Couldn't do my penance. Now what?

[Filii_Dei]

I would do this: Since you could not and did not fulfill it that night, you could make up for it by doing something very similar (such as praying your penance during Adoration at another time), and then communicating this to your priest when you next confess to him. However, this does not necessarily mean that you have already fulfilled the penance he originally gave you - it is merely a substitute measure for the penance you could not originally fulfill. The reason you do this is so that you can ask if it was acceptable (and he accepts this as fulfilling your obligation to do a penance which is now chronologically impossible to achieve) or if you should repeat or add to it. I suggest this simply as I would as a Catholic who would err hugely on the side of caution and not presume my obligations to be abrogated simply because it has already passed.

Remember, none of us (except for the occasional priest and brother) speak with the authority of the Church. All we give here are simply opinions, some more correct and others less so, but who is to say which is which? The true authority lies with your spiritual director, in this case your priest, in whose witness you made your confession.

 

[aspirant]

Although he would probably respond, “That’s a Greek word.”

A heckuva lot of English words come from somewhere else.

 

[englishredrose]

Background: I confess weekly, on Fridays, late in the afternoon. My parish has Adoration for two hours every Friday evening except during school vacation periods. I always go to Friday Adoration when it’s available, and I always stay for the entire two hours. I am the sacristan who prepares the chapel for Adoration, so I have a key to the church.

I have not been able to catch up with my confessor to ask this question and he will be away this coming Friday (I’m confessing to a different priest this week), so I hope he’s not the only person who can answer it!

Last Friday (April 12th), I received as penance something I was supposed to do during Adoration that evening. My confessor was very specific about it having to be that evening. So I went to Adoration; lo and behold, the priest who was supposed to expose the Blessed Sacrament never showed up. Half an hour into the Adoration period I was alone in an empty church. My instructions when that happens are to put everything away (monstrance, corporal, tabernacle key), lock up the church, and leave. That’s exactly what I did.

But…because there was no Adoration, I couldn’t do my penance. I’m not sure what to do now…?

if your instructions stated you had to do it at that time then all you need to do is go back to that priest in confession and explain to him what happend and he will do as he sees fit with the penance. You are forgiven by all accounts so just go back to him and explain it as you did and that is what you do now