Confession in France! Please help!

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The_Idiot said:
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.
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Dude, the lady just SAID she wasn’t close enough to Lourdes to go there to confess … sheesh …
 
less of the dude please -

if you also read she says she was in Lourdes and attended Mass in the Domaine - she could have gone to Confession then .
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…
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The_Idiot said:
less of the dude please -

if you also read she says she was in Lourdes and attended Mass in the Domaine - she could have gone to Confession then .
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She probably was not in a state of sin then, meaning she didn’t need confession, of she was she would have. 🤷
 
I may be speaking in ignorance but personally, if I where you I’d just confess in English even if the priest doesn’t understand you. If you try to speak French he may respond to you in French. What if he gives you a penance and you didn’t catch it?
 
LilyM said:
She probably was not in a state of sin then, meaning she didn’t need confession, of she was she would have. 🤷
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Vouz avez de raison! You are right, I was not then in a state of sin. Now I am, and I must confess today, because tomorrow I may be able to attend Mass in Notre Dame and I would not want to miss the chance to receive there.

🙂
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Vouz avez de raison! You are right, I was not then in a state of sin. Now I am, and I must confess today, because tomorrow I may be able to attend Mass in Notre Dame and I would not want to miss the chance to receive there.

🙂
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Notre Dame de Paris? If you’re in Paris it’s incredibly easy - there will almost certainly be priests and other staff at Notre Dame who speak English - just call ahead and ask.

Otherwise, a call to the American, British, Irish, Canadian or Australian embassies would probably get you pointed towards an English speaking priest too.
 
LilyM said:
Notre Dame de Paris? If you’re in Paris it’s incredibly easy - there will almost certainly be priests and other staff at Notre Dame who speak English - just call and ask.

Otherwise, a call to the American, British, Irish, Canadian or Australian embassies would probably get you pointed towards an English speaking priest too.
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Yes, but there aren’t confessions there on Sunday, so I need to take care of it today. It’s going to be awkward because it will now include a discussion with my husband about why I need to confess…😊

But it’s either that or not receive tomorrow, and that will take an explanation as well.

Lesson to others: DON’T SIN while on holiday!!

:o
 
If it’s impossible for you to confess, I thought it was allowable to receive, with the intention of going to confession afterwards as soon as possible?
 
Well, that was awkward.

Not the confession, I didn’t get to go after all. Just telling my husband that I can’t receive at Notre Dame tomorrow and saying I wanted to go to confession, was awkward. Of course he wanted to know why. Of course I didn’t want to tell him. He thinks the Church goes overboard about sin and doesn’t think most things we do qualify as sin. :eek: He was not excited about getting me to confession this evening. (There don’t seem to be vigil Masses here - heck, the congregation might reach 75 people in the one Sunday Mas, there’s no need for another one!) I could have pushed for it, but I decided to just let it go and not receive.

So the question got answered, but not in a positive way. I would have loved receiving in Notre Dame, but it’s OK just to go to Mass there, it’s not going to kill me to miss receiving one week. I am not in danger of death! 😉 That I know of.

Most parishes do not offer confession on Sunday, so I don’t expect anything to change between now and tomorrow. And on Monday I return home and can confess before next Sunday, so it’s all good.

Thank you for your help, fellow Catholics. I will save the wording in case I need it next time!
 
Juliane, doesn’t matter if there aren’t scheduled confessions - if you need to, explain your situation to the priest and make an appointment to see him at a time that you can manage - you can ask to meet him in the confessional if anonymity is an issue. Most priests are fine with hearing confessions at unscheduled times.
TheRealJuliane said:
Well, that was awkward.

Not the confession, I didn’t get to go after all. Just telling my husband that I can’t receive at Notre Dame tomorrow and saying I wanted to go to confession, was awkward. Of course he wanted to know why. Of course I didn’t want to tell him. He thinks the Church goes overboard about sin and doesn’t think most things we do qualify as sin. :eek: He was not excited about getting me to confession this evening. (There don’t seem to be vigil Masses here - heck, the congregation might reach 75 people in the one Sunday Mas, there’s no need for another one!) I could have pushed for it, but I decided to just let it go and not receive.

So the question got answered, but not in a positive way. I would have loved receiving in Notre Dame, but it’s OK just to go to Mass there, it’s not going to kill me to miss receiving one week. I am not in danger of death! 😉 That I know of.

Most parishes do not offer confession on Sunday, so I don’t expect anything to change between now and tomorrow. And on Monday I return home and can confess before next Sunday, so it’s all good.

Thank you for your help, fellow Catholics. I will save the wording in case I need it next time!
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You could ask the priest if he does speak English or if he doesn’t then he may be able to find someone for you. I think you would find it more beneficial if the priest can reply back to your confession in full rather than be a language barrier.
Anglican Confessions don’t have a scheduled time so we do have to ring the priest to arrange a confession though no doubt each church has different ways of doing so as such. So I would imagine its the same with Romans… It don’t have to be before a service too comes to that. Don’t be affraid though to ask the priest if he speaks English or can find one who does because it be better in a language you both understand so you can be fully heard and supported.
 
We did make it to Mass at Notre Dame. I did not receive. It was still a lovely Mass. We did miss the start b/c we walked a long way from the Metro and were late. The organ was amazing. I wish I could have that cathedral as my home church!!! The only distracting thing was the crowd of people all around taking photos, like we were monkeys in a zoo or something.

After the Mass, we walked around the cathedral…Most people were honoring the explicit signage to be quiet, but there was one family where the dad was talking at normal voice level as he strolled through the middle of the space…He kept on and kept on and finally I got annoyed. I got his attention, walked over to one of the signs, pointed at it and said, “SHHHH!” I think they were Russian or Polish. They did look a bit startled but I didn’t hear anything else out of him after that. People forget that they are not in a tourist attraction but an actual house of God.

:mad:
 
Tridentinum said:
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.
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Just to be safe, make sure you log out of your Google/gmail account before doing that 😃
 
just ask the priest for an english speaking priest. there will be many and will not be a big deal for them. The cathedral you went to probably has one they know of if not the priest whom you ask. Our priest in England though he is slightly unsual as parish priests go by as was a army chaplin speaks (some) Japanese and French. So I guess there be many French priests who can hear confession in English. I still think if you want to do the confession the justice you want then its best in your own language and get the real support and advice along with it too.
 
Coming from Quebec, where most priests do speak some English. I think your best bet is to call a bunch of parishes and ask if the priest speaks english. You’ll probably get more success if you concentrate on the bigger churches such as Cathedrals or the churches located in major touristy areas.
 
I would be shocked if the priest you confess to did not study english in seminary.

I travel a lot and I’ve never had any problem in any country I’ve ever visited.
 
just call and ask him:) hard I know but I bet you wonder what all the ‘fuss’ was about once you have:)
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
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)

😃 🙂 😉 :rolleyes:
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:)😉
 
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