Green Stole for Confession?

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YehoiakhinEx232

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I’ve noticed that my priest wears green stole while hearing Confession, is that acceptable? Are the Confessions he’s heard valid? I’m pretty sure I felt the graces when he pronounced absolution, but I’m not sure.
 
Green: The color of vestments used during ordinary time.
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So if you don’t feel grace, is that a sign that you did not receive it?
 
No. Whether you “felt” the grace or not is not what matters. As long as you are truthfully sorry for your sins, it is a valid confession.
 
The prescribed color for the stole for confessions is violet.

Wearing the wrong color, or for that matter no stole at all, does not invalidate the absolution.

There can be times when a priest might wear the wrong color stole. It might be all he has available if he’s travelling. It might be that he’s already vested for Mass and someone wants a last-second confession. Of course, there could be other times as well. White can always be used if the proper color is genuinely unavailable.

Nevertheless, a priest is obligated to follow the norms of the Church when he celebrates the sacraments.

No priest has any right nor any authority to decide for himself to intentionally wear a green stole when he hears confessions.

He is obligated to wear a violet stole, and he is obligated to ensure that there is one available for him to use.
 
memes said:
No. Whether you “felt” the grace or not is not what matters. As long as you are truthfully sorry for your sins, it is a valid confession.
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No, that’s not the only requirement for a valid absolution.
 
I fail to see how the Priest’s clothing has any effect on the validity of confession. Last time I went the priest was wearing glasses; does that make my sins unobsolved?
 
BornInMarch said:
I fail to see how the Priest’s clothing has any effect on the validity of confession. Last time I went the priest was wearing glasses; does that make my sins unobsolved?
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That does not change the fact that it does (at least can) have an effect on whether or not the sacrament is celebrated licitly.

Vestments are an important element in our Catholic faith. We have a sacramental theology and we are a sacramental people. The physical objects which we use are not mere decorations. There are reasons, good solid reasons, why priests wear vestments in the first place.

There’s nothing fair about comparing wearing glasses to wearing the prescribed stole. The sacramentals of the Church (in this case vesture) deserve more than a cavalier and dismissive attitude expressed by that comparison.

We do not reduce the celebration of the sacraments to being the bare minimum required for validity.

Under normal circumstances, a priest is required to wear a violet stole for Confessions. No one says there cannot be exceptions. Yet, the possibility of exceptions (no matter how frequent they might be) does not remove the obligation of the priest to follow the proper ritual, the rite; and part of that rite is that the priest is wearing a stole in the color violet, not just any color of his own personal choosing.
 
Sorry if I caused offense, that was not my intention. I was unaware of what you had told me.
 
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We’re in "Ordinary time: and GREEN is the color of Vestments in this period.

The color of the STOLE is a “PRACTICE” NOT a Doctrine

Practices ARE changeable, Doctrines are not.’

So a STOLE’S color [or even the lack of one] does not invalidate ANY Confession

God B;less you, Confess often
Patrick
 
PJM said:
We’re in "Ordinary time: and GREEN is the color of Vestments in this period.

The color of the STOLE is a “PRACTICE” NOT a Doctrine

Practices ARE changeable, Doctrines are not.’

So a STOLE’S color [or even the lack of one] does not invalidate ANY Confession

God B;less you, Confess often
Patrick
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What you aren’t seeing is that a priest has an obligation to follow the rubrics when he administers the sacraments.

Green is not the color for the stole for confession. Using the wrong color does not invalidate the confession; but that’s not the point.

While there can always be exceptions (and I did give one example earlier, of a priest who is already vested for Mass and hears a last-minute confession) that does not excuse priests who intentionally fail to wear the proper color.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
According to Fr. Z, the stole isn’t required at all, so it’s hard to see a color mattering.

Also, found this picture from Catholic News Agency of a “confess-a-thon” in a shopping mall in Colombia sponsored by the bishops’ conference.!
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There is a difference between what is required for the validity at the bare minimum and what is proper and what is the obligation of the priest.

I do not know why that priest wore a green stole in the photo. That I cannot say. What I can say however, is that every priest has an obligation to wear a violet stole for confessions, and an obligation to have one available when he knows he’s going to hear confessions.

Maybe he wasn’t scheduled to hear confessions. Maybe he went to the mall to do some shopping and a brother priest said “here, I have an extra one, use mine, sorry but green is the only one I have” Good for him!

Still though, the photograph does not change the fact that a priest is obligated to use a violet stole, so long as this is possible.

The choice of the color of the stole at confession is not the prerogative of the individual priest. It simply is not, no matter what someone might post on CAF.
 
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Father I absolutely AGREE, and was trying to make the point that the color of the stole does not invalidate the Confession itself.

God BLESS YOU and thank you for your ministry and POSTING here on CAF

Patrick
 
PJM said:
Father I absolutely AGREE, and was trying to make the point that the color of the stole does not invalidate the Confession itself.

God BLESS YOU and thank you for your ministry and POSTING here on CAF

Patrick
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Yes. I agree with you, it does not invalidate the confession.

However, there is more to the subject matter than just that one question “does it invalidate?”

That’s what I’m trying to say.

All too often (and no, I don’t mean you, or your post) today, Catholics seem to have this attitude of “as long as it meets the bare minimum for validity that’s all I care about or that’s all that matters.”

I will admit though, that it did seem to me that’s what you were trying to say in your earlier post. I now know that’s not what you meant. It seemed as if you were defending the use of a green stole because it matches the color of the season.

What I’m saying is that there is more that matters beyond just validity all by itself. There are other important values to be upheld.
 
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FrDavid96 said:
All too often (and no, I don’t mean you, or your post) today, Catholics seem to have this attitude of “as long as it meets the bare minimum for validity that’s all I care about or that’s all that matters.”
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This makes me so sad. I see it in many way in my parish and I was blessed to belong to a good parish. We have a experienced holy priest who is not afraid to draw a line. While he does have some requirements many people see it as hoops to jump through.
 
The stole represents the office of the priesthood, not the validity of the sacrament.
 
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