Kind of forgot penance

[reclaimed]

Hey guys,

I went to confession on Wednesday, and I was nervous and I sort of forgot my penance. It was to say a prayer to God, in my own words, about something, then follow it with an Our Father and Hail Mary. I couldn’t remember what exactly he wanted me to pray about, but it might have been thanking God for something or asking him for help… a theme that went with his general advice. So I got back into my pew and couldn’t remember exactly what my penance was but tried to fulfill it to the best that I could remember. I didn’t think much of it til I came back on here tonight. I did receive communion on Sunday. Am I alright? Did my penance hold?

 

[LilyM]

Hey guys,

I went to confession on Wednesday, and I was nervous and I sort of forgot my penance. It was to say a prayer to God, in my own words, about something, then follow it with an Our Father and Hail Mary. I couldn’t remember what exactly he wanted me to pray about, but it might have been thanking God for something or asking him for help… a theme that went with his general advice. So I got back into my pew and couldn’t remember exactly what my penance was but tried to fulfill it to the best that I could remember. I didn’t think much of it til I came back on here tonight. I did receive communion on Sunday. Am I alright? Did my penance hold?

Unless you knew what the penance was and intentionally decided not to do it, you’re good to go.

 

[turtle18]

I’ve forgotten my penance multiple times. I have a really bad short term memory. I am also in graduate school and the professor will annouce to the class, this question is going to be on the test and here is the answer. So thirty minutes later we will be taking the test, guess who is the ONLY one who gets the answer wrong? MOI, because I can’t remember what the professor just said.

 

[turtle18]

Sorry, I didn’t mean to end my thread. Have you ever been in Mass and the priest kind of forgets the Euchraristic prayer? And you are sitting there going, how can he forget it? a.) he must have said it a million times. b.) he has a book there right in front of him. My point is we can all be very forgetful sometimes.

 

[thistle]

Hey guys,

I went to confession on Wednesday, and I was nervous and I sort of forgot my penance. It was to say a prayer to God, in my own words, about something, then follow it with an Our Father and Hail Mary. I couldn’t remember what exactly he wanted me to pray about, but it might have been thanking God for something or asking him for help… a theme that went with his general advice. So I got back into my pew and couldn’t remember exactly what my penance was but tried to fulfill it to the best that I could remember. I didn’t think much of it til I came back on here tonight. I did receive communion on Sunday. Am I alright? Did my penance hold?

Absolution is not conditional upon the penance being done.

 

[followerofGod]

I have a a question regarding this. I went to a priest who lives far away from me and made confession some time back when i was out of town. His penance for me was to pray to God and ask him to help me live each day in peace. I remember him saying do this every day like when i wake up or something. I did just that for a while and though I always pray at least once a day I sometimes have forgotten to pray for that specific thing he told me to do. does it mean my penance is supposed to be served every day for the rest of my life and because i forgot to a few times is it invalid making my reconciliation invalid?

A week later I made a general confession and in that I stated everything even past already forgiven sin though i was not terribly specific.I told my priest that if he needed to know detail I would explain but he never did. I thought of all my sins and I wrote them down in to categories of ten commandments and such like so many acts false witness, or acedia, or lust. I made an appointment to do it to just so we didn’t hold up a line. he gave me penance and I did it.

would this new penance take over that old one? I’m not trying to be scrupulous but I just want to be through and cover all my bases.

Thank you
God Bless.

 

[otjm]

I have a a question regarding this. I went to a priest who lives far away from me and made confession some time back when i was out of town. His penance for me was to pray to God and ask him to help me live each day in peace. I remember him saying do this every day like when i wake up or something. I did just that for a while and though I always pray at least once a day I sometimes have forgotten to pray for that specific thing he told me to do. does it mean my penance is supposed to be served every day for the rest of my life and because i forgot to a few times is it invalid making my reconciliation invalid?

A week later I made a general confession and in that I stated everything even past already forgiven sin though i was not terribly specific.I told my priest that if he needed to know detail I would explain but he never did. I thought of all my sins and I wrote them down in to categories of ten commandments and such like so many acts false witness, or acedia, or lust. I made an appointment to do it to just so we didn’t hold up a line. he gave me penance and I did it.

would this new penance take over that old one? I’m not trying to be scrupulous but I just want to be through and cover all my bases.

Thank you
God Bless.

Yes, you are being a bit scrupulous.

God doesn’t play “Gotcha!”

Your penance was not binding in that it was not permanent. It would have been better if he had phrased it differently, as advice. the second one doe s not take the place of the first one, as you ahd done the first one.

And do not go back and make another general confession. If that issue is chewing on you, you need to get a confessor who works with people who have problems with scrupulosity, and follow his advice exactly.