Thrid time at Confession where the same Priest DID NOT say "I absolve you.."

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FishyPete

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Ok, so I just had (literally 20 minutes ago) confession and the same Priest I had for the last three confessions over the last year did not, and I repeat DID NOT say “I absolve you of your sins”. Not a single mention of it, not a single syllable of it was spoken. When he told me to go in peace, I asked him if my sins were absolved, he said yes.

Why is this happening. This is a large Catholic Church. Are my sins not forgiven?

I am not being scrupulous here, I just don’t understand? Are Priest not trained? Has my last three confessions been for not?

Do I simply go to a different church?

Have my sins not been forgiven for an entire year?

In my 40 years this has never happened, and I just returned to the Church last year.

I’m sorry but this is upsetting to me.
 
Ask the priest why he is not using the correct prayer of absolution. I don’t understand why any priest would make up his own words, replacing those prescribed by the Church.
 
By the by, I am very very very sure he did not say “I absolve you.”
 
JimG said:
Ask the priest why he is not using the correct prayer of absolution. I don’t understand why any priest would make up his own words, replacing those prescribed by the Church.
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I did ask. He didn’t understand what I was asking. He said he said a prayer to the trinity.

I AM SO CONFUSED.
 
JimG said:
Ask the priest why he is not using the correct prayer of absolution. I don’t understand why any priest would make up his own words, replacing those prescribed by the Church.
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He said this EXACTLY:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 
Are you sure the prayer wasn’t like this?

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
And I absolve you of all your sins,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 
Domini_cane said:
Are you sure the prayer wasn’t like this?

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
And I absolve you of all your sins,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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It could have been that one, BUT THERE WAS NO I ABSOLVE YOU part. I know, I listened for it.
 
FishyPete said:
He said this EXACTLY:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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Well, if that’s exactly and only what he said, then he left out part of it. Here is the prayer of absolution:

“God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of your son, you have reconciled the world to yourself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the church, may God grant you pardon and peace. And I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

I don’t understand why he would say it so close to correctly while leaving out part of it. Show him the prayer of absolution sometime out of the confessional and ask him why he doesn’t say it just like that.
 
I can only hope that God know that I am doing my part in this in attempting to go to confession and doing penance.
 
Am I to understand that over the past year all the sins I have confessed have not been forgiven? I mean I have done my part in this no? :confused:
 
I think you really need to talk to another priest about this. Why don’t you try asking on the official Ask an Apologist forum? The priests there seem very nice, and they would be able to tell you whether or not you were absolved.
 
I think you have done your part, and you trusted that the priest was doing his, but I agree that it would be best to speak with another priest about it to be certain.

Since it seems that he didn’t understand what you were asking, I would also bring it to his attention again, as another poster pointed out, showing him the part of the prayer he left out, and asking him (respectfully, of course) why he left that part out. Be clear.

Although, to be honest, at this point, if it was me, I would probably see a different Confessor from now on. 😦

So sorry you’re going through this. Will :gopray2: for you and for the priest.
 
mafh said:
I think you really need to talk to another priest about this. Why don’t you try asking on the official Ask an Apologist forum? The priests there seem very nice, and they would be able to tell you whether or not you were absolved.
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I agree. I really don’t know the answer here.
 
Thanks, I can only hope and pray I have been forgiven, as (and I don’t mean to sound flippant) but there have been a lot of sins I have confessed in those 3 meetings - though that may sound bad, its true…
 
Very sorry you have encountered this difficulty. If such has indeed happened --it should not have. But perhaps he did say it but said it quickly?

Absolution:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c2a4.htm#VIII

The first part can even at times be omitted --it is that last part that is the form of the Sacrament.

Fr. John Hardon (theologian) offers this explanation: catholicreference.net/index.cfm?id=31597

Perhaps he said it very fast? or was a foreign Priest with an accent?
 
Bookcat said:
Very sorry you have encountered this difficulty. If such has indeed happened --it should not have. But perhaps he did say it but said it quickly?

Absolution:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c2a4.htm#VIII

The first part can even at times be omitted --it is that last part that is the form of the Sacrament.

catholicreference.net/index.cfm?id=31597

Perhaps he said it very fast? or was a foreign Priest with an accent?
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He is a foreign Priest with an accent yes, but he did not say it, fast or otherwise. I strained and strained and strained and strained my ears to hear it this time. Nothing, not a word, not a syllable. nothing, at all…

I prayed to God while saying my penance that he forgive me, even though the Priest made a mistake, for the third time.

I am looking for another Church near my work to go to.

Could it be that the Priest does not want to give me forgiveness?
 
FishyPete said:
He is a foreign Priest with an accent yes, but he did not say it, fast or otherwise. I strained and strained and strained and strained my ears to hear it this time. Nothing, not a word, not a syllable. nothing, at all…

I prayed to God while saying my penance that he forgive me, even though the Priest made a mistake, for the third time.

I am looking for another Church near my work to go to.

Could it be that the Priest does not want to give me forgiveness?
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I do not think that is the reason (last part). But perhaps goto him and discuss this again with him. Take the text from the Catechism. Of course be gentle – sounds like he may have gotten a defective form to read from or memorize --thinking it is the full form in English.

I have unfortunately encountered sometimes a Priest who for some reason did not know the right form (foreign Priest) and so I “informed” him …and zero’ed in on the “I absolve you” part…it should not happen but sometimes it does. He said he would correct it.

(Other times it is a matter of words getting run together and our hearing not picking them up fully due to the heavy accent…)

One can ask a foreign Priest to slow down when he says" and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." That you love to hear those words slowly.
 
Bookcat said:
I do not think that is the reason (last part). But perhaps goto him and discuss this again with him. Take the text from the Catechism. Of course be gentle – sounds like he may have gotten a defective form to read from or memorize --thinking it is the full form in English.

I have unfortunately encountered sometimes a Priest who for some reason did not know the right form (foreign Priest) and so I “informed” him …and zero’ed in on the “I absolve you” part…it should not happen but sometimes it does. He said he would correct it.

(Other times it is a matter of words getting run together and our hearing not picking them up fully due to the heavy accent…)

One can ask a foreign Priest to slow down when he says" and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." That you love to hear those words slowly.
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Thanks, but I tell you honestly, he did not say the words “I absolve you”. Unless it was so fast that the human ear could not pick it up. I am looking for another church to go to confession.
 
FishyPete said:
Thanks, but I tell you honestly, he did not say the words “I absolve you”. Unless it was so fast that the human ear could not pick it up. I am looking for another church to go to confession.
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Remember in doing so – only mortal sins (grave matter, full knowledge, deliberate consent) need to be confessed (number and kind and that which changes the kind)…that may make it easier in examining for that confession.
 
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