Stiffest Penance?

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Fergal:
Well Opus Dei priests are told by St Josemaria that they should give easy penances and make up what is necessary themselves. Wonderful spirituality.

I have never received a stiff penance but I know of a lady who did.

She went and Confessed her sins to none other than the Cure of Ars.

As a penance he told her to walk through the streets plucking a chicken until every feather was gone. She was suprised and a little amused by the request, but did as he said.

She returned a month later and confessed once again. As a Penance she was told by the beloved Cure to walk through the streets and find the feathers and put them back on the chicken.

“That’s impossible!”, she said “I will never find them all they have blown so far away and in so many directions.”

“So it is with your words”, he said. “They have gone out from you and have been blown about affecting folk here and there. They have been scattered to the ends of the earth and you can never retireve them.”

A very important lesson was learned that day.
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:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

FERGAL! I love that story. And how true it is. 😃

The Cure de Ars was great!
 
This thread made me smile.

When I came back to the church and confessed my penance was a rosary. The priest asked me if I knew the rosary, which I did. However, I told him that I did not have a rosary anymore and was afraid I would get caught up in counting prayers instead of meditating.

The priest said I could use his. It was at this point I asked him how I would return his rosary since there were other people coming after me to the confessional. His reply was basically to keep it since I needed it more than he did. A most humbling experience to say the least, but it always puts a smile on my face.

That was 6-7 years ago and yes it is the rosary I use to this day.
 
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pkmksk:
This thread made me smile.

When I came back to the church and confessed my penance was a rosary. The priest asked me if I knew the rosary, which I did. However, I told him that I did not have a rosary anymore and was afraid I would get caught up in counting prayers instead of meditating.

The priest said I could use his. It was at this point I asked him how I would return his rosary since there were other people coming after me to the confessional. His reply was basically to keep it since I needed it more than he did. A most humbling experience to say the least, but it always puts a smile on my face.

That was 6-7 years ago and yes it is the rosary I use to this day.
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Thats a sweet story - thanks for sharing! I just gave my cousin the rosary hanging in my car because she had just gotten out of confession and wanted to pray it but didn’t have a rosary.
 
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Lux_et_veritas:
Interesting stuff people. I must have been curious as to how creative some priests can be. The only penances I recall are the Hail Mary/Our Father types and this one Rosary I got.
I got a creative penance yesterday. For a week, I have to examine my conscience each day regarding something I confessed, and then work on improving it. —KCT
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Wow some pretty stiff penances here.

I usually get three Hail Mary’s.
When I was a child the penances were stiff for a child like 4 Our Fathers, 4 Hail Mary’s and 4 Glory Be’s. I have not had another one like that in years. But going to confession very often helps that.
 
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Toni:
Wow some pretty stiff penances here.

I usually get three Hail Mary’s.
When I was a child the penances were stiff for a child like 4 Our Fathers, 4 Hail Mary’s and 4 Glory Be’s. I have not had another one like that in years. But going to confession very often helps that.
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That was my feeling when I read through many of them because I was use to a life time of the triplet Hail Mary’s and Our Fathers.

So far, I’ve gotten an entire Rosary (well earned and probably light based on the deeds), and 15 minutes of adoration another time (also light, imho so I stayed longer).

I must say that I think the penances themselves do bring graces and thinking back, I must say the stiffer penances did more good for me than the lighter ones.

I spend time reflecting on how to make the changes so they don’t repeat themselves when in penance longer.

I know someone who just got two weeks worth of Rosaries. That’s right up there with 5 hours of adoration someone posted above.

:bigyikes:
 
I think I’ve got everyone beat so far … one rosary a day for an entire month.
 
Three acts of mercy! What the heck? I had a hard time doing that, which in and of itself said (says) a lot about me!! LOL
 
Sir Knight:
I think I’ve got everyone beat so far … one rosary a day for an entire month.
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You know it amazes me when the Rosary and Holy Mass are seen to be undertaken as Penances. I know some folk will say “I am going to go to Mass every morning of Lent as a Penance.” or “I will say the Rosary each and every night as a penance during Lent.” God only knows I have done it myself.

My friends, if we truly understood the value of the Holy Mass and the value of the recitation of the Holy Rosary, surely we would realise they are not penances but privilages.

Your Priest, Sir Knight, has given you a wonderful privilage, not a penance.
 
I can’t honestly say that I have ever recieved penances like that (well, I did when I was younger, but I really didn’t know better) My penances usually involve a lot of I guess soul searching. For instance, in my last confession, the priest gave me this penance: “Go outside and sit down where no can bother you, and all I want you to do is listen. Ask God to help lead you where HE wants you to be, who HE wants you to be. Don’t leave until you think He’s given you an answer.” I usually get penances like that, like going and meditating on the life of St. Peter and asking Christ for guidance. I have always thought that those penances are the ones that truly make a difference…I guess the idea of giving someone a rosary so that they can…well, simply do it because their priest told them to, I guess I don’t think that that is helpful. I do believe that some people DO truly come closer to God through their penances of Hail Mary’s and Rosaries, but I guess I’ve always found that truly personal and relevent penances help me find and know Him better.

In Him,
Britty
 
I have a confessor whom I believe is really inspired by the Holy Spirit at all times and especially when giving penance. A few times I’ve been really taken aback and then later see how they were issued straight from Jesus Himself.

I have had a decade of the Rosary once and the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy once, but the one that I remember most vividly was when my penance was something I had to do that I really, really, really (do you catch my drift) didn’t want to do. When the priest said it, I actually was shocked and became quite upset, which sort of upset him. He began to fervently tell me why I needed to do this, but I was upset enough that only a few words sunk in. I left the confessional (thank goodness it was a scheduled appointment with no line waiting outside) in shock and nearly dreading the penance…but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him exit the confessional, enter the nearest pew and drop to his knees. I knew that he was either praying for me or adding his prayers to my penance.

I now see that penance and how greatly it pushed me ahead in my interior life and will always be grateful to my confessor for listening to Jesus so closely and not being a wimp.

Penitent
 
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Fergal:
You know it amazes me when the Rosary and Holy Mass are seen to be undertaken as Penances. I know some folk will say “I am going to go to Mass every morning of Lent as a Penance.” or “I will say the Rosary each and every night as a penance during Lent.” God only knows I have done it myself.

My friends, if we truly understood the value of the Holy Mass and the value of the recitation of the Holy Rosary, surely we would realise they are not penances but privilages.

Your Priest, Sir Knight, has given you a wonderful privilage, not a penance.
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When not experiencing periods of dryness, I routinely say 15 decades of the rosary daily – 5 decades on the drive to work, 5 decades on the drive home and 5 decades prior to bedtime. However, when the rosary is REQUIRED to be done because it is part of a penance, it some how takes on a different meaning and has a different feel to it … I’m not sure if I’m explaining myself properly :confused:
 
Stiffest Penance?..I have never had anything more stiff then 2 Hail Mary’s and 2 Our Fathers.

To be honest, I keep praying that Father would be a little tougher because I always feel like I am getting off too lightly. 😦

I’m a Law and Order kind of person, very Black and White so to speak, and I fully believe that the “punishment” should fit the “crime”. Please don’t throw stones at me, I fully understand the reasons for penance and what the sacrament truely is about, but with my “hard headedness”, I need a stiffer penance to “drive” home the point of ammendment of behaviour more fully.
 
At World Youth Day in 2000 (Rome) I was assigned a book to read which still hasn’t been translated into English (a rather obscure volume of Abbot Marmion’s). Anyhoo, I didn’t learn French to read the book, but I’m a bit past being scrupulous about that one.

Once I was ordered to give money to the Cathedral, but the priest’s absolutionary formula was invalid, so I didn’t sweat it.

Truly though, the toughest real penance that I’ve ever received was in high school. I had some friends who were pretty Goth and were clearly going to end up getting into some bad stuff. I told my confessor about it, and he ordered me to sever all contacts with them. He said that my example would bring them back. It was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done, but the whole gang (some six people) ended up coming back to the Church. One of them is a cloistered nun now. Yay penance!
 
I was on a religious pilgrimage, and one of my fellow pilgrims was a lady in a wheelchair. Well, at one point I noticed that she needed some help and I kinda turned my head and pretended that I did’nt see her, until someone else went to her aid. Feeling very ashamed and sorry for what I did (or failed to do) I went to a priest and confessed this within a couple of hours.
For my penance, the priest told me to assist this woman at the next opertunity that I had. It wasn’t long before I was able to assist her several times.
It was the most rewarding penance I was ever given.
 
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FenianMan:
Truly though, the toughest real penance that I’ve ever received was in high school. I had some friends who were pretty Goth and were clearly going to end up getting into some bad stuff. I told my confessor about it, and he ordered me to sever all contacts with them. He said that my example would bring them back. It was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done, but the whole gang (some six people) ended up coming back to the Church. One of them is a cloistered nun now. Yay penance!
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Interesting penance and nice ending. 😉
 
I think I got 15 Ave’s one time. I do like a post above “until further notice”. Its like your on probabtion! :rotfl:
 
Stiffest so far was to read a couple specific portions of the Gospel. It amounted to a chapter or two.
 
Hmm… a rosary is harsh?! :o I get a full one almost every time I set foot in a confessional.

Anyway, I don’t really think any of my penances have been strict-- all too leniant.
 
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