although it is heavily encouraged, and I recommend the practice. If you had willfully left out a mortal sin, your confession would have been invalid. If you had forgotten to mention a mortal sin, you would still be forgiven, but you would be obliged to mention that sin the next time you go to confession. You do not have to go back to confession as soon as possible, but you do have to mention it next time if you remember. This does not have to be done for venial sins.

As for what the priest did, I would say that it is very possible for a penitent to have committed a mortal sin the next day and need absolution. It is possible for a priest to tell someone to leave the confessional, for example if the penitent is not prepared at all, or does not have contrition.
 
baltobetsy said:
Do you go to the same priest every week? Does he know you well, and that you tend towards scrupulosity? Was it the same priest the next day? If all these answers are “yes,” he has probably done you a great spiritual favor by not allowing you to feed your scrupulosity. You are very fortunate to have someone who cares for you this much.

If this is not the case, the Holy Spirit has done this for you.

Betsy
Click to expand...
No I normally go to the same church but it is hardly ever the same priest because the parish is ran by Dominicans so there are about 5 different priests, and I dont think I have actually ever went to this priest before, actually I dont think I have ever even talked to him before lol and the confession there is always behind a screen just because of the way the confessionals are set up…so I guess as you said it was the Holy Spirit who has done this for me:) thanks for the advice:)
 
Harrison said:
You stated that it was a venial sin. You do not need to confess venial sins, although it is heavily encouraged, and I recommend the practice. If you had willfully left out a mortal sin, your confession would have been invalid. If you had forgotten to mention a mortal sin, you would still be forgiven, but you would be obliged to mention that sin the next time you go to confession. You do not have to go back to confession as soon as possible, but you do have to mention it next time if you remember. This does not have to be done for venial sins.

As for what the priest did, I would say that it is very possible for a penitent to have committed a mortal sin the next day and need absolution. It is possible for a priest to tell someone to leave the confessional, for example if the penitent is not prepared at all, or does not have contrition.
Click to expand...
So even if you purposely don’t confess a venial sin you don’t have to go back and confess it? hmmm I never knew that thanks for enlightening me:)
 
schulze43 said:
So even if you purposely don’t confess a venial sin you don’t have to go back and confess it? hmmm I never knew that thanks for enlightening me:)
Click to expand...
You only EVER need to confess mortal sins. If you never in your life confess a single one of your venial sins you will still be right with God. Have you not been taught this?
 
LilyM said:
You only EVER need to confess mortal sins. If you never in your life confess a single one of your venial sins you will still be right with God. Have you not been taught this?
Click to expand...
no honestly I haven’t really been taught anything about confession I always just figured you had to tell all your sins to the priest, I knew that through the Eucharist your venial sins are forgiven but I always thought that you still had to confess them during confession… thanks for setting me straight:)
 
schulze43 said:
no honestly I haven’t really been taught anything about confession I always just figured you had to tell all your sins to the priest, I knew that through the Eucharist your venial sins are forgiven but I always thought that you still had to confess them during confession… thanks for setting me straight:)
Click to expand...
Maybe it’s a good thing that this topic came up. If we were required to confess all our sins, we would have to spend most of our lives in the confessional! Only mortal sins have to be confessed, and in receiving absolution for the mortal sins, all unconfessed venial sins are also forgiven.
 
yea I guess it was a good thing that I went to confession and got told to leave or else I probably would have never have learned this and that is a good point that if we had to confess them all we would be in the confessional constantly…🙂 Good thing God is so Merciful:)
 
It is a good practice to confess your venial sins as this helps you to overcome them.

So it is recommended you confess some of them at least, or all that you can remember that is quite pious and good.

Regardless of whether you confess them or not, you are only forgiven them if you repent them, in or out of the Confessional.

Using holy water devoutly is one way to wash away venial sins.
 
Since venial sins can be remitted outside of the Confessional, the performance of pious acts can remit them.

The use of a prayer and holy water is one of the devout ways this is done.

For example the Asperges me:

Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall become whiter than show. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbador. Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Or:

Lord, by this holy water and by Thy Most Precious Blood, I beg of you to wash me clean from sin and succor the holy souls in purgatory. Amen.

And so on. 🙂

It works for the small stuff. Anything grave should go to the box. I take my small stuff to the box too, as much as I can, as in the end it’s all something that’s bigger than we think and that has to be put an end to as swiftly as possible.
 
Benedice I pray. 🙂

… typo above, ‘whiter than snow’… 🙂 I doubt anyone misunderstood but there it is.

😃
 
I once went to Confession twice in one day! the priest was understanding… I think he should have heard you out. 🤷
 
4EverHis said:
I once went to Confession twice in one day! the priest was understanding… I think he should have heard you out. 🤷
Click to expand...
If you suffer from scrupulosity, you should do your best to find a regular confessor. Explain that you are scrupulous and then follow his advice. Those of us who are scrupulous can do harm to our souls by believing that some sins are worse than they really are. being under obedience to your confessor is the best way to combat this.

For those of us who are not scrupulous–we should probably be under obedience to our confessors also! That will get us into the confessional on a regular basis!! 😉 As Shin said, it is good for our souls!
 
Laxity or presumption takes God’s forgiveness for granted. Scrupulosity doubts his mercy and tends to focus on minutiae. Both are variations from where we should be spiritually: neither presuming on God’s mercy, nor doubting his forgiveness.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top