Priest forgot words of absolution?

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I went to confession today, but afterward, as I was in the pew praying the penance that he had given me, it struck me: I don’t remember him saying “I absolve you in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I remember him saying something like “May all your sufferings and whatever good you do be united to Christ and bring you closer to him” (I am ad-libbing here, but I can’t remember exactly what he said) and ending with “God has forgiven your sins; go in peace.”

He is a very good priest and very orthodox, so if he did omit the words, I am sure that it was not done on purpose, but I honestly have no recollection of him saying them. Also, I have never heard him pray the prayer that I attempted to reproduce above; he usually says the normal one which begins, “God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself . . . . " and ends with " . . . . and I absolved from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” What do I do? Should I abstain from receiving Communion until I get a chance to go to confession again? 😦 Should I just assume that he gave me absolution and that I somehow just didn’t hear it? If I do receive Communion, am I committing sacrilege if he did omit the absolution for some reason?
 
You may want to check with him or even go to confession again with another priest if necessary.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
I went to confession today, but afterward, as I was in the pew praying the penance that he had given me, it struck me: I don’t remember him saying “I absolve you in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I remember him saying something like “May all your sufferings and whatever good you do be united to Christ and bring you closer to him” (I am ad-libbing here, but I can’t remember exactly what he said) and ending with “God has forgiven your sins; go in peace.”

He is a very good priest and very orthodox, so if he did omit the words, I am sure that it was not done on purpose, but I honestly have no recollection of him saying them. Also, I have never heard him pray the prayer that I attempted to reproduce above; he usually says the normal one which begins, “God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself . . . . " and ends with " . . . . and I absolved from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” What do I do? Should I abstain from receiving Communion until I get a chance to go to confession again? 😦 Should I just assume that he gave me absolution and that I somehow just didn’t hear it? If I do receive Communion, am I committing sacrilege if he did omit the absolution for some reason?
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You can’t just assume you received Absolution, Either you did or you didn’t.If you didn’t, your sins are still there. I agree, go to Confession again explain it to the priest and get his Absolution. That may be a GOOD lesson we should all learn !! Pay CLOSE attention to whats going on during the Sacraments. God Bless, Memaw
 
I guess it depends on how much faith you really have in Christ.

In my mind you were forgiven before you walked into the confessional, and he knows of your earnest contrite spirit and heart just by virtue of you seeking out the sacrament.

God’s mercy does not require we keep a procedural check list. God will not withhold his mercy because of what the priest does or says, but on your part in the sacrament.

Sacraments are not like buying a car where if you don’t like the deal you are getting from one priest, you need to shop around for something better.

So, relax.

Peace and all good!
 
Neofight said:
In my mind you were forgiven before you walked into the confessional, and he knows of your earnest contrite spirit and heart just by virtue of you seeking out the sacrament.
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But what is the mind of the Church on this matter? That Her members should disobey what She teaches and decide for themselves what Christ wants of them? Sacraments are **not **simply dependent on what the laity are feeling or thinking or desiring or wanting. If Sacraments lack the proper form, then they are not valid. If they are not valid, then I can feel or think or desire or want all sorts of things. God may even give some of them to me. But I did not receive them Sacramentally, and that is a problem for a Catholic, not a procedural checklist. To whom much is given, much is required, and we are required to obey the Church.

For the OP: If I genuinely felt that absolution was not given, then I’m afraid I would have to go to confession once more, and to seek counsel from a faithful priest.
 
InNomineDomini said:
If Sacraments lack the proper form, then they are not valid. If they are not valid, .
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Answers like this, although well intended, can compound guilt and confusion to those with similar concerns as the OP.

If Sacraments lack the proper form, it **DOES NOT **mean they are not valid. They may be illicit, but not invalid. The distinction between a sacrament being illicit and invalid is as important (if not more) than “proper form”.

In the case of the sacraments, it is more likely that the priest, not the faithful who make the sacrament illicit; therefore the accountability for an illicit sacraments is more likely on the priest not on (in this case) the person making the confession.

God does not hold us responsible for the sins of other.

Peace and all good!
 
The priest is usually saying the words of absolution when we are reciting the Act of Contrition. I don’t always understand everythin he is saying because I am focused on what I am saying. The OP did not seem to be aware of what the priest said or did not say until after he/she got back to the pew and began doing the penance. Just because he/she does not remember the priest saying the words of absolution does not mean that he did not. I believe that the person went to confession in good faith and should trust in the mercy of God and not doubt His forgiveness.
 
Neofight said:
I guess it depends on how much faith you really have in Christ.

In my mind you were forgiven before you walked into the confessional, and he knows of your earnest contrite spirit and heart just by virtue of you seeking out the sacrament.

God’s mercy does not require we keep a procedural check list. God will not withhold his mercy because of what the priest does or says, but on your part in the sacrament.

Sacraments are not like buying a car where if you don’t like the deal you are getting from one priest, you need to shop around for something better.

So, relax.

Peace and all good!
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The Sacrament of Reconciliation MUST be done correctly (Absolution given properly) or it has NO effect on our sins. Just as Baptism has to be done correctly or it has NO effect. We simply can’t make up our own minds how it works. It’s a big mistake giving people the wrong impression. All Catholics should know that !! If we don’t understand how the Sacraments work, it’s time we learn !!! It depends on how much faith you have in Christ’s Church and her teachings. The Church protects the Sacraments so they don’t get watered down to “just our opinion” on how they work. God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
The Sacrament of Reconciliation MUST be done correctly (Absolution given properly) or it has NO effect on our sins. Just as Baptism has to be done correctly or it has NO effect. We simply can’t make up our own minds how it works. It’s a big mistake giving people the wrong impression. All Catholics should know that !! If we don’t understand how the Sacraments work, it’s time we learn !!! It depends on how much faith you have in Christ’s Church and her teachings. The Church protects the Sacraments so they don’t get watered down to “just our opinion” on how they work. God Bless, Memaw
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It should, but to believe if the priest make an error, that the penitent does not receive absolution gives more power to the priest than to the Father.

I simply prefer to put my faith in the truth, justice, love and mercy of the Father

Peace and all good!
 
Neofight said:
It should, but to believe if the priest make an error, that the penitent does not receive absolution gives more power to the priest than to the Father.

I simply prefer to put my faith in the truth, justice, love and mercy of the Father

Peace and all good!
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The “power” as you call it, was given to the priest by Christ Himself. SO I would say God’s way IS the right way. Ours may be very flawed. God Bless, Memaw
 
Neofight said:
I guess it depends on how much faith you really have in Christ.

In my mind you were forgiven before you walked into the confessional, and he knows of your earnest contrite spirit and heart just by virtue of you seeking out the sacrament.

God’s mercy does not require we keep a procedural check list. God will not withhold his mercy because of what the priest does or says, but on your part in the sacrament.

Sacraments are not like buying a car where if you don’t like the deal you are getting from one priest, you need to shop around for something better.

So, relax.

Peace and all good!
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
This is NOT Catholic teaching at all! If it were so, Reconciliation would not even be a sacrament!
 
Memaw said:
You can’t just assume you received Absolution,
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I don’t understand this.

I rarely hear my confessor pray the prayer of absolution, but I always assume that I have been absolved. I have come seeking absolution, and unless Father tells me that he is not able to give it, why would I not assume that it has been given? I have faith in the Church and in the sacrament, and I trust that my priest knows what he is about. To do otherwise would be to doubt the competence and/or good will of the priest. My priest often absolves in his native language and I’ve never asked for a translation to make sure he’s doing it right. I trust him.
 
People on this thread seem to making a lot of assumptions.
First of all, I don’t think anyone is saying that we should forego Confession fro “feelings.”
Not at all.
It’s more about doubting a good priest. I’m always astounded that anonymous persons on the internet are quick to say a priest is not faithful, that he has no clue what he’s doing, or that he can’t administer the sacraments properly. Talk about uncharitable.
THIS is the heart of the matter. Just because a person “didn’t hear him” doesn’t mean that we can all assume that nothing took place, and that this priest was doing it wrong.
A person who goes into the confessional in good faith, confesses, and makes a good act of contrition, completes his penance, should not be quibbling.
And we should not feed these scruples by chiming in what’s wrong when we have no good reason to believe anything is wrong in the first place.
 
Neofight said:
If Sacraments lack the proper form, it **DOES NOT **mean they are not valid. They may be illicit, but not invalid. The distinction between a sacrament being illicit and invalid is as important (if not more) than “proper form”.
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Yes it does. Sacraments 101: form, matter, and intention. Any of these lacking, and the sacrament is invalid. If sins were already forgiven one one walks into a confessional, it makes the whole exercise pointless and goes against the Lord’s teaching that a priest can also RETAIN sins.

That said, I cannot also make the assumption that the penitent here did not receive absolution. It used to be the case, and is still done, licitly, by priests today that while the Act of Contrition was being recited by the penitent, the priest simultaneously, in a low voice recited the prayer of absolution. Sometimes, they waited for the penitent to finish, but just as often, they absolved them just as the penitent was wrapping up. If the penitent was observant, one could see the priest make the sign of the cross. This is exactly what I saw with a much older priest; I couldn’t hear him due due to the softness of his voice and his age. But I did see him make the sign of the Cross. Knowing what I know, I presumed he absolved me, and never brought it up as I had no reason to doubt him, even if I heard nothing.

The best thing for the penitent to do, for peace of mind, is to simply ask the priest. Based on the answer received, the penitent can let it drop or go to another priest and reconfess. If indeed absolution was not said, then yes, the sins are retained and the penitent is not reconciled.
 
ProVobis said:
Here is what Fr. Z advises

wdtprs.com/blog/2014/07/when-the-priest-confessor-doesnt-use-the-proper-form-of-absolution-wherein-fr-z-advises/
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After reading Fr. Z’s comments, I get the impression that perhaps this is a bigger problem than I might have thought. I’ve never myself experienced a priest getting the words of absolution wrong.

Actually, I would think that after the first ten or 20 confessions, the words might be permanently etched in his mind. One ought not to mess with the matter and form of a sacrament. But unless I clearly heard something amiss, I normally assume that the priest got everything correct, even if I wasn’t paying attention.

But Fr. Z’s remarks pertained primarily to foreign priests, who might not be familiar with the form of the sacrament in English in the Latin rite.
 
babochka said:
I don’t understand this.

I rarely hear my confessor pray the prayer of absolution, but I always assume that I have been absolved. I have come seeking absolution, and unless Father tells me that he is not able to give it, why would I not assume that it has been given? I have faith in the Church and in the sacrament, and I trust that my priest knows what he is about. To do otherwise would be to doubt the competence and/or good will of the priest. My priest often absolves in his native language and I’ve never asked for a translation to make sure he’s doing it right. I trust him.
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The OP was in serious doubt about the priest even giving Absolution. He thought he was saying something else. So to be sure he should consult another priest just in case. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe we don’t pay enough attention to what the priest is saying. Not that we doubt him but for our own growth in the Sacraments. The words are said aloud for a reason and not to be taken lightly. God Bless, Memaw
 
If the priest did not say the words “I absolve you of your sins” then the confession is invalid and you must make another confession. The words of absolution are necessary for validity.
 
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