Confession in France! Please help!

[TheRealJuliane]

I am currently in southern France. I need to make a confession. Most people in this area do not speak English, and I understand more French than I can speak. I am not anticipating that the priest will speak English so I need to know what to say. Also what the priest will say back to me, so I can respond correctly.

I can do the sign of the cross in French, but can someone give me a script of the rest of the format? I can translate my sins (I think) well enough. If I can’t confess before Sunday I will just have to skip receiving, which of course will lead to a discussion of sin with my husband, who doesn’t believe in the need for confession.

Merci beaucoup!

 

[YoungTradCath]

It seems weird, but I’m fairly certain that the priest doesn’t need to understand your confession. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

All you have to do is confess all you have to confess, even though he doesn’t understand it, and then he grants absolution. It’s rather bare bones and you will get no advice from him, but it forgives your sins, so it’s infinitely better than nothing. If you are anywhere near a major church or cathedral, you could perhaps see if there are any English-speaking priests there, if you’re concerned.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Thank you, I know I can state my sins in English if I need to, but I’d like to at least attempt the form of the confession in French. Trust me, it would be unusual to find a priest who speaks anything but the barest of English here. We are in a regional area, not a small town, but most people don’t speak English at all in their daily lives.

I specifically need to know the French after the Sign of the Cross, everything I am supposed to say to the priest in French. I’ve looked all over the web, even on the French version of Yahoo, and it’s not easy to find. I thought there would be some instructional guide for children but so far…

I printed the Mass and the Rosary in French before I left for the trip but I didn’t think I’d commit a mortal sin…only here for 1 more week but…



Well I guess I can just not receive…If no one knows the French for the rite.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

I am currently in southern France. I need to make a confession. Most people in this area do not speak English, and I understand more French than I can speak. I am not anticipating that the priest will speak English so I need to know what to say. Also what the priest will say back to me, so I can respond correctly.

I can do the sign of the cross in French, but can someone give me a script of the rest of the format? I can translate my sins (I think) well enough. If I can’t confess before Sunday I will just have to skip receiving, which of course will lead to a discussion of sin with my husband, who doesn’t believe in the need for confession.

Merci beaucoup!

Madame avez vous entendu parler de GOOGLE TRANSLATOR???

C’est très facile. Pous posez vos fautes en anglais et le Google Translator traduit en français.

Easy, no?

Before you enter you say:
Mon PÈre, J’ENTENDS LE FRANÇAIS mais je ne sais parler le français. J’ai traduit mes fautes et je vous les dirais mais je peut pas entendre la pénance.
Alors, s’il vous plait, je peut fair comme penance dire un rosaire.
Merci.

Translatiosn:

Father, I understant French but I do not sepak French. I have translated the faults but maybe I cannot understand the penance.
Then if you agree I can say as penance a rosay (which is much more than what the priest usually gives,
Thanks you,

I hope that this could give you some hints.
Usually it is not a big deal…
Dont worry, ok?
He will help you…

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Forgive me if I do not trust Google translator! I have seen it make a mess of other translations. I hoped that someone French or French Canadian could just aides-moi, you know?



If worst comes to worst, I will just ask Father to say the words I should say and then I will repeat them after him. All except for the sins of course!

 

[antunesaa]

Madame avez vous entendu parler de GOOGLE TRANSLATOR???

C’est très facile. Pous posez vos fautes en anglais et le Google Translator traduit en français.

Easy, no?

Before you enter you say:
Mon PÈre, J’ENTENDS LE FRANÇAIS mais je ne sais parler le français. J’ai traduit mes fautes et je vous les dirais mais je peut pas entendre la pénance.
Alors, s’il vous plait, je peut fair comme penance dire un rosaire.
Merci.

Translatiosn:

Father, I understant French but I do not sepak French. I have translated the faults but maybe I cannot understand the penance.
Then if you agree I can say as penance a rosay (which is much more than what the priest usually gives,
Thanks you,

I hope that this could give you some hints.
Usually it is not a big deal…
Dont worry, ok?
He will help you…

Lol! Google translator didn’t work very well…

 

[Batfink]

It’s easier than you think to confess in a language you only have a little of. I confessed in Spanish at World Youth Day and managed to make myself understood even though I had no Spanish at all before that week (I speak French and some Latin and Italian so I picked up enough). Mainly I would say relax and give it your best shot. He may well be open to you saying things like the Act of Contrition in English.

I would say the penance is usually relatively easy to understand, but what Pfaffenhoffen gave you as an intro is more or less correct and would explain your situation.

In answer to your specific query, as in English you can say a number of things and, in my limited experience, French priests are more used/open to a non-standard formula. What I’ve given you below is a fairly traditional model, I’ll happily translate it for you if you want.

Au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit.

Bénissez-moi mon père parce que j’ai péché.

Je me suis confessé, il y a… [how long ago]

[Family situation e.g. ‘Je suis mariée avec trois jeunes enfants’]

‘Voici mes péchés par lesquels j’ai offense Dieu : …’
OR just
‘j’ai…’
[name your sins, in the perfect tense if you can e.g. 'j’ai menti deux fois, j’ai manqué la Messe le dimanche une fois, j’ai volé…]

[After you have confessed your sins:]
Je m’accuse encore de tous les péchés que j’aurai pu oublier involontairement
et de tous ceux de ma vie passée ;
j’en demande pardon à Dieu, et, à vous, mon Père,
pénitence et absolution si vous m’en jugez digne.

[An Act of Contrition:]
Mon Dieu, j’ai un très grand regret de vous avoir offensé
parce que vous êtes infiniment bon, infiniment aimable
et que le péché vous déplaît ; je prends la ferme résolution,
avec le secours de votre sainte grâce, de ne plus vous offenser,
de faire pénitence et de mieux vivre à l’avenir.

Merci, mon père, et au revoir!
‘Amen’ is the same (English pronunciation rather than American, long ‘a’).

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Merci beaucoup!

That is exactly what I need! I still don’t have the Act of Contrition memorized in English, so I would have to read it anyway.

I will use a translator for the sin, or just say it in English.

I did attend Mass on Sunday, so I know the pronunciation ah-men instead of ay-men.

 

[Tridentinum]

Merci beaucoup!

That is exactly what I need! I still don’t have the Act of Contrition memorized in English, so I would have to read it anyway.

I will use a translator for the sin, or just say it in English.

I did attend Mass on Sunday, so I know the pronunciation ah-men instead of ay-men.

Write your sins in French from Google Translator on a piece of paper and hand it to the confessor. From what I understand you are allowed to take this approach. People who are deaf do it this way.

 

[Batfink]

I didn’t mean to imply you hadn’t attended Mass, the list of sins was only to give you an idea of what tense to put them in

IMO, the easiest and best way to get the names of the sins would be to follow a French examination of conscience (although obviously do your own in English so you know what you want to say), which would give you the names of everything in a way a priest would be used to hearing. Use one of the ones online which even gives you the ‘je’ form (so the equivalent of ‘have I…?’ and you’ve got it ready made! Search for ‘examen de conscience’

You might have more help available when the Canadians wake up, you’re really going for a European time-zone here!

 

[Phemie]

Merci beaucoup!

That is exactly what I need! I still don’t have the Act of Contrition memorized in English, so I would have to read it anyway.

I will use a translator for the sin, or just say it in English.

I did attend Mass on Sunday, so I know the pronunciation ah-men instead of ay-men.

The first time I had to confess in English I was rather intimidated but it went OK until the Act of Contrition and I just told the priest “I only know it in French,” to which he just nodded and I proceded to say the prayer I’ve been saying since I was 4 or 5.

BTW, I just got up or I would have given you the same formula that Batfink did, or at least the first part of it. It’s the traditional form I’ve been using since I memorized it for my first confession in 1960. I have to admit that it’s been so long since I’ve confessed in French and we had general absolution for so many years that I’d forgotten the last part after the confession of sins. In English I’ve always simply ended after the listing of sins, not knowing the last part of the formula.

 

[Kielbasi]

Most educated people in Europe understand and speak English, and priests are all educated people.

I don’t think it should be that terribly difficult to find a priest that understands the language.

 

[Bookcat]

I went to confession in France (are you near Lourdes?..lots of English speaking Priests there…).

I imagine you can do the prayers in English…then have all your mortal sins written on paper with numbers and then point to them and try to pronounce them …the paper will “help him” if he does not understand English and you are confessing them as you try to say them…For the number of the sin hold up your fingers of the number…and get the French words for “I accuse myself” or “these are my sins”. Remember one need not confess any venial sins…so you could just do the mortal and then get the French for “and all my sins especially Y” at the end. For penance have a piece of paper with “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” on it and the word for “Penance?” above it? and he can point to one or both and show you number with his fingers.

If you go again…with no mortal sin…one can just have one venial sin you did that your sorry for etc…that is “enough” for the sacrament…I have done something like that…

Act of Contrition can be any act of contrition…one you make up! You can just say “Christe eleison” ( …from Mass…then you will be bringing yet another language into it)

One can also translate via a translator (who you can remind is also bound by the seal of confession…)

But English is the New Latin.…many many understand.

 

[GraceSofia]

Most educated people in Europe understand and speak English, and priests are all educated people.

I don’t think it should be that terribly difficult to find a priest that understands the language.

She has already said that she doubts the priest will speak English.

One of my priests speaks Spanish, French, Greek and Italian, but no English.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

The Baltimore Catechism tells us what to do in these circumstances:

Q. 779. What is to be done when persons must make their confession and cannot find a priest who understands their language?
A. Persons who must make their confession and who cannot find a priest who understands their language, must confess as best they can by some signs, showing what sins they wish to confess and how they are sorry for them.

Is there an FSSP apostolate there? You might luck out with finding a priest who speaks English.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Most educated people in Europe understand and speak English, and priests are all educated people.

I don’t think it should be that terribly difficult to find a priest that understands the language.

You know, this is a common misconception of Americans. Not everyone in the world speaks English. In large cities, yes, you find that people who work with the public have a grasp of English in order to carry out their jobs. In the countryside, people may learn a certain amount of English as they go through school, but if they do not continue to practice, or if they are not exposed and speaking daily, their English slips away, rather like my French has done. Of course English is the language of business but this is the interior of France - and France can be rather self-contained.

In Paris, the minute anyone hears me starting to fumble in French, they automatically switch to English - I never get a chance to practice my very slow and rudimentary but enthusiastic French. Here, only my husband’s administrative assistant is at all fluent, most people don’t even attempt “Hello.” This is nothing against them - why should they?

It would be like expecting the people in rural Arkansas to suddenly be able to speak and comprehend French.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I went to confession in France (are you near Lourdes?..lots of English speaking Priests there…).

I imagine you can do the prayers in English…then have all your mortal sins written on paper with numbers and then point to them and try to pronounce them …the paper will “help him” if he does not understand English and you are confessing them as you try to say them…For the number of the sin hold up your fingers of the number…and get the French words for “I accuse myself” or “these are my sins”. Remember one need not confess any venial sins…so you could just do the mortal and then get the French for “and all my sins especially Y” at the end. For penance have a piece of paper with “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” on it and the word for “Penance?” above it? and he can point to one or both and show you number with his fingers.

If you go again…with no mortal sin…one can just have one venial sin you did that your sorry for etc…that is “enough” for the sacrament…I have done something like that…

Act of Contrition can be any act of contrition…one you make up! You can just say “Christe eleison” ( …from Mass…then you will be bringing yet another language into it)

One can also translate via a translator (who you can remind is also bound by the seal of confession…)

But English is the New Latin.…many many understand.

Not close enough to Lourdes for a confession, but happily I was able to attend a Mass there last week, in the Crypt de Bernadette. It was cold and rainy and there were very few people there but the Mass ended up quite full…no line for the grotto or the holy water…There are some advantages to going during the winter…

 

[Castello]

It would be like expecting the people in rural Arkansas to suddenly be able to speak and comprehend French.

As someone who lives in rural Arkansas, I regularly hear many languages spoken. We celebrate Mass in three languages in my tiny backwoods parish, I can find people fluent in German, French, Russian, VietNamese, Korean, Tagolag, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese - that is just people in my cell phone right now.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Lol! Google translator didn’t work very well…

Why ? Did it make your sins heavier or lighter ?
Google translater (GT) works well when you work with it well.
Make it very simple sentences. Make many very short sentences so that if one does not explain well the next will fill the gaps. If you try to complicate your sins (as most Catholics do), GT gets confused as he is not prepared for all the fine details with which the Catholics complicate confession. (joking)

 

[The_Idiot]

There is always Confession offered in English in the Domaine in Lourdes - normally twice a day even in the winter .

St Bernadette’s Chapel is across the Garve from the Crypt and is a monstrous concrete room.