My Penance- opinions please

[Allegra]

II 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.

That’s the kind of penance I usually get now. Sometimes its a decade of the rosary and meditation on the mercy of Christ.

 

[TimothyH]

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.

A monk would never be given pennance of praying the Liturgy of the Hours because they already pray it every day of thier lives.

-Tim-

 

[SwizzleStick]

That’s the kind of penance I usually get now. Sometimes its a decade of the rosary and meditation on the mercy of Christ.

Do you think it is because we are both in the Archdiocese of St. Louis? Maybe it is a local custom.

Kidding. I don’t think it is unusual to receive such a penance anywhere, but I admit that I don’t really know since I’ve lived here my entire life.

 

[Allegra]

Do you think it is because we are both in the Archdiocese of St. Louis? Maybe it is a local custom.

Kidding. I don’t think it is unusual to receive such a penance anywhere, but I admit that I don’t really know since I’ve lived here my entire life.

Maybe, but I have gone to confession in other states before and I don’t recall anything out of the ordinary.

 

[CB_Catholic]

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.

I got 5 “Our Fathers” just last week.

 

[coachkfan1]

I got 5 “Our Fathers” just last week.

Yeah, compare those five Our Fathers to two months of praying the Liturgy of the Hours every day. Like I said, I’m fine with doing it, but I wonder what it would have been if I had actually committed a very grave sin. Also, I guess that I couldn’t get an Indulgence for doing it since it’s already a penance.

 

[Mary_Ellen]

In my last 5 confessions I’ve received a “5 Hail Mary’s for those coming into the church,” 2 “meditate on this Sunday’s gospel,” a “meditate on Psalm 139,” and a “do something nice but in secret for the person you wronged.”

 

[babochka]

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.

I’m with Zekariya. When I confess to a Latin Rite priest, I always get that sort of penance. Usually 3 Hail Marys. Byzantine Rite priests tend to give different sorts of penances.

 

[babochka]

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!

I wonder if he was giving advice to help you develop your prayer life, and wasn’t exactly clear about advice vs. penance.

 

[coachkfan1]

I wonder if he was giving advice to help you develop your prayer life, and wasn’t exactly clear about advice vs. penance.

Yeah, he started off by talking about how it was really helpful with building your prayer life, how it really helped him when he was in seminary etc., but then he said how about for your penance you pray it for the next two months.

I really don’t mean to sound like I don’t want to do it because I have already started and find it very centering and comforting. I just thought that it was a little strange, but hey, the Lord works in mysterious ways!