Does your parish offer confession before or in between Masses?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lepanto
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lepanto

Guest
Could such a thing even be possible if there is only one priest? (And he’s the one who has to say Mass.)
 
yes before evening Mass on Saturday. Obviously with one priest that is the only time he can hear confessions, Sunday Masses are too close together, he barely has time to take a deep breath between 4 Masses on Sunday. He will stay Saturday to hear confessions after Mass if there are still people in line at 6 pm.
 
In theory we have confession before Masses but in fact you have to go get the priest and request it. When I first got here the priest was in the confessional for 30 minutes, starting 45 minutes before Mass, but the last pastor refused to sit in the confessional and the present one hasn’t resumed the practice – first of all they never show up 45 minutes before Mass. 15 if we’re lucky.

We only have 2 Masses on Sunday (1 on Saturday evening, 1 on Sunday) and if our pastor has to serve the parish down the road he leaves right after our 10 am Mass to go celebrate the 12 pm Mass down the road.
 
No. My parish does not offer confessions before or between Masses on Sunday.

As to whether or not such a thing is generally possible if there is only one priest… that would depend on such things as if the priest lives on the same premises as the church building, the amount of time between Masses, and whether or not the priest has other sacramental duties he must perform on Sunday.
 
My parish:
  • Saturday, Eve of Holy Day, Thursday before First Friday: 2:30-3:30 & 7:30-8:00 p.m.
  • Sunday: 45 min. before the 9:30 a.m. and Noon Mass until the Gospel starts
    Essential, they are the Minimum times. I have seen Saturday’s go until the Gospel.
In addition, there are points where we as many as 5 boxes going on Saturday and 4 on Sunday and there are always lines. In fact, there was people in line when they cut off at the Gospel at the 9:30 Mass this morning. The people stayed in line for the next session before the Noon Mass.
 
Confessions at my parish:
30 minutes before weekday afternoon (5:30pm) Mass.
3:00 to 4:00 on Saturday.

On weekdays the priest usually arrives before 5pm, so it can be more like 35 or 40 minutes.
 
Before and during. Several Masses per day. Seven days per week.

That’s the church I attend whenever possible.

At the other church – the opposite, but I do attend only at the really reverential service – it’s only 45 minutes, every Saturday. Appointments for anything else.

Some churches (I don’t think in my diocese) have confession only by appointment. I think that’s ridiculous, & discourages confession.
 
My parish has English-language confession before Mass and after Mass (we only have one English-speaking priest and one English Mass). The Mass occasionally starts late because the priest is still hearing confessions. When that happens, the choir director will run through the music with the congregation and lecture us on not singing loudly enough. :rolleyes:
 
We have confession on Saturday for 30 minutes (3:00-3:30) Mass begins at 4:00. Also “15 minutes before” daily Masses. As near as I can figure, this means that confession starts at about 6:15 and lasts until 6:20, 6:25 with Mass at 6:30.

On the one hand, I wish we had more times. Sometimes it is hard to hit these little windows of time. On the other hand, I’ve never had to wait for more than 1 or 2 people ahead of me.
 
peregrinus_WA said:
My parish:
  • Saturday, Eve of Holy Day, Thursday before First Friday: 2:30-3:30 & 7:30-8:00 p.m.
  • Sunday: 45 min. before the 9:30 a.m. and Noon Mass until the Gospel starts
    .
Click to expand...
that is the ideal, but sadly not the reality, missing is the key piece of info: how many priests?
 
puzzleannie said:
that is the ideal, but sadly not the reality, missing is the key piece of info: how many priests?
Click to expand...
Only two priests in the parish I refer to as offering daily confession and several daily masses. But they don’t try to be secular heroes, just sacramental activists instead. (What a concept; perhaps other priests should try that.)

These priests are very happy, very peaceful. No parishioner goes there with the intent of engaging in social activity or political activism, at least sponsored or supported by the priests. The parish is not a launching pad for every Cause in the nation. Nor are the priests called upon to get involved in catholic social groups of any kind. Those can survive without priests!

The liturgical seasons are celebrated, & include the needs of children insofar as things like St. Nicholas visits & the like are concerned. But overwhelmingly, this is a very, very traditional parish (pre-V II parish in flavor). There is no parish hall.
 
Lepanto said:
Could such a thing even be possible if there is only one priest? (And he’s the one who has to say Mass.)
Click to expand...
We are extremely blessed at my parish. We only have 2 priests (and 1 “in residence”) but we have 3 Masses per day, every day with confessions heard after each Mass.
Code: 
Sat:  Confession from 3:15 to 4:00 but sometimes longer depending on the line. Both priests are hearing at this time.

Sunday: Confession from 4:00 - 4:45 before LifeTeen Mass.(We have a total of 6 Masses on Sunday)
As for the weekday Masses, we are blessed with a Basilian House of Pray a few blocks away and the priests in residence assist with the weekday Masses.
 
At my current parish assignment, confessions are from 4:00 to 4:30 on Saturdays.

At my last parish, confessions were scheduled for 6:30-8:00 AM, M-Tu-Th-F, 6:00-8:00 PM Wednesdays, and 7:00-11:00 AM Saturdays, and there were always people waiting to go into the confessional.
 
Lepanto said:
Could such a thing even be possible if there is only one priest? (And he’s the one who has to say Mass.)
Click to expand...
This parish? No. 😦 Then again, Father has 3 parishes spread over 3 counties.

One of my old parishes had confession before every single mass, 15 min before it started. Father took as many as he could, the rest had to wait until either before the next mass started, or the traditional Sat. afternoon. He was the only priest too, and we had a busy mass schedule with both English and Spanish masses.
 
Our parish has confessions heard 1/2 hour before every Mass ( weekdays and weekends)

Our parish does have a pastor, an associate pastor and a 92 year old ‘retired’ priest in residence.

On the weekdays, the celebrant of the Mass will hear confessions, along with one of the other priests.

The celebrant will leave to hear Mass, and on weekdays, the other priest will continue to hear confessions up until Communion time. At that point he will leave to help distribute Holy Communion.

On Sunday Masses, the hearing of confessions will stop before Mass, so the penitents can fulfill their Sunday obligation.
 
Lepanto said:
Could such a thing even be possible if there is only one priest? (And he’s the one who has to say Mass.)
Click to expand...
Yes, my parish has 3700 families and 2 priests. Confession is on Saturday from 2:45 to 3:45 before the 4 PM Mass and on Tuesday evenings before the 6 PM Mass, and by appointment. Sadly though the Confession lines don’t always reflect the size of the parish.

Also, I’m very happy to say our pastors have increased times for Confession during Catechism classes.
 
Growing up, in the 60’s and 70’s… I remember Confessions being offered during Mass. I pray that we get back to that, soon. Our new Pastor and 2 other new priests… are taking the Sacrament of Reconciliation very seriously. Praise God! :heaven:

As yet, we do not have Confessions on Sunday… prior to Mass… however, they ARE offering nightly Confessions and extended Confessions on Saturday (during Advent). They are attempting to gauge “interest”, I guess. But from what I’ve heard… the turn out has been BIG.

I even have high hopes, this year… that the Sacrament will be made available to us the day before Divine Mercy Sunday; in the past 3 years, the former Pastor denied the Sacrament to us… going so far, as to place a big “NO CONFESSIONS TODAY” sign on the door of the Church, the day before Divine Mercy Sunday.

Thanks for bringing up the topic. God bless.
 
Our parish had Confession at 7 pm on Saturdays when we first moved here, which I thought was odd since the Vigil was at 5 and it would seem better to attend Mass after Confession. Confession is now moved to 4:30 and the Vigil is at 5:15. Confession is also available at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday Morning. We usually have a Penance Service during Advent and Lent, and several priest are available at that time. Of course, the Sacrament is always available upon request.

A neighboring parish offers daily Confessin before 9 a.m. Mass, which is wonderful.
 
In my present parish, with three priests, Confessions are scheduled 3:30 to 4:30 and 7:30 to 8:30 each Saturday afternoon/evening, except when they are not offered 🤷 . This month there will be no Saturday Confessions, only a single Wednesday evening communal penance service and general absolution.
In a neighboring parish, the Saturday schedule is the same, except when the pastor decides to close the church following the 7 p.m.Vigil Mass 😦 . That parish has two priests assigned and a weekend resident priest. Sometime during Advent, they will invite as many as a dozen priests from around the diocese, and will have penance service followed by individual confessions.
My Mexican parish has one priest, serving one parish church and 20 outlying chapels. He celebrates Mass three times a day, seven days a week, and will hear confessions before or after any of the Masses, and virtually any other time if requested; he carries a purple stole in his pocket.:getholy:
 
Elizabeth502 said:
Only two priests in the parish I refer to as offering daily confession and several daily masses. But they don’t try to be secular heroes, just sacramental activists instead. (What a concept; perhaps other priests should try that.)

.
Click to expand...
I agree heartily with the concept of priests being activists for the sacraments, and those who know me understand my contention that one of the biggest abuses rampant in the Church today has to do with priests who act as if they do not believe in the efficacy of the sacraments.

However, and canon law has already been cited on this thread, in this diocese a priest is allowed to say only one daily Mass and 3 on Sunday and holy day, unless he has specific permission for a specific reason. Such would include needing to add Mass in another language where congregation would be badly served by dropping one of the other Masses, or service to a mission. Don’t know if adding a Latin Mass would qualify as I believe only 2 parishes have done so, one of whom has been offering it all along, by permission.

However that does not preclude spending more time in the confessional, esp. during Advent and Lent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top