Question about a Mass prayer

[JackVk]

At some Masses, after the priest has done the greeting, we say this prayer:

I confess to Almighty God,
And to you my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault.
In my thoughts and my words,
in what I have done, and what I have failed to do.
And I ask Blessed Mary the Ever Virgin,
All the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Is this prayer a temporary absolution for sins so that we may recieve the Eucharist?

 

[Spirithound]

No. No absolution is ever temporary. This is one form of the Penitential Rite, and in it we express sorrow for the sins we have committed that week. There is some disagreement on these fora whether the Penitential Rite absolves venial sin, but it definitely does not absolve mortal sin.

 

[LilyM]

Well the Penitential Rite does NOT contain a formal absolution by the priest of our sins, temporary or otherwise.

Being an act of contrition said by priest and congregation, however, of itself it can procure the absolution of our venial sins, as can many other things, including the reception of the Eucharist itself.

As has been pointed out, mortal (serious) sins require sacramental confession and absolution by a priest, and nothing else, including the Penitential Rite, substitutes for the sacrament.

 

[bkayw]

Jack,

That prayer is called the Confiteor.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confiteor

 

[Fr_Michael_Grac]

The Confiteor is one of the forms of the penitential rite, it is not an absolution of sin. For those who are not aware of grave sin, the penitential rite, or indeed a simple (but sincere) act of contrition is sufficient to put us at right with God, however such sins (venial) do not bar us from receiving communion anyway. Those who are aware of unconfessed grave (mortal) sins are obliged to confess those sins to a priest and receive sacramental absolution before receiving communion.

The general purpose of the penitential rite it to express sorrow for our sins, but also call to mind the very sins for which Christ died, a death which is made present to us in the liturgy of the Eucharist.

God Bless.

 

[HCC]

The Confiteor is one of the forms of the penitential rite, it is not an absolution of sin. For those who are not aware of grave sin, the penitential rite, or indeed a simple (but sincere) act of contrition is sufficient to put us at right with God, however such sins (venial) do not bar us from receiving communion anyway. Those who are aware of unconfessed grave (mortal) sins are obliged to confess those sins to a priest and receive sacramental absolution before receiving communion.

The general purpose of the penitential rite it to express sorrow for our sins, but also call to mind the very sins for which Christ died, a death which is made present to us in the liturgy of the Eucharist.

God Bless.

Hmmm…so what is the purpose of the absolution?

 

[MarkThompson]

Hmmm…so what is the purpose of the absolution?

It’s not actually an absolution (there’s no Ego te absolvo, “I absolve you”). It’s an intercessory prayer, a petition, for absolution.