I have a Confession question?

[IAmBlessed2]

Okay since the pandemic of Covid some have not been able to go to confession /Mass
Okay so let me see if i can ask this right

Ok so there is an Act of Contrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,

and I detest all my sins, because of Thy just punishments,

but most of all because they offend Thee, my God,

who art all-good and deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more,

and to avoid the near occasion of sin.

Amen.

So does saying that and meaning it does that reconcile us to God, and cleans us from our sins as it wood Confessing all our sins to the priest?

So many deaths around here ( about 13 in 3 weeks) My Priest has Covid now (Please pray for Ft Reehan)
what do we do if we can not get back to church for awhile :’(,

 

[Jen7]

It absolves of sins, yes. BUT a person cannot receive Communion without them Confessing any mortal sins in type & number of times. It is certainly sufficient for a dying person unable to receive the sacrament of Confession before death! Tragically so many aren’t able to receive the Last Sacraments! I will pray for your priest & parishoners.

 

[IAmBlessed2]

Yes I knew that… I was going to go to confession, Father and I made appointment and he found out test results so I could not go… I was just wondering if An Act of Contrition cleans us as if we went to Priest…
Sorry Im only been a convert 1 year this Easter still learning

 

[Tis_Bearself]

So does saying that and meaning it does that reconcile us to God, and cleans us from our sins as it wood Confessing all our sins to the priest?

No.

When you can’t go to confession, you should make an act of perfect contrition. You can use the prayer you listed, or some other prayer; there’s no set prayer. There are other conditions you must meet for an act of perfect contrition. Here’s an article about it:

What is an act of perfect contrition? A CNA Explainer | Catholic News Agency

HOWEVER, once you have made the act of perfect contrition, you still must resolve to go to confession as soon as you reasonably can get there, like when they start having confessions again after the shutdown. And at that time you will need to confess all your grave-possibly-mortal sins to the priest.

The Act of Perfect Contrition just covers you during the time you can’t reasonably get to confession because confessions aren’t available where you are due to pandemic or whatever. It doesn’t take the place of confessing your grave-possibly-mortal sins to a priest when you’re able to go to confession again. It’s kind of like when you get a crown for your tooth and the dentist gives you a temporary crown until the real one arrives from the manufacturer.

 

[IAmBlessed2]

Yes I plan on it, it will just be awhile since Priest is sick, I was just curious…

 

[Gorgias]

It absolves of sins, yes. BUT a person cannot receive Communion without them Confessing any mortal sins in type & number of times.

We had this discussion in another thread, in which it was pointed out to you that this isn’t absolute, but that there are exceptions to this notion. (If memory serves, you acknowledged that this is true.)

One would hope that you would not continue to present it as an absolute.

It is certainly sufficient for a dying person unable to receive the sacrament of Confession before death!

Still misrepresenting the teaching, I’m afraid. “Danger of death” – in periculo mortis – is not understood to mean merely “actively dying”. It is understood to mean situations in which there is the possibility of death, and not just that it’s actually in process at the moment. A soldier heading into combat, or a person heading into surgery, may be considered to be in periculo mortis. These too, then, would be able to receive the Eucharist in this case.

 

[Jen7]

We had this discussion in another thread, in which it was pointed out to you that this isn’t absolute , but that there are exceptions to this notion. (If memory serves, you acknowledged that this is true.)

Gosh I’m sorry - I don’t remember this! Do you have a link? I don’t mean to be saying something erroneous & would love to know how I’m mistaken!

 

[Jen7]

It is understood to mean situations in which there is the possibility of death, and not just that it’s actually in process at the moment. A soldier heading into combat, or a person heading into surgery, may be considered to be in periculo mortis . These too, then, would be able to receive the Eucharist in this case.

That makes sense but my understanding is that if they DON’T die, they need to skip off to Confession to confess their mortal sins upon the safe return from battle or after living through surgery, etc.

As an aside hopefully it’s not too common that someone is bringing the Eucharist to a person in danger of death but there is no priest…

 

[Gorgias]

Gosh I’m sorry - I don’t remember this! Do you have a link? I don’t mean to be saying something erroneous & would love to know how I’m mistaken!

My mistake! You left the conversation and never admitted the error – Vico and Tis provided the corrections in that thread!

You’re mistaken in that one who expresses perfect contrition but hasn’t had recourse to confession may receive communion if there’s a “grave reason”, which canon law commentators have interpreted to mean (among other things) the “danger of death.”

That makes sense but my understanding is that if they DON’T die, they need to skip off to Confession to confess their mortal sins upon the safe return from battle or after living through surgery, etc.

Absolutely. However, that doesn’t mean that they had to defer receiving communion before heading into battle or the operating room.

As an aside hopefully it’s not too common that someone is bringing the Eucharist to a person in danger of death but there is no priest…

Think “EMHC making communion calls to folks in the hospital.”

 

[Anesti33]

God only forgives us when we repent and turn back to Him. This is de fide teaching of the Church. Therefore, in the Confessional, it is necessary to have contrition, or at least attrition, for the priest to confer Absolution on us. The most common way for us to express attrition/contrition is a small prayer of this formula, but there are other ways of course. Therefore, most priests require that we recite the Act of Contrition just before he recites the formula of Absolution.

It’s usually a formality, because just showing up at Confession expresses some bit of sorrow for sins, and the priest can hear it in your voice too, but the Act of Contrition makes it concrete and obvious.