My Penance- opinions please

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coachkfan1

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So I go to Confession every three or four weeks. This Saturday I went to Confession at a different Parish than my own. I did not believe that I had any mortal sins to confess, although I could see how possibly one of them could be so that is why I went on to Confession.

I couldn’t see the priest but his voice “sounded young”. I say this because the penance he gave me was to pray the Liturgy of the Hours…for the next two months! Now I fully intend on doing this and it is probably something that I should be doing anyway, but has anyone else ever had a penance like this before? I am also fairly scrupulous so now I am kind of scared I may miss one of the prayers.

Anyway, as I said I have no problem with doing the penance, but it really made feel like I had committed a very serious sin when I went in thinking that I was in pretty good shape. So I would like anyone’s thoughts or comments as to if this sounds normal. Thanks in advance!
 
Do your best with it. It’s kind of unusual and pretty heavy, though, I must say.

Still, from what I’ve been told by my catechist (a Deacon), Catholics used to have much heavier penances, including public humiliations. I’ve also heard of Catholics spending years doing penances. So, it could be worse.
 
Your usual confessor would be the best person to discuss this situation with, especially if you suffer from scruples. 🙂
 
You can go back to your regular confessor and ask that the penance be commuted.

Joe
 
That is such a strange penance if only because so very few Catholics even seem to *know *about the Liturgy of the Hours, let alone know how to pray them (I needed lessons and support as I got the hang of it).

I once received a penance of having to read St. Theresa’s biography, the one where she discusses her dark night of the soul. I still haven’t finished it, because it’s actually a very boring read for me. So sometimes I’ve wondered if those sins that I confessed to that priest will ever be forgiven if I don’t finish the book.

I miss the old days in the 70’s and 80’s where I would get “Say three Our Fathers and five Hail Marys” and they would say it with all seriousness as if they knew exactly how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys were required to forgive each and every sin.

The thing is, yeah, you *have *to pray those Liturgy of the Hours unless you see your regular confessor and he gets you off the hook (he didn’t mean all of them, did he? I mean, was it just Morning Prayer or just Vespers? He couldn’t have meant all 7 of the hours). 🙂
 
That sounds unusual to be given such a penance. Most Catholics do not even own a book of LOTH…unless he asked you and you told him you had one. Also, the priest needs to be specific as to what hours he wants you to say, such as Morning and Evening prayer. And, if you go to work and he told you to do all the prayers during the day, it doesn’t sound feasible. I would ask for clarification, or for a different penance.
 
Nom_the_Wise said:
I once received a penance of having to read St. Theresa’s biography, the one where she discusses her dark night of the soul. I still haven’t finished it, because it’s actually a very boring read for me. So sometimes I’ve wondered if those sins that I confessed to that priest will ever be forgiven if I don’t finish the book.
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Your sins are forgiven when the priest absolves you. If you do not finish your penance, your sins are still forgiven though, it is a separate sin to neglect ones penance. I suggest that you speak with a priest and ask him to change your penance if you cannot complete. 🙂
 
Nom_the_Wise said:
…I miss the old days in the 70’s and 80’s where I would get “Say three Our Fathers and five Hail Marys” and they would say it with all seriousness as if they knew exactly how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys were required to forgive each and every sin. …
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The 70s and 80s? It is not unusual for those very penances to be given today, at least that has been my experience.
 
coachkfan1 said:
…So I would like anyone’s thoughts or comments as to if this sounds normal. Thanks in advance!
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coachfan1, that penance does sound excessive to me. If I were you, I would discuss it with my regular confessor. I’m sure he can counsel you on what to do. You indicated you are scrupulous, so seeking his counsel sounds like a wise choice. That way, you know you are getting sound advice from a priest. We can offer our opinions, but he can offer sound guidance.
 
SwizzleStick said:
The 70s and 80s? It is not unusual for those very penances to be given today, at least that has been my experience.
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Seriously, I haven’t received a good ol’ fashioned “Three Our Fathers and five Hail Marys” penance in decades.

Decades.

Where are you and **Zekariya **at? I’m coming to your parishes from now on. 😃
 
Zekariya said:
Your sins are forgiven when the priest absolves you. If you do not finish your penance, your sins are still forgiven though, it is a separate sin to neglect ones penance. I suggest that you speak with a priest and ask him to change your penance if you cannot complete. 🙂
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You know, I’ve been a Catholic for a long time, a former seminarian, and I’ve always believed that the forgiveness is not really complete until the penance is over. But I get what you’re saying. Thanks.
 
Nom_the_Wise said:
Seriously, I haven’t received a good ol’ fashioned “Three Our Fathers and five Hail Marys” penance in decades.

Decades.

Where are you and **Zekariya **at? I’m coming to your parishes from now on. 😃
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I might get a bit of Scripture reading, reading a Psalm or going to adoration or something, but the old-fashioned penance isn’t unusual either.

I’m in a parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Come on by! 😃
 
Thanks everyone. He gave me a link to a website and it consists of three sets of prayers, morning, evening and night. There was only one other person confessing that afternoon and I thought it might be because the weather was so nice, but maybe it was because these are the types of penance this priest gives. As I said, I am not trying to get out of doing it, just wondered if anyone had heard of such a thing.
 
coachkfan1 said:
Thanks everyone. He gave me a link to a website and it consists of three sets of prayers, morning, evening and night. There was only one other person confessing that afternoon and I thought it might be because the weather was so nice, but maybe it was because these are the types of penance this priest gives. As I said, I am not trying to get out of doing it, just wondered if anyone had heard of such a thing.
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No.

Really, no. Maybe for a monk. Not for a regular Joe Parishoner.

You really have a special case here.

I’m secretly envious of you. 🙂
 
coachkfan1 said:
…but maybe it was because these are the types of penance this priest gives. …
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I think that this is likely it, that it is his personal style or his developing personal style, as you indicated he might be young. Still might want to discuss with your regular confessor.
 
SwizzleStick said:
I might get a bit of Scripture reading, reading a Psalm or going to adoration or something, but the old-fashioned penance isn’t unusual either.

I’m in a parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Come on by! 😃
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That is a long commute. But I appreciate the invite! :tiphat:
 
This thread reminded me of a post I made here at CAF in 2008.
SwizzleStick said:
At first I was confused, but I see by your profile that you are a newbie. Welcome!

This is pretty much standard practice. This is your penance. Sometimes the priest may assign Scripture reading, some act of kindness, sometimes a donation, or some other applicable penance, depending on what is confessed, but most of the time I have found a series of prayers to be my penance.

I am a cradle Catholic and I find it noteworthy (and somewhat amusing) that the penances assigned to me as an adult do not differ much from those assigned to me as a child. Back then, my sins were along the lines of “I stuck my tongue out at my sister in anger” and my penance was usually to say 3 Hail Marys and 3 Our Fathers. Even though I am now an adult and my sins are more serious and I have a different way of looking at them (and could be more along the lines of “I didn’t hold my tongue in anger at my sister”), my penance could still very well be 3 Hail Marys and 3 Our Fathers. Perhaps that just signifies that no matter how old WE are, we are still children of God and HE is still our loving Father?🙂 Cool, huh?
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Nom_the_Wise said:
That is a long commute. But I appreciate the invite! :tiphat:
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You are most welcome! St. Louis has a fairly large Catholic community, so you would have a large number of parishes to choose from to visit. 🙂
 
Being Anglican I haven’t had that one as penance for 3 month etc

Upto this current priest my penances been rather ‘dull’ one could say without meaning anything by it. just one prayer or a hymn that really has nothing to do with where I am at etc.

This priest is much more inventive and will work the penance to be meaningful to what I been saying etc. The very first one he apologised in giving a lengthy psalm. Which wasn’t too out of the way. Then to my ‘delight’ I was to rejoin the choir. Which was more than I expected in that just thought I get psalm 150 or something and would have to find my own courage in rejoining the choir, but he made it easy for me by giving it as a penance. This guy means business and I am thankful because he is helping me to ‘grow’ at the same time. This time I very nearly got the book of Job to read and he spent a good few minutes explaining it to me then suddenly asked that I have read Job haven’t I? and could comfortably say yes because I had. He changed it to a much more meaningful one for me which encouraged me to deepend ‘how he taught me to pray’ for the rest of the month. I was dissappointed when the month ended even though I know I could continue it but… But also it has deepend my way of praying that now I can achieve without having to be outside and the ‘ache’ of not being able to pray enough has gone. Some priests are inventive and others stick to old time favourites. I prefer the inventive priests I think though own knows me well enough so it not a challenge as in too much. I have had two books to read and learned lots. I prefer the penances to mean something rather than wishy washy Our Father, and I don’t mean that disrepecfully, but in the sense of how is that going to help me change?
I have no idea of whether what you been given is over the top or is he trying to promote Liturgy of Hours and using penance to do so? I don’t know but good luck:thumbsup:
 
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