Roman Catholic Confession?

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Alexander_Roman said:
Yes, whatever is comfortable . . . 😉

“That priest gave me ‘Psalm 50’ to say for my penance!! I don’t even know what ***Psalm 50 ***is!”

Then he said, “That’s it - he gave me YOUR penance, Alex!”

I told him nothing could be done about it now and gave him a copy of Psalm 50 to recite.

Alex
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Last year, a confessor at a Latin Church I was visiting gave me Psalm 51 (“Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness…”) for my penance. But then again, he was handing the script for Psalm 51 to everyone as a penance.
 
I can only think of two occassions when I would be ok with a Priest refusing absolution. If it were personally Christ Himself hearing the Confession, not through the Priest, but also if the Priest had the extraordinary spiritual gift of being able to read souls. St. Pio had this gift, and is known for the unrepentant people he turned away from the Sacrament. But based on what was related here, the Priest was wrong IMHO. Btw I am practicing EC, even though I said Sacrament as opposed to Mystery, so this is not me imposing latin ideas. 🙂
 
Alexander_Roman said:
Yes, whatever is comfortable . . . 😉

My brother once went to my confessor who somehow confused us. I received two Hail Mary’s for my penance and then my brother approached me with this angry look on his face.

“That priest gave me ‘Psalm 50’ to say for my penance!! I don’t even know what Psalm 50 is!”

Then he said, “That’s it - he gave me YOUR penance, Alex!”

I told him nothing could be done about it now and gave him a copy of Psalm 50 to recite.

He said, “And how long will it take me to recite all of this . . .?!”

“Get up early in the morning and go to bed late - you should be through in two or three days tops!” was my answer . . . 😃

Alex
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I don’t understand your brothers reaction to receiving psalm 50 for his penance. My confessor gives me a psalm to read almost every time I go to confession. I absolutely love the psalms! They are so beautiful and raise my heart and mind to God.
 
onmyknees said:
I don’t understand your brothers reaction to receiving psalm 50 for his penance. My confessor gives me a psalm to read almost every time I go to confession. I absolutely love the psalms! They are so beautiful and raise my heart and mind to God.
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My brother is like the fellow who got two Hail Mary’s for his penance in confession.

Upon hearing his penance from the priest, he responded, “But Father, I only know ONE Hail Mary!”

Alex
 
With respect to my old boss and him being refused absolution, he belongs to a very closely-knit ROCOR parish here in Toronto (which his father helped establish).

The priest is his spiritual guide, as well as confessor, so I think the priest wasn’t going beyond the bounds of anything when he told him he would refuse him absolution.

When I met my boss later that day, he was saying the Canon of St Andrew of Crete (for our Latin friends, it is a very long penitential prayer, done twice during Lent and ideally before Confession, with very many prostrations . . .).

This points to something that perhaps our Latin Catholic friends are not as familiar with as Easterners are - the role of a spiritual Father. Such a Father is someone that one approaches frequently and not always just for Confession. The Father/Elder knows us personally and so he is well acquainted with our falls into sin, our character etc.

Having such a spiritual Father in one’s life is truly the pinnacle of spiritual support for one’s soul.

Alex
 
smad0142 said:
I can only think of two occassions when I would be ok with a Priest refusing absolution. If it were personally Christ Himself hearing the Confession, not through the Priest, but also if the Priest had the extraordinary spiritual gift of being able to read souls. St. Pio had this gift, and is known for the unrepentant people he turned away from the Sacrament. But based on what was related here, the Priest was wrong IMHO. Btw I am practicing EC, even though I said Sacrament as opposed to Mystery, so this is not me imposing latin ideas. 🙂
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So you think priests should give the sacraments willy nilly? Please tell us why in your opinion the priest was wrong? Refusing absolution is a fairly common thing in the Orthodox world, as is being refused communion as a penance. So I think that your ideas ARE influenced by RC ideas. 🙂
 
smad0142 said:
I can only think of two occassions when I would be ok with a Priest refusing absolution. If it were personally Christ Himself hearing the Confession, not through the Priest, but also if the Priest had the extraordinary spiritual gift of being able to read souls. St. Pio had this gift, and is known for the unrepentant people he turned away from the Sacrament. But based on what was related here, the Priest was wrong IMHO. Btw I am practicing EC, even though I said Sacrament as opposed to Mystery, so this is not me imposing latin ideas. 🙂
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Can you reference any actual Church documents to support this or, as others, is this just your opinion?

If a penitent comes every week with the same sin over and over, then a priest must counsel the individual and possibly withhold absolution as the penitent is either not avoiding the near occasion of sin or is not truly repentant. This is something the confessor must determine. I am not saying he has to withhold absolution but that he may.
 
Hello all! I wanted to point something out about our Roman confession and penances. My theology teacher told the story of having gone to confession at a troubled point in his life. He had confessed many, many sins. After the priest gave him a penance of something like 2 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Mary’s. He looked at the priest and asked, " Did you hear everything I said? That’s all you’re giving me?" the priest looked at him and said, " Yes, but I want you to know I will be fasting the next 30 days for you." in the Roman rite priests are asked to not simply give penances, but offer things up for their penitents.
 
Futurepriest21 said:
Hello all! I wanted to point something out about our Roman confession and penances. My theology teacher told the story of having gone to confession at a troubled point in his life. He had confessed many, many sins. After the priest gave him a penance of something like 2 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Mary’s. He looked at the priest and asked, " Did you hear everything I said? That’s all you’re giving me?" the priest looked at him and said, " Yes, but I want you to know I will be fasting the next 30 days for you." in the Roman rite priests are asked to not simply give penances, but offer things up for their penitents.
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That is well and good, but the penitent must also himself do something for his own salvation. Indeed, we are saved together, but we are condemned alone (paraphrasing a quote I heard). It is great that the priest does this, but the penitent himself my do his part too.
 
RuthByzCat3 said:
Just wondering: when going to Confession in the Roman Rite, I generally have the choice of kneeling OR facing the priest. Which should I do?
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first off its not Roman rite - its Latin Rite

Roman was added once the reformation started to try to label “Catholics” as Roman Catholics to take away the Universality in it

I don’t know if Universality is a word but you get the jist.

and I kneel at the screen because seeing the priest I feel judged even though he probably isn’t - its personal preference. I have done both and I prefer kneeling!

all the best 😃
 
TobyLue said:
Alexander Roman: This is definitely wrong!!! What is said in the confessional remains there and cannot be brought up by the priest ever again. The priest cannot assume that the penitent is not repentant of the sin, even if he hears it one thousand times. This priest should be reported to his Bishop. The priest possibly could ask the penitent if he is having difficulty with that particular sin and then advise him of the things that need to be done if it has become habitual. If the penitent then says that yes and has no intention of stopping then the priest can deny absolution but counsel the penitent. I believe the priest has no right to tell somebody “come back when you are truly repentant then I will give you absolution”.
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The priest can and sometimes does refuse to absolve a sin. he must be sure that the penitent is indeed sorry, and not just going through the motions, so to speak.
 
Futurepriest21 said:
Hello all! I wanted to point something out about our Roman confession and penances. My theology teacher told the story of having gone to confession at a troubled point in his life. He had confessed many, many sins. After the priest gave him a penance of something like 2 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Mary’s. He looked at the priest and asked, " Did you hear everything I said? That’s all you’re giving me?" the priest looked at him and said, " Yes, but I want you to know I will be fasting the next 30 days for you." in the Roman rite priests are asked to not simply give penances, but offer things up for their penitents.
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Wow, my priest could never do that. You see he is very obese (overweight). It a shame because he is a fairly young man with such a problem,
 
My preference is to confess face-to-face when that is an option.
To alleviate any misgivings about possible embarrassment, I read once about considering how fearful we will be face-to-face with God if we are fearful in front of a man. I find it easier to open up about circumstances and other contributing factors to the sins I commit. These circumstances are not to be used as an excuse, but can point to temptations to avoid in the future or to respond to in a different way. I can usually point to how one sin led to another.

That being said, as others have already stated, whether to confess face-to-face or anonymously is entirely an individual decision. Having been trained to confess behind a screen, I will not say that it was easy making the switch (although I honestly don’t remember). With my overseas parish, I don’t have an option. I find it interesting that I actually walk past the priest, so he does see me, before confessing behind a screen. The face-to-face option is only available during the seasonal communal services.

I have also heard several priests say that one of the ordaination gifts is forgetfulness, not remembering the sins that a penitent confessed once absolution has been given. I find that I also forget almost immediately something a person has told me in confidence, at least most of the time.
 
universityprof said:
Wow, my priest could never do that. You see he is very obese (overweight). It a shame because he is a fairly young man with such a problem,
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how judgemental :eek:

He could be obese through many many reasons, if he is taking medication, if is inherited. A lot of his food could be grab and go basis especially if he is being called out to the hospital overnight. All of which affect motabalisms…

He may well be on a fast at various times for his parishioners too because actually one needs to eat regular to loose any weight. The right kind of foods which can be quite tricky if the priest is very active in caring for people.

Just because he is big, or bigger than big doesn’t mean he doesn’t fast for people. Actually it could be that he more likely to do so because as I said to be healthy one needs to eat regular and fasting isn’t a way to loose weight at all.

One does not loose weight by fasting. Fasting is more likely to put weight on because the body is being starved of correct nutrients to keep going and panics. If you think am talking poppy… then look up all the websites about healthy eating and fasting and you will soon realise what your statement looks like 😊
 
englishredrose said:
how judgemental :eek:

He could be obese through many many reasons, if he is taking medication, if is inherited. A lot of his food could be grab and go basis especially if he is being called out to the hospital overnight. All of which affect motabalisms…

He may well be on a fast at various times for his parishioners too because actually one needs to eat regular to loose any weight. The right kind of foods which can be quite tricky if the priest is very active in caring for people.

Just because he is big, or bigger than big doesn’t mean he doesn’t fast for people. Actually it could be that he more likely to do so because as I said to be healthy one needs to eat regular and fasting isn’t a way to loose weight at all.

One does not loose weight by fasting. Fasting is more likely to put weight on because the body is being starved of correct nutrients to keep going and panics. If you think am talking poppy… then look up all the websites about healthy eating and fasting and you will soon realise what your statement looks like 😊
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Not just judgmental but this comment is dripping what I can only call demonic hatred.

I made the sign of the Cross and pray an Our Father for the soul who could write such a thing and one for the poor priest who is subjected by such an attack (as well as a Hail Mary and a Glory Be)…

I really do hope that the moderators remove this comment from the forum.

Until then every time I enter this sub-forum and see this thread title I do so once again.
 
I like going to confession behind the screen. I prefer to be anonymous because I am very self-conscious. I love that my priest has old-fashioned confessionals and it is completely dark. This really helps me to realize that I am actually confessing to Jesus in Persona Christi.
 
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