Do a lot of people show up at the penance services at your parish (if yours has any)?

[CatholicZ09]

I went to a penance service this evening, and there were about fifteen people, including myself, that went. This got me thinking if that’s the case at most parishes. Are the penance services at your parish well-attended or sort of “dry” (for lack of a better word) in attendance?

Also, do you prefer penance services or individual confession?

 

[christofirst]

The penance services I’ve attended here in the city are well attended. I prefer individual Confession, and with many parishes nearby, I am able to find daily Confessions, and also morning or afternoon times (I prefer morning. I lose my nerve by the afternoon!)

 

[felsguy]

300-400 regularly at my own parish. In the past, because of my work schedule, I once attend one at a small neighboring parish where there were 20 people and at a large one where there were several hundred.

I find both types spiritually rewarding and choose one over the other depending on my situation, i.e. usually communal out of devotion and “individual” for more involved guidance.

 

[Agape11]

I went to a penance service this evening, and there were about fifteen people, including myself, that went. This got me thinking if that’s the case at most parishes. Are the penance services at your parish well-attended or sort of “dry” (for lack of a better word) in attendance?

Also, do you prefer penance services or individual confession?

Aren’t penance services and confession totally different? I mean, there is no absolution without confession… right?

 

[christofirst]

Our penance services have individual Confessions. Usually 5 or 6 priests available. There are hymns, readings, then Confession.

 

[CatholicZ09]

Aren’t penance services and confession totally different? I mean, there is no absolution without confession… right?

Penance services aren’t totally different, unless you don’t go to individual confession after the service. Penance services are more of a group thing, and individual confessions are an “on your own” type of thing, obviously.

If you just stay for the service, you receive general absolution, I believe, but it does not take precedence over Confession. It will not absolve you from mortal sins, and individual confessions are encouraged.

 

[maryjk]

I went to a penance service this evening, and there were about fifteen people, including myself, that went. This got me thinking if that’s the case at most parishes. Are the penance services at your parish well-attended or sort of “dry” (for lack of a better word) in attendance?

Also, do you prefer penance services or individual confession?

We generally have 6-8 priests and the wait for Confession is about an hour. I prefer penance services.

Aren’t penance services and confession totally different? I mean, there is no absolution without confession… right?

A Penance Service is Confession.

Our program reads something like this.

Opening hymn
Reading
Psalm
Gospel
General Examination of Conscience
Dismissal to individual Confessions.

People leave after their Confession. There is no General Absolution.

 

[YADA]

Penance services aren’t totally different, unless you don’t go to individual confession after the service. Penance services are more of a group thing, and individual confessions are an “on your own” type of thing, obviously.

If you just stay for the service, you receive general absolution, I believe, but it does not take precedence over Confession. It will not absolve you from mortal sins, and individual confessions are encouraged.

I do not believe that you receive “general absolution” … that would have to be specifically stated and “general absolution” is only given under grave or serious conditions … as in troops going of to battle … and the penitent is reminded to make an individual confession at their first opportunity …

What a Parish communal reconciliation service does in the first aspect of the confession - the greeting, the calling to mind your sins and scripture reading … it does not replace the need to speak your sins to the priest in the confessional … that still remains to be performed …

Our parish penance services [twice a year - Advent / Lent - the two penitential seasons] are well attended … We usually have 6-8 priests available …

 

[CatholicZ09]

I do not believe that you receive “general absolution” … that would have to be specifically stated and “general absolution” is only given under grave or serious conditions … as in troops going of to battle … and the penitent is reminded to make an individual confession at their first opportunity …

What a Parish communal reconciliation service does in the first aspect of the confession - the greeting, the calling to mind your sins and scripture reading … it does not replace the need to speak your sins to the priest in the confessional … that still remains to be performed …

Our parish penance services [twice a year - Advent / Lent - the two penitential seasons] are well attended … We usually have 6-8 priests available …

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if a general absolution was given. I knew either way it doesn’t wipe out mortal sins unless confessed to a priest.

I guess what I meant by general absolution was if it removed venial sins or not without individual confession.

 

[triumphguy]

The only time you will get general absolution is if you’re on a trip something like the Costa Concordia and it starts to sink during mass.

There no general absolution at a Reconciliation Service.

We must get 4-500 at our service, and lots of priest available for confession too.

 

[MissRose73]

If I go to a Communal Service, I prefer the ones that go like this, the last few I’ve been to have had around 100 to 200 people in attendance:

Opening Hymn
Opening Prayers/Remarks
Scripture
Gospel
Brief Homily
Examination of Conscience
Opportunities for Private Confession with Penance & Absolution - multiple priests stationed through out the church
Our Father
Sign of Peace
Closing Remarks/Prayers/Hymn

Otherwise, going to a regular private one I like more as it is short and gets right to the point, some days there will be under 10 people there, other times more. Generally, this is my experience & I’ve not always gone to the same confessor:

Go into the Confessional/Reconciliation Room
Sign of the Cross/ brief Greeting from the priest
“Bless me Father…”
Recite sins
Receive advice / guidance from the Priest
Receive Penance
Recite Act of Contrition
Receive Absolution
Sign of the Cross

*Go outside the Confessional to recite my penance before leaving the church, normally a series of prayers is what I’ve gotten lately.

 

[Orogeny]

I went to a penance service this evening, and there were about fifteen people, including myself, that went. This got me thinking if that’s the case at most parishes. Are the penance services at your parish well-attended or sort of “dry” (for lack of a better word) in attendance?

Ours is tonight and I expect that we will have close to 1,000 people in attendance.

Peace

Tim

 

[maryjk]

If I go to a Communal Service, I prefer the ones that go like this, the last few I’ve been to have had around 100 to 200 people in attendance:

Opening Hymn
Opening Prayers/Remarks
Scripture
Gospel
Brief Homily
Examination of Conscience
Opportunities for Private Confession with Penance & Absolution - multiple priests stationed through out the church
Our Father
Sign of Peace
Closing Remarks/Prayers/Hymn

How do they work this? With 200 people going to private confession, does everyone really wait until the last person is through? Then everyone gathers for a prayer, sign of peace and closing remarks

That seems like it would be a really long time. We also have a couple of hundred people attending. But we leave when we are through with our Confession.

 

[MissRose73]

How do they work this? With 200 people going to private confession, does everyone really wait until the last person is through? Then everyone gathers for a prayer, sign of peace and closing remarks

That seems like it would be a really long time. We also have a couple of hundred people attending. But we leave when we are through with our Confession.

Yes it may take time, each person who wants to make a private confession has the chance to do so. It may take about 30 minutes for all to have turns but at the last one we had 8 to 10 priests present with about 10 to 12 people lined up to take a turn confessing privately to a priest of their choice. The closing takes no more than 10 minutes at most. After I had my turn to confess, I returned to my seat for private prayer / silently recite my penance that consisted of several prayers. I bring a book of prayers with me to read at my seat from while waiting for all to finish after I’ve had my turn.

 

[maryjk]

Yes it may take time, each person who wants to make a private confession has the chance to do so. It may take about 30 minutes for all to have turns but at the last one we had 8 to 10 priests present with about 10 to 12 people lined up to take a turn confessing privately to a priest of their choice. The closing takes no more than 10 minutes at most. After I had my turn to confess, I returned to my seat for private prayer / silently recite my penance that consisted of several prayers. I bring a book of prayers with me to read at my seat from while waiting for all to finish after I’ve had my turn.

Okay, that wouldn’t work for us. Maybe we have more attending. Maybe we take longer for each Confession. Because if you end up at the end of the line for Confession, you may not get out of there for two hours. It would be a lot to ask everyone to stick around for 2 hours while everyone went for private Confession. I am betting that is why we leave after our own Confession.

 

[KCT]

The last one I went to was fairly well attended.

But so is Saturday evening confession! There’s always a line.

 

[Sirach2]

I noted that you live in Pennsylvania, OP. In my area of SW PA, these are very well attended, so much so, that I prefer private confession. Why? The lines are so long for confession in the communal service that standing to confess is tedious and wearying.
Maybe this is why there are so few in the private confessions, because most people go to the former. I rarely have to wait to confess privately, except for a few occasions when there were about 10 ahead of me. Hopefully, people are considerate of others waiting and do not use the confessional for personal counselling. I had to leave when one person was in there over 20 minutes.

 

[ssa_trad_cath]

My parish has Penitential Services, usually one in Advent and one in Lent, usually with one or at most two priests in attendance. There are usually several hundred people at each, from other parishes as well as my own. At the end of the service one of two things happen. Either:

a) We all go up to the priest, tell him “one sin” and then receive absolution, or

b) He gives us General Absolution, in which we all kneel in the pews, the priest extends his hands over us and says the Absolution for everybody at the same time. The prayer he says over us is: “God, the father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the Church may God now give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you of your sine in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Usually when he gives us Absolution as in (b), there is no individual confession, none of us tells our sins to the priest individually. when we have the other form that I desribe in (a), we all go up in line as though we’re going up to receive Holy Communion, and don’t tell all our sins, we just tell the priest one of them.

 

[Phemie]

Ours is tonight and I expect that we will have close to 1,000 people in attendance.

Peace

Tim

Oh, my. My parish of 1500 parishioners sees about 20 at a Penitential Service. It was much higher when General Absolution was offered, but that stopped 10 years ago. Since then the attendance at these services has dropped drastically.

Sunday the priest announced that there would be such a penitential service after Mass on Thursday. Then he said “A few parishioners have expressed the feeling that it would be good if there was confession 15 minutes before Mass. I’ll try to be here 15 minutes early and hear confession.” He almost rolled his eyes at the thought of anyone wanting to go to confession before Mass. Is it any wonder that only a handful show up for confession?

 

[larsenl1]

I went to a penance service this evening, and there were about fifteen people, including myself, that went. This got me thinking if that’s the case at most parishes. Are the penance services at your parish well-attended or sort of “dry” (for lack of a better word) in attendance?

Also, do you prefer penance services or individual confession?

My parish had a mission a few weeks ago and there were roughly 200 participants.