Confession times--frequency or infrequency

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bklynguy
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I’m lucky to have a nearby parish that offers confession daily (except Sundays). It’s wonderful as I get to go once every week or two and not have to worry about going on one specific day at a specific time.
 
ccmcmg said:
I’m just curious; why did you get there just before 1, that is, right at closing time? The priest may have been there for 30 minutes, alone, before leaving; it might have been a full hour. Could you have waited until the baptism was over, and asked the priest for confession then?

We do not only have to go to our home parish for confession. What do you mean, ‘puts it off’? They purposely cancel confessions on a regular basis?

Exactly.

My tiny home town parish (700 people in town, less than 10% Catholic, 1/2 of those regular attendees) was lucky to have any confessions; we shared a priest with 2 or 3 other towns, and were lucky if Father arrived more than a few minutes before Mass started, and then he had to leave to get to the next town’s Mass. The ‘nearest’ other towns were a hardship for my family to get to on Saturdays or Sundays. We never missed a Mass, but rarely went to Confession.

God bless the priests who sit in silence and wait for hours with no one showing up. If you have grave concerns, call the priest and ask for a confession before Mass, or go to another parish. There is a TLM parish that has confessions through the beginning of Mass, and during benediction. Let’s remember that there is in some areas a priest shortage, and Confession is not the only sacrament that they attend to. (Baptism being one of them…)
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My thoughts, exactly. If you got there at 12:57, the priest probably assumed that no one else was coming.

It’s been the rule at every parish I’ve attended (with the exception of my current one) that confession is only for an hour on Saturdays. Even with large congregations, I never had an issue. If confession is being regularly canceled because of events like baptisms and weddings, I think it’s worth bringing up to the pastor. You can ask that confession be moved to an earlier or later time for that day, with an announcement in the bulletin.

The only exceptions to the “one hour a week” rule have been Notre Dame, where you can go to confession at the Basilica pretty much every day, and my current parish, that offers confession for about an hour every day, including Sunday, and multiple hours throughout Saturday. I think the Diocese of Arlington encourages plentiful confession opportunities. We are definitely very blessed here.
 
During Lent, more churches are offering more frequent times. For those who are more tech savvy, look up local churches and their sites/bulletins to find Confession times. Many of my local churches are offering: more Saturday time, more times in morning/afternoon and/or evening on a weekday or 2.
 
Bklynguy said:
Does anyone else here get frustrated by parishes offering the sacrament of confession once per week for an hour and then even sometimes cutting that short, or even completely out, for weddings and funerals?

I realize it is the penitent’s fault for committing grave sin. However, I am wondering if anyone else has experienced their parish making available this sacrament on a very infrequent basis.
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My only complaint about the hour of regular confession times is that, as one of the cantors, they’re during Vespers and 3rd Hour, which I’m busy helping lead! The local Roman parishes are typically saturday afternoons,
 
We have twice a week available most of the year and 3 times a week during Lent plus an all day 12 hours with various priests during Lent and Advent. Sometimes other times are announced. I was disappointed when the Thursday evening confessions were cancelled as this was the easiest to get to, although we have moved now and there some more opportunities fairly close, even though we haven’t changed parishes.
 
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