Penance

[SeekerM]

The first time I went to confession in 32 years, the priest gave me a penance of 10 hail Mary’s and 10 Our Father’s, and I think I messed it up.

He told me not to worry about doing it during Mass, but to do it “when you have time.”

This was before Mass on Sunday, and I didn’t really do the penance he gave me (counting 10 hail Mary’s and 10 Our Father’s) until Monday.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I had time on Sunday, and I should have done the penance then.

To make matters worse, I remembered sins I hadn’t confessed, and I read (somewhere here, I think) that I was still under moral obligation to confess them.

So the following week I tried doing that, and the priest asked me to cut it short, said he’d give me absolution anyway, told me to take communion, and said we could continue with my confession next week.

He gave me 5 hail Mary’s and 5 Our Father’s to say during Mass (which I did), but he didn’t say “I absolve you,” he said “may God absolve you.”

So what do I do now?

Should I just start all over?

Can I just start all over?

Does the first absolution he gave me even count if I was suppose to say those 10 hail Mary’s and 10 Our Father’s “when you have time,” and I had time on Sunday but didn’t say them till Monday?

I know some might say I’m being scrupulos here, but I don’t know where my over-active conscience was those 32 years I didn’t go to confession, and committed nearly every sin you can imagine.

Could I be scrupulos now, when I had such a lax conscience then?.

And how can I fix this?

Can I just start over and confess every sin I now remember (even if I’ve confessed some of them before)?

 

[brigid12]

You are absolved from all sins you confessed the first time. The penance has nothing to do with the absolution. You are even absolved of any sins you forgot to mention, but mortal sins that you forgot you need to mention at your next confession. The penance has to do with the time in Purgatory that you would normally have to pay for those forgiven sins. It is a good and laudable practice to do your penance as soon as possible, but it is not necessary.
The second confession sounds like it was not valid, but since it was for the sins you had confessed in the first confession it doesn’t matter. Any mortal sins you confessed in the second confession that were not part of the first I would confess again as it doesn’t sound like those were absolved.

 

[Iron_Donkey]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I had time on Sunday, and I should have done the penance then.

You’re overthinking it. You did the penance, so you’re good, and even if you hadn’t, the sins you’d confessed would be forgiven.

 

[Emily2014]

Please try to stop ‘scouring’ yourself as you seem to be doing.
God loves you. He knows you and understands everything about you.
Trust in Him and trust in His all-encompassing love.
Listen to Him in the stillness of your heart whenever you are worried or afraid.
God bless you always.

 

[Catholic1954]

The first time I went to confession in 32 years, the priest gave me a penance of 10 hail Mary’s and 10 Our Father’s, and I think I messed it up.

He told me not to worry about doing it during Mass, but to do it “when you have time.”

This was before Mass on Sunday, and I didn’t really do the penance he gave me (counting 10 hail Mary’s and 10 Our Father’s) until Monday.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I had time on Sunday, and I should have done the penance then.

To make matters worse, I remembered sins I hadn’t confessed, and I read (somewhere here, I think) that I was still under moral obligation to confess them.

So the following week I tried doing that, and the priest asked me to cut it short, said he’d give me absolution anyway, told me to take communion, and said we could continue with my confession next week.

He gave me 5 hail Mary’s and 5 Our Father’s to say during Mass (which I did), but he didn’t say “I absolve you,” he said “may God absolve you.”

So what do I do now?

Should I just start all over?

Can I just start all over?

Does the first absolution he gave me even count if I was suppose to say those 10 hail Mary’s and 10 Our Father’s “when you have time,” and I had time on Sunday but didn’t say them till Monday?

I know some might say I’m being scrupulos here, but I don’t know where my over-active conscience was those 32 years I didn’t go to confession, and committed nearly every sin you can imagine.

Could I be scrupulos now, when I had such a lax conscience then?.

And how can I fix this?

Can I just start over and confess every sin I now remember (even if I’ve confessed some of them before)?

Peace be with you; there is nothing to fix, you are doing just fine. You are obligated to confess your mortal sins, AS YOU REMEMBER THEM. That means if you think of something else just after confession, it can wait for next time. Until you are more comfortable with this, try going to confession every week, with the same priest if possible and make it your practice not to leave the church until you have done your penance; it might help to make a list during the week. You also might want to think about doing a general confession. It is very involved, will take some time and you will need to make an appointment with a priest to do it, but you can confess ALL of your sins at one time and then have peace of mind. Welcome Home! We missed you.

 

[billcu1]

You are absolved from all sins you confessed the first time. The penance has nothing to do with the absolution. You are even absolved of any sins you forgot to mention, but mortal sins that you forgot you need to mention at your next confession. The penance has to do with the time in Purgatory that you would normally have to pay for those forgiven sins. It is a good and laudable practice to do your penance as soon as possible, but it is not necessary.
The second confession sounds like it was not valid, but since it was for the sins you had confessed in the first confession it doesn’t matter. Any mortal sins you confessed in the second confession that were not part of the first I would confess again as it doesn’t sound like those were absolved.

This is the first time I have heard that the penance was for time in purgatory. I thought indulgences were for eliminating the punishment for sin. I thought penance was to show an effort on your part of seriousness of the penance.

 

[Vico]

This is the first time I have heard that the penance was for time in purgatory. I thought indulgences were for eliminating the punishment for sin. I thought penance was to show an effort on your part of seriousness of the penance.

The Catechism indicates that temporal punishment is attachment to sin. We must deal with any remaining attachment to sin that remains in the after-life. From the Apostolic Constitution* Indulgentiarum doctrina*, we learn that actions we do remit temporal punishment, in addition to what the Church adds."n. 1—An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church which, as minister of the Redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints.

n. 5—The faithful who at least with a contrite heart perform an action to which a partial indulgence is attached obtain, in addition to the remission of temporal punishment acquired by the action itself, an equal remission of punishment through the intervention of the Church."
vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19670101_indulgentiarum-doctrina_en.html

Enchiridion indulgentiarum (fourth edition, 1999): N 21.

1. Unless otherwise states, an indulgence cannot be gained by a work, to which one is obliged by law or precept.
2. One, however, who performs a work which has been imposed as a sacramental penance and which happens to be one enriched with an indulgence, can at the same time both satisfy the penance and gain the indulgence.
3. Similarly, members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of the apostolic life can obtain the indulgences attached to prayers and pious works already obligatory by reason of their rules and constitutions or by precept.
   For Satisfaction in the Sacrament of Penance, the Catechism 1459 and 1460 has: 1459 … Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must “make satisfaction for” or “expiate” his sins. This satisfaction is also called “penance.”

1460 The *penance *the confessor imposes … help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, “provided we suffer with him.” 63 … The satisfaction that we make for our sins, however, is not so much ours as though it were not done through Jesus Christ.