No Act of Contrition?

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CatholicTurk

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What do you do if the priest seems to skip the Act of Contrition (or any other step)?

This happened in a church where I casually asked the Priest to have Confession (face-to-face). Nonetheless, it is still the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as we sat down in a quiet pew in the back and started off a normal pattern of Confession, step by step. He gave me my penance and absolved me right then and there. It was clear that he had finished off by his body language - he was about to get going. So i said, i’d like to say an Act of Contrition please. He was nice enough to listen through and blessed me (+) once more at the end. It felt a bit off honestly, but then again he forgot about it or in a rush perhaps :confused:
 
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The priest has a certain amount of flexibility.

Sometimes, if a priest responds to some emergency, he will skip steps.
 
A recited act of contrition is not an obligation at reconciliation
 
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It is required that the penitent have contrition, not that he recite any particular act of contrition.
 
Once your are absolved of your sins by the priest, you absolved.
It could be that the priest, during the course of your confession, could detect that you were sorry and that you resolved to do better. Also that you would do your penance willfully. These are things that are covered in the Act of Contrition.
God bless you! May the love and peace of Jesus Christ be with you today!
 
CatholicTurk said:
What do you do if the priest seems to skip the Act of Contrition (or any other step)?

This happened in a church where I casually asked the Priest to have Confession (face-to-face). Nonetheless, it is still the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as we sat down in a quiet pew in the back and started off a normal pattern of Confession, step by step. He gave me my penance and absolved me right then and there. It was clear that he had finished off by his body language - he was about to get going. So i said, i’d like to say an Act of Contrition please. He was nice enough to listen through and blessed me (+) once more at the end. It felt a bit off honestly, but then again he forgot about it or in a rush perhaps :confused:
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My priest either does not ask for it or asks me to say it after I am out of Confession but before leaving the Church. It is not compulsory to speak it. I say it anyway before I leave Church.
 
We’ve had threads on this before. As the others have said, a priest in a hurry may skip having you recite the Act of Contrition and go straight to absolution if he is satisfied you are truly repentant. You are absolved once he absolves you. There’s no requirement that you make the Act of Contrition or go through prescribed “steps”, except that as I understand it you generally have to express at least one sin so he has something to absolve.
 
I have reminded a priest about it during confession. It does ‘feel’ as if confession is not complete without saying the act.
 
Lost4words said:
I have reminded a priest about it during confession. It does ‘feel’ as if confession is not complete without saying the act.
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Trust the priest.

If you choose to say additional prayers, that’s fine. But when the priest absolves you, you’re forgiven.

He studied this for years. He gets his guidance from his bishop.

When he forgives you, you are forgiven.
 
Even if the priest forgets to ask, you can always pray the act of contrition, even if it is after you are out of the confessional.
 
An easy solution to this problem is to tell your sins to the priest in the confessional, and then end with the traditional formula: “For these and all my past sins I am truly sorry.” That suffices as an act of contrition.
 
Add to that statement. “I will go my penance and I pledge to amend my ways.”
 
Yes, we were taught this eons ago.
Plus, I say mine BEFORE I enter the confessional.
 
I really did not know the specifics about this, thank you all for enlightening me… 🙏
 
I used to say an Act of Contrition while in the line walking up to receive Holy Communion.

Now I say the Astronaut’s Prayer instead … in the hope of making it back to my seat without embarrassing myself.
 
If the Priest senses that a confessor is sincere and contrite while confessing sins, a reading of contrition is probably not necessary.
Once the Priest absolves a confessor, the sins are absolved. Or that is the way, I understand things. 🙏❤️👍
 
This happens at a Polish parish that I regularly visit for confession. The Act of Contrition is necessary provided that the correct formula of absolution is used, but I always recite mine silently whilst the priest is praying the prayer of absolution (“God, the Father of mercies…”).
 
In some parishes I’ve noticed that the priest will tell one to make the Act of Contrition out in the pews.
I’m getting used to the TLM priest saying his prayer, in Latin, while I’m making the Act of Contrition. Kind of threw me, at first.
Now to learn it in Latin.
 
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