Performing your Penance Required for Sacrament

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SaintGobban

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There is a popular blog which is purportedly written by a Catholic priest online. The priest runs articles of interest and dispenses advice and instruction for the faithful. He also describes himself as “slavishly” devoted to the truth and to accuracy.

Recently, he ran an article which asserted that the performing of your penance was not required in order to have received the Sacrament these are his words below :

“But this obligation to give and do penances does not affect the validity of the absolution or the efficacy of the sacrament. If the penitent hasn’t done the assigned penance before going to Communion, he is still forgiven and can still go to Communion.”
He repeats his belief that the efficacy of the Sacrament is not effected by the non-performance of your penance.":confused::nope:

In charity, I wrote to this alleged priest in order that he might correct his error, which he might be disseminating to thousands of faithful Catholics, who would then be misinformed and not saying their penances, and then not actually receiving the Sacrament.

He responded to the information I provided with one sentence dismissals (I tried a couple of times) and the instruction, “don’t bother to write back.” When I presented him with irrefutable proof of the truth of what I was saying, he called me a “sock puppet.”

So, I feel compelled to try to correct his erroneous teaching here.

As you may or may not know, there are four things necessary to the valid reception of a Sacrament:
  1. Valid matter: 2. Valid form: 3. Valid intention: 4. Valid mind:
The Matter of the Sacrament of Penance is comprised of three things:

Contrition, Confession to a Priest, Satisfaction (the penance).

If one of these things is missing, the matter is not valid. If the matter is not valid, you have not received a valid Sacrament.

Can. 4. * If anyone denies that for the full and perfect remission of sins **three acts are required on the part of the penitent, constituting as it were the matter of the sacrament of penance, namely, contrition, confession and satisfaction, which are called the three parts of penance; or says that there are only two parts of penance, **namely, the terrors of a smitten conscience convinced of sin and the faith received from the Gospel or from absolution, by which one believes that his sins are forgiven him through Christ, let him be anathema. *

This is from the Council of Trent trosch.org/chu/trent-1.htm
The Constituent Parts of Penance

The Matter

*There is nothing that should be better known to the faithful than the matter of this Sacrament; hence they should be taught that Penance differs from the other Sacraments in this that while the matter of the other Sacraments is some thing, whether natural or artificial, the matter, as it were, of the Sacrament of Penance is the acts of the penitent, – namely, contrition, confession and satisfaction, – as has been declared by the council of Trent. Now,in as much as these acts are by divine institution required on the part of the penitent for the integrity of the Sacrament, and for the full and perfect remission of sin, they are called parts of Penance. It is not because they are not the real matter that they are called by the Council the matter as it were, but because they are not of that sort of matter which is applied externally, such, for instance, as water in Baptism and chrism in Confirmation.

As regards the opinion of some who hold that sins themselves are the matter of this Sacrament, it will be found,when carefully examined, that it does not really differ from the explanation already given. Thus we say thatwood which is consumed by fire is the matter of fire. In the same way, sins which are destroyed by Penance may properly be called the matter of Penance.*

This is from the Roman Catechism, A Catechism of the Council of Trent for Priests
freecatholicebooks.com/books/catechism_of_trent.pdf

From the same source comes this:

*Necessity Of These Integral Parts

The reason why these are the integral parts may be thus explained. Sins against God are committed by thought, by word and by deed. It is, then, but reasonable, that in recurring to the power of the keys we should endeavour to appease God’s wrath, and obtain pardon for our sins by means of the very same things which we employed to offend His sovereignty*

And also from the same source comes this:

It is also in keeping with the divine mercy not to remit our sins without any satisfaction.

I hope this convinces you that performing your penance is absolutely required in order to have received the Sacrament, and for the forgiveness of your sins.

I hope is also convinces you of the necessity of wariness when using the Internet for religious instruction, and most especially when it comes to blogs and message boards.

Information needs to be carefully verified, even when it comes from a person who claims to have a title or a degree that connotes authority or expertise.

I usually try to find several sources that agree, and that aren’t just an exact copy of the same thing repeated on different sites.

Anyway, this is exactly what I was taught many years ago by the nuns in Catholic School. But, it seems like many people weren’t so lucky. My husband also remembers being taught this same thing.
 
Those responses were not in line with charity, as to call a person a ‘sock puppet’ for courteously drawing someone’s attention to the truth, with authorities quoted in support the valid teachings of the Church/Holy Spirit, does not merit personal insult…so I’ll join you in praying for the priest (if he is that) and for those who may be misled by him.
Even from a simply logical viewpoint, deliberate neglect to perform the penance is indicative of a failure to have genuine repentance and desire of amendment that is necessary for the validity of the Sacrament.
 
One small point that I don’t think has been made is that a priest is not “obligated” to give an act of penance.
Sometimes, for pastoral reasons, especially when dealing with those who suffer from scrupulosity, a priest will not, in-fact, assign a penance.

That said, if a priest does assign a penance and one chooses, willfully, not to do it, then I agree, the sacrament would be invalid.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
One small point that I don’t think has been made is that a priest is not “obligated” to give an act of penance.
Sometimes, for pastoral reasons, especially when dealing with those who suffer from scrupulosity, a priest will not, in-fact, assign a penance.

That said, if a priest does assign a penance and one chooses, willfully, not to do it, then I agree, the sacrament would be invalid.
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Can. 981 The confessor is to impose salutary and suitable penances in accord with the quality and number of sins, taking into account the condition of the penitent. The penitent is obliged to fulfill these personally.

Canon 981 does not make exceptions to penance. It only says that the priest should consider the penitent when assigning penance.

With that said, I agree with, and I believe Fr. Z will also agree with the statement that active refusal to complete penance is a sin. I also agree with and think Fr. Z, as well as any rational person, will agree with the statement that really forgetting to do penance is not a sin and does not invalidate the sacrament.
 
I wouldn’t say it automatically invalidates the sacrament.

After all, people have a multitude of reasons why they might not perform their penance. A case where you honestly forget or mishear what the assigned penance is, or it becomes a literal impossibility to perform it for some reason, Is very different to a case where you enter the confessional with the idea of not performing any assigned penance.

I would imagine cases of the latter type are incredibly rare. I think that having the INTENT to perform the penance at the point of absolution is important, like having the INTENT to avoid future sin. The absolution and the sacrament would, I think, remain valid even if one doesn’t follow through on the intention, just as it remains valid if one slips into sin again. Although in such cases, of course, one commits fresh sin which may well need to he confessed.
 
YoungTradCath said:
Can. 981 The confessor is to impose salutary and suitable penances in accord with the quality and number of sins, taking into account the condition of the penitent. The penitent is obliged to fulfill these personally.

Canon 981 does not make exceptions to penance. It only says that the priest should consider the penitent when assigning penance.

With that said, I agree with, and I believe Fr. Z will also agree with the statement that active refusal to complete penance is a sin. I also agree with and think Fr. Z, as well as any rational person, will agree with the statement that really forgetting to do penance is not a sin and does not invalidate the sacrament.
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That’s pretty close to what Father said. Since the OP did not link the original discussion, here it is

wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/quaeritur-am-i-forgiven-if-i-dont-do-a-penance-assigned-in-confession-fr-z-rants/

Absolution occurs during the Sacrament and doesn’t get “undone” at some point due to lack of completion of the penance. It’s also important to note that the questions asked to Fr. Z on this issue both referred to what Fr. called “deferred penances” and whether one could receive Communion before all parts of a multiple-part penance were complete.

If one goes to Confession without an intent to due the penance, it may be invalid. If one willfully refuses that might be a sin itself. If a person hasn’t been able to complete all the parts, it has no effect whatsoever.

Once I was given a book to read as penance. It wasn’t available in our Catholic bookstore, so I had to order it. I then accidently left it on a plane and had to order another one. :o By the time I got a second copy and finished reading it, at least a month had passed. By the OPs rationale, I wasn’t completely absolved until a month after my actual Confession. No, that’s not the way it works.
 
I guess if you aren’t going to trust the sources that I provided, and you prefer instead to trust your own personal judgement or the judgement of a “priests” blog online, you’ll have to suffer the consequences of that in eternity. That’s what free will is all about.

But, when you stand before the judgement seat of the Almighty God, you won’t be able to claim ingorance anymore, now will you?

The source is the Council of Trent and the Catechism of the Council of Trent.

That’s an infallible source, by the way. Infallible. And the statements are perfectly clear and understandable.
 
Just by way of maybe a more understandable analogy:

In the Sacrament of Baptism, the matter is the water.

A priest could say, "I Baptise you " exactly as he should. But, if there is no water being poured, the Sacrament is invalid. It did not happen.

In the Sacrament of Penance, the matter is contrition, confession, satisfaction.

If there is no penance, there is no satisfaction, there is no Sacrament. It did not happen.
There is really no provision for forgetting. If you forget, it kind of implies that it really wasn’t all that important, and so there was not sufficient contrition.

This is explained in the sources in more detail.

As is the fact that the priest is obligated…obligated…to assign a penance.
 
A Priest is to give a penance. If he forgets to or omits it…the sacrament is still valid (though it done intentionally such is problematic for the priest not the penitent per se…the penitent can thus make one up and do it if he refuses to give him one)

If the penitent forgets to do the penance it does not retroactively invalidate the absolution.

If a person intends to do the penance …but later intentionally does not do their penance…such can be thus a new sin…which can vary in gravity (unless he gets it changed…).

If a penitent confesses etc a mortal sin and is absolved they may go to communion prior to preforming the intended act of penance.
 
Bookcat said:
A Priest is to give a penance. If he forgets to or omits it…the sacrament is still valid (though it done intentionally such is problematic for the priest not the penitent per se…the penitent can thus make one up and do it if he refuses to give him one)

If the penitent forgets to do the penance it does not retroactively invalidate the absolution.

If a person intends to do the penance …but later intentionally does not do their penance…such can be thus a new sin…which can vary in gravity (unless he gets it changed…).

If a penitent confesses etc a mortal sin and is absolved they may go to communion prior to preforming the intended act of penance.
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This is what I was referring to when I spoke about trusting online sources.

And, he’s just so definite about it all, isn’t he???:hey_bud:
 
Are the required parts of the penitent for sacrament: contrition, confession, and satisfaction? Yes

Is a penitent to receive a penance and do it? Yes.

Does he have to do the act penance given in confession (for mortal sin) prior to Holy Communion.? No.
 
I go to confession regularly in a parish having very conservative priests. My usual time for Confession is while the Saturday Vigil Mass is beginning.
The parish priests do not assign one “Our Father” and two “Hail Marys” as is so common in the USA. These priests commonly assign a decade of the Rosary, pme pf the Caplets, or a Litany as penance. One even had me read several chapters in the Bible. Because it is almost impossible to do these penances and pay attention to the Mass in order to receive Holy Communion, The priest will defer your saying the Penance until after you have received Communion and gone home.
 
It seems like no matter what someone says the rules are, someone else will come up with the hypothetical disqualifier every time.

You say that abortion is murder, well, I know someone who was raped, and then told that she would definitely die if she had a baby, AND the baby was diagnosed with a fatal illness that would mean that the baby couldn’t live more than a couple of weeks, and the baby would be in excrutiating pain the entire time. So, what about abortion under THOSE circumstances, huh?

Okay, here is something about your penance that you might not know. You are allowed to ask for another penance. If you do not like your penance, if you do not understand your penance, if you do not believe you can do your penance, if you do not believe you can do your penance in a reasonable time, you can ask for a different penance.

My son has actually done this more than once when he didn’t believe he could complete his penance before Holy Communion time. He explained that he wanted to go to Communion, and asked if he could have something that he could complete before then. The priest did not say,
“Oh don’t worry, you can go to Communion anyway.” No, he gave him a different penance.
One that he could complete. That was a priest who understood exactly why my son made the request AND the official, infallible, Church doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance.

And, if you are aware that the priest is going to assign something you aren’t prepared to do during Mass, then go at a different time. Almost every parish has confessions outside of Mass times. And, if your parish doesn’t have confession outside of Mass times, go to a different parish.
Or, IF you don’t want to ask for a different penance, or go at a different time, or go to a different Church at a different time, and there is no way to complete your penance, then make a Spiritual Communion and go to Communion after you finish your penance the next time you go to Church.

Back in olden times people had to confess their sins and then received loooooong and often public penances BEFORE they could receive their absolution.

Sometimes the penances would last much longer than a year. We’re talking about something like sitting in sackcloth and ashes on the steps of the Church. The penances lasted so long that sometimes the priest that assigned the penance never returned to give the absolution. This was at a time when there were fewer priests and fewer people in one place, and the priests would travel around. The practice was impractical so they changed it.

**In any case, you can’t go to Communion until you perform your penance. Work it out. **

Oh, when you see at the bottom of a prayer that it is “indulgenced,” like ‘300 days indulgence’, or ‘500 days indulgence;’ that isn’t referring to the amount of time off of purgatory. It’s referring to the merit one would receive for doing a penance on earth for that amount of time. “A partial indulgence commutes only a certain portion of the penalty; and this portion is determined in accordance with the penitential discipline of the early Church.”

Anyway, that’s just a little bonus point of interest about penance.
 
If you had a dearly beloved child who broke a window one day, came to you promising never to be so reckless again and promised to give you three months’ of his pocket money to pay for repairs, would you really be so utterly and callously heartless as to refuse forgiveness until he last cent of that pocket money was paid to you? To banish the child from your presence and the family dinner table for that three months?

Look at the parable of the Prodigal Son - the father asked for no satisfaction of any kind before holding a joyful banquet to celebrate his son’s return.

Your priest out of the goodness of his heart gave your son penances that could be completed prior to Communion. This is not to say he HAD to do so, any more than he had to give your son three Hail Mary’s if your son asked for three Hail Marys.

I know a lot of priests, and am reasonably learned in the theology and Church teaching about the Sacrament of Penance, as well as being a frequent recipient myself.

I have never heard it so much as suggested by anyone except yourself, and possibly by implication this one confessor, although even this is only your highly colored interpretation, that a penance has to be completed before receiving Communion. Everything I have heard, from multiple and very learned sources, is to the absolute contrary.

Firstly ‘sarisfaction’ is not the same thing as ‘penance imposed in the confessional by the priest’. If it were, we would not be exhorted so often to make voluntary acts of reparation for our sins. And purgatory would be far less of an issue for most of us.

And yes, satisfaction - the desire to make amends for the damage our sins have wrought - is critical, but every reference I have seen in Canon Law or elsewhere says that one must CONFESS one’s sins prior to receiving communion, not that one must also perform one’s penance beforehand.

Neither your quotes nor any other church document of which I am aware indicate that communion is forbidden to one who has not completed their penance.
 
SaintGobban said:
It seems like no matter what someone says the rules are, someone else will come up with the hypothetical disqualifier every time.

You say that abortion is murder, well, I know someone who was raped, and then told that she would definitely die if she had a baby, AND the baby was diagnosed with a fatal illness that would mean that the baby couldn’t live more than a couple of weeks, and the baby would be in excrutiating pain the entire time. So, what about abortion under THOSE circumstances, huh?

Okay, here is something about your penance that you might not know. You are allowed to ask for another penance. If you do not like your penance, if you do not understand your penance, if you do not believe you can do your penance, if you do not believe you can do your penance in a reasonable time, you can ask for a different penance.

My son has actually done this more than once when he didn’t believe he could complete his penance before Holy Communion time. He explained that he wanted to go to Communion, and asked if he could have something that he could complete before then. The priest did not say,
“Oh don’t worry, you can go to Communion anyway.” No, he gave him a different penance.
One that he could complete. That was a priest who understood exactly why my son made the request AND the official, infallible, Church doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance.

And, if you are aware that the priest is going to assign something you aren’t prepared to do during Mass, then go at a different time. Almost every parish has confessions outside of Mass times. And, if your parish doesn’t have confession outside of Mass times, go to a different parish.
Or, IF you don’t want to ask for a different penance, or go at a different time, or go to a different Church at a different time, and there is no way to complete your penance, then make a Spiritual Communion and go to Communion after you finish your penance the next time you go to Church.

Back in olden times people had to confess their sins and then received loooooong and often public penances BEFORE they could receive their absolution.

Sometimes the penances would last much longer than a year. We’re talking about something like sitting in sackcloth and ashes on the steps of the Church. The penances lasted so long that sometimes the priest that assigned the penance never returned to give the absolution. This was at a time when there were fewer priests and fewer people in one place, and the priests would travel around. The practice was impractical so they changed it.

**In any case, you can’t go to Communion until you perform your penance. Work it out. **

Oh, when you see at the bottom of a prayer that it is “indulgenced,” like ‘300 days indulgence’, or ‘500 days indulgence;’ that isn’t referring to the amount of time off of purgatory. It’s referring to the merit one would receive for doing a penance on earth for that amount of time. “A partial indulgence commutes only a certain portion of the penalty; and this portion is determined in accordance with the penitential discipline of the early Church.”

Anyway, that’s just a little bonus point of interest about penance.
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There is no mention of timing of reparation for sins.

Catholic Catechism
1491 The sacrament of Penance is a whole consisting in three actions of the penitent and the priest’s absolution. The penitent’s acts are repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the priest, and the intention to make reparation and do works of reparation.
1494 The confessor proposes the performance of certain acts of “satisfaction” or “penance” to be performed by the penitent in order to repair the harm caused by sin and to re-establish habits befitting a disciple of Christ.

Latin Catholic
CIC Can. 959 In the sacrament of penance the faithful who confess their sins to a legitimate minister, are sorry for them, and intend to reform themselves obtain from God through the absolution imparted by the same minister forgiveness for the sins they have committed after baptism and, at the same, time are reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by sinning.
Can. 987 To receive the salvific remedy of the sacrament of penance, a member of the Christian faithful must be disposed in such a way that, rejecting sins committed and having a purpose of amendment, the person is turned back to God.

Eastern Catholic
CCEO Canon 718 In the sacrament of penance, the Christian faithful who committed sins after baptism, internally led by the Holy Spirit, turn back to God, moved by the pain of sin, intent on entering a new life through the ministry of the priest, having themselves made a confession and accepted an appropriate penance, obtain forgiveness from God and at the same time are reconciled with the Church which they injured by sinning; by this sacrament they are brought to a greater fostering of the Christian life and are thus disposed for receiving the Divine Eucharist.
 
SaintGobban said:
So, I feel compelled to try to correct his erroneous teaching here.
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Unfortunately your “corrections” are themselves incorrect. Your basic error is confusing the entire sacrament with the absolution; only the latter, in conjunction with contrition, is required to “remit sin and its eternal punishment” (i.e., avoid hell). If a person does not perform the penance, they are only liable for temporal punishment, not eternal punishment; they are still in a state of grace.

Don’t take my word for it–the below passages should help you understand the Church’s teaching on this matter (all emphases mine):

From the Catechism of St Pius X:
Catechism of St Pius X:
109 Q. Why is a penance imposed in confession?
A. A penance is imposed because, after** sacramental absolution which remits sin and its eternal punishment**, there generally remains a temporal punishment to be undergone, either in this world or in Purgatory.

112 Q. Does the penance which the confessor imposes always suffice to discharge the punishment which remains due to our sins?
A. The penance which the confessor imposes does not ordinarily suffice to discharge the punishment remaining due to our sins; and hence we must try to supply it by other voluntary penances.

118 Q. Do those who die after having received absolution but before they have fully satisfied the justice of God, go straight to Heaven?
A.** No, they go to Purgatory** there to satisfy the justice of God and be perfectly purified
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ewtn.com/library/catechsm/piusxcat.htm

On 118 above, it is worth pointing out that if, as you claim, the person’s mortal sins were not truly forgiven because they had not yet performed the penance, the person would go to hell, not purgatory.

Baltimore Catechism:
The Baltimore Catechism:
Q. 629. What punishments are due to actual sins?
A. Two punishments are due to actual sins: one, called the eternal, is inflicted in hell; and the other, called the
temporal, is inflicted in this world or in purgatory. The Sacrament of Penance remits or frees us from the eternal
punishment and generally only from part of the temporal. Prayer, good works and indulgences in this world and the sufferings of purgatory in the next remit the remainder of the temporal punishment.
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catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=453

CCC 1459:

Catechism of the Catholic Church said:
Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused.62 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.”
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vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4D.HTM#$1PF

Note that none of this contradicts the dogmatic teaching of the Council of Trent. Indeed, they all elaborate and confirm that “for the full and perfect remission of sins three acts are required on the part of the penitent”.

Perhaps the most critical error may be that performing penance is required before receiving Holy Communion. Please see this teaching from the Catechism:
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
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The CCC explicitly singles out absolution “in the sacrament of penance”, whereas it could instead have specified “having received satisfaction in the sacrament of penance” were that the teaching of the Church (which it is not).

Bottom line: If you have received absolution, you may receive the Eucharist, even if you have not yet performed your penance, or even if you unwillingly fail to do so.
 
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