Confession Schedule

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lewevanhoop

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Why is it that you almost never find a parish that has daily confessions at multiple times? It would definitely make living the sacramental life easier.
 
Well, I don’t know about having it at multiple times, although that would be nice too, but I have also always wondered why there can’t at least be confessions 30-45 minutes before each Mass that is celebrated - i.e., daily (assuming the parish has daily Mass).
 
Because having a priest sit alone in a confessional for hours each day isn’t a good use of his time. Sometimes there are urban parishes that have long daily confession times, but they are drawing people from a wide area.

I have never found a priest to be unwilling to hear a confession by appointment. If the scheduled times don’t work well for you, call the parish and make an appointment at a time that is convenient.
 
lewevanhoop said:
Why is it that you almost never find a parish that has daily confessions at multiple times? It would definitely make living the sacramental life easier.
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This doesn’t seem like it would be practical for most parishes, but I’ve always wondered why parishes in the same area, perhaps by deanery, don’t coordinate confession schedules so that they are not all at the same time and day. In this area, the vast majority of parishes have confession from 3-4 on Saturday. It would be nice to have, say, Tuesday evening at one parish, Saturday morning at another, and Saturday afternoon at a third, etc.
 
Depends on the palace.

I remember one my Priest Spiritual Directors - his Parish had confession before all the daily Masses both morning and evening.

Shines and Cathedrals too have such.
 
Convenience is nice, but in my experience its worth is nothing compared to the gift of a singular good confessor This is especially true when one avails themselves of the sacrament often. I would encourage you to search for the confessor who will best help you grow in your faith and draw closer to God. Then make the necessary accommodations in your schedule.
 
Bookcat said:
Depends on the -]palace./-] place…

I remember one my Priest Spiritual Directors - his Parish had confession before all the daily Masses both morning and evening.

Shines and Cathedrals too have such.
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Though Kings did have their personal confessors…
 
Is there a FSSP parish in you area?
Ours offers Confession before all Masses, and throughout Masses on Sundays, Holydays, First Fridays and First Saturdays.
We have access to daily confession an different times of the day, (and sometimes several different times each day) as per our Mass schedule:

Sunday 8:00 AM (@ Holyrood Cemetery) 11:45 AM (High Mass) 5:00 PM (@ SS. Peter and Paul)
Monday & Wednesday 7:30 PM
Tuesday & Thursday 6:30 AM, 12:10 PM
Friday 12:10 PM (7:30 PM on First Fridays)
Saturday 11:00 AM
Holydays 12:10 PM 7:30 PM (High Mass)
 
bobballen_18 said:
Well, I don’t know about having it at multiple times, although that would be nice too, but I have also always wondered why there can’t at least be confessions 30-45 minutes before each Mass that is celebrated - i.e., daily (assuming the parish has daily Mass).
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Our parish does that. 30 minutes before daily Mass (except Mondays) and about 30-45 minutes before each of the weekend Masses. Plus Tuesday nights during Holy Hour, and Fridays at Stations of the Cross. And there’s usually still a line at each. Sorry for bragging… 😃

Other parishes in the area have Confession available at various times, too.

I suspect it’s partly dependent on how busy the priest is with other duties, and partly on how many people make use of Confession. Maybe if there were longer lines during the Confession times that are available, or people were more often calling to schedule a Confession time, the priest would make it regularly available more often? 😉
 
One can always call the parish to schedule confession with a priest, at least in all of the parishes I have been in.
 
bobballen_18 said:
Well, I don’t know about having it at multiple times, although that would be nice too, but I have also always wondered why there can’t at least be confessions 30-45 minutes before each Mass that is celebrated - i.e., daily (assuming the parish has daily Mass).
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It would depend on how many priests are in the parish and what their other duties are. It’s surprising how much time-consuming detail is involved in the running of even a relatively small parish.
 
lewevanhoop said:
Why is it that you almost never find a parish that has daily confessions at multiple times? It would definitely make living the sacramental life easier.
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Our parish has two priests, three churches, 10,000+ families, 4-10 funerals weekly, two hospitals, and we still manage to offer confessions Sun, Wed and Fri @ 4 PM at one location, and Sat @ 3 PM at three locations. I think offering scheduled confession every day would be asking too much.

BTW, Daily Mass is at 7 AM, I wouldn’t ask them to come in at 6 AM to hear confessions.

The parish across the river from us has two priests, more churches and far more area to cover. I’m sure they offer even less scheduled confessions than we do.
 
Mine’s always happy to schedule a meeting in his office. It’s always a moving experience. 👍
 
Mary_Ellen said:
Our parish has two priests, three churches, 10,000+ families, 4-10 funerals weekly, two hospitals, and we still manage to offer confessions Sun, Wed and Fri @ 4 PM at one location, and Sat @ 3 PM at three locations. I think offering scheduled confession every day would be asking too much.

BTW, Daily Mass is at 7 AM, I wouldn’t ask them to come in at 6 AM to hear confessions.

The parish across the river from us has two priests, more churches and far more area to cover. I’m sure they offer even less scheduled confessions than we do.
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Plus they have to Pray the Hours several times a day.

In my experience, if people come to scheduled hours, the priests will have them. But if no one comes and they sit in the confessional without seeing anyone or maybe just one confession, it is better for them to schedule confessions.

That way, they can work on all the different things they have to do.

For example: my parish only has two priests and the pastor is also the Dean. So he’s often at the Archdiocese’s pastoral center in meetings during the week, then at hospitals, visiting shut-ins, visiting with the elementary school principal, the pre-school principal, etc. The other priest has a very sick sister and is often with her when possible. Then throw in funerals, etc.

However, the one place that I personally do think that priests could start to offer another Scheduled Confession time is on Sundays. Perhaps just one scheduled time in between two of the scheduled Sunday morning Masses. For example: at my parish, I would love if the priests offered a 10:45 scheduled confession (30 mins before the 11:15 mass) or scheduled for 30 immediately after the 9:15 Mass.
 
phil19034 said:
Plus they have to Pray the Hours several times a day.

In my experience, if people come to scheduled hours, the priests will have them. But if no one comes and they sit in the confessional without seeing anyone or maybe just one confession, it is better for them to schedule confessions.

That way, they can work on all the different things they have to do.

For example: my parish only has two priests and the pastor is also the Dean. So he’s often at the Archdiocese’s pastoral center in meetings during the week, then at hospitals, visiting shut-ins, visiting with the elementary school principal, the pre-school principal, etc. The other priest has a very sick sister and is often with her when possible. Then throw in funerals, etc.

However, the one place that I personally do think that priests could start to offer another Scheduled Confession time is on Sundays. Perhaps just one scheduled time in between two of the scheduled Sunday morning Masses. For example: at my parish, I would love if the priests offered a 10:45 scheduled confession (30 mins before the 11:15 mass) or scheduled for 30 immediately after the 9:15 Mass.
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I agree with all your points, except the last one: Sunday confessions. Nearly every priest that I have worked for has said that praying the Mass on Sundays takes a lot out of them.
They say it’s not like for us. My current pastor won’t even meet with anyone between with the Masses, nor will he “talk shop” with employees, or be willing to be cornered for impromptu counseling by the many people who think that they can get him aside to talk because it’s convenient for them. He goes to his office and spends time in quiet. Shows up for Mass on time, happy and rested. All of our pastors have had this policy. Sunday is Sunday. It’s up to parishioners to take care of things when it’s offered, or to make an appointment.
 
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DCNBILL:
One can always call the parish to schedule confession with a priest, at least in all of the parishes I have been in.
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hello all I am new to this site but I read posts with interest and I learn from the answers. confessions everyday would be a bit much I feel as there would not be enough people to attend each day plus priests are so busy. in my parish in Ireland we have 2 priests and they hear confession on Saturday afternoon and before vigil mass.
 
pianistclare said:
I agree with all your points, except the last one: Sunday confessions. Nearly every priest that I have worked for has said that praying the Mass on Sundays takes a lot out of them.
They say it’s not like for us. My current pastor won’t even meet with anyone between with the Masses, nor will he “talk shop” with employees, or be willing to be cornered for impromptu counseling by the many people who think that they can get him aside to talk because it’s convenient for them. He goes to his office and spends time in quiet. Shows up for Mass on time, happy and rested. All of our pastors have had this policy. Sunday is Sunday. It’s up to parishioners to take care of things when it’s offered, or to make an appointment.
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hmmm… this must be different from Diocese to diocese. In my parish (and in most parishes in my archdiocese) each priest only prays one Mass on Sunday. Rarely do they pray more than one. But in the diocese I used to live in, it’s very common for a priest to pray more than more mass on Sunday.

At my parish, the priest who prays the 5:15 Mass on Saturday night hears the 4-5PM confessions on Saturday. So they are already doing it to themselves at least once a month. At our Cathedral, the priests offer confession 7 days a week (and there are only 3 active priests there). They hear confessions at 9am (in between the 8am and 9:30am Masses) and at 5:30PM before the 6:30 PM Mass. However, the 6:30 Mass is typically the Archbishop, so the priests hearing confessions are not getting ready for mass. And the 9am confession is either heard by the priest who prayed the 8am mass or the priest who will pray the 9:30 – I guess they work that out.

Anyway, I just think there should be a way to offer (even if it’s just for 20 mins after the last mass) a scheduled time on Sunday too. Again, doesn’t have to be before Mass (but that would be nice).

HOWEVER, with that said… I totally respect the priests. If they don’t want to schedule time on Sunday, that’s fine. I’ve never known a priest who wouldn’t hear a quick confession on Sunday after mass.

The true is: if the lines for Confession were longer and if the phone was ringing off the hook to schedule an appointment for Confession, there would be more scheduled times.

God Bless!
 
biffoqueen said:
hello all I am new to this site but I read posts with interest and I learn from the answers. confessions everyday would be a bit much I feel as there would not be enough people to attend each day plus priests are so busy. in my parish in Ireland we have 2 priests and they hear confession on Saturday afternoon and before vigil mass.
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twice on Saturdays is nice too. A parish close to my house (not the parish I live in) has confessions after the 9am, Saturday daily Mass and from 3:45 to 4:45 before 5PM Saturday evening Mass.

I sometimes attend confession after the 9am there if I sin on Friday night or don’t get a chance to attend one of the several week day confession times in the city.
 
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