Confession: received a non standard absolution- was my confession valid?

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The priest gave me penance and I said the act of contrition. Then he said what sounded like “In the name of Jesus Christ you are absolved from your sins”. He had a foreign accent so it was a little hard to understand it and it’s possible he really did say “In the name of Jesus Christ I absolve you from your sins” and I just didn’t hear it.

To me if it was the latter I would feel more comfortable that it was valid as the key words I absolve you are there but I’m not sure they were. It involves mortal sin so I feel like I have to go back to confession soon to be sure of absolution but for future reference if he says “you are absolved from your sins” - can that possibly be interpreted as the valid form? I’m wondering if he just translated it that way to English and the intent was there?
 
Sbee0 said:
The priest gave me penance and I said the act of contrition. Then he said what sounded like “In the name of Jesus Christ you are absolved from your sins”. He had a foreign accent so it was a little hard to understand it and it’s possible he really did say “In the name of Jesus Christ I absolve you from your sins” and I just didn’t hear it.

To me if it was the latter I would feel more comfortable that it was valid as the key words I absolve you are there but I’m not sure they were. It involves mortal sin so I feel like I have to go back to confession soon to be sure of absolution but for future reference if he says “you are absolved from your sins” - can that possibly be interpreted as the valid form? I’m wondering if he just translated it that way to English and the intent was there?
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Just my opinion but I believe you are ok. If this happened to me in the confessional I wouldn’t likely think twice about it. Scruples can be a hard thing to overcome sometimes and it sounds like you are dealing with it. I will be praying for you but in the mean time just relax and trust in the mercy of God.
 
AppyCatholic said:
Just my opinion but I believe you are ok. If this happened to me in the confessional I wouldn’t likely think twice about it. Scruples can be a hard thing to overcome sometimes and it sounds like you are dealing with it. I will be praying for you but in the mean time just relax and trust in the mercy of God.
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Thank you Appy that makes me feel better! I think it’s possible I’m being scrupulous but just wanted to be sure.
 
Sbee0 said:
Yes I do remember asking something similar before but in this case I wasn’t sure if he said I absolve you, and if he didn’t - does the intent “count”? I will check with my priest how to act in that circumstance.

Thanks!
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please speak to your Priest.

i have 2 Priests with accents. i trust them to absolve me, none the less.

We need faith in our Priests. they went to Priest School
and they know their job .
 
It’s important to know who God is before tackling this sort of question. If you think that, after making an honest confession in good faith to an ordained priest, God will withhold forgiveness and mercy and the graces of the sacrament due to the priest using wording you are not used to, then you have a long way to go in discovering who He is. Take the time to get to really know Him. You will save a lot of time and futile effort on questions such as this.
 
I will tell you what the best priest in the world Fr. Vincent Serpa said to me, you are confessing to God, the priest is just a vessel, if you were sincere in your confession, you are forgiven.
 
Sbee0 said:
Thank you Appy that makes me feel better! I think it’s possible I’m being scrupulous but just wanted to be sure.
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If I were you, I would still talk to your priest as words are important when it comes to the Sacraments. If the words of Consecration are not correctly said, no valid consecration!. Maybe the priest doesn’t speak English well enough to know the proper way and he needs help to see that too. God Bless, Memaw
 
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