How do priests determine what penance to give?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sir_Knight
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sir_Knight

Guest
I once confessed the EXACT same sin to two different priests (at different times, of course, and in different places) and one priest gave me a penance of saying 15 decades of the rosary each day for a month while the other priest had me say ONE Our Father.

How do priests determine what penance to give and why do some priests give very light penances while other priests give much harder ones?
 
My opinion only:

Personality of the priest.
His own struggles with that particular sin.
His experiences with someone who suffered from that particular sin.
He was in a good/bad mood, for whatever reason.

I think those are just some of the reasons why you get a different penance from different priests for the exact same sin.

They’re like parents. Remember being Super Parent with your first child? By the time #4 or 5 gets here, you have relaxed considerably.

I don’t think there’s a manual that they consult. If there were, it would be quite large!
 
Gods gives us guidance.

It should be something to help the person reflex on thier actions and be a correction in thier behavior.
 
Sir Knight:
I once confessed the EXACT same sin to two different priests (at different times, of course, and in different places) and one priest gave me a penance of saying 15 decades of the rosary each day for a month while the other priest had me say ONE Our Father.

How do priests determine what penance to give and why do some priests give very light penances while other priests give much harder ones?
Click to expand...
It could be a difference between those who are liberal and those who are conservative. Liberal priests like to downplay mortal sins, so they give light penances. I’d rather get the hard ones; they help to show that you are a sinner, and need to repent, while the easier simply don’t say much at all. You know, just keep on sinning. And I that’s wrong, that implies that you don’t need to stop sinning and that you don’t have to do Good Works. So I would recomend going to the harder priest, so you know that you can stop sinning the same sins over and over again, and so you can eventually have self-control. This eventually leads to the Love of God. And you become more human.
 
OK, so maybe I’m just spiritually lazy, but I’d go back to the priest who gives the one Our Father.
 
WOW One rosary a day for a month (ontop of normal daily prayers)
I do think the liberal/conservative nature of a priest determines penance but one of the best I have recieved was from a Franciscan at a youth Holy Hour, he gave me one Our Father, then commented on how small but powerful it was. He then asked me to meditate on every few words of it in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Smart Priest!!!
 
I am inclined to think that you punched the pope or somthing. That is a heavy penance.

I confess once a month. What I say to the priest is this. “father would it suit the church if I say X number of Rosaries in reparation?” I was told one time by a holy man that suggesting pennance is OK. My Confessor allows it in addition to his penance. Which is OK to me. I went to confession yesterday and for the first time my confessor acted upset with me. I believe it was a particular sin that he personally feels is supremely scandalous. He was pretty stern with me. And I appreciated it.
 
Attitude of the priest and attitude of the penitent.

If the penitent says “Gee, father, are you still over 500 pounds?”, then he might expect a harsh penance.

Some really senior priests seem to have the approach that just coming to confession is penance enough for a penitent, so they say “glad you came here today; welcome back” and they give one Our Father or “take your wife out to dinner”.
 
40.png
Fr_Chuck:
Gods gives us guidance.

It should be something to help the person reflex on thier actions and be a correction in thier behavior.
Click to expand...
And here I though my confessor was trying to hone in on some point on the wall that flashed the output from a penance computer.😉
 
one of the teens asked Father this question on “Stump the Priest” night. He said they gave a class in seminary on this topic. The penance in no way makes up for the sin, only the sacrifice of Christ on the cross could do that, so it is symbolic, and chosen to be something that will help the penitent. He always gives the children in first confession the Our Father as a penance, because that is the perfect prayer.
 
Well, I noticed as I started going to confession more and more (twice a month) and I started going to the same priest, my penance got harsher. haha.

My first confession back in the Church, the penance was light. But as I continue to go and “nip sins in the bud” sometimes my penance gets harder. I was confused, but then I thought about it.

Sometimes a harsh penance can scare someone away from sinning again. “Man, last time Father gave me all this penance, I don’t want to have to do that again…”

For me, every time I think about sinning I think in my head “I do NOT want to have to confess that.” And I don’t do it. Maybe I don’t do it for the wrong reasons, but I don’t do it none the less. Confession is cool. 😃

Edit: Now that I think about it, I am not scared of confession anymore like when I was a retrobate. Now I don’t sin just because the sin doesn’t cross my mind anymore. Confession IS cool.

Adam
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top