Sins absolved?

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StJoseph8

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After confession, I cannot specifically remember my priest saying that he absolved me. If I saw him make the sign of the cross and if I remember him saying “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” is it safe to say that he absolved me?
 
The words necessary for absolution are ego te absolvo, or I absolve you. You may have just missed it or forgotten that he said it, don’t worry about it.
 
This happened to me once, I thought I received absolution, but just in case, next time you go to confession, mention you think the priest forgot it
 
I really, really seriously doubt the priest forgot it.

This sounds more like an issue of scrupulosity.
 
otjm said:
I really, really seriously doubt the priest forgot it.

This sounds more like an issue of scrupulosity.
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A penitent is far more likely to have simply not heard or not registered the words than we, as confessors, are likely to actually forget to say the words of absolution. It is, after all, something we do over and over and over. It is not only the heart of the sacrament but, practically, it is what we say proximate to dismissing the penitent from the confessional…unless, of course, the confessor has had to decline to give absolution for one of various reasons.
 
Don_Ruggero said:
A penitent is far more likely to have simply not heard or not registered the words than we, as confessors, are likely to actually forget to say the words of absolution. It is, after all, something we do over and over and over. It is not only the heart of the sacrament but, practically, it is what we say proximate to dismissing the penitent from the confessional…unless, of course, the confessor has had to decline to give absolution for one of various reasons.
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I would of course agree, Father. 99.9% of the time the priest has surely done “his part” properly. That being said, it doesn’t hurt for laity to be aware as I have ran into a few odd cases. One time a visiting priest simply said “May God forgive you your sins” in lieu of the approved English formula. Several other times visiting priests (whose first language would not have been English) used the correct Trinitarian formula but substituted “I forgive” for “I absolve”. Valid or not, it’s disquieting for the penitent.
 
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