No mass, no confession?

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Butaperson

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There is a church in my area that normally does daily mass at noon and daily confession at 11:30 AM. I had planned on going to this daily confession tomorrow, but then I read that there will be no noon or evening mass tomorrow, only a 10AM mass. I’m not sure what the protocol is, but do you think it is reasonable to assume that if there is no mass, there will likewise not be confession?
I’m asking because it’s quite clear that the noontime confession is for the benefit of those attending the noontime mass, and I wonder if it was meant to be implied that both sacraments were canceled together. It seems logical to me, but they didn’t say anything explicitly so I don’t know.
This church is quite out of my way and the time is very much not ideal, so I would like to know ahead of time for the benefit of me as well as whoever I get to drive me…I tried to find information but I couldn’t get anything saying yes or no. Thank you.
 
Butaperson said:
There is a church in my area that normally does daily mass at noon and daily confession at 11:30 AM. I had planned on going to this daily confession tomorrow, but then I read that there will be no noon or evening mass tomorrow, only a 10AM mass. I’m not sure what the protocol is, but do you think it is reasonable to assume that if there is no mass, there will likewise not be confession?
I’m asking because it’s quite clear that the noontime confession is for the benefit of those attending the noontime mass, and I wonder if it was meant to be implied that both sacraments were canceled together. It seems logical to me, but they didn’t say anything explicitly so I don’t know.
This church is quite out of my way and the time is very much not ideal, so I would like to know ahead of time for the benefit of me as well as whoever I get to drive me…I tried to find information but I couldn’t get anything saying yes or no. Thank you.
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Most churches cancel the Sacrament of Confession on Holy Days of Obligation. In fact never seen one that didn’t.
 
I’d be shocked if my pastor didn’t offer confession before Mass. He would never do that. I’m not sure whether I’ll make it to my church or just go to the much closer abbey. I would expect confessions to be heard there as well. Why not show up a early and see if there’s a priest in the confessional? If not you could always ask if the priest could hear your confession. I’ve done this before. 🤷
 
Butaperson said:
There is a church in my area that normally does daily mass at noon and daily confession at 11:30 AM. I had planned on going to this daily confession tomorrow, but then I read that there will be no noon or evening mass tomorrow, only a 10AM mass. I’m not sure what the protocol is, but do you think it is reasonable to assume that if there is no mass, there will likewise not be confession?
I’m asking because it’s quite clear that the noontime confession is for the benefit of those attending the noontime mass, and I wonder if it was meant to be implied that both sacraments were canceled together. It seems logical to me, but they didn’t say anything explicitly so I don’t know.
This church is quite out of my way and the time is very much not ideal, so I would like to know ahead of time for the benefit of me as well as whoever I get to drive me…I tried to find information but I couldn’t get anything saying yes or no. Thank you.
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I would imagine that confession is not planned, but if you show up early and ask the priest, he’ll probably be willing to hear your confession.
 
You always need to check with the parish on holidays or Holy Days.

I’m sorry to say that people are often not the best when it comes to keeping their schedule straight on these matters.
 
I’ve never seen confessions offered on holidays or Holy Days. Unless it’s an emergency of course. Plan to go to confession during scheduled times.
Don’t fault your priest for taking a break on a Holy Day.
 
pianistclare said:
I’ve never seen confessions offered on holidays or Holy Days. Unless it’s an emergency of course. Plan to go to confession during scheduled times.
Don’t fault your priest for taking a break on a Holy Day.
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Since Christmas fell on a Thursday this year, our priests held the regularly scheduled confession times from 5:30-6:15pm. And they will be hearing them again today as scheduled.
 
Call the office or the rectory.

Leave a detailed voicemail: “Hello, my name is So-and-So. I am calling to inquire if the Confessions a half-hour before Mass were cancelled due to the Holy Day of Obligation. My number is 555-555-1234. Thank you; if you don’t respond I will assume they have been cancelled.”

Easy-peasy.

Perhaps you can use Parish Finder to locate another church and ask them?

Be comforted that your obligation toward a Holy Day is to attend and not necessarily to receive.
 
Elizium23 said:
Since Christmas fell on a Thursday this year, our priests held the regularly scheduled confession times from 5:30-6:15pm. And they will be hearing them again today as scheduled.
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We only have one priest. He’s worked to a frazzle. I don’t begrudge him a rest. In our area, very few parishes have access to more than one confessor.
 
pianistclare said:
We only have one priest. He’s worked to a frazzle. I don’t begrudge him a rest. In our area, very few parishes have access to more than one confessor.
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Our bishop wrote a pastoral letter about the importance of Confession and our two priests take it seriously. On Good Friday they heard confessions for hours. Regularly scheduled confessions continued on Holy Saturday, 10am and 3pm. I think it is on holy days when people need the sacraments most of all. It is then when the people are coming to church, so if they find Confession convenient at that time, they just may be persuaded to avail themselves of it when otherwise, it might not have even occurred to them.

There is always a line for Confession and sometimes a very long one; as a regular penitent I have to strategize about how to get in and out efficiently. So it is unlikely that Confession would be cancelled for lack of interest. Our parish draws people from the region whose parishes do not offer Confession as conveniently.

I think any pastor that strives to offer convenient Mass times should stop and ask himself if he is making it just as easy to access the other Sacraments. Nobody else can sit in or substitute for a priest in the confessional. It’s central to his duty and he is called to make it a priority for the good of souls.
 
Elizium23 said:
Our bishop wrote a pastoral letter about the importance of Confession and our two priests take it seriously. On Good Friday they heard confessions for hours. Regularly scheduled confessions continued on Holy Saturday, 10am and 3pm. I think it is on holy days when people need the sacraments most of all. It is then when the people are coming to church, so if they find Confession convenient at that time, they just may be persuaded to avail themselves of it when otherwise, it might not have even occurred to them.

There is always a line for Confession and sometimes a very long one; as a regular penitent I have to strategize about how to get in and out efficiently. So it is unlikely that Confession would be cancelled for lack of interest. Our parish draws people from the region whose parishes do not offer Confession as conveniently.

I think any pastor that strives to offer convenient Mass times should stop and ask himself if he is making it just as easy to access the other Sacraments. Nobody else can sit in or substitute for a priest in the confessional. It’s central to his duty and he is called to make it a priority for the good of souls.
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I think it would also say that it is prudent not to assume that good priests have poor intentions.
 
At our EF parish, there is confession before and after every Mass, including Holy Days. Of course we have two priests and sometimes a visiting priest or two. 😉
 
pianistclare said:
I think it would also say that it is prudent not to assume that good priests have poor intentions.
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Regardless of their intentions, it should be considered where their priorities are that they are too “frazzled” to live their vocation by hearing confessions or will cancel them at the drop of a biretta.
 
Elizium23 said:
Regardless of their intentions, it should be considered where their priorities are that they are too “frazzled” to live their vocation by hearing confessions or will cancel them at the drop of a biretta.
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Wow.
There are no confessions scheduled for Holly Days for the most part. I doubt if anyone “cancelled” anything.
I think it’s against forum rules to bash the clergy, BTW. :rolleyes:
 
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