Proper Order of Confession?

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Hi everyone I have been Catholic (confirmed and received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time at Easter Vigil 2013) My question is when receiving the sacrament of reconciliation at the beginning after kneeling behind the screen is the priest of penitent supposed to say In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit , most of what i have read says the penitent says it then proceeds with the standard Bless me father for I have sinned its been x since my last confession here are my sins. However my priest at the parish I am at now and will be at for 2 and a half more weeks due to school ending always says in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit leaving me to only say the bless me father portion. The reason I am asking is when I go to confession at the parish in my hometown I don’t want to be confused or mess up. Thanks for any help
 
taylormcbee said:
Hi everyone I have been Catholic (confirmed and received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time at Easter Vigil 2013) My question is when receiving the sacrament of reconciliation at the beginning after kneeling behind the screen is the priest of penitent supposed to say In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit , most of what i have read says the penitent says it then proceeds with the standard Bless me father for I have sinned its been x since my last confession here are my sins. However my priest at the parish I am at now and will be at for 2 and a half more weeks due to school ending always says in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit leaving me to only say the bless me father portion. The reason I am asking is when I go to confession at the parish in my hometown I don’t want to be confused or mess up. Thanks for any help
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It really doesn’t matter. It is not intrinsic to the sacrament.

It is traditional to start with “Bless me Father, for I have sinned; my last confession was (XX) and these are my sins:”

That however, is not required. To understand where you are as a penitent, the priest will want to know when your last confession was; confessing all remembered sins since the last confession occurred is necessary.
 
taylormcbee said:
Hi everyone I have been Catholic (confirmed and received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time at Easter Vigil 2013) My question is when receiving the sacrament of reconciliation at the beginning after kneeling behind the screen is the priest of penitent supposed to say In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit , most of what i have read says the penitent says it then proceeds with the standard Bless me father for I have sinned its been x since my last confession here are my sins. However** my priest at the parish** I am at now and will be at for 2 and a half more weeks due to school ending always says in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit leaving me to only say the bless me father portion. The reason I am asking is when I go to confession at the parish in my hometown I don’t want to be confused or mess up. Thanks for any help
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Here’s what I do, not that it’s the perfect solution. If my priest starts before me (like he does with the Confiteor or Nicene Creed at Mass), I join in within a word or two, making the sign of the cross. If I can’t jump in quickly enough, I will say it mentally while making the sign of the cross and add my AMEN to his prayer (In the name of the Father, etc.).
 
I always wondered if the penitent is supposed to supply the “Amen” after he is absolved, i.e.

Priest: “I absolve you of your sins in the Name of the F., and the S., and the H.S.”
Penitent: “Amen”, or silence?
 
It really doesnt matter.

I went to confession today and after the priest said a few words when i entered the confessional i said, “In the name of the father…”

When i went to confession a few weeks ago to a different priest we both said, together “In the name of the father…”

Dont get too hung up on what is said. The most important part is confessing your sins and the absolution from the priest and also the Act of Contrition.

God Bless You
 
I wouldn’t worry about this. There are certain rules which have to be followed (all by the priest, so you needn’t worry) about the actual confession itself; but much or it can change from priest to priest (even within a parish).

A priest will always guide you through the process, and will not be upset if you get something wrong.

A quick example: I remember being taught an Act of Contrition whilst preparing for the sacrament the first time (and I’ve used it ever since); when I went away to university I went into the confessional and the Act of Contrition stuck to the wall of the box was different to the one I had been using for the last 10 years - this blew my concentration completely, but the priest, after hearing my sins and speaking briefly to me about them said, “and now your Act of Contrition”. I am sure I had heard very similar words before but it made the point that understanding what I am saying and why is far more important than the specific words. The same is true of almost any aspect of the confession experience.

All the best

Martin
 
taylormcbee said:
Hi everyone I have been Catholic (confirmed and received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time at Easter Vigil 2013) My question is when receiving the sacrament of reconciliation at the beginning after kneeling behind the screen is the priest of penitent supposed to say In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit , most of what i have read says the penitent says it then proceeds with the standard Bless me father for I have sinned its been x since my last confession here are my sins. However my priest at the parish I am at now and will be at for 2 and a half more weeks due to school ending always says in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit leaving me to only say the bless me father portion. The reason I am asking is when I go to confession at the parish in my hometown I don’t want to be confused or mess up. Thanks for any help
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The priests at my parish each start saying “In the name of…” as soon as I kneel down, and I say my bit after we both say “Amen.”
 
Classicist said:
I always wondered if the penitent is supposed to supply the “Amen” after he is absolved, i.e.

Priest: “I absolve you of your sins in the Name of the F., and the S., and the H.S.”
Penitent: “Amen”, or silence?
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Well… rightly or wrongly, I say “Amen” and then I say “Thank you, Father”. He may then add a word or two of more casual farewell, or say “God bless you” etc etc. and off I go.

There are many variants on the procedure - don’t get too hung up, but of course you are new to this!🙂 There is a natural fear of “not doing it right” and we don’t usually get to hear how others do this!
 
Classicist said:
I always wondered if the penitent is supposed to supply the “Amen” after he is absolved, i.e.

Priest: “I absolve you of your sins in the Name of the F., and the S., and the H.S.”
Penitent: “Amen”, or silence?
Click to expand...
I say “Amen,” and then “Thank you, Father.”

🙂
 
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