Confession--changing prayer of absolution

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dominicsavio

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peace be with you!

i am sure this has been asked before but i need your help. a few weeks ago I went to Confession to a priest I had never been to before. he gave great advice which has helped me ever since then. but, he changed the prayer of absolution. i know this wouldn’t have been valid except for he started the prayer with the correct words and I remember with certainty that he ended with the correct words. “I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” i don’t actually know if he said all the words in the prayer. he may have but if he did he added to it because it was longer and he prayed a sort of prayer of deliverance over me as well. since he ended with the correct words, i thought may Confession may have been valid. i was thinking along the lines of the Mass. certain words or things can be done that constitute abuse, but Jesus is still made present if the right words are said at the moment of Consecration. does Confession work the same with the “I absolve you…”?

yesterday, i went to a different priest and explained what happened and he didn’t really know how to answer my question. the Lord knows that all i wanted to do was to confess all my sins. if my first Confession was invalid, did the mention of that previous Confession cover for me or would i be required to state all those sins again in Confession? if i need to re-Confess all those sins then I want to do it right away and i would have last night except for the priest didn’t seem to know if i needed to.
 
i can understand your reasons for wanting to know if your absolution was valid.

You want to do as the Lord commanded and access his infinite mercies.
However, we know that the Sacraments are not magic either.
they require proper matter and form and intention, but they are not spells.

I don’t really know the answer to this question, and I am of 2 minds about this.
I think that my opinion would be that God will absolve you through your perfect act of contrition and that whether or not the priest used the proper matter, form or intention would be something that would fall under invincible ignorance since you are not a phd theologian and laymen cannot be expected to know the exact perscriptions to properly administer a Sacrament. As laymen, we don’t know what variation goes “over the line”.

As such, my opinion (and take that for what it’s worth) is that you most probably have been absolved through a perfect act of contrition, and if the words of absolution were wrong, you would most likely fall under invincible ignorance.
I don’t think that God would not forgive your contrite heart on a technicality on the priest’s part. This is an extraordinary circumstance, but that is how I would view it.
 
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dominicsavio:
peace be with you!

i am sure this has been asked before but i need your help. a few weeks ago I went to Confession to a priest I had never been to before. he gave great advice which has helped me ever since then. but, he changed the prayer of absolution. i know this wouldn’t have been valid except for he started the prayer with the correct words and I remember with certainty that he ended with the correct words. “I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” i don’t actually know if he said all the words in the prayer. he may have but if he did he added to it because it was longer and he prayed a sort of prayer of deliverance over me as well. since he ended with the correct words, i thought may Confession may have been valid. i was thinking along the lines of the Mass. certain words or things can be done that constitute abuse, but Jesus is still made present if the right words are said at the moment of Consecration. does Confession work the same with the “I absolve you…”?

yesterday, i went to a different priest and explained what happened and he didn’t really know how to answer my question. the Lord knows that all i wanted to do was to confess all my sins. if my first Confession was invalid, did the mention of that previous Confession cover for me or would i be required to state all those sins again in Confession? if i need to re-Confess all those sins then I want to do it right away and i would have last night except for the priest didn’t seem to know if i needed to.
Click to expand...
Every Sacrament has certain specific words or “Form” that must be said. I believe that for Reconciliation (without looking at the Rite of Penance) as long as ""I absolve you of your sins " is included in there somewhere by the priest the Sacrament is valid.
 
peace be with you!

thank you both very much for your replies! Dan-Man, i had a thought similar to yours. first, i think that since i am truly sorry for my sins because I offended God by them, God has certainly forgiven me even though the Confession might not have valid. but, i think that I do have the duty to find out if it was valid and go from there. in other words, yes I have been forgiven by God because I have true contrition, but I would still need the benefits of a valid sacramental confession if i knew it was invalid. kind of like Baptism of Desire is “good enough” for those who don’t have the benefit of actual Baptism to get to Heaven, but for those who can receive it need to. so true contrition is enough, but if I needed to get to Confession because that one was invalid I need to go.
Br. Rich SFO:
Every Sacrament has certain specific words or “Form” that must be said. I believe that for Reconciliation (without looking at the Rite of Penance) as long as ""I absolve you of your sins " is included in there somewhere by the priest the Sacrament is valid.
Click to expand...
someone else who i know and trust told me that it should be valid as long as he said the “I absolve you…” part as well. that seems like it could be the case as i have found a couple of people telling me that. i remember that he started the prayer the right way, and I know that he ended it correctly, he just either added or changed some of the other words. thank you both again.
 
found this online…taken from the Rite of Reconciliation in the section on the Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance for Individual Penitents

"PENITENT’S PRAYER AND THE PRIEST’S ABSOLUTION
19. Next, through a prayer for God’s pardon the penitent expresses contrition and the resolution to begin a new life. It is advantageous for this prayer to be based on the words of Scripture.

Following the penitent’s prayer, the priest extends his hands, or at least his right hand, over the head of the penitent and pronounces the formulary of absolution, in which the essential words are: I ABSOLVE YOU FROM YOUR SINS IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. As he says the final phrase the priest makes the sign of the cross over the penitent. The form of absolution (see no. 46) indicates that the reconciliation of the penitent comes from the mercy of the Father; it shows the connection between the reconciliation of the sinner and the paschal mystery of Christ; it stresses the role of the Holy Spirit in the forgiveness of sins; finally, it underlines the ecclesial aspect of the sacrament, because reconciliation with God is asked for and given through the ministry of the Church."

it says that the “I absolve you…” part are the essential words. the rest of his prayer did stress certain parts that the normal prayer would…it was just different and longer. but if the I absolve you is the essential part, then I think the Confession was valid! Praise HIM!
 
the priest has several choices for how to begin, words of absolution, even the order of events, I am sure your confession was valid.
 
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