Quick Confessions When Father is in a Hurry

[Melodeonist]

Today I went to confession after Friday daily Mass (which I always do nowadays because I work Saturday afternoon) and Father was in a bit of w hurry. He needed to get to another town which is approximately 30+ minutes away. During the confession I just showed him my sin notepad and after reading it Father said the absolution. We didn’t follow the “formula” so to speak as I didn’t have to make an act of contrition, but as he gave me a penance and granted absolution I assume it was valid?

 

[JimG]

Yes, it was valid.

 

[thistle]

Today I went to confession after Friday daily Mass (which I always do nowadays because I work Saturday afternoon) and Father was in a bit of w hurry. He needed to get to another town which is approximately 30+ minutes away. During the confession I just showed him my sin notepad and after reading it Father said the absolution. We didn’t follow the “formula” so to speak as I didn’t have to make an act of contrition, but as he gave me a penance and granted absolution I assume it was valid?

YES.

 

[Melodeonist]

Thanks for the replies! I thought so. I just wasn’t so sure what was necessary for confession to be valid.

 

[1ke]

I just wasn’t so sure what was necessary for confession to be valid.

but your priest is. So stop questioning him and his ability to properly perform sacraments.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

You seem to be very insecure in your faith or perhaps you didn’t receive very good or complete instructions. Perhaps you need to sit in on a new class if one is offered.

Why would you doubt the validity of the priest or the sacraments? In this life it isn’t all about you, yet you focus on “YOU.” You need to get out of your inner self and just let God slip in. God will work in you according to his plan, not yours. I would call it the quiet soul where you are not hung up on all the rules and regulations that you perceive as to being “a good Catholic.”

Of course, you have been told this over and over in some form or another and you haven’t taken it to heart once that I am aware of.

It reminds me of the history of the Ursulans Sister who travel into the west over 100 years ago-by covered wagon. One of the sisters died along the trail. They didn’t have access to confession, the sacraments or the last rites. Who were the better children of God? You, who tries to be a “someone” in the eyes of God and legitimize everything, or the two Sister who went with faith into the unknown?

This happens to be a true part of the Ursulen history and part of their archives. Disregard my spelling and look it up sometime. Peace.

 

[brad90956]

Today I went to confession after Friday daily Mass (which I always do nowadays because I work Saturday afternoon) and Father was in a bit of w hurry. He needed to get to another town which is approximately 30+ minutes away. During the confession I just showed him my sin notepad and after reading it Father said the absolution. We didn’t follow the “formula” so to speak as I didn’t have to make an act of contrition, but as he gave me a penance and granted absolution I assume it was valid?

I know how you are feeling. Confession is very important to me and if it doesn’t follow the same “pattern” each time, it feels like it wasn’t done properly. This has happened to me a couple of times but not in the exact way that you described.

I think you asked a very good question because it has helped me to realize that confession is not just a neat “formula” that follows the exact same pattern each time. Circumstances can change things (as in your case) but as long as you were truly sorry for your sins (contrition) and were absolved by the priest, your confession was valid.

 

[porthos11]

I think you asked a very good question…

Not for this particular poster, no.

 

[Monte_RCMS]

Yes.

I go to confession a lot.

And sometimes it gets hurried.

One senior priest said he could tell I was sincere, and gave me absolution.

Another senior priest stopped at the scene of a really bad car accident. He had to give the victims absolution and his blessing from the safety of his car at the curb; the police were there and were very sympathetic.

Another senior priest saw a terrible disaster and dropped to his knees and gave absolution to everyone involved.

Trust the word of the priest.

 

[Hatikvah]

Not for this particular poster, no.

(But I know why you said it )

 

[LiamQ]

but your priest is.

1ke, I’m just curious.

Can you tell me why it’s a more prudent course of action to tell this young man to just shut up rather than explain to him why this particular type of confession is valid?

I understand that the forum has largely diagnosed him as a dolt who won’t listen to anyone and whose posts just waste everyone’s time. I understand that that particular bandwagon rides all over his questions. I understand that people force their opinions on him and are absolutely convinced he’s a crank for not utterly agreeing with them.

But what exactly is it about this situation that is so obviously clear-cut and straight-forward that a neophyte who cares would absolutely beyond doubt never, ever be confused by this type of confession?

I don’t suffer fools lightly, and it’s ridiculous to think how much we pamper people and their feelings these days. But I’m always concerned by how uncharitably folks treat this young man’s concerns.

 

[PraiseChrist]

Today I went to confession after Friday daily Mass (which I always do nowadays because I work Saturday afternoon) and Father was in a bit of w hurry. He needed to get to another town which is approximately 30+ minutes away. During the confession I just showed him my sin notepad and after reading it Father said the absolution. We didn’t follow the “formula” so to speak as I didn’t have to make an act of contrition, but as he gave me a penance and granted absolution I assume it was valid?

Given that your confessor has more authority than us on the internet, I can’t say it wasn’t valid.
The priest should have had you say the Act of Contrition, but the point is that he absolved you, so it was a valid confession if you had the other requirements.

 

[babochka]

The priest should have had you say the Act of Contrition, but the point is that he absolved you, so it was a valid confession if you had the other requirements.

Contrition is required. An Act of Contrition is not. The priest was apparently able to judge in these particular circumstances that contrition existed.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Given that your confessor has more authority than us on the internet, I can’t say it wasn’t valid.
The priest should have had you say the Act of Contrition, but the point is that he absolved you, so it was a valid confession if you had the other requirements.

No, we have latitude when it comes to the act of contrition. We can determine, for various reasons, that it is not necessary for the penitent to say it.

 

[larsont7]

From the Congregation of Divine Worship on the Vatican website (bolded emphasis mine):
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20000630_circolare-sulla-penitenza%20_en.html

1. The divine constitution of the Sacrament of Penance requires each penitent to confess to a priest all mortal sins, as well as any specifying moral circumstances that he remembers after a diligent examination of conscience. For this reason the Code of Canon Law states clearly that “individual and integral confession and absolution is the sole ordinary means by which a member of the faithful who is conscious of mortal sin is reconciled with God and with the Church. Physical or moral impossibility alone excuses from such confession”. In specifying this obligation, the Church has insistently reiterated that “all the faithful who have reached the age of discretion are bound faithfully to confess their mortal sins at least once a year”. “Energetic efforts are to be made to avoid any risk that this traditional practice of the Sacrament of Penance fall into disuse.” Indeed, in this Jubilee Year Catholics are called in a particular way “to encounter anew the uniquely transforming experience that is individual, integral confession and absolution”. In accord with the law and practice of the Church, the faithful must orally confess their sins (auricular confession) , except in cases of true physical or moral impossibility (e.g., extreme illness or physical condition inhibiting speech, speech impediment, etc.). This disposition would exclude communal celebrations of the sacrament in which penitents are invited to present a written list of sins to the priest confessor. It should be noted that such innovations also risk compromising the inviolable seal of sacramental confession.

If you fall into the latter exceptions, then this would not apply to you. Otherwise, Confession should be done orally (I’m taking your OP to mean that the priest read your notepad and that you did not read it to him). As others have noted, an Act of Contrition is not necessary for the Sacrament to be valid.

 

[Melodeonist]

From the Congregation of Divine Worship on the Vatican website (bolded emphasis mine):
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20000630_circolare-sulla-penitenza%20_en.html

If you fall into the latter exceptions, then this would not apply to you. Otherwise, Confession should be done orally (I’m taking your OP to mean that the priest read your notepad and that you did not read it to him). As others have noted, an Act of Contrition is not necessary for the Sacrament to be valid.

Are you saying my confession wasn’t valid?

I do not fall into those latter categories (I am not ill and I have no trouble speaking.) Father read the notebook because he was in a hurry. I can’t possibly remember what I had written down, but I probably re-committed the same sins this week so I would be confessing them anyway.

 

[1ke]

Are you saying my confession wasn’t valid?

I do not fall into those latter categories (I am not ill and I have no trouble speaking.) Father read the notebook because he was in a hurry. I can’t possibly remember what I had written down, but I probably re-committed the same sins this week so I would be confessing them anyway.

Again, stop questioning your priest’s actions here, stop asking strangers on the Internet whether your confession was valid or not.

100 people’s opinions on the internet mean absolutely NOTHTING.

Stop asking here. Go talk to your priest. Your priest knows how to conduct confession. You need help for your scrupulosity. This is NOT helpful.

 

[LiamQ]

Are you saying my confession wasn’t valid? :confused

Your confession would not be integral or whole. As the document points out, “Physical or moral impossibility alone excuses from such [integral] confession.” I couldn’t say whether the situation about a rushed Priest with no time constitutes a physical impossibility. But it would seem that that is precisely what Father judged, and so I think you shouldn’t try to override his judgement.

 

[porthos11]

From the Congregation of Divine Worship on the Vatican website (bolded emphasis mine):
vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20000630_circolare-sulla-penitenza%20_en.html

If you fall into the latter exceptions, then this would not apply to you. Otherwise, Confession should be done orally (I’m taking your OP to mean that the priest read your notepad and that you did not read it to him). As others have noted, an Act of Contrition is not necessary for the Sacrament to be valid.

Your confession would not be integral or whole. As the document points out, “Physical or moral impossibility alone excuses from such [integral] confession.” I couldn’t say whether the situation about a rushed Priest with no time constitutes a physical impossibility. But it would seem that that is precisely what Father judged, and so I think you shouldn’t try to override his judgement.

Will you two please stop it?

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Are you saying my confession wasn’t valid?

I do not fall into those latter categories (I am not ill and I have no trouble speaking.) Father read the notebook because he was in a hurry. I can’t possibly remember what I had written down, but I probably re-committed the same sins this week so I would be confessing them anyway.

Frankly, Melodeonist, you have experienced yet again why questions like this are wholly inappropriate for a forum like this.

Your alarm and concern arise because of the interpretation by someone who has neither the office nor the formation to answer the question and they have made an incorrect application.

What the CDWDS is referring to is that confession should be made verbally unless that is physically impossible (which they give examples of) or morally impossible (which they do not give examples of).

Your case would be a classic one for moral impossibility. Physically you could have said your confession as you have the power to speak and physically the priest could have heard it since he was not deaf…in either of those latter two cases, you being mute or the priest being deaf, using a list would have been necessary because auricular confession would be physically impossible.

The fact that the priest did not have the time to listen but could know your confession by reading what you had written was a case of a moral necessity, in light of his given situation and his assessment. His competence to make the determination should be accepted.

This is so fundamental that I would expect a first year seminarian to know these very basic categories and distinctions.

And yes, in spite of what someone wrote, your confession assuredly was integral because it included the exposition of everything you needed to confess. That is the essential property in this case for the confession being integral. It was simply done in non-verbal form.

You really create havoc for yourself when you:

1. Believe that you are in a better position to determine what constitutes a sacrament’s validity than a priest who has spent years in study and formation precisely to know these matters.
2. Bring your doubts and anxieties to a forum populated by far too people of whom the old adage applies, “A little bit of knowledge is a very dangerous thing.”