Priest was missing in the confessional

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dfp42

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Has anyone ever had this experience? You go to the church the light is on and the confessional door is open as it usually is and you get on your knees and say bless me father for I have sinned but there’s nobody there? I proceeded to say hello are you there Fr. and finally realized I’m taking to the wall. Now, granted I was 25 minutes late from when the regular scheduled confession was, but no one was there in the church just few people praying etc. It was pretty embarrassing and I guess God is laughing at me. What I don’t get is, if the priest had to leave or figured no one was coming after 25 minutes, why have the door open and the lights on as usual? This confessional doesn’t have the standard red light / green light so one has to
Just assume. I happened to be that one poor soul in the area I guess who really needed confession tonight 😦

Next time I think I need to get there within a 5 minute ratio before the priest bails out I guess.
 
Not exactly the same thing but I do remember once going to confession in one of the old style “three booth” confessionals in which the priest sat in the middle and alternated from side to side by opening and closing panels which covered the grills. I knelt, thought I heard a cough or something from the priest, so I started with “bless me, father”, and went through most of my confession only, much to my chagrin, to hear the panel then slide open.:o

I also remember once that after the priest gave me absolution he asked me to remain in the confessional (with the panel closed, of course) while he heard the confession of the person on the other side. When finished, he slide the panel on my side open, said “okay” and all three of us exited simultaneously. It was a smooth way for him to step out (restroom break, maybe?) without having the next person in line enter and wait in the dark, wondering what was taking so long…
 
dfp42 said:
Has anyone ever had this experience? You go to the church the light is on and the confessional door is open as it usually is and you get on your knees and say bless me father for I have sinned but there’s nobody there? I proceeded to say hello are you there Fr. and finally realized I’m taking to the wall. Now, granted I was 25 minutes late from when the regular scheduled confession was, but no one was there in the church just few people praying etc. It was pretty embarrassing and I guess God is laughing at me. What I don’t get is, if the priest had to leave or figured no one was coming after 25 minutes, why have the door open and the lights on as usual? This confessional doesn’t have the standard red light / green light so one has to
Just assume. I happened to be that one poor soul in the area I guess who really needed confession tonight 😦

Next time I think I need to get there within a 5 minute ratio before the priest bails out I guess.
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Since I don’t know the habits of your priest, I can’t say.

Perhaps, if he was distracted, he forgot to turn off the light and close the door, if you are speaking of the penitent’s door.

I can say that when I leave the light on and my door open, it means that I have had to step out of the confessional for a moment but that I will be back. It may be that I have had to visit the rest room or I was summoned from the confessional for something, such as a need in the sacristy. That would be particularly the case if I have not had many (or any) penitents, the church is empty, and someone wanted something blessed that required the Roman Ritual or, for example, their car blessed.

At least you understood very quickly that the priest had stepped away.

I would not let it upset me, if I were you.
 
dfp42 said:
Has anyone ever had this experience? You go to the church the light is on and the confessional door is open as it usually is and you get on your knees and say bless me father for I have sinned but there’s nobody there? I proceeded to say hello are you there Fr. and finally realized I’m taking to the wall. Now, granted I was 25 minutes late from when the regular scheduled confession was, but no one was there in the church just few people praying etc. It was pretty embarrassing and I guess God is laughing at me. What I don’t get is, if the priest had to leave or figured no one was coming after 25 minutes, why have the door open and the lights on as usual? This confessional doesn’t have the standard red light / green light so one has to
Just assume. I happened to be that one poor soul in the area I guess who really needed confession tonight 😦

Next time I think I need to get there within a 5 minute ratio before the priest bails out I guess.
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I’m sorry, but your experience made me laugh, not at you, but the circumstance. A perfect scene in a movie! Anyway, either he left for a personal emergency (it does happen) or he forgot to turn the lights off. I guess you’ll never be late again!
 
I’m not mad, maybe a little upset at myself for not getting there early enough. I go to different churches sometimes for confession and everyone is different on style etc. I ended up spending a little time in adoration not letting it get to my head. I’ll have to just go Saturday morning now. I always did wonder though is the priest usually supposed to open up the lines of communication before you say and do in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit? I tend to find some do and some say hello etc. It’s always a little ackward in the beginning so I usually just start assuming he’s there.

I remember one time the priest asked if I could tell those out in line that he can’t hear any more confessions because he has to go. I felt sad to break the news to them.
 
Never have this problem at my parish where we do face-to-face confession.😃
 
dfp42 said:
I’m not mad, maybe a little upset at myself for not getting there early enough. I go to different churches sometimes for confession and everyone is different on style etc. I ended up spending a little time in adoration not letting it get to my head. I’ll have to just go Saturday morning now. I always did wonder though is the priest usually supposed to open up the lines of communication before you say and do in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit? I tend to find some do and some say hello etc. It’s always a little ackward in the beginning so I usually just start assuming he’s there.

I remember one time the priest asked if I could tell those out in line that he can’t hear any more confessions because he has to go. I felt sad to break the news to them.
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The rite admits of variation. I personally prefer to say something first as a way to assure that the penitent is aware that I am ready to hear their confession.
 
I can say that my parish priest doesn’t leave the confessional during scheduled times, he just checks out his phone or prays if there’s nobody entering.
 
dfp42 said:
Has anyone ever had this experience? You go to the church the light is on and the confessional door is open as it usually is and you get on your knees and say bless me father for I have sinned but there’s nobody there? I proceeded to say hello are you there Fr. and finally realized I’m taking to the wall. Now, granted I was 25 minutes late from when the regular scheduled confession was, but no one was there in the church just few people praying etc. It was pretty embarrassing and I guess God is laughing at me. What I don’t get is, if the priest had to leave or figured no one was coming after 25 minutes, why have the door open and the lights on as usual? This confessional doesn’t have the standard red light / green light so one has to
Just assume. I happened to be that one poor soul in the area I guess who really needed confession tonight 😦

Next time I think I need to get there within a 5 minute ratio before the priest bails out I guess.
Click to expand...
First of all you said you were 25 minutes late!! He didn’t know you were coming.Did you expect him to wait??? Also you said the light was on and then said the confessional had NO lights. God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
First of all you said you were 25 minutes late!! He didn’t know you were coming.Did you expect him to wait??? Also you said the light was on and then said the confessional had NO lights. God Bless, Memaw
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👍
 
What do you mean by “25 minutes late from when the regular scheduled confession was?”

Do you mean you arrived 25 minutes after Confession was scheduled to begin, or 25 minutes after it was scheduled to end? Is your church’s Confession period usually one hour or half an hour or what?
 
Maybe the priest had a call of nature and there was nobody to pass the word to you. Did you wait for a while?
 
I go face-to-face, so this is obviously never an issue. :-)) Nevertheless, if there is nobody coming out of the confessional right before me, I always lightly knock and say “Hello Father, may I come in?” and wait for his response and invitation, before I walk around to his side of the screen. I figure it gives him a chance to put away his cell phone, book, rosary, or whatever he might be doing at the moment and get ready to receive a penitent. I would not feel comfortable just quietly sneaking up on him without saying anything. I know this is not the case if you stay behind the screen, but I think that starting with a greeting is always a good idea.
 
Memaw said:
First of all you said you were 25 minutes late!! He didn’t know you were coming.Did you expect him to wait??? Also you said the light was on and then said the confessional had NO lights. God Bless, Memaw
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I must of thought I had some time and that normal scheduled confession would go beyond 25 minutes at this parish, I guess I was wrong. As far as the lights, I meant the door was open and the lights were on so I was assuming there was a prose inside waiting as usually is at this parish. Some confessionals have a round red or green light mounted outside to show that there’s an actual priest ready or someone else inside. This parish didn’t have that is all I was saying and that would of helped. Either way lesson learned and I’ll just go another time.
 
LiamQ said:
What do you mean by “25 minutes late from when the regular scheduled confession was?”

Do you mean you arrived 25 minutes after Confession was scheduled to begin, or 25 minutes after it was scheduled to end? Is your church’s Confession period usually one hour or half an hour or what?
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Confession was 7pm. I got there at 7:20-25pm there is no posted signs at this parish or in the bulletin that say an end time so it must just be whenever the priest feels like it I assume. I’d have to ask the priest next time I see him I guess.
 
TARRAT said:
Maybe the priest had a call of nature and there was nobody to pass the word to you. Did you wait for a while?
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Yeah I waiting about 15 minutes or so, then went to the adoration chapel to pray and left about a half hr after that and the door was still ajar etc… the only way I can know better for next time is to simply call the parish of ask the priest so I’m better prepared next time.
 
dfp42 said:
Confession was 7pm. I got there at 7:20-25pm there is no posted signs at this parish or in the bulletin that say an end time so it must just be whenever the priest feels like it I assume. I’d have to ask the priest next time I see him I guess.
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That’s odd. Usually there is a posted, specific time. Could you suggest that to the pastor or office? Do you think they would take it seriously or just another complainer? Regardless, we post Saturdays from 3 - 4 pm and the priest is always present at that time regardless if no one shows!
 
rondirect said:
That’s odd. Usually there is a posted, specific time. Could you suggest that to the pastor or office? Do you think they would take it seriously or just another complainer? Regardless, we post Saturdays from 3 - 4 pm and the priest is always present at that time regardless if no one shows!
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We used to have a pastor that would catch up on his reading when there was nobody for confession. It kept him there an hour.🙂
 
Memaw said:
First of all you said you were 25 minutes late!! He didn’t know you were coming.Did you expect him to wait??? Also you said the light was on and then said the confessional had NO lights. God Bless, Memaw
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I would expect him to be there if the scheduled confession time was from 3:00 to 4:00 and the person arrived at 3:25.
 
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